It was an unusually rough week in the middle of a very hard season. You know the kind of week I’m talking about — where it seems like you’re getting hit with one hard thing after another and getting out from under it all sounds as easy as hiking through the Mojave Desert in three-inch heels.
For a while there, I was barely holding on. I guess you could say I was in a Season of Barely.
Was I staying on top of my deadlines? Sure, but barely.
Was I taking care of my body? Barely.
Was I getting enough sleep? Barely, if that.
Was I ready to get out of bed every morning? Barely.
Was I connecting with friends? Barely.
Was I being kind to myself? Barely.
My friend Anjuli knew that I was struggling. A few days earlier, I had left her a voice message, the kind where your voice cracks and the ceaseless sniffling makes your words almost incomprehensible. Yet my tears spoke a language of their own, and some friends are fluent in the language of emotion. She returned my message with one of her own, tenderly holding space for the ache I was feeling.
A few days later, Anjuli checked in with me. She texted to ask how I was holding up.
I was still in my Season of Barely, and so I texted back a single word: “Barely.”
A few moments later, she responded: “Barely is enough.”
Her words offered such safe harbor for me in that season, and I have returned to them over and over again in recent weeks.
“Barely is enough.”
Those three little words gave me courage to take the next step and the next step after that. Barely may not seem like much, but sometimes barely is enough to keep it all moving forward.
Are you in a Season of Barely?
Barely able.
Barely healing.
Barely understanding.
Barely surviving this hard season.
Barely making it through what feels unbelievably difficult.
Perhaps you need to know that barely is enough. You don’t have to do more, be more, pretend more, perform more, hurry up more.
I consulted the Scriptures to see what God could teach us about our Seasons of Barely. The word barely is . . . well . . . barely used in Scripture. But one of the few times you’ll find the word barely in Scripture is in Isaiah 26. The chapter is a song of trust, praise, and meditation that calls out the goodness of God. And then the chapter takes a slight turn around verse 16, mentioning a people “in distress.”
“They could barely whisper a prayer,” Isaiah writes of these distressed people (my emphasis added). They were in their own Season of Barely, and they could “barely whisper a prayer.”
Here’s the good news: Prayers don’t need to be shouted in order for God to hear them. Sometimes, even your barely-enough prayers are enough. And that’s okay.
What has your own Season of Barely looked like? How does it help you to know that sometimes barely is enough?
I have come to know that barely has honor and dignity all its own. Barely is forward movement toward something that is still being brought to completion. And that completion will come. It’s a promise from God, and it’s promise I need, and maybe you do too.
There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
Philippians 1:6 (MSG)
This is a beautiful reminder that we are enough and loved at all times! Thank you
So glad to know this encouraged you!
So thankful for the encouragement that barely is enough
Glad this spoke to you, Ariel.
AMEN! Beautiful! Thanks for sharing Jennifer. Blessings!
It’s my joy, Ruth!
Thank you for sharing
Needed this today
Bless n LOVE
Carnel
Hi Carmel! Thanks for being here. So glad this spoke to you.
Thank you. This was so needed today.
You’re welcome, Cindy.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for these helpful words!
So glad this spoke to you, Madeline.
Beautiful reminder, thank you
You’re welcome, Susen .
Relatable. Timely. Encouraging. Thank you.
Kellie
You’re quite welcome, Kellie.
We are taking care of our 2 grandkids for a week. They. live in
Switzerland. Their parents are in Bolivia looking for a city. housing, and schools for the children. They will move to Bolivia in July. The children have been sick since their parents left.
They are cranky and fragile right now. I needed your message
about “barely”. I am so tired, yet I am barely able to function
today. I can whisper my prayers barely to God today. Thanks for your words.
Oh my goodness, Karen. You’ve got a LOT on your plate right now! Pausing to say a prayer for you right this moment.
I am praying for you!
Kim,
Abba Father please give Kim strength to carry on with her grand children. Bring about healing to their little bodies. Assist & guide the parents to find just the right place in Bolivia. Give everyone rest, comfort & peace. AMEN
Thank you for your beautiful post and vulnerability. I think we need to be real and honest in our journeys and know that sometimes barely is enough! So thankful God has promised He will never leave us and that His grace is enough! Amen.❤️
Such a great reminder, Darlene, that God will never leave us. Thank you for sharing!
Jennifer, this is so relatable. Not only have I experienced many seasons of barely, but I also love your example of being honest with a friend and how God uses others to speak truth and encouragement into our weary souls. Just beautiful.
I am so grateful for friends like Anjuli — and like YOU! — who remind us that we don’t have to be strong. God is our strength.
Jennifer THANK YOU! Both my husband and I needed this message & encouragement in our current season!
Lisa, Pausing to pray for you, in whatever may be going on for you in this season of your life.
Such good words!
My husband of almost 42 years passed away 2 1/2 months ago. I am living in the barely time of my life right now. Thank you for encouraging words that let me understand God is in the barely times too.
Thank you so much for this article. I am in the middle of
this barely enough season for months. Bless you.
This has helped me today to remind myself barely is enough ❤️
My life has been a whirlwind for a while. And then A week ago today my husband collapsed at work, he had a blood clot on his brain which resulted in a stroke. We are still in the hospital. Life has hit me from all areas but my faith continues to stand strong. As for me I feel like I’m mentally barely hanging on but you reminded me that barely is enough ❤️
Oh, Jan. I’m so sorry. Pausing to pray for you and your husband. May Jesus meet you in your barely today.
I am praying for you and your husband!
Jan,
Father please give Jan strength & courage to keep on. Send your healing touch to her husband. Give huge doses of your love & comfort to the family. AMEN
Thank you for sharing this. It is exactly what my heart needed to hear.
Barely is a perfect way to describe the season that I am in. My husband was diagnosed with esophageal cancer 6 weeks ago. It has been a whirlwind of doctors appointments, scans and tests. I am barely holding on. He just finished the first week of radiation and chemo treatments. Four more weeks to go. There will be surgery and recovery bringing us to the end of September. Trying to take one appointment and one day at a time. Thank you for this post ❤️
I am praying for you and your husband!!
Linda,
Jesus come near to Linda & her husband. Give them the strength & courage they need to carry on. Guide her steps as she makes appointments. Send them bushels of peace & comfort as they travel this journey. AMEN
Thank you, Jennifer, I am there right now, and it hard to believe that it will ever be better. Trying to find peace in the barely. Thank you for letting me know that its alright to be there.
I am praying for you!
I am praying for you!
I too am in a season of barely after my mother’s passing. I needed this today.
I am praying for you!
Abundant thanks for including an audio of this!
A health set back that LIMITS my screen time has me in a barely season.
God reminds me about daily bread….not weekly supply of bread (or a day’s worth of a well-stocked bakery 😉 !)
Keep speaking life into a sometimes-dark world,
Christina M. Eder
Conference Speaker, Grief Support Coach, Greeting Card writer
I am going through a season of barely right now. I had a barely noticeable amputation of my left pinky toe and a barely noticeable slice removed from the side of my left foot. Emotionally, I barely made it through. although physically I was/am fine. I find that no one in my family understands at all. The first night I got home from the hospital (I was supposed to stay off my foot), my husband said “Well, what’s for dinner?” And so it has been since then. Everyone says they will help. My younger daughter gave us meals for diabetics and came up and did my laundry, Put my hang to dry shirts in the dryer. If I say I am sad, no one wants to hear it, They say I should be glad, yes you heard me, it wasn’t worse. Might I add this was a doctor’s error, not mine. I wish someone would just understand my barely and love me, barely.
Linda,
God please send compassion to Linda’s family. Help them to understand her grief & pain. Shower her with love & comfort. Guide the family to understand that she needs some help. Put a friend or someone in her life to shower her with the love she truly needs. In Jesus Name!
Stephanie,
Barely is enough!! God doesn’t expect or want us to strive, pretend or perform more. Time to take off masks & be real. People are in seasons of barely with trials all around them. Jesus understands all to well. Simply sit there & whisper breath prayers of God help me. Asking God to send the needed rest & assistance to everyone in their barely season.
Blessings 🙂