By: Kylie Brooks and Pastor Jarren Rogers

(Kylie)

I have a long list of things I want all the time. When I look at what I have and compare it to what others have, I am never really satisfied. I always want more. I think about material possessions too much, I think. 

That side of me becomes even more prominent during Christmastime when it feels okay to want a little too much, to ask for a little too much. 

Not to say having possessions makes us bad people, but living in constant want and envy is not what God desires for us. He wants to show us the ways in which He fills the gaps where we think we aren’t enough. He wants us to praise Him endlessly for the sacrifice He made for us on earth. 

Ecclesiastes 4:4 reads, “And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

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(Jarren)

Kylie’s right. 

So much of our anxiety is caused by wanting  things we cannot acquire. I use the word “things” here because what we desire isn’t always objects. 

Sometimes, we want peace, we want prosperity, we desire comfort, we strive for freedom from suffering. 

And when we don’t get it–anxiety and fear. 

But what we see from Qohelet (Hebrew for “teacher”) in Ecclesiastes is that in the end, our envy is meaningless. To envy for all of the things of life is like “chasing after the wind”–running after that which can never be attained. 

There was a point in my life whenever I was chasing after the wind. I felt like I was suffocating. If I just had more money, I could be comfortable and free from worry. If I could just gain the objects I desired, I could be free from want. If I could just have the same skills as that other person, I’d be successful. 

Want. Envy. Strife. Chasing the wind. 

But then God spoke to me. He gave me a single word, conveyed it to me as clear as day. Like a divine arrow shot from heaven directly into my heart, the Lord said this word:

Enough.

I had enough. God had given me exactly what I needed. I truly wanted for nothing. I could envy no more. Why? 

Because God has given me enough. 

Every time Annie and I get lost in the numbers, crouching over receipts, and bills, and spreadsheets, squinting at the result wondering where all the money went, wishing for more–we are always reminded to give God praise. 

Because He’s given us enough. 

Read more of this Advent Devotional and other Daily Pursuits at www.dailypursuits.blog