The Gospel of enough is what we follow. That is in theory, of course. If you’ve observed human nature for more than three seconds, you’d know that this doesn’t hold its weight in water. I find I spend each day thinking about, planning and conspiring how to get more and more. This is just how we are wired, or maybe it’s just me, but I’m highly doubtful of this possibility. So then, why do I say we follow the Gospel of enough?

“Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.” –Proverbs 27:20

There’s a huge disconnect. We have this Gospel that I claim is about having enough, but within the Bible itself, it recognizes man is never satisfied. This seems rather incompatible no matter what angle you approach it. However, the problem isn’t the incompatibility, but rather the misperception. Always wanting more means that if we continue to receive, at some point we will have more than we can handle. Let’s use money in this example and if I literally have more money than I know what to do with, is it not more money than I could really want? It is certainly more than I could need and herein lies the misperception. Always having more is the lie we’ve bought. We don’t always want more, because at some point we are no longer able to enjoy it. We first have to understand this fact.

“Enough is not only as good as a feast, but is all that the greatest glutton can truly enjoy. This is all that we should expect; a craving for more than this is ungrateful.” –Spurgeon “Morning and Evening”

Enough is all we could want. Really, we want in the pursuit of enjoyment, but with all things we reach a threshold and are no longer able to enjoy. God knew this from the beginning and thus each day gives us our daily bread. He grants us enough strength, mercy, grace, etc. to last us through the day, but no more. Even more certainly, it will last no less than the fullness of that day. The moment we wake, the Spirit is poured into us so as to fill us up for the day’s events (trials, glories et al.) Any more and we would not be able to withstand it. One iota more and we would be overwhelmed by the excess and less, we would be forsaken.

“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” — Matthew 17:20b-21

Enough is more. I believe part of the meaning of Jesus’ words here have every bit to do with this matter of enough. The disciples were asking for more faith and Jesus’ retort seems to point them in another direction. In these words I hear Him saying that they had already been given enough faith, but that it was up to them to realize that enough was what they truly needed and desired. Christ here takes the lie and turns it on its head. He is saying that more is less and enough is more. The men walking daily with Jesus only needed the faith the size of the smallest known seed at the time, I doubt the size of the faith was the real issue.

This is the beauty of the Gospel. It provides an end to our otherwise unceasing striving for more. We are granted rest from the monotony and strain. We are set free from the vanity of more. Yet, in the midst of it all, it promises all we could ever enjoy. No, it is not the gospel of more, because the Gospel of Enough is all that could be asked. Amen.