Latest / Intentional Guy / Strengthen Yourself in the Lord
Transcript
- Michael Chestnut: Hey everyone, welcome back to The Intentional Guy. I'm Michael Chestnut. And before we get started today, I need to ask you for something. I need your prayers. I wouldn't expect most of you to know what I've actually been through these last three months because what you were watching were episodes I'd already recorded weeks and even months earlier. However, since May, I have had three surgeries. With a lot of complications along the way. Life has been harder than I really want to let on, and the trauma of it stirred up a lot of anxiety and anger in me I hadn't wrestled with in years. Here's something a lot of you may not know. The episodes you are watching are usually pre-recorded weeks, maybe even months in advance. And the last few months were already finished and just waiting. Their turn to air. You saw a new episode show up in the feed and you figure, well, he's here. He must be doing fine. But that wasn't me showing up in real time. That was me from weeks, even months earlier, before things got as hard as they got. The whole time you assumed I was fine, I was flat on my back, sometimes in a hospital bed, scared, and walking through some of the hardest moments of my life. I'm telling you this now because as of this week, the doctors have finally been able to identify the problem and have a plan to bring me back to full health. And I'm excited about that. And I wanted you to hear that from me, not just see another episode show up and assume everything is fine. I also want you to know I do cherish your prayers. Randy Gladden sat right here yesterday from a prerecorded episode and said something that's been sitting with me ever since. He said, Most of us build our identity on the last thing that happened to us. For him, That was 10 years of losing his business, his clients, his reputation, everything visible about who he was. For me, this season, it's been losing the ability to even show up and do the things that I love to do, such as the podcast, attending Celebrate Recovery, or just going to church and worship with my family. Randy called that kind of season the wilderness. Not empty, not punishment, just a place where God finally has your full attention. I didn't feel that while I was in it. I just felt scared and stuck, wondering if I'd always be in this hospital bed or ever be normal. But looking back at these last few months, I can see it. 1 Samuel 30, verse 6. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his son and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Randy told me God did not just restore what he lost. God awakened things in him he never knew were there. I'm not comparing my last few months to his 10 years, but I know the cost was real for me too. And I know the turning point wasn't me toughing it out. It was remembering my identity was never in being able to record an episode. Go to celebrate recovery or attend church. It was never in being strong enough to carry this myself. The enemy will seek to destroy us, but God will stomp the head of the enemy. Genesis 3.15 says, I will put enmity between you and the woman. And between your offspring and her offspring, he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So here's what I want to leave with you, straight out of both conversations this week. Don't build your identity on the worst moments or the hardest seasons. Whatever it is, let it be the wilderness God uses, not the thing that defines you. Strengthen yourself in the Lord before you strengthen yourself in any other way. And let your people carry you. My church and my friendships carried me in Amber through this, the same brotherhood Randy and I talked about yesterday, iron sharpening iron. So today I'm asking you plainly, pray for me and pray for Amber. And if you haven't heard yesterday's conversation with Randy Gladden, go listen. This episode won't make full sense without it. This is exactly the kind of season I wrote the book More Than a Picture Restored and Free. If you're walking through something painful right now, find a Celebrate Recovery group near you at CRlocator.com. In Pensacola, we meet Tuesdays. six to eight PM at Momentum Church. Let's get coffee. Let me be your brother. Let me walk beside you. And until next time, just keep being intentional.