“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
I remember the first year that I did over a Million $ in sales in my business. They treated Joe and I to a trip to Rome, Italy. I had earned many All-Expense paid trips all around the world, but this time because of reaching the Million $ mark, we were going to have a suite, and the trip would be even more Extravagant! Upon arrival we were checked into a beautiful suite with a sitting area, 2 bathrooms, and a gorgeous view overlooking the city. It was everything I dreamed, or so I thought. A few days later I was walking into a business meeting there at the hotel, when one of my friends who had also done a Million $ in sales stopped to thank the staff for the beautiful fruit basket the company had left in her suite. Immediately my thoughts went from graciousness and excitement, to “What’s Wrong With Me?”! Did I not “Do” enough? Do they not “like” me? Was there something I needed to do to “Earn” it? I know it sounds petty (I mean I can see you rolling your eyes right now, saying you earned an All-Expense paid trip, and you’re having a melt-down over a Fruit Basket ~ Give me a Break!) . It wasn’t the fruit basket. Truth be told, I don’t even like fruit that much! It was my NEED to be “Accepted and Loved”. I thought if I performed well enough, THEN: I would feel worthy, be accepted, fit in, be respected, admired, and loved!
After the meeting I went back to my beautiful suite, and cried. Suddenly, what once had been “everything I dreamed it would be” wasn’t enough. As Joe patiently listened to my cries of “rejection” he said, “Julie it has to be here somewhere, we just missed it”. He started opening up bathroom doors, closets, inspecting every inch of that suite. Then, I heard him laugh, and call my name. As I slowly rose from the bed I had been wallowing in, I heard him say “You are not going to believe this!”. I walked through a door he had left open, that I thought was a door to someone else’s room on the other side. It was the most Extravagant room I’d ever seen! The room was bigger than our entire suite we had been staying in for the past two days. It had silk sofas and chairs, wall to ceiling windows with a wrap around, dining balcony overlooking the city, and a large in-laid wood dining room table with a beautiful fruit basket and a card with my name on it, sitting smack-dab in the middle of it! I HAD MISSED IT!
When we look for Love & Acceptance anywhere else but in the Saving Grace of Jesus (our achievements, our career, alcohol, drugs, and even relationships)– – IT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH! AND . . . When we focus on circumstances around us, and “feelings” inside us – we can totally MISS what God is doing FOR us! It’s like the time I watched a YouTube video that showed a group of people passing a basketball. It said count how many times the basketball is passed. Easily enough, I counted each time the ball was passed. At the end of the video it said “did you see the man in the gorilla suit in the video?”. WHAT???!! There was no man in a gorilla suit! I quickly played the video again, and there on the screen larger than life, was a man in a gorilla suit! How had I missed that? The same way we Miss God working IN, AROUND, THROUGH our life, because we are so distracted by what we don’t have, what is going wrong, or how I “feel” at the moment. All through the blinding lens of “I AM NOT ENOUGH!”
The Truth is we will Never be able to DO enough to earn God’s acceptance, Love, and Salvation! BUT . . .JESUS IS! That is why God tells us in Hebrews 12:1-3 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart”.
My pastor said they teach bank tellers to study everything there is to know about currency (how it feels, how it looks, the colors, placing, etc.), so they will instantly recognize counterfeit currency. When we saturate our mind with the TRUTH that Jesus is enough- – we will recognize the Counterfeit hope, peace, and acceptance, of this world!
Today my friend, no matter what you are going through, no matter what mountains you are facing, or how you “feel”; may you know the Truth! Jesus Loves YOU, this I KNOW, for the Bible tells you so! You are Loved, You are Enough, and He’s Got This!!
Heavenly Father, Thank You for Loving me enough to not only tell me, but send Your Son Jesus, to show me! FIX my eyes, my thoughts, my praise on YOU! Blind my eyes to the distractions of this world, and it’s empty promises. Saturate my mind, my soul, my spirit with Your TRUTH! Thank You for paying the price for my sin, so that I will Always Be Enough in Your Eyes!