Tag: more than enough

when you are the owner of a broken heart

Karla Lees

Friend, today I am going to share from the heart one of the biggest lessons I have ever learned about brokenness.  My prayer is that the same God who is rebuilding the broken pieces with me will give you a glimpse of hope where you are feeling broken.

Maybe you and I, we’re never meant to be complete. Could we just be broken together? If you can bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine. Could healing still be spoken and save us? The only way we’ll last forever is broken together. – Broken Together- Casting Crowns

Relationships are hard.

Especially the ones with the people you interact with every day.

Because in our own way, deep down within each of us, we are broken.

Some more than others, but no one walks this earth unscathed in some way.

Not even Jesus did.

I have found that when I am feeling broken, I have a tendency to hide away, lick my wounds and brood. Occasionally, a full blown cry fest erupts, leaving me exhausted on top of the broken pieces I am trying so hard to hold together.

But we were designed for community. With our best friends and families, but especially in marriage, if we have been blessed with that gift.

These past 25 years together, my hubby and I have had a lot of mileage into the realm of brokenness. It has been harder than I imagined at times, more painful than I ever thought, and gone deeper than I ever dreamed possible.

Yet together we are stronger because of it, for we can see God moving better in each other at times than we can sense Him moving within ourselves.

Building one another up when the other is feeling low. Being the shoulder to cry on when we need to let it out.

Because the secret to being broken in a marriage and still staying married?

The three stranded cord.

By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 (MSG)

When even one of you invite God into your marriage, He intertwines Himself into it. He becomes the stabilizer, the marriage counselor. He gives you the love to express when you feel empty, yet your hubby needs to know you care. He gives your hubby the strength to just listen & tell you he loves you.

Without God, our marriage would not have made it this far.

Because in our own strength we would have run on empty long ago.

It’s not about having made a bad pick, or being a mismatched pair.

It’s making the one you are with your mate, supported by the Love that never fails, never gives up and never runs out on either of you, or your marriage.

If you know you are broken and need help, pray and ask God to bring you to the right resources, or bring the best help to you.

Your spouse’s brokenness isn’t for you to heal, that is His job. They need your support and love as they face their own brokenness and support you in yours.

God knew when He designed marriage that we would need one another:

In better, in worse.
In sickness, in health.
With wealth, without much.
Whether whole or broken.

The amazing thing I have found? My hubby and I have not been so broken in the same ways that we couldn’t be there for one another. Often not perfectly, but present none the less.

In His mercy, He makes us the mate our spouse needs. Whether we have broken bits or not.

Only God can take what is broken, and shape it to make something beautiful.

  • He is with us, every step of the journey.
  • His Presence draws closer with every request for Him to come and be nearer.
  • His love, strength, grace and mercy are more than enough for what you and your spouse may face today.

He longs to restore and repair where we are broken, and can do amazing things when we place ourselves in His hands.

Broken together with the Potter makes for a beautiful finish beyond belief.

When we give Him all the pieces, He can make us whole again, one piece at a time.

broken together

#broken #hopefortheharddays #hopeinHisPresence

Presence

Karla Lees

The past few days, I have felt overwhelmed physically.

A few of my sore muscles are having a hard time giving up their tension, despite prayer and the efforts of my physio & massage therapist.

Sleeping on my left side is foreign to me, I have always been a back or right side sleeper, and with my right side sore, staying asleep HSS now become an issue.

I am generally not a big whiner, but a solution finder.

I am in a situation I cannot control. nor see a quick end too.

The trail ahead seemed very steep last night.

I could only pray, “Help” before falling asleep.

This morning, as I awoke and spent time in His Word & Presence, He has reminded me I am not in this alone.

He is with me.

He is strengthening me.

He is helping me.

I was only looking at my physical symptoms, but God was looking at my whole person.

My spirit is reaching out for Him more than ever before, because I don’t want to make it through without Him.

My solution, my Hope is found in Him alone.

I am actively bringing my thoughts into alignment with His Word & promises.

I am being honest about my feelings, but not letting them run my decisions.

But how I am physically weary of being sore.

And that is the area God reminds me I need to bring into alignment with His truth.

I can keep going when I depend on His strength.

He is more than enough for me, even as I struggle.

Its okay to be real before Him, and fully rely on Him for all I need.

Maybe one of you needed to hear this this morning too.

I hope He draws close to you, and reminds you of what you need to hear from Him directly as well.

Once again, it is well with my soul.

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Because all things are possible, in, with and for our God!

when is more enough?

Karla Lees

Why do we always want more?
To do more?
Be more?
Acquire more?

When does NOT desiring more,
being content with:
who we are
what we do
what we have
become enough?

My husband is brilliant in his chosen field. He cares for each client in such a way that years later, these clients or their family members eagerly greet him to tell him how much his  compassionate care meant to them in their hard times.

My husband is a registered nurse, who works in the community in clients’ homes. He sees all sorts of conditions, from minor surgeries to cancer to palliative end of life situations.

He truly is amazing at what he does, and not just because he is my husband.

He reminds me each day that where he is working is where he is meant to be, not with his words or pay cheque, but with the compliments and thanks he is always somehow surprised by.

When you are exactly where God wants you, using the gifts He has given you to the best of your ability to bless others, you have more than enough.

For many years, being in a field primarily female based, my hubby has struggled with maybe he should have become a doctor/nurse practitioner- become more than he is.

How he is is pretty amazing, right where he is at.

We all need to be reminded
that who we are,
when we walk in what we were made for,
is more than enough.

I truly believe God blesses those who use their gifts & talents wisely with more:

More of His presence.
More of His strength.
More growth.
More of Him.

This is a lesson we see many people excelling or failing at in the Bible:

Abraham’s firstborn from Hagar, Ishmael, was the result of Abraham taking his eyes off of God’s promise to come, Isaac.
The brothers have been at war ever since, because the firstborn does not know God is enough, he has the desire for more yearning within without knowing where to find it.

Noah placed his trust in God, and his family saw first hand how God was more than enough in their rescue.

David let his eyes stray where they shouldn’t have, and ended up causing a death to cover his sin. David knew God to be more than enough when he was on the run, but lost sight of it momentarily.  His firstborn from Bathsheba did not survive.

Solomon, son of David & Bathsheba, had more wives and concubines, riches and power than almost any other king on earth… and at the end of Ecclesiastes realized that life without God want worth anything.

Jesus demonstrated God to be enough to help Him every step of the way…and changed the world as a result.

Paul encountered God so powerfully, He intimately knew God to be enough no matter the circumstance.

Mother Theresa walked this out as well caring for the unloved orphans.

Many many authors have been learning this first hand…Max Lucado, Ann Voskamp to name a few.

When we become content with what we have, somehow God makes it more than enough for us.

When we accept who we are, somehow our offering, our walking out our calling and using our gifts becomes more than enough for God to use.

God’s More Than Enough
is more than enough
for me.

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let go

Karla Lees

Yesterday morning, I had a strong impression during the church service.

Our pastor was saying how much God was wanting us to go deeper with Him, and invited us to pray along those lines.

In that moment, I saw a picture of myself clinging onto a buoy out at sea.
The waves were high and a storm was stirring things up.

I was afraid, and clinging out of fear onto the buoy for dear life.

And God whispered to me, “You can let go now. I won’t let you drown. The waves will not overcome you as you follow me into the deep. You will be safe in My arms.”

As a child, I had a fear of falling, having fallen out of a moving car as a preschooler.

My fear of heights was rooted in my fear of falling.

It has become obvious to me that my fear of falling is not fully uprooted from the image I saw yesterday.

I am still afraid.

I still doubt that God is going to catch me, carry me, keep me safe in some part deep within me.

And God loves me too much, so much, He doesn’t want that fear directing me any longer.

So He highlighted it for me in such a way that I could see it, and His living care, all at once.

He wants me all in, not keeping parts of myself tethered to fear.

Storms, major and minor, have come and gone in my life, and will continue to do so all the seasons of my life.

God has been there, rock solid, for each and every one.

I can depend on Him to hold me.
To keep me safe.
To continue to love me no matter what.

He needs me to let go and trust:

He is more than enough to keep my head above water.

He will guide me where He leads His river to take me.

His love for me is so great it will squelch my fear if I let Him have it,and replace it with a greater sense of His presence.

His love is my anchor.

The waves may be high; His love is higher still.

The water will be deeper than I can reach at times; His reach is deeper than I can imagine.

The storms may be darker than a moonless midnight sky; His Presence is bright enough to light my way.

I need to let go of the buoy of fear, and leap into His waiting arms.

Do you need to join me?

Let’s make the leap from fear together.

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Painting by: http://fromourcove.blogspot.ca/2013/08/fairway-buoy.html?m=1