“Will You Let Him Be Enough This Year?”

By Leslie Dawson, oneLife Maps facilitator

As we begin this new year, I want to make wise choices going forward which include God in deeper ways in my everyday life.  In order to do that I have spent time reflecting on my past patterns, my interactions with God and struggles in faith to help me reframe my steps going forward.  One area I began to explore first was my known trigger points. These are places where I can find myself spiraling quickly downward into self-doubt, self-pity and self-condemnation.  These trigger points show up when I feel:

• I don’t measure up as a wife or a mother
• I’ve dropped the ball in a friendship
• I am less than in comparison to others’ accomplishments
• I am confused and can’t find the answers
• I am not enough

I can wonder, “Why hasn’t God come through for me?  Why hasn’t He helped me?”  Maybe at unexpected times you find yourself thinking about your own struggles of faith.  Where do you turn when you can’t meet the expectations of your employer; when you are facing another month of struggling to make ends meet; an unexpected medical condition turns your world upside down; relationships have left you wounded or stranded; children disappoint; you feel trapped in a job which brings no joy; you are weary of trying to meet expectations; circumstances rarely seem to go your way and life doesn’t turn out the way you wanted or expected or scripted it.  We wrestle with the conditions of poverty, sex trafficking, global financial crisis, genocide, terrorism.  Is God enough?  Can He really handle all of this?  Can He really handle all of us? Is He really big enough to overcome all the hurt and heartache in this world?  When a new year dawns full of promise, it seems these questions dissipate for a little while until they surface again weeks later after we have counted down the falling of the ball, the Christmas decorations find their way back to the attic and we go back to work, back to school and back to routine.

So, is God enough for me, for what’s on my plate, for my family, for my struggles, for the world?  I believe the answer is a resounding, “YES!  He is enough!!”  That is why He came.  I believe His heart aches much more deeply than mine.  He is moved by compassion and by love with each tender step alongside us. He came because He wanted to help. He came because He knew he could help.  He knew He had the answers. He knew He could heal and fill all our longings.  He came because He knew He was enough.  The baby in the manger, the Incarnate God, He gave his all, His life, and it was enough.  We celebrated him, worshipped him, praised him and thanked him during the Christmas season.  When life comes at us fast in this new year, let’s be sure we continue to celebrate, worship, praise and thank Him.  Let’s turn to Him and allow Him to be enough for us. I am not enough, but I know He is!  Such great freedom comes in living this truth.

Questions To Ponder:

• Where do you need to trust him to be enough in your life right now?
• What helps you believe He is enough?
• Who needs you to believe in Him for them and walk alongside them this year?
• How can you allow Jesus to be enough for you in 2012?

Scripture:

“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?”  Matthew 6:26

Prayer:

Thank you, Jesus, that you came to rescue and redeem us.  Thank you that your compassion and love for us led you to take action on our behalf.  During this year full of promise, please help us watch for your activity in our lives, help us trust you to be enough for us and lead us in helping others draw close to you?

Leslie Dawson is a Listen To My Life Facilitator in Dallas, TX who desires to provide space for people to listen to and encounter the living God face to face.  She enjoys creating opportunities for individuals to enter silence and solitude with God.  In addition, she mentors women and is currently working on her spiritual direction certification.  Leslie is grateful to be married to Tiger and they have two awesome, teenage daughters.  You may contact Leslie at leslie@onelifemaps.com.