I Was Fed Up

"Fed Up” = has had enough of a situation; annoyed with a state of affairs that has persisted for a long time.

A year ago this January, a crown was placed on my back fractured tooth. I was hounded for years by my dentists to get that crown. The only problem I was having were those annoying dentists that kept prodding me to get it done. I gave in but as soon as the temporary crown was placed, that tooth started giving me grief that intensified when the permanent crown was on. I had headaches, and the pain increased when food or water was near that tooth. My dentist assured me within six months the pain would be gone. It wasn’t. She sent me to a specialist and he recommended a root canal or remove the tooth. I put up with it another six months. One year later, I was FED UP with the pain. Two weeks ago, hesitantly, because she didn't want to pull a good tooth (it wasn't good to me), she pulled it. There is a space back there but no more tooth pain and no more headaches! Why did I wait so long? One year of misery instead of taking action sooner than later?

Jesus told the story of the prodigal son who left home with his inheritance, squandered it all on a tawdry lifestyle, and ended up eating in the pig pen. Everything he needed was at his father’s home but he settled for the pain and misery until he got FED UP and went home. "My father’s servants have it so much better than this! I’ll go back and ask to be one of his servants!” Check out the love of the father and his response: “While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. The father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s feast and celebrate’” (Luke 15:20-23). All the joy of his father’s love awaited him. He needed to get FED UP enough to go home to him.

Maybe you're FED UP with something in your life. Maybe a job where you're mistreated and overlooked You're ready to find a job where you are esteemed and valued. Maybe you're FED UP with the vices that you thought you had to have to make it through another day. You're ready to seek help from a Christian counselor or pastor. Most of all, if you are FED UP with looking in all the wrong places for hope and love and ready to "go back home", like the prodigal son, to His Father. No matter what we’ve done, when we come home to God, He wraps us in His love. He gives us His best and says, “All is forgiven! Let’s have a feast! My child has returned to me.”

Maybe you’re FED UP today. God sees you. He knows and cares about you. What a comfort to hear those words and to know we don’t have to live without hope any longer. Rather than being FED UP, it’s time to be FILLED UP with God's love, faith, hope, joy, peace, and all the full-meal-deal promises of His Word. Getting fed up is good because it means we go home to a celebration. And, like my freedom from constant tooth pain I let go way too long, you will know freedom from the pain of hopelessness, loneliness, sadness, fear, and regret. When you get fed up and make the change, you'll be celebrated and rejoiced over and your mourning will be turned into dancing.

Psalm 34:19: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”

ENOUGH Already!

Ever said these words? “I’ve had it! Enough is enough! I'm sick and tired and I can’t take it anymore! I’ll never be good enough! I’ve had ENOUGH!” ENOUGH already!

ENOUGH (in the context of “had enough”): outraged, tired, sick, weary, disappointed, fed up, overwrought, up to here, teed off

We’ve all been there – to the crushing point of exhaustion, when we’ve long stood for an answer to our prayers and it seemed the prayers were hitting ceiling and we were left feeling hopeless and incredibly disappointed. Maybe you’re reading this today and you REALLY relate to those emotions. The sheer monotony of it all is tiring! It sucks the life out of us to try some more, only to be disappointed again. The enemy jerks us around with “you’re not good enough, young enough, smart enough”, “you might as well give up, you’re going to fail again – you’re JUST NOT ENOUGH”. So we declare...."ENOUGH already!" That kind of weariness is a soul fatigue that needs real soul rest.

I get that. Praying and giving and caring for others wasn’t enough. Doing the right thing didn’t even seem to be enough. It’s only when I came to the end of my rope and my own abilities that I realized “I can NEVER be enough, on my own.”

Those thoughts and words are very likely RIGHT ON. We aren’t enough and we don’t have to feel guilty for the frustration. Even Jesus acknowledged in the Garden that He would rather have the cup He was about to drink pass from Him. He understands us and, mercifully, we don’t have to be ENOUGH because our Heavenly Father IS ENOUGH. His love for us is inexhaustible. No matter how much of God’s generous love we experience, there is always more available for the asking. If ever anyone had ENOUGH, it was St. Paul and rather than declaring "ENOUGH!", he gave us the key to survival: "He (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Years ago I was a co-narrator for a Jewish Seder Passover Meal at my church. A beautiful prayer, recited during the meal, was the refrain “Dayenu” which translates to “It would have been ENOUGH for us.” Here is some of that prayer:

“God, if you had only created us, it would have been enough for us. If you had only freed us from slavery in Egypt, it would have been enough for us. If you had only given us your wise Law, it would have been enough for us. If you had only fed us with manna, it would have been enough for us. If you had only brought us into the Promised Land, it would have been enough."

The prayer lists many more blessings that God has poured out on His people and concludes: “How much more do we have to be thankful for the manifold and unbounded blessings of the All-Present God!” What a great prayer for us today! No matter how much we realize all that God has done for us, there is always more. Maybe we have been blessed in ways that we haven’t even noticed. Certainly there are still more gifts He has in store for us. There is never a reason to doubt that God wants to give us more, and in fact, is likely orchestrating the presentation of that MORE right now!

Maybe we should come up with our own "Dayenu" list. We should think of the ways our Heavenly Father has provided for us, blessed us, and revealed His love to us. Maybe we should take some time in prayer today to rejoice in His boundless gifts in our life—past, present, and future.

“Lord, if you had only forgiven my sin and removed my guilt, it would have been enough. But You have done so much more. All praise to You, my God of MORE THAN ENOUGH!”