Moldable (Episode 20)

This week Kelsey and I talk about how God molds us in good seasons and bad. God is the potter and he wants to shape you to be more like him. We talk about people that were molded by Christ and personal stories of how God had molded us our lives. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey guys, welcome to the Hurts Podcast. I'm Payton Hurt.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

And I'm Kelsey Hurt.

SPEAKER_00 0:04

And this is episode 20. And uh honestly, just reflecting back on all the episodes that we've recorded, I just want to give all glory and all the thanks to God for putting this on our heart, um, giving this the platform and the ability to do this.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

So yeah, I am so thankful. Our specific prayer whenever we pray for a podcast is that it just finds the people who need to hear it. And so it's been really cool to just see how God is using that. And also I'm really proud of us, and I say this humbly, I'm not being prideful, but like for staying consistent.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Uh, because consistency isn't always easy, especially in this day and age, but we have such an ambition and passion to reach people, um, and we're kingdom minded, like we've said before. So we're just so thankful that you tune in to listen. That if you've shared it with other people, thank you so much. Yes, um, we're so excited for what God has for us. It's only the 20th episode, but I can't even wait for like the 100th. That's gonna be so fun to celebrate.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Just to continue to keep going. But uh kind of like Kelsey said, um, you know, if you're not subscribed, subscribe on YouTube. Uh, you know, share this because again, we we feel like we know that this is what God has called us to do, and we want to just touch um as many people as we can um through this season of life.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

So yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Um getting into again episode 20, uh the title is Multible.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Multiple.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

So uh before we get into that, we're gonna talk about kind of our week and everything that we did. So would you like to get us started?

SPEAKER_01 1:41

Sure. So we left off, we filmed, I guess, kind of two like two weeks ago. We filmed in advance. If you watched our last episode, we talked about how we went on a week trip. We went to Arizona, yes. It was absolutely beautiful. We've been wanting to go out west, so that has been really cool. And we got to celebrate our one-year anniversary. If you missed our last episode, we talked about love, we talked about marriage, dating, singleness. We encourage you to go watch that. But it was just such a great time, and it it hasn't even hit me yet that we've we've been married for a year, but um, it was just beautiful that the scenery, I've never seen anything like it.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

Yeah, and uh it was awesome to see two two things. Um going to Arizona, we got to see obviously the Grand Canyon and uh the mountains and things like that. Uh, and it was just beautiful to see like something that Kelsey and I going there, we wanted to remember that that this is God's creation. Um and we got to see a rainbow, uh, and it was just beautiful, it was so beautiful. And I think also for marriage, um, you know, thanking God because uh, you know, marriage is uh a thing that you continue to grow with, like in your partner, like God gives you somebody in your life and and you grow with that person. So um I'm super thankful to have Kelsey to walk alongside me too, babe on everything that I do.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

So thank you, babe. Can I tell a story? Yes. Okay, so speaking of the Grand Canyon, I just wanted to add this in because it's a cool God thing, too. So we decided to tour the Grand Canyon. Obviously, we walked around, um, but we got to go into a smaller plane, I don't know what they're called, just a smaller plane. Probably seated 12 people, and we got to tour and fly over areas and see the Colorado River and its beauty, and that was amazing. It was so beautiful. But the turbulence was terrible. Yeah, it was. It was raining, so we had a rain delay. Um, and then we started, and thankfully, my mind didn't even go there before boarding the plane. I I I just didn't think about the fear.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

But then as soon as we got in, we like hit dips, and it was a test of my trust for sure. But I I prayed through it and the beauty kind of distracted my mind, and then seeing that rainbow, we actually saw it while we were in the plane, and it was like, okay, one, God's promise, but two, also look at this rainbow after the storm.

SPEAKER_02 4:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

If you haven't seen our episode called Through the Storm, that's also something that you could watch. Yes. But just seeing how God has has moved through that and um the comfort that he provided when it was scary because of the beauty he made.

SPEAKER_00 4:20

Yes, yeah, it was it was a it was an awesome site. It was so so cool.

SPEAKER_01 4:24

Yeah, so we're back. We're back, and we're ready. Yes, we're going to be talking. We chose the title multiple. I know it's a little different, uh, but here's the definition. So able to be shaped, changed, or influenced. And I have a couple of verses I'm gonna read before we dig into um more of what we're gonna talk about. So Isaiah 64.8 kind of talks about the clay. So let's see. Isaiah 64.8, yet you, Lord our father, we are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand. So this highlights the analogy of the clay, but also that we are in his hands, we were created by him, and we know that clay can be molded, right? So now going to Jeremiah 18, 3 through 6. So what's happening here is this is when the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and he told him to go to the potter's house, and this is where he will give him the Lord's message. The Lord will give him his message. Um, so I went down to the potter's house and I saw him working on the wheel, but the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands. So the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, I guess I'm reading a little bit more than five or three through five, but he said, Can I not do with you Israel as this potter does? declares the Lord. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. That was um three through six. So that again alludes to the clay analogy, but also shows the sovereignty, um, the same the control that God has over our lives, the sanctification, which sanctification means God's ongoing work in our lives, yeah, how he prepares us, and how this verse says shaping it as seemed best to him. It just reminds me of God's power and his love and how he shapes our lives.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Right, because you think of someone that creates artwork or um, you know, I don't do pottery, but someone that does pottery, I'm sure they take great joy and pride in their work, right? And that's a uh I love this uh analogy where again you you get to visualize, you know, again, a potter making uh, you know, a pot out of clay, and and they get to manipulate and and change it and and create it, and you know, that's us. That's what God does with us, that's what God does with our hearts.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

Yeah, um sculpting with a purpose.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Yeah, sculpting with a purpose. And I think uh yeah, we'll get into that here soon with uh um some people and um backing up with some scripture.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

So yeah, so we're gonna look at the Bible and see examples of people peop people being molded.

SPEAKER_00 7:11

Yeah, so uh we're gonna start with Paul, right? Um Paul is very well known uh in the New Testament, of course. Uh we look at Paul's life before he was a believer, right? Uh Paul he persecuted Christians before becoming a believer, um, and then we see him become one of the greatest missionaries, and you know, we see Paul write almost half of the the New Testament. Uh, you know, he wrote a lot of a lot of it, and it was aw it's awesome to see that somebody that once persecuted the uh the faith and the Christianity um now becomes God has shaped and molded into one of the encouraging, uplifting, advancing the kingdom, his letters. Yeah, and God used him to start the early church. Yeah. Um so a verse that I have is I want to look at Galatians 2 20. Um we read, I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in, the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So I just wanted to read that because um when I read this, I I I again think and look back at Paul's testimony, right? Again, he persecuted and killed Christians, but now we see a man of a man of faith living his life for something that he once persecuted, right? And we think logically that like he murdered, right? Like, how how could he ever be forgiven?

SPEAKER_01 8:49

And you think of like if you think of like, okay, I'm gonna try to step into the story and imagine the community the Christian community had to know that Paul had done this, like he was doing this and hurting the people that they loved. Um, but then to see a whole 360 and see, oh my goodness, like he is completely changed, and now he's trying to advance the gospel, and it's just amazing to think about.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Yeah, and and uh there's somewhere in the Bible, um I think don't quote me on this, but I think Barnabas, people people were scared of Paul because of his past, um, but I think Barnabas helped um encourage the people and kind of encourage Paul because coming into the faith and and realizing and remembering that that God forgives you, that God is going to forgive you and um you know, forgive you of your sins, Paul was probably thinking like, I'm just trying to do the kingdom work, but I'm being defined by my past.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Defined by past, yeah. Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

So that's Paul. Um I think it's interesting because again, we look at Paul was moldable. Uh, if we look at Paul, if Paul was stuck in his past and things that he had done before becoming a follower, I think he would he would be blocking the spirit, right? Like he would have never achieved the things that that he would have achieved in um, you know, obviously through Christ. Um but if Chr if Paul never would have allowed Christ to mold his heart, he would have never had the journey that that he had and the ministry that he had.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

Yeah. I like that you said defined by his past because I'm gonna kind of talk about it later, but God changes us, and we are a new creation, which we'll go into that. But just not being stuck on our past once you repent and turn away from it is such a powerful act because once we get stuck on our past, that's when I think the devil can do his best work.

SPEAKER_02 10:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Um, so yeah, I like that you said that.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

Yeah, moving on to Moses. Moses has um always been such an interesting story, Exodus specifically. So Exodus is the second book of the Bible, Old Testament, and um Moses is introduced in the second chapter. Um, so I'm kind of gonna go through his story, not touching in a lot of the parts. Um, I'd love to just discuss Exodus. It's such a beautiful story. So I encourage you to read it, especially if you haven't already. But starting out, how he was born. So Moses was born during a time of persecution. Specifically, the king of Egypt um had ordered all Hebrew babies to be killed, and this was in order to control the population, and also feared that Israelites would rebel. So after that, his mother hid Moses in a basket, sent him down the Nile River, and Pharaoh's daughter actually ended up finding him and claiming him as his as her son. So um, if you read deeper into that, you see that like uh Moses' mother helped take care of him when he was little. Um, so like she nursed him, but other than that, then when he grew up, she uh Pharaoh's daughter claimed him as her son, uh which has to be hard.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

So then as an adult, you know, Moses growing up, he's living in the palace. Moses killed an Egyptian after seeing one of him, or sorry, after seeing him beat one of his own. So after seeing him beat a Hebrew, which again is his own people. Um, and when Pharaoh heard of this, Moses fled because Pharaoh wanted to kill him. And he actually became a shepherd, he lived in another place, I believe Midian, and he started family. So, um, I know I'm saying this fast, but just think it did not happen fast, like this is years, right? So I'm gonna specifically read Exodus 2, verses 23 through 25. During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites as and was concerned about them. So this shows that one, God cares for us, but also kind of the turning point of the story where Moses is going to be brought in and God is going to use him. Um so if I move on, you can go through Exodus and just read about how God uses him, how God promises deliverance, and again, Moses is used to help free the Israelites and then takes them on this big exodus or this big journey where um there's trust that is needed. There's so many things. I I really encourage you to read it. But despite his insecurities, despite Moses' insecurities, you know, he killed someone, um, he had a problem with speech. It's referenced in the Bible, specifically chapter four, ten through twelve. Right. Uh four ten through twelve says, Moses said to the Lord, Pardon your servant, Lord, I've never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. So there again, dwelling on the past. I am slow of speech and tongue. The Lord said to him, Who gave human beings their mouth? Who made who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I the Lord? Now go, I will help you speak and will teach you what to say. So showing up when Moses doesn't have confidence, it's a process, right? This whole it was a long time period, but the Lord developed his character through it all and used him in a way that is just such a powerful story, and one that resonates with me to this day.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, no, I think it's uh I I also want to touch and look at like you look at like where Moses became a shepherd, right? Like you look at that, and it can be easy to overlook it, like, oh, you know, he was a shepherd, that was his job, whatever, but but God was preparing for something bigger, right? Like, Moses may have not seen that in the moment, like, yeah, I'm becoming a shepherd to lead people out of slavery. Slavery, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:11

Because the attributes that he had to develop as a shepherd, carrying patient, yeah, um, a leader, right, to the sheep.

SPEAKER_00 15:17

So so we see God molding Moses in that season, um, and preparing him for this next big chapter in his life.

SPEAKER_01 15:26

Yes. So to despite his past, again, Moses turned away from murder, right? He didn't murder from there on out. But um, God used a sinful man who felt disqualified or unqualified um to help deliver.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Help um help the Israelites into freedom. So it's very encouraging, and just another way that shows that Moses was moldable and like how he how God molded him.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Yes. Yeah. Is that all you have for Moses? Alright. Well, now we're going to get into Jonah. Uh, I know we have we have an episode um on Jonah briefly, but um Jonah is such a great character, and I definitely feel like God molded Jonah in a in a way. He continue to stay true and stay faithful to Jonah. Um, and I think in the end we see uh like Jonah go kind of back and forth, um, and that's kind of what we're gonna see here. We're gonna see, I feel like Jonah uh is is battling his flesh and also uh the spirit. So um obviously Jonah ran from God's calling, yet God still used him to bring repentance to Nineveh. Um I want to look at uh let's see. It's Jonah 1 um 9. So Jonah says, I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. This terrified them, and they asked, What have you done? They knew he was running away from the Lord because he had already told them so. Okay, so um this is kind of Jonah running away from the Lord. He's on a ship now, um, and he is telling these people that he is running away from the Lord. So Jonah knows what he's doing, right? He's aware of uh of the thing he's that he's doing. So we look at that, Jonah fleeing from the Lord, and then we look at chapter chapter two, we look at Jonah 2, uh, and the title of it is Jonah's Prayer, right? So I feel like this is kind of where uh you know God is kind of preparing Jonah, molding him into this next season.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

This is when he's in the belly of the fish, and um he's really just try crying out to God, and God actually eventually has the fish vomit Jonah onto dry land, and from there Jonah does go to Nineveh, and in uh chapter three, verse ten, when God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and not bring on them the destruction he had threatened. Again, this is because Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and he went to Nineveh.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

However, which again we've talked about this in another podcast called Choices, another episode. So if you want a deeper look, please go and watch that. But in chapter four, we see that Jonah has anger at the Lord's compassion. So here he was. It took a while for him to be selfless and to obey God, but once he finally does, he goes back to selfishness. And we kind of wanted to use this story as an encouragement that what you are multiple, um, and while God changes you, you need to actively choose him and follow him and obey. Um, don't be like Jonah turning back to his selfishness, to his flesh. Um actively seek God.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

And I think back to uh the Potter stories at the beginning, right? Like Jonah Jonah was like allowing there there was bits and pieces that that Jonah was allowing God to mold in his life, but again, we talk of we talk about his flesh that he still wanted that sense of control. Like he was one foot in, one foot, one foot out. So um, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

An encouragement. Now we're gonna kind of go into more personal stories of how we feel that we've been molded in the past.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

I'll go ahead and start. Um I think I've mentioned this before, uh, but if you haven't heard it before, um when I was in high school, I I was still going to church, but I wasn't a believer at the time. Um and looking back at my life, how God has molded me and preparing me um in a season that I wasn't aware until uh you know later on in life, is uh in sports, God had put me in positions where um I was in leadership roles, and it wasn't something that I wanted to do. I I didn't like to speak up, I was very shy. Um I didn't like talking in front of people, um, but again, somehow I still led by example and I was drawn to the leadership roles when again when I didn't want to be. So I look back at that and I look at I look at what I feel like God was preparing me for, and I think that I look at it and it's like God was preparing me for the season I'm in now. Like um, you know, leadership, ministry, um, you know, obviously God preparing sermons and things like that. Like, I'm somebody that's not comfortable with speaking to big groups. So um it's I have to rely and trust in God every single time that I give a sermon because I know I I don't think I could I I know that I can't do it by myself. I I need God to to carry me through that.

SPEAKER_01 20:44

For sure. I like how you were molded, your desires were molded over time. Like God was definitely preparing you. And like um how we can sometimes fall into the well, my past self getting stuck on the past, like you weren't like, well, I didn't like that in high school. Yeah, so why would I like it now? No, God changed you over time, he changed your desires. So that's really cool to see because I don't know the high school patents, so like you're what you are now, or like the past years is all I know. So to see God work through that is so so cool.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Yeah, no, for sure. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Yeah, for me, um, I kind of I'm talking about selfishness to selflessness. I become a lot more selfless in regards to my time, and it's been cool to see how God uses that and how I'm able to be a light to others because I'm more surrendering surrendering of my time. And another thing I think that has also been I don't know, you you you kinda you kinda spoke this to me how you saw the marriage part.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

Yeah, so I think when especially when Kelsey and I were doing long distance, I think that we were in a mindset where we didn't see each other where we put each other first over God. Like we would pursue each other.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

Mm hmm.

SPEAKER_00 22:00

Which in a way I think is good, but I think there needs to be boundaries where again God needs to be first. Like it's not a it's not mandatory like it's not an option.

SPEAKER_01 22:09

Like God it's mandatory.

SPEAKER_00 22:10

It is mandatory, yes, it is mandatory. So um I think we were very very selfish and we had a lot of um things to work through in our marriage because for me I was stepping into a full-time job, part-time ministry, and I was having a hard time balancing and setting boundaries with uh you know life and pouring into my wife because I wasn't doing that. I I was I was pouring into other people, but then I would come home, fill myself up, but I wasn't pouring into my wife, which there's an adjustment period for sure though, once you first get married.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

So having grace with that, but also realizing like how God has molded you over time and growing.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

So same for me, um, being more selfless with my time and um being able to pour more into you, I think.

SPEAKER_02 22:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

Um, because I am surrendering my own desires.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

So from yeah. And into like into into other people, like uh I think there's been um a shift where God has molded you into a season where uh we were in that mindset of long distance still when we were married, right? Like it was still our our marriage was fresh, like you know guarding time, yeah, guarding time, but which is fine, but like a balance. Yes, but but a good balance, and I think that we were pursuing our our time a lot more than it needs to be, and I think God has revealed that.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

I think like with being kingdom-minded, you want to be able to go out and be there for other people. So I definitely see what you're saying. So I love what just happened because you're able to tell me how you've seen me be molded, and that's also the importance of a community and like a trusted friend and a godly friend who's gonna show you, like, oh, this is how you've grown. I've seen God do this through you. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Yeah, no, because uh it it and that's so cool because like you said, with community, people see things in you that you may not see yourself. Um, example of like what just happened.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

So well, we hope that you enjoyed this episode. We are going to leave you with a challenge and also encouragement. So the challenge is in this season of life, who is God molding you to be?

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:23

We encourage you to really sit with that. Um, and if you don't know, pray you have access to God. Yes, seek him first, and maybe ask the people around you what they see. Um, especially if it's like a godly community that you can trust, you know, that to can pour into you and use scripture to help. Our encouragement is of course repent, turn to God, follow his ways. Um, and in that, like you are removed from your past, right? Like the Lord forgets your sins once he forgives you, and like you're a new creation. So, but if your past is stopping you, remember that the Bible says you are a new creation. Don't give the devil a foothold by allowing him to use your past as a weapon. Don't slip into holding yourself to that old standard. Um, find your worth in God, not in your old self.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Yeah, because God gives you a purpose. Um, everybody has a purpose. And like Kelsey said, you're not defined by your past. Your past is God forgives you and in and he for and and he lets it go, right? Um the enemy tries to again define us by our past and uses it to keep us stuck. God wants to shape you and mold you and move you into the net next season, like Moses. Again, if he was stuck on his past of his speech, um, you know, he may have been stuck. It may have may have took even longer.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Yeah, right. Um, 2 Corinthians 5 17 points to a verse about being the new creation. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here. Um so just let that be an encouragement because I think, at least for me, in my life, I've had times where I've let the past dictate my present and eventually my future.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

And don't hear what we're not saying. You need to repent from your sin. You need to understand that following God is better, follow his ways, um, seek him first. But when we are talking about the past, you're a new creation. Yeah. The Lord has you, the Lord has his hand over your life, he has plans for you, plans to prosper you, not to fail you. Um, so encouragement.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

And when you're and when you're a new creation, um that's not a invitation to where you can go back to your old ways, right? Like once you're a new creation, you're you continue to pursue Christ, and Christ is going to mold you and shape your heart into being more like him.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

Yeah, and it's the sanctification piece. Again, that's God's ongoing work in his in believers. And um it's it's allowing them and shaping them to be more and more like him. Yes. So it's a process, it takes time, but seeking God is so important, um, especially in understanding that you are moldable, um, you are a new creation once you come to Christ, and he's a forgiving God. But don't be like Jonah going back to your old ways. Yeah. Um, pursue God wholeheartedly.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Like Paul.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

And Moses.

SPEAKER_00 27:34

Yes, and Moses.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

So thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

Yeah. And you guys have a great week.

SPEAKER_01 27:40

Yeah. See ya.

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Bye.