Gospel-Centered Mom: A 5-Day Devotional By Brooke McGlothlinSample

Placing Our Eyes on Him

I’ve spent a good deal of time searching the Bible for the concept that human beings were designed to be enough on their own, but I haven’t been able to find any passages that declare our innate awesomeness is just waiting to be revealed.

What I have found is consistent evidence of just the opposite: you and I are both something of a mess.

Even though God graciously uses my experiences over and over again to remind me that I’m not enough, I don’t really need them to know it’s true. The Word of God reminds me clearly that only God is enough.

You may disagree with me, saying, “Wait a minute! God is enough, so I’m enough!” Or “God will give me everything I need; therefore, I’m enough.” Or, “Jesus lives in me, so He makes me enough.” I see the arguments behind all these different ways of assuring ourselves that we have what it takes to succeed at whatever we set our minds to. But the Gospel isn’t, at its core, about us ever being enough on our own. We grow. We change. But we never arrive. We never stop needing.

The word enough means “to fully meet demands, needs, or expectations.” It’s the “fully” part of the definition that catches me. If we’re “fully” able to meet demands, needs, or expectations, why would we continue to need Jesus? We are supposed to be dependent on Him for everything. We may be saved and have all the benefits of that salvation. Certainly when God looks at us, He no longer sees our sin but the righteousness of His Son. With Jesus we have everything we need, but that doesn’t take away our need for Him to give it. We don’t become capable of developing the necessary strength in ourselves.

The problem is with the placement of our eyes. When we believe we are enough—even when we feel that Jesus’s enough makes us enough—we’re placing our eyes on ourselves, as if our abilities are top priority. On the other hand, when we acknowledge our constant need for and dependence on God, our eyes are on Him, and His priorities take over.

What would it look like in daily life to embrace the idea that you are not enough, rather than trying to overcome it?