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God Can Use What You Already Have - Exodus 3 and 4 · If Bibles Could Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So what if the exact reason you haven't started that
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: business or, you know, finally learned to code isn't because
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  Speaker 1: you lack the right tools?
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  Speaker 2: What if it's actually because you're obsessed with them?
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  Speaker 1: Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Like that list everyone keeps on their phone.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: The someday list. It just sits in the back of
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  Speaker 1: your mind. Welcome to today's deep dive, by the way.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: We're jumping into an excerpt from God Can Use What
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: You Already Have to figure out why we constantly delay
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  Speaker 1: our ambitions. Right.
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  Speaker 3: We fixate on what we don't have. And I love
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  Speaker 3: that this text offers such a practical, ancient fix for it.
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  Speaker 1: Because those someday lists, I mean, they're basically just a
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  Speaker 1: graveyard of paused dreams, right? We wait for the professional
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: studio or like flawless connections.
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  Speaker 3: The angel investor.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: But this paralysis, it really isn't a modern invention at all.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, think about Moses thousands of years ago in
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  Speaker 3: the book of Exodus.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: He was handed this ultimate terrifying test to free an
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  Speaker 3: entire nation from Egypt.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: No pressure, right?
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Just, you know, go take down an empire real quick.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. And his immediate reaction is, well, probably exactly what
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  Speaker 3: ours would be. He completely spirals.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, sure.
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  Speaker 3: He's like, what if they don't believe me? What if
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  Speaker 3: I fail? He is entirely focused on his lack of qualifications.
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  Speaker 2: Which makes total sense.
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  Speaker 3: It does. But the response he gets from God isn't,
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  Speaker 3: you know, some sweeping motivational speech. It's just a surprisingly
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  Speaker 3: mundane question. He asks, what is that in your hand?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: And he's holding an ordinary shepherd's staff, like literally just.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: A piece of wood.
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  Speaker 3: Just a stick. But that very stick is thrown on
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  Speaker 3: the ground, becomes a serpent, and then turns back into
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  Speaker 3: a stick again.
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  Speaker 2: Wow.
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  Speaker 3: It becomes the exact sign he needs. And there's this
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  Speaker 3: really fascinating psychological mechanism at play here.
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  Speaker 2: How so?
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  Speaker 3: Well, by forcing Moses to look at this ordinary piece
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  Speaker 3: of wood he's already holding, it short-circuits his brain's paralysis.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, I see.
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  Speaker 3: It shifts his focus from this massive, abstract, terrifying goal
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  Speaker 3: down to a small, tangible tool he can actually control.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, let's unpack this, because if I'm being honest, is
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  Speaker 1: the takeaway here really just believe in yourself and your
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  Speaker 1: magic stick?
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  Speaker 3: I know.
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  Speaker 1: I know. Because, I mean, that sounds a little like
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  Speaker 1: a cheap motivational poster you'd see in a corporate break room.
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  Speaker 3: It completely sounds like a cheesy poster. I get it.
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  Speaker 3: But here is why it actually isn't. The story makes
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  Speaker 3: a really crucial distinction between an imagined requirement and a
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  Speaker 3: genuine limitation.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, interesting.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, because Moses wasn't just making excuses. He had real
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  Speaker 3: practical limitations. He actually struggled with public speaking. He called himself, well,
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  Speaker 3: slow of speech.
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  Speaker 2: So he doesn't just get told, get over it, use
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  Speaker 2: the stick.
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  Speaker 3: No, not at all.
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  Speaker 2: He gets actual help?
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  Speaker 3: He does. He isn't forced to do it alone. God
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  Speaker 3: actually provides his brother Aaron to speak alongside him. Oh, right.
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  Speaker 3: The real lesson here is that faith and preparation are
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  Speaker 3: not enemies. Recognizing the value of what you already have
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  Speaker 3: doesn't mean pretending you don't need anything else.
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  Speaker 2: That makes so much sense.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 3: You can start with what's in your hand while still
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  Speaker 3: asking for help. Or, you know, making a budget, finding
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  Speaker 3: a mentor.
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  Speaker 1: That translates so perfectly to the modern examples we read
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  Speaker 1: about in the excerpt.
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  Speaker 2: Take podcasting, for example.
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  Speaker 3: Oh, definitely.
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  Speaker 2: The imagined requirement is.
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  Speaker 1: That you absolutely need like a $ 10, 000 studio and three
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  Speaker 1: 4K cameras to even begin.
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  Speaker 3: Right, the perfect setup.
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  Speaker 1: But your current reality is you have a smartphone, a
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  Speaker 1: quiet closet, and some free editing software.
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  Speaker 2: Or even learning to code.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you don't need a supercomputer for that.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: You can use that five-year-old laptop gathering desk just to
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  Speaker 1: access free tutorials and take a first step.
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  Speaker 3: We actually see the same pattern with other ancient figures too,
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  Speaker 3: like David.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, David and Goliath.
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  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: He rejected King Saul's heavy traditional armor because he just
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  Speaker 3: wasn't used to it. He chose to face Goliath with
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  Speaker 3: the simple sling he already knew.
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  Speaker 1: How to use.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: He went with what was familiar.
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  Speaker 3: And Gideon too. He questioned how he could save his
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  Speaker 3: people because he was the least in his family. The
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  Speaker 3: through line here is really clear. Don't confuse starting small
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  Speaker 3: with thinking small.
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  Speaker 2: I love that.
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  Speaker 1: Starting small versus thinking small.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, a small beginning grounds you. It gives you a
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  Speaker 3: place to build discipline and actually test what works without
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  Speaker 3: that overwhelming cognitive load of trying to be absolutely perfect.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: Which brings the spotlight back to you, the listener, right now.
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  Speaker 2: What is in your hand?
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  Speaker 3: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: What small opportunity, basic tool, or existing skill are you
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  Speaker 1: completely overlooking just because it doesn't look like a perfect setup?
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  Speaker 3: We really do spend so much energy imagining the perfect
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  Speaker 3: beginning that we risk never making a beginning at all.
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  Speaker 1: So here is a final thought to mull over before
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  Speaker 1: we wrap up today's deep dive.
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  Speaker 2: We've established that a.
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  Speaker 1: Perfect setup isn't necessary to take the first step.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 1: But what if it goes deeper than that? What if
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  Speaker 1: taking a small, imperfect step is the only real way
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  Speaker 1: to discover what actually works in the real world?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, wow.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Could the very act of using your ordinary staff
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  Speaker 1: today be the exact mechanism that unlocks those resources you've
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: been waiting for? Maybe pulling your ambitions out of that
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  Speaker 1: someday graveyard isn't about finding perfect conditions. Maybe it's just
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: about finally picking up the stick.