Latest / The Extra Mile Podcast / #10 - Repurposing Pain: How Did David Turn Trial into Trust? (with Pastor Austin Young)

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#10 - Repurposing Pain: How Did David Turn Trial into Trust? (with Pastor Austin Young) · The Extra Mile Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It took me going through a tough season to make me really trust you.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we're opposite, Lord, I trust you when I don't have to go through something tough.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: David says, no, I learned to trust you by going through the tough season.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 119, he says, it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn to decrease.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: That is so counterintuitive to the way we talk, to the way culture thinks.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: But as we get around the word, it's just a kingdom way of thinking.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, welcome everybody again.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the extra mile.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're covering just some content and a recap of this Sunday's message.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a deep one.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: It was a heavy topic, something that a lot of people I think wrestle with.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just this reality that we all suffer, which is a horrible word.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: It just means we go through difficult times, we face loss, we face challenges, and you know, just out of the gate, I knew it would be tough.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I felt like, man, the the angle that God gave me to deal with it was this mindset of the thrifter's mentality.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: And we've been in this series talking about thrifting, going into secondhand stores, and basically a thrifter is this semi-professional shopper, someone that has the eye to see hidden gems, and really the eye to walk in and see what is one man's trash is another man's treasure.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: They can walk in and see something that someone else has discarded, what someone else doesn't want, and they're able to repurpose it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And really that's the whole conversation is there's stuff we don't want in life.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want to go through hurt loss, heartache, and pain, but God, He has this incredible ability to see what we don't want, He can repurpose our pain.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was kind of the big, the big takeaway for them today is that God can repurpose our pain.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what uh what was your takeaway before we get too deep into the weeds in this?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I think that's been a part of my story over the last several years is just having seasons where feeling like they're suffering.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, I thought it wasn't supposed to be this because I know I'm in God's will.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Like people are like, maybe you're not, and I'm like, no, I know where I'm where I'm where God wants me to be, and yet I'm like, not I'm kind of miserable at times.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And you're like, but I thought it was just supposed to be good.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like if we obey God, we'll always be happy.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think um it's a conversation that is is kind of relieving to people of just going, no, there are hard times, and and the point is that God doesn't help us avoid every hard thing, but he does promise to repurpose it, and he he promises to redeem it.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And he he's he's almost redeeming more.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: We want him to protect us from everything.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I think more often he's willing to redeem what we go through rather than protect us from what we might go through.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that would be an easier, easier route.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think you know, all of us would prefer to prefer to avoid, man, all the stuff we go through that we don't want.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, being a pastor in a church, you know, let's just be honest.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, ministry is not perfect, the church isn't perfect, God's people aren't perfect, and just living life and doing what you feel like you're called to do, there's heartache and there's disappointment, and it's gonna come.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus, he said it in John 16, 33, he said, here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he wasn't saying that to sinners that like these people that weren't serving God, he said that to his disciples, which is basically a way of saying, Hey, if if you follow me, you're gonna face some stuff you don't want to face.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it's not just this, if you live the life of disobedience, we know where that ends.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're gonna have some heartache.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: But hey, follow Jesus, and good news is you still have some heartache.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, so I I think uh one of the things I really wanted to communicate Sunday was exactly that that you know, if you're in a bad place, that doesn't mean you're in the wrong place.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you could be in the right place, but sometimes challenges are gonna come.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus said they're gonna come.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: The promise is to be of good cheer, he's overcome the world.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And the promise is, and what we really tackled on Sunday, this thrifter's mentality, what James says is, hey, you can count it all joy because God's gonna use this broken mess, God's gonna use painful seasons, and he's gonna really try to, he's gonna develop your faith.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, that's the journey we're on is we're on a journey of faith.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: And how do you know if your faith is really strong unless it's ever tested?
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that you know, that to me is the that's the goal, man, is to put our faith under the stress of trials and difficulties.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I think probably my favorite takeaway, and you know, several people quoted it was you know, um, what pressure reveals, comfort conceals.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Man, it's easy to trust God when everything's working out and you love life and marriage is great, but when you're under the gun of pressure, um that's when it really exposes, I think, where your faith is.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think and sometimes I feel like I've felt more exposed because I I definitely drift from God when things are good.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: So if hey, like money's good, everybody's healthy, then I feel like sometimes God will start to expose stuff in me of like, hey, you don't care about like so you're good without me now.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's kind of that almost that in suffering you become more reliant on God, which is great.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's part of what helps form us faster.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I think when things are good, we're often creating more distance between us and God because there isn't a felt need because there's not that pressure.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: We need we we need that pressure to kind of reveal it, like you said.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: A study I didn't quote Sunday, but I thought was was pertinent to this conversation is basically the researchers have taken, you know, thousands of kids, tested every level of like, you know, your home life, your homework life, your school life, if you play sports.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And what's the common denominator to make really great young adults that have come like what's the thing that they experienced through childhood that made them more successful or more resilient?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: And what they found was kids that have responsibilities and chores and discipline when they don't do them.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Which, you know, so it's not just, hey, here's the expectation, but if you don't do A, B, and C, if you don't bear the weight, there's responsibility, there's consequences, that it's basically the discipline of a parent putting pressure on a kid and putting discipline on them if they don't rise to the occasion.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like that's the number one, you know, number one thing to make sure your kids really thrive as adults.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, I think about that, that when you look at who God is, God is our heavenly father.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so to look at a God and say, if you're really God, why would you let us go through these things?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: It goes back to the problem of evil.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: If if God is all-knowing, uh, or if God is all powerful, um, he can't be all-loving.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if he's all loving, he can't be all-powerful, because if he's both, there can't be suffering.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: And what we find in this world is there is suffering.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so, why would our heavenly father let us suffer?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because he understands that's the thing.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Out of all the differences in our lives, the thing that's going to make us rise and strive and develop our faith are the challenges we don't want to go through.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so, man, I think that comparison spiritually with our Heavenly Father and with our natural parents, it's the pressure that we don't want to face, is the very thing that develops us.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's and that's the reality of life.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: Life isn't easy, and like paying bills isn't easy, and paying for groceries and gas right now isn't easy.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like, so none of none of the things in life are easy.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: So if you are set up to not be resilient through difficult things, you're not gonna be set up for life.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: And the cause of that is not because of God, it's because of sin, it's because of evil, it's because of you know, those forces at work are what are causing suffering.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so God is going, Well, I'm just gonna keep redeeming it, I'm gonna keep stepping into the mess that you all have created, and I will help you get get through it.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why what do you think is in us that we think we should just live like pressure free?
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I yeah, I mean, I don't want it, and when I when I experience it, I don't like it, and I do still today, like God, you know, why?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's almost like let me pick maybe my pressure because I don't like this one.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, why do you you know, where do you think the why comes from in all of us?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think part of it is, I think part of it's probably we were created for a loving relationship in perfection with God.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: So we were we were created for this relationship with God that is untainted by sin.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think we are just constantly searching on how to get back to that.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_01: And most of the time we turn to sin, we turn to self, we turn inward and go, well, if I can just make all the bad feelings go away and the good feelings stay, that must be what it's like to be in a loving relationship with God.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And all so I think that's like the the really theological spiritual answer.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: As far as practically, I don't know, because I'm the same way.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I love like high stress jobs or high pressure situations.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like we're we're in the middle of pulling off our kids' conference at two locations, and it's you know, we've got almost 400 kids going down water slides, and you know, it's like high pressure, yeah.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so you're like, I love it, like I'm thriving, but then I'm like, I'm exhausted, and you're like, but that you can't live your life like on adrenaline all the time either.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's hard to find why do we sometimes we want the hard stuff because it's fun and it's invigorating, and then sometimes it makes us sad and we don't want the pain of it.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think it probably has something to do with that bigger story.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, I think it's fair to say that at least for all of us, just to admit that we're we're gonna ask why.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're never gonna get past the you know, the shock of when it comes.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: But what James says is, you know, gosh, I love the Bible, but it says some things that I, you know, I know are true, but still just rubs me like that can't be true.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And this is one of those verses, you know, talking about trials and tribulations and pressures.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: James says, Hey, dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Some translations, uh, looser translations say, throw a party.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that is the last thing we want to do is celebrate or throw a party or think anything good can come from it.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: But again, James has this the you know, the thrifter's mentality.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: He understands that, hey, God is allowing, whether we caused it or God sends it, at least God and his sovereignty, God is allowing us to face this thing because he knows it's to our benefit.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, you know, I think for for anybody watching this, if they're going through a tough time, if they're not, they will.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: For me, the next season of difficulty that I'm gonna face, I really have two decisions, two options, and that is I can either deconstruct my faith, ask a lot of questions why, or it can develop my faith.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: And going back to what you said, um sometimes it's some of the most trying times that I'm in God's will.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look at what Paul faced.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: Paul, you know, man, he lists all of his trials.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: I was beaten and shipwrecked, and I was hungry, and I went through sleepless nights.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: And we would read that probably in the modern church and say, man, I don't know who that guy is, but he's not in God's will because hey, if he's in God's will, who gets shipwrecked loving Jesus?
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Paul's like, I'm doing exactly what God wants me to do, and it's not always ending up the way I think it should, but man, somehow through it, God is developing my faith and spreading the gospel.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: And man, at the end of the day, while we don't want difficult times, I wanted to develop my faith.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to deconstruct, I don't want to walk away.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I want to stand strong.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I just still going with that.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, even at the very end of his life, like, you know, the I for I forget who it is.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: You've preached on it recently, even the guy that comes and prophesies, he's like, You're you're gonna be bound and you're gonna be taken into Rome to suffer.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Agabus.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, and everybody's like, Paul, don't you get it?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: This is God trying to tell you not to go.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, if this is where I'm supposed to go, this is the next thing for me.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: Like, this is no, I'm supposed to walk into the suffering.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I'm supposed to walk into the imprisonment and to the death.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like having the maturity and and knowing this the will of the Holy Spirit enough to be like confident that you actually step into a suffering.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm still not there yet.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: But I would like to be there.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'd I'd like to like know the voice of the spirit enough to go like, yeah, I'm I'm gonna step into this season of like pain.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, that can't.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: I still am like, ah, that's not the spirit.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, let's move on to the next thing that it could be.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: So Agabus and Paul, you know, going back to Peter and Jesus.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Peter tries to get in front of Jesus.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus knows he's gonna go suffer.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, who signs up for that?
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: But he understands that's God's plan for his life and ultimately our redemption.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I don't know, man, there's so many examples, and it's just easy to read.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's easy to say, yeah, I get it.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I can count it all joy, but man, to go through it is just another is just another thing.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I think that's why we come back to why do we preach the gospel?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we why do we go to church and listen to these messages?
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we do devotions?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because the word of God is the thing that man is establishes, God's framework, gives us God's perspective, strengthens our faith to go through it.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, again, man, anybody listening to this, um, you know, I know as this this podcast grows, we're gonna reach people who have lost children, who have lost marriages, who've lost jobs, and all those questions are gonna come up.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I would just say that, you know, I think it's fair to at least evaluate and say, hey, is this something I'm doing wrong?
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, don't blame God for your suffering if you're making really bad decisions in life.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're doing the best you can to honor God, you feel like you're on the path that He has for you, you're on the place that He has for you, you're really trying to love Jesus, again, that's no guarantee you're not going to suffer.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're in the place that God has for you and you're still suffering, you're going through trials and tribulations, then man, know that God wants to use that again to uh to develop your faith.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: He says this in verse three, for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So God's trying to, he's trying to test our faith to make sure we know on this side of eternity, I really have the faith I think I have.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's been tested and tried.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And God's strengthening that faith, though.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: So the next trial that comes, because there's another one coming, that's the bad news.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is God sent it, he's gonna use it, he's gonna use that to again give us endurance for the rest of life.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so I love God that his heart is to help us as his children, you know, but we're not God, and it's sometimes hard to see that I don't know, I don't like his method.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I like the I like the product, I just don't like the procedure.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: It's not it's not clean and simple.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: We like we want to believe, and that's kind of the promise of culture is like, look how easy this thing's gonna make your life.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: Look how much it'll remove all friction, it'll remove all stress, it'll remove all, and and that's like the promise of the world is trying to remove all suffering, and then it doesn't work, and so you're like, well, we'll just find the next thing.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: And God's promise is no, there's suffering, but I'll redeem it and I'll form you through it, and I'll grow you through it, and I'll be with you through it, and you'll come out closer to me and more like me on the other end, and you don't have to try to rely on all these gimmicks and technology and whatever else.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've I've got you and I'll take care of it, but it's just a slower and more painful process.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Faster, Lord, less pain and faster process.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so 1 Peter, he says something very similar to what James says, and I didn't get into this Sunday, and I just thought this was kind of fascinating.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_00: He says uh in 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, um, he makes this, he makes this uh makes this statement.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: He says, So be truly glad.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the same way James says, hey, throw a party, you know, count it all joy.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Peter says, so be truly glad.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And he's saying a little while, not like, hey, you got a season, I have a season.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: He's saying, in context of eternity, your life is just it's just a little while.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: He says, These trials will show that your faith is genuine.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's being tested as fire tests and purifies gold, uh, though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it'll bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I started thinking about this, and again, there's just not a spot Sunday to share this.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: But again, he talks about this the process of pain is a purifying process.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: It shows us that if we don't deconstruct, but we endure, it shows us that our faith is true, man, that we trust God when life doesn't make sense.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: We trust that God is sovereign when he's not doing it the way we think he should do it, but we're, he's got us.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: But this idea of our faith being purified, it is the picture of um you know a blast furnace where they're dropping in gold and they're they're they're digging out the impurities, they're digging out the stuff that doesn't belong.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is to make it more pure.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: What God is doing through trials in our life is he's trying to make our faith more pure.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I just had a couple quick thoughts.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the one is this that I don't know if you know this.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know the do you know what uh the carrots are?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when gold, you've ever heard of the 24 carrots?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't even really understand like trying to get my wife an engagement, right?
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't understand the carrots.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, so it's just more is more money.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I understood.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, I don't know what it means, but like it's too many.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: I just know that.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I don't know why.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um well, first of all, it's not even carrots, like you heard carrots, it's not C-A-R-O-T-S, it's carrots, K-A-R-A-T-S.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: But but the bigger the number, the more pure the gold, and the highest purity is 24 karat gold.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um 24, 24 karat gold, pure gold is very soft.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: So actually, most most time people won't sell 24 karat gold in a jewelry store because it's so soft, it'll get dinged up, it'll get, you know, whatever.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: It'll show scratches easily.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: But again, this idea of pure gold is malleable.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's the that's the word for metal.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's easy to bend, it's easy to, it's easy to shape.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: And man, I just thought about what what is God trying to do by sending us sorrows?
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: What is God doing by allowing us to go through these journeys?
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, number one, he's trying to make our faith malleable.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: For me, my faith fits this context and this gift set, you know, I don't, but this new journey, this new season, this new battle, my faith doesn't fit.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And God's saying, no, no, no, that that's why I'm taking you through this season to make you malleable, to shape you for the next season.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: So man, I that hit me, and I thought that's that speaks to me because we're not always in the same season of life.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that burning process helps you go, okay, that's so that's the pain.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: And then you you want to come out being more pure, more like Jesus, more you know, in that direction of being formed into who we're meant to be in Jesus.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's kind of the process of it, is that's the picture, which which is not fun, but it's hopeful.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: David, he says this in this kind of this malleable thing.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I obey your word.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's like saying, It took me going through a tough season to make me really trust you.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we're we're opposite.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I trust you when I don't have to go through something tough.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: David said, No, I I learned to trust you by going through the tough season.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: In Psalm 119, he says, It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Man, I read things like that again, counter all joy.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, man, it's it's such a joy.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: Man, we I learned um your decrees going through these good seasons.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: That is so counterintuitive to the way we talk, to the way culture thinks.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: But as we get around the word, it's just a kingdom way of thinking.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And this world thinks different.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going through something bad, you are bad, or you've done something bad.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: And God's like, no, no, no.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm allowing you to go through something bad so you're strong, to make you enduring, to make you um make sure that when the next season comes, man, you you got it in me.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you mentioned this, and this was my favorite part.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: So gold becomes more valuable.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: The more pure it is, it becomes more malleable.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it has more purchasing power, which again, faith is the currency of heaven.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, when we come to God, we we access the blessings and the promises of God with our faith.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: But my favorite one, and I was gonna share this Sunday just because it was so great.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is an old wives' tale, this is no longer found true.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: But back in the day, the way refiners would know that they had got 24 karat gold.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So they heat the gold up and they keep firing that gold, impurities rise at the top, they keep digging off the impurities.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: The way they know now they have pure gold is is uh historically, they would say, Can I see my reflection?
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought that's exactly the goal of the gospel.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's not even just developing our faith.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: What is the goal?
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is for us to be like Jesus.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: God the Father is trying to make us like his son Jesus, and he's using fiery trials to do it.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: And man, Paul said, until Christ is formed in us, like that's that's the goal.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he says in 2 Corinthians 3.18 that we are all being transformed into his image.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: So fiery trials are not fun.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Difficult seasons, nobody wants them.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: But God is saying, Man, I'm sending them to you because it's inevitable you're gonna face them.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I want your faith to endure.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to be like my son Jesus, I want your faith to be malleable.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's so much good, it's just not good to go through it.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I love that because it's I think that helps me see a little bit of God's love in it too, and I picture him as the refiner.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then, and then he at the image of Christ, he looks at our lives and he goes, Can I see Christ in this?
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: Can I see the reflection of me in this?
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Not yet.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Let's keep going.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I love it.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_01: This is it, this is what I was looking for.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: And like it's kind of you can I can at least kind of almost feel the love in that of like, man, I just want that, I want to be able to see myself in this.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I want this to be pure.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that helps comfort me a little bit.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I think all of it really comes back to that's God's part.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's his promise.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: His promise is I'll redeem it, I'll reveal it, I'll cleanse it, I'll purify it, I'll form you into my image.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And it kind of comes back to what you started with with the thrifter's mindset.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so now it's on us to go.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: Can we go and look at these horrible things?
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like thrifters can look at garbage and go, with some work, with some toughness, with some elbow grease, this can be really valuable.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_01: And this can be something that people will see beauty in and will see value in.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, I'm gonna get my hands dirty and I'm gonna do the work.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of like God looking at us with that mindset.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Now, can we look at ourselves with that mindset of going like, hey, if I'll just uh buckle up for this, I know that on the other side there's gonna be purpose in it.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think for you know, kind of get to start summing this up, it's probably it's hard, it's easy to read in scripture, but it's hard to really get our arms around personally.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: I think probably the place that this plays out the best is watching other people go through trials who love the Lord.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, how many times have we seen somebody who, you know, man, they go through something horrific, they lose a loved one, they get diagnosed with cancer, and man, they're just rock solid.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: And you ask, man, how are you doing?
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Man, I'm making it.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: And they'll tell you, man, God's presence is with me, man, God's giving me strength.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they're pointing to what exactly they're discovering the strength of the presence of God, not because they're going through a good season, but because they're going through a difficult season.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, watching it on display when someone goes through difficult times, to me, it's like that's that's the thrifter's mentality.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: I can see, man, they took trash and they made treasure because their faith, it's been exposed as being real.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would much rather face difficulties on this side and figure out that my faith is not as strong as I thought than wait before I stand before Jesus and realize that I had a phony faith all along.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so, man, I just want to challenge people who are going through something tough, man, to have a thrifter's mentality to know that God can take your brokenness and your pain.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um, maybe you caused it, maybe it's a spiritual battle, maybe God allowed it to come your way.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_00: But if you'll allow it to give you a new focus, count it all joy, it's an opportunity for you to grow in your faith, for you to strengthen your faith, for you to become more malleable in your faith.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: And God is absolutely in the process with you.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_00: As Pastor Austin said, He's he's the refiner, not us.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: But he's gonna refine our faith, and man, that's something we look forward to.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: So no matter what difficulty comes our way, man, I want to develop and not uh not deconstruct.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, for sure.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Pastor Austin, thanks again for sitting around the table.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you guys next week for another week of The Extra Mile.