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I have been in a season where I am being stripped. Stripped of all the things on which I place value. Stripped of security. Stripped of desires. Stripped of health and safety. God has been peeling away anything and everything that has been getting in the way of my true purpose - relationship with Him.
All the fluff and excess. All the things of this world that seek to consume my thoughts and very being. It’s all falling away. It’s scary. It’s unnerving. And, it’s downright painful. It has become painstakingly obvious that I have no control. The image I carefully craft that gives the illusion of togetherness has fallen to the wayside. I’m unable to fake it like I used to.
To quote my fellow blogger, Ashley Morgan Jackson, “the end of ourselves is the beginning of Him.” When everything is stripped away to nothingness. When all that’s left is a very broken and raw you. Is He enough? This is where the rubber meets the road. Where we discover the depth of our faith.
If the Giver of all good things takes away, do we still love Him, still praise His name, still submit to His sovereignty?
I’d be lying if I told you I always choose to praise His name, to declare His goodness. But, what I can truthfully tell you is that I’m struggling. I‘m struggling with choosing the Spirit over the flesh. Instead of desperately grasping onto any semblance of control and comfort, I’m learning to live with open hands.
Struggling is okay. It’s good even. My sweet husband reminded me that if we’re not struggling, we’re not growing. And, I want to grow in the Lord every day and in every way. I want to be an oak of righteousness (Psalms 1:1-3, Isaiah 61:1-3).
So, I’m going to keep keeping on, keep struggling well, keep working out my salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Will I stumble? Absolutely. We all will. But, at the end of the day, I believe He is enough. I believe in His sovereignty and will sing of His goodness. I will choose to bless the Lord at all times (Psalms 103).
What about you? When it’s all stripped away and He’s all that you have, is He enough?