5 24 26 - Week 3 | I'm Not Enough...And That's Okay

Devotional

Day 1: When the Staff Becomes a Snake

Moses held an ordinary shepherd’s tool, but God transformed it into a symbol of divine authority. Surrendering what we cling to—even our perceived inadequacies—allows God to reveal His power through the mundane. Trust grows not by focusing on our capabilities but by releasing what we grip tightly. What seems unremarkable in our hands becomes extraordinary in His. [45:26]

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. (Exodus 4:1-4, NIV)

Reflection: What “staff” are you clutching—a skill, fear, or excuse—that God is asking you to release? How might surrendering it shift your focus from your limitations to His power?

Day 2: The Hand That Holds Healing

Moses’ diseased hand revealed God’s authority over what we cannot control. Brokenness—whether physical, emotional, or spiritual—is not beyond His restorative touch. Healing begins when we stop hiding our wounds and instead expose them to the One who makes unclean things whole. [49:02]

Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow. “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh. (Exodus 4:6-7, NIV)

Reflection: Where are you resisting God’s invitation to bring your hidden brokenness into His light? What step could you take today to trust Him with what feels beyond repair?

Day 3: When the Nile Runs Red

God turned Egypt’s lifeblood—the Nile—into a sign of judgment, proving no human system or resource rivals His sovereignty. Financial stability, cultural approval, or personal security make poor foundations. True freedom comes when we stop worshipping what sustains us and start trusting the One who sustains all. [52:04]

The Lord said, “Take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.” (Exodus 4:9, NIV)

Reflection: What “Nile” do you rely on—a paycheck, relationship, or routine—that God may be asking you to release? How would prioritizing trust in Him over control change your daily choices?

Day 4: The Lie of “Not Enough”

Moses’ protests mirrored our own: “I’m not qualified.” But God’s call isn’t contingent on our résumé. Disqualifying ourselves often masks pride—a refusal to believe God can work through imperfect people. True humility admits weakness while clinging to His strength. [38:08]

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you let “I’m not enough” become an excuse to avoid obedience? How might embracing your weakness today create space for God’s power?

Day 5: Trust Is a Verb, Not a Feeling

Moses’ story wasn’t about his confidence but his willingness to act despite doubt. Trust isn’t emotional certainty; it’s choosing to move forward when every instinct says retreat. God honors the trembling step more than the perfect plan. [58:52]

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25, NIV)

Reflection: What practical step of trust—serving, giving, forgiving—could you take this week, even if fear whispers “you’re not ready”? How might obedience today rewrite tomorrow’s story?

Sermon Summary

Jesus sets the frame with a hard promise from Matthew 16: if a person tries to hang on to life, that life slips through the fingers, but if a person gives life up for him, real life is found. The text calls the bluff on self promotion, self preservation, and self indulgence. It also exposes the quieter trap that feels like humility: clinging to limitations. When inadequacy fills the screen, the heart quietly dismisses God.

Moses shows how that happens. The burning bush meets a man stuck on himself, even in his insecurity. Moses protests, Who am I to go to Pharaoh? Who am I to lead Israel out? God answers with himself. The signs say what Moses cannot: God is enough where Moses is not. A staff becomes a snake and back again. Egypt’s badge of power bows to the Lord who turns a symbol of fear into something ordinary and manageable. A diseased hand is ruined and restored inside a cloak. The God who defines clean and unclean has authority over what no human can control. Nile water turns to blood on the ground. The lifeblood of Egypt, its wealth and stability, is not ultimate. God is.

A. W. Tozer helps name the real issue: what comes to mind when a person thinks of God is the most important thing about that person. If inadequacy feels bigger than God, that is not humility. That is a low view of God. The call is simple and sharp: put down inadequacies and pick up trust. Trust is not a feeling. Trust is a decision to move forward when the soul does not feel ready, to obey before the confidence arrives. The load a person carries can be heavy, and trust can look small, but the story is not about how much trust is in the hand. The story is about the God who meets that trust.

God tells Moses two truths that still land: you are not enough, but I am; they look like enough, but they are not. The mission in front of the church is not overthrowing Pharaoh. It is infiltrating a culture convinced that God is the problem and pointing people to Jesus. That sounds impossible if it depends on personal adequacy. It does not. The invitation is to stop hiding behind limitations, surrender ordinary tools, and take one real step.

Key Takeaways

1. A low view of God If inadequacy looms larger than the Lord, the heart calls that “humility” while quietly centering the self. Tozer’s line pushes the issue to the surface and asks what the first thought of God really is. When that thought shrinks God, fear grows and obedience stalls. Repentance begins by letting God take his true size in the mind. [41:02]
2. Ordinary things become holy tools The staff in the hand is just wood until it is laid down. Surrender turns common tools into instruments that confront idols and calm fears. God does not need flash. God asks for release, then he shows up and shows off. The miracle starts where control ends. [47:51]
3. God is enough, not you The call to serve is not a referendum on personal talent but a confession of divine sufficiency. The Lord names the gap with honesty and then fills it with himself. Strength arrives where surrender makes room. That is how fear gives way to faithful action. [52:23]
4. Trust moves before feelings arrive Trust is not parked on the feelings wheel. It is a choice to step when readiness lags and emotions wobble. Obedience grows muscles feelings can borrow later. Over time, decisions stack into a life that reads God as faithful. [58:52]
5. Step into a bigger mission The task is to enter a suspicious world and lift up Jesus, not to win by force but to love with grit and truth. Personal limits will always argue for the sidelines. Faith answers by taking one step that costs something. God meets the church right there with power and fruit. [62:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[30:37] - Memory verse read aloud
[31:57] - Life about self vs Jesus
[38:08] - The real problem named
[43:43] - Moses says who am I
[45:26] - Staff to snake sign
[48:28] - Hand restored sign
[51:08] - Nile to blood sign
[52:23] - You are not enough, I am
[57:34] - Put down inadequacy, pick up trust
[58:52] - Trust is a decision
[61:40] - Called to infiltrate culture
[63:28] - Impact in Five next step
[64:15] - Trust God with resources
[65:30] - Prayer and response

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Matthew 16:25-26 (ESV)
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Exodus 3:11-12 (ESV)
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Exodus 4:1-9 (ESV)
[The signs of the staff, the leprous hand, and the Nile turning to blood.]

Observation Questions

In Exodus 4:1-9, what three signs did God give Moses to demonstrate His power, and what did each sign confront (e.g., symbols of fear, human limitations, cultural idols)? [45:26]
How does Moses’ question, “Who am I?” in Exodus 3:11 reveal his focus, and how does God redirect him? [44:08]
According to Matthew 16:25-26, what does Jesus say is the paradox of losing one’s life to find it? How does this contrast with self-centered living?
What does the sermon identify as the “quieter trap” that masquerades as humility but actually centers on self? [32:52]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think God used ordinary objects (like Moses’ staff) to perform miracles, rather than something extraordinary? What does this say about His view of our limitations? [47:51]
The sermon states, “A low view of God grows fear and stalls obedience.” How does focusing on inadequacy shrink our perception of God’s power? [41:02]
Moses’ protests were rooted in insecurity, yet God called him anyway. How does this challenge the idea that confidence in ourselves is necessary for obedience? [58:52]
Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:25-26 contrast self-preservation with surrender. Why is “losing your life” the only path to true purpose, even though it feels counterintuitive?

Application Questions

What area of your life (e.g., relationships, work, fears) feels “too heavy” to surrender right now? What would it look like to lay it down and trust God’s sufficiency instead? [57:34]
Trust is a decision to move forward even when we don’t feel ready. What step of obedience have you been delaying because you’re waiting for confidence or clarity? How can you act this week? [58:52]
The sermon mentions using “ordinary tools” (like Moses’ staff) for God’s work. What practical skill, resource, or gift do you dismiss as too small for God to use? How could you offer it to Him? [47:51]
When have you hidden behind limitations (e.g., “I’m not qualified”) to avoid serving or stepping into a mission? What would it cost you to take one small step of trust this month? [01:03:28]
How might rehearsing God’s past faithfulness (instead of your inadequacies) shift your perspective on a current struggle? Write down one example of His sufficiency in your life.

Sermon Clips

45s

#surrenderYourInadequacy

“If your inadequacies feel bigger than your God, you might feel like you're being humble, but it's humility disguised. Truth is it indicates that you are hanging onto your life stubbornly, maybe even pridefully, which seems so weird because it feels like the opposite of pride. But until you submit and humble yourself and surrender your inadequacies, you're never gonna experience if God is enough for you. But if you do surrender and lose your life and lose the struggle, you might just find a God who was enough for you.”

35s

#layDownTheStaff

“Now you may not have a staff to throw down, but what god is reminding us is just the ordinary things, whatever it is that you may have. It's really not even about the tools that you have because it wasn't until Moses put it down that God showed up and showed off. So it's really not about what you have. It's about your willingness to put whatever you have down. That's what God is getting at here. And it's not until we surrender the very little that we have, and it may look like a shepherd's staff, just this ordinary thing, but when we surrender it, it becomes a tool that he can use, and that's pretty incredible.”

29s

#chooseTrustNotAnalysis

“What am I thinking about him? Because in this moment, you have a choice. You can keep rehearsing all of the things that you are not, or you can remind yourself of who he is. And you can stay stuck in analysis, or you can step forward in trust. And I want you to hear me on this one. Trust is not a feeling. There's a the the feeling wheel, we've talked about it a lot. Trust isn't on the feelings wheel. It's not. Trust is a decision.”

45s

#stepForwardInTrust

“Trust is a decision. It's a decision that we make. It's a decision to move forward when you feel inadequate. It's a decision to obey even when you feel like you are not ready. It's a decision to stop waiting until you feel like enough because that feeling may never come. For me, six months or so after I came up with my list of all the reasons I shouldn't be the pastor of this church, I finally relented and accepted the that God was calling me into this, and the calling had nothing to do about what I was bringing to the table. The call was about who was calling me to the table.”

45s

“If your inadequacies feel bigger than your God, you might feel like you're being humble, but it's humility disguised. Truth is it indicates that you are hanging onto your life stubbornly, maybe even pridefully, which seems so weird because it feels like the opposite of pride. But until you submit and humble yourself and surrender your inadequacies, you're never gonna experience if God is enough for you. But if you do surrender and lose your life and lose the struggle, you might just find a God who was enough for you.”

Ask a question about this sermon

Believers Church This sermon · AI assistant

What does it mean to lose your life?

How do Moses' signs reframe human inadequacy?

When is trust a decision rather than feeling?

5 24 26 - Week 3 | I'm Not Enough...And That's Okay

Devotional

Day 1: When the Staff Becomes a Snake

Day 2: The Hand That Holds Healing

Day 3: When the Nile Runs Red

Day 4: The Lie of “Not Enough”

Day 5: Trust Is a Verb, Not a Feeling

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

5 24 26 - Week 3 | I'm Not Enough...And That's Okay

Share