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October 3 – Peace Beyond the Pain · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:03
  Welcome back, everybody, to the Daily Ripples podcast.
• 0:07
  I'm Pastor Mike, but I am not gonna be your host for today.
• 0:10
  I just wanted to come out here briefly and thank 1st and foremost, Bill, for this past week of episodes he has given us.
• 0:18
  If you haven't listened to them all, I certainly encourage you to do so, and Corey and I appreciate that so very much.
• 0:24
  And then this week, today, officially kicks off, well, we're going to call women's week. And that's because for the 1st time in the run of this podcast, we have a female only series of episodes.
• 0:36
  So as soon as I stop talking for the next week, all you're going to hear on here are Steffani and her daughter MacKenzie, and we are so thankful that they also agreed to give us a week of their time.
• 0:47
  And so let's all listen in and hear as they share their experience strength and hope and faith and recovery.
• 0:55
  Good morning, everybody.
• 0:57
  This is Steffani, and I'm here with my daughter, MacKenzie, and this is the Daily Ripples.
• 1:02
  October third.
• 1:03
  Peace Beyond the Pang.
• 1:04
  The stone.
• 1:06
  God often uses the pain I want to escape to accomplish the growth I truly need.
• 1:11
  Ripple one practical.
• 1:14
  Today, I will not assume that every struggle is a setback.
• 1:17
  Difficult seasons can reveal what still needs healing and strengthen, what God is building within me.
• 1:23
  If I remain faithful, peace will follow the storm.
• 1:27
  Ripple 2, spiritual.
• 1:29
  As I walk through hardship with Christ, the Holy Spirit transforms painful moments into opportunities for deeper trust.
• 1:37
  The Father is at work, even when I cannot yet see the purpose, leading me beyond temporary pain into lasting peace.
• 1:45
  For me, this is very true in my walkthrough AA, um, it took a great amount of pain, of wanting to stop drinking and not being able to stop drinking.
• 2:00
  And having no place else to turn.
• 2:03
  But to go to alcoholics anonymous.
• 2:06
  The very last door on the block that I didn't want to go to.
• 2:09
  Um
• 2:12
  And, and it was certainly a god led, um, providence for me to walk through the doors of AA, to meet people that are a lot like me, people that can walk through, have walked through the same doors that I have and have come out on the other side. And, um, the emotional turmoil.
• 2:32
  gave me the serenity that I needed.
• 2:35
  Through the steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
• 2:38
  Um, in page, on page 93 in the 12 and 12, it says, someone who remarked that pain was the touchstone of all spiritual progress, how heartily we AAs can agree with him.
• 2:52
  For we know that the pains of drinking had to come before sobriety, an emotional turmoil before serenity.
• 3:00
  And that is the most truth in my life, because if I wasn't at the bottom of my bottom.
• 3:06
  And if I wasn't going through the pain that I was going through, I was never going to stop drinking.
• 3:12
  Um, I'm also reminded of the same uh, work within the Bible, Romans 5, chapters 3 through 5.
• 3:23
  where it says,
• 3:28
  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produces perseverance, and perseverance, character hope.
• 3:39
  Now, hope does not disappoint because the love of God has poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
• 3:47
  What comes to mind you when we read this?
• 3:51
  Being that you're not a part of an AA program and not a part of a recovery program in general.
• 3:58
  So in Ripple one, it says practical.
• 4:01
  Today I will not assume that every struggle is a setback.
• 4:03
  So for reference, before I get into scripture, I want to give everybody a little bit of context.
• 4:10
  So for a long time, I did inline speed skating at a high level.
• 4:15
  And something that you'll come to find in high-level athletics is a lot of failure.
• 4:21
  However, I think amidst a lot of lost races or 2nd place, you know, even victories, um, there are areas that we can see improvement.
• 4:35
  There are areas that need improvement.
• 4:37
  And a lot of the time, at least in my personal experience, I didn't feel like I failed.
• 4:43
  If it wasn't every time, I tried my best to make sure that I was giving 100%.
• 4:49
  And so if the best that I could produce for that race was 5th place, then that was success.
• 4:54
  And a lot of people's eyes, if you're not in first, then you weren't good enough, but I think a personal effort as the best that you can give is success.
• 5:07
  And the scripture that comes to mind is James one, two, through four.
• 5:12
  It says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
• 5:19
  But let patients have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
• 5:25
  So back to that.
• 5:28
  Back to the context of competition.
• 5:32
  I think that as you run into races where maybe the playing field isn't level or in mixed groups, you're competing against veterans and you're competing against people, and this is their 1st race, in this category, and the expectation that you have or that other people have, may put pressure on you.
• 5:58
  And although those things may affect your performance as long as you're giving your best effort, it can be counted as success, and that even in failure, we count it all joy, and we see that everything that we do, everything that we produce is our best effort. So, despite not getting 1st place, you didn't lose.
• 6:23
  You didn't fail.
• 6:25
  It didn't count as something.
• 6:27
  So that's what that reminds me.
• 6:29
  So would that be a stepping stone in progress on your journey?
• 6:33
  Oh, for sure.
• 6:34
  I think that even when you lose, I mean, especially when you lose.
• 6:39
  It gives you the most to work with. Because when you win, although there are things that you, areas you can improve in.
• 6:47
  Um, it's more difficult to see the areas that you failed and greet, more greatly.
• 6:54
  So I think loss gives you the best opportunity to improve.
• 6:59
  And I see that within the 12 steps because, you know, this isn't a one and done type of thing from an AA perspective.
• 7:06
  You know, it's it's a practice of principles.
• 7:10
  It's a trial and error.
• 7:11
  It's a, this is not perfection.
• 7:14
  It's going to be a journey in life, and there will be setbacks, and there will be failures, but you can count them all as wins, because at the end of your journey, if you're following God, and you're following Christ, and you're doing these 12 steps, then, um, it all has a silver lining.
• 7:33
  So for the prayer for today, Father God.
• 7:36
  help me trust you through every storm, through your Holy Spirit, use even my struggles to shape my heart and deepen my faith, form me through the example of Jesus.
• 7:48
  Amen.