Thanks, Hugh Jackman and Co – I cannot get your songs out of my head. The Greatest Showman has been the soundtrack of our summer.
One song especially stands out to me – ‘Never enough’. The successful opera singer who sings it explains that all the fame in the world would never be enough for her, because she needs more, more, more, and despite the fame and fortune she has an empty heart that longs for love.
I see this in the eyes of those who auditioned for X-Factor – it’s that feeling of ‘never enough’ that drives them. You can see their desperate hunger for the void to be filled by fame. But to quote counsellor Al Andrews,
“The human soul was not made for fame.” [1]
When fame beckons and whispers it will complete us, it is lying. It is a drug that will always be asking for more. No achievement will ever be enough.
***
Sometimes it’s not fame that feels ’never enough’ – it’s our very selves. Yet again, I have not written. Yet again, I have not showered. Yet again, my limitations stop me doing what I wish.
I lose my temper; I lose my way, I fail. I am never enough.
But God says, counterintuitively, we are already enough. Paul writes that we are in Christ, and Christ is the fullness of God’s essence. When we believe in Christ, we are full, we are enough, because we are wrapped up in Christ. We are loved wholly.
if we’re honest, it doesn’t feel like it, and the pull of the world can be so beguiling. But the truth is that even when we are weeping, wishing we were more, more more, we are complete. We are complete because we are plunged into the essence of Christ, which is the essence of God.
Today, I remember the spiritual reality: our empty hearts are already utterly and completely loved. We are already full, already mature, already whole.
“For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead [in bodily form]; and you are complete in Him…” Col 2:9-10 (NKJV)
Over to you:
Between the declaration that you are complete in Christ, and the siren call of the world that you will never be enough, which is loudest in your ears right now?
Tweetables:
'When fame beckons and whispers it will complete us, it is lying.' - @Tanya_Marlow - Never Enough Click To Tweet 'Even when we are weeping, wishing we were more, more more, we are complete.' - @Tanya_Marlow - Never Enough Click To Tweet I lose my way, I fail. I am never enough. But God says, counterintuitively, we are already enough. @Tanya_Marlow Click To TweetJoining with #fiveminutefriday. This was my best five minutes on Complete.
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Very true words.
In response to the dear sister feeling wretched… See the sense of failure as God’s work in you; exposing your sin so that you can be more grateful for Christ’s righteousness given to cover you… All God sees is Christ when he looks at us (status) but our becoming more like Christ in character is an ongoing journey (sanctification). Be patient with yourself. God is so patient with us.
Hi Tanya. Thank you for this post, which I needed to read this morning. I came off my anti depressants à few months ago and have been doing ok but I’ve had a few ‘blips’ along the way… Some bigger than others. When that cloud hits me I can’t see anything good in myself… Anything good still has an undertone of something bad. I know that if I was in a good frame of mind then I might be able to take on board your words more easily but right now it feels like I would either be trying to cover over my not enoughness with what feels like an excuse of ‘but jesus makes me enough’ (I’m not sure that my husband would accept that given how horrid I was yesterday ) or (and this is more where I’m at right now) if I was really in christ then I could not have been that horrid… Therefore maybe I’m not really in christ, and therefore still not enough. Do you have any advice or thoughts on how to hold on to the truths you’ve written, even when they don’t feel true in the midst of your circumstances?
“We are complete because we are plunged into the essence of Christ, which is the essence of God.” YES!!!
Enough. Yes!!! Love this. (And look, you did write!!)
“When we believe in Christ, we are full, we are enough, because we are wrapped up in Christ. We are loved wholly.” Amen! Thanks for reminding us of this truth, dear Tanya! Blessings and love to you! xoxo