God is Enough

As I have been plucked from one side of the Atlantic and placed on the other, it has been a bit of a test spiritually. Everything familiar to me, including my home, my school, my family, close friends, and culture, has been temporarily taken away. It has been interesting to explore the question: is God really enough? Do I truly need only Him to satisfy my needs and desires and fill me completely so that I may not lack anything? I have realized that it is easier said than done to make Jesus the only one I depend on for life, meaning, and purpose.

I realized that I put a lot of value and meaning into things back at home. My identity as a college student, my various titles and positions, my closest friends, my influence, my religion. When these are all either removed or changed in such a way that I can no longer depend on them for meaning in my life, I found that it is true that only God is constant. Everything else fades and can be taken away.

At first, I was honestly slightly depressed when I found that God was all I had from back home. Really? Just one relationship is going to satisfy me? It's not only too good to be true, it's also hard to accept. As I struggled and told Him (He loves our honesty) that I did not think I would be satisfied without his gifts (those things I put value in that are listed above), I looked for Him to answer me. I asked for understanding.

Honestly, sometimes we just forget the basics of the gospel. Or rather, many of us do not let it truly settle in our hearts and whole beings.

God, who is love, died for us.

This is what fills us. Love is so simple, but so full and deep. It is joyous and beautiful, without fear or rejection. I think it will take a lifetime here and eternity to even begin to grasp what (and who) love is.

Humans' greatest desire is to be known and loved. We are made this way because we are made for Him. No matter how much we may believe that anything of this world can bring us satisfaction, we will not be fully at peace with anything or anyone but Him. Everything that seems to satisfy temporarily cannot eternally give us what we need and we are decieved if we think that it could. We need to remind ourselves that Jesus is even better and we just need to seek Him to find out how.

For example, though our parents love us dearly and deeply, there is a human limit to their love. They are not perfect so they cannot love perfectly. When we put our hope and satisfaction in their unconditional love, we will find that our hope will be broken and our satisfaction torn. But since God loves perfectly, He will never disappoint. We will always find that our needs and deepest desires are met with the relationship found in Him.

God loves us in a way unlike any other. He desires us to enjoy Him and everything He made for us in this life. Glorifying Him is exactly that: enjoying Him and showing the world that He is enough.