EnOuGh

Does the word 'enough' exist in God's vocabulary? Because lately I've been wondering when is enough, enough? I realize we try to live this higher law or giving of our time, love unconditionally and work like there's no tomorrow. But how do you mix those principles with the unhigher law situation we mere mortals currently find ourselves in?

Sure, you're suppose to forgive ninety and nine times, you're suppose to love your enemy, you're suppose to press forward in all things, you're suppose to say, "come what may and love it." But do those principles really apply all. the. time? I'm having a hard time believing they do.

In my experience, there's a fine line between being patient through a trial and coming to the conclusion that the door's not going to open. That same fine line can be be found between forgiving someone who has hurt you versus walking away from an unhealthy relationship. It can also be said that continually trying to serve someone, hoping one day you'll get that miracle return, can reap its reward but just as easily lead to bitter feelings towards you/the situation/church.

I don't want this to sound like some debbie-downer sentiment, but as someone who holds out hope in situations/people far after the song has ended (or has it seemed to end?) I've been struggling with this thought.

In some sense, I feel that instead of discerning the best possible route, which just might be turning around and walking away or shutting the door, people see choosing the other path as failure. That "endure to the end" literally means in every single micro-experience instead of on the macro scale God sees our lives. Did God really tell us that if we don't keep being patient in X, if we don't keep trying on X, if we don't find some way to fill X thing to the 110th degree, we're failures? Or does it just means that attempting to live that higher law equates to: in moving forward, we doesn't always get the outcome we aimed for. We don't get the job, we don't get the friend, we don't get the success story we'd hoped for. If we kept trying when we shouldn't, isn't that called kicking against the pricks?

I guess that's why the holy ghost and the power of discernment can be such a valuable tool when recognized and used correctly. It lessens the experience of pain, of frustration, of disappointment and can stave off anger and resentment. Maybe I'm off base, but is it possible that instead of pushing for what we deem as success, we little Jedi can discern when enough is enough, and that's success? To know how to work smarter, not harder, so we can discern the course of action and keep moving forward, hoping for the best?