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Shane and Shane ft. John Piper
Grasping for hope and understanding amid a whirlwind of personal trauma, I've often found myself questioning the purpose behind life's most challenging moments. Through the Wednesdays with Watson Podcast, we journey together into the harmonious relationship between faith and healing, especially as we embrace the year 2024. Join me, Amy Watson, alongside the wisdom of John Piper, as we confront the realities of suffering and seek to uncover how our darkest trials might be sculpting us for a glory we've yet to comprehend fully.
As we shoulder the weight of past sorrows and stride into the unknown of a new year, this series of intimate discussions promises to shed light on the transformative power of faith. We'll share stories drenched in hope, revealing that our scars are not our masters but markers of a battle being won. By rooting ourselves in the promises of Scripture, we stand to gain an eternal perspective on our pain, finding renewal and indomitable hope. Let's collectively affirm that, despite the trials, our faith can lead us to a place of purpose and healing that defies expectation.
You ARE:
SEEN KNOWN HEARD LOVED VALUED
Follow on IG
Shane and Shane ft. John Piper
Grasping for hope and understanding amid a whirlwind of personal trauma, I've often found myself questioning the purpose behind life's most challenging moments. Through the Wednesdays with Watson Podcast, we journey together into the harmonious relationship between faith and healing, especially as we embrace the year 2024. Join me, Amy Watson, alongside the wisdom of John Piper, as we confront the realities of suffering and seek to uncover how our darkest trials might be sculpting us for a glory we've yet to comprehend fully.
As we shoulder the weight of past sorrows and stride into the unknown of a new year, this series of intimate discussions promises to shed light on the transformative power of faith. We'll share stories drenched in hope, revealing that our scars are not our masters but markers of a battle being won. By rooting ourselves in the promises of Scripture, we stand to gain an eternal perspective on our pain, finding renewal and indomitable hope. Let's collectively affirm that, despite the trials, our faith can lead us to a place of purpose and healing that defies expectation.
You ARE:
SEEN KNOWN HEARD LOVED VALUED
Happy New Year and welcome to the Wednesdays with Watson Podcast. If this is your first time to our podcast, welcome. You have landed on a show that we call the Healing Zone. Even in the new year, in 2024, we are still dedicated to highlighting hope for those who walk those roads that are filled with pain, doubt and despair. My name is Amy Watson and I am your host. If you haven't followed the podcast, you can begin the new year by doing that. Some changes to particularly Apple Podcast is going to make it more difficult for you to find episodes if you're not following it, so it would be awesome if you would just hit that button that I've included in the show notes. This small gesture of yours will help us grow. We do pray that 2024 brings all of the things that you desire, and if one of those desires is healing, then you have landed in the right place for such a time as this. Let's drop in to today's episode.
Speaker 1:As I mentioned, this season, we are deeply diving into faith. What does faith mean, and how does trauma influence faith, or does faith influence our healing? Is there victory and defeat, I'm wondering sometimes. Do my pain matter to God as yours? Is God truly great? How can we call Him great? When we look around us, it is not difficult to find all of the sad things For many of us. Our souls have questioned the greatness of God, even those same people, some of us, cling to the faithfulness of God as though it is the life source that it is. The mysteries of God are only outmatched by His faithfulness. He is faithful all of our lives, he loves us and he wants what's best for us. So somehow we have to trust that the sufferings of this world mean something and have a purpose. This defies logic, but at the end of the day we all have a choice. Do we believe what God says about our suffering? Do we believe how great he is? Listen to these words of John Piper as he tries to frame for us suffering.
Speaker 2:Not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there, but all of it is totally meaningful. Every millisecond of your pain from the fallen nature or fallen man, every millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that. I don't care if it was cancer or criticism, I don't care if it was slander or sickness. It wasn't meaningless. It's doing something. It's not meaningless. Of course you can't see what it's doing. Don't look to what is seen. When your mom dies, when your kid dies, when you've got cancer at 40, when a car creams into the sidewalk and takes her out, don't say it's meaningless. It's not. It's working for you, an eternal weight of glory. Therefore, therefore, do not lose heart, but take these truths and, day by day, focus on them, preach them to yourself every morning, get alone with God and preach his word into your mind until your heart sings with confidence that you are new and cared for.
Speaker 1:Do I have listened to that song by Shane and Shane, where John Piper comes in? Hundreds and hundreds of times probably. As a matter of fact, the song was on my 2023 top list of numbers of times that I listen to it. It's that powerful, but when John Piper pipes in with the words, it wasn't meaningless, it's producing something. Comfort overtakes me in these moments because I know that if I believe that the sufferings of this world have a purpose, not just here but in eternity, it helps straighten those crooked roads of pain and loss and suffering, much of which have been added to in 2023, with more promises of 2024, bringing in another loss.
Speaker 1:Piper calls it a momentary light of eternity. Think about that. The deepest pain in your heart, the deepest pain in my heart right now, is simply not worthy to be compared to what will happen in eternity. But to enjoy that peace that comes with this understanding, we have to believe. And how? How can we believe when everywhere we look gives us every reason not to believe? We have to fix our eyes on Jesus, the star of the story. I love, love, love, love, love.
Speaker 1:Hebrews 12, 1 and 2 because it gives us direction on how to trust the star of the story. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us. Here it is, guys, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning the shames, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. When we read that sentence so easily possessed us. You can also read that into regarding the things that happen in your life that threaten your faith, is your trauma and your suffering louder than your faith? Those words are so powerful from John Piper.
Speaker 1:It wasn't meaningless. It is producing something. But those aren't Piper's words. He was only preaching the truth of Scripture 2 Corinthians 4, 17 and 18, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. Can you hear Piper in your mind? Take heart, of course you can't see it. Don't focus on what is seen, but what is unseen. Preach it to yourself. Here's the deal. Listener, you can see your pain. Are you willing to examine what you cannot?
Speaker 1:I was reminded of another scripture with a similar message, also written by the Apostle Paul in Romans 818, for I reckon that the sufferings of this present world are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. Okay, now it's family time, because I know what you're thinking on the other side of this microphone, because it's screaming a mightier too, your sufferings feel meaningless and your heart may be ready to give up. That's where faith comes in, as the old song by Forham reminds us. Where there is faith, there is a voice calling. Keep walking, you're not alone in this world when there is faith, there is a peace like a child sleeping Hope everlasting in me, who is able to bear every burden, to heal every hurt in my heart. It is a wonderful, powerful place where there is faith.
Speaker 1:So how do we get to where there is faith? As I mentioned in the intro, we dive deeply into faith and trauma in the podcast. This season we will ask our guests the question what is faith? What does faith mean to you? So this the first episode of 2024, is my attempt to answer that question myself in this solo episode.
Speaker 1:A few months ago I was scrolling TikTok you know, as one does when they have millions of other things to do. Some of you may know that there are TikTok creators who share their journey with terminal illnesses. This particular night, as I was scrolling, I landed on a recorded goodbye video. Because then, I quote, there is no hope of survival. I remember pausing the video, kind of stared into the eyes of the content creator, looking for a light, looking for hope, but all I really found was the dim reflection of the ring light that they used to record the video, and I almost said out loud but wait, there is hope there is.
Speaker 1:God and I almost said to myself like who is this person right now? Because it was a moment for me. I usually am the one praying for God to help the family when the person dies. I'm not the person who asks for miracles. That's my trauma talking. How do I get my faith to talk? It was talking that night on a TikTok scroll.
Speaker 1:Something shifted inside of me that night and maybe for the first time, even if it was for a fleeting moment, my faith was stronger than the ills of my trauma. I realized that I had decades of scripture memorization that backed up my claim. Wait, there's God, you might not die from your illness. The verses in the passages of scripture that provide evidence for the faithfulness of God flooded my mind and I began quoting the verses out loud. Without faith, it's impossible to please him. We see in Hebrews 11.6.
Speaker 1:I remember the passage in Mark, chapter 9, when a father brings his child to Jesus for healing. It's kind of interesting because what happens before this was really important. Kind of a big deal was the transfiguration. So they came off that mountain on a high to a group of people, and so when the man came to Jesus and asked him to heal his son. Jesus almost chastises him. And there was around him because he half-heartedly asked Jesus to heal his son. And Jesus' response is this you, unbelieving generation, bring the boy to me. When they bring the boy to Jesus, the man says, as a follow-up, jesus, if you can have pity and heal him and I love the response of Jesus in this passage If I can, he follows with.
Speaker 1:Everything is possible for those who believe. The truth is, we all wonder if our will, god, will heal us of our pain, from brokenness of man, and so those words of Jesus should bring comfort to us. Everything is possible to those who believe. Okay, more family time. Pause, because I know the thought that just popped into your head.
Speaker 1:That same sea of doubt has taken residence in my brain and owes me decades of rent. Yours owes you rent too. I know what the thought is, but this is hopeless. My pain is hopeless. My addiction is hopeless. My broken relationships define me. You don't know, amy, you aren't talking about a God who feels familiar to me, and I get that. I really do.
Speaker 1:But then the words of Jesus assault me. You, unbelieving generation, bring the boy to me or for us. You, unbelieving generation, bring your pain to me. Are you like me and can sometimes be a citizen of an unbelieving generation? I fully admit that more often not, I am a citizen of the refusal to give myself permission to believe tribe, because I know that if I fully believe and chase the eternal purpose of my pain, god might disappoint me and I quote that and not do what I ask. Right, then I have to deal with what feels like an abandonment from the God of the universe. So in many ways it's easier to pray for the fallout and not for healing, because that way I don't have to put my fragile heart on the line and, by faith, ask God for anything. But make no mistake, guys, this robs me and you of healing that comes from believing.
Speaker 1:The fact is that where there is faith, there is also that intersection of where joy and sorrow meet. When we understand that the temperance of this world and that this world is not our home, we are met with sorrow on this earth. But the joy of what will be over shadows that earthly sorrow. If we give it some thought, if we give it some time to think about it, our earthly perspective on sorrow and pain here will feel hopeless and all the things. But when we fix our eyes on the one telling the story and we trust that he is writing a Pulitzer Prize winning story. We can live where there is faith.
Speaker 1:So what does faith mean to me? It means renewing my mind every day, just like John Piper says in that monologue. We see in Romans 12, 1 and 2 that we must renew our minds. The pain is real, my pain is real, your pain is real. Pain often writes the rules, and we must let the truth of Scripture be our filter when choosing to believe in God's sovereignty and goodness. And then pain begins to matter here too. So God kind of gives us a glimpse of our purpose here, and this already, but not yet dichotomy which is extraordinarily kind of him.
Speaker 1:As we enter a new year, none of us know what 2024 has in store for us. As the old statement goes, we don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. Do you believe that? Because I'm here to tell you that true healing and purpose only come through the star of the story. His name is Jesus. We know from Scripture that there is only one way to the Father. His name is Jesus. All you have to do is take one step towards believing and then you can step into those healing waters of faith and one day you too will feel that shift that I felt that night. While your faith Influence is your pain. You won't allow your pain to lie to you anymore about who God is, or if your pain matters to God and if it matters for eternity, because we know that it does.
Speaker 1:Verse 16, do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. Or even if you are like me and you still live with the symptoms of PTSD and your trauma, the outer self is wasting away, but do not lose hope, because the inner self is being renewed day by day. Clinging to these promises is crucial for healing, especially for those of us that still live with the ills of our trauma. Remembering that this is not your home may help it hurt less. Remembering that the outer self is wasting away and that the inner self is being renewed may give you the fight that you need. So, whatever happened to you, whatever or whoever caused your trauma, they didn't touch the part of you that is being renewed day by day. Not only did they lose in their attempt to take you down, but when you allow yourself to believe in the promise of meaningful suffering. They have lost all power over you. Satan has lost all power over you. When your trauma isn't right in your story, you will be amazed at what you can find your way to believing.
Speaker 1:I still remember that TikTok video and the shift in me that refused to believe that anything is without hope. This differs from when I started this podcast in 2020, because that is what faith can do. I no longer struggle to answer a question. I get a lot after people hear the totality of my trauma. People ask me how are you okay? And the simple answer is because that's what faith can do. I love the lyrics by Cutlass. I have seen miracles that just happen. Silent prayers get answered, hearts become brand new because that's what faith can do.
Speaker 1:In my family, we end a 2023 on a sad note, and never more have I understood the lifeline that my faith in Jesus really is. To me, 2023 was a challenging year, but I believed somewhere in all the darkness, that momentary affliction. It is dark in this world right now, but I will stand up and proclaim the faithfulness of God from the depths and from the mountaintops. How am I able? One worldly wisdom will tell you I should just be dead or dying from the ills of trauma, because that's what faith can do. Do you believe it?
Speaker 1:Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to today's episode. It was a deeply personal episode and I hope that you Go away from having listened to the episode Wondering if you can also find faith that heals, faith that informs your trauma, and not trauma that informs your faith. We will continue on this journey and look forward to 2024 the back in two weeks with a story of hope and healing. And Until then, you know what I'm gonna say you are seen, you are known, you're heard, you are loved and you are so, so valued. Happy new year, everybody.
Speaker 3:Fading and when we still. You have pulled me from the depths. You have saved me from Certain death. You have shown yourself faithful to me. Teach me to walk beside you. I want to be more like you, so let my life be one more by you, my by you, my by you.