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October 9 – Looking Within First · The Daily Ripples Podcast

• 0:04
  Hey, y'all, good morning and happy Friday.
• 0:07
  This is the Daily Ripples, and I'm Steffani.
• 0:10
  October ninth, looking within first.
• 0:13
  The stone.
• 0:15
  My reactions often reveal more about the condition of my heart than about the circumstances around me.
• 0:23
  Ripple one practical.
• 0:24
  Today I will pause before blaming my circumstances or someone else's behavior on my emotions.
• 0:30
  For when I'm disturbed, I will ask what is happening within me before I react.
• 0:35
  Honest reflection turns frustration into an opportunity for growth.
• 0:41
  Ripple 2, spiritual.
• 0:43
  As I follow Christ's example of responding with grace instead of impulse.
• 0:47
  The Holy Spirit reveals what is happening beneath the surface of my heart.
• 0:51
  The Father is more interested in transforming my character than simply changing my circumstances.
• 0:59
  Well, this is a gut punch to me.
• 1:02
  Um, Because I've been battling with this condition of the heart, if you will, for the past several months.
• 1:12
  In the springtime, I was told, um, our company decided that we were all going to return back to the office.
• 1:20
  And for some of you, this might not be a big deal, but for me, it's been a thing that I've been wrestling with.
• 1:27
  Um, we were told that the, after Labor Day, we would be going back to the office and um, no longer working from home.
• 1:36
  For the past 7 years, during COVID, because of COVID, if you will.
• 1:41
  I've had an office set up in my house.
• 1:44
  I've gotten to work in my PJs.
• 1:47
  I've gotten to see my kids off to school.
• 1:49
  I've gotten to save a lot of gas, and I've gotten to do my job.
• 1:53
  Did I take it for granted?
• 1:56
  Absolutely, I did.
• 1:58
  And when I was told that I had to go back, I was bitter and resentful.
• 2:03
  Don't you know how much money it's going to cost me to fill up my gas tank?
• 2:08
  Don't you know it's going to take 40 minutes to get to the office?
• 2:12
  Don't you know all the things that I'm going to miss out on while I'm at, at the office and not at home?
• 2:19
  These are the things that have been playing over and over my head, you know, like that, just story.
• 2:24
  I've been telling myself, this thing that I can't control.
• 2:29
  Obviously, it's a condition of my heart.
• 2:33
  And I'm blaming my circumstances on somebody who doesn't care.
• 2:38
  This is a company policy, it's gonna change.
• 2:42
  And I wallowed in this for a good bit.
• 2:46
  And everybody that has been around me has heard it, including my family more than once.
• 2:52
  But what I realized was I could sit in this and have it make my life miserable.
• 2:59
  Make me turn into a bitter person.
• 3:02
  Uh, make me horrible to be around.
• 3:04
  And uh, I realized I didn't want that.
• 3:07
  That the only thing that in this situation that I could control was myself.
• 3:13
  How I thought about it, what I said about it, how I felt about it.
• 3:20
  It's the only thing that I can control in the situation because they're not going to listen to little old me.
• 3:25
  Say, I don't want to go back to the office.
• 3:28
  And sure, there were plenty of people that voiced that very same opinion.
• 3:33
  But when company policies change, it's the company's decision, and it's not mine to be able to be a part of.
• 3:40
  They don't pay me the big bucks to make these decisions.
• 3:44
  And so I had a good long talk with God about it.
• 3:49
  About what it is that was disturbing me.
• 3:53
  And why it was disturbing me.
• 3:58
  And um, The thing that came to my mind when I was looking at this was, Philippians 4, 6 through 7.
• 4:09
  And it says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God.
• 4:21
  And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
• 4:28
  Give it over, let it go.
• 4:32
  So I've been in the office for 3 weeks now.
• 4:37
  After praying a prayer of God help me, take this anxiety away from me, take this fear away from me, help me have a better perspective in a better attitude about it.
• 4:49
  And uh, you know, it's not really turned out that bad.
• 4:54
  I've got to see some faces that I haven't seen in a long time.
• 4:58
  I've actually gotten to have a conversation with somebody of a different culture and of a different religion about God.
• 5:05
  And what an opportunity that is, because if I was still irritated and still angry, Would I be a good steward, For God?
• 5:19
  Probably not.
• 5:19
  Um, it's given me the opportunities to be open and honest and maybe willing to accept that things aren't going to be. The way I want them to.
• 5:31
  But I don't know what God's plans are for my life because I'm just a piddly human being.
• 5:38
  I'm not a piddly human doing, which is what I thought I was.
• 5:43
  I've got to do this.
• 5:44
  I've got to be this.
• 5:45
  I've got to, you know, carry the weight of the world on my shoulders.
• 5:48
  And I really don't.
• 5:49
  At the end of the day, I hand it over and let it go.
• 5:53
  And what a relief that has been for me.
• 5:56
  And, you know, I've had the opportunities to meditate on my way to work, so that long drive is now no longer a punishment, if you will.
• 6:06
  It's allowed me to take the time to have a conversation with God.
• 6:11
  And these newfangled machines that we all carry around, these computers, you know, when I get in my fields, I want to make that go away and I do some doom scrolling.
• 6:21
  For you guys that don't know what doom scrolling is, you know, social media and you flip through, scroll for minutes and hours on end.
• 6:32
  Did you know that if you put the word God in there, those AI tech bots, create an algorithm that circles around the things you look at.
• 6:43
  And uh, it's given me an opportunity to find God in all kinds of places.
• 6:52
  God has a way of sneaking into my life and giving me a different perspective, where I thought I was going to have all of these downsides, it's turned into being something absolutely beautiful.
• 7:06
  Um, I don't know what my plans are for God for me.
• 7:12
  He does.
• 7:14
  And who am I to question that?
• 7:17
  Jeremiah 2911 says, For I know the plans that I have for you.
• 7:25
  declares the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future, and a hope.
• 7:33
  What a blessing.
• 7:36
  So when I'm disturbed.
• 7:42
  There's an opportunity there.
• 7:44
  When I'm irritated and things aren't going my way, there's an opportunity there.
• 7:50
  To maybe search for some bigger meaning.
• 7:55
  than my piddly plans and thoughts and actions, to put aside my feelings, and look for the opportunities.
• 8:05
  Um, Alcoholics Anonymous has given me this opportunity.
• 8:10
  By working these 12 steps and getting to know the people within the walls of AA.
• 8:17
  My perspective on life has changed.
• 8:20
  And where once I used to see, maybe the negative, outcomes of things.
• 8:28
  have these godwinks now, where I can see God in all things.
• 8:34
  And I get opportunities now.
• 8:36
  Where things may not be going my way, or my feelings are down in the dumps, and my phone rings, and it's somebody in the program who wanted to call and see how I was doing.
• 8:50
  Or God just quietly whispers in my ear.
• 8:54
  Hey, have you checked on that new lady today?
• 8:58
  And here's an opportunity for me to get out of myself.
• 9:01
  Here's an opportunity for me to extend the hand and offer grace.
• 9:07
  Prayer for today.
• 9:09
  Father God, help me look within before I react to what is around me.
• 9:13
  Through your Holy Spirit, reveal what needs your healing and guidance.
• 9:17
  Shape me through the example of Jesus.
• 9:20
  Amen.
• 9:22
  Hey, and you guys, if y'all are listening and you are online, pop a comment in the email, tell us what you think.
• 9:29
  Let us know how we're doing, and if you're enjoying what we're doing here.
• 9:33
  Um, I think that this has the hand of God all in it.
• 9:37
  And if you agree, say amen.