When is Enough Enough?
Pastoral | August 21, 2025 | By: Carolyn Meyers
Have you ever wrestled with that question, especially when it comes to pleasing God?
I trusted Jesus as my Savior when I was young. My mom taught Good News Club in our home, and it was there I placed my faith in Christ. I loved God and truly wanted to please Him, but it was a continual struggle!
Week after week in church, my mind tormented me with this exhausting message: I need to do more. I need to pray more. I need to read my Bible more. I need to serve more. Always more. Always striving. Always troubled over the never ending “To Do List” to appease and satisfy God. There was even a song that reinforced this mindset that went like this: “I am satisfied with Jesus… but the question comes to me … is the Savior satisfied with me?” Ugh! My big answer to that question was “No, He’s not! I need to do more, be more, and then some.”
My mind tormented me with this exhausting message: I need to do more.
We may not say it out loud, but deep down we sometimes hope that if we do enough good things, God will be satisfied, and we’ll be “enough.” Maybe He’ll even reward us with good things instead of hard things. But then that begs the question – “When is enough enough?” When have we prayed enough prayers, served enough people, read enough Scripture, spread enough kindness, attended enough services? It’s exhausting. The striving never ends!
Imagine my joy and relief when I realized I had been getting it all wrong! I was focused on myself and what I needed to do instead of on Christ and what He had already done.
Reading Romans 5:1–2(NLT), I found I already have peace with God through Jesus’ death on the cross. “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us… we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Colossians 1:19–22 (NLT) repeats this sentiment, “For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.”
As people who trust in Jesus’ finished work on the cross, we are “complete in Him.” (Colossians 2:9–10 NLT). No extra work required. No striving needed. No trying harder. Peace with God is ours through Jesus! God is completely satisfied—not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has done. Is that not the most freeing news ever?
No trying harder. Peace with God is ours through Jesus!
So, guess what? Here’s the beautiful outcome: I want to read my Bible more. I want to pray more. I want to serve more and care more. But it’s not with the goal to earn God’s approval or acceptance, because I already have it! It comes through resting in what Jesus has already done and from a deep desire to grow closer in relationship to Him. My soul no longer strives to “be enough;” instead my soul rests in our amazing God who made it His mission to rescue us.
How about you? Are you tired of striving? Are you exhausted from trying to figure out when enough is enough? Consider accepting this incredible invitation from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30 NLT)
Carolyn Meyers
Central Special Ministries Director
Tired of wondering if you’re enough? No matter where you are on your faith journey, explore your Next Steps toward healing, growth, and real community
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