A Brief Gospel Thought
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” Titus 2:11-14
When I started to think through what I wanted to write about this week, I was faced with a new kind of writer’s block. I am currently overwhelmed with what God has been teaching me. Overwhelmed to a point where I don’t even know where to start.
So rather than try to pin point one theme to expound on today, I’d like to just take a moment and remind myself, and you if you’re reading, that the gospel is enough.
It is enough for you when you are burdened by a thousand demands and not enough time to meet them. It is enough when you face the unexpected loss of a loved one. It is enough when the fear of our world’s future threatens to consume. It is enough when you are stuck in a mundane season and you feel useless, worthless, and unseen. It is enough when your desires go unmet. It is enough. It is enough. It is enough.
For most of my life, I didn’t truly believe it to be so. I never would have said those words out loud, but nothing in my life proved I truly believed. I let my emotions sit on the throne of my heart and rule my decisions and actions. I would often make myself sick with worry over things I couldn’t control. The evidences of my faith were merely markers I proudly checked off yet never allowed to pierce through my misguided heart.
Until one incredible day when God began to break me. He started with the knowledge I held in my mind, upheaving every false picture I had of him. He showed me how high my view of myself was and the tragically low view I held of him. He used his word to completely switch those views. I studied how truly wonderful and awe-inspiring God is. I saw his majesty in every page of Scripture which led me to see my own sinfulness in light of his holiness. I was broken and ashamed at how rebellious I had been and rejoiced at the mercy I was met with (Ephesians 2:1-10).
For the first time ever, I was hungry for God’s word. I craved more and more time with him. I was satisfied in him.
And then he brought me into a season of severe postpartum depression and anxiety. Every sinful emotion I had let rule my heart in the past came back with a vengeance I felt powerless to fight against. But God didn’t leave me. He used every tear, every irrational fear, every step towards the pit of despair that called my name to prove time and again that he was enough (Romans 8:28; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
In the two years since then, I’ve walked through two miscarriages, the sudden loss of my father, and hundreds of mundane days where I have felt completely stuck in a sea of diapers and dirty dishes. I have been tempted to despair more times to count. But, by God’s grace, I cling to the gospel.
Because God has saved my sinful soul on no merit of my own, I can rest even when the demands of life are many (Matthew 11:28-30). Because God has defeated death and has promised to one day make all things new, I find true peace and comfort when I walk through loss (Revelation 21:1-5). Because God has redeemed my life and restored my relationship with himself, my life has purpose and value, even when he has called me to walk through mundane seasons (1 Peter 2:9).
I suppose this wasn’t as brief of a note as I originally thought it would be. Let me sum it up like this:
The gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply an add on to our resumes. It is the life-changing, open heart surgery we all desperately need. It is the grace that sustains us in every mundane and monumental moment of life. It is the hope, peace, love, and joy we long for in this broken world.
In short, it is enough.
