We live in a world where we’re led to believe that all of our gaps, voids, and insufficiencies can be filled with something. According to society, the world has so much to offer and it’s our right to have it. Look at advertising:
Mastercard – There are some things money can’t buy, for everything else there’s Mastercard
L’Oreal – Because I’m worth it
Burger King – Have it Your Way
The same is true with vitamins – open the cupboard and reach for an assortment of nutritional supplements to help provide what your body needs. Vitamin A for your eyes, Calcium for your bones, Vitamin B to handle stress, or Glucosamine for your joints. Each formula has something that I need, but no one source is enough to provide it all. We often go searching trying to fill all of our deficiencies.
There is only one place to find everything – God. He is all sufficient. Nothing in our lives has proven to be adequate to fill all of our empty spaces. Not a job, kids, alcohol, beauty, money, food, men, or friends. We have a desire for that “all sufficient one thing” that thoroughly and completely 100% satisfies. But worldly substitutes resemble a gas tank that has to be filled repeatedly. What are you putting in your empty gas tank? God wants to pour forth and fill you to overflowing.
One morning while walking, one of my favorite songs blared through my earbuds with these lyrics: for anything that I will ever need, you are more than enough for me. I asked God, “Can you truly be enough for me? Are you all that I need?” I searched and discovered these three truths to allowing God to be sufficient:
1. Let Him satisfy your desires
Psalm 103:5 – who satisfies your desires with good things
If we focus on Jesus, He begins to change the desires of our heart to align with His plan for our life. He wants more for us than what is good, but what is best.
2. Rely on Him for strength
Isaiah 58:11 – The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
Sometimes my life’s circumstances are too much for me. I grow weary and depleted because I fail to seek God’s solution, counsel, or guidance. It’s a continual crying out to Him to sustain, uplift, and empower. I have to remind myself to turn to Him when I’m overwhelmed.
3. Believe He can meet all of your needs
Psalm 23:1 – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want
It’s an illustration of total reliance and trust on the part of the sheep. The shepherd feeds, waters, protects from danger, provides shelter, and sleeps with one eye open. That is our Savior’s love for us and His desire to provide. The key is living in total surrender instead of trying to make our own way in the desert.
My favorite example resides in the experience of the Israelites who wandered around the desert for 40 years. God provided manna, water, pillars of fire, and their clothing never wore out. Imagine walking around for years and your clothing stayed good as new. My problem would be that I always fluctuate from size to size so my clothes would have to expand or reduce.
Or consider when Jesus took 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed 5,000. After this miracle was performed there was more than enough – twelve baskets of surplus which would allow each disciple to take home leftovers as a witness to the power of God in providing for our needs.
What will it take to ease your burden?
What do you need to relieve the anxiety you feel?
When do you think you might reach a state of contentment and fulfillment?
Those questions can only be answered when you come to the realization that God is enough.
About Shelley Pulliam
Howdy! (A girl from Oklahoma has to use this as her greeting) I’m Shelley Pulliam, executive director of Arise Ministries and former teacher of hormone-filled 8th graders. But my real claim to fame rests in my award as second grade spelling bee champ and my recent gun-handling skills as I train to competition shoot. It helps me be on guard when Satan comes knocking. I’m a voracious reader and can frequently be found at the theater enjoying movie marathons where my record stands at six in one day. I’m a single, never married, who loves to pour into children at every opportunity. Let me know if you have any for sale. You can connect with me on social media. https://www.instagram.com/shelleypulliam/