There’s No Box Big Enough To Contain God: Jesse Bradley and Tovares & Sofa Grey
Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith
Jesus Calling
4.6 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 November 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Sometimes our plans in life can be misdirected and net us emptiness. When we decide to live selfishly and aren’t open to where God is leading us, we effectively put God “in a box” by limiting ourselves from the vast potential for light and goodness He wants to bring to our lives. Each of our guests this week had life experiences that required them to let go of their ideas of what their lives were supposed to look like so that they could grow into the plans that God had for them. Jesse Bradley admits he never thought he'd ever be a pastor. His goals were professional sports, and he achieved that success. But when his body had an allergic reaction to some medication he was taking, he had to make a shift and found God transforming him for new pursuits and new passions. Tovares and Safa Grey have—in a very short time—helped many young people navigate the world of dating and relationships. They understand that many young people feel the pressure of being in a relationship. They feel the key to staying open to what will unfold in our lives is letting go so that we don't put God in a box. This place of compromise is a scary place—a mental battleground—but it holds tremendous potential for God’s goodness to manifest itself in our lives.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Nate Pyle
Upcoming interview: Tamera Mowry-Housley
Thank you to our sponsor, Samaritan’s Purse!
Interview Quotes:
“The inside story is the real story and the full story. And sometimes you're the only one who knows it and God knows the inside story as well. And the outside looked like success, but the inside for me, there was emptiness.” - Jesse Bradley
“Pain has been a big part of my transformation.” - Jesse Bradley
“You want a godly marriage, you want a healthy marriage. But there are some people who desire a marriage because everyone else on their timeline is married.” - Tovares Grey
“My advice to other young people who are dating today, don't limit God to your idea of who you think you should be with.” - Safa Grey
“[God's] concerned about every single aspect of our lives. He wants us to talk to Him. He wants us to have a relationship.” - Safa Grey
“At the end of the day, everything points back to God, and so we have to date with that intention in mind.” - Safa Grey
________________________
Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel!
Audio Episodes: https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7
Bonus Podcasts: https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw
Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer: https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C
Peace for Everyday Life: https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj
Peace in Uncertain Times: https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u
What’s Good? https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj
Enneagram: https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY
________________________
Connect with Jesus Calling
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I didn't even realize it, but I had an identity that was performance-based. |
| 0:06.9 | My identity was linked to how well I did in school, how many friends I had, it was linked |
| 0:12.6 | to my performance as a goalkeeper, it was linked to my career and how well it was going, |
| 0:18.7 | and all of that is a trap. |
| 0:20.6 | Because if you have a performance-based identity, you write a cruel rollercoaster between pride |
| 0:25.6 | and shame. |
| 0:26.6 | And you can be inflated and deflated based on your performance, and ultimately it'll |
| 0:31.4 | lead to insecurity. |
| 0:34.7 | Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. |
| 0:37.1 | The 1990s Christian band PFR has a chorus from their hit song Let Go that says, |
| 0:42.5 | gotta let go of the little things before they get you down, gotta let go where they'll |
| 0:46.6 | drag you to the bottom and hold you down. |
| 0:49.0 | It's a war we all fight and compromise is the battleground. |
| 0:52.5 | But if you're ever going to grow, you've got to let go. |
| 0:55.2 | This perspective is from someone who realizes that we often have plans that we don't |
| 0:58.6 | miss direct us, or net us emptiness, or we put God in a box and limit our openness for |
| 1:04.2 | the goodness he's bringing to our lives. |
| 1:11.7 | Each of our guests this week had life experiences that required them to let go of their ideas |
| 1:16.2 | of what their lives were supposed to look like, so they could grow into the plans that |
| 1:19.7 | God had for them. |
| 1:21.0 | Jesse Bradley admits he never thought he'd ever be a pastor. |
| 1:24.7 | His goals were professional sports, and he achieved success in that arena. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jesus Calling, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jesus Calling and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.