Latest / The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast / 586 | Preparing For the Main Event

Transcript

586 | Preparing For the Main Event · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

• 0:05
  She's a happy girl. Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Woman at the Well.
• 0:09
  Ministries podcast with Kimberly Miller, where we believe that every man,
• 0:14
  woman, boy, and girl must come to Jesus, just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
• 0:20
  Our highest priority is helping you experience the reality of God in your everyday life.
• 0:26
  Whether you're listening in our app, on your favorite podcast platform,
• 0:30
  or on our website at watwm.org,
• 0:34
  we invite you to sit down with us as we open the scriptures to learn more about
• 0:39
  who God is and to strengthen your daily walk.
• 1:03
  In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
• 1:06
  join Kimberly Miller and Erica Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
• 1:11
  In today's conversation, we're chatting about what it means in our daily lives
• 1:16
  to learn how the times of waiting in our lives are really just a series of events
• 1:21
  preparing us for the main event.
• 1:24
  Well, thank you for joining us, everyone. My name is Erica Close,
• 1:28
  and I'm here with Kimberly Miller.
• 1:30
  Hello, and what a pleasure it is to spend time just discussing the lessons from Noah.
• 1:36
  Absolutely. So we are talking about Noah today.
• 1:39
  And if you haven't yet, we invite you to go back and listen to podcast 585 titled
• 1:45
  Waiting is Preparation.
• 1:47
  And if you're listening to us on a Wednesday, you may have listened to that
• 1:51
  on Monday when that podcast came out.
• 1:54
  But what we're talking about is how the preparation itself is a series of important events.
• 2:04
  And if you go back and you listen to that podcast, you'll see how preparation
• 2:08
  really led Noah to being ready for what was next.
• 2:12
  And the preparation itself was as important as the event of getting into the ark.
• 2:21
  And we learned in that podcast that Noah couldn't have endured the main event,
• 2:25
  meaning entering the ark and the flood, if he hadn't gone through those events of the preparation.
• 2:34
  Such a good lesson. We invite you to go back and look at it.
• 2:37
  So let's talk a little bit about Noah's preparation.
• 2:41
  You said a lot of important things in the podcast on Monday,
• 2:46
  but one of the things that you talked about was how the simple things.
• 2:51
  Or perhaps we could say the not very exciting things that Noah had to do, were preparation.
• 2:58
  And what I noted in that was Noah's chores were preparation. And they were mundane.
• 3:05
  The day-to-day things were preparatory events for the main event.
• 3:11
  And what I noticed as I was really talking to the Lord about that particular
• 3:17
  message was how the preparation is usually not what we consider the fun part.
• 3:23
  No. And there's so much that happens in preparation that really only the person
• 3:32
  preparing and God knows about.
• 3:35
  And if we're not careful, we want to gloss over that, shorten that preparation
• 3:43
  as much as we can, and just get on to what we consider the main event.
• 3:48
  And what I learned in studying this account in Scripture is that the main event
• 3:55
  of our lives is developing a relationship with Jesus Christ.
• 3:59
  Which happens in the day-to-day, in the quote-unquote chores.
• 4:03
  And the thing that we call the main event is just the revelation.
• 4:10
  Of the disciplined development we have created with our relationship with Jesus
• 4:19
  Christ and if you miss the day-to-day building of the ark then you miss...
• 4:29
  Survival of the main event and you don't even get to it.
• 4:34
  And Jesus is that ark and we have to want him more than we want the event.
• 4:42
  You know, you talked just a minute ago, you talked about discipline and that
• 4:47
  idea of discipline and being disciplined to do the right thing day after day, right?
• 4:54
  Discipline to do our chores, right? Discipline to make our bed, right?
• 4:57
  It's a metaphor for so many things in our lives, but there's something to be
• 5:03
  said for the discipline of getting to know Jesus.
• 5:07
  We only do that right through time in His Word and time in prayer.
• 5:11
  And it never ceases to amaze me how we seem to think that is a novel idea.
• 5:18
  That it's just for the teachers, it's just for the preachers.
• 5:22
  It's an option, and it's not an
• 5:25
  option because if you want to have a relationship with
• 5:28
  someone you have to know them and you have to spend time with them and you have
• 5:33
  to really believe and trust them and the truth of the matter is our worldly
• 5:41
  friendships our fleshly friendships the things that happen between humans,
• 5:46
  we become like them.
• 5:48
  We pick up phrases, we pick up sayings, we have lots in common,
• 5:55
  probably why we like each other to begin with, but you just pick up ways of
• 5:58
  doing things like they do.
• 6:00
  Why wouldn't we think that he who sticks closer than a brother,
• 6:04
  the one who gave his life down for us, where no other greater love has ever been demonstrated,
• 6:10
  why would we not want to be like him by spending time with him.
• 6:18
  I think because we don't value the events of the preparation, we can't see it.
• 6:26
  I think we're not willing.
• 6:29
  To hang in till you see him. Like, you talk to somebody who studies.
• 6:33
  Who knows him. You talk to somebody who prays.
• 6:36
  They talk about him differently than someone who knows about him.
• 6:43
  I think this really goes into the next... I think it's kind of like an arranged
• 6:49
  marriage or one you choose.
• 6:52
  An arranged marriage you don't know much about. You're just in it.
• 6:56
  But when you choose it, you work on it, You develop it.
• 7:00
  It's different. I like that. It's a good analogy.
• 7:03
  Especially from a girl who's never been married.
• 7:07
  So you said something else in Monday's podcast that really just jumped out at me and said,
• 7:14
  really struck me. You said that Noah had acculturated the character of God in the weight.
• 7:22
  First of all, I love the word acculturated, but he had literally in his life
• 7:30
  and in his word developed a culture that was the character of God.
• 7:36
  You know, when we talk about culture, right we
• 7:39
  think about society we think about our
• 7:42
  culture changing our culture isn't what it used to
• 7:45
  be you know all those things those things that surround
• 7:48
  us those things that we we do because of where we live or how we talk because
• 7:52
  of where we live or mean slaw and chili on a hot dog slaw and chili on a hot
• 7:56
  dog if you live around here other places maybe just ketchup and mustard on a
• 8:03
  hot dog But those are cultural things,
• 8:06
  right? But they're kind of like the norms.
• 8:09
  And Noah developed norms that were the character of God while he waited.
• 8:19
  It took time to develop that culture.
• 8:22
  It takes time for changes to happen in our cultures. We watch that.
• 8:27
  But we all know the importance of culture.
• 8:31
  And we have culture in all places right we have
• 8:34
  culture in our families we have a culture in our
• 8:37
  churches we have culture in our schools how much
• 8:41
  more than all the worldly cultural factors should our culture be the actual
• 8:49
  character of god no one knew god's character and his This whole series of events,
• 9:00
  the whole project of building the Ark, was in a culture of God's character.
• 9:08
  Because he knew him. So he could. Let's go to the next point,
• 9:13
  which was that Noah chose obedience over pride.
• 9:18
  And let's take this to us a little bit.
• 9:22
  You know, what does it look like in our lives when we're choosing obedience over pride?
• 9:31
  So often we talk about choosing like obedience over disobedience,
• 9:37
  but we're choosing obedience over pride.
• 9:40
  It's truly choosing what God wants over what we think is best for us.
• 9:47
  It's the absolute demonstration of his word that says, deny yourself and take
• 9:54
  up your cross and follow me.
• 9:55
  When we are following someone we give up the right to lead.
• 10:05
  And jesus is the leader he is the one to follow he knows what happens behind
• 10:13
  us in front of us and around us he has all the data from the past present and
• 10:18
  the future we have what our finite Reitmans can hold in the moment,
• 10:24
  and he has an infinite capacity to know, and he knows what's best.
• 10:30
  And obedience is not even giving that a second thought.
• 10:34
  He says, jump, you jump. He says, sit, you sit. He says, go,
• 10:38
  you go. He says, call, you call.
• 10:40
  He says, do it this way. You don't say, hmm, I've never done it that way before.
• 10:47
  When we stop for the moment and say, hmm, I've never done it that way before,
• 10:53
  we'll still obey that time.
• 10:56
  But if we allow that into our lives, the next time we'll go,
• 11:02
  huh, I've never done it that way before. That doesn't look like that's going to work.
• 11:08
  And then we're iffy.
• 11:11
  But the third time we go, huh, I've never done it that way before.
• 11:18
  I do it this way. And pretty much at that point,
• 11:23
  we have shoved God aside, and we now have placed our focus completely only on
• 11:32
  what is in our mind and our heart.
• 11:34
  And when that happens, we are no longer following.
• 11:38
  We've now taken the reins, and we're leading our own life.
• 11:42
  And he's still standing right where he was, waiting for us to come back when
• 11:47
  we've made a monumental mess of it.
• 11:48
  You know, one of the things that always strikes me so much about Noah's task
• 11:53
  and what would all that would have had to occur in his preparation was just
• 12:00
  how much he would have to listen because he would have no idea what he was actually building.
• 12:07
  And it's so interesting to me how he must have been listening daily to the task.
• 12:14
  And God was probably reassuring him of what was going to happen because he didn't
• 12:18
  even understand what rain looked like.
• 12:21
  And it wasn't that he held on for a week or two. Right.
• 12:26
  I mean, somewhere between 50 and 100 years, this man built an ark for an event,
• 12:33
  that nothing on history had ever given you any indication.
• 12:38
  I mean, this was like crazy thoughts.
• 12:41
  And he was being reminded of it, I'm sure, on a moment-by-moment basis,
• 12:45
  even probably by people who he loved.
• 12:49
  And we've all been there. We've all been asked to do something from the Lord,
• 12:53
  and we come to a place where we have to decide,
• 12:56
  are we going to try to fit in with our social network and our family and not
• 13:01
  look weird, or are we just going to embrace these,
• 13:05
  you know, be a peculiar person, zealous of good works, and see what happens? Absolutely.
• 13:09
  And we've all come to that point where we know we've heard from the Lord.
• 13:14
  And we're at that point of making a choice to follow. You know,
• 13:18
  and so often that choice is, you know, I've heard it.
• 13:21
  I know it's the Lord. Am I going to act or not? Like, do I believe? Do I not believe?
• 13:29
  Right? That choice that we make at that point says, I believe I can hear from
• 13:34
  the Lord and I believe that's what the Lord has said, so I'm going to go do it.
• 13:37
  Or I don't believe I can hear. I believe that Noah teaches us something very distinct in that.
• 13:43
  I think Noah was involved in the projects that the Lord had for him in the preparation
• 13:49
  of his being every day. Yeah.
• 13:54
  And I believe in that message. I talk about anchoring yourself in the work. Mm hmm.
• 14:01
  We have to revisit who we're serving regularly so that nothing gets between us.
• 14:12
  Nothing catches our attention or distracts us.
• 14:18
  And there's this level of spiritual maturity that was going to be necessary
• 14:22
  for Noah to possess in order to complete the call on his life.
• 14:31
  And the only way Noah could stay in
• 14:33
  the game was to constantly be thrilled
• 14:37
  by the relationship he had with God and that
• 14:40
  came because he enjoyed his time with God
• 14:42
  and I don't think Noah kept thinking if I just
• 14:45
  get one more floor built if I get one more I'm on the last board I don't think
• 14:50
  that ever happened I think Noah went to work on the ark every day to spend time
• 14:54
  with Jesus and God I believe that with all my heart because I believe if he
• 14:59
  had gone to work every day to finish the boat, a hundred years would have buried him.
• 15:04
  So I think we have to get up every day and we spend time with the Lord because
• 15:10
  that's what we want to do, not because of where we think that's going to take us.
• 15:16
  Because what he says is, I am the Lord thy God, am a jealous God,
• 15:20
  and thou shalt have no other gods before me.
• 15:23
  And sometimes the work we place in front of the God, Sometimes the activity
• 15:29
  we place as more valuable than the time with the Lord.
• 15:33
  But I believe Noah could stick to his guns, become spiritually mature,
• 15:37
  and complete the task and allow God to complete his perfect work and his perfect
• 15:43
  will in him because Noah every day was thrilled to spend time with God.
• 15:48
  And I think that's the ticket to living the abundant life God promises in John 10.10.
• 15:55
  Living each day with him and right next to him and for him and for him and following him amen.
• 16:05
  There's so many good lessons in this account of Noah.
• 16:11
  And before we go, I want to share one of the last things you talked about in the podcast on Monday.
• 16:17
  You talked about the importance of marking God's faithfulness while you wait.
• 16:25
  And I love that because you talked about a few different things,
• 16:27
  but you even said, plant a tree, right?
• 16:30
  Whatever it is, whatever we do, it's important to mark his faithfulness as we
• 16:39
  wait on whatever he has next for us.
• 16:42
  Our faith doesn't get built if we forget what he has done.
• 16:48
  We have to make sure that we're marking what he has done.
• 16:52
  However we do that, right? Whether we journal, whether we tell someone else,
• 16:57
  we have to mark what he's done.
• 17:01
  Amen. And that marking increases our faith because it's the day that we see
• 17:07
  what He's done in our life.
• 17:09
  And I think when we're marking God's faithfulness, we will see all of those
• 17:15
  smaller events that make up the preparation and just how important they are
• 17:21
  and how the main event is really the preparation.
• 17:27
  Amen. Amen.
• 17:29
  All right. Well, thank you all so much for joining us.
• 17:32
  It is our prayer that as you go through your day today,
• 17:36
  in the preparation for whatever God has next for you, you seek Him,
• 17:42
  and you see the value in each individual event that's preparing you for whatever He has next.
• 17:50
  Thank you so much for joining us in this podcast today. Remember that you are loved. Jesus loves you.
• 17:58
  Thank you for joining us for today's podcast. You can find quotes and scripture
• 18:03
  references from this episode in the show notes.
• 18:06
  We pray today's message has been a blessing.
• 18:09
  If it has, please consider leaving a rating or review on your podcast platform.
• 18:14
  Your feedback helps others discover the truth of God's Word.
• 18:19
  You can connect with Women at the Well Ministries through our app at watwm.org
• 18:24
  and on Facebook and Instagram.
• 18:27
  While you're there, learn more about Bible Bits, Kim's daily devotional delivered
• 18:31
  Monday through Friday by text message and the Bible Bit podcast.
• 18:35
  Thank you for your prayers and support.
• 18:38
  Remember, Jesus loves you. You are loved.