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[WW] Resting in God's Love · The Wesley Word

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wesley World.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hi guys.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Victoria.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's nice to meet you.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Megan asked me, or she called me out and said I hadn't been to Wesley this semester.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that's true.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm sorry.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Life is busy, but I'm glad to be here with you all today.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was thinking about what to talk about and going through a lot of different things.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what can I say to people that are my age?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: What will mean something to them?
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: And God reminded me of how He has answered prayers in my life.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: When I was younger in elementary school, I did gymnastics.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: I lived and breathed it.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: Like every day I was at the gym learning different skills.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: And my first prayers were about gymnastics.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: I struggled to get this one skill, a back handspring.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: I can't do it now, but eventually I did learn how.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I was struggling to get it.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I was crying and just really upset.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Mama was like, Victoria, just pray about it.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so I prayed about it.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: I walked in my room, closed the door, went on my knees, put my hands together, closed my eyes, and said, God, if you allow me to get this skill, that would be awesome.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't, I'm quitting gymnastics.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: And a few months later, I got the skill.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then years later, I quit gymnastics, and God was like, ha ha, you still quit.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: But even as life, as life got more serious, you know, as I got older, school got hotter, life got harder, my prayers got more serious, and my my needs and what I was praying about got more serious.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: When I was in uh a senior, I was a senior in high school, my dad passed away.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember praying about it, praying about grief.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm an overthinker.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: Andrew can attest to that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_01: I just overthink everything.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: And so I was grieving and trying to figure out how to grieve, but I was also overthinking grief.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: I was always asking, how can I walk faithfully with God and also grieve?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: I have all these intense emotions that I don't know what to do with, and I'm afraid God's not gonna love me anymore.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: If I pray about this or I feel this, I'm afraid other people aren't gonna like me anymore.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm gonna disappoint them.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: I was just constantly overthinking, am I doing this right?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what am I supposed to do?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I felt like there was this divide between me and God.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: There was this wall, this barrier.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: My grief was this elephant in the room that I couldn't handle, God couldn't handle.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I was constantly stressed, anxious, and restless.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: And then my old tennis coach, Coach Parker, Megan probably, yeah, you remember Coach Parker, he asked me to get coffee one day just to talk about grief, to talk about life, and to catch up.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: And Coach Parker doesn't always give the best advice.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I was ready just to write him off, you know, in one ear, out the other.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: As I was pouring my heart out to him, just stressing word vomiting in front of him, he said, Victoria, stop.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Have you ever thought about resting in God's love for you?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Whoa.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then a few months later, I read this psalm, Psalm 107, and that's what I want to share with you all today.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's kind of long, but stick with me.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: It is really good.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Over and over again, the psalmist says, Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: Over and over again.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: The psalmist talks about how God's people, the Israelites, turn away from God.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: They rebel, they forget, their hearts are hard towards God.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a hundred years of this, over and over again.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: These people are supposed to be in relationship with God, but they're not.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: Their love fails.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: But over and over again, God rescues them, God shows up and redeems them.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: The psalm goes, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands from east and west, from north and south.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: Then they cried out to the Lord and their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: Some set in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains, because they rebelled against God's commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: So he subjected them to bitter labor.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: They stumbled and there was no one to help.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: For he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_01: Some became fools through their rebellious ways, and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: He sent out his word and healed them, he rescued them from the grave.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Some went out on the sea and ships, they were merchants on the mighty waters.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep, for he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths in their peril, their courage melted away.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: They reeled and staggered like drunkards, they were at their wits' end.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: He stilled the storm to a whisper.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: The waves of the sea were hushed.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_01: He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: There he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: He blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression and sorrow.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: He who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about God's love, right?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about how it's patient and it's kind.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't boast, it's not envious, it keeps no records of wrong.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_01: But God's love also endures.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's enduring.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_01: The Israelites rebelled and rebelled.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the communion liturgy that goes, When our love failed, your love remained steadfast.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: Over and over again, the Israelites turned away, but on the other side of their rebellion and their sin was God's love.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: And through it all, God loved them.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: If God's love remained through the Israelites, through their rebellion, then it's gonna remain through grief.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna remain through loss.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: God said, Victoria, wherever you find yourself in grief, on the other side of that is my love.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: And through it all, I love you.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going to love you.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: In Jeremiah, God talks about his new covenant with the people.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Even though, right, like we've said again and again, they're rebellious and they're sinning and they're turning away.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: God talks about this new covenant.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: He talks about Jesus and he says, if my covenant with the day and the night can be broken, if you can stop the sun from shining and the night from coming, then my covenant with you will be broken, and David won't have a king on the throne forever.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: And there won't be a priest that will forever be interceding for you.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: But guess what?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Can we stop the sun?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: We can't stop the sun.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: We can't stop the night from coming.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: So the covenant is never going to be broken.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: And God could do it, right?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: God could stop the sun, but God's not going to do it.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus isn't going anywhere.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: So what does this mean?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: If God's love is going to be on the other side of wherever we find ourselves, if God is going to love us through it all, if Jesus isn't going anywhere, what does this mean for us today, as college students, as people trying to figure out life, making decisions, having life happen to them?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: What does this mean for us?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: It means that our faith, our walk with Jesus, isn't about being perfect.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about praying the right way.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about reading the Bible the right way.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about going to church every Sunday just so you can say that you're there.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about having it all figured out.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: It's about being available to God and God's love.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: I constantly overthink things.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I am constantly thinking, am I doing this right?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_01: Am I doing it well enough?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Am I praying the right way?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Am I reading the Bible?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: What if I don't read the Bible every day?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm constantly worried, but it's not about what I am doing.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about how I'm doing it.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's the fact that I am doing it.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's being available to God and God's love.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's resting in God's love, trusting that it's there.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: I have a friend at Sue named Juan, and Juan plays baseball.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: The Sue's baseball team is not very good, but he plays.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: And he's mostly in the outfield.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: When he's in the outfield waiting and watching, he says he's praying.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_01: Juan is really funny.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: He always teases me.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And so sometimes when he says things that are really serious, it catches me off guard.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: And he told me, Victoria, I always get these urges, these feelings to just pray when I'm in the outfield.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: The Holy Spirit says, Juan, just pray.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so he does.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: He prays in practice, in the middle of the game, he's praying for his teammates, for campus.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's just praying, just being with God, being present.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's all it is.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's remaining available to God in the small moments.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: Where you find yourself, it's remaining available to God.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: And when we remain available over and over again, big things happen.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: These small moments of availability create these big moments in our lives.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: It transforms us and then it transforms the people around us.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So that's my good news for y'all today.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: Wherever you find yourself, whether it's stressing about school, stressing about life, maybe you made a bad decision, maybe there's hurt and pain, maybe you do feel distance between you and God, but wherever you find yourself, on the other side of that is God's love.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: And God is loving you through it all.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_01: We remain available.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_01: It's not about being perfect, it's just about remaining available and then following God's love, where it's leading us.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: So let's give thanks for God's love.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: God, we we thank you for you.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: We thank you for your goodness and your grace.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: That although we forget and we don't live always like you want us to live, that that your love remains and it remains steadfast always.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: God, we thank you that you meet us and you pursue us, that that nothing we do or say keeps you from pursuing us.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: That your love and your actions are not dependent on us.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: God, I pray that your love will transform us and the world around us.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: God, we love you and we want to serve you better.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Wesley Word is a production of the Clemson Wesley Foundation.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Clemson Wesley, check out our website or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, get out there and love your neighbor.