How to react when the spreadsheet says you don’t have enough

By Dean Collins*

You can use a spreadsheet to track any number of things. Cash flow, sales, inventory, fitness levels, number of employees, enrollment, weight gain or loss, and on and on. These data points can help in planning for business and life. They can also help us avoid trouble.

We who use Excel know the feeling of looking at the indicators and seeing either what we think is sufficient or even what looks like abundance. In these moments we might smile, celebrate, or tout our successes. Certainly this is true in quarterly earnings reports. On the other hand, if we look at the spreadsheet and see declines or pending insufficiencies we scramble to survive and we might find feelings of inadequacy or worse, failure.

In moments of abundance and apparent success, we might be inclined to celebrate. As believers, we might respond with prayers of gratitude and songs of praise. We might also tout our successes for others because success is good for business. No one wants to buy products and services from unsuccessful companies and organizations. And sadly, sufficient is rarely good enough in the minds of many.

Driven to succeed

If you are goal-oriented or accomplishment-oriented, then hitting the targets and, better, exceeding the targets is what drives you. I suspect the apostle Paul was that kind of person. We get a good picture of his personality as we follow his story in Acts as well as read his list of accomplishments in various epistles. Paul had spent much of his life mastering the contents of Scripture. He was also wired to attempt perfection at following the Law. If Microsoft Excel had been around in Saul’s early life, I imagine him using it to track his daily success.

But this successful Pharisee had his world and his approach turned upside down by his encounter with Jesus. His measures of personal and spiritual success were flipped. Paul took several paragraphs in 2 Corinthians to defend his credibility and credentials as an apostle. You can almost feel Paul’s discomfort as he described a spiritual experience God had given him years earlier. Then after explaining what was a unique encounter with God where he was given a glimpse of God’s future plans, Paul pulls back and says he won’t boast about the experience. Instead, he chose to boast about his weaknesses.

Bothered by a weakness

Paul said he had a “thorn in his flesh,” suggesting that a messenger of Satan was at the root. Paul had repeatedly prayed about it, asking for it to be removed. Yet this thorn remained. We don’t know if the issue was a health problem, a struggle with some sin, or some sort of emotional or spiritual discouragement. Whatever it was, when he asked the Lord to remove it, Paul was told, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

If it had been me I probably would have said “Ugh” when I heard this comment about grace being sufficient. Who wants sufficient? We are trained by culture to want more than adequate. That’s why we order the large fries instead of the regular size. It’s why we fill our plates and our schedules to overflowing. Sufficient seems so ordinary, In fact, it even hints of personal failure.

Satisfied with sufficient

But according to this Heavenly message that Paul received, our weaknesses are the place God’s power is fully realized. Where we are not adequate for the assignment, God delivers strength, ability, and even rest. Paul’s experience was that he was content with weaknesses, hardships, calamities, and on top of that was even content with insults and persecution! Time after time, God revealed his strength as Paul demonstrated his contentment with his own limitations and weaknesses.

So the next time you are inclined to look at the spreadsheet as an indicator of your success or even adequacy, you might want to reconsider. I find myself often flip-flopping between what the world says success looks like and what God says is sufficient. But when I stay in the right lane focused on the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, I know Paul is right. I discover strength and courage and peace. Maybe the secret is focusing on the things of the Spirit instead of whatever the world and the flesh declare as accomplishment and success.

Your time with God’s Word
‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9-10‬ ‭ESV

*This post appeared originally in June of last year. We’re reposting it today, because in some ways it speaks to our current situation even more than it did a year ago.

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash
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To download a printable version of the June 2021 post, click here.