God has a plan for your life. We talk constantly in the church about this. He has had a plan since time began. He knows the good things he has for you and created you to walk in them. God has a plan for you! This is good news!

I have some bad news, though. Satan has a plan for your life, too.

6 things Satans wants for your life:
1. He wants you to doubt God. John 20:27
2. He wants you to live in fear. 1 Peter 5:8, Psalm 34:4
3. He wants you to feel insecure. Ephesians 2:10, Romans 8:37
4. He wants you to avoid the church. 1 Corinthians 12
5. He wants you to be led astray. Matthew 7:15
6. He wants you to fail. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
If you want the references for these, you can find them in the YouVersion Bible App under Menu, Events, and then Freedom Church

God wants good things for you. Satan wants bad things for you. God wants you walking in blessing. Satan wants you walking under a curse. God wants you to have an abundance. Satan wants to live life in a deficit.

Let me share with you today 5 Enemies of More. The goal here is to help you embrace the more you were made for by addressing these potential areas in your life.

We’ll start with one of the biggest ones first. In fact, we’ll spend today just talking about this one, leaving the other four for next week. Why? Because all the other enemies of more are rooted in this one.

1. Lack
Definition: the state of being without or not having enough of something. From a Middle Dutch/Low German word for deficiency.

Are there any deficiencies in your life right now? In your marriage? Family? Friendships? Job? I am asking if you are in a state of lack right now.

Years ago we were visiting mom and dad’s house when they lived in Jasper, and I remember how I was struggling with things, specifically financial. I’d gone to the bathroom to wash my hands and I looked into the mirror and just stared into my own eyes. I asked out loud, “Who even are you?” Instantly I heard a voice that replied, “My name is I owe.” It was lack talking. I’d heard it my whole life, even in that moment. I still sometimes hear it now.

In that moment I knew I was struggling because I constantly felt like I never had enough, I never was enough, and that it seemed I was always in someone’s debt, be that a bank, a relationship, a pastor, or anything else. Even God. This thing has worked overtime in me my whole life to convince me to buy into the narrative that I am not enough, that I didn’t have enough, and that I never would.

“In every area of your life, Jason, you lack.”

I’d love to tell you I ignored it at the least or rebuked it at the most, but unfortunately, I bought into it. I looked at my life experiences and was convinced that I was not enough, I didn’t have enough, and that I never would. And what do you think that did to my relationship with God? I’d read verses like:

2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Philippians 4:19
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

We say these verses. Do we believe them? I knew he COULD supply, but I was convinced that, for me, it was up in the air if he WOULD.

Thinking like this caused me to embrace lack in my life. And how could I experience the more that I was made for if all I’d ever known was lack?

Lack won’t tell you God can’t. Lack will tell you God won’t.

Are you in a state of lack right now?

Let me show you an example of what lack looks like:

Exodus 3:1-4
1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

God goes on to tell Moses that he’s seen the plight of his people and that he wants Moses to go tell Pharaoh to let his people go. What we see next is what lack looks like.

Exodus 3:11
But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Exodus 3:13
Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

Exodus 4:1
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Exodus 4:10
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

Exodus 4:13
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Moses was not made for sheep-herding in Midian. He was made for Red Seas and mountain meetings with God. He was made for law-writing and miracles. He was made for the Promised Land. But lack almost thwarted the more he was made for.

For every protest from Moses we see a promise from God.
- Who am I? You are Moses, but you are never alone. I will go with you.
- Who should I say sent me? I am sent you.
- What if they don’t believe me? I’ll work miracles through you.
- I can’t talk good. Son, I MADE you. I will help you speak and tell you what to say.
- Please send someone else. I’ll send someone to go with you.

Every one of us has had to fight against a spirit of lack in some way. It is that nagging thing inside of you that is constantly trying to get you to doubt God and put all of your trust in what you don’t have. But God is calling you to more, to deeper, to better, but you can’t have it if lack is that master you are serving.

I believed I was not enough, would never have enough, and would never be enough. I WAS RIGHT! Without God, I am not enough, have enough, and without him, I’ll never be enough.

If you are going to experience the more you were made for, it is going to require you defeat the enemy of lack in your life!.

HOW?
It starts with fearing him.
Psalm 34:9-10
Oh, 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.

Fear is to honor and revere him. That means that you actually believe what he says and do what he says. That means you don’t doubt God when he commands something. You don’t argue like Moses did at the bush.

If you are experiencing lack in your finances, tithe. God commands it. If you are experiencing lack in relationships, do unto others. God commands it. If you are experiencing lack in the peace around you, be a peacemaker. It’s what God’s kids do.

It continues with realizing that God is enough.
Lack is not the result of you not having or God not giving. Lack is the result of not believing that God is enough.Biblical evidence:

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Lack is defeated when you realize and embrace the truth that Jesus is enough. What do I mean? I’ve asked the question here before, but is Jesus really enough for you? He said he would never leave you nor forsake you.
Is that enough? If he took everything away from you and all you had was him, would he still be enough?

You might not like this about God, but if it means he can have you, he will allow everything in your life to crumble around you. Proof:

Matthew 16:26
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

God would rather you come into his Kingdom hands empty than miss the Kingdom with hands full.

Defeating lack continues with a trial.
James 1:2-4
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

We don’t like trials and tribulation. We abhor them. We want things to go perfectly and the boat to never be rocked. We want our expectations and our reality to match. Yet what happens in the gap between expectation and reality is the struggle.

When you face trials, you might be angry at God for allowing them, but you have to at least take a moment and ask why God would allow them to begin with. There are three main reasons:
- You are sinning.
- God is trying to work something out of you or into you.
- God is preparing you for something coming.

I know you don’t like this process, but he isn’t fond of it either. He’d rather we just listen and obeyed.

Lamentations 3:32-33
32 Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love. 33 For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.

So if you are in a trial right now, which of those three is it?
If it is sin, stop it now. If it is the other two, then God is trying to strengthen your faith so you can build endurance (some translations say patience),
and when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Translation: don’t wig out and act. Trust God and wait.

If you want the smoke you gotta have the fire. And if you want no lack, you gotta have the trial.

Don’t make the mistake of refusing to learn the lesson in the middle of your tribulation. Griping doesn’t help. Getting angry won’t make it better. But building your faith muscle to develop patience is what God is trying to do.

I hate that gap between expectation and reality. I am a fixer. I can do a lot of things. So the first thing I do in a trial is NOT run to Jesus. I go into fix it mode.

But rather than fixing it in the way God wants, I fix it in the way I want. The problem is that my wants are based on my own understanding. The problem with that is that I only have partial understanding. So when I finally get to reality, my reality is off because I did it my way.

I am on the shore building the boat to get across the water, griping at God, being angry about the situation, the whole time God is trying to part the water. So rather than putting my feet in the water and watching the water part before me, I stay on the shoreline and miss the miracle.

And at that moment, because I wouldn’t go to him first, use my faith, patiently endure, because I wouldn’t listen to him, now he has to cause sorrow. He has to bring the trial, he has to hurt me, because it is the only way I’ll listen.

At the end of the day, I prove what I worship that when I run to my own ability first rather than running to him when I feel lack, I’m running to the god I think can solve it. The result is that I not only miss the joy of the opportunity to grow, I miss the abundance the trial is supposed to produce in me.

How do you respond when you feel lack?

Defeating lack continues with a principle.
James 1:5
If you lack wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

Is James giving us a promise or a principle? Yes. Both. I just asked you how do you respond when you feel lack?

The promise of James 1:5 is that if you lack wisdom, ask God and he will give it. And he won’t get mad at you for asking.

The principle of James 1:5 is if you lack, ask God. And he won’t get mad at you for asking.

You have to ask yourself in this moment why you’re not asking.
Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

And when you don’t ask God to help with the lack you are feeling, what do you do?
James 4:2
You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

The principle is that the solution for lack is to ask God. Your flesh has a solution, too, which is not to ask, but to act in your own ability.

The principle wants you to trust God. Your flesh wants you to trust your ability. The principle wants you to have faith. Your flesh wants you to have doubt.

This is important because satan wants you to live in doubt. He wants you to doubt God’s ability, his character, his power, even his desire.

He wants you to live in fear. Fear that if you give you won’t have enough. Fear that if you wait on God it will be too late. Fear that if you trust God he might not come through.

Satan works in conjunction with your flesh to make you live in fear and doubt, and the reason is that, even if you do muster courage and ask God to help, your doubt will be so intense that when you ask, you won’t believe God will act.

James tells us this is the result of lack.
James 1:6-8
But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.

But what if lack wasn’t always a bad thing? What if your whole life satan wanted you to see lack as a deficit in you. But really, God wants you to see lack as a notification that you need to lean into him. What if lack was something to be used by God to grow your faith and build your trust and develop your patience?

What if lack was a tool used by God not a shackle used by satan? What if the lack you are feeling in you right now is an opportunity for God to show you what miraculous living actually looks like? What if he wanted you to respond like Paul “I have learned to have joy in lack or abundance,” but we just gripe about it? What if he is using lack to kill your fears and silence your doubt? What if the only way to get you to the next level is to allow you to feel lack so that you can rise to overcome it?

Doubt feeds lack. Fear creates instability. Lack grows in the garden of fear and doubt. The result is that you miss the more you were made for!

James even says you should’t even expect to receive from God if you have doubt!
James 1:7-8
7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

And THIS is a revelation for me personally. I’ve said many times, “I know he can. i don’t know if he will.” Why wouldn’t he? If he could, why would he not? I don't know the answer to that, but I can tell you this:
- If it's in line with his will, he promises that he will.
- If it's to help me get closer to him, he promises he will.
- If it's for my good or the good of those around me, he promises he will.
- But if it's not in my best interest, he won't.
- If it doesn't get me closer to him, he won't.
- If it doesn't work out the plan that he has for me in my life, he won't.

He doesn't do or not do because he's trying to "get me." He does or does not do because he loves me and knows what I need.

But if you read James chapter 1 and you see these verses in the seven and eight, you have to ask yourself a hard question here:

Am I experiencing lack in my life right now simply because I doubt God?

If you want to solve this issue of doubt in your life, it takes:

Continually praying.
Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Choosing to trust in God.
Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Believing God’s Word.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Engaging in community.
Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together

Remember God’s faithfulness.
Psalm 143:5
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.

Going to God first and having faith.
When you feel the fear and doubt that comes with lack, don’t take the bait. Go to God.

I’ve been hard on you today. I’ve told you to:
- Fear God
- Stop idol worshipping and actually believe that Jesus is enough.
- Endure trials.
- Stop trying to fix lack in the gap between your expectation and reality.
- Stop going to something else besides God to solve your issues.
- Ask God first and then actually believe him.

Lack is an enemy of more, but it is also an enemy of faith. It is in league with doubt and fear and when lack is running your life, more is just a dream that is always out of reach.

I realize that beyond a metaphor some of you are actually lacking in your finances. Lack will tell you more money will fix it, but you need to horde what you have, and even though God promises that he will bless your tithe, you refuse to leave your finances up to him. So you take on more hours any work only to find that while you might have more money (and still don’t tithe), now there is lack at home.

You end up in a vicious cycle where one day you wake up and realize that you’ve lived your whole life driven by what you didn’t have with no hope of actually defeating lack.

I realize that some of you are experiencing lack in your relationship with God. You’ve realized you haven’t trusted God for years. As a result you haven’t really prayed for years because you’ve already decided that while he can, he just won’t. So you’ve made a vow that you’ll handle your life from now on, only to find that the lack waiting on you tomorrow looks and feels just like the lack from yesterday. And it makes you feel hopeless.

But what if I told you that the difference between lack and more is a simple decision?
1 Corinthians 8:6
There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.

Psalm 36:9
You are the source of all life, and because of your light we see the light.

The decision that defeats lack? God, you alone are my source.

So how do you need to respond?

If you know lack has been working in your life and you are ready to defeat it and start living the abundant life God made you for, I am going to ask you to come down to this altar.

Let’s get our priorities right, our source right, and live in the more we were made for.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?