Blessing Our Not Enoughs

“Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle.” ~Ann Voskamp 

Recently my friend ABJ's Mama suggested that I watch this sermon  given by Christine Caine.  She preaches on the book of Mark, chapter 6.  And I'm here to tell you, she nails it.  Here's the jist.

You probably know the story.  Jesus was preaching and it came time for people to eat.  There were 5,000 men (and likely with women and children there were 15,000 or so).  So Jesus sent the disciples among the crowds to gather up food that people had in order to feed the masses.  They returned with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.  And the disciples panicked--this could never feed all of the people.  Jesus, however, blessed those 5 loaves and 2 fish.  He blessed what was not enough.  And after that, God turned those pieces of bread and little fish into a feast from which 12 baskets of bread were left over.  After Jesus' blessing came a miracle, the "not enough" turned into more than enough.

Our lives are full of "not enoughs."  We're not smart enough, not pretty enough, not thin enough.  We have not enough money, not enough time, not enough talent.  We can't run fast enough or cook well enough or decorate cute enough.

We lament over not enough.  We complain about not enough.  We fret over not enough.

But how often do we bless our not enough?

How often do we look at the not enoughs in our lives and thank God for them?  When is the last time that you looked at the pieces of bread and little fish that you have as the ingredients for a miracle, rather than just as not enoughs?  God can perform miracles with broken pieces, with not enoughs, as his ingredients.  Why, then, are we complaining rather than blessing?

So today, I am going to be thankful for my not enoughs.  For my poor body that is not tall enough, not thin enough, and doesn't run fast enough.  For my sweet boyfriend whose house is not close enough to mine.  For my brain that is not smart enough to remember the priority rules for secured transactions on the bar exam.  They may not be enough to me, but they may be miracle ingredients to God.  For that, I am thankful.