Welcome to the Paul Tripp podcast, where pastor and best-selling author Dr. Paul David Tripp

connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ everyday life.

What's the difference between a Christian who's merely surviving and a Christian who's thriving?

In today's episode, that's the question Paul wants

to help answer as we listen to another session from his conference, Portrait of a Struggle.

If you enjoy today's content, you can purchase the full conference at store.paultrip.com.

Here's Paul, helping us to thrive, not just survive.

Thank you. helping us to thrive, not just survive. My brother Ted and I were in a course together in our doctoral programs, and it was a very confusing

course of study.

And every week we would have to write response papers to what happened in class.

Ted wrote this response paper about six weeks in.

He said, I now understand your philosophy as a teacher.

You threw us in a deep pool of water,

so deep we couldn't touch the bottom.

The side's too far away for us ever to be able to swim to the side.

You let us flounder in the water for weeks.

And just about when we were ready to drown,

you threw us a brick.

Well, that's not what God is doing.

You are not alone in the struggle.

It's impossible for you to be alone in the struggle because the struggle

is the Lord's struggle. So there is ready, available, specific grace for the struggle.

...