The Faith Beyond Trauma Podcast

Is God Enough- Part 4: Finding Contentment When The Holidays Hurt

• Pastor Reggie

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We press into a real question for the holidays: is God enough when life amplifies grief, distance, and pressure. Walking through Philippians 4, we lay out a practical path from worry to prayer to peace and the learned habit of contentment that holds in any season.

• defining contentment as inward peace rooted in Christ
• choosing prayer over worry to unlock guarded peace
• fixing thoughts on what is true and lovely
• letting peace lead decisions during family stress
• repenting for limiting God to timelines and outcomes
• inviting God into lack, disappointment and guarded spaces
• practicing gratitude and radical acceptance as change starters
• steps to learn contentment: name it, refocus, give thanks, obey

SPEAKER_01:

Hi everybody, my name is Pastor Reggie, and this is welcome to the Faith Beyond Drama podcast, where we believe in God to disciple people, to live healed, deliverance, set free. Debt, doubt, word, restraints, and fear. By great through faith, we will see the manifest good place of perfect will and their spirit stall about it. Thank you for joining us today as we continue the conversation. Is God enough? Um part three, we got nowhere near near our notes, but bless God. We believe that what we'll share was a your family will be blessed. Amen. We're not, we're dogmatic about that. We're believing for the restoration of families, we're believing for the healing of families, their deliverance, their freedom. All it takes is one act of obedience. One yes. One yes. In addition to that, it's just a dogmatic belief that God is truly enough. Hence the series. This is part four of the Is God enough series. And it's based off the premise as we prepare for the holidays, a lot of times this is an amplifier or reflective of different things. You know, for some of us, we may not be able to get with family members as we used to in the past. So it's a reminder of what we lost.

SPEAKER_00:

What we don't have.

SPEAKER_01:

Is God enough to comfort me? You know, for some of us, it's a reminder that I can't get home because of finances. It's a reminder, you know, of a few different some of us opposite. It's a reminder of how good God has been, in the sense of, I'm able to see my family, I have enough provisions. But is God himself enough, or do we get so caught up in the provisions that we forget to provide her? You know, is God enough? So that's the heart behind this series. Is God enough? Please feel free to go back and rewatch part one and part two. We pray it'll be a blessing to you. And now we're gonna try to stick to our notes as we talk about content. We've talked thus far about Jacob. And so um, we want to make a pivot to the apostle Paul. And our spinner text will be Philippians chapter 4. We're gonna go from verse 6 to verse 13. Um, and see where the Holy Spirit goes. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6. Don't worry about anything out of the new liberal translation. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything you can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds. You live in Christ Jesus. Verse 8. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts. Keep them stabilized on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting to practice all you have learned and received from me, everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Verse 10. How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn't have the chance to help me. Verse 11. Now that I not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. Verse 13. For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. So we wanted to take a moment to look at the thought of content. For I have learned to be content, okay? So with this, with the Apostle Paul, we understand, particularly in that particular passage, that we have a lot of feelings. And so a lot of it, a lot of times being triggered is an internal response to external stimulus, particularly stress. It's internal. So something externally is going on, right? And our body's responding to just that. So as we look out and we look at food, clothing, shelter, and we look at relationships, we look at you feeling a blank. A lot of those are external situations, right? And so they produce internal responses. So we may feel a lot of different ways, and we always hear us say, your feelings are valid. We'll never tell you how to feel. What to do with those feelings? We will have a conversation. So those feelings, they're just acknowledgers, think of lack of a term. They're like, hey, this is this, this is that, you know, I'm acknowledging this. And so contentment can be defined. I think it's a good time. Wait, wait, let's go there. Contentment is the inward satisfaction of peace independent of external circumstances. It's based on the power of Christ in which well inside of us, and also God's ability to provide not only resource-wise, but also his presence. And so as we talk about these different things that we're being reminded of, we're in we're being invited by Paul to be content. Because if you back it up a little bit, Philippians 4 8, you are doing the thing, he said, fix your thoughts. Why? Because as you move around, I like to teach you some go back real quick. Philippians 4, 6, 4, 7, I'm sorry, talks about peace. So I like to break it down to a math equation. You can choose to worry about it or you're gonna choose to pray about it. If you choose to pray about it, tell God what you need, thank him for what he's done. So if you then if you choose prayer, uh pray about what you need, thankful what he's done, that equates to peace. All right? Peace in Phoebe chapter 6 is in the spiritual armory, are shoes on your feet. So God's peace leads us forward. Some of us, God's peace will be with you as you travel to see your family. God's peace will be with you as you uh settle down, hunker down by yourself. God's peace will be there. God's peace will lead you forward as you have the conversation. God's peace should always lead you forward. If you don't have the peace of God, don't move forward. Now, as you move forward in obedience, it's very easy to hear things or to see things, to feel things that contradict what God told you before you started moving. What are those arrows attached to the enemy to still kill and destroy according to Mark chapter 4 to get you to stop moving forward? And he will use the inner you against you to where you see stuff and it brings up something inside of you. And that's why Paul is telling us fix your thoughts, stabilize your thoughts, stay right here, don't move. We're gonna think this, and we're not gonna move. And because we think this way, this is what we say, this is what we do. Why? Until we see what we say, what we see, what he told us externally. That's critical because he leaves it from a state of contentment, inward satisfaction and peace, despite this, because where you're going is chaotic. Where you go, yado, Philippians, well, Philippians Psalms 23, yado, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. It looked like death destruction. It looked like you're not gonna make it, it looked like it's gonna never change. It looked like this David said, I will fear no evil. Why? Because thou art with me. God is with you. Why? Because he's led you to it. If he led you to it, he's already told you you're gonna get to the side. You're gonna accomplish that word which God sent you, that started you in the first place. It shall be accomplished, but we need earth's agreement with it. It's already decreed to heaven, that's why he told you this. But he needs earth's agreement, your words, your thoughts, your action of obedience, despite what you seek, despite what they say. Because they're going to say, they're going to say, they're going to do, but the question is will you let him speak through you? Will you be more content in obeying him? And so now we have a choice, okay? We have a choice. Um, we have a choice to make. Do we limit God based on what we see? Based on what we feel like we cannot accomplish, we cannot do, or do we allow God to be God? God, you're sending me here for a season, for the reason. I'm gonna I'm gonna say what you want me to say, I'm gonna do what you want me to do, Father God. And I know greater are you. I know, Father God, I don't want to, I can do without this. I'm I'm in the east, my own business, objected reference. But I know you're leading me west. I know you're leading me to have this conversation, to do this, but God, can you really move? Is his power enough? Is his word enough? And if you place limits on God because of what you cannot do or what you haven't seen yet, there's an invitation first of all to repent. Father God, I'd like to apologize. I would like to change my mind about it because I know my opinion was based on my experience. And my experience where it hasn't changed yet. I was praying about this. I stopped praying because I stopped believing for it. It took too long. I want you to fix it in five minutes, it took you five years. I want you to fix it in five days, it took you five months or five weeks. So you stop praying, you stop, but don't stop believing. Don't stop. When do you stop praying about something? When you have it, when you tangibly see what he's told you here, that's when you stop praying praying about it. And then you enjoy it. Oh, we're praising.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm sitting here enjoying being fake myself because he is flowing.

SPEAKER_01:

And so now we got Matthew chapter six. All right, what do you do? Um question for you. You feel lacked. We're gonna invite you. Invite God to the to that particular space. Tell God what you need. Thank him for all he has done. What do you got? Can God have access there? Because a lot of times, sadly, unfortunately, at times our own experience of our disappointments have become boundaries that we set to keep stuff out. It's a reference to a series we talked about previously. These disappointments they they become here. We we don't we stop guarding our heart. So we plant seeds of disappointment and betrayal in it. And if we're not careful, what can happen is we don't want God in there because God, I don't want you to let me down in it. So now we are invited. Um I know that was good. I'm gonna keep going. But Libby chapter 4 to a process, Paul says something interesting in verse 11, I have learned to be content.

SPEAKER_00:

You know, that song gyra. I know a lot of us don't always think about the words that we're singing when we sing songs. You know, we sing it because it sounds good, we sing it because it's popular, because it's nice, but if you legitimately listen to what you are singing when you're praising and you're worshiping, you'll understand what you're confessing, and you need to be mindful of what you're confessing because we're saying in that song, you are enough. Jairah, you are enough.

SPEAKER_01:

Which is one of the names of God, Jehovah Jarran is God.

SPEAKER_00:

My provider, you are enough. I will be content in every circumstance. And if you've sung that song and not paid attention to it, you are speaking that over your life. You're saying, Jairo, you are enough. I will be content in every circumstance. You need to believe it and own it for yourself, as Paul did, even in chains. He was content in every single circumstance, whether he was being persecuted or not, you know, no matter what was going on in his life, speak that and mean it. God, you are enough, and I will be content in every circumstance.

SPEAKER_01:

This is where our imagination's nothing to play ahead. Because I agree. Your imagination can either confirm or reject what you're saying. Because a lot of times we can't see ourselves based on be beyond our external circumstances, but thank God for faith, thank God for overactive imaginations, thank God for this stuff. Because you gotta think about it. Paul wrote this, he was in prison and he wasn't in the county jail. He was so just a few steps. Um one, how to learn to be content. First of all, acknowledge and label the source of discontentment. Now, discontentment is a huge word, but let's get beyond that label. What happened? What is going on? What are you actually feeling? Are you feeling anxious? Are you feeling lonely? Are you feeling you feel the point, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Go back to Paul. Paul said, I am in chains because I am preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. So he acknowledged the source of his discomfort. He acknowledged the source of his discomfort, and he said, Regardless, I will be content because I know why I'm in here. I know, I know what created this situation, and it was me being obedient to Christ.

SPEAKER_01:

Beautiful. Second, focus on God's provision, not what you lack. Focus on what God has provided. Or take a step further. If you don't have it, because I've been there, what his word told you, he gives you provided, or what he told you in that dream. What did he say? Philippians, Psalms 4, Psalm chapter 16, verse 5. You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessings. He is your cup of blessings. My God supply. My God supply all my needs for riches of glory. Focus on what he's provided, on what he has, what he says you have access to, not what you don't have. Verse 3, be grateful. Gratitude. What am I grateful for? Huh? Let's just Philippians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. Way out of our notes. It's all good. 1 Thessalonians.

SPEAKER_00:

Paul did this well too. Because in almost all his letters, he's thankful to God. I thank people. Thank you for your church. I'm thankful for Timothy. I'm thankful for all these other, you know, disciples that he sent out to all the churches. And he's speaking blessings over everybody. He's thankful that he can write the letters to all the churches. I mean, even in prison, dude is still like running stuff from behind, you know, behind bars.

SPEAKER_01:

Amen. I love it. Go ahead, girl. Excuse me. Verse, chapter 5, verse 6. First Thessalonians, chapter 5. Let's go to verse 16. Always be joyful. Never stop praying, verse 17. Be thankful in all circumstances. For this is God's will for you who belong in Christ Jesus. Whoa. What? Be thankful in all situations. Now, emphasis on in all, not for all. There you go. Because I think a lot of times we think God is, we we say God is good, but I don't think we honestly believe God is good. We think God is good sometimes, or blah, blah, blah, blah. Not for every circumstance. Now, I do believe in the concept of radical acceptance, meaning that a situation cannot change until you kind of accept this is where I am. This is where things are. You look at it soberly, right? This is where I am. But the thing about radical acceptance is you accept it in order to change it. We work a lot with a lot of people in addiction and recovery. The first step of 12 steps, acknowledge this is where I am.

SPEAKER_00:

There is a problem. There is a situation.

SPEAKER_01:

This is bothering me. This is on my mind. Blah blah. If you don't acknowledge that, then God cannot bless you while in your mess. God will not bless your delusions. He's too real for that. He knows what's going on. So his question was, will you give me what's really bothering you? The doctor's report. Your children's behavior. Now acknowledging is not acceptance, or is not saying a negative confession. No, you just saying this is where I am. This is what I started off with. So what the doctor said. Boom. You put that on the altar. You find scripture. God, what do you say about this in the narrative as well as the rhema, the revelation of it? And you start where they are, you leave where he is. And so now you're shifting. You shift it. Why? Because you allow him inside your circumstances situation. Tell him what you need. Thank him for what he's done. And then you'll get verse 7. Then the peace comes. Peace will lead you forward. Your peace will guide you. The peace of God guides you as you move forward for this holiday season. As you go forth, family, friends, love owners. People that you know don't like you. Blah blah blah. As the Holy Spirit led you there, He's gonna protect you, He's gonna keep you, He's gonna guard you like never before. His angels go before and behind you, all around you. May His favor be upon you to a thousand generations. Come on now. And for that, we say, ah me. It's yours. It's yours. May His peace guide you forward. The question is, is God enough? This Thanksgiving, we declare we declare and decree God is enough, God is was enough, God will always be enough. May that be your declaration as we move forward. We love you. Thank you so much for rocking with us. Please feel free to like. This was a blessing. Please free to like and share. Um check us out on YouTube. Once again, Faith Beyond Travel Podcast from Pastor Reggie. Uh, we should add you to it. Pastor Reggie, it's Tony. Um on bus route. The links will be below. We love you. Happy Thanksgiving, happy holidays. I like sweet potato pie, okay? Now that we're praying for you,