Latest / Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast / How to Hear from God and Find Peace Without Knowing What’s Next

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How to Hear from God and Find Peace Without Knowing What’s Next · Your Hope-Filled Perspective with Dr. Michelle Bengtson podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Life audio.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: The God of the universe is trying to communicate with you.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: Are you listening? Have you ever felt like God was
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: prompting you to do something, but question whether or not
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: it was his voice, and instead of acting, maybe maybe
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: you waited for another sign. What if God has already
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: given us what we need to know to determine if
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: a word is from him. Today's guest, Abby MacDonald addresses
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: a key misperception about God's voice that it will tell
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: what will happen tomorrow. But we've mistaken God's voice in
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: our lives for a means of obtaining knowledge, instead of
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: embracing its power to give us peace for today. Since
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the fall of the Garden of Eden, humanity has carried
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: the same deception that misled Eve. We think more information
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: will give us more freedom.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: But what if we looked at Jesus's.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: Teachings, we see that his direction was never intended to
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: give us a roadmap. We can trade the yoke of
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: uncertainty that we carry for a better one, Jesus's yoke.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: By focusing on three promises that Jesus gave us in
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: John ten ten, Abby addresses a key misperception about God's
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: voice that it will tell what shows a better way
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: to live empowered by God's word instead of a false
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: sense of security. Welcome to your Hope Field Perspective, where
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: it's always our goal to restore hope, renew minds, and
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: empower listeners to live in your God given identity. I'm
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: your host, doctor Michelle Bankson, and I'm delighted you've chosen
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: to spend a few minutes of your week with us.
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: In this episode of Your Hope Field Perspective, We're going
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: to be talking about how to discern God's voice and
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: find peace without knowing what's next. John ten Verse twenty
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: seven says, my sheep listen to my voice. I know
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: them and they will follow me for this commer I've
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: welcome back to the podcast. Abby MacDonald who's the author
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: of the book Shift and her most recent book, Surrendering Certainty,
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: Hearing God Today by letting go of Tomorrow. She's a writer,
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: a speaker, a wife, and a mom whose work has
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: been featured on Encourage for Every Mom, Crosswalk and more.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: She writes for the Proverbs.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: Thirty one Ministry's daily devotional encouragement for Today, and her
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: passion is to empower women to grow in faith and.
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: Hope even when life is messy.
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: She earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: of South Carolina and loves to teach at writing conferences
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: each year. When she's not reading or writing, you can
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: find her wrangling her three kids and black lab while
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: drinking copious amounts of coffee. Abby lives with her husband
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: and three children in western Maryland. Welcome back to the episode, Appy.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Thank you, Michelle. It's good to be here.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: It's been a long time since we chatted about your
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: first book, but I'm excited about this new topic and
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: want to know after interviewing hundreds of people at this point,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: is that frequently our ministries and our books come out
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: of our own needs, our own hurts, our own pains.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: The books that we wish we had.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: So I would love for you to share with us
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: what prompted you to write Surrendering Certainty.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: This book was born at well out of my own struggle,
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: because I think all of our books are born out
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: of something we've struggled with ourselves, but also out of
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: conversations that I'd had for women over the past year,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: sometimes weekly, sometimes daily, and I kept hearing this question,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: how do I know this is God's voice? How do
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I know this is God's will and not just my desire?
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: And I understood that question because, like I said, I
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: have wrestled with that question myself, and I have known
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: that that angst and that anxiety, and so I started
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: praying about it and the scriptures, and what I found
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: that is really at the heart of that question is
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: this desire for certainty and this desire to know what
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: is going to happen on the other side of our yes,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: on the other side of our obedience. And I thought,
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  Speaker 1: you know what, that we were never promised that. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: never promised to give us a guarantee about what's going
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  Speaker 1: to happen. Now, his presence with us is a guarantee, absolutely,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: but he doesn't promise to show us what's going to happen.
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  Speaker 1: And so the book is exploring that question, exploring that
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  Speaker 1: need for certainty, and that's where the book was born,
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  Speaker 1: was out of those conversations.
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  Speaker 2: So in your book, you talk about the yoke of
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: certainty that we often carry, and you invite readers to
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: trade this yoke for a better one, for Jesus's yoke.
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  Speaker 2: Can you explain really what this means and why why
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  Speaker 2: is this exchange so critical? If we want to move
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: forward in our lives with God.
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  Speaker 1: The yoke of certainty Michelle is really the enemy's yoke,
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  Speaker 1: and it's the yoke that he put on humanity in
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  Speaker 1: that initial interaction with Eve and the garden. And what
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  Speaker 1: does he promise evil? He promises her knowledge, and he
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  Speaker 1: promises her that she will be like God. And I
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  Speaker 1: really believe that in that moment we took on this yoke,
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  Speaker 1: this need to know more than God has chosen to
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  Speaker 1: give us for today. We chose to go outside of
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  Speaker 1: the promise of today and try to go into the
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: future and obtain more than He chose to give us.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: And so when we do that, when we're trying to
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: be like God, as the enemy said, then we're taking
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: on a yot we were never intended to carry. We
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: are not God. We are finite creatures. Yes, our spirits
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: will live forever, but our bodies and our minds are finite.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: And so when we try to run into the future
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  Speaker 1: and just ask these perpetual questions, I need another sign,
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  Speaker 1: show me what's going to happen. Yes, sometimes God will
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  Speaker 1: give us a sign because He's merciful and he's faithful.
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  Speaker 1: But eventually we need to act, and we have to
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  Speaker 1: we have to move forward or otherwise we're just going
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  Speaker 1: to stay suck. And so we can trade that yoke,
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  Speaker 1: that need for certainty, for Jesus yoke. And he tells
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  Speaker 1: us his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
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  Speaker 1: And that doesn't promise that our lives are going to
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: be easy and light. He doesn't promises that, but he
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  Speaker 1: does promise to give us what we need for today.
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: And there's so much more peace living in today, trying
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: to live in some time and space that hasn't occurred yet.
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  Speaker 2: Isn't it interesting how much of our lives we spend
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  Speaker 2: thinking and worrying about tomorrow when we aren't promised tomorrow.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, breaking anxiety script. That was one of the things
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  Speaker 2: that I spent a lot of time talking about, is
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  Speaker 2: that God in fact cautions us not to worry about
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  Speaker 2: tomorrow because today has enough problems.
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: Of its own.
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  Speaker 2: But we, I think, we become so prone to anxiety,
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  Speaker 2: not just out of our desire to know what tomorrow
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  Speaker 2: is going to bring, but out of our desire to
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: control it, which to me is being our own little
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: g God instead of trusting in the God who created
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: us and gave us a blueprint for how to live.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Why do you think surrendering our questions about tomorrow is
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  Speaker 2: crucial to hearing God's way and actually living a life
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: of faith.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Michelle, I think that until we surrender those questions that,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: like you said, we're just going to live in that
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: state of anxiety and we're going to be worrying and
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: trying to control what is not in our ability to control.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: But if we focus on what God has given us,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the truth that He has given us, then we can
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: live in his peace and we can have joy and
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: abundant life. And that doesn't mean that we're not going
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: to make plans or we're never going to think about tomorrow,
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  Speaker 1: But there's a difference between planning and thinking and obsessing
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: and just constantly just worrying and having that desire to
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: know what's going to happen. And so, yeah, I think
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: it's just living in his peace and knowing He has
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: us and He's going to give us what we need.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think if we would spend more time waking
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: up in the morning and saying, Lord, what do you
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: have for me today? And starting off our day just
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: focusing on the here and now, we wouldn't spend so
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: much time worrying about the certainty of tomorrow. Friends, We're
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: going to take a real short break, but I want
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: you to stick with us to hear Abby share more
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: about how to discern God's voice and find peace without
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: knowing what's next. We'll talk about this after a brief
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: word from our sponsor. Welcome back to your hope filled
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: perspective or. My guest today is Abbi MacDonald, the author
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: of the new book Surrendering Certainty.
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: Abby. In your book, you talk.
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: About letting your fear propel you towards Jesus instead of
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: away from him.
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  Speaker 3: So what do you think this looks.
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  Speaker 2: Like in the day to day life and how have
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: you let your fear propel you towards Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: One thing that I point out in the book and
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: just in day to day conversation is that fear is
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: an emotion that God gave us right and so the
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  Speaker 1: answer is not to just try to sweep it under
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  Speaker 1: the rug or to pretend like it's not there, because
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  Speaker 1: fear has a purpose and it can keep us from
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  Speaker 1: climbing in a car with a stalker or doing something crazy.
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  Speaker 1: And so I don't think that when we fear that
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  Speaker 1: God is just barking at us, saying, don't fear. But
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  Speaker 1: he wants to encourage us, and he wants us to
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  Speaker 1: come to him with that fear. And so that's what
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  Speaker 1: I mean by lett it propel you toward Jesus is
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  Speaker 1: come to him and just be honest about your fear.
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  Speaker 1: Tell him what it is. God, I'm really worried about
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  Speaker 1: my kids in this decision that we're facing, and I
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: don't know what to do, or I'm worried about this
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  Speaker 1: job interview, and can you please give me your peace?
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  Speaker 1: And so when we let those fears and those worries
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  Speaker 1: draw us to him and we're honest with him about it,
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  Speaker 1: he can take that fear and just transform it into
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  Speaker 1: his peace and into desire to move forward. And so
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  Speaker 1: that's what I'm talking about when I say, let your
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  Speaker 1: fear propel you toward Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: But it begs the question because I can almost hear
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  Speaker 2: the response of some of our listeners and viewers because
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: this happens for many reasons. So what would you say
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: to the listener who's thinking, but I'm actually afraid of God.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: I'm actually afraid of God's response.
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  Speaker 1: Wow, Wow, I have been there too, Michelle. I have
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: been there, not necessarily with fear, but just coming to
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  Speaker 1: God with my desires, my hopes, my dreams. To me,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: that felt like putting my hopes and dreams into one
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  Speaker 1: of those giant flaw machines and just watching the hand
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: kind of haphazardly make its way around and then drop
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: down and not ever come up with anything. And so
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  Speaker 1: I get that. I get that I grew up with
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: a very unhealthy view of who God was, and I
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: saw him as sort of this distant dictator who was
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: just waiting for me to mess up. And so I
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: would say to that person, God wants you to flourish.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: God loves you with a love that we cannot possibly fathom.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: And I know that hearing that somebody else say that
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: and experiencing it for yourself are two different things. But
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: I would encourage you to get to know him, because
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: when you get to know him, you see that he
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: is not someone who is going to turn away from
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: you when you come to him with that honesty. He
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: longs for that, and he actually says in scripture that
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: he no longer calls us sir, but friends, and so
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: we can come to him with all of it.
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  Speaker 2: And I think it's important, just as you mentioned before
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: that the enemy uses fear, but the enemy can also
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: use our fear of God to keep us from that relationship.
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  Speaker 2: And one of the things that I think we can
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  Speaker 2: find comfort in is that God is big enough for
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  Speaker 2: us to be honest and say I'm really afraid of you.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: I'm afraid of how you're going to react. I'm afraid
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: of how you're going to respond. He can handle it,
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: and I think you'll find that his response is much
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: more tender in general than you might anticipate.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: Absolutely.
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean your book centers around three truths that
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Jesus speaks in John tent I love John Tintin. My
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: first book, Hope Prevails, was based on John Tinton. The
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: first one is from John twenty seven, which is the
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: scripture that I opened up with my sheep hear my voice,
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: and I know them and they follow me. Why do
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: you think some believes doubt their ability to hear God's voice?
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: And have you ever experienced this doubt in your own life?
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: And if so, how did you move past it?
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: Absolutely? I think that there's a number of different reasons
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: why we can doubt our ability to hear God. I
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: think that, especially in the beginning of our faith, we
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: just have so many questions, and it's natural for us
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: to just go to somebody else with those questions because
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: we don't necessarily trust our ability to answer them for ourselves,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: or to go to God with our questions and to
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: hear from him. And I think that's natural and that's normal.
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  Speaker 1: But God wants our faith to grow, He wants it
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: to mature and develop, and so I think also sometimes
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  Speaker 1: we expect to hear from God in this audible voice,
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  Speaker 1: like Moses in the burning bush or something, and him
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  Speaker 1: to just come down and say, here I am. And
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  Speaker 1: that's not usually the case. I mean, absolutely he can
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: do that, But most of the time, in my experience,
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  Speaker 1: hearing from God is more like a gentle nudge. It's
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: more like a prompt or just this burning that I
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: fell in my heart and I just know that I
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: have to do something. And those are the nudges that
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  Speaker 1: we learn to recognize as we walk more with Him.
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  Speaker 1: And another thing is that we don't learn to recognize
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  Speaker 1: those nudges until we act on them. And so if
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: we feel that nudge and we're just in a state
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: of inertia we don't ever respond. Then we're never going
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: to see him move, and we're never going to see
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  Speaker 1: the faithfulness, which is an attribute of his character, because
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: we're not giving him an opportunity to do that. But
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: as we move with him, we can create this track
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  Speaker 1: record and we look back when we say, oh, when
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: I moved and I responded to that nudge I felt,
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: then there he was, and he was faithful, and he
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: created a way where I didn't see that there was
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: going to be a way. And so yeah, I think
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  Speaker 1: there's a number of different factors involved. But as we
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: respond to him, then we create that track record and
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  Speaker 1: we can see, oh, yeah, that was God, and we
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: become more attuned to his voice.
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  Speaker 2: So I can hear the listener now saying, Okay, so
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: the more I put this into practice, the better I'll
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: become hearing his voice. But what if I make a mistake,
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: What if that wasn't really his voice?
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: How do you respond to that?
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: I believe when Paul says in Romans that God works
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: all things together for the good of those who love him,
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  Speaker 1: he's not just talking about these struggles and tragedies in
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: our lives. He's also talking about the times when we
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: do mess up and we do falter, and so God
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  Speaker 1: can use even those things for our good and for
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: his glory. But the key is if it's an actual sin,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: which it may not be sin, it may just be
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: it things don't turn out the way we thought they would.
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  Speaker 1: But if it's sin, then we come to God and
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  Speaker 1: we repent of that and we say, hey, I messed up.
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  Speaker 1: And God is like I said before, he's faithful, he's loving,
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  Speaker 1: and he just to forgive that sin and to cleanse
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: us from that. But if things just don't work out
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: the way we thought they would, then that's just life,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: and God can use that. God will create a way
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: and a path around whatever obstacle it is that we're
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: seeing and provide a way forward.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: You say, our view of who God is will always
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: affect whether or not we trust Him with our desires.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: Why do you think this is true? Why do you
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: think that brings our desires to God is crucial for
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: moving forward in our spiritual lives.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and so this is something I kind of alluded
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: to before when I said that I saw him sort
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: of as this distant rule enforcer, and I think that
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: when we see God that way, then we don't feel
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: safe coming to him with those desires. We don't feel
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: safe coming to him with our dreams because we don't
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: think that he's going to treat them with a delicate hand,
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: and we think it's safer to just keep them to ourselves.
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: But if we see him as the loving father that
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: he is, then we can come to him with all
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: of that, and we can trust that he's going to
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: create something beautiful, and it's probably going to be something
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: even greater than what we imagined, because he is God.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: And my kids have been the greatest teachers to me
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  Speaker 1: of this because they come to me with all of it.
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: They don't hide their desires from me. I remember when
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: my daughter was for she told me she wanted to
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: be a frog, and I just, you know, I was
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: making dinner, salte and vegetables, and I just said, okay,
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I don't know if that's humanly possible,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: but sure.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: Doesn't that make you wonder if sometimes God doesn't just
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: chuckle at some of our desires. You know, it's not
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: that he condemns, but I have to think sometimes he's like, oh, sweetheart,
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: if you only knew what I had for you is
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: so much better.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Than being a frog.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, friends, We're going to take a real quick break,
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: but I want you to stick with us, because when
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: we come back, I'm going to ask Abby to share
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: a hope Field perspective for you. Right after this brief
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: word from our sponsor, Welcome back to your hope Field perspective.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: Abby.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: In your book Surrendering Certainty, in chapter eight, you say
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: that what we perceive as a close door can actually
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: be a distraction. Can you talk about a little bit further.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: How do you know the difference between a closed door
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: and a distraction?
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Yes, and so I think that sometimes we perceive an
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: obstacle as a closed door, Michelle, and many times it's
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: not a closed door. It's just an opportunity for refinement,
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: and it's opportunity to grow our faith. But sometimes we
• 20:30
  Speaker 1: take a step of faith, and when we're starting something new,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: we have that fire and just that fresh energy in us,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: and everything is fresh and new. And then we get
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: to the work or whatever that looks like, and we
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: get to the middle and things aren't as fresh and
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: new anymore, and we might encounter people who don't understand
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: our vision or we might encounter such situations that we
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: didn't anticipate when we took that step of faith, and
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: we can see that as a closed door. And so
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: my encouragement is, don't quit when you simply need to
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: take a nap, or you just need to refresh yourself
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: and to remember that fire that you had at the
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: beginning of the endeavor. And there are some key questions
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: that we can ask ourselves. We can ask ourselves, is
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: this just my discomfort or is this an actual closed door?
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: We can ask ourselves, what is the benefit of staying
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: where I am, you know? And a lot of times
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: that may be comfort, or it may be just familiarity
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: with the situation. And so as we ask these questions,
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: I think that God will reveal to us whether or
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: not it is in fact a closed door or if
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: it's just something that we need to work through and
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: we need to persevere with him. If it is a
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: closed door, I think that God will make it clear,
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: because he is not a god of confusion, and I
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: think that He will make it quite obvious that we're
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: not to move forward. And we see him do that
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: time and time again in scripture. When Paul wants to
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: enter asia and act see if this Holy Spirit comes
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: down and just makes it very clear, no, you're not
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: going to go there. So I think that God still
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: does that today and we can have that security knowing
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: that he'll make it clear.
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: And it helps so much if we can remember that
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: while we can get so focused on a goal or
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: an achievement or a certain pathway, God is always very
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: concerned about our growth and progress, and so what can
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: look like a closed door actually just be a detour
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: in the path that He has to get us where
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: he wants us ultimately to go.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: You talk a lot about how the voices of others
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: make it difficult to discern the voice of God. Can
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: you give examples of this either from scripture or your
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: own life.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: We live in a day and age, Michelle, where we're
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: just bombarded by other voices, and sometimes that creates dissonance
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: between us and God. And they can be good voices too,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: I mean they can be speaking truth and love and
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: all of that. But if we don't get alone with
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: God for ourselves, and we're not very intentional about seeking
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: Him for ourselves and getting into His word for ourselves,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: then we're missing out. And one example I use or
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: it's really a metaphor. Is there was a Pandora commercial
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: that came out several years ago around Mother's Day.
• 24:01
  Speaker 3: And it always comes out around Mother's Day.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Yes, exactly, exactly. And so there are about eight kids,
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: I would say they were probably about seven years old,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: and they were blindfolded in this warehouse and then their
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: mothers were on the other side of the room, and
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: the kids were spun around a few times, and then
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: they were released to go find their mothers. And every
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: single one of these kids found their mother without fail.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: And they did that just by the way she felt,
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: the way she smelled. You know, they knew their moms.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: And so the question I ask in the book is
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: if there were thousands of people in that room shouting
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: at these kids, do you think they would have been
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: able to find their mothers? Well, probably not, because it
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: would have been too chaotic and it would have been
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: caused confusion. Even though they weren't relying on hearing, they
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: were intentional about finding their mothers. And so I think
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: sometimes we think we can connect with God when we're
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: just bombarded with all these thousands of voices coming at
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: us day in and day out, and we just can't.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: We have to get alone with him, and we have
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: to create that space for us to hear from Him
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: for ourselves. And so I would encourage listeners to do
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: that and you will see from that.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: But that begs the question, because you're right, there are
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: so many voices and by and largely.
• 25:35
  Speaker 3: Serve as distraction.
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: So how do you recommend that we stay firm in
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: the direction that God gives us even when others are
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: expressing a different opinion.
• 25:45
  Speaker 3: You mentioned before. Those opinions can be good, they can
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: even be godly.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: But when we already doubt our ability to hear God's voice,
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: how do we stand firm in what we think we
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: heard him say when others might be suggesting a different direction.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: That's a good question. I would say that we have
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: to be rooted in his word. Like I mentioned before,
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: we cannot know the voice of God if we do
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: not know what his word says. And I think that
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: a lot of times, a lot very well meaning people
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: can speak those doubts and that negativity into our lives
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: and they may not even be aware. I mean sometimes
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: they are, but they may not be aware of that.
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: And so one thing I ask myself often and I've
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: encouraged readers and listeners to do this as well as
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: I ask myself, does whatever this action is show my
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: love for God? And does it show my love for others?
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: And if so, if this person is speaking against that,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: then don't listen it. Continue to move forward. And like
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: I've said before, God is God, and so if that
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: is not a that he wants you to go down,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: then he is more than capable of blocking that path.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: But I would say move forward because you will be
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: empowered by His love. I believe that.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: I think it's fair to say that we can pray
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: and say, Lord, this is how I think I'm hearing
• 27:18
  Speaker 2: you direct. If this is not the route I'm supposed
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: to go down, close those doors, like we just mentioned
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: a few minutes ago. If I'm not hearing correctly and
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: I'm not supposed to go down this path, make it
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: impossible for me to do that, because I want to
• 27:33
  Speaker 2: be in the center of your will. And at the
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: heart of this, that's what God wants. God wants to
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: teach us and refine us and train us to be
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: in the center of his will, and the best way
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: to do that is to be hearing his voice. So
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: as we wrap up this episode, Abby, if a listener
• 27:48
  Speaker 2: or viewer is resonating with this conversation today, what hope
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: filled perspective do you want to leave with them?
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: I want to leave them with the confidence that they
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: can hear God's voice like shall refer to at the
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: beginning of the episode, John ten twenty seven says, my
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: follow me, and I believe that will all my heart.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: And so keep seeking him and you will hear him.
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: I can promise you.
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: That, friends, I agree with Abby, because scripture tells us
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: that if we will draw near to God, he will
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: draw it near to us. And if that we will
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: seek him with our whole heart, we will find him.
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: But I have to remind myself that he puts the
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: onus on me to seek him. He's always waiting, he's
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: always ready, he's always available. In fact, his words says
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: he bends down his ear to listen to us. So,
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: if you're in that place where you're just wondering, am
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: I hearing God's voice? Keep seeking, keep knocking, keep asking,
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: and keep asking God to confirm it to your spirit.
• 28:58
  Speaker 3: That is a prayer promise. He wants to answer for you.
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: Friends, I hope that there was something in today's episode
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: that has encouraged you to keep seeking after the voice
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: of God for your own life. And if you know
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: somebody who's going through a difficult time and they're seeking
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: the Lord's direction and they need biblically based hope field encouragement,
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: would you consider sharing a copy of this episode with
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: them and consider picking up Abby's book? Abby, where can
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: we find your book?
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: You can find it wherever books are sold. Of course,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: the most popular place is Amazon, but they also have
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: it at all the other places Farms and Noble, BAM
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: and Leekwood Publishers dot com.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: Abby, thank you for coming on and sharing out of
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: your own experience, your own trials, your own needs to
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: encourage our listeners. Friend, I really hope today encouraged you.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: I'll look forward to being with you again for another
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: hope filled perspective next week. But until then, it's my
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: prayer for you that you have a hope filled week.
• 29:58
  Speaker 4: Doctor Michelle has a prescription for you where you can
• 30:02
  Speaker 4: trade your worry, fear, and anxiety for God's promised peace.
• 30:07
  Speaker 4: Are you ready? An estimated forty million Americans suffer from
• 30:10
  Speaker 4: anxiety why Because ours is an age of anxiety. It
• 30:15
  Speaker 4: is rampant in every country and at every age. We
• 30:18
  Speaker 4: worry about everything in our life, our children, jobs, homes, health,
• 30:23
  Speaker 4: and especially our finances. The news and social media feed
• 30:27
  Speaker 4: our fears. More people suffer from worry, fear, and anxiety
• 30:31
  Speaker 4: than we have ever seen. Even the fear of being
• 30:34
  Speaker 4: sidelined from life leads to anxiety. The solution isn't to
• 30:38
  Speaker 4: rid ourselves of the sources of anxiety, a daunting task,
• 30:42
  Speaker 4: but to recognize that anxiety originates from a spiritual influence.
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: How do we fight back by using the weapons of power, love,
• 30:49
  Speaker 4: and a sound mind, and then living in God's peace.
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: In doctor Michelle Bankson's newly released book, Breaking Anxiety Script,
• 30:57
  Speaker 4: How to Reclaim the Peace God Promises, she uses biblical insights,
• 31:01
  Speaker 4: personal anecdotes, and practical applications to help you identify where
• 31:06
  Speaker 4: fear alerks, worry creeps, anxiety seeps into your everyday life.
• 31:10
  Speaker 4: Learn how to apply what God says about worry, fear,
• 31:13
  Speaker 4: and anxiety, and follow a biblically based prescription for reclaiming
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: your power, living in God's perfect love, and using your
• 31:21
  Speaker 4: sound mind. Break Anxiety Script and find peace as doctor
• 31:25
  Speaker 4: Michelle shares her own story of emerging from the battle
• 31:29
  Speaker 4: with anxiety, as well as the stories of others. She
• 31:31
  Speaker 4: reminds you of your identity as a follower of Jesus
• 31:35
  Speaker 4: Christ and of the peace he promised you in spite
• 31:38
  Speaker 4: of everything. She provides tools to cope with the crushing
• 31:41
  Speaker 4: emotional burden of anxiety now, and more importantly, she shows
• 31:46
  Speaker 4: you how to reclaim God's peace as a way of
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: life so that you can break anxiety script. That truly
• 31:52
  Speaker 4: is a worthy goal. Let's listen as one of doctor
• 31:55
  Speaker 4: Michelle's readers shares her story. If you've ever been strangled
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: by anxiety, if you've ever awakened at night in a panic,
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: if worry has become your constant, frustrating companion, then find
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: the hope, instruction, and wisdom you need in the pages
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: of Breaking Anxiety Script by Doctor Michelle Bankson. As a therapist,
• 32:14
  Speaker 4: she brings astute council. As someone who has endured many,
• 32:18
  Speaker 4: many stressors, she brings the wisdom that comes from endurance,
• 32:22
  Speaker 4: and as fellow struggler, she brings empathy. In these pages
• 32:26
  Speaker 4: you will find help and hope. You can order your
• 32:28
  Speaker 4: copy of Breaking Anxiety Script from any major book retailer.
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: While you're at it, why not order a copy for
• 32:34
  Speaker 4: a friend or a loved one. Join together pursue freedom
• 32:38
  Speaker 4: from worry, fear, and anxiety. Thank you for joining doctor
• 32:47
  Speaker 4: Bankson for your hope build perspective. We hope you are
• 32:50
  Speaker 4: encouraged by her authenticity, vulnerability, and biblical truths. If you
• 32:55
  Speaker 4: enjoy today's conversation, when you take a moment right now,
• 32:59
  Speaker 4: open up your podcast app and look for the subscribe
• 33:02
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• 33:08
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• 33:11
  Speaker 4: a friend our link to share Hope with them. If
• 33:14
  Speaker 4: you have a comment, question, or suggest a topic for
• 33:17
  Speaker 4: a future show, reach out to our staff at info
• 33:20
  Speaker 4: at Hope Prevails dot org. For additional resources. Information about
• 33:24
  Speaker 4: doctor Bankson's books, where free downloads, or to contact her
• 33:28
  Speaker 4: to speak at your next event, please visit doctor Mishelbe
• 33:32
  Speaker 4: dot com. Until next time, May you have a hope
• 33:35
  Speaker 4: filled week.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: I'd like to take just a second to thank the
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: this podcast. If you go to lifeaudio dot com, you'll
• 33:48
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• 33:52
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