There’s a popular quote in
Christian circles that goes “When God is all you have, you realize that God is
all you need.” These words are many times expressed to those going through hardships,
conflicts and trials. The words are voiced as words of hope to bring encouragement
when it seems like all else is falling apart. Furthermore. It’s often said, and the Bible reminds of
this, that in those moments of despair, depression and confusions that we cling
closest to God. We ask for prayer and pray more than we ever have. Looking into
my own life, the analysis is very much the same. I’ve relied on God the most
and asked for the most help and support in moments of heartbreak, devastating
illness, death and personal or professional failures. Your turn to God willingly,
and even sometimes unwillingly, when the weight of the world is falling on your
shoulders.
Pain and low points are a part of
life. They come and go. They are sometimes a result of our own doing, and
sometimes completely unexplainable and unstoppable. But, life isn’t just marked
by pain. Life also brings moments of success, triumph and just a slew of gifts
and blessings.
So what about those moments? When,
while life isn’t by any means perfect, it sure is good and you feel as though
you are reaping in gifts from above?
Something I’ve been thinking
about is how to cling to God when God isn’t necessarily all you have. When life
is being extraordinarily blessed, there are ways to still cling to God. Pain
produces growth and maturity, but I think that in a season of added goodness,
there is much more for growth as well.
I thought about things that I
often lack or perhaps have smaller quantity of in the “hard seasons” and I’ve
found that it’s commonly focus, time, energy and financial resources. In the
periods where life is just weighing on your shoulders, those are the things I
try to conserve in an effort to restore myself or a given situation. While I
think it’s okay to conserve your energy or say “no” or save money when life stretches
you thin, those are areas I want to give more of in a response of thanks to
blessings pouring in.
I think the first step is
recognition and thanks for the goodness that’s been given to you. It’s so easy
to ask God for things, but all too often we don’t say thanks then those things
are given to us. In the moment of excitement, we forget the giver. Remember the
story when Jesus healed 10 men from a lifelong struggle with leprosy and only one
came back to thank him?
Second, I think it’s never
forgetting that all good things are gifts from above and that they weren’t achieved
just through our own strengths. I need to be reminded that God is the giver of
these things as it says in James: “Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
As I celebrate the new blessings
and additions in my life, I want to make sure that in these joys and high points,
I’m striving to cling to God all the more and continue to hold him first above
all else. I want to always be reminded that God is always all I need, and the
other wonderful gifts he gives are all the more reason to praise him more. I want to pray more prayers of thanks and I
want to give more time to Him. I want to be more intentional and focused on
nurturing my prayer life and my church life. Through this season, I want to
give more of my time and energy to Him not only through direct contact, but
also by serving and pouring into others through the giving of my time and
resources. Sounds ambitious huh?
It is. And it’s easier said than done.
Because this week and next and the one following isn’t going
to bring a plethora of free time or extra money or energy. The grind will keep
going and each day will bring its challenges, but beyond that, it shouldn’t
stop me from giving thanks. God is truly all I need, even in moments when he
isn’t all I have.
I’ve been given so much, and to whom much is given, much is
rightfully expected.
