Enough: to the required degree or extent.
I went to lunch recently with some friends, and one of the older members of this group of kind, loving, God-fearing women said she was tired of the word “enough”. As in “You are Enough”. You. Are. Enough. She said she didn’t ever feel that way, and didn’t know why people stopped trying to do more, be more, learn more, give more. She feels that today’s culture encourages young people to think they are “enough”. Are we ever “enough”? My young friends say, “I’ve done the best I can, so that’s good enough!” In school, in sports, in our jobs, with our families, we all try our best, and some days it has to be enough. But many of us feel enough is just not really good enough. By definition, it’s the amount given to the required degree. We have enough food, so we don’t go hungry. But do we make enough to feed ten people instead of just the two to five people in our family? That’s more than enough. We have enough clothes so we are comfortable in whatever the weather requires of us. But do we have so many clothes there is no more room for hangers in our closets? That’s more than enough. When we pack to go in a trip, do we overpack or take just the right amount needed? We spend more than enough money on things that we could get by with lesser amounts on, but we worry there won’t be enough. Do we ever have enough money? Enough time? Enough space? So when something drains us inside, and we are tired and beaten down and angry, we say we’ve had enough. Enough is enough. No more. The well is empty. Sometimes a break, some sleep, time away, a bubble bath, a cup of tea, can refill that well within that we draw on every day.
Does the apple tree say, “I’m tired and I don’t feel like flowering or producing apples this year?” Unless it is in a drought, or riddled with pests or disease, it will produce apples to the best of its ability for decades. And it doesn’t produce a “required amount”, it produces as much as it can handle for as long as it can. The same can said for us, we, our hearts and minds and our fruits, those of the spirit, will continually produce as long as we continue to strive to do more. Don’t sit back and rest too long, become stagnant and bored, but get up, learn something new, take on a challenge, and the rewards you reap will surprise you. You. Are. More than Enough.
But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22
