Jesus is More Than Enough (Live Podcast at Houston’s First Baptist Cypress)

We know that the Christian life can feel hard sometimes. And that is why we wrote Good Christian Girl. Good Christian Girl is about the highest and lowest that we experience in our sanctification as believers or are becoming more like Christ. Through this book, you will not only learn what sanctification means, but you will also learn what it looks like to participate in the sanctifying work God is doing within you. You'll receive the encouragement and perseverance you need to keep pursuing faithfulness to God. - Welcome to the Daily Grace podcast. I'm Shelby. - And I'm Crystal. We are a part of the content team here at the Daily Grace Co, and our mission is to equip disciples in the word. - And every Tuesday, we share what we're learning from scripture with you right here on the podcast, because we believe that deep Bible study, sound doctrine, and rich theology are not just for the seminary student or pastor, but are accessible for all believers. - So whether you listen on the go or sitting down with pen and paper in hand, we hope these conversations will teach you something new about God and his word, and to remind you that the gospel changes everything. - Have you ever asked, where is God in the midst of my suffering? Does he see me? Does he hear me? Let us assure you that God is with you. He sees you and he hears your prayers. In fact, God is present in every single detail of your life. This is what we learn through the book of Job. And through our new Bible study on the book of Job, called Sacred Suffering, you will see that God is worthy of your praise in all seasons, even the most difficult ones. Sacred Suffering is a four-week study that will give you a gospel-centered perspective on suffering and its role in your faith journey. It will teach you to bring your doubts, fears, and your questions to God, and it will give you confidence in God's sovereignty over evil in your life and in the world surrounding you. You can learn more about Sacred Suffering at the link in the show notes or at thedailygraceco.com. - Hey friends, welcome back to The Daily Grace Podcast. My name is Crystal, and I'm here as always with my friend and co-host Shelby. Hey, Shelby. - Hey, Crystal. And usually when we're recording, it's me and you and just one dude in the room, Michael. Tonight, we do have a couple of dudes in the room, but we also have a number of wonderful ladies. We're so excited to be recording a live podcast at Houston's first. This is super, super exciting. And on top of that, we're recording our 300th episode of the podcast. Can you even believe that? - No, I mean, I can, but I also can't. 300, that's amazing. The thing that I love about the podcast, and we were chatting a little bit about this earlier, is a core value at Daily Grace is better together. The podcast is a better together effort. There are so many hands involved. It's not just us, we have designers, we have producers, digital media, social media, all of that, and it's just such a joy to see what the Lord has done in and through this podcast and just personally what the Lord has done in me. It's just such a gift. - Yeah, 300 episodes in and still going strong, many more to come. And you know, as much as we love putting together podcasts, as much as we love writing beautiful Bible study resources, we know that the local church is the most important place that discipleship happens. And so it feels super special to get to record this episode here in the midst of a women's ministry that is equippling and discipling their women. And so we're gonna have a conversation tonight as friends about what it looks like to trust that Jesus is enough. And we're gonna be answering and asking the question, is Jesus enough? When you're facing struggle, when you're facing hardship, it's persisting longer than you want it to, it seems like it's just not gonna end. Is Jesus enough? When your life doesn't look at all the way that you planned that it would look, is Jesus enough? When your future feels like it's hanging by a thread, is Jesus enough? When it's late at night and the tears are just flowing as you consider maybe your fears or your failures, the ways that you've fallen short, is Jesus enough? That's the question we're gonna tackle. - Yeah, and as we talk about Jesus being more than enough tonight and next week, which we'll talk about more, we wanna really figure out what does that actually mean? We can say like, yeah, Jesus is enough, but what are we talking about when we say that not only is he enough, he is more than enough? So this is kind of like a paraphrase definition throughout, but to see that something is enough means that that thing or that person satisfies, is sufficient and necessary for satisfaction. So for us as believers, that means that Jesus is more than sufficient to provide. He provides us with security, peace, joy, hope, rest, and all those things can only be found in him alone. - Yeah, and I think when we talk about Jesus being more than enough, it can be kind of hard to picture. It feels like maybe something that's a little ambiguous. And so as I was researching this and as we were talking about this, we found an analogy that might be really helpful for you to just keep in the back of your mind as we talk. So there was one commentator, and his name is Kent Hughes, and he used this analogy of the ocean and a cup. And so he said, when we think about Jesus, obviously we know Jesus is enough. He is limitless, he is without bound, much like the ocean. He said, but to understand that Jesus is enough for us, we have to think of ourselves like a cup. And he said, if you dip a cup and you put it in the ocean, that cup will immediately fill to the full with that ocean water. Yet if you look out there in the ocean, there's still so much more. You can't even see the edges of the ocean. You can't see the depths of the ocean. To understand that Jesus is enough for us, we have to understand that we can be filled to the full, and yet Jesus is still far limitless beyond that. And so in order to maybe just give you a picture that you can grasp the hold of as we talk through this, maybe keep that in your mind, a picture of a cup in the ocean. - I think that's really helpful just as a visual. And so as we're talking, that might be something we come back to, it's just that idea of God being limitless. And like that reminds me too, as that cup, like I am limited, right? Like I need the Lord. And so as we're thinking about this question, is Jesus enough? I think it's probably a question, maybe have it outright asked, or maybe it is a question that you've asked. I do think it can be kind of scary to ask those questions, allowed whether it's to the Lord himself or to others. But it maybe haven't said those words exactly, and yet we often can reveal in our actions or in our behavior really what we believe about Jesus being enough. And it's in the way that we respond to our circumstances. And so it could be good things, it could be hard things, it could be bad things, but often how you respond in those moments is going to reveal our heart in what we love. And it's gonna reveal if we believe that Jesus truly is enough. - Yeah, I like that you just pointed out that we can maybe be wrestling with this question without even realizing it. I think that's true for me, as we have been diving into the scripture that we're gonna go into here in a minute and just talking about this topic, I realized several areas in my life where I was looking to other things to be enough and not to Jesus to be enough. So I'm wondering if we can just start with personal stories. Maybe we can get vulnerable and just share. - Oh good, they're closest friends. - So, Crystal, is there a time in your life when you've wondered, is Jesus enough for me? - Yeah, as we've been talking through this and talking about Jesus being enough, especially in times of trial. There have been several trials that I have walked through really in the last five to seven years and it really was around seven years ago. I was on church staff before coming to Daily Grace and I just remember one Sunday, it was just a very, very busy Sunday. Nothing was really going right. And I remember rushing around, getting everything done and coming into the sanctuary for worship. And during worship, I lifted up my hands and my hands and my arms went immediately numb and that never happened before. And then I had shooting pain all through my legs. Am I having a stroke? Like, what is going on? And I continue to have that pain to a pretty great degree for several months, going into about a year, year and a half. I saw several specialists. They all had different ideas. They sent me to different places. And then I finally got a diagnosis. And in one sense, it's an answer, right? So you feel a little bit of relief. But the answer that I received was like, this will never go away. It's just something that you will have to manage and deal with. And I didn't realize it at the time, but looking back when I see myself in that season, I realized I was dealing with both physical pain, but then also emotional pain. I struggled with anxiety, severe depression. I couldn't get out of bed, both from a physical standpoint and from an emotional standpoint. And I had a one-year-old and a three-year-old at the time. And it was just a really difficult season. Like I had to figure out how I was going to work and minister and parent and be a wife. And it wasn't visible on the outside, how much pain I was going through. But inside it was horrific. And it's still pain that I deal with to this day, to a lesser degree. But looking back, that was a season where I thought, man, God, are you enough in this pain and in this suffering? Knowing that he has sovereign, but still struggling to see, is he really enough? - Yeah, you know, even if we haven't dealt with the issue of chronic pain or an unexpected diagnosis, I think most of us can relate to all of a sudden being given a new reality and thinking, wow, is God going to meet me here? Is this going to be enough? So I'm wondering if we can get even just a little bit more specific. In that season, Crystal, in what ways were you wondering if Jesus wasn't enough for you? - Yeah, I think that the question of his sufficiency was really always in the back of my mind. And I think too, being in ministry, leading others, administering really complicated that suffering in that pain because I felt like I could see very tangibly how God was good to others, but I struggled to see that for myself. And I was even leading in a ministry, which was a counseling ministry, where we're helping others find free of in Christ. And I thought, how do I get that? Like, I want that. And I didn't know what that looked like for me in that time. So I will admit, I responded very poorly at times to my suffering. I looked inward, I didn't look to the Lord. And I think there were times where I thought, man, Jesus, I don't think you're enough. Like, I don't see how you're enough. And I think functionally through my response, that's what I was saying to the Lord, that by God's grace throughout that season, that really was over a course of several years. I continued to show up in community. I continued serving and going to church. I continued going to Bible City, even when I didn't finish my lesson and I couldn't even open my Bible. Like, I still showed up. And I did it because I knew that I couldn't do that alone. I tried to do it alone. I tried to be self-sufficient and I couldn't do it anymore. And so I opened up to this woman and said, I need help. Like, I'm not doing well. I need you to remind me of who I am in Christ. I need you to remind me of the truths of Scripture and just remind me of God's goodness when I can't see it for myself. - I think it's so helpful that you're telling this story, you know, several years down the line, because maybe you're able to see truths. You're able to see the ways that God was working. It was really hard for you to see in the moment. And so I'm wondering if just like looking back, you can share with us. What did you learn in that season? And let's just go ahead and answer that question. Was Jesus enough for you while you were struggling with this physical and emotional pain? - I'll say from the outset, yes, Jesus was more than enough, but I don't think I could understand it at that time. I didn't feel it, but I knew it to be true. And I think one thing that I learned during that season was how important biblical community was. They showed up for me when I really couldn't really show up for myself, and I didn't know what I needed. They were able to step in for me. I also learned that season how sweet the Psalms are. I feel like for a long time, I saw the Psalms as like, not theological enough. I was like, that's if you want to like feel something, like I want to learn, so I'm going to go to Romans, or I'm going to study. But that was a season where I knew like, I could read a Psalm. I could do that, and I could understand it. And it gave me a language of suffering and honesty before the Lord. In Psalm 34 was one that I'd go to a lot, and I still go to to this day. That's one of my favorites in verses nine and 10. It says this, "O fear the Lord, you his saints, "for those who fear him have no lack. "The young lions suffer want and hunger, "but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. I think it just reminded me that it wasn't about the absence of hard things that made things good. Like I just wanted the suffering to go away and then life would be good. But the Lord reminded me like, no, you have the presence of good things because you have me. Like you lack no good thing because you have me. So yes, Jesus is more than enough. We have him, we have his spirit within us if we are in Christ. So I just couldn't see it at the time. And that's where community was able to show me and point me to the truth of scripture to remind me of who he is. So he provides for us in times of trial. And that's really what we wanna focus on here for this first part of the conversation that Jesus provides all that we need in difficult times. - Yeah, I think that's such an important truth to talk about because we all face trials, right? Or maybe if I'm gonna say that more accurately, we all will face many trials throughout our lives. And as you've been talking, I'm thinking about Ephesians three. We're gonna walk through verses 14 through 21 together because I think there's so much in here that we can grab ahold of as we're all wrestling with this question of is Jesus enough? So Ephesians three 20, I think y'all had the little cards on your seat that had Ephesians three 20. That verse is like nestled in this passage that we're gonna talk about. And that might be the most familiar verse to you. It says, "Now to him who is able to do above and beyond, all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us." And man, don't we love that verse, like his power and it's above and beyond, even more than we could ask or think. And we're gonna get there, but we're gonna provide some context first that's gonna make this verse even more rich and even more meaningful. - Yeah, if we really could just walk through all the Ephesians, I would. We don't have time for it. You should go read it if you've never read it. Or even if you had to read it, it's so good. But unity is such an important theme that Paul draws out all throughout Ephesians. And it's unity within the church, but it's also unity that we experience with God because of Christ and his finished work on the cross. So I actually read a commentary that put it this way and I found it really helpful. He said that chapter one is about the unity that we now have vertically with God because of Christ. And then chapter two is about how we have unity horizontally within the body of Christ. And so now, being in chapter three, Paul's gonna expand on both of these aspects and kind of bring them together in a really cool way. And that leads us to this beautiful, rich prayer that Paul prays in verses 14 through 21. So we're gonna kind of like take it chunk by chunk throughout the evening. So I'm gonna read the first few verses and then we'll unpack it together. So this is Ephesians three, starting in verse 14. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. - So excited to unpack these verses. We've like talked through this so many times, but I still get so excited to talk through it every single time. So like Crystal said, when we start here in verse 14, this is a prayer. And Paul says, for this reason, I kneel before the Father. I think we need to stop right there. That's actually a really important fact that he's kneeling. So when Paul was writing to kneel in prayer, wasn't super common. So that Paul was pointing out that he was kneeling. He was taking an uncommon posture. He was taking a posture of extraordinary humility, of extraordinary desperation, as we see as we keep reading through this prayer, maybe even an extraordinary passion. And so as we're talking about is Jesus enough? That's a desperate question. That's a question we ask with humility. And I think Paul is entering into this prayer with that same state of mind. So then he goes on to say, I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. So that first part there where he says, he may grant you according to the riches of his glory. I wonder how many times we go to the Lord and we go to him asking for strength. I don't know about y'all, but it takes me about three minutes of being awake in the morning and my kids are fighting over the last bit of their favorite cereal. And I realize I left the clothes I needed in the washer. And so I'm not going to be able to wear them. And oh, I overslept by 10 minutes too. And I'm like, Lord, give me the strength. You know, but when I'm praying to the Lord and asking for strength, I wonder how often I stop to consider that he is rich in strength. He has a wealth of strength. And so that Paul mentions that here, the riches of his glory. Romans 11, 26, it says of God, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. And so when we need strength, when we're wondering Jesus, are you enough? Can you strengthen me through this? I think we're starting to see right away in this passage. Yeah, he's rich in strength and we can go to him. - Yeah, he's like that ocean and we are that cup. And if we ask, he will give it to us, but we often don't ask. And that's what I love about this prayer. We see Paul praying not in his own wisdom or what he thinks he deserves, but he prays in accordance with the character of God. You know, he says he wants the God to grant the Ephesians strength according to the riches of God's glory. And we see this riches language all throughout Ephesians. We see in chapter one that he says in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace. And then in chapter two, we see him talking about the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness in Christ. Chapter three, we see the incalculable riches. I mean, there is so much that Christ offers to us and just the according to his riches, according to who you are, God, will you grant this? 'Cause it is in your very nature to give this to your children. I just think it's such a beautiful prayer. - Yeah, so God is rich in strength. And as Paul is praying this, I think it's really important to point out that he's praying for inner strength that's given through the spirit. I think when we're going through something difficult, our tendency is to pray, Lord, would you take it away? Like just make it go away. But what Paul is actually praying for here is this inner strength. Honestly, reading this, I was so challenged. Even maybe some of the difficult things I'm walking through right now. Have I prayed, Lord, for this inner strength through your spirit that you would strengthen me to walk through this? And then, you know, Paul goes on and he talks about that you would be strengthened with power in your inner being through his spirit so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. When I see that word dwell, I always stop. I think it's because our lives are so busy. We're running at a frantic pace. Y'all probably had to rush to get here. You're trying to get everybody in the right places at the right times and then get here to get in your seat on time. When I see that word dwell, I always just think, man, that's what I want, just to slow down. And so right here, he's talking about Christ dwelling in our hearts, and that means to live, to reside, to settle in. I think we mentioned it earlier, but both Crystal and I, just about a year ago, moved to the Houston area. And so we've been doing a lot of settling in over the past year. We've been sending each other pictures, you know, and being like, I think I'm gonna hang this on the wall over here. I think I'm gonna tear this wall out. And then our husbands are like, no, you are not tearing that wall out. That wall is definitely staying. So when you move into a home, when you settle into a home, you make that home reflect you, reflect your family. It reflects how you want that space to function. And so when we think about Christ dwelling in our hearts, he in our hearts is working in us to make us reflect him and reflect his nature. And so we see this amazing moment in this prayer where Paul is praying for strength. He's praying for inner strength. He's coming to the Lord saying, you're rich in strength and we need your riches of strength. And then he's like, but as you strengthen us on the inside, something amazing happens. Christ dwells within us. And he's doing work in us as you strengthen us through hardship and trial. - I feel like every time I've read this passage, I'm always just in awe of the fact that Christ dwells within me. And so the times where I feel alone, where I feel like no one understands, like I have someone who understands. I have someone who is closer to me than anyone else. And he resides in me. And so it's just so beautiful. I'm gonna get a little bit nerdy. I really like the Trinitarian language in this prayer. We see that Paul kneels before the Father and he's asking the spirit to strengthen the believers. And then he wants, and he says that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith. And it's just a beautiful picture of how the fullness of God interacts with his people, that how he interacts with us as his children. I just love it. So anyway, okay, so Shelby, I know you have wrestled probably with this question in some way or form. So I would love to hear from you. Like, what does it look like when you've asked that question, like, is Jesus enough? - Yeah, I mean, similar to you, I've definitely had times of trial where I've wondered, is Jesus enough for me right now? Can he get me through this? Can I be content with him if the things I'm praying for or desiring never happen? At the same time, as I thought about this more and more, I thought, I also struggle with this in times of ease or times of comfort. And I don't think that there's ever truly a time in our lives when we can say that everything is easy. I've got it all under control. But as women, there are times when we think, you know, this is manageable. I can do this. I am very organized. Like, I can handle everything. Everyone can just bring their problems to me and like, I will take care of all of them for you. And so in that season where maybe we feel like, I've got this under control. Like, I can handle these things. I realize that I'm also struggling in that time with if Jesus is enough. Because I wonder if I even need to go to him at all to provide for me. Or maybe if I can just provide for myself. - Yeah. I think that's really interesting to bring out. 'Cause I think it's a little bit harder to identify that. When you're in a trial, maybe those questions come to the surface a little bit easier. But when things are good, you're like, I'm good. Like, you're praying less potentially. You're depending on him less. And so I appreciate that this is part of the story that you're sharing. So I do think, you know, even as you're sharing, I'm like, yeah, I could see there have been times where I have maybe without even realizing it, thought like, I don't think I need him. I don't think I'm good. So how would you say that the Lord met you in that? What are the ways that you even wonder that maybe in the moment that, you know, Jesus may or may not be enough? - Yeah, I think when my problems are small enough, then I just think that I can handle them on my own. You know, even as an example, preparing for this event, we just talked about how this is our, you know, 300th podcast episode. So when I think about podcasts, preparing a podcast episode, I can think, okay, well, I've got that under control. I know how to start. I know what goes in the middle. I know what goes at the end. I have some experience studying the Bible. So I know where I'll go. I know how I'll study that passage. Like, I've got this all under control. And then I got a jury summons in the mail and I got called for jury duty yesterday. And I thought, well, that wasn't a part of my plan. And as I'm going throughout the day in jury duty, I'm thinking, I think I'm gonna be on this jury. I just was not getting dismissed. I was getting closer and closer to being on the jury. And suddenly I realized, man, I felt like I had this under control. But in a moment, I learned, no, I'm not actually in control at all. And so I think what happens is my focus is on myself and my own abilities. And in that way, I'm not even going to the Lord to be enough for me in that season. - It's interesting that we are sharing two very different stories. And yet they're both kind of terminating in the fact that we are focused on ourselves and not on the Lord. So what would you say that you learned through seasons like that, where you've been more reliant upon yourself than on the Lord? - Yeah, I usually, I think I have a moment where the weight of trying to hold everything together on my own is crashing. And I'm usually frustrated because I wish I was stronger. I'm usually ashamed because I've let people around me down 'cause I've been trying to do too much. And in that moment when I feel like everything is crashing down, I'm reminded that the only person who can bring peace and security and strength is Jesus. And so what I've learned is that it is not my circumstances or my own abilities. It's not anything else but Jesus that provides what I need, even when I'm in a season that's not a trial and it's not difficult. - Yeah, it's so comforting to realize that Jesus is enough in trials, in times where things are easy. Like in all seasons, we get to see His sufficiency show up in our lives. And I think it's God's mercy when He brings us to the end of ourselves to recognize that we need Him. And so let's keep going. We're gonna read verses 17 through 19. So here's what Paul says towards the end of 17. He says, "I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the length and width, height and depth of God's love, and to know Christ's love that surpasses knowledge so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." - I love that these verses come after the ones that we talked about earlier. So we were talking about this prayer for strength and God's strengthiness in our inner being. And we might start to think like, okay, so it's like a transaction. Like I pray and then God gives me strength. And so as long as I like check that off my to-do list, am I good? Like, but then Paul, right on the heels of that, goes into emphasizing our relationship with God. That this is not transactional. It is relational. And so he's emphasizing God's love. And he talks about being rooted and firmly established. And so he's emphasizing the security of God's love, not because of anything we've done, but because of what he's done. And then he talks about the height, the width, the depth and the length of God's love. So he's talking about the limitlessness of his love. We go again back to that ocean picture that we had earlier. And so as we have this idea of like, okay, God is enough because he's powerful, because he's strong and because he can put his strength in me and he can strengthen me in my inner being, but it's not a transaction. It's a relationship and it's based on love. And that is an astounding truth. - Yeah. - My favorite commentator, this is John Stott. And he has this quote that I was like, I threw it in literally a couple of hours ago. I was like, "Shell, we can just get through this." - I haven't seen this. - I haven't seen this. I'm so excited to read it. - Yeah, so it's like, you read it. He says this, "One of the best ways to discover a Christian's chief anxieties and ambitions is to study the content of his prayers and the intensity in which he prays them." Which, ooh, that's a little convicting for me. But what we see here is Paul's greatest desire is for believers to be rooted in God, to remember his great love and to remember his character. Which is just personally a good reminder 'cause I am really tempted to filter who God is through my circumstances. Like, God, are you good? Because this thing is happening to me. Like, I don't see your goodness, but instead what Paul is telling is like, we need to filter our circumstances through the character of God. God, I know you are good. So I know there's a purpose in this. Or, God, you are good and things are good right now. Praise God, help me to rely on you even in good times. We need to just remember that God is with us both in those hard times and in those good times. It is in his character to be with his children. He dwells within us. It is just a good reminder. - Yeah, so we're approaching our last couple verses here, verses 20 and 21. And I know I started out by reading verse 20, but hopefully you're starting to get a picture of all the context coming behind this that adds a little more depth. You want to read those couple of last verses for us, Crystal? - Yeah, verses 20 and 21 say this, "Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen." - So when we talk about God, who is able to do above and beyond, we think, yeah, because he's rich in strength, because his love is limitless, because through Christ he can literally strengthen me in my inner being. And then when we think about his power that's working in us, we're like, oh, because of the relationship that we have with him, his power is at work in us. And I love how Paul ends these verses. He ends with praise. He ends with his thoughts being turned towards God, which that's what we've been talking about, that when we wonder if God is enough, sometimes our thoughts turn towards ourselves, but rather we want them to turn towards God. And so he says, "To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and amen." So we've walked through this passage. Hopefully we've laid just like a really great foundation for yes, God is enough. Jesus is enough in any and every circumstance. We want to take it just like a step further. We want to look at a couple of other passages that can help support and even unpack this truth a little bit more for us. So Crystal, do you want to walk us through one more passage here? - Yeah, John Tintin was a verse that just came to mind when we were talking about this topic and it says that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. This is Jesus talking. He says, "I came, but they may have life and have it abundantly." So I think when we hear abundant life and we think of God doing more than we can imagine, we think in very like worldly terms, maybe like tangible terms, and he definitely can work in that way. But what we see here is he's giving us abundant life that is eternal and we will be with him for all eternity and just it's mind blowing to think of what a gift that is that I often take for granted and I get so consumed with here and now. And so it's helpful for us to think, yeah, we could have abundant life here now, but we also have it in the life to come. And I think the enemy, the thief here, he wants to use our pain and suffering. He wants to use even the good times to cause us to doubt and question God and his goodness. Like maybe I don't really need God. I can find my joy and satisfaction elsewhere or God, where are you? Because I don't see you. Those are the lies that I always tempted to believe 'cause the enemy wants to steal our joy. He wants to kill our confidence in God. But Jesus says, I have come that you would have life and have it abundantly. And so he's just very clear that our ultimate good is found in him alone. - Yeah, I think that's really helpful and clarifying and giving us an eternal perspective is really helpful. I think another passage that helps us do that is 2nd Corinthians 416. I'm gonna read it and then we'll talk about it really quick. It says, therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day for our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And so when we're thinking about, is Jesus enough? And we're saying, yes, he's more than enough. I think we need to focus on what is unseen. You know, I talked earlier about times of ease, but that's not currently the season of life I find myself in. Definitely in a time of trial. So even as I've been going through these verses and considering how Jesus is enough for me in this season, I've been challenged to think, wow, I've been looking so much on the outside and it might look like things are wasting away, or things are being destroyed. Have I been focusing on what God is doing on the inside? Have I been focusing on what is unseen? And so I actually sat back and I was like, man Lord, I've seen you draw me near to you in ways that are just so precious to me lately. I'm going to your word and I'm seeing truths that I'm sure they've been there, but they're so impactful to me right now. I'm noticing when people are praying for a number of people prayed for us even in here tonight before we came and I was so thankful for those prayers. And so I think just having this eternal perspective and looking to what is unseen over what is seen can help us begin to see in so many ways that Jesus truly is more than enough. A really practical application for me, you know, sometimes I just need to slow down and I need to assess where is my hope? What is the thing that if it was taken for me, I would think, oh no, we have a problem. I don't have hope right now because this thing cannot be a reality. Where's my peace when I feel the most not at peace? What has just happened before that? And what does that tell me about where I'm seeking to find my peace from? Where's my rest? Where do I go when I need satisfaction? I think just slowing down and thinking, am I looking to someone? Am I looking to something? Am I looking to someday? Am I thinking, it's okay, I'm gonna have peace eventually because one day this prayer will be answered or am I looking to Jesus who is my peace and is my security and is my hope right now? And so it would be my prayer that you would take some time this week to stop and think, where's my peace? Where's my hope? Where am I looking to when I don't feel satisfied? Also next week in the workshop that I'm leading, we're gonna walk through that together. If you want help answering those questions, if you wanna know, okay, I've realized it, my peace is not where it needs to be. Can you help me get it on track? We're gonna go to scripture together and we're gonna work on that together 'cause I'm in that place too. - Yeah, so one thing that we love to do in all of our episodes, whether it's a guest that's on or just us, is we wanna talk about how the gospel impacts what we're talking about. And for this, it's very impactful. It is the very foundation of everything we've been talking about. None of this would be possible without the gospel. And the gospel is good news in all seasons 'cause we are sinners in need of a savior. If these verses that we've read tonight have done nothing else, what they have shown us is that we are insufficient. We are not enough. But the good news is this, and it was mentioned during worship, Romans 5-8, but God proves his own love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So if we are in Christ, meaning that we have trusted in him alone for salvation, we have been given every spiritual blessing. And Ephesians one tells us that. We have been given every spiritual blessing, our redemption, the forgiveness of sin, his spirit within us. They are ours in Christ and that is such good news. It's not just good news in the good times or the bad times, it is good for us all of the time. And so when we reflect on the sufficiency of God, that he is truly more than enough and that truth really gets rooted into our hearts, then we can face the future because we know that Christ still is within us as believers and that God is able to do more than we can ask for or imagine. And we get to praise him, we get to give him the glory for all that he has done. - Yeah, in every season truly Jesus is enough. He provides all we need. And so it's him we need to look to in times of trial. It's him we need to look to in times of ease. But if you're anything like me, as you've been listening tonight, your thoughts have been going to all the ways that you haven't done that. All the ways that you're like, wow, I've looked to so many other things, I've looked to myself, I've looked to my circumstances. I just want to read Limitations 3, 22 through 24. I want to remind us of God's faithfulness. These verses say, because of the Lord's faithful love, we do not perish. For his mercies never end, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I say, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him. It's not because of our faithfulness that we don't perish. It's because of the Lord's faithfulness. So in all the ways that we've messed up, in all the ways that we've been unfaithful to him, his faithfulness to us, it has not changed. And his mercies are new every morning. So when I get out of bed tomorrow and my feet hit the ground and my first thought is, Lord, give me strength. I hope and pray that God will help me tomorrow to go to him for everything I need. But when I inevitably fail, his mercies will meet me and you there again. And so just the final portion of that verse, it says, the Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him. Maybe that's the phrase that just needs to stick with you this week. The Lord is my portion. The Lord is my portion. Whenever you feel those feelings of unsatisfaction or discontentment or whatever it may be. I wanna close just by praying over us tonight. We all need the Lord's help in this. He's more than enough and he's here for us. So I'm just gonna pray that we would go to him when we feel that we are in need. - Yeah, and before we pray, if you've been listening to this and you're thinking, I don't know the God they're talking about. I don't know Jesus in the way that they are talking. Will you come find us? Will you find maybe the person who invited you, someone else that would be willing to talk? We want you to meet the Jesus that we have met, that we love, that loves you. And we wanna have that conversation. And so we wanna pray for you. We wanna talk with you. So, will you pray for us? - Yeah, let's pray ladies. Lord, we thank you that you are enough. We thank you for reminders from your word that show us that you are rich in strength. That show us that you strengthen us in our inner being. And that you do that because of this loving relationship that you have with us and your love has no end. God, we confess that we've fallen short in running to you in times of need and in times of comfort in so many ways. We just ask that you would help us to come to you when we have a need that needs to be met, when we need peace, when we need rest, when we need security, when we need hope. Would you help us to run to you? God, I pray that you would meet us in your word, that you would encourage us. God, we thank you for Jesus. We thank you that He gave His life so that we might find a relationship with you. And I thank you that because of Him, we will spend all eternity with you in a secure relationship. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. - Amen. (upbeat music)