The Adequacy of God
Have you ever tried to make something, or fix something, only to realise that what you’re working with doesn’t quite do the job? Maybe you don’t have enough of something, or maybe you’re just using the wrong tool, full stop.
And it’s not just practical projects where this can be frustrating.
There is something in each of our lives that drives us to seek meaning and purpose. As a result, we throw ourselves into studies, careers, family, travel, hobbies…so many different things. And yet, it just doesn’t quite seem to fit.
Despite our best attempts, things just don’t seem to be working out.
Recently, I finished a book that I’ve been reading for the past 3-4 years. It’s really not that long, but the reality is, I fell out of the habit of reading (non-fiction, that is).
Anyway, the book I finished was Knowing God by J.I. Packer. Maybe you’ve heard of it.
It takes a deep dive into what it means to truly know God.
The final chapter of the book, also one of the longest, ties everything.
All that God is. All that he’s done and all that he continues to do. All of it draws us to the conclusion that he alone is adequate – that he alone can meet our every need. That longing for fulfilment that each one of us has can only be met by the adequacy of God.
In the closing paragraphs of his book, Packer points out that there is a “link between the knowledge of God on the one hand and human fulfilment on the other. When we speak of the adequacy of God, it is this link that we highlight, and the link is of the essence of Christianity. Those who know God in Christ have found the secret of true freedom and true manhood…
From current Christian publications, you might think that the most vital issue for any real or would-be Christian in the world today is church union, or social witness, or dialogue with other Christians and other faiths, or refuting this or that -ism, or developing a Christian philosophy and culture, or what have you. But our line of study makes the present-day concentration on these things look like a gigantic conspiracy of misdirection. Of course, it is not that; the issues themselves are real and must be dealt with in their place. But it is tragic that, in paying attention to them, so many in our day seem to have been distracted from what was, is, and always will be the true priority for every human being – that is, learning to know God in Christ.”
He alone is adequate for all that we need. May we know this truth deeply in our lives throughout 2026.
Keep trusting Jesus,
Stephen
