How Much Is Enough?
There are two questions every man must answer….
- How much is enough?
and
- Where does my significance come from?
Today, we’ll tackle the “how much is enough” question. Next week, we’ll talk about significance.
For a couple or three generations, parents pounded the ‘success’ mantra into their kids (that would be us baby boomers). “You go to school so you can get a good job and be successful.” “Marry well, have kids, buy a house, take great vacations and you’ve got success” …that was the plan.
But look at what happened. We got the jobs, the houses, the families, and the trips, but we’re still striving for more. We’re never content. We mindlessly press on for bigger titles, higher salaries, larger houses and more of everything.
So how much is enough?
Somebody told me to look at it backwards.
Start with the end in mind. What will you need to provide educations for your kids and weddings for your daughters (if you have any)? How much will it take to supplement pension payments so your wife can stay in your house and be financially okay after you’ve changed addresses? (that means “you’re dead”) And if there’s a vacation home in your dreams, how much will that cost? Pull all this together. Put numbers and timeframes to it. Use insurance where it makes sense.
You’re going to come face to face with two facts. First, there’s a number (a large one) that you’ll have to earn, save or inherit in order to fund all those future needs. Secondly, you’ll get an idea of how long you’re going to have to work for money in order to provide.
Either way you look at it, those two sets of numbers tell you how much is enough.
Can you do with less?
Yes.
A lot less?
Yes
But the question of the day is not how much less you can get by with; it’s how much is enough. Knowing “your number” can motivate you to save, spend wisely and invest aggressively. As you come to grips with the fact that you’re probably going to be working for money longer than you thought you would, you may want to “step it up a notch”, apply yourself, work smart, and be the best guy who works there. You can have a great work life into your seventies, eighties and even into your nineties. The idea of retirement is a relatively new concept in culture; I won’t ever retire. (BTW I don’t think the idea of retirement is found in the Bible either!)
The same approach applies for a month or a lifetime. Quantify your needs, figure out what you’ve going to give, how much you’re going to save and then live on the rest. If you can do all three of those things, be grateful … you have enough.
Don’t panic when you come up with some large numbers. They’re large to you but not to our God. When we run out of ourselves, we run right into Him. Only He can close the gap between what we have and what (we think) we need. Turn it over to Him, Yahewh Jireh, God our Provider. He will meet all of your needs; maybe not all your wants, but He’ll meet your needs. You’ll have enough.
I love the word “Dayenu”. It’s a song in the Jewish Passover celebration and it means “It would have been enough for us.” The Jews were singing in thanksgiving to God for delivering them from slavery. The inference is ‘He’s done so much more’. And He has.
Dayenu.
Question: Are you striving for more without considering how much is enough? Will you think about what “enough” might look like? Will you trust God to provide for your needs, even when you have no idea how He’s going to do it? Please comment here.
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Responses (8)
Great post! Pragmatic yet hopeful in the end.
It seems that we were programmed to look at life as a treadmill – always running faster and climbing higher, but these activities in and of themselves lead to nowhere. Coming to grips with what we truly need & want in the context of God’s will enables us to be comfortable with stepping off the treadmill and instead taking a hike at our own pace to a beautiful waterfall.
…started in the garden. Adam and Eve had everything but wanted more. I think it is a tension God built into us….one He intends to move us. And He loves it when it moves us toward Him. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks so much for this though this morning, I really needed to hear it as I was having a conversation with my wife last night that ended not to good due to my job which I am so blessed to have, did not give me what I asked for, but considering everything else I do have it was a great offer non the less.
GOD bless you!
You make some great points Regi. I like your idea of putting how much is “enough” into a solid figure. We often struggle and strive for “more” not knowing what that “more” really is.
This can be a great discussion for my wife and I tonight during dinner/devotions.
I read a quote recently that really resonated with me:
“The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.”
―G.K. Chesterton
Amen
Great one…thanks for posting.
I love this! Defining your target is critical. It also helps to have a trusted advisor to counsel you in this area. 🙂