When Jesus Doesn't Feel Like Enough

 

 Do you ever feel as though Jesus is not enough?

I know I have.  

 

I don’t know what your circumstances are, but I know that we all have circumstances that we believe are outside of the Lord’s reach.  Maybe you have lost a loved one and you feel the ache of death.  Maybe you have lost a relationship/ friendship with a person you just knew was the other half of you. Maybe you have lost a child, in the womb or after birth.  Maybe you are a single parent struggling to get through life on your own. There seem to be times when our hearts are so broken that we feel as though we will never be whole again.  I could go on and on about circumstances that leave us feeling alone and abandoned by the Lord

My soul melts with sorrow; 
strengthen me according to Your word.   

 Psalm 119:28

 

We hear that Jesus is all we need, but we struggle to believe it.  We try to find him but can’t seem to lay hands on him.  We cry out from the depths of our hearts, searching and needing to cling to something.  We cry out until our prayers seemingly go unanswered and our hearts grow cold. Then somewhere inside of us, we decide that we cannot trust this person, Jesus, because he has abandoned us. 

 

At this point, we try to do it all ourselves.  We try to plan it, fix it, solve it and fill it.  We do this in various ways.  We drink, we smoke, we medicate, we spend, we lust, and we indulge in the ways of the world to fill an emptiness or meet the emergent need.  

 

Can I tell you again? 

 

I have been there.  The life-changing diagnosis of my son.  The death of my parents.  My marriage. Circumstances when I struggled to feel that Jesus had been enough. 

 

I have so badly wanted “Jesus with skin” to come and hold my hand.  I wanted a physical, tangible person that I could audibly hear.  There is a verse in a song that explains exactly how I have longed for Jesus.  

 

“I want to sit at your feet and drink from the cup in your hand, lay back against you, and breathe, feel your heartbeat.”

 

To sit at his feet like Mary did.  To lean back and feel his warmth.  To be comforted by the rhythmic beating of his heart.  Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it?  Except…that doesn’t require faith.  I want to feel the human presence and Jesus is so much more than who I want him to be….

 

While it might FEEL like Jesus has abandoned us in our time of need, this is not truth. 

 

I would like to give you a formula that would guarantee you always feel the comfort of Christ but that would be dishonest of me. Sometimes it just takes faith to believe the truth that Jesus is enough.  

 

I will tell you that you need to put work into your relationship with Christ just like you would a friend.  Spend time with him.  Talk to him.  He is all throughout the pages of scripture.  I would suggest you spend time in scripture and then spend time in prayer.  

 

Prayer is where we dialogue with the Godhead.  It is so much more than an emergency phone call because we are in need.  Prayer can be intimidating and overwhelming when it’s not something you are used to. It gets easier and less intimidating the more you do it.  Also, the more you pray, the more you just might feel the presence of the Lord. 

 

For the Lord will not forsake his people; 

he will not abandon his heritage. 

Psalm 

 94:14

 

Jesus knows the ache of your heart because he has lived this human life. He has had his heart broken by his friends who didn’t understand him and rejected him. By those in power who arrested him. By those who persecuted him.  His heart was broken knowing what he was called to do.  When his father had to look away from him because of our sin that covered him, he knew the crushing pain of loss that we experience. 

 

He would not go through all of that only to desert us in our time of need. In fact, scripture tells us that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and lives to make intercession on our behalf.  He prays for us through our distress and our sin.  All while the Holy Spirit within us provides the comfort needed and power to carry on in faith.  

 

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand. 

Isaiah 

41:10

 

There is not an emotion that he does not know the minute you feel it and he is ready to meet you wherever you are. 

 

Our flesh may cry out that we are alone and abandoned.  Scripture tells us that the Lord will never leave, nor forsake those who call upon his name.  This is his reassurance that we are never alone!  This means in those moments of our greatest heartache, he is there.  In our greatest loss, he is there.  In the darkest night, he is there. 

 

In your greatest loss when he is all you have, Jesus is all you need. 

 He is enough.