Dear Elim Grace, let’s be honest: are you enough? 

Have you said to yourself or looked at yourself in the mirror and declared, “You are enough!” 

This is a common narrative in our culture, one that leads us to believe we have and are all that we need to succeed in life. Whatever the obstacle to our success, we are enough. Whatever the setback from our failure, we are enough. Whatever others have done to us or failed to do for us, we are enough.

But our best attempts at being all-sufficient, all-knowing, and all-powerful fall short. Sooner or later we discover with horror or with joy that we are not enough. That we are not capable of silencing our deepest fears, of conquering our deepest sins, of meeting our deepest needs, of satisfying our deepest desires.

When Paul is faced with a “thorn in the flesh,” he is faced with severe limitations and boundaries to what he can do in and for himself. He reaches a point where he is brought to the end of himself. He is not enough and has no reason to boast in himself as though he is. There is no mirror that can convince him otherwise. No self-help or self-motivation can give him the inner strength to pull out the thorn. But Paul hasn’t lost his faith, only his self-reliance.

When we are born, we are taught and learn to take control of our lives. When we are  “born again” we are taught and learn to give up control of our lives to Jesus. If Jesus, who was the perfect radiance of the glory and image of God, needed to learn obedience and surrender to God, how much more do we who are fallen short of the glory of God because of our own sin? A reliance on self will always come to an end. It is only our reliance on God—it is God on Whom we rely!—that will keep us steady and confident, joyful and strong. 

It is because we are not enough that Christ has come. Freedom in life is freedom in Christ and freedom in Christ is surrender to Christ—the complete surrender of our lives and all attempts at being enough without God. What Paul receives when crying out for his “thorn” to be taken away is not the disappearance of the “thorn”. He receives something far greater: the appearance of God’s grace.  “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When Christ replies, “My grace is sufficient for you,” it is shorthand for  “I am enough”. Where God’s grace appears, Jesus Christ is personally present.

God may not tell you what, where, when, or how He will provide for you in the future. But He does tell you, “I will be with you,” and that is enough. He is enough. 

Dear Elim Grace, let’s be honest: you are not enough. I am not enough. We are not enough. But Jesus Christ is enough. He is “ the same yesterday and today and forever”. (Hebrews 13:8)