Enough is Enough

♪When peace like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul.♫

How many of us know this song by heart? How many of us grew up singing this song often in church? Now, how many of us sing this song and have no idea what we are really singing?

I came home and put this lyric as my status on facebook. Soon after, a friend of mine (the fabulous and amazing Amy King) commented and said that the writer of the song had quite a story to go along with the song. She told me the general details of his life and then I proceeded to do a little more research. Horatio Spafford wrote this song after he had lost everything he had in the Great Chicago Fire, losing a son at the age of 4 and then losing four daughters in a tragic ship accident. This man found himself literally with nothing but his grieving wife and God. Luckily God tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Look at that again, His power is made perfect in our weakness. Spafford's situation was less than perfect, but I am sure that he realized that he served a gracious and loving God. I once heard it put very simply..."God is sufficient, Jesus is enough." If we have nothing but God himself to cling to, we have enough.

We sang this song this morning at Town Creek Baptist. I have known this song for years and it has always had meaning to me, but this morning, the meaning just hit me a little harder. My church graciously took up a love offering for me and my best friend as we are preparing to go to Alaska in March on a mission trip. We are going to serve those who are "less fortunate." After I read the story of Spafford and I thought about the people we will be serving in Alaska, I looked at my life. I have never lost a close relative or friend, live in a wealthy country, in a middle class neighborhood, I am intelligent, can afford college, have a car (and can afford the gas to fill it), I have a phenomenal and supportive family, opportunities that some people would kill for, a great boyfriend, and I could just go on and on. To say that I am blessed is an understatement. But here's where I got caught...If I did not have all of these things...If I lost everyone I loved, lived in poverty, could not get into college, walked everywhere, had no family, was single, and looked as if I was going no where with my life, would I still be able to honestly sing these lyrics? I do not know the answer to this question without being in the situation, but I would hope it would be yes. You see, it does not matter how unfortunate our circumstances may seem. God is still God, He is still on His throne, and He alone will always be enough. So despite your circumstances I challenge you to wake up every morning with the attitude of "God is sufficient, Jesus is enough." I think you may come to find that your "bad days" are not so bad after all.