When God says: “Stop! That is Enough!”

Our God is a monitoring God, He is a merciful God, He is a God who is always “just in time” to command, “Stop! That is Enough!”

Can we relate to the phrase, “Stop! That is Enough!”

• “The torturous tickling is paused long enough for the child to catch his breath and scream,”Stop! That is enough!”
• Gorged at the dining room table, mom puts one more helping of mashed potatoes on your plate and you say, “Stop! That is enough!”
• When the work demands steal intimate time from our families, “Stop! That is enough!”
• Two children arguing in the back seat of the car begs the phrase from the rearview mirror, “Stop! That is enough!”
• When the scale reads the words, “Stop! That is enough!” instead of numbers.
• Clapping gives way to a never-ending standing ovation. “Stop! That is enough!” are welcome words allowing the speaker to make his final point.
• Rosa Parks, refusing to relinquish her seat on a bus to a white man, speaks more loudly with her action than audible words, “Stop! That is enough!.”

“Stop! That is enough!” are strong words that were commanded by God in 1 Chronicles 21:15. They were spoken after 70,000 people died after He had sent “terrible sicknesses to Israel,” as a result of David’s sin of counting the Israelites.

Which punishment would you choose? Imagine as an adult being given the option of three forms of punishment for your sin:

[1.] “three years without enough food,

[2.] or three months of running away from your enemies while they use their swords to chase you,

[3] or three days of punishment from the Lord. Terrible sickness will spread through the country, and the Lord’s angel will go through Israel destroying the people.”

Which would you choose? Although David was given the choice, the text teaches us that David allowed God to choose the punishment instead and so came the death of 70,000 people for one man’s sin.

“But when the angel started to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord saw it and felt sorry for all the suffering. So he said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘Stop! That is enough!’ This happened when the angel of the Lord was standing at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” The threshing floor is symbolic as a place of judgement.

Just in Time is an inventory process my husband became certified in years ago. This system is one that is brilliantly monitored in order to prevent incurring costs with unnecessary inventory. One might say God intervened “just in time,” with his act of mercy to decrease the loss of more lives.

As leaders, as pastors, and as followers of Jesus Christ, we must be willing to pause for a daily inventory to ensure we are delivering “just in time” messages with acts of mercy as we listen closely to God’s commanding words in every sphere of our lives, “Stop! That is Enough!” 

I am convicted to do an inventory and ask what am I doing that would cause God to say, “Stop! That is Enough!” I am convicted to stand in the gap at the threshing floor with Jesus for when He is received into the lives of others “just in time!”