El Shaddai — The Almighty Who Is Enough

We trace the name El Shaddai through Scripture and into daily life, asking how God’s all-sufficiency meets real weakness, grief, and unanswered prayer. 

• meaning of El Shaddai as all-sufficient God
• strength perfected in weakness from 2 Corinthians 12
• grief, depression, and learning to live theology
• reordered priorities after the valley
• examining belief versus control and surrender
• trusting God’s purpose when thorns remain

Covenant Church Houma

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:02):
Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve, equipping you
to respond and thrive in theworld we live in today.
Keep the main thing the mainthing has been a saying that
Pastor Steve has told fordecades.
It means no matter what ishappening around us, Jesus is
what we need to have front andcenter in our lives.
There couldn't be a morepowerful reminder for us to
recall in today's divisive anddark culture.

(00:24):
From foundational truths andscripture to the hot topics of
today's culture, allow thispodcast to inspire and motivate
you on your faith journey.
All right, well, good morning,Pastor Steve.
Good morning.
Glad to be here with you again.
Great to be here, yes.
We are on episode 32, talkingabout El Shaddai, one of the
names of God.
And um, if you're just joiningus, the last couple of episodes

(00:46):
have been about the names ofGod.
And so we're gonna dive rightin.
I'm gonna share a few scripturesand talk about it a little bit
and then dive right into thecontent.
El Shaddai literally means allsufficient one.
And uh we see that in Genesis17, verses 1 through 2, where
God calls Abram to walk beforehim.
And right before he calls Abramto walk before him, God says, I

(01:09):
am God Almighty.
And so um 2 Corinthians 12, 9through 10, we see an example of
this El Shaddai, this power ofGod.
Uh Paul has a thorn in theflesh, and he begged God to
remove it, but God said, Mypowers perfect it in weakness.
And so there's this aspect ofGod's power working mightily

(01:31):
through weakness.
I mean, Abram, for example, heGod brought him out of where he
was, uh, this no man, andcreated and blessed a great
nation through him, uh, morenumerable than the stars.
There's a couple of supportingverses that I think is
important.
Job 42, verse 2, Job declaresthat he knows God can do

(01:53):
anything he wants by his ownpower.
And then Ephesians 3, 20 through21, Paul is talking about
salvation, that it's because ofGod's power that salvation was
brought not only to the Jews,but to all people.
So we have this aspect of God'sAlmighty Power.
So, Pastor Steve, um, why do youthink God introduces himself as

(02:15):
El Shaddai the very moment hecalls Abram to himself?

SPEAKER_00 (02:22):
Well, the context there is um he's he's issued the
covenant and um he's basicallytold them to forsake everything
that they know and to followhim.
And uh what he's saying to themis I am sufficient for the
journey I'm gonna take you on.

(02:44):
Uh you can trust me, you canbelieve in me, I'm gonna take
care of you.
You know, it's interesting.
We just went through Colossiansuh talking about Christ being
all sufficient.
Uh and it dawned on me as as Iwas looking at this information
for this podcast.
Uh, we've got so many Christiansthat in their mind believe God's

(03:10):
all sufficient, but in thepractice of their lifestyle,
that's right.
They they don't believe that.
And uh that that makes me verysad because uh I think I think
they're missing the sweetness ofthe relationship with holy God
because they just can't trusthim.
Right, you know.

(03:30):
Um Shaddai is the root word formountain, and so of course, El
being God, and so the God of themountain.
In the ancient world, uh theyalways looked up to the gods,
and the Jews were no different.
The gods were always believed tobe in the highest place, it was
a place of authority.

(03:51):
And so uh when he says I'm ElShaddai, he's saying, I am the I
am the God, I am the one ofauthority you know over your
life.

SPEAKER_01 (04:02):
I I love that you connected Colossians because uh
I believe it was a statstatistic you said in a recent
sermon, and I can't remember ifit was this the past one or if
it was while you were goingthrough Colossians, but uh a
crazy statistic on how thepercentage of people on
medication.

SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
Um 25% of America is on prescriptions of psychotic
drugs of the whole nation.
Right.
You got what 350 million people,and 25% of them are medicated.

SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
Right.
Yeah.
And I think I think that'sthat's proof in the pudding to
what you just said.
Yes, you know, yes, that we uhso many of us think he's
sufficient and think he'spowerful, but it it it doesn't
translate.
It doesn't translate.

SPEAKER_00 (04:47):
No, and you and I have both seen it.
Uh and both of us believe indoctors and treatments.
We know there are people thatthat uh need that, and I believe
God uses doctors and treatmentsas well, right?
But I also I know I've seen itwith my own eyes, I've seen him

(05:09):
deliver human beings out of allkinds of situations and
addictions uh when they had apowerful moment with God when
they truly, totally went all inwith him and submitted to him,
and they walked away fromwhatever was destroying their
life.
And and it's a miracle.

(05:29):
It's the power of God in theirlife.
It's there, but but you've gotto submit to that power.

SPEAKER_01 (05:34):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (05:35):
And and it's just so easy.
We've been so trained inAmerica.
Um, it started in the 80s.
Uh, and look, I'm notanti-counselor, okay?
Uh, because I have no problemadmitting people need
counseling, but counselors havea problem admitting that God can

(05:56):
deliver and heal people.
Right.
Uh that's where we have animpasse.
Uh they think they have the bestcourse of treatment for people,
but I don't know a person thatI've ever met that was healed in
counseling.

SPEAKER_01 (06:10):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
Uh all counseling does is help you manage the
situation you're in.
Uh it's gotta be more than that.
And and the power of God isreal, and I believe in it.
Uh I I saw it in my own mother'slife.
She smoked from the time she was13 years old.
And after she got saved, shenever touched another cigarette.

(06:35):
And I remember asking her, shesmoked three packs a day, dude.
Wow.
And I remember asking her, howdo you how do you do that?
She said, I just don't have ataste for them anymore.
You know?

SPEAKER_01 (06:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (06:47):
Uh so I I've seen it, I can tell you so many
stories.
Um so please hear what I'msaying.
I'm not anti-medicine, but I dobelieve firmly in the power of
God.

SPEAKER_01 (07:01):
Yes.
Yeah.
And like I'm just thinking, asyou were talking, I'm thinking
of all these historical momentsin the church where the power of
God has been so evident.
Oh my goodness.
And how quickly do we forget?
Yes.

SPEAKER_00 (07:13):
Well, I forget.
I talked about it not long ago,and I forget my evangelist.
Uh, it was Edwards or Finney,Finney maybe in upstate New York
during the Great Awakening thatGod used.
And when real revival happens,there are tangible results.
Correct.
Right?
So within 200 miles radius inupstate New York, every bar

(07:39):
closed, every brothel closed,people started treating each
other with dignity and respect.
When God really does enter aperson's life, there is a
measurable difference in howthey do life.
And so when I mentioned from thepulpit we're praying for

(08:00):
revival, I'm not talking aboutsome people getting saved in a
church service.

SPEAKER_01 (08:04):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (08:04):
We want that to happen all the time.
I'm talking about the family ofGod who say they believe in God,
but not really.
Yeah.
You know, uh, I just read astatistic last week.
Uh Lifeway did a study on youththat leave the church after high

(08:26):
school graduation.

SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
This is a current, like within the last 13 years.

SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
Within the last few weeks, they released it.
And what they learned was thatthe majority of the students
that leave and don't come backwere students that were in
church and they knew the Biblestories and they attended
regular and all that stuff.
But they never fell in love withJesus.

(08:52):
Though they identified the onesthat went on to stay in church
after high school were the oneswho literally had a personal
relationship with Jesus.
It wasn't about attendingchurch, it was a personal
relationship.
So the difference there is thepower of God in their life.
Right.
See?

(09:12):
And so this is what we don't getin America right now.
We're all checking the box.
We're attending church, butwe're not living or experiencing
the power of God.

SPEAKER_01 (09:23):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (09:23):
And we can't figure out why.
And it's because I think theaverage Christian is in love
with the idea of God, butthey're not in love with God.

SPEAKER_01 (09:34):
You've said that many times in the last few
months, and I don't think itcould be said any better.
That is the absolute truth.
Yes.
The idea is appealing.
But when you really get down to,oh, wait a minute, that's what
this means?
I don't know.
I don't know if I'm ready forthat commitment.

SPEAKER_00 (09:48):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Because when, I mean, let's behonest.
We we all know individuals thathave uprooted their total lives,
gone to the mission field, goneinto the ministry, moved across
the country, out of the country,uh, you know, just as a couple
of examples.
What would make a person dothat?

(10:09):
I I'm hard pressed to believeit's because they attended
church.

SPEAKER_01 (10:14):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (10:14):
You know, it's a person that has fallen in love
with the savior and his powerbecomes transformative in their
life, and they realize thatthey're here for a greater
purpose.
And then you'll hear it fromchurch members.
When we had an individual uhleave this church and go to a

(10:36):
foreign country, I literally hadprobably a dozen people come up
and say, uh, you got to talk herout of that.
That's dangerous.
She shouldn't be doing that.
And I wanted to explain it tothem, but I knew I couldn't.
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (10:53):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (10:53):
Because if you don't have that kind of experience of
God's power in your life, youcan't understand another person
yielding to it.
Right.
And uh, so I just say she'sgonna be all right.
Yeah, you know, yeah, and uh soyeah, I I I believe in in the
power of God.
I do.
And if I didn't, as I like tosay, I'd go get a real job.

(11:16):
Yeah, you know, that's right.

SPEAKER_01 (11:18):
That's right.
So, Steve, when we're talkingabout the power of God, and we
know it's all consuming, we knowhis power is displayed in his
creation, it's displayed in us,and we see with Paul
specifically in Corinthians,there's that he's he's literally
begging God to take away,there's a lot of speculation as
to what this thorn on the fleshis.
Right.

(11:39):
But God responds very clearlythat my strength is perfected in
your weakness, my power isperfected in your weakness.
So has there ever been in amoment that you can recall in
your life where there was apersonal struggle or a weakness
that you determined was aweakness and you've seen God
work through that in some typeof way?

SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
Oh my goodness, yes, many times.
But I I'll give you an example.
As a young pastor in my mid tolate 20s, uh Jan and I lost one
of our children.
Uh my middle son Taylor was atwin.
And um, we lost a little girl,Heather, to a malignant brain

(12:18):
tumor.
And that that's when, you know,you'll hear you'll hear me say,
you and I have talked about it,you've got to live your
theology.
If you can't live your theology,what you believe about God, your
theology is worthless.
And that that forced me to stepback and take a hard look at

(12:42):
what I believed about God andbeing in the ministry and
standing in the pulpit andtelling people you can trust
him.
He'll take care of you, he'llbring you through the valley,
the tough times, he'll deliveryou.
Uh, what were those just thingsthat sounded good in the pulpit,

(13:03):
or did I really believe them?
You know?
And obviously, I'm still doingit today, so I eventually came
to the conclusion that Iactually believe what the word
of God teaches.
And that's where we have adisconnect in today's church.
Um, a lot of Christians don'teven pick up their Bible, so

(13:26):
they don't know what the word ofGod teaches, but many who read
it, I'm not sure they believeit.

SPEAKER_01 (13:32):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (13:32):
See, it sounds good until you gotta live it.
And so that was a very umdifficult time for for me.
Uh, I took a month off.
Uh a friend who had a um condoin Florida uh gave us their
condo for the month.

(13:53):
Okay.
And uh it was January, it waswinter time, and um so I guess
it was available and weappreciated and loved them so
much for it.
And and we just we just I'll behonest with you, we went to the
beach and we sat around andstared at each other because you

(14:14):
don't know what to say, youdon't know what to think.
You you want to punch a wall,but you you you know you gotta
fix it if you punch it.
Yeah I mean, it's just youyou're you're just it is it's
like being in a tornado or awhirlwind.
You meet yourself coming andyou're not sure what to do, what
to think, what to say.
But it forced me to ask myself,do I really believe in this God

(14:39):
I've committed my life to?
Do I really believe He isall-knowing, all-present,
all-powerful?
And my conclusion was yes.
But I went through I wentthrough a dark valley to get
there.
You know, I had to, and I and II try to tell people, it's okay

(15:00):
to ask God questions.
Right.
He's big enough, he can handleit, and you don't have a
question he hadn't dealt with,you know.
Um and and and so, you know, Ithere were times I screamed at
God, I cursed God, I I we wentwe went to a very dark place.

(15:22):
Um and then I gotta say this,when I returned, uh, my first
Sunday back, they were allexpecting me to resign.
Which tells you a lot.
Because that church assumed thatthat event in mine and Jan's
life would be so traumatic thatwe couldn't continue.

(15:46):
And they would be right if wedidn't really believe in God's
power.

SPEAKER_01 (15:52):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (15:52):
And so I actually was offended.
I mean, I had so many come upthat first Sunday when the
service was over and go, Oh,thank goodness we thought you
were gonna resign today.
And I'm like, What?
You know, and I just wanted toscream at him and go, Do you
really think my God's thatshallow that he couldn't walk us
through this valley?
Yeah, see, and and look, I Idon't wish it on anybody, uh,

(16:19):
but until you've had to grapplewith whether or not you really
believe in the power of God ornot, um you you really you
really can't understand otherpeople's struggles.
You know what I'm saying?
Um because once you've walkedthat, I call it the valley, uh

(16:40):
through the the the muk of life,um you you really don't
understand somebody else who'shurting, you know.
And I'll be honest with you, Iwent into depression for about
two years.
Uh we got some people runningaround our church that have
proudly told people, I don'tunderstand depression, and I

(17:01):
think, bless your heart.
You know, um, if if I was asshallow as you thought I was,
um, I remember the day the Lorddelivered me from that
depression.
It was like yesterday.
Um I'm driving to the next cityto make a hospital visit, and
I'm listening to praise music,and all of a sudden, there was a

(17:25):
transformation in me that tookplace.
The old people would say, it'slike God took a big coat off of
you.
Yeah, you know, and in thatmoment, I knew I had been in
depression.
I didn't know it before thatmoment.
Right.
Everybody around me knew itbecause I wasn't me.
See, that's what depressiondoes, it changes your

(17:47):
personality.
Right.
I wasn't me.
And and so uh in that moment,uh, I was delivered from that
depression.
And uh, so you can't tell me Godcan't deliver, that He's not
powerful enough to take youthrough the valley.

(18:08):
I will you never convince me ofthat because I've lived it.
So yeah, that's and there'vebeen other times in our life,
but that was probably thebiggest.
That's why I'm pastoring.
Uh, some people think that I umI don't care sometimes, uh or
I'm not interested sometimes.

(18:28):
But when you've buried one ofyour children, I I don't really
get too concerned on what youthink the temperature in the
sanctuary ought to be.

SPEAKER_01 (18:36):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (18:37):
You know, when you've buried one of your
children and you want tocomplain about we spent too much
money on doing something aroundthe church, that stuff's so low
on my radar, you know, becausewhat happens when you when you
have to test your theology andyou come out the other side, you

(18:57):
have a new appreciation ofwhat's important.
See, that's why I always saykeep the main thing the main
thing.
All that other stuff that'ssecondary.

SPEAKER_01 (19:10):
Right.
Yeah.
What I get out of that, Steve,is two things.
Number one, I and you've saidthis before, but pastors really
begin to pastor as they getolder because they've
experienced life.
And two, the power of God isonly the power of God until you

(19:31):
actually have to experience it.
That's right.
That's why it becomes real.

SPEAKER_00 (19:35):
That's exactly right.
Yeah.
I remember I I grew up in a nonChristian home.
Okay.
And got saved and surrendered tothe ministry.
And I'll never forget what mypastor told me.
Because I lived just north ofMontgomery, Alabama.
There were like four colleges inthe Montgomery area, right?

(19:55):
And they're telling me I need togo to college if I'm going to
preach.
That's the only Reason I went.
They said I had to, right?
And so uh I was just gonna go toAuburn University in Montgomery.
I could live at home with myparents, I could work part-time.
Uh, and my pastor said you needto go to Mobile College.
It was three, three and a halfhours south of Montgomery.

(20:19):
And and I said, Why do I need todo that?
He said, Because you need to bein a situation where it's just
you and Jesus, and he's all yougot.
And he was right.
And so you really never, Ithink, are at your best
usability for the kingdom untilyou're in a place where Jesus is

(20:46):
all you've got, and you've gotto rely on him, you know?
Amen.
And then you you start gettingyour priorities lined up
correctly.

SPEAKER_01 (20:54):
Right.
Yeah.
So I I think you just youanswered the question some
people may have about Paul'sthorn in the flesh.

unknown (21:01):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
God left it there because he wanted Paul to rely
on him.

SPEAKER_00 (21:05):
That's right.
This is this this is soimportant.
We just want to be deliveredfrom everything.
Right.
And surely God has the power todo that.
He has the power to sustain us,to nourish us, uh, to house us,
to take care of our finances.
I don't care what it is.
Uh, he has the power to do that.

(21:26):
Uh, in my life in the ministry,and I'm in my 47th, 48th year
now, I have never once asked fora pay raise.
God's always taking care of me.
See, because I trust him.
He called me.
The church didn't call me.
They think they called me.
Uh, they voted on me, but theydidn't call me.
God called me.

(21:46):
Right.
He will take care of me, and healways has.
And um, so I think if we canunderstand that, it makes a
total difference in the way weapproach our daily lives.

SPEAKER_01 (21:59):
Amen.
Amen.
So, Steve, last last question iswhat words would you say to the
church and those listening whoare struggling to recognize
God's power in their life?
What would you say to encouragethem?

SPEAKER_00 (22:16):
Listen, I would say you need to examine your
theology, your belief system.
Uh, is God a nice token for youor is he real for you?
And if he's not real for you,you need to evaluate that.
Are you willing to make him realfor you?
Because God's real, whether youcommit to him or not.

(22:40):
And uh the greatest resource youhave for living your life is
just what you've already said.
Well, is when you submit inhumility to him and live the
life he has designed for you.
Instead of insisting you've gotto be in control.

SPEAKER_01 (23:01):
Right.

SPEAKER_00 (23:03):
And that doesn't mean you're gonna get rich.
You might.
It doesn't mean that uh youwon't get sick, uh, you may be
well to the day you die, and Godcalls you on.
Uh, it don't mean you won't havea car wreck.
Uh, but God uses every littlething in your life for a

(23:23):
purpose.
Uh, and you never know exactlywhat that purpose is.
You can look back in hindsight,and and you go, oh, that's what
was going on.
But you never know in the momentbecause that's that's why it's
required faith.

SPEAKER_01 (23:39):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (23:39):
See, if if you already had the answers, there's
no faith involved.
And the Christian relationshipwith Holy God is about faith,
trusting him.
And so Paul didn't quit ministrybecause he had a thorn in the
flesh, he didn't quit believingin God and God's power because
God didn't heal his thorn.
He just trusted God had areason.

SPEAKER_01 (24:01):
That's right.

SPEAKER_00 (24:02):
And uh moved forward.
So I would say evaluate yourtheology.
All theology is is what youthink about God.
Evaluate your theology.
Ask yourself, do you reallybelieve it?
And then uh, what do I gotta doto exercise it?
What do I gotta do different?

(24:22):
Um, for most of us, it's amatter of refusing to continue
to keep certain parts of ourlives to ourselves that we want
to control, and giving him allof us.
And so uh most a lot ofChristians do believe in God,

(24:46):
they do believe in his power,they just don't want to submit
to it.
See, uh, and that's our human,that's our fallen nature, and so
that's why it's so hard for usto do that.

SPEAKER_01 (24:57):
Amen.
Amen.
Well, thank you, brother.
Appreciate you.
Oh, my blessing.
We'll see you guys on the nextone.