More Than Enough
By Cindi McMenamin
Bible Reading:
“You have put gladness in my heart,
More than when their grain and new wine abound.” (Psalm 4:7 NASB)
I remember the day we were driving home from a store, and my teenage daughter was complaining to me about all that she didn’t have—a new car like the one being driven by her 16-year-old friend who just got her driver’s license, expansive homes her friends lived in with more rooms than their families needed, the latest electronic gadgets, brand-name clothing, the highest-priced handbags.
Weary of constantly being reminded of what we didn’t have that her friends’ families did, I finally blew!
“Do you realize what we do have?” I snapped. “You have a roof over your head, and these days, that should be enough!”
Apparently, my words struck a chord with her. Her face fell, and she sadly told me of another one of her friends who was losing her home due to her parents’ job loss.
Immediately, my tone softened as I realized my daughter had already been convicted by her own words. We prayed for the family that was losing their hom,e and then I silently prayed for wisdom to turn that topic into a teaching moment.
“You know, Sweetie,” I told her softly, as I continued to drive, “a lot of people around us are losing their homes. That’s why it’s important for us to not only think about what we have and be grateful for it, but to focus on what we have that we will never lose.”
She looked at me, puzzled, for a moment. And then she got it.
We immediately began to recount all that we have that can never be taken from us:
- The love we have for each other in our family
- The memories we’ve had in our three-bedroom condo (and the small two-bedroom home we owned prior to that)
- The unconditional love of God (Romans 5:8)
- The gift of our salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9)
- A promised mansion in Eternity (John 14:2-3)
I realized that day that my daughter is not the only one who often wishes she had more. It’s easy for me, at times, to look at what others have and be envious. It’s natural for me to sometimes wish I had a little more money to indulge in my desires. But so often I forget all I do have…and that it is more than enough.
So often, we go through life looking at what others have and wondering when our ship will come in. Then we remember we have a God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), a God who has gone to prepare a place for us and who will come again and receive us to Himself so that where He is, we will be—forever (John 14:3).
In Psalm 4, David begins his song by asking God for relief from his distress. But then he must have remembered what he had, because he finished his song with a perspective of joy:
“You have put joy in my heart,
More than when their grain and new wine are abundant.
In peace I will both lie down and sleep,
For You alone, Lord, have me dwell in safety” (verses 7-8).
In The Message translation, verse 7 reads:
“I have God’s more-than-enough,
more joy in one ordinary day
than they get in all their shopping sprees.”
That sounds like a song I should be singing every day that I begin to forget my blessings and start longing for more.
Intersecting Faith & Life:
God is our true source of security in an insecure world…and He is the Only One who satisfies in a culture where we can never seem to get enough. When we have Him—along with His promises for provision, protection, and peace—we have “more than enough.”
Can you draw strength from knowing that you have God’s more-than-enough, even if at times it doesn’t look like quite enough? Thank Him today for all that you have, as well as for the blessings that you don’t yet see. The Bible says if we belong to Christ, God has blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). And if we “share in His sufferings,” we are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Joint heirs with God! Think about that. We are heirs of all that is His. Now that’s an inheritance. That’s a future. And that is more than enough.
Further Reading:
Ephesians 1:3-14
For a daily awareness of all you have in your relationship with Christ, see Cindi’s book, The New Loneliness Devotional: 50 Days to a Closer Connection with God.
Join the conversation! Share how today’s devotional encouraged or challenged you in your walk with Christ.
Photo Credit: Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio
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