I used to have another blog. I deleted it. It represented failure, so I wanted to forget about it.
If only our memories were as easy to delete.
The blog was called Just Enough Joy. I must have settled on that peculiar title on a bad day. Actually, I think it was a bad year. Back then, I believed God for just enough… and that’s exactly what I received.
Just enough money. Just enough sleep. Just enough sanity.
Sure, God provided, but He seemed to hold back His hand until the eleventh hour. As a result, I experienced more than enough stress and just enough joy.
With just enough energy to make it from breakfast to bedtime, I probably shouldn’t have tried to start a blog. I never posted anything after the first one. (I’m convinced that’s a good thing!) That lonely post was entitled, “Stress Relief.”
Is it any wonder?
I explained (with more than enough pragmatism) the discipline of giving thanks in spite of your circumstances brings just enough peace. Then later, in the same post, I quoted Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
“Just enough peace” according to me. “Perfect peace” according to Scriptures.
I’m thankful God has more than enough patience to gently correct me and remind me of His unlimited resources.
“The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23a NLT
Another misguided post like the one on my short-lived-now-deleted blog may find its way here. I hope not, but offer no guarantees of perfection. I see myself as a clay jar, filled with the treasure of God’s indwelling presence—the oil of the Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 4:7). I intend to pour out only what He pours in, but sometimes my human nature spills into the mix. That’s why at each of my speaking engagements I pray, “Lord, if I say something wrong make everyone forget it before leaving this place.” It’s a little stickier with the written word. (I’ve heard nothing ever really disappears from the Internet.)
Even if I squeak by on just enough money or just enough sleep, with this blog I will acknowledge God’s all-sufficiency in spite of my circumstances. I intend to believe God for more than enough and receive it.