Quantity

Sometimes effort is not enough.  A football team competes with hearts engaged.  If competitive, one might imagine how victory automatically follows commitment.  The simple answer, as a replaying example in sports reminds us, is no; commitment isn’t enough.  It is required, but it may not be enough.
 
Far too frequently, I find myself looking deep inside for something more.  I should be able to work with more intensity, find life’s balance, keep my priorities in sight, respond to every need around me, and walk with God.  I clearly need commitment on every front.  Yet as deep, resolute, and intense as it is I also know it will never be enough.  I cannot do it all.  I will fail.  There isn’t enough commitment in my tank to overcome my weaknesses and history of failures.  The capacity of my soul is insufficient.  There is even more bad news; you don’t have enough commitment either.  You are going to fail, just like I have, am, and will.
 
The conundrum doesn’t end here.  Human weaknesses come out when perfection is expected, demanded, and required.  Musicians do not always hit their marks.  Actors do not always tell the story the writer and producer imagined.  People continue to die from starvation, anger, religious disagreements, fear, and greed.  The evidence is overwhelming.  Even our efforts to recognize the ultimate source of power and mercy fall short.  “There aren't enough trees in Lebanon nor enough animals in those vast forests to furnish adequate fuel and offerings for his [God’s] worship.”  (Isaiah 40.16)
 
Ironically, as bad as this problem might seem it is actually good news when we recognize the gap.  God doesn’t call us to fill the gap.  God calls us to respond with our all, the Spirit will deal with the rest.  God is looking to engage everyone, opportunities abound!  We are here to make music, capture moments of beauty and expression, and be a community.  As we fully and completely engage in life, God’s calls you and me as God’s models of compassion, mercy, and love.  Nothing else matters.  Nothing else counts.