EP 194: Jesus Is Enough: Resting in Christ’s Sufficiency
Inside: Jesus is enough for salvation and every part of daily life. His grace is sufficient for whatever the Lord has placed before us today.
This post is adapted from chapter 10, “Resting in Christ’s Sufficiency,” in my book, Homemaking Matters: Living for God’s Glory in the Ordinary. It also accompanies episode 194 of the Thankful Homemaker Podcast.
I love a good homemaking tip. Having a cleaning routine, like cleaning certain rooms on certain days of the week, has been such a help to me. So has meal planning with theme days for each night, or even just making sure I do one load of laundry a day. When something like that works, it makes such a difference in my day.
And if anyone ever invents a laundry system that folds everything and puts it away too, please tell me. I’ll be first in line!
But I’ve learned that no routine, however good, can fix what’s going on in my heart. There are those days when things get out of hand and nothing goes as planned, and I find myself anxious and overwhelmed. Honestly, I’m not the most pleasant person to be around for the people in my home. My routine didn’t give me patience on those days. That’s something only the Lord could give.
Chapter 10 of Homemaking Matters brings us back to the truth I pray runs throughout the entire book. It’s also the reminder I end every podcast episode with: Jesus is enough.
Listen to the Podcast (13 minutes) or read the post below (9 minutes):
Why Practical Homemaking Help Is Not Enough
We aren’t lacking anything we truly need for a faithful, godly life. Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 1:3 that God’s divine power “has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness.”
That doesn’t mean we’ll always feel strong or know exactly what to do. But it does mean the Lord will give us the grace we need to obey Him in whatever He’s placed in front of us today. Christ isn’t only enough to save us. He’s enough for all of life.
I’ve had so many days when nothing seemed to go right, and yet God was so good to bring a verse to mind right when I needed it. When my kids were little, there were days they really tried my patience, and if I’m honest, they were just bringing out the sin that was already in my heart. In those moments, Proverbs 15:1 would come back to me: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” It brought my heart back to responding with grace, apologizing to my child if I had snapped at them, and seeking the Lord’s forgiveness.
He doesn’t always take away what’s hard, but He’s always given me grace to keep going right in the middle of it. And sometimes that grace comes through other people.
So often in a hard season, a text has come in from a dear friend letting me know she’s praying for me. Or my husband has come home, seen that it was a hard day, and taken care of dinner and getting the kids tucked into bed. That was the Lord caring for me through His people, and I’m so thankful for it. But a text or a meal can’t do what only He can do.
He is faithful to give us what we need for today.
Jesus Is Enough for Our Salvation
So, is Jesus really enough? Yes! I think I said it in my book a thousand times: yes, yes, and yes again. But we need to slow down sometimes and remind our hearts why that’s true.
Hebrews 10:14 tells us that “by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” By His once-for-all sacrifice, Jesus has fully secured our acceptance before God.
I’m very task-focused and always have a list in front of me of what I need to get done, and I can too easily fall into measuring my day by how much I check off. Then I start thinking that’s how the Lord sees me too.
But I’m so thankful my standing before Him doesn’t rise and fall with how my day went. It’s resting on what Christ has already done for me, and all the while God is still at work in me, making me more like Jesus.
Time in God’s Word matters so much, and I want its truth to shape the way I live. But reading my Bible faithfully isn’t what makes me right with God, and growing in godliness isn’t either.
Only Jesus can do that.
I know this truth, but I don’t always live like it’s true. The Lord has been so kind to keep me in His Word, and I know it’s what I need every morning. But when He has convicted me of sin, I can find myself hesitating to pray, almost as if I need to get myself back together before I come to Him. That’s exactly when I need to come, confessing my sin, opening His Word, and reminding myself of what is true.
And what is true is the gospel. I heard it many times growing up, and I read my Bible, but for years I was trying to be right with God on my own terms. I thought I was a good person because I went to church and did “good things.” The first time I truly saw that I was a great sinner in need of a Savior, it was such a freeing moment for me. I couldn’t make myself right with God, and I didn’t have to. Jesus lived the perfect life I never could, died in my place, and rose again, and when I repented and trusted in Him alone, I was saved because of everything He has done.
One little book that has been such a help to me in remembering these truths is A Gospel Primer for Christians by Milton Vincent. It sits on the little table next to my chair, right alongside my Bible and the other books I read and work through each morning. It’s really helped me understand the importance of preaching the gospel to my own heart. That means not just looking back to the day the Lord saved me, but reminding myself every day of what Christ has done on my behalf.
God’s Grace Is Sufficient In Our Weakness
Christ is sufficient for our salvation, and His grace is sufficient for our daily lives.
One of my favorite reminders comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9, where the Lord tells Paul:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
These are words I need to hear often. I would much rather feel capable and in control than weak and needy, and I imagine I’m not alone in that. But our weakness reminds us how much we need the Lord and allows us to see more clearly that the strength is His, not ours.
We don’t have to pull ourselves together before we come to Him. Hebrews 4:16tells us to draw near to the throne of grace, where we will receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. We can come honestly, trusting the Lord to meet us with mercy and give us the help we need.
When Paul begged the Lord to take his thorn away, the Lord didn’t remove it. He reminded Paul that His grace was enough and gave him the strength to keep going. I’ve found that’s so often how the Lord works with me too. I’m in a long season of waiting right now, and I’ve prayed and prayed for something to change, and it hasn’t. He hasn’t changed my circumstances, but He is changing me right in the middle of them and teaching me to lean on Him.
First Thessalonians 5:18 is one of my favorites. It calls us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” That isn’t always easy in this season of waiting, and I won’t pretend some days don’t hurt.
But I can still thank Him right here in the middle of the waiting. God is good, and He hasn’t left me, and I know He’s using even this to make me more like Jesus.
What Depending on Christ Looks Like in Everyday Life
The Lord’s strength meets me in such ordinary places. On days when I have more to do than I have energy for, He helps me see what really needs to get done, and I can leave the rest for another day with peace, even if that means the bathroom has to wait to get cleaned. Most likely no one is going to notice except me anyway!
I can see this in my own homemaking, especially when I’ve been getting ready to have people over. I wanted to open our home and let my light shine, and yet the whole time I was getting ready, my heart attitude toward my family was awful! Wanting the house ready for guests wasn’t wrong. But when things didn’t go my way and I was short with everyone, it sure showed me how tightly I was holding onto my own plans.
I was asking the Lord all day to help me get everything done, when what I really needed was for Him to change my heart. Sometimes His grace doesn’t look like helping me get it all done. It looks like Him showing me the sin in my heart, giving me grace to repent, and teaching me to want what pleases Him more than I want my plans to work out.
Sometimes His grace doesn’t look like helping me get everything done. It looks like the Lord showing me the sin in my heart and giving me grace to repent. He is teaching me to want what pleases Him more than I want my plans to work out.
Philippians 2:13 reminds us that “it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” Even our growing desire to please Him is evidence of His grace at work in us.
I’ve had mornings when I looked at the day ahead and just wanted to crawl back into bed. Sometimes it was because I had so much to do that I felt overwhelmed before I’d even started, and other times it was just one or two hard things I knew I was going to have to face. Those mornings remind me how quickly I come to the end of my own strength and how much I need the Lord. That’s when I stop and pray:
“Lord, I’m weak, but You are strong. Help me trust You right here.”
Sometimes it helps me to tape a verse to the refrigerator or pray it through while I’m making dinner. One of my favorites is Psalm 46:1:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
That’s one to camp in for a while.
We Need Jesus on the Good Days Too
Jesus never changes. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that He is “the same yesterday and today and forever.” He is faithful and good, and His grace never runs out. We can depend on Him today just as surely as we did yesterday.
We don’t just need a little help from Jesus. We need Him completely.
And I need Him on the good days too, when the house is peaceful, my routines are running just how I planned, and I’m feeling all on top of things, right? Those may be the very moments I’m most tempted to rely on myself. Jesus reminds us in John 15:5, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
We need Him when our thoughts are anxious and our patience is wearing thin. We need Him in circumstances that are hard. But we need Him when life is going well too. His grace teaches us to receive His good gifts with thanksgiving instead of taking them for granted. It guards us from relying upon ourselves and helps us remain faithful in the work He has given us. There is no part of our day where He isn’t essential.
So when we say Jesus is enough, we’re not saying life will be easy or that we’ll always feel strong. We’re saying that whatever the Lord allows in our lives, Christ will be with us, and His grace will be enough to help us walk faithfully through it. It’s how I close every podcast episode, and I mean it every time: Jesus truly is enough, always.
About Homemaking Matters
This post and podcast episode were adapted from chapter 10 of my book, Homemaking Matters: Living for God’s Glory in the Ordinary.
The book is now available, and my prayer is that it will point women to Christ and remind us how much we need Him in every part of our lives. You can learn more at HomemakingMatters.com or visit me here at ThankfulHomemaker.com.
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