“She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.”         Mark 14:8

My mother loved to cook. With a large family she prepared over and above what we’d ever consume. Mom was a bit compulsive. Never satisfied with “just enough”, she went overboard on most things. I must admit, I have a tendency to do the same. BOGO (buy one, get one) sales pull me in. I grab two. Who knows, this sale may never pass this way again?

Mark 14 details the story of Mary, the woman with the alabaster flask. She broke a costly marble bottle to pour expensive oil over the head of Jesus. Criticism erupted over her waste of the oil and its cost. Jesus hushed the stir. He pointed out the woman’s timely and beautiful anointing. Jesus would soon be crucified and buried. Mary’s desire to bestow what she had in the moment in time appropriated for her was met with Jesus’ approval. “She did what she could.” Her gift was enough. No scrambling to out give herself or groveling to prove she was seeking His approval. She obeyed the prompting of the Spirit. Her Master proclaimed whenever the gospel was preached, in the whole world, her deed would be a memorial to her. Wow!

As I stated I tend to be an over achiever. A little voice whispers, “You didn’t do enough. Perhaps a bit more. Knock yourself out…” When is enough, enough?

In today’s vernacular, Jesus claimed Mary hit a home run by doing what she could in the moment. And it was enough.

Do you struggle with overachieving? Do you bend over backwards to the point of breaking your back or your heart to win someone over? Do you live in guilt that you just never do enough?

Stop the crazy cycle. In fact, I’ll stop with you. Let’s obey the prompting of the Spirit of God, do what we can, and leave the results to God. We may hit more out of the park than we’ll ever realize.

Enough Is Enough