Learning the Dayenu Prayer

 I have been sitting on something that I wanted to share with you all.  I was introduced to the Jewish passover tradition of the Dayenu for the first time this year, and I can't stop thinking about it.  The word "Dayenu" simply means "It would have been enough," and during the Dayenu portion of the Passover Seder, everyone goes around and mentions one thing that God did for the people of Israel, and basically states, that if He had only done that one thing, it would have been enough.  Then they keep adding more and more things that God has done for them.  Here is a small sample of a traditional Dayenu:

• If He had split the sea for us, but not led us through it on dry land, it would have been enough.
• If He had led us through the sea on dry land, but did not drown our oppressors in it, it would have been enough.
• If He had drowned our oppressors in the sea, and had not supplied our needs in the desert, it would have been enough.

You get the idea, right? Well, I have been thinking for the past few weeks about all of the things God has done for me, and wondering if I could truly say that just one of them would have been enough.  Basically, I had to go back to the beginning and think about Christ dying on the cross for me, and I could 100% say that yes, that would have been enough.  But there is so much more that He has done, and I can't forget those things either.  

So, I spent a couple of weeks pondering all of these things, and then on Sunday, we sang a song I'd never heard before that rocked me.  The song is called "What a God" and the premise is very similar to the concept of the Dayenu.  Here is a snippet of the lyrics:

• If the highest place I reach is at Your feet, then I've done it all.
• If the best thing that I've seen is Your glory, then I've seen it all.
• If one word is the only thing You speak, then I've heard it all.
• If I feel Your heart and never see Your hand, I still have it all.

As I listen to these lyrics, I hear a modern version of the Dayenu.  

• If I spent my whole life at Your feet, it would be enough.
• If I got to see a small glimpse of Your glory, it would be enough.
• If I only ever heard You call my name, it would be enough.
• If I felt loved by You alone, it would be enough.

It is Good Friday as I write this, and the weight of what Jesus did for me feels heavy, and yet, as I create my own version of the Dayenu, the weight is replaced by thankfulness and pure joy.  How about you? What can you look back on and say, "It would have been enough."?