Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S1-E32 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish

Transcript

S1-E32 | Everyday Eurasia | Debora Myrtle Anish · Eurasia Region Podcast

• 0:06
  Welcome to the special advance series of the Everyday Eurasia
• 0:09
  podcast, Inspiring Fate or Everyday?
• 0:13
  In the coming weeks, they'll be journeying together toward
• 0:16
  Christmas, a season of anticipation, reflection, and
• 0:21
  light in the darker days. During this special season of
• 0:24
  Advent, we will journey through the Advent themes of hope,
• 0:28
  peace, joy, and love. This third week, we will join
• 0:32
  Deborah Myrtle Anish. She is a Sunday school teacher
• 0:35
  and NDI president at the Call Free Choice of the Nazarene in
• 0:38
  Chennai, India. In her daily life, she is an
• 0:41
  assistant professor and clinic opsiologist in a government
• 0:44
  hospital and is also pursuing geological studies.
• 0:49
  She will share with us about the team Advent Joy.
• 0:52
  Joy in waiting. Today's passage takes us into
• 0:58
  one of the most honest conversations in Scripture.
• 1:02
  The Bible passage is taken from Habakkuk chapter 3, verses 17 to
• 1:07
  19. Though the fig tree does not bud
• 1:10
  and there are no grapes on the vines.
• 1:13
  Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food.
• 1:18
  Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
• 1:22
  yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful in God.
• 1:27
  My Saviour. The Sovereign Lord is my
• 1:30
  strength. He makes my feet like the feet
• 1:33
  of a deer. He enables me to tread on the
• 1:37
  heights. The book of Habakkuk is a
• 1:41
  conversation between the prophet and God.
• 1:45
  Habakkuk looks around and sees evil flourishing everywhere.
• 1:49
  He cannot understand why a holy God would allow injustice to
• 1:54
  continue. And when God reveals that he
• 1:57
  will judge his people using Babylon, an even more wicked
• 2:01
  nation, Habakkuk is shaken. He wonders, God, how can you
• 2:07
  tolerate this? Why does evil seem to win?
• 2:12
  Many of us may have asked similar questions in our own
• 2:16
  seasons of waiting. God answers Habakkuk with the
• 2:20
  truth that anchors the entire book.
• 2:24
  Evil will not have the final word.
• 2:28
  God is not overlooking sin. He is not slow.
• 2:32
  He is not indifferent. Lord Almighty is in full
• 2:37
  control, even when everything around us looks out of control.
• 2:43
  As this truth settles in Habakkuk's heart, he begins to
• 2:47
  see beyond what is happening and look at who God is.
• 2:52
  And then he makes one of the most powerful declarations in
• 2:55
  Scripture yet. I will rejoice in the Lord.
• 3:00
  I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
• 3:04
  This is not shallow positivity. This is deep, defiant faith.
• 3:10
  This is joy in the waiting. Habakkuk chooses joy not because
• 3:16
  his circumstances improve, but because his focus shifts to God.
• 3:21
  His joy is rooted in God's eternal character, holy,
• 3:26
  sovereign, just, faithful, strength, giving, joy, bringing,
• 3:34
  patient and attentive. Maybe today you are waiting too,
• 3:40
  waiting for a prayer to be answered, waiting for God to
• 3:44
  change a situation that seems uncertain or hopeless, waiting
• 3:48
  for healing. You are not alone.
• 3:53
  Habakkuk teaches us that joy can rise even in the waiting.
• 3:59
  He invites us to say, Even if nothing changes today, I will
• 4:04
  rejoice in the Lord. Remember, the Sovereign Lord is
• 4:09
  our strength. He steadies our steps.
• 4:13
  He helps us move forward with endurance.
• 4:17
  He gives us joy. Let us pray.
• 4:23
  Father, thank you for being our strength.
• 4:26
  In every season, when circumstances feel barren and
• 4:30
  hope seems distant, remind us of who you are.
• 4:35
  Faithful, sovereign, and always present.
• 4:40
  Teach us, like Habakkuk, to rejoice in you even while we
• 4:44
  wait. Full our hearts with a deep,
• 4:47
  steady joy that rests not in what we see, but in who you are.
• 4:54
  Help us to trust your timing, your purposes, and your
• 4:58
  goodness. May this Advent season awaken in
• 5:03
  US a joy that endures, a joy that declares, Yet I will
• 5:08
  rejoice in the Lord, in Jesus name, Amen.
• 5:14
  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast
• 5:17
  Inspiring Faith for Everyday. For more Everyday stories,
• 5:21
  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
• 5:25
  Facebook and Instagram, or our newsletter Snapshots.
• 5:28
  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
• 5:31
  region, visit our website, Eurasia regionorg.