It Is Enough

Across arid, parched plains, his beard grizzled with time and dust, Jacob’s eyes strained to see the swirls of dust in the distance.

Could it be? Could his long-lost son really be alive and well on the other side of the dunes?

“Torn by animals, nothing to bring back,” he could still remember the words. His body recoiled at the very memory. Despite himself, he envisioned the bloody coat, once vibrant with happy colors, painstakingly dyed by a father’s love…hanging in violent shreds, empty of its beloved owner.

For over twenty years, Jacob had shouldered the grief of the loss, the guilt of sending his young son alone to check on his brothers. Many sleepless nights had filled the last few decades—nights of “what ifs,” “I should haves,” and “could I have done betters.” Tearful nights intermixed with long days of deep loneliness and despair.

It seemed a lifetime ago…

But now, a faint glimmer of hope had disturbed his years of broken surrender, and somewhere, somehow, someone had seen his son, perhaps touched his hand, or heard his voice. Could it be? Or was it just some cruel joke?

Jacob waited with bated breath as the caravan moved slowly along toward Egypt, watching the horizon for any sign.

Then, all at once, the sun’s rays glinted off something metallic in the distance. A chariot! Horsemen!

Jacob leaned forward, his eyes creased at the edges, looking across the vast expanse of ground between them until… something about the man in the middle, the way he handled the reins, the way his body steadied itself against the pounding hooves sent chills through his body.

As the distance closed between them, Jacob could barely take a breath. It was him!

Despite his age, Jacob couldn’t contain himself as he hurried forward to reach the man running toward him. It was him! Joseph!

In that moment, the darkest nightmares of the past were over. The hardest moments, the regrets, the doubts, and the remonstrations were forgotten. Jacob did not waste time decrying the harshness of decades past, nor did he charge God for the countless nights he had thought his precious son was beyond hope.

No! At that moment, Jacob grasped his son in his arms and cried out, “It is enough!” (Genesis 45:28)

This man, who had been walking in hurt and heartache for twenty years, didn’t waste time mourning the birthdays missed or the milestones he couldn’t witness of Joseph growing into manhood. He didn’t count the years Joseph had been missing, saying, “God, I want the time back.”

Jacob didn’t even dwell on the bitterness of what his other sons had done. No, his son was alive! No matter the great expanse of time that it took for a father and son to be reconciled, Jacob proclaimed, “It is enough!”

Why? Because all that mattered was that his son was redeemed! Alive! Restored!

So many parents have found themselves in the same pit of hurt as Jacob, perhaps with children who appear to be spiritually dead, removed from the family, or past hope. But as long as there is breath in their body, there is a God whose hand is upon them!

Restoration and revival are upon us!

No matter how broken and devastated we feel; no matter how hopeless or final the situation seems; we serve a God who can raise the dead to life again! We serve a God who can take the impossible case and resurrect a miracle from ashes! And when God is involved, it will always be enough!

No matter the desperate situation, whether it be financial, familial, medical, or spiritual, it is time to release those broken pieces into the Master’s hand. Whatever you have left, it is enough to do the seemingly impossible!

Whatever condition of sickness, God can heal and make it whole. Whatever dreams lie broken and disjointed at your feet, God can mend and make new. Whatever the emptiness, God can fill. Whatever the loss, God can restore tenfold.

Psalm 104:28 says, “Thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good!”

We simply must reach the point of surrender to God’s will. “Lord, I’m hurting and I don’t see a way forward… but whatever You do, it is enough! I trust You with how You move in this situation.”

Job had an “It is enough” moment. Losing all his wealth, children, and health, he came to a place where he cried out, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

He was saying, “God, whatever You decide to do in my life, it is enough for me. I trust You.”

We know that Job was restored. His wealth and his health was returned, and he was blessed with children again; now, double the children will rejoice with Job in heaven.

Elijah also had an “It is enough” moment. After Mount Caramel and the coming of rain, he found himself weary in body and spirit, unable—in his strength—to go on. He thought his time was over and he laid himself down in the wilderness, saying, “It is enough.”

“God, what You’ve chosen to do in my life is enough. I’m done asking for more; I’m done asking for things to be my way. I am satisfied with what You’ve given.”

He had made peace with however God decided to end his story (even though he misunderstood the timing of that end).

But the power came from a surrender to God’s hand. “Lord, it is enough.”

That proclamation prompted the angels of the Lord, who came and fed Elijah until he regained strength to continue in his ministry!

Your hands may seem empty. Your enemy may be calling your name. You may have lost your family, your hope, your ministry, your business, whatever… but we serve a God who responds to people who say, “God, whatever You do, it is enough!”

There is an incredible unleashing of the supernatural when we relinquish our families and our lives into His hand, trusting that, however God moves, it will always be enough!

God is more than enough.

Romans 8:28 reassures us, “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”