Latest / The Extra Mile Podcast / #6 - Could Your Obedience Influence More Than You Think? (with Lauren Grimmett)

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#6 - Could Your Obedience Influence More Than You Think? (with Lauren Grimmett) · The Extra Mile Podcast

0:00
SPEAKER_00: If you choose to go on the run, you don't want to live life my way, hey, I want you to know it's not just gonna impact your worship to other gods.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: It's it's not just your decision on how you serve me or don't serve me, but it's gonna impact your kids, it's gonna impact your grandkids.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: But if you choose to follow me, if you choose to honor me, if you choose to not go on the run, I'm not just gonna bless you, I'm gonna bless your kids and your for a thousand generations.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: That's generational consequences.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: That is our sphere of influence.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: Hey, welcome everybody.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: Again, my name is Steve Husky, and we are here for the Extra Mile Podcast, where again we just do a quick recap of the last Sunday morning's message and then do a deep dive into some content, into some conversation that we didn't have time to cover.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm excited to be at the table today with my daughter Lauren.
0:49
SPEAKER_01: Hello.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: I consider this the uh LeBron James and Bronny moment.
0:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Some of you know that I'm a LeBron James fan, and this is my daughter and uh excited to sit at the table with her.
0:59
SPEAKER_01: I do need to share though, my birthday.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: I share a birthday with LeBron James.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: I I think he planned that, but I'm still not sure.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this I didn't even I didn't put two and two together for like an ordained moment.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: So this past weekend we talked about Jonah, which is a very familiar story.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: Um, church people, not unchurch people alike know about it.
1:19
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's the basis for attack.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: How could a fish swallow a person?
1:23
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, Jesus taught that it was true.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: So we believe it's true.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And there was a lot of content we covered.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: What was what was something that hit you from the from the message?
1:32
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think for sure, especially in at our campus, I saw so many people that it just hit home for.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think it was just a new believer in church, but it was people that are just mature in their faith and recognize like, oh, I really have been running from God.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, that that is the the story of Jonah is he's he's on the run.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I really loved when you were talking about how Jonah being on the run didn't just affect Jonah, that it affected so many people around him.
2:01
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's something that I never really took away from the story.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, the the thing we open with was this idea of like, why would Jonah run?
2:09
SPEAKER_00: And it's self-reflection because all of us run.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't love everything God calls me to do.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: I don't love the sometimes the people he tells me to talk to.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: I don't love the sacrifices he calls me to make.
2:20
SPEAKER_00: So there's a little bit of Jonah in everybody, right?
2:23
SPEAKER_00: There is a little bit of run in all of us.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: None of us live this totally submitted life.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, one of the things I tried to tackle Sunday was like, why do we run?
2:30
SPEAKER_00: What's it's it's not just this um, like I don't think anybody wants to be rebellious.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: There's these excuses we make.
2:37
SPEAKER_00: And I talked about one that Jonah I think just felt like he was the wrong person.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: Um, his name actually means destroyer.
2:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, what a who'd named their kid?
2:46
SPEAKER_00: Hey, the destroyer, the destroyer, you know, unless let's surf through the terrible twos, which being a being a mom, yeah.
2:52
SPEAKER_00: You know a little bit about that.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: So Jonah felt like, man, his nickname, his description, who he was his entire life was you're a destroyer.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: And now God calls him to go be a repair, go preach the gospel, go preach repentance to this nation.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, I can relate, you know, sometimes I feel like I don't measure up.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: You know, what's what's fascinating in me is uh I don't know if you experience this, people sometimes see more in me than I see in myself.
3:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: You know, I tend to see less in me, and other people tend to see more in me.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: I don't do you experience that?
3:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh, for sure.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I feel like honestly, I think some of it is a little bit secondhand being your daughter.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Like I think a lot of people just naturally think, well, you're his daughter, so you might as well just be destined for greatness.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: And it's like, okay, I mean, I'm glad that you see that in me, but I think, you know, it's definitely easier to look down on yourself than it is to to really see what God can call you to.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I think that's Joe.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: So again, that's our thing.
3:45
SPEAKER_00: I think that's Jonah's thing.
3:46
SPEAKER_00: Like, God, you got the wrong person.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Who am I?
3:48
SPEAKER_00: I'm a destroyer.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: We talked about another reason that Jonah possibly ran.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: And I think really the main reason is the reason that sometimes we run.
3:56
SPEAKER_00: Like we just, God has plans that we don't understand.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: He wants to do things that we don't like and we don't agree with.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, the story really of Jonah was that God called him as a prophet to go preach to this nation, Assyria, specifically to the city of Nineveh.
4:10
SPEAKER_00: Man, they were wheels off, they were in rebellion, they were ruthless in their battle tactics, killed people.
4:17
SPEAKER_00: And so God says, Hey, I want to, I want to call them to repentance.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: So you're the one to go preach the gospel.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: And Jonah didn't want to, he didn't want them to get God's mercy.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: He wanted them to get God's judgment.
4:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: And man, I think that is that is the testament of a lot of people.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm that way.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Gosh, I so much, I never want the judgment of God.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: I want the mercy of God, but you know, so again, what's good for me is not good for thee.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: I want you to get judgment.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: I want mercy.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, something I I thought stuck out to me was at the beginning of the book of Jonah, he's like acknowledging, God, you're so kind, you're so gracious.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: And so he can acknowledge like God has mercy, but we want it for ourselves and we don't want it for other people.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it's it's crazy to me how he just finished his whole series of running and he can't see his own disobedience, but he can see none of us so clearly.
5:07
SPEAKER_01: Like sitting under a uh shade tree, and he's like, Yeah, y'all deserve the judgment and you got it, but like he can't even look in the mirror and see his own disobedience.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I didn't pick up on that.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, here he is, disobedient, celebrating God's mercy, and uh gosh, yeah, that's that's a good thought, babe.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: So, one of the things that we didn't really have time to talk about, and the and you mentioned uh early on is this idea of the other people that suffered.
5:31
SPEAKER_00: So again, the story goes.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: So he's on the run.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want to go preach the gospel, he doesn't, he's not down with God's plan.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: And so he goes and he gets on a boat and he goes the total, totally opposite direction.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: That's what the Bible says.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: He went the opposite direction.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:44
SPEAKER_01: And with gas prices these days, can you imagine for real going that much further?
5:48
SPEAKER_00: How bad do you want to run to say that?
5:50
SPEAKER_00: So he gets on a ship, goes five times uh the opposite direction.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: And um, what we talked about was this idea of um the his sphere of influence, that because of his disobedience, he wasn't the only one who suffers.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's something in us that we believe because Jesus taught that he came to bring us life.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: So the best life we can have is serving Jesus, is following his plan.
6:14
SPEAKER_00: And we don't always do that.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: Again, we run from God, we rebel from God.
6:19
SPEAKER_00: But what we fail to realize is when we're not walking in God's plan for our life, when we do, we're not the only one to benefit.
6:25
SPEAKER_00: And when we don't, we are not the only ones to suffer harm.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: And so here's Jonah, he's on this boat, he's on the run, and God hurls a storm at him, really to interrupt his run to get him to go the right direction.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: But what I want to focus on is this idea that, man, the these the sailors who were on that ship, they almost lost their lives.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:45
SPEAKER_00: They're in fear, they're in chaos, they're throwing their livelihood overboard, all the product that they were going to sell to benefit.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, so here's a guy that doesn't realize that his disobedience is hurting those closest to him.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: Um and I think that's that's really the wake-up call that at some point we have to realize is man, God wants to use me, but it's not just what God wants to do for me, it's what God wants to do through me for other people.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, this idea of a sphere of influence, that every life has influence, it's just how we leverage it, how we use it, how we're aware of it.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: I've just had to ask myself, like, who who is paying the price for what I'm choosing?
7:22
SPEAKER_01: Because there's choices that you make all day, every day.
7:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, and we we even in this message tend to think these big overarching decisions that we make in life, but it it boils down to every decision that you make.
7:34
SPEAKER_01: It it affects somebody.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: So am I creating a collateral blessing for the people in my life or a collateral damage that I just don't I fail to see?
7:43
SPEAKER_01: But I think there's so many people they make decisions in their life and they think it only affects themselves.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: So why why would you say the average person they make decisions and they're just like, yeah, it won't affect anybody but myself?
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh, because we're self-centered.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't even want to admit that, but I mean, that's really the only answer is we're focused on me.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: How does how does how does me doing this thing benefit me?
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: And how does doing this thing, what's it cost me?
8:07
SPEAKER_00: And if we don't like the price, we're out.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: If we think we're gonna get something out of it, we're in.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: And which, gosh, again, I think that's maybe why Jesus, one of the messages he preaches to his disciples is hey, you have to crucify you.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: The only way you're gonna do what I called you to do is you have to get out of the way.
8:21
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, there is that, man, I love that term, collateral.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, you're a mom, I'm a dad, you know, you're in ministry, I'm a pastor, um, you're a wife, I'm a husband.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: And so decisions we're making are impacting our homes, our marriages, our kids, yeah, our friends.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: And I again, I just don't think we realize that.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: And maybe living with this awareness of how do my decisions impact those closest to me.
8:46
SPEAKER_00: Again, going back to this idea of a sphere of influence.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: Again, you following the story.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: So Jonah, when he finally obeyed, so he disobeyed, went on the run, caused almost a shipwreck for these sailors.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: But when he finally obeyed, which, you know, kind of didn't have a lot of choice because this fish spits him up.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Can you imagine me in the vomit of a fish?
9:05
SPEAKER_00: But spits him up on the shore of Nineveh and he he does obey and he goes and preaches.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: And what happens?
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Man, an entire city repents.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: God relents judgment.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: So he changed the destiny of an entire city because he obeyed.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: So almost killed a shipful of people in his disobedience and won an entire city for God because of his obedience.
9:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Do you think he saw that coming?
9:30
SPEAKER_01: Probably I mean I think again, I just go back to like I think he had the faith in God, but I honestly think he just was so selfish.
9:39
SPEAKER_01: He and again, I just keep going back to this idea of he only wanted it for himself.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: And it's I think he probably knew God could do it, but he didn't think they deserved to get it.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, I don't know.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: I think that would be pretty crazy crazy to see God do that through me.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Um but yeah, I man, I think uh my hope is for me, my hope is for for our church, for people watching this, that again, as we read the story of Jonah, that somehow we think beyond ourselves, again, like what does my decisions mean to those around me?
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Not not let's not start with us first.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Hey, if you're on the job, how does you working your job impact those around you?
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Put others first.
10:21
SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, that's man, again, that goes back to the gospel is we're called to love our neighbor.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: We're called to love our love God and yeah, love who?
10:28
SPEAKER_01: Our neighbor.
10:29
SPEAKER_00: Our neighbor God doesn't say love you, yeah, which again, he doesn't want to self-hating, but man, when we love God and we love others, we fall in love with ourselves.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: And but you know, I think that idea of this sphere of influence that that Jonah clearly had in his disobedience and in his obedience is found in a um in a theological conversation and a cultural conversation of generational curses.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: You've heard the generational curses.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: What just a quick takeaway, what do you what do you think of when you hear generational curses?
10:56
SPEAKER_01: I think decisions that, you know, your parents or grandparents have made prior to you ever being born, you know, whether we like it or not, we can decide to adopt it for ourselves.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: Or we can say, no, you know, that cycle ends with me.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: Whether, you know, and it might be something that, you know, I think that's a bad thing, but there's things that I think could be good in your life that you say, you know, I want to adopt that.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: I want to continue on with, you know, that tradition, that that thing that's been passed on.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: But you know, when you describe that, it's almost the generation that's been the benefit of obedience wants to repeat that.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: Like, wow, look, look how I've been impacted.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: So because my dad, because my grandfather lived a certain way, good or bad, I want to make sure I pass it on, or I want to make sure I don't pass it on.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: One of the questions I ask um young couples in premarital counseling is hey, what's something in um what's something that you learn from your parents, good or bad, that you want to repeat or you don't want to repeat?
11:55
SPEAKER_00: Like my parents live this way, and I want to make sure that I don't re-reproduce that in my in my marriage.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: And that's that idea of our sphere of influence, how our parents impacted us, good or bad.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, generational curses, I'll be honest, I don't believe in generational curses, and but I believe in generational consequences.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: A generational curse is God's gonna hold, God's gonna hold me responsible for how my dad lived.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: I just that's not really biblical.
12:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: But can I will I be impacted by how my dad lived?
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Are you impacted by how I live?
12:24
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: Exodus chapter 20, he says this.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: He says, You must not bow down to them or worship them, referring to idols.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: I lay the sins of the parents upon the children.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: The entire family is affected, even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: But then he goes on and says, But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: So here's God saying, like, hey, don't allow idols in your life.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: And if you choose to go that route, you can't, if you choose to go on the run, you don't want to live life my way.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I want you to know it's not just gonna impact your worship to other gods.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: It's it's not just your decision on how you serve me or don't serve me, but it's gonna impact your kids.
13:11
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna impact your grandkids.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: But if you choose to follow me, if you choose to honor me, if you choose to not go on the run, I'm not just gonna bless you.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna bless your kids and your for a thousand generations.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's generational consequences.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: That is our sphere of influence.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:26
SPEAKER_01: I even had written down private decisions create public consequences.
13:30
SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, I want good, you know, I don't necessarily equate consequences to good consequences, I guess, but you know, I I want my kids to experience life to the full because I've put God first in my family.
13:46
SPEAKER_01: You know, I don't want my girls one day to look at my life and be like, yeah, I don't want to repeat that.
13:51
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, I don't think anybody ever says that.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: I don't think anybody ever makes a decision and is like, yeah, I hope my kids do this one day.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, they again just make it selfishly, only thinking inwardly and not thinking of, you know, who it may or may not affect.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Again, our sphere of influence is bigger than what we realize.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: And so if it's as big as we think it is, and we see it in the life of Jonah, we see it here in Exodus 20.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: If our life has the impact that scripture says it does, we should leverage that.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: We should be intentional, we should be at least aware that your life is making an impact on those around you.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: So, man, let's leverage that in a way that is further positive.
14:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's quit running from God.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: Let's run towards his plan.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Let's quit, let's quit causing sailors to lose their cargo, and let's start going to going to cities and make sure people hear the gospel.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, you said something before we get on the lookout on the podcast that I want to lean into, and you talking about Jonah's attitude when he finally went to preach.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Like say that again for those who are listening.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's just so funny.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: He's, you know, sitting under the shade tree and he's like, then he's mad that the shade tree goes away, and he's he's mad at the shade tree, but he just obeyed God, and then he's like, Yeah, but Nineveh, they didn't they didn't really deserve the mercy.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: They didn't really deserve for me to go and preach the gospel.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: I think it's it's crazy how he obeyed and he did what God said, but he still in his heart really had a bad attitude.
15:19
SPEAKER_01: So it's like, yeah, God, I did what you said, but I don't really agree with what you called me to.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: That's um again, I think that's a great way to look at it because that is what happened.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: He did go, and to me, this is so here's a question for you.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Is it is it better to to disobey God with a good heart or obey God with a bad heart?
15:40
SPEAKER_00: You know, is it better to be like, I'm just, you know, um, hey God, I'm gonna do it, but I you end up not doing it, or you know, you know what I'm saying?
15:48
SPEAKER_00: Like, what's the better tension?
15:51
SPEAKER_01: My personal opinion, I think because Jonah obeyed regardless, Nineveh got got to reap the the actions of Jonah, and I think God can use us despite whatever we think, you know, and I I you know I would rather do what God said and wrestle with it later and repent of it later rather than complete disobedience and you know, nobody else getting to hear the gospel or you know, whatever it is that God's calling you to.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, there's no doubt Jonah man he had a bad attitude, but he did what the Lord told him to do.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: And you know, again, I think for sure the Lord wants our hearts.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: And if he has our hearts, he's gonna have our actions.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: And so in a perfect world, God wants us to be obedient with a great attitude.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: But if my attitude's not right yet, I would rather, man, wrestle with a bad attitude but be obedient and then allow God to work in me later than just to not be obedient.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: So it's much better that he went with a bad attitude than not going at all.
16:48
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, Jesus tells uh tells a short parable.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: He says, Hey, there's this guy that has two sons, and he calls his sons to do this certain act.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: And one son says, You know, father, I'm gonna do it, and doesn't, doesn't go and do what he said he's gonna do.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: And the second son says, you know, now I'm out, but later decides to go be obedient to the father.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: And he's he asks the question, which one did the will of the father?
17:11
SPEAKER_00: Was the one who actually went and did it.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't the one that had a great attitude.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh man, dad, I love you so much, I'm gonna do it, but then was disobedient.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: So again, Jonah, gosh, his his life is such a picture of ours.
17:23
SPEAKER_00: We are on the run because we don't always agree with God's choices.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: We don't agree with, we don't see ourselves the way he sees us.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, even when we do what he's called us to do, sometimes we do it with a bad attitude.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, here's here's the overarching.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: There's so much here in this story, so rich.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Here's a guy that had a baggage background that God chose.
17:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, he goes on the run, and and yeah, he does it with a bad attitude.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: But because he does what God wants him to do, an entire nation is spared.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: And so I would say for anybody watching this that, hey, if you have doubts about who you are and you don't like what you see in the mirror, and sometimes you question what God's plan is, and when you feel the Holy Spirit pull on your heart, like at the end of the day, let's let's not trust ourselves, let's not trust our feelings and culture.
18:10
SPEAKER_00: I said it this way, Sunday, let's not, let's not go with um culture, let's go with Christ.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: Let's not go with the wind, let's go with the word, what you know, wherever, whatever's trying to blow us a certain direction.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: If we would live submitted to a God who loves us and really believe that his ways are higher than our ways, yeah, he can do some great things in our lives and through our lives.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: And, you know, he can wrestle with the attitudes later, but we can change the world if we're willing to be a Jonah or not be a Jonah, because I think we're both the times.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: I think one of my favorite things though was seeing how God was so intimately involved in every detail.
18:44
SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of times when we think we're inadequate or we're going through a storm like Jonah did, we think God's abandoned us.
18:51
SPEAKER_01: He's he's nowhere close.
18:53
SPEAKER_01: But, you know, like you said um in Sunday's message, the same God that can steal a storm is the same God that can send a storm.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: And, you know, he uses both of those.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: And I love that he's capable to to use me despite how I see myself and you know, despite my attitude sometimes.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, as we get ready to close.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: I just want to retell the story to those who maybe didn't listen to the message.
19:15
SPEAKER_00: But um there was a guy, again, I got saved in 1989, and at about that time frame and earlier, there was these two guys who were huge on uh Christian television, Jimmy Swaggart, and um uh man, they're they had this global ministries.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: Um, they were changing the world, they were impacting people's lives on television, spreading the gospel.
19:35
SPEAKER_00: And Jim Baker was the other guy, and both of these guys about the same time had moral failures, were caught sleeping with women that weren't their wives.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: But Jim Baker in particular had embezzled millions of dollars from the ministry and ended up going to prison.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: And um, while he was there, I mean, can you imagine being on top of the Christian game, on top of the Christian world?
19:55
SPEAKER_00: Everybody looks up at you, and now he's in prison.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: There is no doubt he knew that was a storm.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: But the same way God used a storm to get in the path of Jonah to really stop his rebellion, that's what God did for Jim Baker.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: And we know that because another minister went to visit um Jim Baker in prison, and this the man, John Bevere, tells a story that he thought, man, that um that he would complain, like, why would God do this to me?
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Why would God let this storm be in my life?
20:22
SPEAKER_00: Why would he let me get arrested?
20:24
SPEAKER_00: And what we found is so humbling in me that Jim Baker, when he met John Bevere that moment in prison, told John Beer that he was so grateful because the storm wasn't God's judgment, it was God's mercy.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: Because he knew had he not been interrupted, if his run hadn't been stopped, he would have ran so far away from God.
20:42
SPEAKER_00: He said, He said, I would probably be in hell today.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: And so for all of us that go through storms, you know, we don't like storms, but if God is sovereign and he is, he's the one who hurled the storm in in Jonah's life.
20:54
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes he hurls storms in our lives.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: Again, he doesn't just still them, sometimes he sends them.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: And it is God's mercy, always, every single time.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: He loves us, he wants to do great things in us, and he wants to do great things through us.
21:06
SPEAKER_00: And if we get on board and we stop the run and we go the right direction, great things will happen.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: Closing word, what do you think?
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was so good.
21:14
SPEAKER_01: It's um, like you said, the story's so rich.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: There's so many things that we could just continue to to banter on and on about.
21:21
SPEAKER_01: But I just love that, you know, what sometimes we view even in the the Jim Baker story, like we could view it as a punishment, but really it's God's protection over his life.
21:32
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, nobody really likes punishment.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: And if you view it that way, it'll be a long, long road and you just won't view the Lord through the right lens.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: But if you trust that no, it's it's really God's mercy protecting me and keeping me, um, you'll really just begin to see it in a whole new light.
21:49
SPEAKER_00: So if you're on the run, stop being a Jonah.
21:51
SPEAKER_00: If you're headed the right direction, keep being a Jonah, God can do great things through you.
21:55
SPEAKER_00: Hey, listen, if you're benefiting from these podcasts and you're being an encouraged in your faith, can I encourage you to like this, to share it, to follow the page?
22:02
SPEAKER_00: And again, if you want to listen to the entire message, you can go to IGOTOFaith.com slash messages, and you'll find the entire message there.
22:09
SPEAKER_00: And we'll see you guys next week at the extra mile.
22:11
SPEAKER_00: Hey Brondi James, thanks for joining me.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: Bye, y'all.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Love you.
22:14
SPEAKER_01: See ya.