is God enough?

Right now, my family is in the process of moving from our rental house to a small condo we just purchased. And I'm not too thrilled with the move. I hate change. The condo isn't everything I want it to be. It's small and dated. I'm trying to be content with it, but I always return to my disappointment and complaints. I know that God calls us to be content with what we have. Material things are temporary. Eternal things like my relationship with God are so much more important. But, I was missing the bigger warning flag my discontentment raised.

This morning, during my quiet time, I started reading an amazing book called Lies Young Women Believe. When I read the first lie many girls my age fall for -- God is not enough -- my gut reaction was "I don't believe that!" I know that God is who he says he is and he is everything I need. However, there is a big difference between knowing in your mind and believing in your heart. As I continued reading, the authors spoke about the signs of those believing this lie -- discontentment and dissatisfaction. And suddenly, the Holy Spirit convicted me. He made the connection. I didn't realize that I was being deceived by Satan's lies. I merely thought that my discontentment was disobeying God's command to be joyful. In reality, I was doubting the character of God. I was falling for the trap that I needed something other than God to be happy. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The fall of man in the Garden dug a giant hole in my heart. God created man for close relationship with Himself. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, sin entered the world, and with it, eternal separation from their Father. Now, humanity craves that relationship they are missing. As a result, we try to fill that hole with anything we can find -- friendships, materialism, romance, etc. But searching for fulfillment in anything other than the Lord is claiming he isn't enough.

Hebrews 13:5 says, "Keep your lives free from money and be content with what you have, because God has said 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.'" When I first read this verse, I didn't quite understand the connection between the command -- to be content -- and the reason behind it -- God will never leave us. As I dug deeper, I realized that this verse is a perfect representation that dissatisfaction is doubting God's character. God calls us to be content with what we have because material things will fall short of solving the deep aches in our heart. However, He will always be with us and He is capable of satisfying our deepest desires. He is enough to heal our brokenness. And he will be there when everything around us fails. God gave us everything we needed on the cross -- forgiveness, love, relationship, eternal life. Now, because of the hope we have in Jesus, He also gave us the freedom to be not only content, but joyful.

- Savannah Brooke

Are there things in your life you feel that you need other than God to make you happy or complete? I encourage you to go before the Lord and ask him for a peaceful and content heart. I would love to pray for you as well on our journey to relying on God alone, so please comment below!