Desperate for More: How to Stop Settling for an Average Relationship with God

It's easy to get saved and think you've arrived. But there is so much more available to those who are willing to pursue God with everything they have. This is a call to stop settling, get desperate, and go deeper in your relationship with Him.

Why Do We Settle for Less Than What God Has for Us?

Many people come to faith and stop right at the door. They receive salvation and think that's the finish line. But being born again is the beginning, not the end. God is inviting us into something deeper, something that requires hunger, surrender, and pursuit.

As Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Most people want the "all these things" without seeking the kingdom first.

There are three areas that keep us from going deeper with God: reaching the end of ourselves, the distractions that pull us away from desperation, and the discovery of who He truly is.

What Happens When We Reach the End of Ourselves?

We All Have Limits, But God Doesn't

Peter walked on water. Not because Jesus stopped being powerful, but because Peter took His eyes off Jesus and started looking at the wind. When we focus on our circumstances instead of Christ, we begin to sink.

As Matthew 19:26 reminds us, "With God, all things are possible." Our limitations are not the end of the story. They are simply the place where God's power gets to show up.

God Doesn't Always Remove the Impossible. He Reveals Himself in the Middle of It.

Moses said he wasn't qualified. Gideon said he was too small. Jeremiah said he was too young. Paul was told, "My grace is sufficient for you." God has a pattern of showing up in the middle of our weakness, not after it's resolved.

Our limitations can become the very location where God demonstrates His strength.

Surrender Is Not Losing Control. It's Putting Control in Better Hands.

In 2 Kings 4, a widow had nothing but a small jar of oil. When she obeyed and gathered pots, the oil kept flowing until there were no more containers. God didn't ask for what she didn't have. He asked her to surrender what she did have.

God is not asking for what we don't have. He's asking us to surrender what we do have.

The less room we make for self, the more room we make for God. Jehoshaphat said it well in 2 Chronicles: "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You." That is the posture of surrender.

What Distracts Us from Desperately Seeking God?

Busyness Is One of the Enemy's Favorite Tools

Before Jesus ascended, He told His disciples in Luke 24:49, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." He gave them a word and told them to wait on it.

The enemy uses busyness to distract us from our desperate need for God. Like Martha, we can get so caught up in doing things for God that we miss sitting at His feet. What we do for God is never more important than our relationship with Him.

Delay Is Not Abandonment. It Is Preparation.

Sometimes God makes us wait not because He has forgotten us, but because He is preparing us. What feels like wasted years may actually be preparatory years. God can use the waiting room to get us ready for the promise.

A righteous person may fall again and again, but they get back up. Not in their own strength, but in the grace and power of God. He can weave every past mistake into a plan that was His all along.

Whatever Captures Our Attention Eventually Captures Our Affection

Colossians 3:1-2 says, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Samson was distracted by Delilah. Demas loved the present world. The disciples in the parable of the thorny soil were choked out by the cares of life. The enemy doesn't always need to destroy us. He just needs to divide our focus.

As John 10:10 says, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." His long game is destruction, but his short game is distraction. Prayer keeps us calibrated to what the Spirit is speaking and helps us stay alert to subtle distractions.

How Do We Discover Who God Really Is?

He Is the Treasure, Not Just the Giver of Gifts

Matthew 13:44 says, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

Many people want what God gives. But the truly desperate want to know who He is. We don't just need His blessings. We need Him. He is the prize.

Zacchaeus Showed Us What Desperation Looks Like

In Luke 19:1-6, Zacchaeus was a short man who couldn't see Jesus through the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a glimpse. Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house."

Jesus didn't just offer Him gifts. He offered him His presence. He wanted to eat at his table, to have intimacy and fellowship. That is what God is after with each of us.

We have to ask ourselves: Am I still sold out? Am I still in love with the One who rescued me?

Hunger for God Is Cultivated, Not Accidental

Jeremiah 29:13 says, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." We don't accidentally become hungry for God. We cultivate that hunger by pursuing Him.

Paul said in Philippians 3:8-10, "Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings." Paul counted everything else as rubbish compared to knowing Christ.

We will always make time for what we truly value. The question is what we are choosing to pursue.

When You Discover Who He Is, Everything Else Gets Revalued

When we truly discover the treasure of who God is, we stop negotiating the cost. We don't want just His hand. We want His heart. We don't want just His power. We want His person. We don't want just His blessings. We want His presence.

When the man in Matthew 13 found the treasure in the field, he didn't hesitate. He sold everything and bought the field. That is what a genuine encounter with God produces in us.

Life Application

This week, identify one specific distraction that has been pulling your attention away from God. It might be your phone, a habit, a worry, or even a good thing that has taken priority over your time with Him. Make a deliberate choice to set it aside and replace that time with prayer, Scripture, or simply sitting quietly before God.

The challenge is simple but not easy: choose Him over the noise, even for just a few minutes each day this week, and see what He begins to reveal.

Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:

• Am I still in love with God, or have I settled for a routine version of faith?
• What distractions have been dividing my focus and pulling me away from Him?
• Have I been waiting on God's gifts while neglecting His presence?
• What would it look like for me to surrender control in a specific area of my life this week?
• If someone looked at how I spend my time and attention, would they say I am desperate for God?

God is not asking for what you don't have. He is asking you to surrender what you do have and trust Him with it. Stop settling. Get desperate. There is more.

Love Pastor Steve - www.dgimpact.org