Is it wrong to question God? Doubt, confusion, and “why” questions aren't disqualifiers; they’re invitations to come closer. Our God welcomes the mess and meets our honest faith with His truth, grace, and comfort. | TBN Prayer Line: 714-731-1000
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Better Together | Can We Question God? | Better Together Episode 1146 | March 2, 2026
- Our god is big enough to answer our toughest questions.
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- He does not turn away even when we doubt him.
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- Come on, let's talk about it.
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- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:00:08.821 --> 00:00:35.881
- - friends i am so excited for this week's conversations.
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- We have been getting so many questions coming in from people
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- All over the world.
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- And some of these questions have become really frequent and
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- Frequently brought up.
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- And you know what?
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- I really believe that god is not this
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- Cookie cutter, religious master, but he could handle our
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- Messy questions.
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- And so that's what i'm going to tackle today with you all.
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- I just know that we're not going to come out of this with a
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- Perfect formula, but we're going to navigate through the mystery
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- With some faith and try our best.
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- And hopefully what will come out of it is a blessing and peace in
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- The presence of god.
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- I know when my family and i, when
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- We were church planting in 2020, there
- 00:01:26.298 --> 00:01:28.200
- Was a pocket of that year when i just felt absolutely trapped.
- 00:01:28.200 --> 00:01:33.338
- You know, we started this church planting journey off with a
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- Vision for what it should be like.
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- And then the lockdown happened and then income got cut off.
- 00:01:39.978 --> 00:01:44.216
- And then we have four kids stuck at home and we just basically
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- Lost almost everything within a week.
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- And, you know, during the first couple of weeks after, i mean,
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- You do what you're trained to do, right?
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- And a lot of us, we're trained to know how to
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- Respond to hardship.
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- We know we got to give him a sacrifice of praise.
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- We know that we got to shift our mindset and meditate on the
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- Words of god.
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- And i was doing all these things and with my very best effort.
- 00:02:10.709 --> 00:02:14.079
- But i remember one night, all the kids were asleep and it was
- 00:02:14.079 --> 00:02:17.916
- Around 1 a.m.
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- And i was in front of my piano because that's usually where.
- 00:02:19.718 --> 00:02:22.421
- - i didn't know you played.
- 00:02:22.421 --> 00:02:24.156
- - i didn't either.
- 00:02:24.156 --> 00:02:25.190
- - playing is a generous word.
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- Fiddle around more like, you know, and i was in front of the
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- Piano trying my best to be everything god wanted me to be.
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- Trying my best to believe like he would want me to believe.
- 00:02:38.604 --> 00:02:42.975
- But i remember in that moment, the discouragement was so heavy
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- And i just had no song left to sing.
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- I had no prayer left to give.
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- And that was where i met the end of myself, the end of my very
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- Best efforts, the end of all i know to do.
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- A religion is nice when it makes sense, but the presence of god
- 00:03:01.927 --> 00:03:07.065
- Can be mysterious and rightfully so, because he's greater than
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- Our understanding.
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- He's higher than our understanding.
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- And i remember just sitting there.
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- Frozen with nothing to give to him.
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- And so i just began to weep.
- 00:03:19.244 --> 00:03:22.914
- And that night i had no vision.
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- I had no dream.
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- I didn't receive a revelatory word from god.
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- I just cried it out.
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- And then i went back to bed and i woke up the next day and just
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- Did it all over again, right.
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- But for months, actually, i think even for years, i remember
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- Asking the lord, where were you that night?
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- What were you doing that night?
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- Because i could have used a helping hand.
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- You could have thrown me a bone.
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- It wouldn't have been hard.
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- Lord, what were you doing?
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- What were you thinking?
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- And for a long time, i felt like he just didn't give
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- Me an answer.
- 00:04:05.791 --> 00:04:07.025
- And every time i asked him that question, i felt like
- 00:04:07.025 --> 00:04:10.629
- A failure, right?
- 00:04:10.629 --> 00:04:12.197
- Because i think sometimes we see faith as...
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- A performance before the lord.
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- And when we are not demonstrating the strength of
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- Our belief to god, we in a way feel like we are failing god.
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- So i thought the silence meant disappointment.
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- But i remember one day i was praying this prayer again, lord,
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- Where were you?
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- Because that memory caused a lot of pain for me.
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- And i just felt the still small voice of the lord.
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- And he said, i was with you, you know, and that was so simple and
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- So profound.
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- Because i thought, okay, if you were with me, then i should have
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- Seen something.
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- I should have heard something.
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- I should have felt something.
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- But he was just simply, i was with you.
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- That's it.
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- And isn't that what presence really is?
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- Just to be with someone.
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- And i think that was just a moment for me when i realized,
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- Man, how we interpret the mystery is so important.
- 00:05:05.250 --> 00:05:11.289
- And how we question the lord depends on what we think of the
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- Mystery, what we assume of the mystery of the lord.
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- A lot of the times, mystery could feel like a rejection.
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- When god doesn't make sense, it sometimes feels like he's
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- Abandoning us, when actually, mystery is an invitation from
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- God to know and go deeper into his presence.
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- And so your questions during this time of navigating mystery
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- Is actually good.
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- It's an opportunity to receive a deeper revelation of who he is.
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- I think sometimes we feel like we're doing well by faith if
- 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:52.664
- Everything makes sense and we have no questions and we feel as
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- Though there's no room for our questions.
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- But we know, you know, and i know all the women here, you
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- Have questioned god at a certain point in your life.
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- So i want to dive into that.
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- You know, i didn't realize that even when i wasn't feeling
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- Anything, that the nearness of god was already with me, not
- 00:06:13.885 --> 00:06:16.988
- Because i earned it, but because of the blood of jesus, because
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- He paid for that proximity.
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- So now, okay, if we know god is with us, whether we doubt or
- 00:06:22.994 --> 00:06:27.566
- Not, that god is kind, whether we're questioning.
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- How do we navigate that time, that space when god makes no
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- Sense and we have questions?
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- What do you think?
- 00:06:38.243 --> 00:06:40.445
- - one of the things i really love is basing my life on the
- 00:06:40.445 --> 00:06:43.582
- Promises of god as opposed to how i feel.
- 00:06:43.582 --> 00:06:45.951
- Because emotions do not have brains.
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- You know, i can be in a season where i just
- 00:06:47.552 --> 00:06:50.222
- Don't feel anything.
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- But i love in james where it says, and he will draw
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- Near to you.
- 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:56.061
- Doesn't say he'll draw near to you if you're doing well
- 00:06:56.061 --> 00:06:58.897
- This week.
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- He'll draw near to you if you remember to read your bible.
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- He'll draw near to you if you went to church last sunday.
- 00:07:01.900 --> 00:07:03.768
- He just says, draw near to god and he will draw near to you.
- 00:07:03.768 --> 00:07:05.103
- And i remember seasons where i've literally gone outside for
- 00:07:05.103 --> 00:07:10.408
- A walk and sat down on a stone somewhere and basically just
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- Said, i'm here, lord.
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- And not felt.
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- You know, because i agree with you.
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- It's lovely when you have that feeling of the lord's close or
- 00:07:18.617 --> 00:07:21.019
- You feel like he's speaking a word to your heart or suddenly a
- 00:07:21.019 --> 00:07:22.187
- Red cardinal appears and says, the lord be with you.
- 00:07:22.187 --> 00:07:25.891
- - wouldn't that be nice?
- 00:07:25.891 --> 00:07:28.860
- But i'm learning, and it's probably because i'm older than
- 00:07:27.559 --> 00:07:32.330
- You, but i'm learning that i can absolutely base my life on god's
- 00:07:32.330 --> 00:07:34.733
- Promises because he is not man that he should lie.
- 00:07:34.733 --> 00:07:37.035
- And if he said, draw near to me and i'll draw near to you,
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- There's times i've literally sat there for like an hour, not
- 00:07:41.006 --> 00:07:42.941
- Really heard anything, not really, but just...
- 00:07:42.941 --> 00:07:45.377
- I'm in your presence, and your presence changes everything.
- 00:07:45.377 --> 00:07:48.613
- - promises of god are consistent whether we believe it or whether
- 00:07:48.613 --> 00:07:52.651
- We feel it or not.
- 00:07:52.651 --> 00:07:54.185
- Whether we see god, god is still present.
- 00:07:54.185 --> 00:07:57.856
- Whether we know things are good or bad, god is still good.
- 00:07:57.856 --> 00:08:00.892
- And so there is truth of things that are always going to be
- 00:08:00.892 --> 00:08:05.063
- True, whether we feel it or know it or not.
- 00:08:05.063 --> 00:08:06.932
- And i think that's actually very comforting for me, at least,
- 00:08:06.932 --> 00:08:10.302
- Because my mind can take off running and believe
- 00:08:10.302 --> 00:08:14.573
- Other things.
- 00:08:14.573 --> 00:08:16.841
- But then if i calm down and slow down just long enough, i can
- 00:08:16.841 --> 00:08:18.310
- Remember god is good.
- 00:08:18.310 --> 00:08:21.279
- God is for me.
- 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.982
- He made me for such a time as this.
- 00:08:23.982 --> 00:08:25.750
- - and the honesty that we have to have with god.
- 00:08:25.750 --> 00:08:28.320
- You know, i think so often we think of god as like the new
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- Friend, right?
- 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:34.225
- When you have a new friend over, i'm like cleaning my baseboards.
- 00:08:34.225 --> 00:08:35.927
- Why am i cleaning my baseboards?
- 00:08:35.927 --> 00:08:37.162
- You know, you're trying to find tupperware lids.
- 00:08:37.162 --> 00:08:39.497
- You know, you're doing all these things to prepare for someone to
- 00:08:39.497 --> 00:08:42.133
- Come that you don't know well because you think they're going
- 00:08:42.133 --> 00:08:46.037
- To judge you based on how things are.
- 00:08:46.037 --> 00:08:48.506
- But then your best friend comes in in the middle of your mess,
- 00:08:48.506 --> 00:08:50.942
- In the craziness, and doesn't judge and loves you.
- 00:08:50.942 --> 00:08:54.079
- How much more is god, who is our dearest friend and comforter,
- 00:08:54.079 --> 00:08:58.450
- The creator of the whole world, want to come in the middle
- 00:08:58.450 --> 00:09:00.852
- Of our mess.
- 00:09:00.852 --> 00:09:02.454
- And he doesn't care what it looks like.
- 00:09:02.454 --> 00:09:05.290
- He cares about us and our hearts.
- 00:09:05.290 --> 00:09:06.524
- And so i think one of the biggest things that god is after
- 00:09:06.524 --> 00:09:08.426
- Is our honesty.
- 00:09:08.426 --> 00:09:09.794
- You know, that we don't have to create this whole thing of,
- 00:09:09.794 --> 00:09:12.564
- Lord, i am trying and i'm trying to have faith right here.
- 00:09:12.564 --> 00:09:15.567
- It is okay to come before the lord and say, god, i feel
- 00:09:15.567 --> 00:09:17.802
- So broken.
- 00:09:17.802 --> 00:09:19.170
- God, would you help my unbelief?
- 00:09:19.170 --> 00:09:21.906
- Because i have nothing to offer today.
- 00:09:21.906 --> 00:09:23.241
- But god, will you show up?
- 00:09:23.241 --> 00:09:25.877
- God, i'm believing in, like you said, going back to
- 00:09:25.877 --> 00:09:28.013
- His promises.
- 00:09:28.013 --> 00:09:29.381
- And there were times in my loss that i would literally say, i
- 00:09:29.381 --> 00:09:32.350
- Will not die, but i will live and i'll proclaim the
- 00:09:32.350 --> 00:09:34.986
- Mercies of god.
- 00:09:34.986 --> 00:09:36.021
- Because right now i feel like i'm dying, god.
- 00:09:36.021 --> 00:09:37.822
- I feel like i'm dying, but i'm proclaiming what your word says,
- 00:09:37.822 --> 00:09:41.426
- That i will not die.
- 00:09:41.426 --> 00:09:42.861
- And one day i will declare your mercies.
- 00:09:42.861 --> 00:09:45.163
- And that's the cool thing about the lord is obviously we know
- 00:09:45.163 --> 00:09:47.399
- That his promises are always true, but we can hold them
- 00:09:47.399 --> 00:09:51.136
- To that.
- 00:09:51.136 --> 00:09:51.836
- We know it's true.
- 00:09:51.836 --> 00:09:53.438
- And so sometimes we have to say it until we actually believe
- 00:09:53.438 --> 00:09:57.642
- That it's true.
- 00:09:57.642 --> 00:09:58.376
- But i think god is so kind.
- 00:09:58.376 --> 00:09:59.978
- That he comes in the midst of our mess and he just wants us
- 00:09:59.978 --> 00:10:03.448
- And our honesty.
- 00:10:03.448 --> 00:10:04.582
- And you can do something with that, right?
- 00:10:04.582 --> 00:10:06.151
- Like if my friend comes over and i know that she's struggling and
- 00:10:06.151 --> 00:10:10.155
- I say, how are you?
- 00:10:10.155 --> 00:10:10.889
- And she says, i'm fine.
- 00:10:10.889 --> 00:10:11.790
- Nothing's wrong over here.
- 00:10:11.790 --> 00:10:13.425
- And i know that they are walking through something
- 00:10:13.425 --> 00:10:15.393
- So devastating.
- 00:10:15.393 --> 00:10:16.661
- It's hard for me to comfort her and step into her story.
- 00:10:16.661 --> 00:10:19.064
- But when you come and you say, god, i am hurting.
- 00:10:19.064 --> 00:10:22.634
- This hurts.
- 00:10:22.634 --> 00:10:25.303
- God, i don't know what to do with this situation.
- 00:10:24.169 --> 00:10:26.304
- He can come in and all of his majesty.
- 00:10:26.304 --> 00:10:28.573
- And the way that he is so personal with his presence and
- 00:10:28.573 --> 00:10:31.976
- With his people and with his promises.
- 00:10:31.976 --> 00:10:33.678
- And he can come step in and do the work that only he can do.
- 00:10:33.678 --> 00:10:37.015
- - one of the greatest lessons i've learned in my life is to
- 00:10:37.015 --> 00:10:40.885
- Be very honest and raw and transparent in god's presence.
- 00:10:40.885 --> 00:10:44.923
- Honestly, it will change your life.
- 00:10:44.923 --> 00:10:47.826
- I don't know what your background is like or whether
- 00:10:47.826 --> 00:10:50.462
- You feel as if you have to be a certain way when you pray and
- 00:10:50.462 --> 00:10:53.031
- Say the right things.
- 00:10:53.031 --> 00:10:54.299
- But you know what?
- 00:10:54.299 --> 00:10:56.134
- God knows you.
- 00:10:56.134 --> 00:10:57.202
- God made you.
- 00:10:57.202 --> 00:10:59.104
- He knows exactly what's going on in your life.
- 00:10:59.104 --> 00:11:00.271
- And you get to tell him the whole truth.
- 00:11:00.271 --> 00:11:02.640
- I really encourage you to find a few moments today and just tell
- 00:11:02.640 --> 00:11:05.643
- God what's going on.
- 00:11:05.643 --> 00:11:07.746
- You don't have to clean yourself up to come to your father.
- 00:11:07.746 --> 00:11:09.948
- You get to come as you are.
- 00:11:09.948 --> 00:11:11.616
- Because i know as a mom, i...
- 00:11:11.616 --> 00:11:14.586
- Want to know what's going on with my kids you know and
- 00:11:14.586 --> 00:11:17.655
- Anything that they might be feeling i'd rather know about it
- 00:11:17.655 --> 00:11:21.359
- Than not know about it and as a mom i think there's nothing too
- 00:11:21.359 --> 00:11:25.330
- Big that you're going through that i would not still love you
- 00:11:25.330 --> 00:11:30.635
- Through, and i would still not be there for so how much
- 00:11:30.635 --> 00:11:33.471
- Greater is that that our father our god our heavenly father
- 00:11:33.471 --> 00:11:37.442
- Wants us to come to him with such honesty and
- 00:11:37.442 --> 00:11:40.812
- Such authenticity.
- 00:11:40.812 --> 00:11:42.180
- And is he not big enough to carry all of the stuff?
- 00:11:42.180 --> 00:11:44.849
- Can we come to him with all of our negative feelings, our
- 00:11:44.849 --> 00:11:49.120
- Shame, our guilt, our suffering, our frustrations, our anger even
- 00:11:49.120 --> 00:11:54.359
- Toward god?
- 00:11:54.359 --> 00:11:55.226
- Can he not handle that?
- 00:11:55.226 --> 00:11:56.728
- And so it's a good reminder of even if we swap places of
- 00:11:56.728 --> 00:12:00.365
- Someone that we love so much, how we might feel and then just
- 00:12:00.365 --> 00:12:04.502
- Flipping back around and saying, of course god would want it.
- 00:12:04.502 --> 00:12:07.705
- - it's an indication of the depth of relationship.
- 00:12:07.705 --> 00:12:10.141
- I think to the level that we're honest with god is an indication
- 00:12:10.141 --> 00:12:13.478
- Of how much we actually trust him and have a picture of how
- 00:12:13.478 --> 00:12:16.080
- Big he is.
- 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:17.415
- Because, i mean, all through the psalms, all through scripture,
- 00:12:17.415 --> 00:12:19.884
- Really, i mean, think of david, you know, and then there's a
- 00:12:19.884 --> 00:12:23.888
- Psalm that christ quoted, psalm 22, my god, my god, why have you
- 00:12:23.888 --> 00:12:26.357
- Forsaken me?
- 00:12:26.357 --> 00:12:28.593
- If the son of god could ask a question like that, and i know
- 00:12:28.593 --> 00:12:34.465
- That when he was on the cross, i know he was praying through
- 00:12:34.465 --> 00:12:35.967
- The psalms.
- 00:12:35.967 --> 00:12:37.335
- For strength but i think that's one of the things we struggle
- 00:12:37.335 --> 00:12:39.237
- With being really honest with god but as i've got older i
- 00:12:39.237 --> 00:12:43.174
- Realize it's the greatest gift in a way to be because god
- 00:12:43.174 --> 00:12:47.712
- Already knows yeah i mean god already knows everything that's
- 00:12:47.712 --> 00:12:50.014
- True but to be able to bring all the seasons that are good and
- 00:12:50.014 --> 00:12:52.016
- The seasons that are hard and the questions he is definitely
- 00:12:52.016 --> 00:12:58.923
- Big enough to handle all.
- 00:12:58.923 --> 00:13:00.325
- - i think god really does welcome our
- 00:13:00.325 --> 00:13:02.727
- Questions i think god wants us to come to him with anything
- 00:13:02.727 --> 00:13:05.630
- That's on our mind.
- 00:13:05.630 --> 00:13:07.098
- It could be what stresses us out, what worries us.
- 00:13:07.098 --> 00:13:10.034
- It could also be what gives us joy and delight.
- 00:13:10.034 --> 00:13:14.072
- I think as a mother myself, i just want to hear what's going
- 00:13:14.072 --> 00:13:16.007
- On in my kids' lives.
- 00:13:16.007 --> 00:13:17.208
- I'll always take their phone call.
- 00:13:17.208 --> 00:13:19.277
- And so, yeah, i think god cares.
- 00:13:19.277 --> 00:13:20.345
- God wants to hear those things.
- 00:13:20.345 --> 00:13:22.146
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:13:22.146 --> 00:13:27.252
- - questioning god does not equal a lack of faith.
- 00:13:27.252 --> 00:13:28.753
- In fact, questioning god shows your honesty before the lord.
- 00:13:28.753 --> 00:13:33.625
- It shows your desire to have a deeper relationship with him.
- 00:13:33.625 --> 00:13:36.027
- I want to encourage you in the midst of whatever you're walking
- 00:13:36.027 --> 00:13:38.863
- Through to go to god with your questions.
- 00:13:38.863 --> 00:13:40.932
- He can handle anything.
- 00:13:40.932 --> 00:13:43.668
- He can handle our anger.
- 00:13:43.668 --> 00:13:44.502
- He can handle our doubt.
- 00:13:44.502 --> 00:13:45.803
- He can handle anything, and he is the one we can run to.
- 00:13:45.803 --> 00:13:48.273
- - in the church we tend to emphasize faith so much to the
- 00:13:48.273 --> 00:13:52.677
- Point where we feel as though we are sinning or failing god when
- 00:13:52.677 --> 00:13:57.849
- We doubt and so we immerse ourselves in that shame when
- 00:13:57.849 --> 00:14:01.119
- Actually faith isn't the absence of doubt but it's trusting god
- 00:14:01.119 --> 00:14:06.824
- Through the doubt and it's engaging with him as you
- 00:14:06.824 --> 00:14:10.461
- Navigate the mystery of his presence.
- 00:14:10.461 --> 00:14:12.664
- - god wants us to do life together because we
- 00:14:12.664 --> 00:14:16.567
- Are better together.
- 00:14:16.567 --> 00:14:18.603
- - so connect with us on social media and
- 00:14:18.603 --> 00:14:21.105
- Share your favorite moments from today.
- 00:14:21.105 --> 00:14:23.841
- - we can't wait for you to join us.
- 00:14:23.841 --> 00:14:25.243
- Let's keep the conversation going.
- 00:14:25.243 --> 00:14:29.347
- You can find the better together podcast.
- 00:14:29.347 --> 00:14:30.848
- On your favorite listening platform.
- 00:14:30.848 --> 00:14:32.350
- Subscribe today.
- 00:14:32.350 --> 00:14:34.752
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:14:34.752 --> 00:14:36.998
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:14:36.998 --> 00:14:40.325
- - sometimes we wonder, is it disrespectful to question god?
- 00:14:40.325 --> 00:14:46.064
- I think it's the absolute opposite.
- 00:14:46.064 --> 00:14:47.665
- I think when you're willing to ask god the hard questions, it
- 00:14:47.665 --> 00:14:51.302
- Means that you actually trust that he's big enough, that he
- 00:14:51.302 --> 00:14:53.137
- Loves you enough.
- 00:14:53.137 --> 00:14:54.872
- Never be afraid to bring everything that you're thinking
- 00:14:54.872 --> 00:14:57.942
- About or wondering about to god.
- 00:14:57.942 --> 00:15:00.545
- You get to bring all your emotions.
- 00:15:00.545 --> 00:15:02.413
- And i think that shows god that you love him and you trust that
- 00:15:02.413 --> 00:15:04.983
- He is big enough.
- 00:15:04.983 --> 00:15:06.250
- God is big enough to handle anything that you're
- 00:15:06.250 --> 00:15:08.886
- Walking through.
- 00:15:08.886 --> 00:15:11.255
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:15:11.255 --> 00:15:14.258
- - i remember a time that i was visiting some family's home and
- 00:15:14.258 --> 00:15:18.730
- Someone had told me something that really upset me.
- 00:15:18.730 --> 00:15:22.800
- And i got in the car and i was mad that it had upset me.
- 00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:24.469
- I was like, god, you know, and i was talking out, you know, that
- 00:15:24.469 --> 00:15:31.009
- Communion with god.
- 00:15:31.009 --> 00:15:32.777
- You can talk to god wherever you are, whatever you're doing, the
- 00:15:32.777 --> 00:15:35.813
- Communion between each other.
- 00:15:35.813 --> 00:15:38.282
- I said, god, i'm not sure what
- 00:15:38.282 --> 00:15:39.951
- It was that upset me so much.
- 00:15:39.951 --> 00:15:41.552
- But the feeling that i have right now, you know
- 00:15:41.552 --> 00:15:45.757
- What that is.
- 00:15:45.757 --> 00:15:46.924
- And i said, i don't know if that's bitterness, but i
- 00:15:46.924 --> 00:15:49.427
- Don't like it.
- 00:15:49.427 --> 00:15:50.728
- So i know it's not good, you know, because it doesn't make me
- 00:15:50.728 --> 00:15:53.031
- Feel good.
- 00:15:53.031 --> 00:15:54.298
- But you know what bothered me about that.
- 00:15:54.298 --> 00:15:57.502
- And i said, i just need you to take all that out because you
- 00:15:57.502 --> 00:15:59.837
- Know exactly what it is and fill in the gaps.
- 00:15:59.837 --> 00:16:02.473
- His presence and his character, that's what we all
- 00:16:02.473 --> 00:16:06.844
- Are striving to know is god's character.
- 00:16:06.844 --> 00:16:10.448
- We can see evidence all around us.
- 00:16:10.448 --> 00:16:12.850
- The bible says only a fool says there is no god.
- 00:16:12.850 --> 00:16:16.988
- So does god exist? yes.
- 00:16:16.988 --> 00:16:20.491
- Just look up, you know, look around and you'll see.
- 00:16:20.491 --> 00:16:23.361
- So it's not the evidence that convinces us that god, it's his
- 00:16:23.361 --> 00:16:28.699
- Presence and his character.
- 00:16:28.699 --> 00:16:31.269
- And so knowing the character of god, that god is with me, he'll
- 00:16:31.269 --> 00:16:34.772
- Never forsake me.
- 00:16:34.772 --> 00:16:37.141
- So those times when you, i think we've all been there.
- 00:16:37.141 --> 00:16:40.945
- It's just like, man, i don't know.
- 00:16:40.945 --> 00:16:43.448
- Am i in trouble?
- 00:16:43.448 --> 00:16:44.415
- Did i do something wrong?
- 00:16:44.415 --> 00:16:46.684
- You know, did we make a mistake?
- 00:16:46.684 --> 00:16:48.686
- I mean, how many times did you think, did we make a mistake
- 00:16:48.686 --> 00:16:51.255
- Trying to start this church?
- 00:16:51.255 --> 00:16:53.524
- But you have done something in faith.
- 00:16:53.524 --> 00:16:55.860
- And i think that is such, and this sounds completely upside
- 00:16:55.860 --> 00:16:59.797
- Down, but i think that's what the kingdom of god is.
- 00:16:59.797 --> 00:17:03.134
- Sometimes when we feel like we've...
- 00:17:03.134 --> 00:17:05.536
- Followed what god has spoken to us, and then you find yourself
- 00:17:05.536 --> 00:17:08.940
- Going, okay, things are not going the way.
- 00:17:08.940 --> 00:17:11.409
- I thought faith was going to be me moving, and then god was just
- 00:17:11.409 --> 00:17:14.412
- Going to move real big and explode something because i had
- 00:17:14.412 --> 00:17:20.084
- This faith, and i have found that that's not really
- 00:17:20.084 --> 00:17:22.286
- What happens.
- 00:17:22.286 --> 00:17:24.922
- It's like when you take that great step of faith, now god is
- 00:17:24.922 --> 00:17:27.558
- Like going, absolutely, now come.
- 00:17:27.558 --> 00:17:30.394
- Come to me.
- 00:17:30.394 --> 00:17:31.529
- It's like peter getting out of the boat.
- 00:17:31.529 --> 00:17:35.399
- It says he hovered on the water, that he moved towards jesus.
- 00:17:35.399 --> 00:17:36.801
- Well, maybe the storm got even greater once he was to jesus.
- 00:17:36.801 --> 00:17:40.905
- What if jesus was saying, now that you're here, it's not about
- 00:17:40.905 --> 00:17:46.611
- What you see.
- 00:17:46.611 --> 00:17:48.012
- Because i'm here.
- 00:17:48.012 --> 00:17:50.815
- And i think that's what every trial or tribulation or every
- 00:17:50.815 --> 00:17:55.586
- Step of faith that leads us to that.
- 00:17:55.586 --> 00:17:58.589
- (gasps) are you here?
- 00:17:58.589 --> 00:17:59.957
- And god is going, i am here.
- 00:17:59.957 --> 00:18:01.659
- I want you to experience my presence here.
- 00:18:01.659 --> 00:18:05.229
- I think everyone has questioned a time in their life when you've
- 00:18:05.229 --> 00:18:09.867
- Thought, god, why me?
- 00:18:09.867 --> 00:18:13.538
- Why all this all at the same time?
- 00:18:13.538 --> 00:18:15.840
- It's like when it rains, it pours.
- 00:18:15.840 --> 00:18:17.341
- But god is always faithful.
- 00:18:17.341 --> 00:18:19.277
- There's always been something that i have been able to look
- 00:18:19.277 --> 00:18:21.946
- Back on and go, man, you were with us then, and you were with
- 00:18:21.946 --> 00:18:25.216
- Us then, and you were with us then.
- 00:18:25.216 --> 00:18:28.486
- And your bible says, your words say, you will never leave me,
- 00:18:28.486 --> 00:18:34.792
- Nor will you forsake me.
- 00:18:34.792 --> 00:18:36.661
- And so those promises you cling to, i hold on to those promises
- 00:18:36.661 --> 00:18:41.299
- That god never leaves us wanting.
- 00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:45.937
- That we lack nothing from god, that surely goodness and mercy
- 00:18:45.937 --> 00:18:49.507
- Follows us every day of our life.
- 00:18:49.507 --> 00:18:52.176
- You claim those.
- 00:18:52.176 --> 00:18:54.278
- You receive those.
- 00:18:54.278 --> 00:18:55.580
- You start meditating on those beautiful promises of god.
- 00:18:55.580 --> 00:18:58.749
- And man, in the time of your need, they'll be right
- 00:18:58.749 --> 00:19:03.821
- There for you.
- 00:19:03.821 --> 00:19:04.689
- - you know what that reminds me of?
- 00:19:04.689 --> 00:19:06.991
- So one of my kids, when she was little, like around four years
- 00:19:06.991 --> 00:19:09.927
- Old, she would spill water in front of us.
- 00:19:09.927 --> 00:19:13.631
- Like all of us.
- 00:19:13.631 --> 00:19:14.999
- Like, you know.
- 00:19:14.999 --> 00:19:16.300
- Five people are witnesses, but then she would pause and go,
- 00:19:16.300 --> 00:19:19.704
- Just don't believe it.
- 00:19:19.704 --> 00:19:23.174
- You know, she would just look straight at us and be like, just
- 00:19:23.174 --> 00:19:26.110
- Don't believe it.
- 00:19:26.110 --> 00:19:27.345
- You know, and i think this was just her way of diverting
- 00:19:27.345 --> 00:19:31.249
- The attention.
- 00:19:31.249 --> 00:19:32.016
- - nothing to see here, people.
- 00:19:32.016 --> 00:19:33.217
- - yeah, right, exactly.
- 00:19:33.217 --> 00:19:34.452
- That was her way of saying there's nothing to see here.
- 00:19:34.452 --> 00:19:37.888
- And in some way, i feel like we think that's what god wants
- 00:19:37.888 --> 00:19:40.057
- Us to do. - that's good.
- 00:19:40.057 --> 00:19:42.193
- God is basically saying, just don't believe the storm.
- 00:19:42.193 --> 00:19:44.996
- Just don't believe this horrendous pain you're going
- 00:19:44.996 --> 00:19:48.366
- Through. don't believe that loss.
- 00:19:48.366 --> 00:19:50.368
- And i think sometimes we feel some sort of way about that
- 00:19:50.368 --> 00:19:53.571
- Because it's almost like we have to produce this
- 00:19:53.571 --> 00:19:57.842
- Blind compliance.
- 00:19:57.842 --> 00:19:59.410
- But faith is not blind compliance.
- 00:19:59.410 --> 00:20:02.013
- It's not just a, yeah, right.
- 00:20:02.013 --> 00:20:04.949
- It's not really there.
- 00:20:04.949 --> 00:20:06.050
- And we're just playing this game.
- 00:20:06.050 --> 00:20:07.618
- But actually, when you look throughout scripture.
- 00:20:07.618 --> 00:20:10.354
- God has called us into covenant to engage and participate in
- 00:20:10.354 --> 00:20:15.793
- This faith.
- 00:20:15.793 --> 00:20:17.728
- I mean, god chose to wrestle with jacob.
- 00:20:17.728 --> 00:20:20.531
- I think that's interesting because never in a day do i ever
- 00:20:20.531 --> 00:20:24.001
- Think i want to wrestle with someone.
- 00:20:24.001 --> 00:20:26.570
- This is how i want to relate with that person.
- 00:20:26.570 --> 00:20:30.875
- But god chose that conflict.
- 00:20:30.875 --> 00:20:34.211
- God chose to engage with someone to that level of intimacy.
- 00:20:34.211 --> 00:20:39.684
- That level of tension, right, in order to commune with jacob and
- 00:20:39.684 --> 00:20:46.757
- In a way to give jacob a revelation that he would not
- 00:20:46.757 --> 00:20:49.260
- Have had unless he was willing to engage in that wrestling.
- 00:20:49.260 --> 00:20:53.064
- So i think we think we are winning at faith when we're just
- 00:20:53.064 --> 00:20:57.301
- Compliant, when actually you're winning at faith when you are
- 00:20:57.301 --> 00:21:00.671
- Engaging with god, participating with the lord amidst
- 00:21:00.671 --> 00:21:03.174
- Your doubts.
- 00:21:03.174 --> 00:21:06.610
- - you know, all of us can fall in these pits when we are left
- 00:21:06.610 --> 00:21:09.880
- Alone with our questions, when we believe the lies and we
- 00:21:09.880 --> 00:21:13.718
- Wrestle with it alone.
- 00:21:13.718 --> 00:21:15.619
- That's why god's given us community to come alongside of
- 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:17.988
- Us, to speak truth, to encourage our hearts when we wrestle
- 00:21:17.988 --> 00:21:20.758
- Through these questions.
- 00:21:20.758 --> 00:21:23.227
- God, why did you allow this to happen?
- 00:21:23.227 --> 00:21:24.595
- God, are you still good?
- 00:21:24.595 --> 00:21:25.963
- Is there still good left in my life?
- 00:21:25.963 --> 00:21:27.798
- Those are all questions that we can ask and we can go to god to
- 00:21:27.798 --> 00:21:31.001
- And ask the lord to make a way in it.
- 00:21:31.001 --> 00:21:32.903
- But also with those hard questions, it's very important
- 00:21:32.903 --> 00:21:36.073
- To ask believers in christ, mentors, people that you
- 00:21:36.073 --> 00:21:39.443
- Respect to come alongside you and help you
- 00:21:39.443 --> 00:21:41.612
- As you wrestle through them.
- 00:21:41.612 --> 00:21:43.514
- I remember being angry with god at one point.
- 00:21:43.514 --> 00:21:47.017
- I literally remember months after my husband passed away and
- 00:21:47.017 --> 00:21:50.121
- I'm raising these precious little babies.
- 00:21:50.121 --> 00:21:52.456
- And i called my mom one day and i was like, can you watch
- 00:21:52.456 --> 00:21:54.925
- The kids? i just need to go on a run.
- 00:21:54.925 --> 00:21:56.827
- And i could just feel it.
- 00:21:56.827 --> 00:21:57.895
- I mean, i felt all these emotions just coming in.
- 00:21:57.895 --> 00:21:59.597
- I was like, i just need to go run.
- 00:21:59.597 --> 00:22:02.400
- So i dropped off my babies and i remember i started running
- 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:04.535
- And i am.
- 00:22:04.535 --> 00:22:06.437
- Just so mad i'm like god why did you call my kids to this i mean
- 00:22:06.437 --> 00:22:11.008
- That was the anger that i had, it's one thing to call me
- 00:22:11.008 --> 00:22:13.611
- To this pain it's another thing my kids ran you know to the door
- 00:22:13.611 --> 00:22:17.047
- When they heard the door knock and said daddy daddy and i'm
- 00:22:17.047 --> 00:22:20.351
- Like he's been gone four months you know just that-- that just
- 00:22:20.351 --> 00:22:23.220
- Brought up so much in my heart you know and so as a mom you
- 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:27.658
- Know you're discipling them and trying to teach them but i'm
- 00:22:27.658 --> 00:22:29.927
- Grieving myself.
- 00:22:29.927 --> 00:22:31.328
- And so at the beginning of this run, i mean, i am running fast.
- 00:22:31.328 --> 00:22:34.064
- I am just weeping.
- 00:22:34.064 --> 00:22:35.966
- And i'm like, god, i feel so angry.
- 00:22:35.966 --> 00:22:38.235
- I'm so mad.
- 00:22:38.235 --> 00:22:40.171
- I don't want to be mad about this.
- 00:22:40.171 --> 00:22:42.173
- I know you called our family to this.
- 00:22:42.173 --> 00:22:44.708
- God, i want to trust you in it, but god, i'm just mad.
- 00:22:44.708 --> 00:22:46.177
- And i just kept running.
- 00:22:46.177 --> 00:22:48.279
- And it was crazy because as i kept running, i kept saying, but
- 00:22:48.279 --> 00:22:52.616
- God, i've seen you here.
- 00:22:52.616 --> 00:22:53.584
- But god, you have ministered to us here.
- 00:22:53.584 --> 00:22:56.287
- God, you have never let us alone.
- 00:22:56.287 --> 00:22:58.556
- God, i saw that person that showed up at our door and
- 00:22:58.556 --> 00:23:01.325
- Brought us a meal and prayed over our home.
- 00:23:01.325 --> 00:23:03.627
- I saw that person reach out and prayed for me in that moment
- 00:23:03.627 --> 00:23:06.464
- That i need.
- 00:23:06.464 --> 00:23:07.798
- And so as i was running, it came from anger to literally yielding
- 00:23:07.798 --> 00:23:12.470
- To at the end of the run, i had my hand in the air and i said,
- 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:15.773
- God, i will trust you.
- 00:23:15.773 --> 00:23:17.107
- And god, i will still worship you even when this is hard and
- 00:23:17.107 --> 00:23:20.211
- Even when this is not going away because you are worthy of all
- 00:23:20.211 --> 00:23:24.081
- Praise and god, you have been good.
- 00:23:24.081 --> 00:23:26.550
- And so it's amazing how we are on this journey with god.
- 00:23:26.550 --> 00:23:31.055
- And unless i had to start where i was at the anger part, i
- 00:23:31.055 --> 00:23:34.458
- Wouldn't have made it to the trusting part.
- 00:23:34.458 --> 00:23:37.094
- And you see that example in scripture of lament.
- 00:23:37.094 --> 00:23:40.197
- That is what lament is.
- 00:23:40.197 --> 00:23:43.601
- It's giving god, you know, was it okay that my
- 00:23:43.601 --> 00:23:45.102
- Husband passed away?
- 00:23:45.102 --> 00:23:46.103
- No, i wasn't okay with it.
- 00:23:46.103 --> 00:23:47.471
- But i was okay with jesus being near to us.
- 00:23:47.471 --> 00:23:50.407
- Was it good that my kids were walking through this pain?
- 00:23:50.407 --> 00:23:52.977
- No, but was god good?
- 00:23:52.977 --> 00:23:54.378
- And did it say the nearness of god is our good?
- 00:23:54.378 --> 00:23:57.548
- So god was still good, even though the circumstance wasn't.
- 00:23:57.548 --> 00:24:00.751
- And i think that's what happens.
- 00:24:00.751 --> 00:24:03.053
- And that's all throughout scripture.
- 00:24:03.053 --> 00:24:04.388
- David saying, god, why have you forsaken me?
- 00:24:04.388 --> 00:24:06.557
- God, why did you allow this to happen?
- 00:24:06.557 --> 00:24:08.125
- All these people are against me.
- 00:24:08.125 --> 00:24:09.593
- I'm hurting in this way, but you are my refuge.
- 00:24:09.593 --> 00:24:11.495
- But god, i will trust in you.
- 00:24:11.495 --> 00:24:14.031
- But god, you are faithful.
- 00:24:14.031 --> 00:24:17.001
- God, have the steadfast love that never ceases.
- 00:24:17.001 --> 00:24:19.503
- I mean, you see that all throughout scripture, god's
- 00:24:19.503 --> 00:24:22.239
- Faithfulness is steadfast love, but often we don't get to the
- 00:24:22.239 --> 00:24:24.842
- Goodness of god or experience his nearness or his presence
- 00:24:24.842 --> 00:24:28.412
- Until we get honest with god.
- 00:24:28.412 --> 00:24:29.980
- It's right where we start.
- 00:24:29.980 --> 00:24:31.815
- And it's the process of lament, which i feel like so often in
- 00:24:31.815 --> 00:24:34.885
- The christian circles, we skip over it because like you said,
- 00:24:34.885 --> 00:24:38.389
- You just want to act like everything's fine.
- 00:24:38.389 --> 00:24:40.491
- Nobody knows what to deal with this sad, angry widow.
- 00:24:40.491 --> 00:24:42.893
- And i was like, i don't know what to do with this.
- 00:24:42.893 --> 00:24:46.196
- But god does.
- 00:24:46.196 --> 00:24:47.464
- God always knows what to do with it.
- 00:24:47.464 --> 00:24:49.333
- And he promises to be near the brokenhearted and those crushed
- 00:24:49.333 --> 00:24:52.736
- In spirit.
- 00:24:52.736 --> 00:24:54.171
- He promises it.
- 00:24:54.171 --> 00:24:55.372
- So even when we feel like, oh, people are afraid of our
- 00:24:55.372 --> 00:24:58.742
- Emotions or i'm too much for this person, god never tires.
- 00:24:58.742 --> 00:25:01.178
- He never goes silent while we are hurting.
- 00:25:01.178 --> 00:25:04.915
- He never does.
- 00:25:04.915 --> 00:25:06.216
- He is always with us and he just wants us to come to him.
- 00:25:06.216 --> 00:25:10.154
- - and god gave us those emotions.
- 00:25:10.154 --> 00:25:11.855
- - yes. he made those emotions in us.
- 00:25:11.855 --> 00:25:13.691
- - when we give god our sorrows, it doesn't mean that we are just
- 00:25:13.691 --> 00:25:16.760
- Ignoring the reality of what we are going through, but actually
- 00:25:16.760 --> 00:25:20.230
- It means lamenting.
- 00:25:20.230 --> 00:25:21.498
- Lament is holy.
- 00:25:21.498 --> 00:25:24.501
- Lament is completely acceptable to god.
- 00:25:24.501 --> 00:25:28.372
- It's having sorrow with god and not without god.
- 00:25:28.372 --> 00:25:33.310
- It's not walking away from him because of our pain, but it's
- 00:25:33.310 --> 00:25:36.146
- Enduring our pain with him.
- 00:25:36.146 --> 00:25:38.048
- - it is like this... image of the psalms.
- 00:25:38.048 --> 00:25:42.820
- It's the psalms being written and prayed.
- 00:25:42.820 --> 00:25:46.390
- It's david saying, it's a confessional, right?
- 00:25:46.390 --> 00:25:48.492
- You start with this confession and it's like you're angry and
- 00:25:48.492 --> 00:25:52.296
- These emotions and all of a sudden you realize, oh, but god,
- 00:25:52.296 --> 00:25:55.265
- You're still good.
- 00:25:55.265 --> 00:25:56.133
- God, you're still good.
- 00:25:56.133 --> 00:25:57.501
- In some of the moments that i have felt the most, like things
- 00:25:57.501 --> 00:26:01.905
- Aren't okay.
- 00:26:01.905 --> 00:26:03.040
- Just having also other image bearers come around.
- 00:26:03.040 --> 00:26:05.476
- Sometimes it's not just what we're doing, but what can we
- 00:26:05.476 --> 00:26:08.612
- Give to others?
- 00:26:08.612 --> 00:26:09.713
- And they don't have to say anything.
- 00:26:09.713 --> 00:26:11.382
- Just sitting in it and saying.
- 00:26:11.382 --> 00:26:13.317
- And just sitting, like, i don't have the answers.
- 00:26:13.317 --> 00:26:16.086
- That's actually probably the best thing.
- 00:26:16.086 --> 00:26:17.588
- Maybe don't say anything.
- 00:26:17.588 --> 00:26:18.922
- - yeah, i think when pain's the greatest, words should be
- 00:26:18.922 --> 00:26:22.092
- The fewest.
- 00:26:22.092 --> 00:26:23.027
- - yes, exactly, sheila.
- 00:26:23.027 --> 00:26:23.661
- Like, just sit.
- 00:26:23.661 --> 00:26:25.195
- That is so good.
- 00:26:25.195 --> 00:26:26.497
- I remember my mom telling me that when she and my dad were
- 00:26:26.497 --> 00:26:28.332
- Dating, they weren't even engaged yet, and they went to,
- 00:26:28.332 --> 00:26:30.734
- My dad was singing at a church in glasgow in scotland, and a
- 00:26:30.734 --> 00:26:33.737
- Woman stood up and gave this testimony of how she had
- 00:26:33.737 --> 00:26:36.640
- Lost her child.
- 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:38.509
- And it was with this sense of, you know, thanking god and
- 00:26:38.509 --> 00:26:42.680
- Everything was great.
- 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:43.947
- And my mom said she sat there feeling like, lord, what's
- 00:26:43.947 --> 00:26:46.817
- Wrong with me?
- 00:26:46.817 --> 00:26:48.152
- Because i don't think that's how i would be in this situation.
- 00:26:48.152 --> 00:26:49.653
- But after the service, my mom went to the restroom and she
- 00:26:49.653 --> 00:26:53.290
- Heard somebody in the cubicle next to her crying.
- 00:26:53.290 --> 00:26:55.292
- And it was that woman.
- 00:26:55.292 --> 00:26:56.727
- And i thought, you know, there's something about that.
- 00:26:56.727 --> 00:26:59.963
- The message is, you know, you cry away from the
- 00:26:59.963 --> 00:27:02.966
- Presence of god.
- 00:27:02.966 --> 00:27:03.867
- And i'm like, no, it's the opposite.
- 00:27:03.867 --> 00:27:05.235
- God invites us to tell him everything.
- 00:27:05.235 --> 00:27:07.337
- Because the fact that you were able to do that, the fact you
- 00:27:07.337 --> 00:27:10.741
- Were able to be angry, it's like what jesus did.
- 00:27:10.741 --> 00:27:13.343
- When you pour out your pain in the presence of god, you make
- 00:27:13.343 --> 00:27:16.947
- Space for grace.
- 00:27:16.947 --> 00:27:18.315
- Whereas when you hold on to it all, you know, it's like you've
- 00:27:18.315 --> 00:27:21.251
- Just been god at a distance.
- 00:27:21.251 --> 00:27:23.654
- - it reminds me of habakkuk.
- 00:27:23.654 --> 00:27:27.324
- Habakkuk is one of my favorite books in the bible because it
- 00:27:27.324 --> 00:27:30.461
- Starts off with a complaint.
- 00:27:30.461 --> 00:27:31.762
- It starts off with, how long, lord, must i call for help?
- 00:27:31.762 --> 00:27:37.901
- And you do not listen or cry out to you about violence and you
- 00:27:37.901 --> 00:27:40.971
- Do not save.
- 00:27:40.971 --> 00:27:42.606
- And it's just habakkuk on behalf of god's people.
- 00:27:42.606 --> 00:27:46.643
- Questioning god.
- 00:27:46.643 --> 00:27:49.213
- And the fact that god included this in scripture, and we're
- 00:27:49.213 --> 00:27:52.249
- Supposed to learn from this exchange between son and father,
- 00:27:52.249 --> 00:28:01.325
- Between child and god, right?
- 00:28:01.325 --> 00:28:03.761
- What's so beautiful about that is at the end, he goes, though
- 00:28:03.761 --> 00:28:06.597
- The fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines,
- 00:28:06.597 --> 00:28:11.769
- Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food.
- 00:28:11.769 --> 00:28:15.305
- Though the flocks disappear from the pen and there are no herds
- 00:28:15.305 --> 00:28:19.276
- In the stalls, yet i will celebrate in the lord.
- 00:28:19.276 --> 00:28:23.747
- I will rejoice in the god of my salvation.
- 00:28:23.747 --> 00:28:26.817
- The lord, my lord, is my strength.
- 00:28:26.817 --> 00:28:30.988
- He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on
- 00:28:30.988 --> 00:28:35.425
- Mountain heights.
- 00:28:35.425 --> 00:28:37.761
- And the fact that he got to that place of celebration, not
- 00:28:37.761 --> 00:28:45.669
- Because of his strength, not because of his wisdom, but
- 00:28:45.669 --> 00:28:47.704
- Because he was, like you were saying, willing to pour himself
- 00:28:47.704 --> 00:28:50.874
- Out honestly and bring the hard questions to the table.
- 00:28:50.874 --> 00:28:55.879
- And as you engage in the mystery of his presence, at the end, you
- 00:28:55.879 --> 00:29:02.953
- End with celebration because you realize that the one that you're
- 00:29:02.953 --> 00:29:07.658
- Engaging with is greater than the questions, greater
- 00:29:07.658 --> 00:29:12.496
- Than the doubt.
- 00:29:12.496 --> 00:29:13.697
- And i think sometimes we feel like, clarity equals the
- 00:29:13.697 --> 00:29:16.633
- Presence of god.
- 00:29:16.633 --> 00:29:18.535
- And that feeling better equals the presence of god.
- 00:29:18.535 --> 00:29:23.473
- And here habakkuk is like, well, there's no bud on the trees.
- 00:29:23.473 --> 00:29:28.579
- There's nothing happening.
- 00:29:28.579 --> 00:29:30.447
- But i celebrate the lord.
- 00:29:30.447 --> 00:29:33.483
- I think one of the hardest things that we experience as
- 00:29:33.483 --> 00:29:37.855
- Believers is when god feels silent.
- 00:29:37.855 --> 00:29:39.923
- You know, maybe you've been praying about something for a
- 00:29:39.923 --> 00:29:43.427
- Long time and you just feel as if you don't know if god's even
- 00:29:43.427 --> 00:29:45.729
- Listening and you don't even feel his presence very close.
- 00:29:45.729 --> 00:29:49.366
- And in those times, for me, has become really important to study
- 00:29:49.366 --> 00:29:53.270
- What god's word actually says.
- 00:29:53.270 --> 00:29:55.606
- You know, it says in when james wrote his letter, when jesus'
- 00:29:55.606 --> 00:29:58.475
- Brother wrote his letter, he said, he gave us this promise.
- 00:29:58.475 --> 00:30:01.879
- He said, draw near to god and he will draw near to you.
- 00:30:01.879 --> 00:30:06.116
- So even if it feels as if the lord is far, far away,
- 00:30:06.116 --> 00:30:08.619
- Just know...
- 00:30:08.619 --> 00:30:10.053
- When you're seeking his presence, he is with you.
- 00:30:10.053 --> 00:30:12.422
- I love seeing how jesus responded to ongoing attacks
- 00:30:12.422 --> 00:30:16.426
- From the enemy and then pain in his father's presence.
- 00:30:16.426 --> 00:30:19.029
- Because you know when the holy spirit led him into the
- 00:30:19.029 --> 00:30:21.565
- Wilderness to be tested of the devil.
- 00:30:21.565 --> 00:30:23.533
- And so then all the questions are coming, all the
- 00:30:23.533 --> 00:30:25.402
- Why questions.
- 00:30:25.402 --> 00:30:27.638
- And how he responds to the enemy is...
- 00:30:27.638 --> 00:30:29.172
- Always with the word of god.
- 00:30:29.172 --> 00:30:30.974
- And i'm thinking if the son of god used the word of god to
- 00:30:30.974 --> 00:30:33.810
- Combat the enemy of god, that's my strategy plan.
- 00:30:33.810 --> 00:30:36.947
- But when he's in the presence of the lord, that's when he's able
- 00:30:36.947 --> 00:30:40.350
- To process his pain and be honest and real and not pretend.
- 00:30:40.350 --> 00:30:42.953
- I just think it's a beautiful gift that jesus was willing to
- 00:30:42.953 --> 00:30:46.556
- Do that for us.
- 00:30:46.556 --> 00:30:47.891
- Just show us how much it cost him to invite us to, because i
- 00:30:47.891 --> 00:30:51.962
- Think of people watching.
- 00:30:51.962 --> 00:30:53.430
- They're going through seasons right now where they're like, i
- 00:30:53.430 --> 00:30:55.866
- Never saw this coming.
- 00:30:55.866 --> 00:30:56.733
- And this is just devastating.
- 00:30:56.733 --> 00:30:58.235
- And how am i going to make it?
- 00:30:58.235 --> 00:30:59.569
- To honor the fact that you're in a place that is not good, but
- 00:30:59.569 --> 00:31:03.307
- God understands.
- 00:31:03.307 --> 00:31:04.808
- And you get to tell him everything that's true.
- 00:31:04.808 --> 00:31:06.944
- And he stays.
- 00:31:06.944 --> 00:31:08.211
- - and he doesn't just leave it at that.
- 00:31:08.211 --> 00:31:10.180
- I think the cool, most amazing thing about jesus is, you know,
- 00:31:10.180 --> 00:31:13.750
- We have these seasons of why, but the lord ministers to us and
- 00:31:13.750 --> 00:31:17.254
- It doesn't stay that same season.
- 00:31:17.254 --> 00:31:19.323
- You know, i moved from a season of why all the time to
- 00:31:19.323 --> 00:31:22.926
- Eventually accepting where i was, accepting the journey god
- 00:31:22.926 --> 00:31:25.929
- Called me to.
- 00:31:25.929 --> 00:31:27.331
- And i remember one time just sitting before god, what?
- 00:31:27.331 --> 00:31:29.800
- Now, what do i do with this?
- 00:31:29.800 --> 00:31:31.969
- I went from the why that i will never understand.
- 00:31:31.969 --> 00:31:34.905
- I will never understand how a perfectly healthy 30-year-old
- 00:31:34.905 --> 00:31:37.274
- Man can pass away.
- 00:31:37.274 --> 00:31:39.242
- I just, i'll never understand it.
- 00:31:39.242 --> 00:31:41.278
- I'm never going to have all the answers to all my questions.
- 00:31:41.278 --> 00:31:43.680
- But what i do have is a god that met with me in the questions and
- 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:48.552
- Stayed with me and has never left my side.
- 00:31:48.552 --> 00:31:50.587
- And so because of his faithfulness, because of god's
- 00:31:50.587 --> 00:31:53.857
- Goodness, because the promises that have never failed, even
- 00:31:53.857 --> 00:31:58.028
- When life has failed, even when circumstances have failed.
- 00:31:58.028 --> 00:32:00.364
- I can stand on the rock of ages, the anchor that holds, and i can
- 00:32:00.364 --> 00:32:03.700
- Know that god is faithful even in all of those things and that
- 00:32:03.700 --> 00:32:07.771
- God can lead us from the why to say, god, what now?
- 00:32:07.771 --> 00:32:11.041
- What do i do with this circumstance?
- 00:32:11.041 --> 00:32:13.076
- What do i do this?
- 00:32:13.076 --> 00:32:14.611
- The life, like you were saying, that you find yourself
- 00:32:14.611 --> 00:32:16.646
- In a story.
- 00:32:16.646 --> 00:32:17.981
- I would have never picked this story, but god, you are going to
- 00:32:17.981 --> 00:32:19.449
- Meet with us here.
- 00:32:19.449 --> 00:32:21.752
- God, what do i do with this here?
- 00:32:21.752 --> 00:32:23.687
- And the same god that works you through the why can work you
- 00:32:23.687 --> 00:32:26.256
- Through the what, and he will never leave your side
- 00:32:26.256 --> 00:32:28.392
- Anywhere in between.
- 00:32:28.392 --> 00:32:30.694
- - i think that's a beautiful reminder that jesus is the one
- 00:32:30.694 --> 00:32:33.463
- That paid the price to stay near to us.
- 00:32:33.463 --> 00:32:36.033
- I think sometimes we feel like we have to perform or give
- 00:32:36.033 --> 00:32:39.703
- Something awesome to god for him to stay, which is why we feel so
- 00:32:39.703 --> 00:32:45.809
- Bad when we're questioning him.
- 00:32:45.809 --> 00:32:47.244
- And we feel so bad when we feel the doubt.
- 00:32:47.244 --> 00:32:50.180
- But it's jesus that paid the highest of prices so that he
- 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:52.849
- Could stay.
- 00:32:52.849 --> 00:32:54.518
- So we don't have to conjure up some
- 00:32:54.518 --> 00:32:56.153
- Sort of payment to convince him to want to be with us.
- 00:32:56.153 --> 00:32:59.356
- We are forever a temple of the holy spirit.
- 00:32:59.356 --> 00:33:03.527
- The holy of holies is within us.
- 00:33:03.527 --> 00:33:07.097
- And he's the one that paid the price.
- 00:33:07.097 --> 00:33:09.332
- And i think that's very freeing because, you know, i feel
- 00:33:09.332 --> 00:33:12.235
- Guilty sometimes.
- 00:33:12.235 --> 00:33:13.570
- I feel really guilty that, you know, like when you have nothing
- 00:33:13.570 --> 00:33:16.773
- Good in your heart and you know it, you know, when you are
- 00:33:16.773 --> 00:33:19.876
- Annoyed, you are bitter, you are judgmental, you know, and
- 00:33:19.876 --> 00:33:23.213
- I just, sometimes i get tempted to try to pretend that's not
- 00:33:23.213 --> 00:33:31.021
- There and give him something in a way as payment for his
- 00:33:31.021 --> 00:33:34.591
- Companionship. but knowing, no, he already paid it.
- 00:33:34.591 --> 00:33:39.996
- I can now just enter into his courts confidently and boldly
- 00:33:39.996 --> 00:33:44.234
- Because of his grace. dwell. dwell.
- 00:33:44.234 --> 00:33:46.570
- - we can always go to god with anything.
- 00:33:46.570 --> 00:33:49.306
- With our anger, with our whys, with our questions, and we have
- 00:33:49.306 --> 00:33:53.276
- Access to the throne of grace through the person of jesus.
- 00:33:53.276 --> 00:33:55.812
- So i want to encourage you today, if you are feeling those
- 00:33:55.812 --> 00:33:58.415
- Feelings, don't run from them, run to god with them.
- 00:33:58.415 --> 00:34:01.184
- Because when we run to god, we will find the comfort
- 00:34:01.184 --> 00:34:04.287
- That we need.
- 00:34:04.287 --> 00:34:05.989
- You go from lamenting your life and asking the questions and the
- 00:34:05.989 --> 00:34:08.658
- Anger to literally saying, god, but i will trust you because you
- 00:34:08.658 --> 00:34:12.462
- Are faithful and you are true no matter what my circumstances or
- 00:34:12.462 --> 00:34:15.699
- My feelings feel at this moment.
- 00:34:15.699 --> 00:34:17.667
- - i think sometimes when we encounter feelings of doubt, we
- 00:34:17.667 --> 00:34:22.239
- Feel kind of ashamed as if, well, we shouldn't doubt because
- 00:34:22.239 --> 00:34:26.276
- Of who god is.
- 00:34:26.276 --> 00:34:27.577
- But i think we should do the absolute opposite.
- 00:34:27.577 --> 00:34:29.779
- I think when you have feelings of doubt, you should run to god
- 00:34:29.779 --> 00:34:32.582
- And ask him your hard questions.
- 00:34:32.582 --> 00:34:35.185
- If something's going on in your life right now and you're like,
- 00:34:35.185 --> 00:34:38.155
- Lord, i don't understand this.
- 00:34:38.155 --> 00:34:39.055
- Why did you not show up there?
- 00:34:39.055 --> 00:34:41.024
- Why did you show up for her and not for me?
- 00:34:41.024 --> 00:34:43.293
- Bring everything to god.
- 00:34:43.293 --> 00:34:45.262
- Because the more you pour your life out to god, the more you've
- 00:34:45.262 --> 00:34:48.231
- Made space for god to speak back into yours.
- 00:34:48.231 --> 00:34:50.233
- - be the first to know all the latest better together updates.
- 00:34:50.233 --> 00:34:55.138
- Visit bettertogether.tv to sign up for our weekly emails and
- 00:34:55.138 --> 00:34:58.108
- Never miss the latest news.
- 00:34:58.108 --> 00:35:01.645
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:35:01.645 --> 00:35:02.990
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:35:02.990 --> 00:35:04.948
- - i remember reading this story about tsar nicholas before the
- 00:35:04.948 --> 00:35:08.385
- Execution of that whole family, where he was one night going
- 00:35:08.385 --> 00:35:12.088
- Around the camp where all the soldiers, all the russian
- 00:35:12.088 --> 00:35:14.257
- Soldiers were.
- 00:35:14.257 --> 00:35:15.926
- And there was one little light on in a room, and it was the guy
- 00:35:15.926 --> 00:35:18.628
- Who was supposed to be doing all the books and
- 00:35:18.628 --> 00:35:20.897
- Keeping everything.
- 00:35:20.897 --> 00:35:22.299
- And he went in just to say hi to him and realized the guy was
- 00:35:22.299 --> 00:35:25.602
- Asleep, had his head down on the papers, and by his side was a
- 00:35:25.602 --> 00:35:28.805
- Gun, and he'd written a note.
- 00:35:28.805 --> 00:35:31.474
- And his basic thing was he had embezzled some of the money, he
- 00:35:31.474 --> 00:35:34.511
- Had messed things up, and there was no way he could fix it.
- 00:35:34.511 --> 00:35:38.014
- And he knew that whenever it was discovered that, i mean, his
- 00:35:38.014 --> 00:35:40.850
- Life was pretty much over.
- 00:35:40.850 --> 00:35:42.452
- I read the last line that this guy wrote on the note, and he
- 00:35:42.452 --> 00:35:45.088
- Said, who can pay this price?
- 00:35:45.088 --> 00:35:47.057
- And because of tsar nicholas's relationship with this boy's
- 00:35:47.057 --> 00:35:50.961
- Father, and he knew who the family was, and he thought, he
- 00:35:50.961 --> 00:35:53.530
- Extended, and he wrote at the bottom of the note, i will,
- 00:35:53.530 --> 00:35:57.334
- Signed it tsar nicholas.
- 00:35:57.334 --> 00:35:59.469
- And i think that's just a tiny picture of what jesus did.
- 00:35:59.469 --> 00:36:02.138
- You know, who can pay for this?
- 00:36:02.138 --> 00:36:04.341
- Who can pay for this?
- 00:36:04.341 --> 00:36:05.809
- And jesus said, me.
- 00:36:05.809 --> 00:36:06.776
- I mean, it's done.
- 00:36:06.776 --> 00:36:08.578
- It's finished.
- 00:36:08.578 --> 00:36:09.913
- - i think about, you're going to laugh at this, but do you know
- 00:36:09.913 --> 00:36:11.514
- What a weighted vest is?
- 00:36:11.514 --> 00:36:12.382
- It's like the new craze, right?
- 00:36:12.382 --> 00:36:14.651
- - my husband bought one.
- 00:36:14.651 --> 00:36:15.986
- - so you put on this weighted vest to go on a walk and it's
- 00:36:15.986 --> 00:36:17.887
- Like you get double workout.
- 00:36:17.887 --> 00:36:20.123
- So my husband gave it to me for my birthday.
- 00:36:20.123 --> 00:36:23.126
- I mean, would i recommend husbands maybe giving that
- 00:36:23.126 --> 00:36:25.528
- To your wife for her birthday?
- 00:36:25.528 --> 00:36:26.863
- I'm not sure.
- 00:36:26.863 --> 00:36:27.897
- - that's a message in itself right there.
- 00:36:27.897 --> 00:36:29.266
- - but actually, i'm really into all that stuff.
- 00:36:29.266 --> 00:36:31.968
- So i was very grateful.
- 00:36:31.968 --> 00:36:34.404
- But when i put it on, i instantly felt anxiety.
- 00:36:34.404 --> 00:36:36.373
- I felt like this weight kind of pressing in on me.
- 00:36:36.373 --> 00:36:39.876
- And i was walking.
- 00:36:39.876 --> 00:36:42.412
- I kept walking.
- 00:36:42.412 --> 00:36:43.780
- And about the third time, i was really studying in john about
- 00:36:43.780 --> 00:36:46.750
- Abiding in god.
- 00:36:46.750 --> 00:36:48.151
- And the lord said, when you try to do things and create things,
- 00:36:48.151 --> 00:36:52.122
- If i do this, god will love me more.
- 00:36:52.122 --> 00:36:55.292
- If i do this, then i can hear from him more.
- 00:36:55.292 --> 00:36:56.926
- If i do this, oh, if i can just do more for god.
- 00:36:56.926 --> 00:36:59.496
- He said, it is like you putting on this weighted vest.
- 00:36:59.496 --> 00:37:02.732
- How can you run after me?
- 00:37:02.732 --> 00:37:05.168
- Fix your eyes on jesus.
- 00:37:05.168 --> 00:37:07.203
- Run the race before you when you feel weighted down with the
- 00:37:07.203 --> 00:37:09.606
- Pressures that you put on yourself.
- 00:37:09.606 --> 00:37:11.908
- And so when i took off that weighted vest, i felt like i
- 00:37:11.908 --> 00:37:15.412
- Could run a marathon.
- 00:37:15.412 --> 00:37:17.447
- I mean, i was like, this is amazing.
- 00:37:17.447 --> 00:37:19.249
- I can breathe better. i can run faster.
- 00:37:19.249 --> 00:37:21.418
- And just god gave me that picture to remind me that in
- 00:37:21.418 --> 00:37:24.387
- Him, we have everything we need.
- 00:37:24.387 --> 00:37:26.790
- We don't need to muster all these added weights that i
- 00:37:26.790 --> 00:37:30.126
- Cannot run towards the calling god has given me in christ.
- 00:37:30.126 --> 00:37:33.730
- When we are putting on all these self-created weights that god is
- 00:37:33.730 --> 00:37:38.101
- Trying to free us from, all we need to do is dwell.
- 00:37:38.101 --> 00:37:40.337
- We just need to abide in him and walk in him.
- 00:37:40.337 --> 00:37:43.106
- He's got it all.
- 00:37:43.106 --> 00:37:44.307
- - everybody unburdens themselves before the lord
- 00:37:44.307 --> 00:37:47.410
- In different ways.
- 00:37:47.410 --> 00:37:48.978
- And i think it's unique to different people.
- 00:37:48.978 --> 00:37:50.747
- I think when we think that we have to do it exactly like
- 00:37:50.747 --> 00:37:54.150
- Somebody else, that's when we start to fall into a trap.
- 00:37:54.150 --> 00:37:56.953
- However, i would say as long as you are being true and
- 00:37:56.953 --> 00:38:00.590
- Honest to what you are carrying inside and
- 00:38:00.590 --> 00:38:05.729
- Bring it out before the lord, whether it
- 00:38:05.729 --> 00:38:07.797
- Is through journaling, whether it is through weeping, whether
- 00:38:07.797 --> 00:38:10.367
- It's through running and praying, whatever it is that it
- 00:38:10.367 --> 00:38:13.303
- Takes for you to bring your most honest self and not get so
- 00:38:13.303 --> 00:38:17.273
- Caught up on bringing to him what's presentable.
- 00:38:17.273 --> 00:38:21.111
- No, you have to bring to him what is honest.
- 00:38:21.111 --> 00:38:24.114
- - and it all goes back to, it's not about us.
- 00:38:24.114 --> 00:38:27.650
- It's not about... me.
- 00:38:27.650 --> 00:38:29.452
- It's what god has done.
- 00:38:29.452 --> 00:38:30.453
- It's what god can do through us.
- 00:38:30.453 --> 00:38:32.689
- I think of the beatitudes.
- 00:38:32.689 --> 00:38:35.024
- When jesus says, blessed are the poor in spirit, people think we
- 00:38:35.024 --> 00:38:38.862
- Need to stay poor in spirit.
- 00:38:38.862 --> 00:38:41.164
- But he says, they'll be comforted.
- 00:38:41.164 --> 00:38:44.734
- Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- 00:38:44.734 --> 00:38:46.469
- And blessed are those who mourn.
- 00:38:46.469 --> 00:38:47.937
- So our mourning, they're going to be comforted.
- 00:38:47.937 --> 00:38:51.141
- So with everything that we go through, we get god back.
- 00:38:51.141 --> 00:38:54.778
- In our desperate times, if we'll lean into those, i know it
- 00:38:54.778 --> 00:39:00.283
- Sounds upside down, but that's the kingdom of heaven.
- 00:39:00.283 --> 00:39:03.286
- It sounds upside down, but it's almost like the worst it is, the
- 00:39:03.286 --> 00:39:07.023
- Better it is for us because we get god because of it.
- 00:39:07.023 --> 00:39:12.695
- So we don't stay mourning.
- 00:39:12.695 --> 00:39:16.399
- We don't stay poor in spirit.
- 00:39:16.399 --> 00:39:18.101
- When we're humbled, when god has a way, god has a way.
- 00:39:18.101 --> 00:39:21.004
- That's kind of one of our sayings here.
- 00:39:21.004 --> 00:39:23.973
- God has a way. that humbling that you were mad.
- 00:39:23.973 --> 00:39:27.143
- You ran.
- 00:39:27.143 --> 00:39:28.912
- You probably never felt so humbled at the end of your run
- 00:39:28.912 --> 00:39:31.047
- Because all of a sudden your hands are lifted up.
- 00:39:31.047 --> 00:39:33.349
- God has a way of taking what we feel on the inside to show us
- 00:39:33.349 --> 00:39:38.788
- Who he is because all it is is god's character.
- 00:39:38.788 --> 00:39:44.127
- He's faithful. he's just.
- 00:39:44.127 --> 00:39:45.829
- He's merciful. he's love.
- 00:39:45.829 --> 00:39:47.664
- He's joy. he's peace.
- 00:39:47.664 --> 00:39:49.265
- He's satisfaction.
- 00:39:49.265 --> 00:39:50.867
- He's everything.
- 00:39:50.867 --> 00:39:52.235
- And so anything that draws us to the end of ourselves, to the
- 00:39:52.235 --> 00:39:56.673
- Ruin of ourselves, we find god in his wholeness and in the
- 00:39:56.673 --> 00:40:04.013
- Beauty of his glory.
- 00:40:04.013 --> 00:40:06.182
- It's like, where can i go from the presence of the lord?
- 00:40:06.182 --> 00:40:09.419
- We can't go anywhere.
- 00:40:09.419 --> 00:40:11.254
- The earth is filled with his glory.
- 00:40:11.254 --> 00:40:12.489
- And so those times of i'm all alone, no, we're not.
- 00:40:12.489 --> 00:40:16.759
- We just need to open our eyes, our spiritual eyes.
- 00:40:16.759 --> 00:40:20.763
- That's what's so important about declaring god's word over our
- 00:40:20.763 --> 00:40:25.134
- Lives and knowing the words.
- 00:40:25.134 --> 00:40:26.970
- When i start questioning or feeling the pressure of
- 00:40:26.970 --> 00:40:29.606
- Something, it's the lord is my shepherd.
- 00:40:29.606 --> 00:40:33.376
- I shall not want.
- 00:40:33.376 --> 00:40:35.411
- I lack nothing.
- 00:40:35.411 --> 00:40:36.946
- There is nothing that i lack.
- 00:40:36.946 --> 00:40:39.015
- Because jesus is my good shepherd.
- 00:40:39.015 --> 00:40:41.484
- He makes me lie down in green pastures.
- 00:40:41.484 --> 00:40:44.921
- He restores my soul.
- 00:40:44.921 --> 00:40:48.725
- He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake.
- 00:40:48.725 --> 00:40:54.297
- Yea, though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i
- 00:40:54.297 --> 00:40:57.934
- Will fear no evil.
- 00:40:57.934 --> 00:40:59.736
- So you start just declaring and repeating what god has already,
- 00:40:59.736 --> 00:41:05.308
- Who god is in your life.
- 00:41:05.308 --> 00:41:06.976
- Talk about bringing you out.
- 00:41:06.976 --> 00:41:08.545
- I was in that same situation one day that you were talking about.
- 00:41:08.545 --> 00:41:12.882
- It was like, what in the heck just happened?
- 00:41:12.882 --> 00:41:16.052
- And i went and i sat on my piano, which i play
- 00:41:16.052 --> 00:41:18.288
- For one only.
- 00:41:18.288 --> 00:41:22.292
- And i just thought, man, we just took this huge step of faith.
- 00:41:22.292 --> 00:41:25.261
- I don't even know what faith is because that didn't work out.
- 00:41:25.261 --> 00:41:28.097
- And i was just at the end.
- 00:41:28.097 --> 00:41:30.833
- Simple little things started coming out of me.
- 00:41:30.833 --> 00:41:33.670
- If you knew what i had in store for you.
- 00:41:33.670 --> 00:41:39.409
- If you knew what is ahead, there would be no time for heartbreak
- 00:41:39.409 --> 00:41:41.844
- And sorrow and questioning my love and my grace and all the
- 00:41:41.844 --> 00:41:49.752
- Things that's going through your head right now. wow.
- 00:41:49.752 --> 00:41:54.624
- You wouldn't be doing that if you knew, if you only knew.
- 00:41:54.624 --> 00:41:58.094
- And boy, that changed my perspective.
- 00:41:58.094 --> 00:41:59.896
- And i'll never forget that day.
- 00:41:59.896 --> 00:42:02.398
- Because i always go back to it in my mind.
- 00:42:02.398 --> 00:42:06.202
- If i knew what god was really doing behind the scenes right
- 00:42:06.202 --> 00:42:08.938
- Now, i shouldn't be worrying.
- 00:42:08.938 --> 00:42:12.709
- I shouldn't be fearful.
- 00:42:12.709 --> 00:42:13.810
- I shouldn't be fretting.
- 00:42:13.810 --> 00:42:15.211
- None of that.
- 00:42:15.211 --> 00:42:17.046
- Because god is working on my behalf.
- 00:42:17.046 --> 00:42:20.116
- Doing something great.
- 00:42:20.116 --> 00:42:21.784
- You know, a lot of times we hear people's story and they'll say,
- 00:42:21.784 --> 00:42:25.221
- You know, i got so mad at god.
- 00:42:25.221 --> 00:42:28.157
- Or maybe they are mad at god.
- 00:42:28.157 --> 00:42:30.326
- And i just think, oh.
- 00:42:30.326 --> 00:42:32.462
- Don't get mad at god.
- 00:42:32.462 --> 00:42:34.397
- Please don't.
- 00:42:34.397 --> 00:42:36.666
- He's the last one you should ever get mad at.
- 00:42:36.666 --> 00:42:38.901
- He's the one who is the answer to everything.
- 00:42:38.901 --> 00:42:41.504
- He's the one that's, he's our savior.
- 00:42:41.504 --> 00:42:43.873
- He is our savior from anything we find ourself in.
- 00:42:43.873 --> 00:42:47.677
- Run to god, not away from god, but right straight into his arms
- 00:42:47.677 --> 00:42:50.580
- Because his arms are open wide to you.
- 00:42:50.580 --> 00:42:55.618
- - i like what you said too.
- 00:42:55.618 --> 00:42:57.720
- God's kingdom is backwards.
- 00:42:57.720 --> 00:42:59.355
- It's backwards from anything we understand.
- 00:42:59.355 --> 00:43:01.624
- And we were created to live in the tension.
- 00:43:01.624 --> 00:43:04.560
- Even when jesus came into the world, he's the prince of peace.
- 00:43:04.560 --> 00:43:07.697
- But he came through tension and turmoil.
- 00:43:07.697 --> 00:43:10.099
- The world was tumultuous.
- 00:43:10.099 --> 00:43:13.302
- You know, rome had taken over and caesar had claimed himself
- 00:43:13.302 --> 00:43:19.909
- The savior of the world.
- 00:43:19.909 --> 00:43:21.644
- And, you know, they're all coming in for census
- 00:43:21.644 --> 00:43:24.113
- To be taxed on property that they
- 00:43:24.113 --> 00:43:26.749
- Had owned for generations upon generations you
- 00:43:26.749 --> 00:43:29.152
- Know it was a very in the government it was a terrible
- 00:43:29.152 --> 00:43:33.022
- Time and yet jesus comes in peace and it's this
- 00:43:33.022 --> 00:43:35.558
- Understanding you know laura you're talking about this
- 00:43:35.558 --> 00:43:39.195
- Understanding in like this heavenly understanding right
- 00:43:39.195 --> 00:43:42.165
- Like our our faith understanding and it's not ever what
- 00:43:42.165 --> 00:43:45.568
- We think right and no it was not good that we experienced
- 00:43:45.568 --> 00:43:51.340
- Suffering it's not good that we've had these terrible things
- 00:43:51.340 --> 00:43:53.142
- That we of course don't want but also what a privilege to be able
- 00:43:53.142 --> 00:43:56.245
- To live that out in this short time that we have on this earth
- 00:43:56.245 --> 00:44:03.886
- Because god's timing is not our timing. and yes, we get to
- 00:44:03.886 --> 00:44:07.457
- Question what is happening in this timing and ask him but also
- 00:44:07.457 --> 00:44:10.193
- The opposite of that is to trust that we have a time that started
- 00:44:10.193 --> 00:44:16.199
- Before us and a time that is after us all of that stuff and
- 00:44:16.199 --> 00:44:18.401
- So i think just remembering and putting yourself in the
- 00:44:18.401 --> 00:44:22.805
- Narrative of an everlasting god instead of our finite
- 00:44:22.805 --> 00:44:26.242
- Understanding of this world can kind of shift some
- 00:44:26.242 --> 00:44:30.079
- Of those things.
- 00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:31.314
- - i think everything that we just processed here was so
- 00:44:31.314 --> 00:44:34.083
- Helpful, even for me.
- 00:44:34.083 --> 00:44:37.587
- And i'm just reminded of doubting thomas.
- 00:44:37.587 --> 00:44:39.455
- And it's interesting because history calls him doubting
- 00:44:39.455 --> 00:44:43.793
- Thomas but when you really look at thomas's life, you see he
- 00:44:43.793 --> 00:44:46.696
- Was loyal to jesus.
- 00:44:46.696 --> 00:44:50.967
- He was honest to jesus.
- 00:44:50.967 --> 00:44:53.302
- You know, when jesus was going to go back to, i think it was
- 00:44:53.302 --> 00:44:55.738
- Judea, right?
- 00:44:55.738 --> 00:44:57.039
- And then that would have been to his peril.
- 00:44:57.039 --> 00:44:59.575
- Thomas is like, well, i'll go to, you know, let's just die
- 00:44:59.575 --> 00:45:01.477
- Together.
- 00:45:01.477 --> 00:45:03.146
- Like he did not lack love for jesus, but the disappointment of
- 00:45:03.146 --> 00:45:07.116
- The crucifixion was so weighty that it caused him to say, and
- 00:45:07.116 --> 00:45:14.590
- Utter one of the strongest negations in greek when he says,
- 00:45:14.590 --> 00:45:18.060
- If i don't see the mark of the nails in his hands, put my
- 00:45:18.060 --> 00:45:23.966
- Finger into the mark of the nails and put my hand into his
- 00:45:23.966 --> 00:45:26.936
- Side, i will never believe.
- 00:45:26.936 --> 00:45:29.105
- It's like a double negative.
- 00:45:29.105 --> 00:45:31.641
- It's like, it's such a strong, like, i will not.
- 00:45:31.641 --> 00:45:34.277
- And it just reminds me that, you know what?
- 00:45:34.277 --> 00:45:38.147
- Some of us may have truly loved jesus with all our hearts.
- 00:45:38.147 --> 00:45:41.117
- And we've tried our absolute best, but when life deals what
- 00:45:41.117 --> 00:45:45.154
- Life does, sometimes the discouragement and the
- 00:45:45.154 --> 00:45:52.428
- Disappointment could have an overcast over the shine of the
- 00:45:52.428 --> 00:45:55.131
- Cross, right?
- 00:45:55.131 --> 00:45:57.500
- And for thomas, what he beheld was so dark that he
- 00:45:57.500 --> 00:46:02.205
- Just refused.
- 00:46:02.205 --> 00:46:04.907
- But yet that negation, that negativity, that refusal to
- 00:46:04.907 --> 00:46:12.081
- Believe, when jesus came, he met him with welcome.
- 00:46:12.081 --> 00:46:14.250
- He says, peace be with you.
- 00:46:14.250 --> 00:46:17.453
- And he invited thomas, feel my side, feel the scars.
- 00:46:17.453 --> 00:46:22.959
- And the fact that even though thomas...
- 00:46:22.959 --> 00:46:26.896
- Dared to doubt god, dared to question jesus.
- 00:46:26.896 --> 00:46:34.270
- Jesus just met him with peace and with welcome, with an
- 00:46:34.270 --> 00:46:36.839
- Invitation to see, to experience, to engage with
- 00:46:36.839 --> 00:46:42.011
- Our faith.
- 00:46:42.011 --> 00:46:46.048
- And at the end, thomas ends up uttering the highest
- 00:46:46.048 --> 00:46:49.886
- Christological statement in the book of john, which is, my
- 00:46:49.886 --> 00:46:53.856
- Lord, my god.
- 00:46:53.856 --> 00:46:55.491
- - it's interesting when you think about, well, what does god
- 00:46:55.491 --> 00:46:59.662
- Think about those who have doubts?
- 00:46:59.662 --> 00:47:01.597
- And i'm reminded of a conversation that jesus had with
- 00:47:01.597 --> 00:47:04.300
- A father.
- 00:47:04.300 --> 00:47:05.635
- He was asking his son had had fits since he was a little boy
- 00:47:05.635 --> 00:47:07.403
- And would do things like throw himself into a fire.
- 00:47:07.403 --> 00:47:11.507
- I mean, it was a terrible situation as a parent to
- 00:47:11.507 --> 00:47:14.410
- Deal with.
- 00:47:14.410 --> 00:47:16.045
- And he asked jesus if it was possible to heal his son.
- 00:47:16.045 --> 00:47:19.081
- And jesus said, all things are possible if you believe.
- 00:47:19.081 --> 00:47:22.351
- And so this is what the father said, and i love this.
- 00:47:22.351 --> 00:47:25.187
- He said, i believe, help my unbelief.
- 00:47:25.187 --> 00:47:27.456
- That's a very honest prayer.
- 00:47:27.456 --> 00:47:30.259
- You can say, okay, lord, i believe, but help my unbelief,
- 00:47:30.259 --> 00:47:33.262
- And he will.
- 00:47:33.262 --> 00:47:35.531
- - this is an encouragement to anyone that feels that their
- 00:47:35.531 --> 00:47:40.836
- Doubt, that the weight of their inability to believe and trust
- 00:47:40.836 --> 00:47:44.307
- God in this hour.
- 00:47:44.307 --> 00:47:45.641
- Is somehow so repulsive to jesus that he doesn't want to spend
- 00:47:45.641 --> 00:47:48.110
- Time with you.
- 00:47:48.110 --> 00:47:49.979
- And i really believe that in this moment, jesus meets you
- 00:47:49.979 --> 00:47:55.418
- With welcome and an invitation.
- 00:47:55.418 --> 00:47:58.054
- So can we just pray right now for our friends?
- 00:47:58.054 --> 00:48:00.957
- Holy spirit, we acknowledge you.
- 00:48:00.957 --> 00:48:04.327
- And god, i just pray for the one that's listening in that feels,
- 00:48:04.327 --> 00:48:07.730
- You know what?
- 00:48:07.730 --> 00:48:09.598
- I want to believe.
- 00:48:09.598 --> 00:48:11.000
- I want to want to love god, but i just don't have it within me.
- 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:15.905
- Jesus, we know that your grace is sufficient.
- 00:48:15.905 --> 00:48:20.142
- And god, you paid the price to remain near.
- 00:48:20.142 --> 00:48:23.412
- You paid the price that we may never be alone.
- 00:48:23.412 --> 00:48:29.986
- So jesus, we praise you.
- 00:48:29.986 --> 00:48:31.153
- We thank you.
- 00:48:31.153 --> 00:48:32.455
- And although the questions are still with us, god, you are
- 00:48:32.455 --> 00:48:35.858
- Magnified in our midst.
- 00:48:35.858 --> 00:48:37.593
- In jesus' name we pray. amen.
- 00:48:37.593 --> 00:48:41.163
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:48:41.163 --> 00:48:43.766
- Connect with us on social media and let us know how our team can
- 00:48:43.766 --> 00:48:45.368
- Pray for you.
- 00:48:45.368 --> 00:48:48.437
- ♪ (music playing) ♪
- 00:48:48.437 --> 00:48:54.310
- - hey everybody, i'm sheila.
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- Behind the scenes here at better together with brittany and we're
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- Answering some of your questions.
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- So let me ask you this question first.
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- This is from jenny and she writes, how do you keep
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- Declaring god's promise even when you feel discouraged,
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- Especially over prayer?
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- That has been unanswered for such a long time. wow.
- 00:49:09.458 --> 00:49:13.429
- - well, first off, i just want to say i'm sorry.
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- I'm sorry for what you've walked through, and i'm sorry for what
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- May feel like the death of dreams or the waiting season
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- That you've been in.
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- But i also want to encourage you that god hears you and he sees
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- You, and god's promises are not based on our feelings.
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- So even when we feel like god has not answered or god has let
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- Us down, that doesn't mean that it's true.
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- The truth is that god is still working on your behalf, and he
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- Is doing more than you can even imagine behind
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- The scenes.
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- So i just want to encourage you to keep running to the truth,
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- Keep running to the promises, even when you don't feel it and
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- Watch what god will do.
- 00:49:44.460 --> 00:49:46.028
- - you know, jenny, it's interesting because i'm thinking
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- About somebody i used to look up to when i was a young girl who
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- Was in our church and he and his wife got married and then he
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- Became a christian and she was lovely, but she just didn't have
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- Any interest in the church.
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- Every tuesday night, i would go to our prayer meeting and there
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- Was only maybe, i don't know, 30 of us.
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- And he would pray faithfully every tuesday for his wife.
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- And then i went off to seminary and i came back and realized
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- He'd gone to me with jesus.
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- And it wasn't until later i discovered that she gave her
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- Life to christ at his memorial service.
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- So it kind of taught me this lesson, a lifetime is not too
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- Long to pray.
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- Just know that not one of your prayers has fallen to the
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- Ground. and in fact, it tells us in psalms and in the revelation
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- Given to john and patmos that the angels hold up these great
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- Bowls of incense before god.
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- And do you know what they are?
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- The prayers of the people. yes.
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- The prayers are not lost, jenny.
- 00:50:37.513 --> 00:50:39.248
- - stream full episodes of better together on demand.
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- Go to bettertogether.tv to stream all of our
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- Latest conversations.
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- ♪ (music playing) ♪
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