What if the thing you are turning to for comfort, security, or fulfilment is actually keeping you from experiencing the One who can truly satisfy you?
Jesus gives us a powerful answer in the hours before His greatest trial—not by pointing His disciples toward ministry, achievement, or self-reliance, but by revealing the Father.
At the Last Supper, Jesus knew His disciples were about to face the worst time of their lives. Yet rather than telling them to simply work harder or focus on their future ministry, He spent an extended time speaking about the Father. In John 14–17, the Father is mentioned repeatedly. Jesus declares that He is “the way, the truth and the life” and that no one comes to the Father except through Him. The purpose of Jesus is not merely to give us a relationship with Him, but to bring us into the security and love of the Father.
The teaching explores how easily we can live like spiritual orphans. Just as an orphaned child learns to fight, strive and provide for themselves, we can develop our own sources of security—entertainment, social media, sport, alcohol, relationships, success, ministry or achievement. These things may temporarily make us feel better, but they cannot become the foundation of our lives. Jeremiah’s contrast between the person who trusts in human strength and the person who trusts in God illustrates this principle.
When our source is something other than God, we become like a shrub in the desert. But when our hope is in the Lord, we become like a tree planted beside the waters—rooted, secure and able to endure the heat. The teaching then turns to the danger of allowing ministry and achievement to become our identity. Even something good, such as serving God, can become unhealthy if it replaces our relationship with Him.
The speaker shares personally about a season of intensive ministry followed by a sudden return to secular work. The interruption exposed how much his ministry had begun to occupy his thoughts and identity. It became an opportunity for God to test the foundation: Would he still be secure if the ministry were taken away?
The answer lies in understanding that God does not love us because of what we accomplish for Him. He loves us because we are His children. If our sense of worth is built on success, praise and achievement, failure can leave us devastated. The teaching connects this to the pursuit of pleasurable feelings and the role of dopamine, warning that we can become dependent on the emotional highs produced by success, praise, pleasure and performance rather than finding our stability in God.
A powerful example is given through the story of Jack Frost, who grew up believing that he had to perform in order to receive his father’s approval. His inability to succeed at tennis created a deep sense of failure and drove him into a life of striving. Even after entering ministry, that striving continued, making him increasingly demanding toward his wife and children and putting his family relationships at risk. But a supernatural encounter with God as a loving Father changed his understanding of himself and began transforming him from the inside out.
The message ultimately becomes a personal invitation: What are you striving to prove, and where have you been looking for your security? Rather than continually trying to earn God’s approval, believers are encouraged to lay down their striving and allow the Father to reveal His love.
The teaching closes with a prayer asking God to forgive us for seeking other sources to fill the emptiness within us and to reveal His love in a way that brings comfort, strength and transformation. Listeners are encouraged to pause and ask the Father personally: “Father God, what are You saying to me?”
The central message is simple but profound: when everything else is shaken, the Father remains. Jesus Himself found His source in the Father, declaring that even when He was alone, He was not truly alone because the Father was with Him
Ps Enoch Lavender was born in Australia, raised in Norway, spent time living in China and is now based on the Gold Coast of Australia. He has been studying Hebrew and the Jewish roots of our faith for the past decade, and has a keen interest in the Middle East from a Bible prophecy perspective.
Contact Enoch and Olive Tree Ministries
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