Latest / Still, Here / Led Into Dry Places

Transcript

Led Into Dry Places · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: The same Spirit who descends like a dove now leads like a wind.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: One moment, the waters of baptism.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: The next, the heat and emptiness of the wilderness.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: It is jarring to realize Jesus is not lost.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: He is being led.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Matthew, chapter 4, verse 1.
• 0:28
  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
• 0:32
  tempted by the devil.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: We often assume dryness means failure,
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: that if we feel far from God,
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: we must have taken a wrong turn.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that is true.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes,
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: like Jesus,
• 0:55
  we are led into places where we are uncomfortable so that our
• 0:59
  trust in God can
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: deepen.
• 1:02
  In the wilderness,
• 1:03
  Jesus becomes hungry,
• 1:05
  physically but also symbolically.
• 1:09
  He feels the ache we feel,
• 1:11
  the pull toward quick fixes,
• 1:14
  easy bread,
• 1:15
  immediate relief.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: The tempter suggests a shortcut.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Use your power to satisfy yourself now.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yet Jesus answers out of a deeper hunger.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: To live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: Love does not always lead us around hard places.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Often, love leads us through them.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not to punish us, but to purify what we rely on.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Wilderness seasons expose the stories we live by.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: I am okay as long as.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I am safe as long as.
• 1:56
  In the silence,
• 1:57
  those stories fade,
• 1:59
  and we are invited to feed on a different word.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Today,
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: rather than resenting your dry places,
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: dare to ask,
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do I see how the Spirit has walked with me?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Receive this prayer of presence.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Spirit of God,
• 2:20
  When my life feels barren and my soul feels dry,
• 2:24
  remind me that I am not abandoned.
• 2:28
  Lead me to trust your presence in the emptiness and to feed on
• 2:32
  your living word,
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: not lesser bread.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:40
  As you leave this moment of stillness,
• 2:42
  here is a prayer you can carry with you today.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Lead me in the wilderness and
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Help me learn to trust Lead me in the wilderness Help me learn to trust
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.