Latest / True Comfort / Special Episode: Digging out of Despair with Teasi Cannon
Transcript
- Teasi Cannon (00:01) Hi, I'm TC and I want to welcome you to true comfort where it's our desire to live out 2nd Corinthians chapter 1 verses 3 and 4 which assure us that we have a God who comforts us in all our afflictions and encourage us to share the comfort that we've received with those who need it. Typically, I invite a guest to join me on the podcast. Specifically, I invite people who have intentionally studied the evidence for the biblical worldview. I invite them to come and open up their hearts for us to share transparently about a season of heartbreak in their life or maybe an ongoing struggle. Also to share how God comforts them through his word and through the knowledge of the biblical worldview and then to share why they trust that God's comfort, that his promises can be clung to why his promises are not empty. And I do that so that we can all be encouraged to know that we're not alone when we suffer and that we're not fools for believing in God, for opening up our Bibles to find hope and truth when we are hurting. And also so that we can be better equipped to navigate our own future pain or to help others who are hurting. Today, I am just going to share from my own heart. I ⁓ woke up today feeling better, but for the last couple of days, I have been navigating some depression and despair. And I don't want to dig too deeply into the minutia of the sad things, but I do want to be very honest in saying that ⁓ this feels like, it feels like I have been in a season that has lasted about probably 10 years, if not just a little bit more, where I've had a lot of doors closed to me. And I want to say this because I don't want to sound like I am majoring on something silly. I also want to acknowledge that I am incredibly thankful for all the ways that God provides for me and my family on a regular basis. am daily aware of how blessed I am to have healthy children who love the Lord and a marriage that is more than I deserve and grand babies that bring me so much joy and food and furniture and all the things like my husband and I regularly list all the things that we are beyond thankful for and so I want to establish that but I think you know we all probably have these these little prayers these these specific prayers that we pray that are above and beyond like where we go to our heavenly father and we think you know we say would it be okay if we have the brand name Barbie, I'm thinking of that because when I was a little girl, my parents were so poor. My mom would find me the Barbies that were the knockoff brand at the dollar store or at a garage sale or and that's what I would get for Christmas. I would open it and it would be a generic Barbie with my with handmade Barbie clothes and now I look back on that and my mom is gone and I treasure it so much that she, her precious self, that she did the best she could to sew together clothes probably from fabric that she could have made a shirt for herself or something. You know, I see it in retrospect as such a gift, but I think sometimes I feel like I'm still asking God, can I get the name brand Barbie? And that may seem like a silly analogy, but you... probably have these places too. So my husband and I, while being thankful beyond words for so many things, have these just specific things that we ask God for and they really equate to opportunities. Opportunities to provide for our family in a different, you know, in maybe a more significant way or opportunities for ministry or those types of things and just special things between us and the Lord. And I am just going to tell you it has been, I mean, I'm laughing because it is in some ways crazy, but it has been about 10 years for me of asking for certain things that just don't happen. It's like closed doors, jobs I've applied for, ⁓ ministry opportunities that look like they were just about to happen. Some really big opportunities that were I thought, wow, this is amazing. Me, like I was so excited and videos were filmed and I mean, and then last minute, this isn't going to happen anymore. So this just happened to me again this week and I spent a couple of days in not the darkest pit I've ever been in, but just another place of feeling like hope deferred and disappointment. and that always puts me in and I could I'm feeling the tears but it puts me into a place of depression and despair for a while and so I wanted to share today how God comforts me through those moments because they've happened so many times in my life and I know I'm not alone. I know that there are many of you out there that have experienced no's regular no's rejection despair disappointment jobs you didn't get, parties you're not invited to, whatever it might equate to, these are those times when we just hear no. And sometimes we hear it over and over and over again. And so I wanted to just share, this is very unscripted, and so I thank you in advance for just hearing my heart, but I wanted to share how I am comforted through these types of moments. And it basically boils down to two different issues that my heart is always reminded of. The first one is that I remind myself that my relationship with God is not transactional. And what I mean by that is God's goodness is consistent despite what I do or don't do or how I ⁓ seemingly am succeeding in life or not. because sometimes in these times when we are disappointed or at least for myself, I'm tempted to start rattling through my brain all the things I think I've done well. Like, well, I've done this and I've done that and I've been faithful in this and like, why isn't this happening, God? And then I realize, I'm making this transactional again. I'm making it a works-based relationship with God where I think if I can prove to God that I have done A, B and C, therefore he must do XYZ, which is not taught in scripture. God's the blessings that we receive, the opportunities we have are never based on our own goodness. They're always a product of God's goodness and he is always good. So whether I feel like I'm knocking it out of the park or utterly failing, God's goodness has never changed. And the opportunities that he has planned for me, and for my husband and for everyone are planned before the foundation of the world. He planned the good works we are going to walk in. And so therefore, yes, we will have consequences of sin. And I'm not saying that we can do whatever and there's no consequences of that. And I do believe God blesses us. I just have to remind myself, it's not as easy as I did this and therefore you must do this. That is not how we live before a holy and righteous. God who is sovereign and omnipotent and eternal and in need of nothing. So there is a lack of reverence when I fall into that transactional mindset and therefore I am lifted out of a place of despair. And then the next ⁓ truth, the next lesson I've learned that I lean back into that helps me out of the pit of despair is remembering that my existence, our existence as children of God involves the transcendent and the eminent. There is the eminent always going on and I see that as the horizontal sphere of my life. What is happening in my daily life, this side of heaven, on the earth with people in the natural. And yes, the eminent is what we have right now. as far as what we can put our hands to. it, and it, are blessings in the eminent and God is providentially involved in the eminent, but it is also where we experience tribulation. Jesus promised us in John's gospel, chapter 1633, he says, you know, in this world you will have tribulation, but be encouraged. I have overcome this world. So we are promised in God's word, we see cover to cover examples of struggles, hardship, pain, despair, death, confusion, all of that. We see that plainly shown as part of a normal life as believers in God. The eminent is also where I find myself tempted to compare with others, where I can get online and look at. all the other opportunities people are getting or the blessings or the vacations or this and that and then I'm plummeted into a state of comparing my own experience with other human experiences and that is the realm of the eminent. I don't find my hope there. I find my hope in the transcendent. And what I mean by that is that as believers in the biblical worldview, believers in what scripture teaches, we have the knowledge that our God transcends the eminent, that our creator is outside of everything created. He is the one who created all that exists. And I want to read just a few scriptures that really bless me. I'm going to get my glasses on here so I can see. So I'm going to start with Romans ⁓ chapter 11, verses 33 through 36. It says here, ⁓ the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him and to him. are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. And I want to read Psalm 90 verse 2. Sorry, I'm my microphone around here. that says, Psalm 90 verse two says, before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. And one more that I wanna read. This is from Colossians chapter one, and it's a little bit lengthier here, verses 15 through 21. It says, let bring this up here. He is the image, this talking about Jesus, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body by flesh of... in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him if indeed you continue in the faith stable and steadfast not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which I paul became a minister so there are so many more scriptures that remind us of God's transcendent existence, his being as the creator outside of all things, but also of his transcendent plan, of his transcendent work in the immanent, in all of human history. And I know that this isn't anything new. I'm sure I'm not teaching you or preaching any new thing that anyone hasn't been aware of. But this is a key to how God comforts me regularly and that's why I wanted to share it. Because not only is God transcendent, but he sustains my life, our life. He didn't just create it, he sustains it. And so, I mean, it seems crazy to think, but we don't exist here necessarily. I don't have to be here. I don't have to exist. I exist at the pleasure of God. Existence itself is something God gives and takes away. So if the world, if he chose not to have the world exist right now, it would be gone. Therefore, regardless of how things work out in my life, opportunities that I might not get, meditating on the transcendent Creator his character and his work that is always going on that is mind-blowing ⁓ So much more exhilarating so much more Meaningful and eternal than anything that could happen this side of heaven It excites me. It lifts my spirit. It reminds me that there is more and I'm always reminded of Jesus on the cross, who enduring betrayal, rejection, and physical pain beyond words, was able to endure it for the joy that was set before him. I'm constantly reminded of this. And I know that the joy that was set before him was transcendent. It wasn't what he was seeing right around him. Although it involved the people's hearts that he saw it was knowing That part of that transcendent plan was being implemented in a victorious way That he would come out of the grave three days later that joy that Jesus had that Helped him to endure the imminent pain and and heartache that we can't even comprehend was a transcendent joy that's on offer to me and you. And so my encouragement for all of us is to remember that we have both all the time. We have the eminent and we have the transcendent. And the way to navigate the pain and disappointment of the eminent is to keep the transcendent always, always weightier. So if you think of a balance, have the transcendent be what you focus mostly on, the time that you spend in study, even what you choose to listen to as podcasts and ⁓ YouTube videos, I have to be very mindful to balance what I listen to with imminent concerns and transcendent truth. So I go back and forth. I make sure that I'm all that I'm balancing listening to true biblical study and then cultural issues. So not one at the exclusion of the other, but mostly the transcendent. I have to work hard to keep my eyes lifted up because every day there is something that can knock me down and it does. So that transcendent balance keep that the weightier thing. And again, I always, you know, one of the biggest focuses of this podcast is to encourage people to substantiate faith with evidence that is there. God has loved us enough to provide for us objectively verifiable evidence for what we believe. The fact that I believe there is more, that this world is not my home, that I have a God who exists outside of Time space and matter could sound really crazy if there wasn't objectively verifiable evidence There's the evidence of what God has done in my heart, which is real and I use it and I lean into it But there's also more there's evidence from science and logic that God exists There has to be a creator. We look around with our eyes and we see Created things everywhere. I'm looking at a computer screen and my Yeti cup and I know Those things did not just pop into existence. I know that they didn't create themselves. And therefore, when you expand that to universe size, it's still matter. It didn't make itself. Therefore, we have a creator that it makes logic sense. We don't even have to be philosophers or brilliant scholars to know it does not make any sense to say there is no creator of the world. We look at things that have design and we know they didn't design themselves. Messaging, like if I came up upon Scrabble cubes, you know, the tiles for Scrabble, I just walked into a room and they were spelling out, love you, Mom. I wouldn't think that that happened by someone just randomly shaking those tiles and throwing them out. I would know that a thinker, a creator, a designer had to put those together. And when you know that the messaging inside a single ⁓ cell of our body with DNA is so incredibly complex and spells out specific instructions for what every piece of our body is supposed to do, you can't come to the conclusion that that's random and accidental. And that's just, mean, that is such a brief bit of the evidence that we have for the existence of a transcendent God. And he has given us this huge gift of love, his revelation of himself, that we are not left to our own devices. We're not left with just the immanent. He's loved us enough to reveal himself in nature, in the immanent, and in this supernaturally inspired word that is a collection of ancient documents written over several thousand years with 40 different authors in different regions of the earth all telling the same story that he's there, that he loves us, that he has a plan, that he hasn't left us alone, and that this world is not the end of the story. So I hope that is encouraging to anyone. I just had it on my heart to want to share again the final encouragement. Don't make your relationship with God transactional. That never works out well for us. And balance. the eminent and the transcendent always with you. Keep it always with you and let the balance be in favor of the transcendent and we will be able to come out of those pits of despair more quickly. It does take time, but those are the tools I use and I share the comfort I've received with you hoping that it might bring you comfort as well. If this has encouraged you, I would love it if you would consider subscribing to Chuco. to true comfort and sharing it with others. My goal for this podcast, I understand that there's so much to listen to out there, but my heart is that you will always know if you're just in a place where you need to be reminded you're not alone, when you need to be reminded that you're not a fool for trusting God's word, that you can find that hope and find those things here at true comfort. So thank you so much for listening and lots of blessings to you.