Rock Life Podcast: Episode 66 | Faith For When You're Stuck

Speaker A [00:00:00]:
But ultimately, it's your choice, your call.

Speaker B [00:00:04]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:00:04]:
At the end of the day, we're all going to be judged individually. I'm not going to be judged for your actions. You're not going to be judged. I'm going to stand up in front of Jesus and he's going to say, what did you do with Jesus inside you?

Speaker B [00:00:17]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:00:18]:
What did you do with the talents and the ability and the family and all the wealth I gave you? What'd you do with the knowledge? What did you do with the creativity? What did you do with these things?

Speaker C [00:00:31]:
Hey, have you ever felt stuck or found yourself tired or frustrated with the current season that you're in? That's what we're going to be talking about today here on the Rock Life podcast. My name is Pastor Antonio. I'm here with Pastor Joel. We want to welcome you all and thank you for listening as we have this conversation today that I think is going to be really profound. Again, it's one of those things that we. 
We often don't talk about, but there really is. Walking with Jesus has its adventures, it has its ups, it has its downs. But one of the most frustrating things can be feeling stuck because you feel like you're doing the right thing. You're going to church, you're praying, you're checking all the right boxes, yet you still find yourself not where you want to be, not where you thought you were called to be. Pastor Joel, any thoughts that come to mind in this notion, feeling stuck or this in between season?

Speaker A [00:01:25]:
Well, a part of our dilemma is the way we frame sometimes our life that. That negative things, disappointing things, things that could absolutely disrupt our life are negative when actually they can be used as positive. You know, Jesus said, this world will always be against you. If they hated me, they're going to hate you. That's a negative.

Speaker B [00:01:56]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:01:57]:
I don't want to walk around and say, man, I want everybody to hate me. You know, that's not something I aspire to do. But yet, because I have a faith in him, and this is what the master teacher has said, there's going to be some onslaught of discomfort.

Speaker B [00:02:13]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:02:13]:
And negative talk. Or maybe someone's not going to buy into our belief system, and that's okay. These things could either build us up or discourage us and take us out. And I think that's where you're heading. Right.

Speaker B [00:02:27]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:02:28]:
This delay doesn't mean that God's distant. You know, this delay or this discomfort doesn't mean that God can't use us as it to flex us and Build us up. Same like getting to the gym. I hate the gym, but I know I need to get into the gym to replenish my body, build my muscle. But all that comes with tension. I can stay in the lightweights.

Speaker B [00:02:56]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:02:57]:
And not build nothing.

Speaker B [00:02:58]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:02:59]:
I could stay in this allure of my fantasy of my own head. I'm going to wake up and just be happy all day long, which I aspire to do, to remain positive. But when adversity comes to us and discomfort, does it mean that it's always a negative? You know, I mean, there's many biblical examples like Joseph, you know, so talk about Joseph a little bit.

Speaker C [00:03:26]:
Well, you know, when you think of Joseph, we. This, what I often hear correlated with Joseph is kind of this in between life. Right. Like, oh man, he had to wait for. There was this promise. He had these dreams, he had this. But then he had trial after trial and most of his life seemed to be in some of the trials. 
And so we get to look at them as lessons. But for him, I'm sure he didn't live that this wasn't as comfortable for him. So I guess I, I think what happens is our expectation really frames this thing. So because he had this expectation of this dream, of this word and it, and it kept getting the cool thing is, is God would remind him in these moments.

Speaker D [00:04:10]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:04:10]:
Like there would be these highlights even in the troubles of his call, of his purpose, of his dream. And I think that's how many of us live our lives as well. Meaning that we can find ourselves in season of troubles or frustrations, or not quite feeling like we're on the peak. But I wonder if it's because we've set the expectation that there's the peak.

Speaker A [00:04:31]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:04:32]:
But you know, if we live life in peaks and valleys, I don't know about you, maybe because we live in the valley here in the Inland Empire, there's a lot of beauty in valleys.

Speaker D [00:04:40]:
Right, right.

Speaker C [00:04:41]:
If, if you think about it, agriculture, life happens in the valley. I've been to Mount Baldy, which is the highest. I'm sorry, not Mount Mount Baldi. I've climbed my Mount Baldi, but I've also summited Mount in the Sierras. Oh my gosh, I'm, I'm losing it. Not Mount Rushmore, but anyways, Mount Whitney, which is the highest in the continent, the highest mountain in the continental U.S. it's like 14,000 some odd feet. Well, there's a tree line, what they call a tree line, because at that height, life stops right there. 
I mean, there's not, you know, because of the elevation, because of the oxygen at that level. There's no trees, there's no animals. Actually, there's just a couple of animals that are known to live in this thing. In other words, there's not a lot of fruitfulness there. But we look at life like, oh, my gosh, the peak. And we take pictures on the top of Mount Whitney. I summited this thing. This is a high in life. But if you think about what happens in the valley, the valley is. That's where the fruitfulness is.

Speaker D [00:05:41]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:05:41]:
That's where things grow. That's where animals, you know, the grays and all. So in other words, I had to get my meat from the. The cows in this valley, and I had to get my nourishment from what can grow in the valley so that I can have the energy to climb the mountain.

Speaker A [00:05:59]:
But okay, so just using that as an example, isn't it the higher you get, the harder it is?

Speaker C [00:06:05]:
Oh, yeah. So the air is so thin. I remember we were kind of going at a certain pace. This one guy marched in front of us, going at a vigorous pace, and not too far later, he's walking back cussing and frustrated. Like, what happened? What happened? He's like, I couldn't do it. I. What. What can happen is you get elevation sickness. 
It often happens because of your pace. If you are at too rigorous of a pace, you went too high, too fast, and what happens is you just get headaches, you get dizzy, you get nauseous, and he just couldn't go on. So probably a lot of preparation, a lot of, you know, time investment into go summit Mount Whitney or, you know, the mountain.

Speaker A [00:06:49]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:06:49]:
But he just couldn't do it. He couldn't get that.

Speaker A [00:06:51]:
I mean, don't we want to climb higher? Right. Of course we want to climb higher in life and do better at what we're doing. There is this friction in life.

Speaker B [00:07:00]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:07:01]:
I mean, and Joseph, I mean, I think the unwritten story there is. I don't read anywhere in the text that his attitude changed. He had attitude of faith, and wherever God moved him, wherever God positioned him, he kept a good attitude.

Speaker B [00:07:17]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:07:18]:
Meaning he kept faith in God even towards his brothers who did him in.

Speaker B [00:07:24]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:07:24]:
You know, I mean, he actually forgave them. So it's almost like people say, well, how do you scale from prison to the palace? I think it's just always this attitude adjustment. Was he discouraged? I'm sure he was, yeah. He didn't display it because everywhere he went, he actually Used that adversity to climb higher and adjust where he was at. And I believe that's what got the secret of these things, this discomfort, man. God, this is not working out. Well, we're seeing it from a limited perspective. 
We're not up the mountain yet. We're excited about climbing. But then when we see the heights and we find. Feel the pressure or the air thinning, then all of a sudden we're gasping like, okay, I got to reposition myself and we got to make. We got to do some things that are necessary changes to stay at that elevation.

Speaker C [00:08:23]:
Well, that's why I'd venture to say what takes place in the valley, in the. In between, in the stuckness that we're talking about, is what makes the mountaintop possible.

Speaker A [00:08:34]:
So then how would you challenge the listeners not to quit?

Speaker C [00:08:39]:
That's cool. You mentioned it in the attitude.

Speaker D [00:08:41]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:08:42]:
And in the focus of what the call was. You can't forget. I don't think we. You can't forget the dream. You can't forget the call. And sometimes let's not elevate the call as in the stage or the business or the money or the relationship. We make that to be the mountaintop. The problem is those are empty things outside of purpose.

Speaker D [00:09:04]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:09:04]:
Because then you get that and you still feel, well, I think we have to see the call as, where is God involved in this? Is it so important to God that I get the thing that I wanted or that he journeyed with me in it? And so because Joseph specifically to stay on that example, it wasn't just to elevate Joseph.

Speaker D [00:09:26]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:09:26]:
It wasn't just, you know, because the dream was that they would all bow to me and so on and so forth. But what was God's purpose in that? In. In these dreams that he was having?

Speaker D [00:09:36]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:09:36]:
He took care of the. The nation of Israel was established and was able to continue because of Joseph's position in Egypt.

Speaker D [00:09:43]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:09:44]:
Because he stayed the course in his call. Now here comes Israel, formerly Jacob, bringing the tribe of Israel into Egypt and was able to sustain because they would have. They would have died in. In the famine.

Speaker D [00:09:57]:
Right, right.

Speaker C [00:09:58]:
I mean, here comes the dream. But yet God's still sustaining his promise to Abraham.

Speaker A [00:10:03]:
Yeah. I mean, even though he had that God dream, there was steps towards there. But I think in Joseph's life there was this always pressing. I'm not trying to reach to save a nation.

Speaker C [00:10:16]:
Yeah, that's true.

Speaker A [00:10:17]:
I'm. I'm trying to do with what I have.

Speaker D [00:10:20]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:10:21]:
Right now. I'm in the Pit. No one's listening to me. I'm very discouraged.

Speaker B [00:10:25]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:10:25]:
But I'm not giving up hope from internally.

Speaker B [00:10:28]:
Yeah.

Speaker C [00:10:28]:
And that's a great point because, you know, in our lives, to the listeners, to us even right now.

Speaker B [00:10:35]:
It would.

Speaker C [00:10:36]:
Be noble if we just thought what we're doing, it's for the, it's for the nations, it's for this.

Speaker A [00:10:41]:
That's right.

Speaker C [00:10:42]:
But sometimes we need enough for us to get out of bed.

Speaker D [00:10:46]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:10:46]:
For us to find purpose, for us to keep going again. I know there's people listening that they're called to start businesses, to be teachers, be doctors. And all those things require trials, tribulations, failures, getting back up, setbacks, failed test, not getting into certain programs or colleges or things that you painted the picture. And so, you know, it'd be great like, oh, I'm just going to help the people and I'm going to, I know I'm going to do a cure and. But sometimes they just need enough to get out of bed. 
Like, oh, I'm going to have enough money to sustain myself or I'm going to be able to provide. And that's what I'm saying. Maybe, you know, we're treating Joseph too kindly in that was every day the purpose of, you know, I don't know, you could correct me if I'm wrong, was like, oh, I'm keeping Abraham's promise alive. Or was there certain days or something?

Speaker A [00:11:40]:
I think I get, I think God formed something internal in him because he wasn't around a lot of encouragement.

Speaker D [00:11:49]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:11:50]:
I mean, so he had to dig deep to say, okay, boy, this is a bad place.

Speaker B [00:11:55]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:11:56]:
I mean, people die here in prison, but I'm not. Yeah, I am. I'm going to do my best to keep myself alive, keep my spirit alive, to get to where God's calling me and whatever adversity. So there was a attitude adjustment, there was some internal adjustment or else discouragement would have got the best of him. And these are models for us. But you know, I don't consider myself a Joseph. 
You know, maybe to me that biblical example is to, to honoring. I, I'm a guy that is frail. I'm a guy that is needy. I'm a guy that is weak. I'm a guy that needs to depend on something other than my own faculty or ability. Yeah, we could make these individuals and examples larger than life. David killing Goliath.

Speaker B [00:12:49]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:12:49]:
Joseph, whoever, Paul, we could make them larger than life. But when you whittle them down, they were human beings like you and me. They hurt, they suffered, they had challenges. Paul was beat up many, many times. The text says, so how do we kind of like, stay focused? I believe they took internal breaks. Yeah, I think they. They debriefed themselves by saying, shoot, what am I going to do now?

Speaker D [00:13:15]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:13:16]:
I mean, now that I told two people, hey, put in good word for me, and they forgot me, what do I do now?

Speaker C [00:13:24]:
Well, that's where I would challenge a thought principle of the world. You know, the world has really adopted. And it makes a lot of sense that you kind of just dig deep.

Speaker D [00:13:33]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:13:34]:
Dig deep within yourself.

Speaker D [00:13:35]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:13:36]:
There's motivational speakers that tell you, dig deep within yourself. Get the grit. And that's where I would challenge that notion, because we can get to the bottom of ourselves. And as believers, we got to dig deep into God. And that's how I'll use a maybe Christian buzzword of the secret place. Right. Or really the secret place. And I know I've been like, God, what is the secret place? 
I hear it in all these Christian circles, and it sounds super spiritual. It's just. It's just where I'm at. It's where I'm at with you. And so in our time with Jesus is. Is where we really have to dig into, because we'll find ourselves at the end of us. But that's where I think of the scripture. My strength is made perfect in your weakness.

Speaker A [00:14:16]:
That's right.

Speaker D [00:14:17]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:14:17]:
So at the end, I almost say it's like at the end of myself. That's when God shows him. It's like, are you done yet?

Speaker A [00:14:23]:
Yeah.

Speaker D [00:14:24]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:14:24]:
Are you done trying to do it yourself? Are you done with your grit? Are you done with your positive thinking? Are you done with everything that you did? Now let me do my perfect work.

Speaker A [00:14:33]:
Yeah. When we're done with our us, God actually can now use that. Right? I mean, Romans 8, 28. Hey, I'm gonna work it all out.

Speaker B [00:14:43]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:14:44]:
I promise.

Speaker D [00:14:45]:
Right?

Speaker A [00:14:45]:
You love me. I love you. Even though you see this around you and even though it could be discouraging because, boy, that's. That's a lofty goal to get way on top.

Speaker B [00:14:55]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:14:55]:
You know, it's a loftly goal to finish my education or go into a new career or I don't have any money. But those. Those indicators are never, never necessary for God to do what he needs to do.

Speaker B [00:15:08]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:15:09]:
Wasn't in the life of Joseph, Paul, and all the other examples. But if I do believe the scripture, that God will take care of me and never leave me and never Abandon me then. That's the digging deep. Even though I don't see it. Even though it's not okay, well, my lens doesn't see that far, or my education level is that way, or my communication skills. I set a clear path and a clear course. That whatever happens, God's with me and he's going to take care of the situation. I got to do my part.

Speaker B [00:15:42]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:15:42]:
I can't give up. I got to dig in my faith. I got to realign myself.

Speaker B [00:15:47]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:15:47]:
I got to say, okay, well, what do I now do with what I have? Not pretend like, okay, well, I don't have a lot of money, so I'm not going to get out credit and start spending money. So what do I do with what I have? What's in my hand?

Speaker B [00:16:02]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:16:03]:
I'm a little boy. Had fish and loaves.

Speaker B [00:16:07]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:16:08]:
And God challenged the disciples and tested their faith and said, look around. How many people are here?

Speaker B [00:16:13]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:16:13]:
Well, there's about 10,000, including children and women. Well, then feed them.

Speaker C [00:16:19]:
Well, if you think about that. So it was just fish and loaves. It was just the little boy's lunch until what? Until he put it in the hands of Jesus.

Speaker A [00:16:26]:
That's exactly right.

Speaker C [00:16:27]:
So our life is our talent, our resume. It ends at some point. It's only what it is until it's put in the hands of Jesus and then he can multiply.

Speaker A [00:16:36]:
But I venture to say we're more like the disciple disciples. And saying, with what right? I mean, it's gonna take us a day's journey to go get. I mean, they already made up this stuff in their head of how this is gonna happen.

Speaker C [00:16:49]:
That's true.

Speaker A [00:16:50]:
With what?

Speaker C [00:16:51]:
Because God is. You're right. Because God is saying, feed the people. God is giving us a bigger task.

Speaker A [00:16:57]:
That's right.

Speaker C [00:16:58]:
Knowing that it's going to need him to make it possible. So we say, what do you mean, God, how can I change my world? How can I do this? This is all I have. We're going to need X, Y, and Z. And he's saying, do it. Yeah, but you got to lean on me.

Speaker A [00:17:12]:
God called me to. To have a successful career. What do I start?

Speaker D [00:17:16]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:17:17]:
Well, what's in your hand?

Speaker B [00:17:18]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:17:19]:
You know, what's the intention of your heart? How do you get this to realign yourself to where you could have some noticeable tangibles?

Speaker B [00:17:28]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:17:29]:
You know, I. I've always told myself growing up, you know, I didn't grow up with a lot of money or I will never have nothing to eat. If I look around I'll collect cans.

Speaker D [00:17:40]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:17:41]:
I mean, there's always an opportunity.

Speaker B [00:17:43]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:17:44]:
To find something to take care of ourselves. If I'm willing to take that risk.

Speaker B [00:17:49]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:17:50]:
Would I be humble enough to gather cans for. For a meal where I'd be humble enough to take a step back and maybe take some time to pray and fast in the direction God wants me? Or do I want to run to another mishap?

Speaker C [00:18:05]:
Well, so. But let's spend some time right there. Knowing you, there's a natural resourcefulness for you. Like you said, like, you know that. But some people maybe don't have that within their nature to make something out of nothing. You know, again, we celebrate that in culture. Like, oh man, you make something out of nothing, you pick yourself up. There's a resourcefulness to you, There's a grit to you. There's an element of that that we know is God given, but maybe to the listener that doesn't feel like they have that. That some of those things just aren't natural to them.

Speaker A [00:18:33]:
Yeah.

Speaker C [00:18:34]:
Where they stand.

Speaker A [00:18:34]:
They're not. Because taking these risks are unfamiliar territory.

Speaker B [00:18:39]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:18:40]:
So if it's unfamiliar to you, let's say God speaks to you and says, I want you to work on a sound system that you have no knowledge of. And you're like, well, how do I do that? I failed in high school. I'm not good with math. I mean, what do I do? And then that's where you recalibrate yourself and you start looking into and asking questions like, okay, then where do I start? 
Where does a person start to be a good sound tech? Where does a person start to be a good computer designer? Where does a person start. Start a new business. Where did, where's the starting point? Not to be afraid of it.

Speaker B [00:19:19]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:19:20]:
You know, not, not to hesitate and say, okay, well, I'm not going to take risk. I'm just going to stay in the land of safety. Change rarely happens when that happens. If I'm a non risk guy, then I'm going to stay in the land of comfort and nothing happens. And if I look at these narratives and these stories and were always uncomfortable.

Speaker B [00:19:43]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:19:44]:
And God's always putting us in uncomfortable positions to grow us. I've never grown in the land of comfort. You talked about the valley. Okay. We could eat all day long. We'll never get up the mountain.

Speaker B [00:19:57]:
That's true.

Speaker A [00:19:58]:
But maybe we don't want to. And we concede to do what God's calling us to do and hesitate to trek deeper, higher in something that we know we Ought to. To do.

Speaker B [00:20:11]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:20:11]:
Who's going to challenge us? So there's a lot of things in that. Accountability, testing your language.

Speaker B [00:20:20]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:20:20]:
If you say that you're a failure and you're always saying, I'm not going to and guess what's going to happen? You're never going to.

Speaker C [00:20:29]:
Well, so there's this bumper sticker I've seen and it has a little drawing of a mountain. It says the mountains are right. So you saying that about the valley made me think because for many people, like, why would I leave the valley? 
This is great. I have all the food I need. I have everything I need here. This is comfortable. Why would I look at those mountains? And I've never looked at those mountains and said, how can I climb that?

Speaker D [00:20:50]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:20:50]:
But there's that bumper sticker reminds me there's that inner dialogue within some people, like, ah, the mountains are calling. I got to get up there, I got to climb that. And I think for the person that doesn't say, I don't want to summon a mountain, that sounds crazy. I would say that walking with God, he does call us to a level of growth and multiplication because we see in the parable of the talents. And I think about. And ever since we talked about it in the finance series here at church, it's just been this thing because innate within us now as a believer, because now we're a new creation. We can say, I didn't see that with my parents. I didn't see that at home. I didn't. We're new creations now. And now as part of our spiritual DNA is this desire for multiplication.

Speaker A [00:21:41]:
Right?

Speaker D [00:21:41]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:21:42]:
This. There, there's going to be this call for greater, not for greatness, for ourself, but in giving glory to God. So now there is going to almost be. The mountains are calling. And maybe we don't identify it as a mountain, but there's something within us that is calling what deep calls into deep. And God has taken us from glory to glory.

Speaker D [00:21:59]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:22:00]:
From one degree of greatness to more degrees as we're walking with him. Because that's just what he calls us to do. So in our stewardship, I suppose we could be like the lazy no good servant that buried his talent. But for the rest we see that the expectation is multiplication because remember, what does he say? 
That you should have at least placed it somewhere where he could have gotten interest. Meaning there was an expectation for maybe you're not going to climb the highest mountain, but there's something within you when you partner with me that we're going to do something more than our comfort level.

Speaker A [00:22:33]:
So that scripture alone tells me that Jesus always demands more, not less.

Speaker C [00:22:39]:
Yes. And I think that's hard for people.

Speaker A [00:22:41]:
Absolutely.

Speaker C [00:22:42]:
That's hard for people to think that because we don't see ourselves oftentimes as being able to do more or we think, I did a little bit better than my parents, I did a little bit better. You know, hey, I made it out of the streets. Why would I need to do anything else?

Speaker D [00:22:57]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:22:58]:
But then we're confronted with Jesus saying, okay, so where's your gifts?

Speaker B [00:23:03]:
Exactly.

Speaker A [00:23:04]:
Why aren't they multiplied?

Speaker B [00:23:05]:
Yep.

Speaker A [00:23:06]:
How come you're not giving me what I've given you?

Speaker B [00:23:08]:
Right.

Speaker A [00:23:09]:
To me, the greater you climb, the greater you're going to be tested, the more you're going to be asked. Too much is given, much is required. The scripture.

Speaker C [00:23:19]:
Well, what I hear you saying, what we might perceive as the safe thing, is actually not safe at all.

Speaker A [00:23:24]:
To me. Those. Those. You run risk of not completing your assignment.

Speaker B [00:23:29]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:23:30]:
You run risk of canceling out everything that God's given you. And I don't want to be an individual that says, okay, God, you bless me with all these. The mind that I've given, the hands that you. You can given me to create wealth or the values that I have. I don't want to waste anything. I don't want to spend it. 
So help me to realign my emotions, reframe my setting, because I don't like this environment or I don't like where I think you're heading me. Help me to like it. Because if I realign myself, then I could say, okay, well, this is great. And I mean, people could look at something hard, reframe their mentality, and say, okay, boy, I got to break rocks all day, or I get to do this. Yeah, you know, I get to do this. As I'm building muscle, I'm building stamina, I'm building strength. You know how many people listening to us would love to have more strength, stamina, greater health? The more you exercise, the more you walk, the more you do, the. Your body builds.

Speaker B [00:24:40]:
Y.

Speaker A [00:24:41]:
We can't do it on the couch. And what I challenge Christians all. All day long is it's not good enough just to listen to a podcast or listen to a message. Let that form you and challenge you so you come out with something substantial that God can use. Right. Not depending on individuals to do it for you. Because I think that's what's. Culturally, people love to do. Depend on people, which is great. Let's depend on God, let's depend on others. But ultimately, it's your choice, your call.

Speaker B [00:25:15]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:15]:
At the end of the day, we're all going to be judged individually. I'm not going to be judged for your actions. You're not going to be judged. I'm going to stand up in front of Jesus and he's going to say, what did you do with Jesus inside you?

Speaker B [00:25:28]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:29]:
What did you do with the talents and the ability and the family and all the wealth I gave you? What did you do with the knowledge?

Speaker B [00:25:35]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:35]:
What. What did you do? The creativity? What did you do with these things?

Speaker B [00:25:39]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:40]:
That's where we're going to be judged. And I don't want to face that judgment while saying, I buried it, I neglected it.

Speaker B [00:25:47]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:25:48]:
I refused to go up that mountain because I knew it was hard. I just didn't want to take any risk. I want to live the life of comfort. I want to be a happy, go lucky Christian. Well, to me, that's not reality because there is adversity all around us. They're confronting ourselves. Now that I'm older, it's confronting my grandchildren. My grandchildren's world is a lot different than when I grew up. So how do I pray for them? What do I encourage them with?

Speaker B [00:26:17]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:26:17]:
What tools do I equip them with not to fail or give up or to say, you know what, I'm not going to go after this?

Speaker B [00:26:24]:
Yeah.

Speaker C [00:26:25]:
Well, I think. I mean, there's. There's definitely. Like you said, there's the secret place. There's getting with God. There's finding our purpose and strength. There's also going to be a community of faith.

Speaker D [00:26:34]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:26:35]:
That we have to put ourselves. And that's what. That's the beauty of the local church. That's the beauty of getting around people that will also not let us be stuck. You know, there's a stat that says you. That you could tell the. You tend to hang out, basically, in a nutshell, you tend to hang out within your tax bracket. 
So your few closest friends are probably within the same tax bracket as you. It's just kind of like this study that kind of showed as people, maybe as people rise up, well, their friends have probably raised it, raise it up in their. In their income as well. Because the things that you like to do, maybe you stopped hanging out with people. I remember I talked to someone, they were like, oh, yeah, we used to hang out with them, but they just, you know, they. We like to go on vacations or we like to go to these restaurants. So you kind of phase people out. What I'm saying in the spirit is the same way we want. 
Not that you phase people out, but you want to get around people of faith that are going to encourage your faith, that are going to stoke the fire within you. And what will happen is people that don't have faith or that are going to just bring you down, they kind of just fall by the wayside. And not that. That's. There's not. I'm not proposing an elitism in our faith.

Speaker A [00:27:46]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:27:46]:
What I am saying is, is when we get around a community of faith that is going to encourage us so that when we do feel stuck, because we all will feel stuck. We saw it in the Bible. We see it with different characters throughout Scripture and how they were confronted with this in between.

Speaker D [00:28:04]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:28:04]:
And that's where oftentimes we live a lot of our life in that in between.

Speaker A [00:28:08]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:28:08]:
But what's going to prepare us? So to answer the question, again, I think, you know, our time with Jesus, people of community and where we're at, stirring up in our faith, and then just overall, we have to make a decision that we don't want, that we want better, we want more, we want different.

Speaker A [00:28:25]:
Yeah. I would add pray for boldness. I mean, we could be in those rooms and be very comfortable. Most of the time I've been in those rooms and I have with people that are smarter, richer, have more stuff. When I pray and I get boldness from God, it's like I'm at the table and I'm welcome, even though I might not feel that from them because I'm not in their tax bracket or I'm not as smart as them. 
So the intimidation factor is like, okay, so even though I am not up to par to you, I know I'm sufficient in him to where when you're challenging me or I have an assignment, I'm going to be able to go through with it because I'm not going to be in a room feeling intimidated because I don't have no intimidation if God's with me. The boldness to conquer something, I don't know, or something that, you know, I'm not comfortable with. And those rooms make you uncomfortable.

Speaker C [00:29:22]:
Well, you've heard the adage, all ships rise with the tide.

Speaker A [00:29:25]:
Right.

Speaker C [00:29:26]:
So whether it's a yacht, a mega yacht, or a little dinghy, when the tide comes in, all these ships rise. And the idea is, if you're in the room, if you're around these people, whether or not you feel your capacity is x Y. Look at that mega yacht. Because they're mega rich. Look at that, Professor. And they're obviously really. When the tide rises, when the shift comes in, in our atmosphere, we're all going to rise to that thing. And I think those are the things we can always disqualify ourselves, right?

Speaker A [00:29:54]:
I'm not saying to pretend. I'm saying, you know, study to show yourself approved, you know, enhance your gifting, enhance your knowledge. But when you walk into a space like that, like Joseph did, he walked into those spaces and he was not intimidated. He wasn't intimidated because he knew the God that called him. He knew the God that gave him a dream, right? And I'm a firm believer. There's enough work. 
The Bible says the harvest is plentiful and the labors are few. Okay? If God is after the masses and lots of things and people, then what do I have to do to start thinking like God? How can I think bigger like him? So my spirit could enlarge my capacity. The Jabez prayer, right? To enlarge my tent stakes. Enlarge my capacity to go after more and not less. You know, that's why I think prayer comes in where when God downloads a secret thought from him or a plan, boy, you ride that out, boy, you'll defeat giants, you'll defeat nations, you'll defeat capacities that are unbelievable. I'm a firm believer of that. 
Yeah, but I'm a believer of that because when God says it, I absolutely believe it. So oftentimes we're challenging people. Well, what God's. What is God saying? Well, is he saying to be comfortable? Is he saying just to play nice? Some cases back off. You're not a threat to nobody. But is he saying, maybe I want you to. To get married and that's a new season for them. Yeah, because that's a risk, right? You're risking your comfort of singleness. You're risking living with. Hey, there's no pressure. When I got married, it hit me in a parking lot and I broke out in hives because I'm like, shoot, where am I going to live?

Speaker B [00:31:57]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:31:58]:
I don't have enough money.

Speaker C [00:32:01]:
I mean, I freaked out the weight of the change.

Speaker A [00:32:04]:
That's right. So then the Lord challenged me. Don't you think you can buy a house? I'm like, I have a down.

Speaker B [00:32:11]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:32:11]:
I don't have anything in my hand. And the Lord says, okay, I guess you're not going to get married, because I didn't want to bring my bride into someone else's house. And I mustered enough courage and I worked three or four jobs to save for a down payment. And I know my lens is different because houses are more expensive here in California. Although I bought in California, at the end of the day, I was able to see God come through with buying my house with no one's down payment. But the resources God gave me. No one co signing for me and walking my beautiful bride in a brand new house. And at 22, how did that happen? Because I had a different lens.

Speaker B [00:32:54]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:32:55]:
God wanted me to be married.

Speaker B [00:32:56]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:32:57]:
He wants me to take my bride and take and have a house of my own. Leaving Cleave. So I took the risk to do it. Now, I went a little shallow on the wedding. It was a potluck wedding. Who does that? But I got married at one of the most historic buildings in downtown Riverside. I had a reception at a castle in Riverside. That historic church in downtown Riverside cost me 50 bucks. The castle cost me 500. I had beautiful places where I took pictures. That was because I trusted God. Okay. Yeah. I downsized the food, but then I leveraged what I had.

Speaker C [00:33:41]:
Well, the principle remains the same. The principle I'm hearing as you honed in on a vision, honed in on the call. And that's what we're talking about today as we wrap up. We're talking about that stuckness that we may be feeling. Hey, we. We feel the pain.

Speaker D [00:33:54]:
We're.

Speaker C [00:33:54]:
We empathize. We're there with you. We know that those seasons come and go, but we're giving you some tools. And. And our prayer is that you are encouraged, that you're equipped to have some of these practicals as we close out. Pastor Joanne, closing final thoughts.

Speaker A [00:34:07]:
Yeah. Philippians 1:6 says, he's begun the work and you will complete it. You got to understand, your. Your frame of your whole life has already been panned out from start to finish. You gotta trust the maker who has that plan for you. If you trust him, it will work out. My brother. Yeah, if you trust him, it'll work out, my sister. You might not see it right now, but he begun that good work in you, forming Christ in you, will complete it. Because that's the way God does. He never does things halfway creation. What would creation be if he didn't halfway build the world?

Speaker B [00:34:49]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:34:50]:
The stars, the galaxies to. Even now, scientists with greater degrees than we have in this podcast can't figure out the galaxies and number them.

Speaker B [00:35:01]:
Yeah.

Speaker A [00:35:02]:
How it all happened, that's our God. He starts what he finishes. So I have to wake up every morning saying, boy, God, I'm challenged. I got to take a risk. I got to say some things and do some things that I'm very uncomfortable. But I know you got my back and I know at the end of the day you're going to take care of us, me, our church, and the world because you're inside of us.

Speaker C [00:35:26]:
Amen.

Speaker B [00:35:27]:
So good.

Speaker C [00:35:28]:
Well, thank you guys for joining in. Like always. Like Comment Subscribe Share we love to hear your comments and engage with you. Help how we can. We love you. We can't wait to again share this episode with you and we pray that you are blessed. God bless you.