Latest / Wilder Whispers Podcast / No Daylight

Transcript

No Daylight · Wilder Whispers Podcast

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friend, welcome to Wilder Whispers, a space where we slow down and listen for God's voice in the ordinary moments of life.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Shay Wooden, and I'm so glad you're here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: We often expect God to speak through big moments, a sermon, a breakthrough, a perfectly quiet prayer time, and he does, but so often he chooses quieter ways, in the middle of everyday life, in the unnoticed moments, in gentle whispers that invite us closer.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Each episode, I'll share one simple story and the quiet truth God revealed through it, not because it was extraordinary, but because he was present.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So wherever you are right now, take a breath, let's slow down, and listen together.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: There are some things in our spiritual lives that rarely happen all at once.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: We don't wake up one morning and decide we're going to compromise what we believe.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: We don't set out to become complacent, and most of us certainly don't plan to become less responsive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: It happens much more subtly than that.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And lately I've been thinking about three things that can become connected if we're not careful.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Comparison, compromise, complacency.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: One can lead to another so gradually that we may not recognize what's happening until something in us has changed.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why what happened during prayer this week stayed with me.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: A few days ago during prayer, the Lord began dealing with me about comparison, compromise, and complacency.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this morning those same words were still with me.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: As I sat there praying, I noticed a rock nearby.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as I looked at it, three words came to my mind: no daylight.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: I kept looking at that rock.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: There wasn't any daylight between the rock and the shadow.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was tucked underneath it.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: And my heart immediately went to Psalm 91.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Under his shadow.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as I sat there looking at that rock, my mind went back to what the Lord had been dealing with me about a few days before.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: And suddenly those words, no daylight, meant something more.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Father, let there be no daylight between us.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Keep me under your shadow.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 12, for we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves, but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Comparison gives us the wrong measuring stick, and it can work in either direction.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I can look at someone else and feel pretty good about myself because I think I'm doing better than they are.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: Or I can look at someone else and feel like I'm falling behind because they seem to be doing better than me.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: One can feed pride, the other can feed insecurity.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Neither one is wise.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: In comparison is also a joy killer.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: I can be genuinely grateful for what God has given me until I start looking at what he gave you.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: I can be content with where I am until I see where you are.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I can celebrate what God is doing in my life until I decide what he's doing and yours looks better.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: God's still been faithful to me.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: I just stopped paying attention to what he was doing in my life because I was so busy looking at yours.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's why Paul says in Galatians 6, 4 and 5, but let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another, for each one shall bear his own load.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's freedom in being faithful with what God has placed in my hands without constantly measuring it against what he has placed in yours.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And there's protection in that too.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because comparison doesn't just affect how I see myself, it can affect how I see what God has given me.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where comparison can become dangerous.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because when I become dissatisfied with what God has given me, compromise can start looking a little more attractive.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And Psalm 91 brings my attention back to where it belongs.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in Him I will trust.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And later it says, His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: When he's my refuge and his truth is what I'm standing on, I don't need somebody else's life to tell me whether mine is enough.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need their calling to validate mine.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need their season to look like mine.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't need what God is doing for them to determine how I feel about what he's doing for me.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Dissatisfaction has a way of making things look reasonable that once weren't even up for consideration.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where compromise can begin.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: Not always with some huge decision.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it starts in a moment when I already know what I should do, but I hesitate.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Conviction speaks, and instead of responding, I start negotiating.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Do I really need to do that?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Is this really that serious?
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: What difference will one time make?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And if I keep talking long enough, I can usually come up with a reason to do what I wanted to do in the first place.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 13 and 14 says, But put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I love how direct that is.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Make no provision.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Don't prepare for it, don't accommodate it.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: Don't leave yourself an option you already know you shouldn't take.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: There are times when we need to pray and seek God for direction.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: There are decisions where we genuinely need wisdom, but there are also times when we already know.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And in those moments, we need to be quick to obey.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because conviction is a gift.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's the Holy Spirit making us aware that something needs our attention while our hearts are still tender enough to respond.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 3.13 warns us about becoming hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: If God keeps dealing with me about something and I keep ignoring him, eventually my heart can become hardened in that area.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: And every time I override conviction, it becomes a little easier to do it again.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's what makes repeated compromise so dangerous.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't only affect the choice I'm making in that moment, it can affect how sensitive I am the next time conviction comes.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Paul uses even stronger language in 1 Timothy 4 2 when he speaks of a conscience seared with a hot iron.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Something that should still have feeling has lost sensitivity.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I don't want to play games with conviction.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: When the Holy Spirit says stop, stop.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: When he says let it go, let it go.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: When he says apologize, apologize.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: When he says turn it off, turn it off.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: When he says don't go there, don't go there.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: Be quick to obey.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what makes the language of Psalm ninety one so important to me.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord is my dwelling place.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: This is where I've chosen to live.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So when conviction speaks, I don't want to start looking for room to accommodate something that doesn't belong here.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want divided loyalties.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: No daylight.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because the danger of repeated compromise is that eventually what once convicted me may stop troubling me.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that may be one of the most dangerous places we can find ourselves.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: Not because we don't know better, but because what once mattered deeply to us doesn't seem to matter quite as much anymore.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 2 1 says, Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think that word drift is important.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can drift without deciding to go anywhere.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: There doesn't have to be a moment when you announce, I'm leaving.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: You just stop paying attention.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And little by little you find yourself somewhere you never intended to be.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's complacency.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Compromise makes an allowance.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Complacency learns to live with it.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And there are things we can learn to live with that we never should have made peace with.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there was a time when you would have dealt with something immediately, but now you let it linger.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there was a time when you were careful about what you allowed into your heart, but now you hardly notice.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there was a time when obedience mattered enough that you acted quickly, but now there's always a reason to put it off.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not rebellion, not some declaration that you no longer care about God.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: You've just gotten comfortable.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: Zephaniah one twelve speaks of people who were settled in complacency.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: Settled?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's what catches my attention.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Because something temporary has become a place you're willing to stay.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the slow faith.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes you don't realize how comfortable you become until something that once would have sent you running to God barely troubles you anymore.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I see such a contrast between drifting and dwelling.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Drifting can happen without intention.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Dwelling is a choice.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 91 says, He who dwells, this is where I've chosen to remain.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And staying under his shadow keeps me attentive to him, to his voice, to his conviction, and to what he's dealing with in my heart.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I don't want to become comfortable anywhere else.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to stay under his shadow.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this brings me back to the rock.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 91 says, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's the posture that guards against all three.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: Comparison threatens my focus.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Compromise threatens my allegiance.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Complacency threatens my sensitivity.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: But when I make the Lord my dwelling place, he becomes my reference point.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: My allegiance belongs to him, and my heart stays attentive to his voice.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I saw on that rock that morning.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was completely under the shadow.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: No daylight.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where I want to live.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: So maybe this is a moment to sit with the Lord and ask him to search our hearts.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Where has comparison been stealing my joy?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Have I become dissatisfied with something God gave me because I've been looking at what he gave somebody else?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Is there an area where conviction has been clear, but instead of obeying, I've been negotiating?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is there something that once bothered me spiritually that I've gradually become comfortable with?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe the most important question is this.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: What would quick obedience look like for me today?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: If the Holy Spirit has already made something clear, I don't need another answer.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I just need to respond.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you belong to Jesus and the Holy Spirit has put his finger on something while you've been listening, don't put it off.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's comparison.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's an area where you've compromised.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you become comfortable with something you know isn't pleasing to God.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Whatever he has shown you, don't put it off.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Come back under his shadow.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: No daylight.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're listening today and you don't know Jesus, Psalm ninety one speaks of God as a refuge, a safe place, a place to dwell.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And that invitation is for you too.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: God isn't simply offering you a list of rules to follow, he's inviting you into relationship with himself.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus made that relationship possible through his death and resurrection.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: You can come to him, trust him with your life, receive his forgiveness, and know him for yourself.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: You can make the Lord your refuge.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: You can begin with a simple prayer.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I need you.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: I believe you died for me and rose again.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Forgive me of my sin.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: I put my trust in you, I give you my life, be my Savior and my Lord.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you prayed that sincerely, tell someone, find a Bible-believing church where you can grow and begin learning what it means to walk with Jesus.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Father, you are our refuge in our fortress.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You are our God, and we put our trust in you.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Guard our hearts from comparison.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: Teach us to be grateful for what you have given us, for where you have placed us, and for what you're doing in our lives.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: Keep our hearts tender toward you.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: When you speak, help us to listen.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: When you convict us, make us quick to obey.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Show us where we have made room for compromise, and don't let us grow comfortable with anything that is drawing our hearts away from you.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: We want to dwell in your secret place and remain under your shadow.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: So, Father, this is our prayer.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Let there be no daylight between us.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus we pray.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: I keep thinking about that rock.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was simply there, tucked beneath the shadow.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that was the picture I needed that morning.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I spend too much time asking how much room I have instead of remembering where I've chosen to dwell.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: Comparison, compromise, complacency.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: None of them have to become the story of my life.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: I can stay under his shadow, and that's still my prayer.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, let there be no daylight between us.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And today's closing whisper to carry with you is this stay under the shadow, guard your convictions, be quick to obey, and let there be no daylight between you and him.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for spending this time with me on Wilder Whispers.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: I hope today's story reminded you that God is closer than we often realize and that he's still speaking, even in the ordinary moments of life.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Whispers are the language of closeness.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: They invite us to lean in.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: As you go about your day, whether you're working, resting, driving, or just trying to catch your breath, stay attentive.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: God is not far away.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's not silent.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: He's near, and he's speaking.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep listening.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: This is Wilder Whispers, and I'm Shay Wood.