Enough Is Enough

Tensions have been mounting. Stress has been compounding. And the tears have been falling. Hard. Blame it on moving, transitioning and settling into a new home, a new church, a new school, and meeting new faces at every turn. Point to the three boys between ages 7-11 under one roof attempting to survive until adulthood – with parents intact. Or let autism take the fall for the havoc wreaked upon our family. For the fighting and aggravation amongst the brothers. For the emotional and mental strain bearing all its weight on our parental shoulders. Just throw it all in a blender, turn it on high and forget the lid. Whichever scapegoat you choose, enough is enough.

Have you been there? Are you there now like I am? Have you had enough?

I’ve had enough bickering. Enough eye rolling. Enough heavy sighs in response to instructions. Enough screaming. Enough crying. Enough chasing after the dog in the new neighborhood (nothing to do with special-needs or parenting, but since it exists, I thought I may as well throw that in there, too.) Enough picky eating, potty accidents, and pettiness. Enough disrespect, disobedience, disingenuousness, dishonesty, and all the other words with a “dis” prefix. Enough confusion about how to handle… this. Enough feeling like a complete and UTTER failure as a mom – as a human being.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have enough patience. Enough compassion. Enough empathy. Enough grace. Enough stamina. Enough peace. Enough joy. Enough rest. Enough motivation. Enough umph. Enough time. Enough ability. Enough desire. Enough love to keep this crazy world of ours going ’round, or enough love to keep us together (who wants to be the Captain to my Tennille?)

Have you had enough of the word enough yet?

I have. So I throw my hands up in the air and resign myself to the fact that I just don’t have it in me. I don’t have enough to give. I can’t do this.

But as it turns out, I do, and I can.

II Peter 1:2-3 says,

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.  (Emphasis mine.)

Friends, do you know what this means? Do you recognize the power contained in these holy words? These words – given by God himself – tell us that we have enough because God granted it to us. He gave it to us. Freely. He gave it through His son, Jesus. If God has given us enough, that which only comes through truly knowing Christ, then Jesus is enough. And we are enough because…

We have Jesus! We have everything pertaining to life and godliness because we have been given Jesus, and Jesus is enough. Peter goes on to unleash the power of “everything pertaining to life and godliness” in verses 5-7:

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge; and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness; and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

For everything that I had enough of in dealing with my kids, I have overwhelmingly been given enough of everything I didn’t have in order to deal with my kids. For every impatience I have waiting for the smallest obedience, I have been given an immeasurable amount of self-control that leads to perseverance. For every screaming meltdown, I have the perseverance of Christ that leads to godliness. For every shred of bitterness I have about my son’s autism, I have the undying love of God to give him through Christ in me.

There is even greater hope found in verse 8: “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If Christ is in you, then you have every ability to live out all of the above, and in doing so, you prove yourself to be a true child of God. As His child, you cannot be useless because He is useful. You cannot be a failure because He is your success. You might have had enough of the challenges that parenting a child with special-needs (and maybe their siblings too) brings. And yet, you are enough because God has given you Jesus, and HE is all the “enough” you’ll ever need to face all the “enough” you can’t take anymore.

So the question remains at the end of the day, will you have had Enough today?