How Do I Cling to God — When Life Feels Easy?
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Today we talk with our friend, Jackie Hill Perry.
00:00:11.600 | The month of May was a huge one for her.
00:00:13.400 | Her second daughter arrived
00:00:15.320 | and her second album dropped, "Crescendo",
00:00:17.960 | which you just heard.
00:00:19.320 | Jackie, thank you for joining us.
00:00:21.760 | But first, as we record this,
00:00:23.920 | last night we found out that the LA Lakers
00:00:26.720 | signed LeBron James, the huge news.
00:00:29.280 | This is big news for you.
00:00:31.240 | Why is it such a big news for you?
00:00:32.840 | - 'Cause I like LeBron
00:00:33.840 | and it was just so sad to see him lose.
00:00:37.200 | I just, I don't like, I do not like go to state,
00:00:41.200 | like with a passion.
00:00:42.320 | - It is certainly sad to see LeBron lose in the finals.
00:00:45.920 | And I think now we can watch him lose before the finals.
00:00:49.040 | - You think so?
00:00:49.880 | - I do, I do.
00:00:50.720 | - I heard Kawhi Leonard might sign.
00:00:52.640 | If that happens, I don't see that happening.
00:00:54.480 | - Maybe.
00:00:55.320 | I don't think any configuration around LeBron
00:00:58.840 | can beat the Warriors.
00:00:59.760 | But we're not here to talk about LeBron and the Warriors.
00:01:02.560 | No, we are here to talk about @JackieOperi
00:01:05.760 | because you are quite gifted on social media.
00:01:08.360 | And I followed you for some time,
00:01:10.120 | always to great benefit myself.
00:01:12.000 | So I wanna talk with you over the next few days
00:01:14.880 | about some of your most viral tweets,
00:01:16.520 | or the tweets that I've encapsulated,
00:01:17.840 | something really profound that I want you to expound on.
00:01:20.320 | And I want you to begin today with this struggle
00:01:23.640 | to cling to God, to cling to God when life is easy.
00:01:28.320 | You said it like this, quote,
00:01:29.960 | "I wonder if with all the sermons and books
00:01:32.640 | "on how to hold on to God during suffering,
00:01:35.920 | "if there should be just as much, if not more,
00:01:38.400 | "on how to stay near God during seasons of ease.
00:01:43.280 | "I've seen more Christians drift from God
00:01:45.840 | "when life was a breeze than I have when life was hard."
00:01:50.840 | Wow, expand on that truth.
00:01:53.800 | - Yeah, I mean, I think personally,
00:01:56.360 | I've seen in my life where when I'm going through something,
00:02:00.120 | when there are trials and tribulations
00:02:03.360 | and difficulties and hardships,
00:02:05.240 | I seem to be a lot more attentive to God
00:02:07.600 | than I am when life is kind of easy.
00:02:10.000 | And I think I saw it in the scriptures
00:02:12.600 | when I was studying for Deuteronomy 5
00:02:15.240 | when I taught at the Gospel Coalition Women's Conference.
00:02:18.680 | And in Deuteronomy 8, there was this section
00:02:21.120 | where God was telling them how he's bringing them
00:02:23.160 | into a good land, a land full of milk and honey,
00:02:26.920 | you got water, you don't have manna anymore,
00:02:29.680 | like all of this type of stuff.
00:02:31.280 | And then God says, "Take care,
00:02:33.560 | "lest you forget the Lord your God
00:02:35.640 | "when you enter this good land."
00:02:37.520 | And then he says, "When you get there,
00:02:39.760 | "don't assume that all the good stuff is yours."
00:02:42.400 | And so I think in essence,
00:02:44.640 | that's what we're all prone to do
00:02:46.520 | is that when we enter into seasons
00:02:48.320 | where things seem to be abounding,
00:02:50.160 | where there seems to be an abundance,
00:02:51.960 | we're not crying a lot, we're not depressed,
00:02:54.480 | there's just a lot of joy, everybody's good,
00:02:56.880 | your spouse ain't getting on your nerves,
00:02:58.400 | your kids are being real obedient,
00:03:00.000 | your paycheck is coming in consistently,
00:03:02.040 | there's this tendency to just forget about God,
00:03:05.320 | to remember that these good gifts are about God,
00:03:07.800 | that these good gifts are for God,
00:03:09.760 | that these good gifts came from God.
00:03:11.680 | And so I think that's what we do as humans.
00:03:13.960 | But even Paul, I feel like he has encouraged me personally
00:03:18.440 | when I was reading Philippians 4,
00:03:20.800 | I think where he talks about how
00:03:22.400 | he's learned to be a based and abound,
00:03:25.080 | he's learned to have lack and abundance
00:03:27.280 | all because he gets his strength from the Lord.
00:03:30.400 | And I think a lot of times we read that text to say,
00:03:32.880 | "Oh, I'm struggling with stuff, I need God's strength."
00:03:36.960 | But it's like, no, even when you're not struggling,
00:03:39.200 | you need God's strength,
00:03:40.360 | because in essence, you are completely and always needy.
00:03:44.280 | But when you have a lot of good things going on in your life,
00:03:47.120 | I think you forget you're as needy as you are.
00:03:49.160 | And so I think if we keep Jesus before our eyes
00:03:51.480 | and see that we always need him,
00:03:53.600 | whatever season we are in,
00:03:56.000 | then we'll be able to resist the temptation
00:03:57.880 | to stray from him when life is all good.
00:03:59.800 | - Yeah, really good and helpful.
00:04:02.200 | I mean, this seems like the flip side of Psalm 73,
00:04:05.960 | I mean, the prosperity gospel, really.
00:04:08.000 | "If my life is a breeze, then God must be happy with me."
00:04:12.960 | - Well, no, I think God's kindness is layered.
00:04:16.880 | I think God's kindness looks different
00:04:18.720 | depending on the season.
00:04:19.680 | I think when you look at Jesus,
00:04:21.240 | Jesus was the most pleasing thing to God,
00:04:23.640 | and his life was really hard.
00:04:25.200 | And so I could never assume that my suffering
00:04:28.240 | or the lack thereof is somehow related to God's view of me
00:04:33.240 | or affection for me.
00:04:35.040 | He is always good, and he always loves me
00:04:37.040 | because I am in Christ Jesus
00:04:38.240 | and he created me for himself.
00:04:39.760 | And so I think if anything,
00:04:41.280 | what I've learned about the character of God in my trials
00:04:44.440 | is that God, he really wants me to know him,
00:04:47.480 | and he's willing to do that by any means necessary.
00:04:50.840 | If that means pain, then he's willing to do that
00:04:53.560 | because really in my suffering,
00:04:55.520 | that's when I look the most like Jesus
00:04:57.040 | because I'm able to see him rightly.
00:04:59.360 | - Yeah, so true.
00:05:00.880 | There's an urgency we must cling to,
00:05:02.840 | especially when life seems easy.
00:05:05.920 | That's so helpful, Jackie, thank you very much.
00:05:08.400 | And we're gonna now break for the weekend,
00:05:10.480 | and we're gonna return with Jackie on Monday.
00:05:13.400 | And until then, you can check out our online home
00:05:15.600 | at desiringgod.org/askpastorjohn,
00:05:18.720 | where you can explore all 1,250 or so
00:05:21.280 | of our episodes that we've released.
00:05:22.560 | You can scan a list of our most popular ones.
00:05:24.760 | You can read full transcripts,
00:05:25.880 | even send us a question of your own.
00:05:27.600 | And to get these new episodes delivered to you
00:05:30.080 | three times per week,
00:05:31.040 | subscribe to the Ask Pastor John podcast
00:05:32.600 | in your favorite podcast app.
00:05:34.440 | We'll be back on Monday to talk about what God is doing
00:05:36.800 | in us during our seasons of waiting.
00:05:41.200 | Don't miss this one.
00:05:42.320 | I'm Tony Reinke, have a great weekend.
00:05:44.200 | (upbeat music)
00:05:46.800 | (upbeat music)
00:05:49.400 | [BLANK_AUDIO]