Praise

Levi Lusko: Blessed Are The Spiraling | Praise

June 3, 2025 | 53:0

Matt and Laurie Crouch sit down with pastor and author Levi Lusko for a powerful and hope-filled conversation. Levi shares insights from his new book, Blessed Are the Spiraling, a message for anyone feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, grief, or uncertainty. With honesty and encouragement, he reminds us that God meets us in our mess, not after we've cleaned it up.

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Praise | Levi Lusko: Blessed Are The Spiraling | Praise | June 3, 2025

Coming up tonight on praise...
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We get disoriented when things are new, when things become
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Complex, and when we feel like we don't have the same level of
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Control we had in a previous season.
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So if we could hear god when
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We're spiraling, he's going, lucky.
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You just wait.
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I'm near to you.
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I'm going to show myself to you.
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As you humble yourself in your brokenness, you're going to cry
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Out to me, and you're going to receive more from me.
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God wouldn't set us up for failure by calling us to do
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Something we couldn't do.
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So where's the where's the peace?
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Where's the grace?
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The grace is from shifting the success bullseye from me
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Doing more, me making things bigger, me accomplishing more
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And being in the prime of life
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Indefinitely because that's not possible.
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Instead, to glorify god.
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That's the, don't blow it.
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Make your goal to glorify god.
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And guess what?
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No matter who you are, god knows you.
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He has a plan for your life.
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He wants to use you in incredible ways.
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And wonder of wonders, he wants to know you.
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♪♪
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Tonight on praise from dallas, founder of fresh life church
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And author of blessed are the spiraling, levi lusko.
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♪♪
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And now your host, matt and laurie crouch.
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There is no way to know how cool he is because he has long
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Sleeves on and you can't see all of the tats up and down
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His arms.
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Lets us tell you.
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Levi lusko, the cool guy sitting here with the old folks
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I love you, levi.
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We love you too.
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I love your wife, jen.
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We are sitting here one hour with you and i don't
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Normally do this this way.
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I have a book.
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We're gonna talk about these things.
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But before i even
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Give you the title, i wanted
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You to kind of help me explain this.
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Sure. you're a communicator, you're a pastor, you have to do
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This a lot.
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This is a unique one.
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This is a testimonial book.
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Where do you want to start with this?
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How do you want to explain
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Tonight's broadcast to our viewers?
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Yeah, i think we all feel a sense of disorientation when
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There's complexity added to our lives.
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And that comes through hard things, but it also comes
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Through good things, things we wanted to happen.
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A new job, it comes through
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Retirement, the nest being empty.
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It comes through getting married.
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You always wanted it, but then life becomes more complex.
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Surprise child.
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A dream. grandchild?
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Yes. say yes to what god has for you.
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And life changes.
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And i think we get disoriented when things are new, when
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Things become complex, and when we feel like we don't have the
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Same level of control we had in a previous season.
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So think of these moments in
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Life where you step out on faith.
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You start a new church, you move to a new city and start a
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You've always wanted that promotion, but then you have to
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New job.
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Move to another city.
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All of these things in our lives that we think are
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Shifting, shifting sands, new
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Things, you use the word complexity.
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You refer to them as blessed are the spiraling.
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So spiraling
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Isn't just negative things.
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It can include things that we would largely think are
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Negative, but you're saying don't waste a season is kind of
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What i feel like when i read, and i'm taking away, that god's
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With you in all seasons.
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He's always god and he's always with you
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Puberty is not the only time we
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Go from one state to another state.
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I got a friend who retired from, being a professional
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Football player, and he's doing real estate now.
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And he loves it.
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His family's happy.
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They're not having to move every couple of years, but he
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Says he misses the violence.
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No one's trying to hit him when he's showing an industrial
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Warehouse space.
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And so it's not bad that he feels that way.
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He just-- there's a part of him
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That loved that aspect of his life.
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And he didn't know about it till it was gone.
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Wow.
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Going into college, we're not aware of what we're going to
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Lose from the previous season.
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And so we can sometimes feel disoriented or because of the
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Complexity of the new season, like we've lost our bearings,
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Lost our footing.
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Walking away from athletics, maybe you now don't have the
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Crown from that beauty pageant anymore.
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So there's a sense in which-- - hey!
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I'm not talking about you.
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I'm talking about--
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Hitting a little close to home.
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I mean, i have a friend who literally had a crown and then
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The next year they gave it to someone else.
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So the idea of my identity, to what extent was it tied up into
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My previous season?
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And i think we have a difficult time adapting, even though we
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All-- none of us want our kids
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After they grow up to stay at home.
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But then they do, and all of a sudden, we feel like that
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Complexity has caused us to
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Feel like we've lost our bearings.
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Yeah. i'm dealing with the fact
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That my hair used to be your color.
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Right.
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And so that's a new shifting season for me that
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I feel like my hair is--
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You can because he's mentioned that a couple times--
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Kind of.
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As we've been sitting here.
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The lighting director is not my friend today.
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Okay.
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Think it looks great on you.
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And the bible says god's glory is in it.
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I think that's what i really wanted people to understand.
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The glory of the young is their strength.
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The glory as we get older is
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The wisdom, is the head of silver.
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And i think we don't have to be afraid of anything if it's full
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Of god's glory.
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And our culture has no answers for aging.
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Our culture has no answers for any of these things.
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So that's why we have this built in feel of terror when we
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Think about aging when instead we should go, if god's glory is
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In it, if heaven's my home, what do i have to be afraid of?
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Like paul said, we can be abased and abound.
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We can have and not have.
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And so, we don't have to fear aging.
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We don't have to fear any developmental puberty that we
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Come to.
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Silver hair, but it's starting to look white on the sides.
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You know, even life is full of changes.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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And the seasons of change, even for kind of stuff that we're
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Dealing with of family, our parents, you know?
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Both of his parents are now gone.
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My daddy's gone.
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Now, my mom.
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And those seasons of getting your kids out the door and then
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Your mom and dad and taking care of and the caregivers.
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It's a lot.
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But it's never wasted.
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We shouldn't waste it.
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It can feel like a tornado is bearing down.
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Yes.
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But if what jesus says is true in the beatitudes, then anytime
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We feel that way, we're actually positioned to
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Encounter god in a new way.
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Wow. because he said, blessed are those who mourn.
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Blessed are those who are persecuted.
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Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.
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Now, i'd rather be rich in faith than poor in spirit.
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But according to jesus, the blessing comes when we go
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Through those things that cause us to cry out to him in a
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Different way.
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And the bible says he's near to a broken heart.
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So if we could hear god, when
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We're spiraling, he's going, lucky.
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You just wait.
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I'm near to you.
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I'm going to show myself to you.
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As you humble yourself in your brokenness, you're going to cry
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Out to me, and you're going to receive more from me.
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I know we'd all rather win the lottery than get cancer.
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But most lottery winners walk away from it with their lives
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Worse for the experience.
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And most people who survive cancer find they have greater
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Levels of gratitude after than before.
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My goodness.
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So it really is something to think about when you ask the
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Question, would i rather have the lottery winner ticket, or
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Would i rather get cancer?
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Of course, i'm not saying we should seek out any of those
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Things like some sort of masochism.
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But what we do have to not foster is fear over hard things
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Because god uses it to enrich us.
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So good.
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Are my best and brightest days behind me?
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Am i yesterday's news?
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Have i peaked?
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Who am i if i can't respond?
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Are you there?
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Is there any way you're saying-- that it's so much blessing,
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Really blessing for me to be happy-- to be happy?
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♪♪
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Ding dong! can i come in?
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Ever since i was a little kid, all i've ever really wanted to
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Do is to be a pastor.
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My wife and i planted a church in our early twenties,
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And i wrote my first book in my early thirties.
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Spend the next few days here recording the audio.
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Building, writing, dreaming,
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Preaching, leading, traveling, repeat.
00:09:07.003 --> 00:09:09.639
It was incredible but also unsustainable.
00:09:09.639 --> 00:09:13.175
And at thirty eight, the bill showed up for the pace i had
00:09:13.175 --> 00:09:16.178
Kept in those twenty years.
00:09:16.178 --> 00:09:18.080
I started having these panic attacks in the middle of the
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Night and feeling so
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Completely, hopelessly out of control.
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Restless nights that wouldn't go away.
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Apathy that frustrated me because i had never lacked
00:09:28.290 --> 00:09:31.127
Drive or vision before.
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What i felt like was that i'd hit a wall.
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What was actually true was that god was trying to develop me,
00:09:36.232 --> 00:09:39.669
And it was a stair step of development into a next season,
00:09:39.669 --> 00:09:43.406
Into another half of life, you could say.
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Life has a way of blindsiding us when it comes to
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Transitions, career shift, major life adjustment, an empty
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Nest, or an inexplicable gnawing sense that everything
00:09:54.517 --> 00:09:58.754
That was once familiar and fulfilling now feels so foreign
00:09:58.754 --> 00:10:03.192
And life feels like it has slipped out of your control.
00:10:03.192 --> 00:10:06.328
I believe that god has you on this chaotic search for
00:10:06.328 --> 00:10:10.032
Significance so you can truly discover joy as life's shifting
00:10:10.032 --> 00:10:14.236
Seasons unfold in front of you.
00:10:14.236 --> 00:10:16.238
I really believe with all my heart that there is blessing
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Waiting for you in your spiral.
00:10:19.442 --> 00:10:24.447
I feel like we're starting to understand blessed, okay?
00:10:24.447 --> 00:10:30.453
Blessed are the spiraling, how the chaotic search for
00:10:30.453 --> 00:10:34.457
Significance can lead to joy
00:10:34.457 --> 00:10:37.259
Through life's shifting seasons.
00:10:37.259 --> 00:10:40.563
Now, you have a publisher.
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What would you have called this
00:10:42.665 --> 00:10:44.800
Book if you didn't have a publisher?
00:10:44.800 --> 00:10:46.769
You just won every battle.
00:10:46.769 --> 00:10:48.237
You got to say, and you got to title this book by yourself.
00:10:48.237 --> 00:10:51.474
Well, i first started writing it under the title, which was
00:10:51.474 --> 00:10:54.076
Kind of a working title, the surprising delight of my
00:10:54.076 --> 00:10:56.779
Midlife crisis.
00:10:56.779 --> 00:10:58.481
Because the events that precipitated the writing of
00:10:58.481 --> 00:11:01.217
This was i hit thirty eight.
00:11:01.217 --> 00:11:03.652
And i kind of went through an eighteen month long classic
00:11:03.652 --> 00:11:08.424
Only i wasn't self aware in the moment enough to know that was
00:11:08.424 --> 00:11:08.891
Midlife crisis.
00:11:08.891 --> 00:11:09.358
What was going on.
00:11:11.427 --> 00:11:12.328
But looking back, i could see that.
00:11:12.328 --> 00:11:14.263
And i'm not the only one.
00:11:14.263 --> 00:11:15.464
I mean, they say, a large percentage of people in that
00:11:15.464 --> 00:11:19.068
Thirty eight to forty two, especially men, kind of feel a
00:11:19.068 --> 00:11:22.471
Sense of, wait a minute, what's going on?
00:11:22.471 --> 00:11:24.140
Things are changing.
00:11:24.140 --> 00:11:25.141
It's almost another developmental puberty.
00:11:25.141 --> 00:11:27.510
But the data actually is that early life crises and later
00:11:27.510 --> 00:11:31.280
Life crises are actually even more prevalent.
00:11:31.280 --> 00:11:34.049
The point is everybody spirals.
00:11:34.049 --> 00:11:36.352
And a lot of times, we don't feel like we have the right to
00:11:36.352 --> 00:11:39.255
Be spiraling.
00:11:39.255 --> 00:11:40.523
I have a friend who just took his daughter to kindergarten
00:11:40.523 --> 00:11:42.258
For the first time this year.
00:11:42.258 --> 00:11:43.559
And he told me he came unglued because he was questioning, was
00:11:43.559 --> 00:11:46.362
I a good dad?
00:11:46.362 --> 00:11:47.096
That was the only time she was
00:11:47.096 --> 00:11:48.130
Going to be in the home full-time.
00:11:48.130 --> 00:11:50.366
Did i do the best i could while i had her?
00:11:50.366 --> 00:11:52.368
And in his mind now, she's already married and not
00:11:52.368 --> 00:11:54.503
Returning his phone wow.
00:11:54.503 --> 00:11:55.738
Wow. but then he said, i know i shouldn't feel this way.
00:11:55.738 --> 00:11:58.307
And the only thing that's guaranteed to not make us feel
00:11:58.307 --> 00:12:01.210
Better when we're feeling bad is feeling bad for feeling bad.
00:12:01.210 --> 00:12:04.446
So i want people to know, no matter what is early life,
00:12:04.446 --> 00:12:07.016
Midlife, later life, any point in life that you're spiraling,
00:12:07.016 --> 00:12:09.718
God cares.
00:12:09.718 --> 00:12:11.153
And he's willing to use that spiraling to enrich you, to
00:12:11.153 --> 00:12:14.423
Develop you, and to make you more like jesus.
00:12:14.423 --> 00:12:16.525
Okay, so we're gonna discuss today shifting seasons and
00:12:16.525 --> 00:12:21.530
Where god is in all of them.
00:12:21.530 --> 00:12:23.732
Okay, that's what we're gonna discuss.
00:12:23.732 --> 00:12:25.234
But i think i ought to kind of maybe properly introduce you.
00:12:25.234 --> 00:12:29.038
Your name is pastor levi lusko, right?
00:12:29.038 --> 00:12:31.540
Fresh life church?
00:12:31.540 --> 00:12:32.374
That's right.
00:12:32.374 --> 00:12:32.842
So update us.
00:12:32.842 --> 00:12:35.044
It's been a minute.
00:12:35.044 --> 00:12:36.145
How many campuses do you have and what's going on?
00:12:36.145 --> 00:12:41.350
And kind of give us a little bit of the state of the union
00:12:41.350 --> 00:12:44.186
On fresh life.
00:12:44.186 --> 00:12:45.454
My wife, jenny, and i, who loves you, laurie, just to no end.
00:12:45.454 --> 00:12:49.558
And you guys both. we've been married twenty-one years.
00:12:49.558 --> 00:12:52.494
And we started a church
00:12:52.494 --> 00:12:53.796
Nineteen years ago this next january.
00:12:53.796 --> 00:12:57.166
We've grown since then.
00:12:57.166 --> 00:12:58.434
Just opened our newest church inside a prison in salt lake
00:12:58.434 --> 00:13:01.704
City, utah, in the women's prison.
00:13:01.704 --> 00:13:03.439
We opened it on mother's day.
00:13:03.439 --> 00:13:04.707
Beautiful. and seeing women come to know christ there all
00:13:04.707 --> 00:13:08.010
Across montana and the northwest.
00:13:08.010 --> 00:13:10.012
And then we reach around the world on the internet.
00:13:10.012 --> 00:13:11.714
And we love writing books because i've had my life
00:13:11.714 --> 00:13:14.516
Changed reading.
00:13:14.516 --> 00:13:15.351
And so to add to that to great joy.
00:13:15.351 --> 00:13:17.052
How many campuses now?
00:13:17.052 --> 00:13:18.153
Eleven altogether.
00:13:18.153 --> 00:13:19.221
Wow. yes.
00:13:19.221 --> 00:13:20.022
That's so cool.
00:13:20.022 --> 00:13:21.223
But you went through something.
00:13:21.223 --> 00:13:24.727
Are you going there?
00:13:24.727 --> 00:13:25.628
Yeah.
00:13:25.628 --> 00:13:26.729
This is kind of a little bit of a personal journey.
00:13:26.729 --> 00:13:32.268
Take us and preach this to us a little and you're gonna
00:13:32.268 --> 00:13:37.039
Fortunately use yourself as kind of the subject matter.
00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.542
Yeah. just
00:13:40.542 --> 00:13:42.478
Walk us through the way you wanna kinda introduce us.
00:13:42.478 --> 00:13:46.348
Let's start going deep into this now.
00:13:46.348 --> 00:13:48.250
So take that feeling where you
00:13:48.250 --> 00:13:50.686
Feel almost lost inside your life.
00:13:50.686 --> 00:13:53.222
And i think that's what happens when something new happens,
00:13:53.222 --> 00:13:55.758
When we go to somewhere new.
00:13:55.758 --> 00:13:57.059
And again, not just bad.
00:13:57.059 --> 00:13:58.060
It's not just hospitalization or
00:13:58.060 --> 00:14:01.297
A loved one in crisis.
00:14:01.297 --> 00:14:03.198
It can also be promotions.
00:14:03.198 --> 00:14:05.301
Something, new responsibilities too. it--
00:14:05.301 --> 00:14:08.203
And sometimes these things don't feel like we thought they
00:14:08.203 --> 00:14:12.107
Were going to feel.
00:14:12.107 --> 00:14:12.808
I've got a friend who built
00:14:12.808 --> 00:14:14.410
This company, scaled it, sold it.
00:14:14.410 --> 00:14:17.012
And the day he signed the signature, which was always the
00:14:17.012 --> 00:14:19.114
Goal, he said it's the most empty he ever felt.
00:14:19.114 --> 00:14:21.016
Oh, my goodness.
00:14:21.016 --> 00:14:22.251
Because all along the way, i think he had built up in his
00:14:22.251 --> 00:14:24.153
Head exactly what it was going to feel like.
00:14:24.153 --> 00:14:26.522
And that's pretty common.
00:14:26.522 --> 00:14:27.623
And so now we're in that season where we feel lost.
00:14:27.623 --> 00:14:31.226
It's choosing to believe that we hit a wall, but the wall is
00:14:31.226 --> 00:14:35.030
Actually the front of a stair.
00:14:35.030 --> 00:14:36.799
So this is important because growth is not just like this.
00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:40.803
Human growth and all growth is actually more jerky.
00:14:40.803 --> 00:14:44.306
And what that means is when we hit the end of a growth mode or
00:14:44.306 --> 00:14:48.344
The end of the ability to successfully use the tools we
00:14:48.344 --> 00:14:51.447
Possessed in that season, we have to hit a wall.
00:14:51.447 --> 00:14:54.817
And then that force catalyzes into us taking a step.
00:14:54.817 --> 00:14:59.588
It could be we're being enriched.
00:14:59.588 --> 00:15:00.823
It could be we maybe have accumulated too many things in
00:15:00.823 --> 00:15:04.226
Our life.
00:15:04.226 --> 00:15:04.960
We need to minimize, simplify.
00:15:04.960 --> 00:15:06.295
We've said yes to too many things.
00:15:06.295 --> 00:15:08.397
It could be that there's maybe
00:15:08.397 --> 00:15:09.999
Some lingering stuff from our past.
00:15:09.999 --> 00:15:11.300
That was my experience.
00:15:11.300 --> 00:15:12.568
I had not ever really taken the time to address some of the
00:15:12.568 --> 00:15:17.306
Little traumas that had happened in my life growing up,
00:15:17.306 --> 00:15:20.009
Specifically my parents' divorce.
00:15:20.009 --> 00:15:22.011
I'd never addressed it because we all know the big stuff
00:15:22.011 --> 00:15:24.713
Shapes us.
00:15:24.713 --> 00:15:26.015
We have a daughter in heaven.
00:15:26.015 --> 00:15:27.316
That was a big, colossal thing, so we made sure to treat that.
00:15:27.316 --> 00:15:30.386
But it was just sort of the little things that had ended up
00:15:30.386 --> 00:15:33.322
Forming some patterns in my life.
00:15:33.322 --> 00:15:34.623
So i think those developmental moments are the chance to say,
00:15:34.623 --> 00:15:38.427
Hey, let's look at what's under the hood in our life and take
00:15:38.427 --> 00:15:41.764
That next step up and not be scared of it.
00:15:41.764 --> 00:15:44.033
Divorce is a crazy thing that
00:15:44.033 --> 00:15:47.436
It feels like we hear a lot about.
00:15:47.436 --> 00:15:50.172
Use yourself and explain that.
00:15:50.172 --> 00:15:53.542
My parents were married till my father passed away.
00:15:53.542 --> 00:15:58.080
Her parents were married till her father passed away.
00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:02.017
So we didn't grow up with that directly connected.
00:16:02.017 --> 00:16:07.489
You mentioned in the book that that's one of the main
00:16:07.489 --> 00:16:12.494
Kind of contributing factors to what might have happened to you
00:16:12.494 --> 00:16:17.199
When you turned thirty eight--
00:16:17.199 --> 00:16:18.600
Sure. undealt with from way back.
00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.737
What was that like for you?
00:16:21.737 --> 00:16:23.305
And what age was that?
00:16:23.305 --> 00:16:24.173
Give us a little bit of that detail.
00:16:24.173 --> 00:16:25.641
Yeah, i was fourteen when my mom essentially stopped being
00:16:25.641 --> 00:16:30.245
Available to us emotionally the
00:16:30.245 --> 00:16:32.014
Same way that she had been previously.
00:16:32.014 --> 00:16:33.715
Childhood before that was kind of camelot.
00:16:33.715 --> 00:16:35.651
After that, it became a lot
00:16:35.651 --> 00:16:37.719
More difficult because she was broken.
00:16:37.719 --> 00:16:39.455
She had a really hard time and didn't have anything, quite
00:16:39.455 --> 00:16:41.623
Frankly, to give us.
00:16:41.623 --> 00:16:42.925
But she didn't physically leave the house for four more years.
00:16:42.925 --> 00:16:46.228
So that season was just very strange.
00:16:46.228 --> 00:16:47.663
And there wasn't a lot of talking about it.
00:16:47.663 --> 00:16:49.465
My parents were just not raised in a way where they talked
00:16:49.465 --> 00:16:53.035
About their feelings.
00:16:53.035 --> 00:16:53.735
So that was just how it was.
00:16:53.735 --> 00:16:55.637
I don't blame them for it.
00:16:55.637 --> 00:16:56.738
They did the best they could.
00:16:56.738 --> 00:16:59.174
And i never really opened up or addressed the impact some of
00:16:59.174 --> 00:17:03.178
Those things had on me.
00:17:03.178 --> 00:17:04.446
And it caused some patterns in my life of freezing up and
00:17:04.446 --> 00:17:08.283
Armoring up anytime i felt like someone was close enough to
00:17:08.283 --> 00:17:12.087
Hurt me.
00:17:12.087 --> 00:17:12.955
And it all happened subconsciously.
00:17:12.955 --> 00:17:15.591
Because if you don't know what's going on the inside, you
00:17:15.591 --> 00:17:17.993
Keep doing it subconsciously over and over again.
00:17:17.993 --> 00:17:20.095
So in the midlife season where i was spiraling, which started
00:17:20.095 --> 00:17:24.633
With panic attacks in the middle of the night.
00:17:24.633 --> 00:17:26.768
Just okay, wait a second.
00:17:26.768 --> 00:17:28.103
Out of nowhere?
00:17:28.103 --> 00:17:28.737
Out of nowhere.
00:17:28.737 --> 00:17:30.105
Like a switch was flipped.
00:17:30.105 --> 00:17:31.406
Okay, because i know you.
00:17:31.406 --> 00:17:33.342
And we like to go on adventures and we like to hike and climb
00:17:33.342 --> 00:17:36.612
Rocks and we like to be in the woods.
00:17:36.612 --> 00:17:39.047
So i, just out of the blue-- - yeah.
00:17:39.047 --> 00:17:44.019
Started to face these panic attacks in the night that
00:17:44.019 --> 00:17:44.486
What happened?
00:17:44.486 --> 00:17:44.753
Didn't make a lot of sense.
00:17:46.421 --> 00:17:47.656
And that was scary because i felt, again, out of control.
00:17:47.656 --> 00:17:51.627
So involved my wife, talked to my doctor, talked to my
00:17:51.627 --> 00:17:54.730
Counselor, talked to christian community.
00:17:54.730 --> 00:17:57.399
And then it was a process of elimination, of realizing
00:17:57.399 --> 00:18:00.369
Diagnostically, we are soul, spirit, mind, and body.
00:18:00.369 --> 00:18:04.273
And you can't just address it at one level.
00:18:04.273 --> 00:18:06.208
You have to holistically kind of look at it.
00:18:06.208 --> 00:18:08.377
So figuring out some of the
00:18:08.377 --> 00:18:09.511
Past stuff, that was really helpful.
00:18:09.511 --> 00:18:11.513
Also looking at some pace of life stuff that maybe there
00:18:11.513 --> 00:18:14.183
Wasn't quite as much time given to the rest that i needed.
00:18:14.183 --> 00:18:17.085
Figuring out what it takes to replenish, what it takes to
00:18:17.085 --> 00:18:20.189
Honor god with the sabbath, which is a yearly and a weekly
00:18:20.189 --> 00:18:24.393
Principle for a reason there.
00:18:24.393 --> 00:18:25.627
For you, was that something like saying no to the latest
00:18:25.627 --> 00:18:29.698
Conference that you were going
00:18:29.698 --> 00:18:31.099
To fly and speak at and do all that?
00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:33.435
Is that part of it for you?
00:18:33.435 --> 00:18:35.103
Or was that a piece of it?
00:18:35.103 --> 00:18:36.138
It was a big component of it.
00:18:36.138 --> 00:18:37.406
I think for twenty years, i had been running and gunning.
00:18:37.406 --> 00:18:40.342
And i think you have that appetite in youth.
00:18:40.342 --> 00:18:43.412
And you just sort of assume that that limitless ability to
00:18:43.412 --> 00:18:47.216
Continue to say yes and swoop in and help people and come to
00:18:47.216 --> 00:18:50.519
Their rescue and realizing some
00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:52.354
Of that comes from an ego place.
00:18:52.354 --> 00:18:54.122
Not all of it, but some of it's there.
00:18:54.122 --> 00:18:56.558
And then, of course, there's the family.
00:18:56.558 --> 00:18:59.628
There's writing the next book, all the next things.
00:18:59.628 --> 00:19:02.397
So i think for a season, i had to really pull back.
00:19:02.397 --> 00:19:05.500
And god got my attention in that way.
00:19:05.500 --> 00:19:08.170
But then there was also the reality of aging.
00:19:08.170 --> 00:19:10.973
Because i started preaching at twenty, so much of how i saw me
00:19:10.973 --> 00:19:14.610
Was the young pastor.
00:19:14.610 --> 00:19:16.478
And at that season of life, i was kind of uncertain how to
00:19:16.478 --> 00:19:20.182
Get my footing in midlife and also in my mind playing out.
00:19:20.182 --> 00:19:23.585
Well, what about i'm not what about when i'm sixty?
00:19:23.585 --> 00:19:26.588
What about when i'm seventy?
00:19:26.588 --> 00:19:27.689
Who am i if what makes me me gets taken from me?
00:19:27.689 --> 00:19:32.027
And all of us.
00:19:32.027 --> 00:19:32.928
Mean, think about a college athlete.
00:19:32.928 --> 00:19:34.396
Wow. the day they hang up that jersey for the last time and
00:19:34.396 --> 00:19:37.532
Move on, how do you get your feet under you when your
00:19:37.532 --> 00:19:41.403
Identity gets tampered with?
00:19:41.403 --> 00:19:43.438
It was important for me.
00:19:43.438 --> 00:19:44.706
And even though those eighteen months of that journey were
00:19:44.706 --> 00:19:48.610
Unpleasant in the moment, i can look back and go, it was a very
00:19:48.610 --> 00:19:52.347
Important, a very rich time of growing, of god coming near.
00:19:52.347 --> 00:19:57.019
Okay, but you weren't aware of it then.
00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:02.324
So at the first time
00:20:02.324 --> 00:20:05.661
You have a panic attack, which is crazy because
00:20:05.661 --> 00:20:09.131
You're an outdoor adventure
00:20:09.131 --> 00:20:10.465
Type guy, so that just came out of
00:20:10.465 --> 00:20:12.734
The blue,
00:20:12.734 --> 00:20:14.236
You couldn't or let's say--
00:20:14.236 --> 00:20:17.539
Well, i don't want to-- you tell me.
00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:20.375
Could you see god in it immediately?
00:20:20.375 --> 00:20:22.544
Or was this like, oh, boy, there's something really wrong.
00:20:22.544 --> 00:20:26.248
This couldn't possibly be god?
00:20:26.248 --> 00:20:28.383
I was scared.
00:20:28.383 --> 00:20:30.585
I felt out of control.
00:20:30.585 --> 00:20:32.587
But i intuitively believed, god, if you're allowing this,
00:20:32.587 --> 00:20:36.658
You must have something you want to do.
00:20:36.658 --> 00:20:38.727
You have an intention.
00:20:38.727 --> 00:20:39.661
Within an hour, a week, a month?
00:20:39.661 --> 00:20:41.797
Oh, no, no.
00:20:41.797 --> 00:20:42.464
The hour,
00:20:42.464 --> 00:20:43.699
I first opened my bible, tried to read ephesians, and the
00:20:43.699 --> 00:20:47.269
Words were all jumbled.
00:20:47.269 --> 00:20:48.670
So i turned on a sermon, louie giglio on youtube.
00:20:48.670 --> 00:20:51.373
And the words that were coming out were like, i couldn't make
00:20:51.373 --> 00:20:55.077
Sense of them.
00:20:55.077 --> 00:20:56.278
And i remember thinking, if ephesians and louie giglio
00:20:56.278 --> 00:20:59.214
Can't help me, i'm in big trouble.
00:20:59.214 --> 00:21:01.083
I am in big-- - that's right!
00:21:01.083 --> 00:21:02.617
And then but what i learned though--
00:21:02.617 --> 00:21:05.120
You're going have to put it with jesus.
00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:06.221
Okay, go ahead.
00:21:06.221 --> 00:21:07.155
All right, go ahead.
00:21:07.155 --> 00:21:08.390
What i learned was that you can't solve a problem at the
00:21:08.390 --> 00:21:11.560
Level it's created.
00:21:11.560 --> 00:21:12.861
So when you're having a panic attack, logic can't put it out.
00:21:12.861 --> 00:21:17.032
That's like trying to pour oil on a fire to put the fire out.
00:21:17.032 --> 00:21:20.335
You have to basically, god's given us an end run on a
00:21:20.335 --> 00:21:23.538
Nervous system through our breathing.
00:21:23.538 --> 00:21:25.374
And through controlling the breath, you actually can cause
00:21:25.374 --> 00:21:28.643
The whole fire alarm--
00:21:28.643 --> 00:21:30.746
It's like punching the code in instead of screaming at it.
00:21:30.746 --> 00:21:33.482
So what i needed to do was calm my breath down.
00:21:33.482 --> 00:21:35.650
Why did, at pentecost, jesus
00:21:35.650 --> 00:21:37.085
Breathe his holy spirit on his followers?
00:21:37.085 --> 00:21:39.554
At creation, god breathed adam into being.
00:21:39.554 --> 00:21:43.358
So i think our breath is a secret way for us to be still
00:21:43.358 --> 00:21:47.162
And know that he's god.
00:21:47.162 --> 00:21:48.296
And in learning, my psychologist told me, this is
00:21:48.296 --> 00:21:51.266
In the body.
00:21:51.266 --> 00:21:52.267
Your body keeps score.
00:21:52.267 --> 00:21:53.402
Your body hangs on to trauma.
00:21:53.402 --> 00:21:54.703
Your body hangs on to pace.
00:21:54.703 --> 00:21:56.838
And when you learn to get into a rhythm of breathing, it
00:21:56.838 --> 00:22:00.609
Actually calms things down.
00:22:00.609 --> 00:22:02.210
Wow.
00:22:02.210 --> 00:22:03.412
In hindsight, you seem to be saying in blessed are the
00:22:03.412 --> 00:22:09.351
Spiraling and spiraling, we've defined enough, we know what
00:22:09.351 --> 00:22:13.722
We're talking about now.
00:22:13.722 --> 00:22:15.724
But you seem to be saying god is in a season of even
00:22:15.724 --> 00:22:22.230
Something you don't understand.
00:22:22.230 --> 00:22:25.033
Even when you feel like you hit a wall, you're not really
00:22:25.033 --> 00:22:27.335
Hitting a wall, you're hitting the side of a step and he's
00:22:27.335 --> 00:22:30.338
Expecting your the hope is you're going to be taken to
00:22:30.338 --> 00:22:35.043
Another level.
00:22:35.043 --> 00:22:36.044
But it's hard to grasp that in the moment.
00:22:36.044 --> 00:22:40.048
Is that kind of what we're addressing?
00:22:40.048 --> 00:22:41.349
Yes. we're i think we all wanna stay kind of luke skywalker and
00:22:41.349 --> 00:22:46.087
Princess leia forever.
00:22:46.087 --> 00:22:47.389
But we don't have to be afraid because in the kingdom of god,
00:22:47.389 --> 00:22:50.459
We need the obi wan kenobis and we need the even eventually the
00:22:50.459 --> 00:22:54.296
Yodas too.
00:22:54.296 --> 00:22:55.163
I love that picture of--
00:22:55.163 --> 00:22:56.765
She has no idea what you're
00:22:56.765 --> 00:22:57.866
Saying, but i do because i understand.
00:22:57.866 --> 00:23:00.235
Needs to watch star wars, she does.
00:23:00.235 --> 00:23:01.703
Yeah, right?
00:23:01.703 --> 00:23:02.504
But i love this idea.
00:23:02.504 --> 00:23:04.206
We see the character yoda.
00:23:04.206 --> 00:23:05.707
He's the one teaching the little kids how to use the
00:23:05.707 --> 00:23:08.310
Lightsabers, right?
00:23:08.310 --> 00:23:09.144
He's sharing his dispersed wisdom.
00:23:09.144 --> 00:23:12.414
And so when we're willing to move from one season to
00:23:12.414 --> 00:23:15.217
Another, believing there's more in it, that god's broadening
00:23:15.217 --> 00:23:18.053
Our horizons, and he uses at times the difficulty and the
00:23:18.053 --> 00:23:21.656
Feeling of disorientation to get us there, then we can jump
00:23:21.656 --> 00:23:26.127
Effortlessly with his help into that new, even though it's
00:23:26.127 --> 00:23:29.664
Scary because it's not like we're going away from our glory
00:23:29.664 --> 00:23:33.335
Days, we're going
00:23:33.335 --> 00:23:34.135
Towards them.
00:23:34.135 --> 00:23:35.437
Life doesn't always fall apart because something went wrong.
00:23:35.437 --> 00:23:38.440
Could it be that god is about to make something brand new?
00:23:38.440 --> 00:23:42.043
We get disoriented when things are new, when things become
00:23:42.043 --> 00:23:45.447
Complex, and when we feel like we don't have the same level of
00:23:45.447 --> 00:23:48.350
Control we had in a previous season.
00:23:48.350 --> 00:23:50.352
In blessed are the spiraling, pastor levi lusko opens up
00:23:50.352 --> 00:23:54.289
About his own midlife storm, anxiety, buried trauma, and the
00:23:54.289 --> 00:23:58.660
Unexpected grace of breaking down to break through.
00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:01.396
If we could hear god, when we're spiraling, he's going,
00:24:01.396 --> 00:24:04.099
Lucky, you just wait.
00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:05.433
I'm near to you.
00:24:05.433 --> 00:24:06.535
I'm gonna show myself to you.
00:24:06.535 --> 00:24:08.203
This is more than just a book.
00:24:08.203 --> 00:24:10.338
It's a guide for navigating the unknown, finding god in the
00:24:10.338 --> 00:24:14.209
Middle of a storm, and learning to embrace change instead of
00:24:14.209 --> 00:24:17.712
Fearing it.
00:24:17.712 --> 00:24:19.214
When we hit the end of a growth mode or the end of the ability
00:24:19.214 --> 00:24:23.018
To successfully use the tools we possessed in that season, we
00:24:23.018 --> 00:24:26.454
Have to hit a wall.
00:24:26.454 --> 00:24:27.722
And then that force
00:24:27.722 --> 00:24:29.524
Catalyzes into us taking a step.
00:24:29.524 --> 00:24:32.127
If life feels upside down, you're not being broken down.
00:24:32.127 --> 00:24:35.697
You're being built up.
00:24:35.697 --> 00:24:37.165
Blessed are the spiraling is for anyone navigating through
00:24:37.165 --> 00:24:40.235
Trialing times and into god's peace and breakthrough.
00:24:40.235 --> 00:24:43.271
When we humble ourselves and let the tears of jesus be what
00:24:43.271 --> 00:24:46.474
Guide us, not the tears of alexander be our template.
00:24:46.474 --> 00:24:49.644
We're gonna just be at a place where jesus is enough.
00:24:49.644 --> 00:24:52.480
He's the prize.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.014
He's the treasure.
00:24:53.014 --> 00:24:54.516
And then we can get to work and do all the things god's called
00:24:54.516 --> 00:24:57.152
Us to do, but where we're not trying to fill up an empty
00:24:57.152 --> 00:24:59.554
Place in our heart.
00:24:59.554 --> 00:25:00.689
Blessed are the spiraling is available now wherever
00:25:00.689 --> 00:25:03.325
Books are sold.
00:25:03.325 --> 00:25:05.727
I felt like, and you know, it's your book, and you get to
00:25:05.727 --> 00:25:12.634
Determine, you know, things that are super important.
00:25:12.634 --> 00:25:15.704
But i felt like i made a ton of notes on page forty three in
00:25:15.704 --> 00:25:22.310
The chapter, don't blow it.
00:25:22.310 --> 00:25:24.312
Yeah, right.
00:25:24.312 --> 00:25:25.614
And that's kind of an important chapter because you're talking
00:25:25.614 --> 00:25:30.518
In essence that seasons that don't you don't quite
00:25:30.518 --> 00:25:35.757
Understand there's an opportunity there.
00:25:35.757 --> 00:25:39.728
There's a pastor friend of ours that says every event
00:25:39.728 --> 00:25:44.332
Holds the potential for purpose and destiny.
00:25:44.332 --> 00:25:48.536
Not that every event is going to create purpose and destiny, but
00:25:48.536 --> 00:25:52.040
It holds the potential for it.
00:25:52.040 --> 00:25:54.242
And it feels like, don't blow it.
00:25:54.242 --> 00:25:58.346
Preach that chapter just for a little bit.
00:25:58.346 --> 00:26:00.281
Sure.
00:26:00.281 --> 00:26:00.749
Don't blow it.
00:26:00.749 --> 00:26:01.216
Think about how a lot of us want to go up and to the right
00:26:02.350 --> 00:26:05.387
Forever in every regard.
00:26:05.387 --> 00:26:07.288
But why did jesus intentionally feed four thousand people after
00:26:07.288 --> 00:26:11.493
Five thousand people?
00:26:11.493 --> 00:26:12.794
That always kind of chafes me because i'm like, can't you go
00:26:12.794 --> 00:26:15.497
To six thousand?
00:26:15.497 --> 00:26:17.499
But in life, all of us
00:26:17.499 --> 00:26:19.634
Eventually are going to decline.
00:26:19.634 --> 00:26:21.503
So what vision can we have for when we do end up in a
00:26:21.503 --> 00:26:26.207
Retirement home, when we do end up not able to feed ourselves?
00:26:26.207 --> 00:26:29.010
And i think some part of me having a difficult time aging
00:26:29.010 --> 00:26:33.348
And accepting aging was almost this fear of, well, what value
00:26:33.348 --> 00:26:38.453
Do i have if i can't produce at a high level, which i'm clearly
00:26:38.453 --> 00:26:41.723
Doing now?
00:26:41.723 --> 00:26:42.924
But eventually, that will be taken from me.
00:26:42.924 --> 00:26:45.427
And god wouldn't set us up for failure by calling us to do
00:26:45.427 --> 00:26:49.330
Something we couldn't do.
00:26:49.330 --> 00:26:50.732
And we literally can't keep it up infinitely.
00:26:50.732 --> 00:26:53.668
So where's the peace?
00:26:53.668 --> 00:26:55.537
Where's the grace?
00:26:55.537 --> 00:26:56.738
The grace is from shifting the success bullseye from me
00:26:56.738 --> 00:27:01.109
Doing more, me making things bigger, me accomplishing more
00:27:01.109 --> 00:27:04.379
And being in the prime of life indefinitely because that's not
00:27:04.379 --> 00:27:06.581
Possible, instead, to glorify god.
00:27:06.581 --> 00:27:09.684
That's the don't blow it.
00:27:09.684 --> 00:27:11.586
Don't make the purpose of life
00:27:11.586 --> 00:27:15.590
What's doomed to failure.
00:27:15.590 --> 00:27:17.125
Instead, make your goal to glorify god.
00:27:17.125 --> 00:27:20.028
And guess what?
00:27:20.028 --> 00:27:20.762
I can do that in a wheelchair.
00:27:20.762 --> 00:27:22.030
I can do that from a sick bed.
00:27:22.030 --> 00:27:23.431
I can do that when i'm crushing it.
00:27:23.431 --> 00:27:25.066
And i can do that when i'm being crushed by it.
00:27:25.066 --> 00:27:27.001
And i think that's what paul's saying.
00:27:27.001 --> 00:27:28.269
I can do all things through christ who gives me strength.
00:27:28.269 --> 00:27:31.706
And if my goal in life is doxological, then i can
00:27:31.706 --> 00:27:35.310
Continue to do that all the way into heaven.
00:27:35.310 --> 00:27:37.112
It's going to be a seamless transition into glory.
00:27:37.112 --> 00:27:39.614
Jesus said, follow me.
00:27:39.614 --> 00:27:41.316
And he goes to a cross and dies a violent death.
00:27:41.316 --> 00:27:44.018
Yeah. so, the greatest victory in the history of man was a
00:27:44.018 --> 00:27:49.224
Violent death on a cross that changed everything forever.
00:27:49.224 --> 00:27:54.262
And you're using paul
00:27:54.262 --> 00:27:59.234
And i love what you say here.
00:27:59.234 --> 00:28:00.702
For paul, knowing jesus was the prize.
00:28:00.702 --> 00:28:04.572
The treasure, the goal.
00:28:04.572 --> 00:28:07.609
As paul perpetually held these other things in a category of
00:28:07.609 --> 00:28:13.681
Less important than knowing jesus.
00:28:13.681 --> 00:28:17.619
Death didn't take him away from his treasure, it brought him
00:28:17.619 --> 00:28:22.223
Closer to it.
00:28:22.223 --> 00:28:23.525
So, what you're talking about is sometimes you've got-- you
00:28:23.525 --> 00:28:28.530
Know, my dad was from missouri,
00:28:28.530 --> 00:28:30.532
He used this term called bass ackwards.
00:28:30.532 --> 00:28:32.500
I don't know exactly what it means, but it feels appropriate
00:28:32.500 --> 00:28:35.203
Right now.
00:28:35.203 --> 00:28:36.437
And that we think that what god's called us to do is the
00:28:36.437 --> 00:28:41.109
Prize and jesus is saying, no, and i'm the prize.
00:28:41.109 --> 00:28:46.147
It's really easy to make doing things for god the goal instead
00:28:46.147 --> 00:28:46.548
Is that--
00:28:46.548 --> 00:28:48.249
Of bringing honor to god, right?
00:28:52.153 --> 00:28:54.222
So we end up like martha serving and distracted and
00:28:54.222 --> 00:28:57.759
Anxious and even lecturing jesus instead of realizing the
00:28:57.759 --> 00:29:01.663
Treasure is sitting at jesus' feet like mary so that you're
00:29:01.663 --> 00:29:04.599
Full of him to rise up and go serve like martha, right?
00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:08.069
So had martha sat first, then she would have served with a
00:29:08.069 --> 00:29:10.605
Better attitude.
00:29:10.605 --> 00:29:11.806
So the takeaway is when what we're doing for god isn't
00:29:11.806 --> 00:29:15.176
Fueled by spending time with god-- wow.
00:29:15.176 --> 00:29:17.178
We'll start to act like we're god.
00:29:17.178 --> 00:29:19.314
And she interrupted jesus' sermon and told him to tell him
00:29:19.314 --> 00:29:22.584
What to do.
00:29:22.584 --> 00:29:23.251
It's like, wait a minute.
00:29:23.251 --> 00:29:24.485
Something's wrong here.
00:29:24.485 --> 00:29:26.054
And i've been there.
00:29:26.054 --> 00:29:27.322
And i make the ministry the goal, or i make how my family
00:29:27.322 --> 00:29:31.392
Is efficiently working through a holiday instead of how
00:29:31.392 --> 00:29:33.728
Everyone's doing the goal.
00:29:33.728 --> 00:29:35.430
Oh, wow.
00:29:35.430 --> 00:29:36.397
Because for me, it's always productivity.
00:29:36.397 --> 00:29:37.732
And i even approach my relationship with god from a
00:29:37.732 --> 00:29:41.102
Performance mentality.
00:29:41.102 --> 00:29:42.604
But paul said, i threw away all that.
00:29:42.604 --> 00:29:45.173
Doing stuff for god-- the treasure is being with god.
00:29:45.173 --> 00:29:48.309
And you know what?
00:29:48.309 --> 00:29:49.611
We're all going to have a hard time in new seasons remembering
00:29:49.611 --> 00:29:53.715
That truth.
00:29:53.715 --> 00:29:55.149
You're balancing a really important piece because a lot
00:29:55.149 --> 00:30:00.321
Of times you think your value
00:30:00.321 --> 00:30:04.259
To god comes in the form of what you do for him.
00:30:04.259 --> 00:30:08.029
Let's call it a scoreboard of how many people are saved or
00:30:08.029 --> 00:30:12.267
The scoreboard of how many sermons you've preached or how
00:30:12.267 --> 00:30:16.170
Many church locations you have and all of that.
00:30:16.170 --> 00:30:18.373
Podcast downloads, book sales, whatever, yeah.
00:30:18.373 --> 00:30:20.642
All of that ends up, and so there comes a time when god
00:30:20.642 --> 00:30:26.481
Will ask you a question.
00:30:26.481 --> 00:30:28.683
What's important here?
00:30:28.683 --> 00:30:30.251
Yeah. guess.
00:30:30.251 --> 00:30:31.619
And yours just came in a very dramatic way.
00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:34.355
Yeah, and i think for me, i didn't realize that because i
00:30:34.355 --> 00:30:37.458
Didn't have access to my mom's love in that season, all of us
00:30:37.458 --> 00:30:42.063
Siblings started competing more for my dad's affection without
00:30:42.063 --> 00:30:45.266
Realizing it.
00:30:45.266 --> 00:30:46.200
And some-- i mean, i was called by god.
00:30:46.200 --> 00:30:48.269
I love jesus.
00:30:48.269 --> 00:30:49.537
Everything i've done for him has also been from the heart of
00:30:49.537 --> 00:30:51.806
I want to preach the gospel.
00:30:51.806 --> 00:30:53.641
But some part of finding new mentors and new things has been
00:30:53.641 --> 00:30:58.079
Kind of me trying to win a love that doesn't need to be earned,
00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:01.616
That god just wants to give.
00:31:01.616 --> 00:31:02.917
And so i think for all of us, connecting some dots on where
00:31:02.917 --> 00:31:06.554
Some patterns came from.
00:31:06.554 --> 00:31:08.623
Because jesus is in your heart, like pete scaczaro says, but
00:31:08.623 --> 00:31:12.160
Grandpa's also in your bones.
00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:13.728
So there is also heredity.
00:31:13.728 --> 00:31:15.663
There's also family of origin.
00:31:15.663 --> 00:31:17.231
All this stuff plays a role in it.
00:31:17.231 --> 00:31:19.634
So i think it's really helpful when we can connect some of
00:31:19.634 --> 00:31:22.036
Those thoughts.
00:31:22.036 --> 00:31:23.304
If somebody just tuned in, summarize
00:31:23.304 --> 00:31:28.343
What we're talking about so somebody needs to catch up just
00:31:28.343 --> 00:31:31.646
For a moment.
00:31:31.646 --> 00:31:32.647
And then i've got a question about humility.
00:31:32.647 --> 00:31:34.349
Go ahead.
00:31:34.349 --> 00:31:35.583
Yeah, we're talking about complexity, navigating change,
00:31:35.583 --> 00:31:39.087
Shifting seasons, not just bad ones, but also good ones that
00:31:39.087 --> 00:31:43.157
Don't feel like you thought they would feel or that make
00:31:43.157 --> 00:31:45.560
You feel unsteady, confused, or disoriented.
00:31:45.560 --> 00:31:49.230
And the potential for those to be actually some of the most
00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:53.267
Amazing times that god shows you his grace and who he is.
00:31:53.267 --> 00:31:57.171
It's funny, levi, you're
00:31:57.171 --> 00:32:02.110
Talking about this and it feels like a subject that is newish
00:32:02.110 --> 00:32:06.614
To, i don't remember exactly, how many times have we said
00:32:06.614 --> 00:32:12.420
Everything in the kingdom is counterintuitive?
00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:15.156
Yeah. okay?
00:32:15.156 --> 00:32:15.723
We say that a lot.
00:32:15.723 --> 00:32:17.125
That's a very understood thing.
00:32:17.125 --> 00:32:18.726
Those that wanna be the most, you have to be the least.
00:32:18.726 --> 00:32:21.429
Love your enemies.
00:32:21.429 --> 00:32:22.463
Love your-- it's upside down.
00:32:22.463 --> 00:32:24.499
Everything is upside down and occasionally, god'll just kinda
00:32:24.499 --> 00:32:28.736
Tap you on the shoulder and in your case, a dramatic way, get
00:32:28.736 --> 00:32:32.774
Your attention and slam you into a wall that is really
00:32:32.774 --> 00:32:38.079
Meant to be the edge of a step
00:32:38.079 --> 00:32:39.747
To get you to go to a higher level.
00:32:39.747 --> 00:32:41.449
Is that kind of--
00:32:41.449 --> 00:32:42.450
One hundred percent.
00:32:42.450 --> 00:32:43.751
All right. and with that, how quickly you can recognize that
00:32:43.751 --> 00:32:49.791
Really is the way to win that season.
00:32:49.791 --> 00:32:52.160
Yeah. how quickly can i see god in something that doesn't seem
00:32:52.160 --> 00:32:57.598
Like it?
00:32:57.598 --> 00:32:58.132
Yeah. right size.
00:32:58.132 --> 00:32:59.567
You're trying to right size god and right size yourself.
00:32:59.567 --> 00:33:02.570
When things are going good, we
00:33:02.570 --> 00:33:04.405
Can kind of take him for granted.
00:33:04.405 --> 00:33:06.140
We can ease off the gas a little bit.
00:33:06.140 --> 00:33:08.309
But when we feel confused, we look to him.
00:33:08.309 --> 00:33:11.479
Shockingly, we find him because
00:33:11.479 --> 00:33:13.014
He's not far from any one of us.
00:33:13.014 --> 00:33:14.315
And that's why those times tend to be-- i mean, i think malcolm
00:33:14.315 --> 00:33:17.151
Mulguridge said, in my 75 years of life, i never
00:33:17.151 --> 00:33:20.054
Grew one time in an easy season.
00:33:20.054 --> 00:33:21.722
Wow. that's true.
00:33:21.722 --> 00:33:22.657
None of us like the hard ones.
00:33:22.657 --> 00:33:24.058
But that's when we do our growing.
00:33:24.058 --> 00:33:25.193
That's when god shows up and we have a story to tell.
00:33:25.193 --> 00:33:28.629
Yeah. inside of the sermon on the mount, there's a lot of
00:33:28.629 --> 00:33:34.669
Kind of this kind of teaching.
00:33:34.669 --> 00:33:36.737
Go there a little bit and what would jesus was trying to
00:33:36.737 --> 00:33:41.642
Communicate to us?
00:33:41.642 --> 00:33:43.778
You've mentioned the sermon on the mount.
00:33:43.778 --> 00:33:46.747
Those beatitudes, if you think
00:33:46.747 --> 00:33:49.050
About them, there's eight of them.
00:33:49.050 --> 00:33:50.618
They're essentially a spiral staircase because it's not
00:33:50.618 --> 00:33:55.656
God's kingdom's upside down.
00:33:55.656 --> 00:33:56.858
So when we find ourselves persecuted, poor in spirit,
00:33:56.858 --> 00:34:00.361
Mourning, any of those seasons that we're like, no, don't want
00:34:00.361 --> 00:34:03.197
Any of those things, that's actually when god has us take a
00:34:03.197 --> 00:34:05.700
Step, take a step.
00:34:05.700 --> 00:34:06.734
And we're spiraling up.
00:34:06.734 --> 00:34:08.236
And at the end of our journey is not something, but someone.
00:34:08.236 --> 00:34:11.706
Because the last breath here is gonna be followed by our first
00:34:11.706 --> 00:34:14.709
Breath in heaven.
00:34:14.709 --> 00:34:15.610
And guess what?
00:34:15.610 --> 00:34:16.310
We're probably not gonna be
00:34:16.310 --> 00:34:17.378
Good at that either the first time.
00:34:17.378 --> 00:34:19.113
My buddy was dying, and
00:34:19.113 --> 00:34:22.049
He
00:34:22.049 --> 00:34:23.417
Called me to his bedside.
00:34:23.417 --> 00:34:24.652
He thought he was going to not make it to the night, so i
00:34:24.652 --> 00:34:26.320
Rushed over.
00:34:26.320 --> 00:34:27.054
And turned out he didn't die.
00:34:27.054 --> 00:34:27.855
He was so embarrassed.
00:34:27.855 --> 00:34:29.023
He didn't die.
00:34:29.023 --> 00:34:29.557
His name was stu.
00:34:29.557 --> 00:34:30.324
And
00:34:30.324 --> 00:34:31.325
Stu said, i'm so sorry i wasted your time.
00:34:31.325 --> 00:34:33.161
I didn't die.
00:34:33.161 --> 00:34:34.061
Go, stu, have you ever died before?
00:34:34.061 --> 00:34:35.129
He goes, no.
00:34:35.129 --> 00:34:35.963
I go, how could you be good at it?
00:34:35.963 --> 00:34:37.398
I said, were you good the first time you tied your shoes?
00:34:37.398 --> 00:34:40.101
Every new season's complex.
00:34:40.101 --> 00:34:41.536
And i said, but do you know who is good at death?
00:34:41.536 --> 00:34:43.604
Jesus. and when you take your last breath, he's going to be
00:34:43.604 --> 00:34:46.240
There to walk you through the
00:34:46.240 --> 00:34:47.108
Valley of shadow of death to heaven.
00:34:47.108 --> 00:34:48.609
And he smiled, fell asleep, and went to be with christ a couple
00:34:48.609 --> 00:34:51.746
Days later.
00:34:51.746 --> 00:34:52.680
And i think about that all the
00:34:52.680 --> 00:34:54.148
Time because i'm in new territory.
00:34:54.148 --> 00:34:55.750
I've got a daughter in college.
00:34:55.750 --> 00:34:57.151
That's new.
00:34:57.151 --> 00:34:57.718
I'm not good at it.
00:34:57.718 --> 00:34:58.586
But god is good at change.
00:34:58.586 --> 00:35:00.588
And he's the same god yesterday, today, and forever.
00:35:00.588 --> 00:35:03.124
And his grace is sufficient.
00:35:03.124 --> 00:35:05.226
Thank god.
00:35:05.226 --> 00:35:05.993
That's right.
00:35:05.993 --> 00:35:06.961
You know, i love talking like this because
00:35:06.961 --> 00:35:11.399
I kind of chalk it up to age and growing in the lord.
00:35:11.399 --> 00:35:17.104
And i love that you're saying these things at such a younger
00:35:17.104 --> 00:35:22.310
Age than than we are because you're getting it.
00:35:22.310 --> 00:35:25.580
The trials of our faith works patience.
00:35:25.580 --> 00:35:28.316
And so when we and that's the only way we please god is
00:35:28.316 --> 00:35:31.452
Through our faith.
00:35:31.452 --> 00:35:32.620
So something's gonna have to be counterintuitive to
00:35:32.620 --> 00:35:37.325
Take our faith and go, okay, what what's god saying to me
00:35:37.325 --> 00:35:41.462
Right now?
00:35:41.462 --> 00:35:42.129
What what does this mean?
00:35:42.129 --> 00:35:43.631
A lot of people, i think they go to the, oh, i'm in trouble.
00:35:43.631 --> 00:35:48.336
You know, i've done something wrong.
00:35:48.336 --> 00:35:48.669
Sure.
00:35:48.669 --> 00:35:49.136
I really need to-- you know, and that's always good.
00:35:50.371 --> 00:35:53.274
I think introspection is always good and keeping your heart
00:35:53.274 --> 00:35:56.544
Right before the lord.
00:35:56.544 --> 00:35:57.845
But i just think people get so scared that they're in trouble,
00:35:57.845 --> 00:36:02.083
That god's mad at me right now.
00:36:02.083 --> 00:36:03.684
And he's so far away from me.
00:36:03.684 --> 00:36:05.686
And i don't think he's hearing me.
00:36:05.686 --> 00:36:07.521
And you know what?
00:36:07.521 --> 00:36:08.189
I think those are the best
00:36:08.189 --> 00:36:09.257
Times that we could possibly have.
00:36:09.257 --> 00:36:11.459
But it takes a mind shift.
00:36:11.459 --> 00:36:14.095
It takes a perspective.
00:36:14.095 --> 00:36:17.098
And thankfully,
00:36:17.098 --> 00:36:19.233
Because i've had to learn that so much, i'm pretty quick at--
00:36:19.233 --> 00:36:26.340
I say this, but i'm pretty quick at saying, you know what?
00:36:26.340 --> 00:36:31.312
This has just smacked us in the face.
00:36:31.312 --> 00:36:34.315
And it's not good.
00:36:34.315 --> 00:36:36.017
This does not look good.
00:36:36.017 --> 00:36:37.718
But if the god i serve and i
00:36:37.718 --> 00:36:40.354
Would die for my faith right now,
00:36:40.354 --> 00:36:44.225
That's the best thing i've got going for me.
00:36:44.225 --> 00:36:46.761
You know?
00:36:46.761 --> 00:36:47.728
And so i'm going to use my faith.
00:36:47.728 --> 00:36:49.430
And if god-- god knew all about this.
00:36:49.430 --> 00:36:52.667
God knew this was gonna happen.
00:36:52.667 --> 00:36:54.468
It doesn't take him by surprise.
00:36:54.468 --> 00:36:56.604
So what's god trying to say right now?
00:36:56.604 --> 00:36:59.140
Yeah. what god's what is god telling us?
00:36:59.140 --> 00:37:01.509
What is god-- you know?
00:37:01.509 --> 00:37:03.377
And so it drives-- our pastor also says,
00:37:03.377 --> 00:37:07.114
Stay on your knees so you're never driven--
00:37:07.114 --> 00:37:09.083
To your knees.
00:37:09.083 --> 00:37:11.385
Humble. it's humility, which is what i think spiraling seasons
00:37:10.084 --> 00:37:13.721
Do to us.
00:37:13.721 --> 00:37:14.722
I love that moment in job 38:1,
00:37:14.722 --> 00:37:17.992
Where after thirty something chapters of all these
00:37:17.992 --> 00:37:20.227
Questions, job's spiraling, you could say, right?
00:37:20.227 --> 00:37:22.530
God speaks to him, chapter thirty eight, verse one, out of
00:37:22.530 --> 00:37:25.299
The whirlwind, out of the tornado.
00:37:25.299 --> 00:37:27.201
Tornado. and job's been asking all these big questions.
00:37:27.201 --> 00:37:30.171
And god says, where were you?
00:37:30.171 --> 00:37:31.439
Where were you?
00:37:31.439 --> 00:37:32.406
When i weighed the earth in the balance.
00:37:32.406 --> 00:37:34.108
Where were you?
00:37:34.108 --> 00:37:35.142
Where were-- and i planned it all out, right?
00:37:35.142 --> 00:37:35.943
And he right sizes job.
00:37:35.943 --> 00:37:38.012
And job, who had been like, i have these questions,
00:37:38.012 --> 00:37:39.447
Was like, i don't have questions.
00:37:39.447 --> 00:37:41.015
I'm just going to worship you.
00:37:41.015 --> 00:37:42.016
You're right.
00:37:42.016 --> 00:37:42.650
I wasn't there.
00:37:42.650 --> 00:37:43.684
The majesty of creation, looking at the whirlpool
00:37:43.684 --> 00:37:48.422
Galaxies out of a telescope, reminds you that god, like you
00:37:48.422 --> 00:37:52.126
Said, is sovereign.
00:37:52.126 --> 00:37:53.427
And it can cause you to say, if he can cause those spirals to
00:37:53.427 --> 00:37:58.199
Bring him glory, then he can
00:37:58.199 --> 00:37:59.433
Use this spiral to bring him glory.
00:37:59.433 --> 00:38:01.702
And so i'm just going to trust him.
00:38:01.702 --> 00:38:03.504
And i'm going to rejoice, even though i've fallen into a
00:38:03.504 --> 00:38:06.474
Various trial, knowing that the
00:38:06.474 --> 00:38:07.708
Testing of my faith produces patience.
00:38:07.708 --> 00:38:09.477
So i'm not being destroyed.
00:38:09.477 --> 00:38:11.278
I'm being developed.
00:38:11.278 --> 00:38:12.546
We all saw on the news when jeremy renner, the actor, got
00:38:12.546 --> 00:38:15.316
Run over by a snowplow.
00:38:15.316 --> 00:38:16.150
Fourteen thousand pound snowplow.
00:38:16.150 --> 00:38:18.018
Broke thirty eight bones,
00:38:18.018 --> 00:38:19.320
Collapsed his lung, crushed his skull.
00:38:19.320 --> 00:38:21.689
And he was asked on the joe
00:38:21.689 --> 00:38:23.090
Rogan podcast, are you better yet?
00:38:23.090 --> 00:38:24.625
Have you recovered?
00:38:24.625 --> 00:38:25.493
And he goes, i'm not
00:38:25.493 --> 00:38:28.396
Stopping at one hundred.
00:38:28.396 --> 00:38:29.296
I'm at one hundred and fifty percent.
00:38:29.296 --> 00:38:31.399
I'm not just back to where i was.
00:38:31.399 --> 00:38:32.700
I'm actually better.
00:38:32.700 --> 00:38:34.001
He says, i'm more thankful.
00:38:34.001 --> 00:38:35.403
He said, i got so many gifts from dying that day.
00:38:35.403 --> 00:38:38.706
Think about that.
00:38:38.706 --> 00:38:40.141
We're being developed and god is using trials to do it.
00:38:40.141 --> 00:38:42.410
That's why we can count it all joy.
00:38:42.410 --> 00:38:44.779
If we can just get that part when something like that
00:38:44.779 --> 00:38:48.015
Happens, it's just, if i can just grab that first,
00:38:48.015 --> 00:38:50.451
Count it all it's assuming positive intent, right?
00:38:50.451 --> 00:38:52.453
Yeah. they say, if you can believe that god is and god is
00:38:52.453 --> 00:38:55.356
Good, you're halfway there.
00:38:55.356 --> 00:38:56.657
Yeah. while you guys have been
00:38:56.657 --> 00:38:58.659
Talking, my finger hasn't moved.
00:38:58.659 --> 00:39:00.361
Okay.
00:39:00.361 --> 00:39:01.028
And i was on page 226.
00:39:01.028 --> 00:39:04.365
Yep. the headline was let humility open the door to more.
00:39:04.365 --> 00:39:09.170
Wow. and that was where i wanted you to go with this
00:39:09.170 --> 00:39:13.574
Humility piece that if the goal is jesus, like paul was
00:39:13.574 --> 00:39:21.081
Explaining to us back on page forty three, paul was
00:39:21.081 --> 00:39:26.720
Explaining that the goal isn't what you do.
00:39:26.720 --> 00:39:31.192
The goal is jesus.
00:39:31.192 --> 00:39:32.693
And let humility open the door to more.
00:39:32.693 --> 00:39:36.497
What do you mean by that?
00:39:36.497 --> 00:39:38.098
I think god is not looking for employees.
00:39:38.098 --> 00:39:41.302
He's looking for children.
00:39:41.302 --> 00:39:42.603
And when we're delighted with him, there's no end to what he
00:39:42.603 --> 00:39:48.409
Can do through us.
00:39:48.409 --> 00:39:49.443
But we're not doing it for the wrong reasons.
00:39:49.443 --> 00:39:51.712
And so our humility comes from, i'm not the big deal.
00:39:51.712 --> 00:39:55.516
And i'm going to quit being like a mini alexander the great
00:39:55.516 --> 00:39:59.186
Who just kept doing, doing, doing, doing, doing.
00:39:59.186 --> 00:40:01.222
And what did he do?
00:40:01.222 --> 00:40:01.655
He wept.
00:40:01.655 --> 00:40:02.623
And he ended the world.
00:40:02.623 --> 00:40:04.024
He couldn't do anymore.
00:40:04.024 --> 00:40:04.758
That was it.
00:40:04.758 --> 00:40:05.526
And yet another man,
00:40:05.526 --> 00:40:08.028
2000 years ago, in his 30's, wept.
00:40:08.028 --> 00:40:10.231
Jesus. and he wept because he knew that we would gain the
00:40:10.231 --> 00:40:13.334
Whole world but lose our souls.
00:40:13.334 --> 00:40:14.635
And so when we humble ourselves and let the tears of jesus be
00:40:14.635 --> 00:40:18.439
What guide us, not the tears of alexander be our template,
00:40:18.439 --> 00:40:21.509
We're going to just be at a place where jesus is enough.
00:40:21.509 --> 00:40:24.545
He's the prize.
00:40:24.545 --> 00:40:25.346
He's the treasure.
00:40:25.346 --> 00:40:26.647
And then we can get to work and do all the things god's called
00:40:26.647 --> 00:40:29.450
Us to do, but where we're not being defined by trying to fill
00:40:29.450 --> 00:40:32.653
Up an empty place in our heart.
00:40:32.653 --> 00:40:33.787
Yeah, you're going to automatically do what god's
00:40:33.787 --> 00:40:36.156
Called you to do if you have that.
00:40:36.156 --> 00:40:37.391
Yeah, paul didn't do less.
00:40:37.391 --> 00:40:39.260
Right. he did more, you could say.
00:40:39.260 --> 00:40:40.561
I mean, he wrote thirteen books of the bible, planted churches
00:40:40.561 --> 00:40:43.097
All over the roman empire, but he wasn't doing it to try and
00:40:43.097 --> 00:40:45.799
Complete himself.
00:40:45.799 --> 00:40:47.167
Right. so good.
00:40:47.167 --> 00:40:48.469
I can hear some people saying, levi, you know, that's easy for
00:40:48.469 --> 00:40:53.674
You to say.
00:40:53.674 --> 00:40:54.675
You are a very well- known national speaker.
00:40:54.675 --> 00:40:59.780
You have this monstrous fresh
00:40:59.780 --> 00:41:02.216
Life church with fourteen campuses
00:41:02.216 --> 00:41:06.120
And you're telling us something.
00:41:06.120 --> 00:41:08.522
I'm trying to get something done for the lord and i feel
00:41:08.522 --> 00:41:13.260
Like i've never even been in the game.
00:41:13.260 --> 00:41:16.163
Okay, answer that person.
00:41:16.163 --> 00:41:18.632
Well, i'll say this.
00:41:18.632 --> 00:41:21.335
Didn't help me.
00:41:21.335 --> 00:41:22.436
Anything i did didn't help me in my lowest moment.
00:41:22.436 --> 00:41:25.739
For my wife and i standing at the grave of our little girl,
00:41:25.739 --> 00:41:28.342
Having prayed for god to do a miracle and she still died.
00:41:28.342 --> 00:41:33.180
The panic attacks of this difficult season, walking my
00:41:33.180 --> 00:41:36.550
Dad through cancer and his going to be with jesus last
00:41:36.550 --> 00:41:40.154
Year, all of us well known, not well known, accomplished, not
00:41:40.154 --> 00:41:44.658
Accomplished we're going go through difficulties.
00:41:44.658 --> 00:41:46.760
And the measure of our lives isn't going to be what we did
00:41:46.760 --> 00:41:49.563
And how well we were known, but whether we hear those words,
00:41:49.563 --> 00:41:53.200
Well done, good and faithful servant, that we were the
00:41:53.200 --> 00:41:55.569
Servant of jesus, that humility that guides us.
00:41:55.569 --> 00:41:58.305
And so i would say no matter who you are, god knows you.
00:41:58.305 --> 00:42:01.108
He has a plan for your life.
00:42:01.108 --> 00:42:02.443
He wants to use you in incredible ways.
00:42:02.443 --> 00:42:04.511
And wonder of wonders, he wants to know you.
00:42:04.511 --> 00:42:07.514
The ultimate prize is jesus.
00:42:07.514 --> 00:42:15.522
Somebody that needs to start there, at least get jesus and
00:42:15.522 --> 00:42:20.227
Get following him.
00:42:20.227 --> 00:42:21.495
Just help them understand that and lead them to christ and
00:42:21.495 --> 00:42:25.733
Then kind of your final thoughts and prayer.
00:42:25.733 --> 00:42:28.736
There's this great parable where jesus says, the kingdom
00:42:28.736 --> 00:42:33.240
Of heaven is like a man who
00:42:33.240 --> 00:42:34.475
Found a treasure buried in a field.
00:42:34.475 --> 00:42:37.378
And so went, sold everything he
00:42:37.378 --> 00:42:39.446
Had to buy the field to get the treasure.
00:42:39.446 --> 00:42:42.416
And it's a snapshot of the gospel.
00:42:42.416 --> 00:42:43.784
This is what god was willing to do.
00:42:43.784 --> 00:42:45.219
Revelation five says, he's going to take the title deed to
00:42:45.219 --> 00:42:48.255
The whole earth, not because he wants the earth, which was lost
00:42:48.255 --> 00:42:50.758
At the fall, but because he wants you.
00:42:50.758 --> 00:42:53.293
And he sold everything
00:42:53.293 --> 00:42:55.663
Of his life, of his power,
00:42:55.663 --> 00:42:57.297
Humbled himself, died on the cross.
00:42:57.297 --> 00:42:59.299
And he's willing to come inside your heart, make it his home,
00:42:59.299 --> 00:43:03.604
And help you figure out every spiraling moment, every
00:43:03.604 --> 00:43:07.007
Difficult situation to bring him glory.
00:43:07.007 --> 00:43:09.443
He conquered the grave so you
00:43:09.443 --> 00:43:11.712
Don't have to worry about death.
00:43:11.712 --> 00:43:13.213
You don't have to worry about sin.
00:43:13.213 --> 00:43:14.248
Those are our biggest problems, death and sin.
00:43:14.248 --> 00:43:16.450
And jesus took it all to the cross, and he came out of the
00:43:16.450 --> 00:43:19.720
Grave with resurrection life.
00:43:19.720 --> 00:43:21.388
And the bible says he stands at
00:43:21.388 --> 00:43:23.023
The door of your heart, and he knocks.
00:43:23.023 --> 00:43:24.658
And if you invite him in, that he will come to live inside of
00:43:24.658 --> 00:43:28.062
You, make your heart his home, and walk with you through the
00:43:28.062 --> 00:43:31.632
Good days and the bad days.
00:43:31.632 --> 00:43:33.467
And on the last day of your life, welcome you into his
00:43:33.467 --> 00:43:36.737
Heaven where you'll get to live forever.
00:43:36.737 --> 00:43:40.240
If someone is reading blessed are the spiraling,
00:43:40.240 --> 00:43:47.347
You what is your main message?
00:43:47.347 --> 00:43:49.249
What do you want them to experience out of this?
00:43:49.249 --> 00:43:53.053
I think god has tucked the easter egg of the spiral into
00:43:53.053 --> 00:43:57.391
The whole world for a very deliberate reason.
00:43:57.391 --> 00:43:59.560
It's on the side of a snail shell.
00:43:59.560 --> 00:44:01.662
If you pick up a pine cone, it's a spiral.
00:44:01.662 --> 00:44:04.598
They call it a fibonacci spiral or a golden spiral.
00:44:04.598 --> 00:44:07.501
With the way an ocean wave
00:44:07.501 --> 00:44:09.103
Curls, there's spirals everywhere.
00:44:09.103 --> 00:44:11.305
The galaxies, like i said, the whirlpool.
00:44:11.305 --> 00:44:14.041
But it's also on the horns of a ram.
00:44:14.041 --> 00:44:17.644
And that means that the shofar, the trumpet that's all through
00:44:17.644 --> 00:44:22.116
The bible, is actually a spiral instrument of praise.
00:44:22.116 --> 00:44:25.719
So that means when the walls of
00:44:25.719 --> 00:44:26.854
Jericho fell, it was a spiral involved.
00:44:26.854 --> 00:44:29.256
That means that when gideon and his three hundred took out the
00:44:29.256 --> 00:44:32.326
Huge army, it was just through a spiral.
00:44:32.326 --> 00:44:34.394
I believe when jesus christ returns to take over this world
00:44:34.394 --> 00:44:37.431
As king forever, the bible says, one thessalonians,
00:44:37.431 --> 00:44:40.167
There's going be the sound of a trumpet.
00:44:40.167 --> 00:44:41.635
My bet's on a shofar, a spiral.
00:44:41.635 --> 00:44:44.338
And so that means that there's
00:44:44.338 --> 00:44:45.639
Not just blessings in your spirals.
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:48.375
There's spirals in your blessings.
00:44:48.375 --> 00:44:50.177
And so every situation that we get in that's confusing,
00:44:50.177 --> 00:44:53.413
Complex, chaotic, or just it's just new, so it's foreign,
00:44:53.413 --> 00:44:58.552
There's a spiral instrument of praise waiting to be blown,
00:44:58.552 --> 00:45:02.689
Waiting for us to trust god and
00:45:02.689 --> 00:45:05.025
Go into that new season with joy.
00:45:05.025 --> 00:45:06.593
And that's what i discovered.
00:45:06.593 --> 00:45:07.861
Yes. give us a little bit of how you came out of that spiral
00:45:07.861 --> 00:45:13.200
That you've been talking about at thirty eight.
00:45:13.200 --> 00:45:15.202
Yep. those eighteen months of counseling, of vulnerability
00:45:15.202 --> 00:45:20.674
Within my community to my wife, to my family, assessing pace,
00:45:20.674 --> 00:45:26.113
And then also having an exciting plan from god for what
00:45:26.113 --> 00:45:30.717
The second half of life was going to be like.
00:45:30.717 --> 00:45:33.220
I think about the lightning mcqueen arc.
00:45:33.220 --> 00:45:36.557
In those three movies, lightning mcqueen, pixar, the
00:45:36.557 --> 00:45:39.526
First one is just all about what he can do.
00:45:39.526 --> 00:45:41.261
And that's kind of us as young people.
00:45:41.261 --> 00:45:42.629
What are we going to do?
00:45:42.629 --> 00:45:43.931
The second one, he's realizing, it doesn't matter where i go in
00:45:43.931 --> 00:45:46.233
The world if i'm alienating the relationships in my life.
00:45:46.233 --> 00:45:49.236
And by the third one, he's even more excited about someone
00:45:49.236 --> 00:45:51.738
Else's accomplishments than his own.
00:45:51.738 --> 00:45:54.074
It's like that, saying about the three seasons of life.
00:45:54.074 --> 00:45:57.344
The first is you have to build a container.
00:45:57.344 --> 00:45:59.980
The second, you have to fill the container.
00:45:59.980 --> 00:46:02.082
And the third, you need to prepare to give the container
00:46:02.082 --> 00:46:04.184
And its contents away.
00:46:04.184 --> 00:46:06.086
And so, as i developed a plan for what the second half of
00:46:06.086 --> 00:46:09.289
Life could look like full of god's glory, i lost the fear of
00:46:09.289 --> 00:46:13.594
What i was leaving because of what i was heading into.
00:46:13.594 --> 00:46:17.364
That's beautiful.
00:46:17.364 --> 00:46:18.332
You know, for some reason, there was this
00:46:18.332 --> 00:46:22.135
Something got imprinted in my brain from years and years and
00:46:22.135 --> 00:46:26.740
There was a book that sold ten trillion copies, seven habits
00:46:26.740 --> 00:46:27.341
Years ago.
00:46:27.341 --> 00:46:27.608
Of highly effective people, and i'm looking at it one time
00:46:30.611 --> 00:46:36.016
In a bookstore and i kinda opened the beginning of it and
00:46:36.016 --> 00:46:40.420
I read this little moment in there and he says, between
00:46:40.420 --> 00:46:45.325
Stimulus and response,
00:46:45.325 --> 00:46:49.162
There's a space. and people
00:46:49.162 --> 00:46:53.533
That don't know how to grow that space will only be
00:46:53.533 --> 00:46:58.772
Reacting to situations. they will never act.
00:46:58.772 --> 00:47:03.277
And i guess the reason that that imprinted on my brain is
00:47:03.277 --> 00:47:07.481
Because my dad had said from the time we were little, never
00:47:07.481 --> 00:47:12.185
React, only act.
00:47:12.185 --> 00:47:15.722
And i guess what we're talking about here is this moment, the
00:47:15.722 --> 00:47:20.694
Stimulus in this storyline today was all of a sudden a
00:47:20.694 --> 00:47:25.699
Random panic attack that you didn't know how to process.
00:47:25.699 --> 00:47:30.037
Print, audio, your brain was really not working right.
00:47:30.037 --> 00:47:35.409
In between that stimulus and your response,
00:47:35.409 --> 00:47:40.414
There was this space that god was saying, there's going to be
00:47:40.414 --> 00:47:44.217
This counterintuitive reset.
00:47:44.217 --> 00:47:47.421
Worship. yeah, all that.
00:47:47.421 --> 00:47:48.722
In what you are and how you're going view even the next season
00:47:48.722 --> 00:47:55.329
Of your life.
00:47:55.329 --> 00:47:57.064
Is that what happened?
00:47:57.064 --> 00:47:58.565
One hundred percent.
00:47:58.565 --> 00:47:59.766
It's the choice to obey.
00:47:59.766 --> 00:48:01.969
And we always have the space to choose.
00:48:01.969 --> 00:48:04.972
We still have agency.
00:48:04.972 --> 00:48:06.239
Especially in hard times, we feel like agency has been taken
00:48:06.239 --> 00:48:08.675
Away from us, control has been taken away from us.
00:48:08.675 --> 00:48:10.677
But that's why it's so
00:48:10.677 --> 00:48:12.112
Important what it says in habakkuk.
00:48:12.112 --> 00:48:13.380
Even when there's no grapes, even when there's no cow in the
00:48:13.380 --> 00:48:16.316
Stall, that's a perfect time to panic if you're in an
00:48:16.316 --> 00:48:19.486
Agricultural society, right?
00:48:19.486 --> 00:48:20.988
He says, i will choose to rejoice.
00:48:20.988 --> 00:48:22.489
And so i think it's realizing, like you said, in between
00:48:22.489 --> 00:48:24.524
Stimulus and action is this face for faith.
00:48:24.524 --> 00:48:28.562
And a chance to say, regardless of this, i can choose to
00:48:28.562 --> 00:48:31.298
Believe that the god that i can't see is in front of me,
00:48:31.298 --> 00:48:34.501
Behind me.
00:48:34.501 --> 00:48:35.369
He's got a plan.
00:48:35.369 --> 00:48:36.570
He's just waiting for me to trust him so he can work.
00:48:36.570 --> 00:48:38.505
The bible says he looks to and fro on the earth, looking to
00:48:38.505 --> 00:48:41.308
Show himself strong.
00:48:41.308 --> 00:48:42.342
So even though he slays me, i can follow him.
00:48:42.342 --> 00:48:45.212
Isn't that beautiful?
00:48:45.212 --> 00:48:46.046
Love that.
00:48:46.046 --> 00:48:47.414
You know, a deep conversation.
00:48:47.414 --> 00:48:50.617
It's a hard saying,
00:48:50.617 --> 00:48:52.019
Yeah, it is.
00:48:52.019 --> 00:48:53.320
I think we've kind of gone out of the shallow and we're way in
00:48:53.320 --> 00:48:58.025
The deep end of the pool here.
00:48:58.025 --> 00:49:00.660
Pray for the people that are watching this.
00:49:00.660 --> 00:49:03.597
I want you to pray for everyone.
00:49:03.597 --> 00:49:06.066
Then i want your kind of final thoughts on this subject.
00:49:06.066 --> 00:49:09.269
Yeah. father, i thank you for every single person who just
00:49:09.269 --> 00:49:13.974
Feels seen by you right now.
00:49:13.974 --> 00:49:15.275
Yeah. they feel like, man, this is how do you know i was going
00:49:15.275 --> 00:49:18.111
Through this?
00:49:18.111 --> 00:49:18.678
I almost feel that.
00:49:18.678 --> 00:49:20.147
I just pray that, like hagar said, you are the god who sees.
00:49:20.147 --> 00:49:23.016
You've been seeing them in their struggle.
00:49:23.016 --> 00:49:25.118
You've you've been with them ever since they got that
00:49:25.118 --> 00:49:27.320
Report, ever since that that loved one left them, ever ever
00:49:27.320 --> 00:49:30.690
Since that that good thing, that graduation, that that new
00:49:30.690 --> 00:49:34.728
Job came, and now they're just feeling like they're having a
00:49:34.728 --> 00:49:36.997
Hard time getting their feet under them.
00:49:36.997 --> 00:49:38.265
And and i just pray, god, you would open their eyes to see
00:49:38.265 --> 00:49:41.101
You are right there with them.
00:49:41.101 --> 00:49:42.669
And i pray they would be
00:49:42.669 --> 00:49:44.004
Willing to lament what they've lost.
00:49:44.004 --> 00:49:46.740
It was it was it was wonderful while it lasted.
00:49:46.740 --> 00:49:50.410
And i pray they would allow themselves to feel that deeply
00:49:50.410 --> 00:49:53.480
So they can mourn it and be ready to see you take off those
00:49:53.480 --> 00:49:57.551
Clothes of of of mourning and put on the festive clothes of
00:49:57.551 --> 00:50:00.620
Celebration for what's new and what's also glorious, and
00:50:00.620 --> 00:50:04.424
That's their future.
00:50:04.424 --> 00:50:05.158
And i pray this in jesus' name.
00:50:05.158 --> 00:50:06.626
Amen. i know there's a lot of people that are feeling like
00:50:06.626 --> 00:50:10.730
They're spiraling.
00:50:10.730 --> 00:50:12.232
This is kind of your gift, to the body of christ, this idea
00:50:12.232 --> 00:50:19.739
That there is god in every piece of every moment, of
00:50:19.739 --> 00:50:25.245
Everything that he's walking you through.
00:50:25.245 --> 00:50:28.548
You may not have hit a wall, he might have hit the edge of a
00:50:28.548 --> 00:50:32.152
Stair and he's waiting for you to get and get going.
00:50:32.152 --> 00:50:36.289
Your final thoughts, and as you say goodbye, if you could say
00:50:36.289 --> 00:50:39.759
Goodbye the way yoda would say it, it'd be five times.
00:50:39.759 --> 00:50:43.163
Yeah. hey, tornado, the tornado is one of the most destructive
00:50:43.163 --> 00:50:47.267
Symbols of nature.
00:50:47.267 --> 00:50:48.435
And yet we put our tornado made out of wild flowers.
00:50:48.435 --> 00:50:51.138
Yeah. my dad's last words before he went to be with jesus
00:50:51.138 --> 00:50:54.174
Were, wow, wow, wow.
00:50:54.174 --> 00:50:57.210
And i think those are the words that are going to come out of
00:50:57.210 --> 00:50:59.079
Your heart when you see what god has planned for your season
00:50:59.079 --> 00:51:02.015
Of spiraling.
00:51:02.015 --> 00:51:03.049
There is no try, only do.
00:51:03.049 --> 00:51:05.352
There's no try, do.
00:51:05.352 --> 00:51:07.220
You were serious.
00:51:07.220 --> 00:51:07.888
And you guys, i love you.
00:51:07.888 --> 00:51:09.356
Thanks for your encouragement, friendship, and always just
00:51:09.356 --> 00:51:12.659
Being around you is a joy.
00:51:12.659 --> 00:51:14.261
There is no try, only do.
00:51:14.261 --> 00:51:16.229
We'll see you next time.
00:51:16.229 --> 00:51:17.230
Thank you.
00:51:17.230 --> 00:51:18.732
Bye bye.
00:51:18.732 --> 00:51:21.434
Life doesn't always fall apart because something went wrong.
00:51:21.434 --> 00:51:24.771
Could it be that god is about to make something brand new?
00:51:24.771 --> 00:51:28.241
We get disoriented when things are new, when things become
00:51:28.241 --> 00:51:32.045
Complex, and when we feel like we don't have the same level of
00:51:32.045 --> 00:51:34.648
Control we had in a previous season.
00:51:34.648 --> 00:51:37.050
In blessed are the spiraling, pastor levi lusko opens up
00:51:37.050 --> 00:51:40.654
About his own midlife storm, anxiety, buried trauma, and the
00:51:40.654 --> 00:51:45.158
Unexpected grace of breaking down to break through.
00:51:45.158 --> 00:51:47.761
If we could hear god when we're spiraling, he's going, lucky.
00:51:47.761 --> 00:51:51.331
You just wait.
00:51:51.331 --> 00:51:51.798
I'm near to you.
00:51:51.798 --> 00:51:53.166
I'm gonna show myself to you.
00:51:53.166 --> 00:51:54.501
This is more than just a book.
00:51:54.501 --> 00:51:56.670
It's a guide for navigating the unknown, finding god in the
00:51:56.670 --> 00:52:00.507
Middle of a storm, and learning to embrace change instead of
00:52:00.507 --> 00:52:04.211
Fearing it.
00:52:04.211 --> 00:52:05.512
When we hit the end of a growth mode or the end of the ability
00:52:05.512 --> 00:52:09.349
To successfully use the tools we possessed in that season, we
00:52:09.349 --> 00:52:12.752
Have to hit a wall, and then that force catalyzes into us
00:52:12.752 --> 00:52:17.357
Taking a step.
00:52:17.357 --> 00:52:18.592
If life feels upside down, you're not being broken down.
00:52:18.592 --> 00:52:22.028
You're being built up.
00:52:22.028 --> 00:52:23.296
Blessed are the spiraling is for anyone navigating through
00:52:23.296 --> 00:52:26.633
Trialing times and into god's peace and breakthrough.
00:52:26.633 --> 00:52:29.569
When we humble ourselves and let the tears of jesus be what
00:52:29.569 --> 00:52:32.772
Guide us, not the tears of alexander be our template.
00:52:32.772 --> 00:52:35.542
We're gonna just be at a place where jesus is enough.
00:52:35.542 --> 00:52:38.778
He's the prize.
00:52:38.778 --> 00:52:39.546
He's the treasure.
00:52:39.546 --> 00:52:40.847
And then we can get to work and do all the things god's called
00:52:40.847 --> 00:52:43.450
Us to do, but where we're not trying to fill up an empty
00:52:43.450 --> 00:52:46.052
Place in our heart.
00:52:46.052 --> 00:52:47.187
Blessed are the spiraling is available now wherever
00:52:47.187 --> 00:52:49.689
Books are sold.
00:52:49.689 --> 00:52:49.689

Levi Lusko: Blessed Are The Spiraling | Praise

June 3, 2025 | 53:0

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