WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.000 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.400 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.439 Good to be with you this morning, Awakening. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:14.400 Great to see you. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:15.839 Welcome if you're new. 00:00:16.079 --> 00:00:16.960 My name's Ryan. 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.760 We're thrilled to have you join us today. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.879 We're in part three of a series called Navigating Normal. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.879 How do we navigate the normal that we now find ourselves in? 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:31.359 We've been studying the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:35.359 We found it in 1 Kings chapter 18 and 19. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.560 Today the sermon title is simply this Into the Cave. 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:40.880 Why don't you go ahead and say that to your neighbor? 00:00:41.039 --> 00:00:42.000 Into the cave. 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:44.079 Or yell it across to someone who goes. 00:00:44.479 --> 00:00:45.679 Yeah, that was weird. 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:51.759 Like, why in the world did I say into the cave to somebody today? 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:56.240 We're talking today, navigating through some deep waters. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.159 We're going to talk about depression. 00:00:58.479 --> 00:01:03.520 And I want to have kind of some opening uh comments, if you will. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.120 First, I want to recognize I'm speaking as a pastor. 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:11.280 I'm going to share personally my story and journey through this. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:15.760 I'm not speaking as a psychologist, nor am I going to try to there. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:26.799 And yet, here's what I know you are a spiritual being with a physical body made in the image of God, and God wants to meet you spiritually, emotionally, and physically. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.959 And I believe He's got a word for you and I, me today. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:42.000 Second thing is, I know for some this might be a little bit of triggering of a subject, and just if you feel that way, I won't be offended if you go, like, hey, Ryan, I may pass on this one or listen to it later. 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:42.959 That's great. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:48.000 And uh love, love, love, love for this to be ministering to you. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:02:00.719 Now, as the pandemic and the fog of what we've been going through begins to lift a little bit, what we're seeing is kind of the aftermath of it all. 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:16.000 And when you look around and survey the landscape uh in the US, but this is global as well, what what we're seeing is there is a mental and health uh and emotional health crisis in our nation. 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:18.800 Um I lost my book. 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:21.360 I had a book called Out of the Cave, and I don't know where it went. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.199 I still have the quote right here. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:30.000 Uh the Chris Hodges in his book called Out of the Cave, and he's talking about his journey with depression. 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:33.599 He's a pastor, uh, wrote this over COVID. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:46.240 He writes this he says, it has become the world's number one health problem, that is depression, causing more deaths than cancer each year, and ranking as the leading cause of disability. 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:51.840 One out of nine people are in some type of depression treating medication. 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:56.639 One out of five people have been on uh on it at some point. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:06.639 Over the past decade, antidepressant uses have gone up 300% and continues to rise. 00:03:07.520 --> 00:03:18.719 Boston College uh just released a uh study this last week and it said post-pandemic the rate of depression has tripled. 00:03:18.960 --> 00:03:28.639 It's such a crisis in our nation that Walgreen, CVS, and Walmart are all now starting to offer in-person therapy and counseling at those places. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.759 You can go to CVS and get a toothbrush and a therapist at the same time. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:58.400 It's such an issue that uh Apple is doing studies to discover can they figure out uh whether someone is struggling with depression by the way they type and the speed that they type and the facial recognition on here, using the air buds to track uh your temperature and some of these sort of things to give indicators of your health here. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:02.879 Now, here's the problem with depression for most of us. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:12.800 Most of us, we don't know we're depressed until it's already robbed us of our joy and pleasure. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:22.959 We don't recognize that we're struggling with this until our purpose and our passion has already been stripped from us. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:27.279 And that certainly is or was my story. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:33.839 Um about four, a little over four years ago, I went through really an 18-month depression. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:40.160 I kind of am a high and low person, as you've talked about, have seasonal depression from time to time. 00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:44.000 Um, but really, it was uh four years ago. 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:49.920 Now, uh, one of my best friends, uh ministry partner, Steve Siccone, he was on staff here. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:58.720 He moved to um Florida, and when he moved, all of a sudden the weight of ministry and church world, it just landed squarely on my shoulders. 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:09.600 My personality is um just work harder, just fight it, just get through and don't back away from things or don't you know pull back on stuff. 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:11.199 No, you should charge ahead. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:18.079 And so that's what I tried to do, and it really moved myself into burnout in so many ways. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:21.839 And I had a sabbatical coming uh, you know, ahead. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:27.199 And I'm like, okay, I got to build a team so when I'm gone for a while, that they can really support it. 00:05:27.279 --> 00:05:30.639 So I'm working incredibly hard trying to build a team up for this. 00:05:30.879 --> 00:05:39.439 And literally the day before my sabbatical uh started on a Monday, I'm pushing hard all the way through to the very end. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.160 And uh on Sunday, I preach on Monday. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:45.040 Jenny and I get away for like a dream vacation. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.240 We've never done anything like this. 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.079 We went away to Italy for 10 days. 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:54.000 It was amazing, except she had a shell of a man uh in um in Rome. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.519 I was so excited for Rome. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:59.199 I was so excited about you know, seeing the Colosseum and all these things. 00:05:59.279 --> 00:06:00.720 I'd been there once as a kid. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:11.199 I was excited to like have the richness and understand more, you know, the history behind everything and connected to uh our faith, and I had nothing in the tank. 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:14.800 I I just couldn't even really function. 00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:17.920 And so Rome was a bit of a blur. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:19.839 Italy wasn't a waste, by the way. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:33.439 We had a wonderful time, but there was something about working so hard and then suddenly stopping that when we got back, I had this experience I hadn't experienced before. 00:06:33.519 --> 00:06:42.959 I'm a highly driven, passionate person, and the drive was gone, and the passion was gone. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.759 I had all these things I wanted to do over sabbatical. 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.920 I did none of them, and I couldn't get myself to do any of them. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:55.920 I didn't know what was going on, what was wrong with me. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:02.319 While we get back from sabbatical, and you know, everyone's asking, How was it? 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:04.480 And you want to be able to go, it's amazing. 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:11.439 Like people sacrificed so that you could have time off to get rested and refreshed, and you want to go, like, this was the best offer. 00:07:11.519 --> 00:07:13.680 And I was like, kind of, yeah, it was great. 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:15.759 It was hard. 00:07:16.160 --> 00:07:18.160 It was hard for Jenny and I. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:20.240 It was rough. 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:28.160 And so I thought maybe if I just give myself back to work, I got back in, we did a you know, a capital campaign. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.240 I just started going as hard as I could. 00:07:30.399 --> 00:07:33.920 And so on Sunday you'd see me, I'd be preaching or doing something, I'd look normal. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.519 And if you didn't really know me super well, you'd go, it's just Ryan. 00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:44.399 And yet the weight landed squarely on those closest to me, more specifically on Jenny. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:56.800 And it wasn't until literally like 10 months into this, we were meeting with our counselor, and Jenny's explaining like what she's going through and what she's struggling with with me. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:03.360 And our counselor Sue asks and says me, uh she asked me just a series of questions. 00:08:03.439 --> 00:08:07.600 She says, you know, Ryan, I I think you're depressed. 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:15.040 Someone put words, a word, into what I was feeling. 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.240 And I was like, oh, that makes sense. 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:36.080 What do you do when the fog of depression begins to settle over yourself? 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:42.399 Like, what do you do when it feels like all hope is lost? 00:08:45.120 --> 00:08:46.480 You know it's interesting. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.600 During that season, after she said that, it didn't fix everything immediately. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:53.279 I'll talk more about that. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:09:04.240 But through that season, I didn't want to die, and I know some people that's where you're at, and I just want to ask you, would you reach out to someone? 00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.480 It wasn't that I wanted to die in any way, I just didn't care to live. 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:12.720 They're different. 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:20.080 I didn't care about my life, and so I didn't actually care or give care to my life. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:24.000 And so I just kind of ached out. 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:26.720 I really didn't think my life mattered. 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:30.240 And where is God, by the way? 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:35.039 Where is God when you enter the cave of depression? 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:41.360 When you enter those moments of the dark night of the soul. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:50.559 You know, one of the things I'm so grateful for in scripture is we don't get a highlight reel. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.559 We don't get somebody's just biggest accomplishments. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:02.159 God just helps us see our frailty and humanity and how he meets us in it. 00:10:03.120 --> 00:10:04.960 And Elijah is no different. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:20.080 One of the great prophets of the Old Testament, just coming off one of the greatest spiritual victories, literally mountaintop moment on Mount Carmel. 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:41.759 And he hits the absolute low of his life, completely depressed, to the point where he isolates himself from community, wanders into a desert, and sits down under a broom tree and says, God take my life, I'm done. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:44.960 I'm no better than anybody else. 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:46.799 I got nothing left to give. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.759 I've done it all, I'm done. 00:10:55.440 --> 00:10:57.120 And God meets him there. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:01.120 And God meets us there. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:10.240 God meets him in that desert moment, and he doesn't like, you know, try to fix everything right away. 00:11:10.320 --> 00:11:11.200 And that's our thing. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:12.159 That's what we try to do. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.840 When somebody shares something like what I just shared, we we try to fix it, right? 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:19.600 We go, how how can I, what can I say, how can I fix it? 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:22.000 He just meets them. 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:42.639 Some scripture says that he fell asleep, God feeds him, he falls asleep, he feeds him again, he says the journey's long, and it says that Elijah wandered around for 40 days and for 40 nights, and eventually he wandered onto Mount Horab, or the mountain of God. 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:55.759 It's the mountain where Moses encountered God when he was wandering into the wilderness, uh, when he was, you know, watching sheep and the you know burning bush was there, and he met God and received his calling. 00:11:55.840 --> 00:12:10.000 It was that mountain, it was the same mountain when Moses came back and led Israel out of slavery, and and they go to the Mount Horab or Mount Sinai, and God reveals his glory to him in on that mountain. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:27.120 He says, In his wandering, Elijah ends up on the mountain of God, and that's where we pick up the story, and it says, on the mountain of God, there he went into a cave and spent the night. 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:29.440 In your notes, would you just do this for me? 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:33.440 Would you just circle the word a and right above it, write the word dot? 00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:44.320 The author of Kings is actually trying to help us connect the dots between Elijah's story and Moses' story. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:50.159 And you see these connecting uh ideas or illusions all over the place. 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:55.840 And in the Hebrew text, this is not just a cave or any cave. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.879 It's actually the uh definite article, the. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:00.320 This is the cave. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:02.080 This is a well-known cave. 00:13:02.240 --> 00:13:07.039 This is a cave uh that you know about and have would remember about. 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:14.080 You see, he gives us these illusions of Elijah wandering for 40 days and 40 nights. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:34.320 It's in as if he's going in reverse of how Moses led Israel out of uh Egypt into the promised land, just as Israel wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, and then he stumbles upon the mountain of God where Moses received the ten commandments and he countered him, and he wanders onto the cave. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:37.600 This is amazing. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:49.200 In Exodus chapter 33, Moses encounters God and he says, This show me your glory. 00:13:50.159 --> 00:13:53.200 That word glory can mean real you. 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:56.799 Like God, I want to see the real you. 00:13:57.759 --> 00:14:12.639 And God says, I'll let all of my goodness, by the way, his glory is his goodness, I'll let all of my goodness pass before you, and I'll hide you in the cleft of the rock because you cannot see me and live. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:15.919 I'm gonna cover you in this cleft or cave. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:30.639 And when the author writes the cave, the original audience would understand it in Exodus chapter 33 as the same spot where Moses encountered the glory of God. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:48.399 What an incredible reality! What an incredible reality that Moses in this mountaintop experience, show me your glory, and some of you are there, and he reveals himself to you. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:15:02.559 And Elijah and his wandering and his depression as he enters the dark cave. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:16.960 God says, I'm there in the glory moments, and I'm there in the difficult moments, I'm there, I meet you on the mountaintop, and I meet you in the valley below. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:21.039 There he went into the cave and spent the night. 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:23.759 And the word of the Lord came to him. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.879 What are you doing here, Elijah? 00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:28.080 What are you doing? 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:28.960 What's going on? 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:31.440 You've wandered so far from home. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:33.679 How did you end up here? 00:15:34.159 --> 00:15:38.480 Elijah replied, I've been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:40.720 The Israelites, you know them. 00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:47.600 They have rejected your covenant, uh, torn down your altars, put your prophets to death with the sword. 00:15:47.840 --> 00:15:50.320 I'm the only one left. 00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:53.120 No, you're not. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.080 But that's what we do, right? 00:15:57.519 --> 00:16:03.840 We we feel like it's only us and we're all on ourselves, and nobody understands us. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:15.919 If you read the beginning of 1 Kings 18, you know that Obadiah set aside a hundred prophets and was hiding them in caves too, and taking care of them. 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:24.000 And Elijah at least knows that he's not just one prophet less, that there's a hundred and one prophets in a different movie uh there. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:36.480 But we all of a sudden begin to throw this pity party for ourselves, and now they are trying to kill me. 00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:38.720 No, just Jezebel is, bro. 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.519 The Lord said, and I love this. 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:50.399 Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord's about to pass by. 00:16:51.440 --> 00:17:03.279 Elijah just pours out his heart, his perspective, his feelings, what he's experiencing in that moment, and I love what God does. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:06.640 He doesn't give him a lecture. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:12.880 He doesn't tell him, listen, man, listen. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:14.960 You know what he gives them? 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:17.359 His presence. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:28.480 And so often for most of us that are wandering in this darkness, you know, when we're trying to walk with somebody, we just want to give them a lecture. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:30.480 We want to go, it's gonna be okay. 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:32.240 And that's true. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:34.559 You know what? 00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:39.200 Don't worry about you, you can, and we begin, and like just give your presence. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:41.519 God gives him his presence. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:48.480 And didn't notice the Lord said, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to what? 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:49.519 Help me out. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:50.400 Pass by. 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:51.440 Pass by. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:52.559 Pass by. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:56.960 Again, the same language of Exodus 33. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.759 God's, I'm gonna pass by and let all my glory or all my goodness pass by you. 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:15.279 You may be wandering, you may be far, you may be discouraged, you may be depressed, you may feel like God's nowhere, but God is at work even when you're in the cave. 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.079 He says, I'm gonna pass by. 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.480 Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:26.720 But the Lord was not in the wind. 00:18:26.960 --> 00:18:32.400 And the wind, there after the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:35.759 After the earthquake came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:40.240 And he's probably thinking, I chose a bad cave at this moment. 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:44.880 And then after the fire came a gentle whisper. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:47.920 Literally, in the Hebrew, it means silence. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:55.599 After the fire, after the spectacular, after all of these things that we think, man, God is in that. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:57.759 And that's what we want. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:00.160 We're like, God, show up in the spectacular. 00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:03.039 Show up in some demonstrative way. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:06.640 And so often he's in the silence. 00:19:08.079 --> 00:19:09.759 He's in the stillness. 00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:16.720 Because God shows up to us how we need him most, not how we want him in the moment. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:19.039 And I love what says next. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:20.799 And Elijah heard. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.119 It was silence, and he heard it. 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:24.319 There was a sacred silence. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:30.480 There was there was a moment there that all of a sudden caught his breath and took his breath away. 00:19:31.279 --> 00:19:40.079 When Elijah heard it, the silence, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:43.759 And then a voice said to him, What are you doing here? 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:45.279 Elijah. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:49.200 And then he gives the same speech again. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:52.400 I've been very zealous for you. 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:54.880 What do we do? 00:19:55.920 --> 00:20:00.559 When the fog of depression settles over our lives. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:08.720 I want to give you just a very important principle and then a practice with some specific applications for us. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.240 And the principle is this from the text. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.839 What you feel is real. 00:20:17.680 --> 00:20:21.680 Elijah, he really was discouraged. 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:23.759 He really felt depressed. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:31.039 He really felt like he was all alone and that there was no hope, no future, and nothing was going to change. 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:37.279 What you feel is real, and the problem is, is we do not finish the sentence. 00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:42.720 What you feel is real, but not necessarily true. 00:20:43.759 --> 00:20:45.359 What you feel is real. 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.000 And we do great harm to people when they begin to share what they're feeling, and we say, don't feel that. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:21:10.559 I remember when Jenny and I were going through the process of church planning, and we went through this assessment, we met with this clinical psychologist, and I remember him saying, it's like you cannot choose your feelings, but you can choose how you respond to your feelings. 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:17.279 What you're feeling, what you're going through, you acknowledge it, that's real. 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:23.119 However, it's not necessarily that it's true. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:28.799 Your feelings are an incredible indicator, a helpful indicator of how you are doing. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:34.960 However, they are terrible gauge for what's reality and true around you. 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:38.079 Our feelings lie to us all the time, right? 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:40.799 You're like, no, I don't know. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:46.000 Just look at any teenager and puppy you love, and you realize feelings lie to us. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:51.759 What you feel is real, but not necessarily true. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:57.440 I like how Chris Hodges said it in his book the darkness of depression is real. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.680 Even when you're live. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:02.480 In the light of God's grace. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.119 God brought you here just for that one line. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:16.480 Because I think the lie that we buy into and the lie that we believe is if I was more godly, I wouldn't feel this way. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:24.559 If I was more spiritual, more mature, a Christian shouldn't feel this way. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:37.359 In fact, I was talking to one man after the service, and he's sharing, he's like, what I was going through is like as a Christian, I'm feeling this way, and then I feel guilty for feeling this way, and it just compounds it. 00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:40.960 Isn't that the good news? 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:48.480 When God shows, hey, one of the great prophets of old, this is what he walked through. 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:54.559 You're not alone, you're not broken, and the truth is there is hope. 00:22:54.799 --> 00:22:59.759 So if the principle is what you feel is real but not necessarily true, what is the practice for us? 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:10.720 Recognizing that overcoming depression, this is our practice, we have to recognize that overcoming depression is first a process, and we have to be proactive. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:11.920 It's a process. 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:13.839 We want quick fixes. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:16.960 We live in the age of Google and instance. 00:23:17.359 --> 00:23:25.039 And we think we can just immediately solve this, and you know, if I if you want to spiritualize it, I'm gonna pray a prayer and God will zap me. 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:26.720 Elijah prayed. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.160 God didn't zap him. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.599 I mean, they could have with the wind and the fire and that whole deal. 00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:33.359 It's a process. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:37.359 In fact, Elijah went on a 40-day journey. 00:23:37.839 --> 00:23:42.960 We know this took at least a month and a half in his life, if not longer. 00:23:43.279 --> 00:23:44.319 It's a process. 00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:45.759 There's not a quick fix to this. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.799 And secondly, we have to be proactive. 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.000 And this is the catch 22 of depression. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:00.559 Because what's helpful to you is difficult to do. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:02.480 That's what depression is. 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.240 The things that are most helpful to you are difficult to do, right? 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:11.519 The things that will bring you life, that will break depression, are incredibly difficult to do. 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:12.640 I don't feel like it. 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:14.240 I don't want it, I have no energy. 00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:16.880 It zapped the strength out of me. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:22.480 I mean, listen, I had this desire before sabbatical to like start a book club. 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:26.240 I know I'm not Oprah, but I just thought a book club would be awesome. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:27.759 And I'm like, this would be so fun. 00:24:27.839 --> 00:24:34.799 I have all this time, and I would love to like, I'm a reader, I'm a learner, and I want to start this book club. 00:24:34.880 --> 00:24:36.559 And Jenny's like, are you gonna start it? 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.960 I'm like, I just can't do it. 00:24:41.519 --> 00:24:44.160 I still don't have a book club, by the way. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:48.160 But I do have a morning men's study that started this last week, and it was fantastic. 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:48.960 That's right. 00:24:50.319 --> 00:24:51.599 Thanks, Jay. 00:24:56.160 --> 00:25:00.319 Because what's helpful to you is difficult to do. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:04.960 That is the catch 22 of depression. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:11.200 Now, listen, there is a massive difference between difficult and impossible. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:18.160 It is difficult, it is not impossible, and we need to take a step. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:20.559 Yes, difficult, take a small step. 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:28.240 In fact, research tells us that even a small step, a minuscule step, changes our feelings and experiences. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:31.759 And what we think is we have to feel differently to behave differently. 00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.400 And no, no, no, you behave differently to feel differently. 00:25:36.640 --> 00:25:38.640 I like how Dr. 00:25:38.799 --> 00:25:42.400 George Crane said it in his classic applied psychology. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:47.680 He says, remember, motions are the precursor to emotion. 00:25:48.960 --> 00:25:50.640 We have to recognize. 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:55.119 One, it's a process, two, we have to be proactive. 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:59.119 Let me give you how God met Elijah in the text. 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:00.880 And here's what's incredible. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:08.559 This is the same advice that you would get from a clinical psychologist or therapist. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:18.640 Isn't it amazing that 3,000 years ago God knew how we were wired and designed and what we needed, and how God met him is how he wants to meet you. 00:26:18.799 --> 00:26:20.079 And would you take these steps? 00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:27.279 The first thing, the first thing how God met Elijah, and we talked about this last week, is God cared for his physical needs. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:33.200 Before he ever addressed the internal world, he cared for his physical world. 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:38.319 And so we have to prioritize our physical needs. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:46.880 And for many, I know many moms especially struggle to prioritize your physical needs. 00:26:47.039 --> 00:26:51.359 Did you know in four verses, Elijah slept three times? 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.359 What if you had a holy nap this afternoon? 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:06.079 Have you ever thought that sleeping could be the most spiritual thing you could do? 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:18.319 And we all know when we haven't been able to sleep well or gone through those fits, or maybe you've had a you know small kids, how magical a good night's sleep is. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:19.200 Right? 00:27:19.359 --> 00:27:21.680 Don't you feel like a brand new person? 00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.480 Would you prioritize rest and sleep? 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:29.440 Would you prioritize your nutrition? 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:30.960 What you eat? 00:27:31.279 --> 00:27:39.279 See, when we're depressed, we go to what is most convenient and what feels good in the moment, but is not good for us long term. 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:43.920 Especially things that numb us out. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:49.839 Whether it's, you know, high-fried stuff, like guilty for me, alcohol. 00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:56.160 One of the practices I told you last week for me is I'm I'm in process with all of you. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:59.200 Uh Jenny and I, and she's doing it for me. 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:01.759 Um, she already eats really well. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.839 I I struggle with it. 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.160 Is we're doing the Daniel fast. 00:28:07.200 --> 00:28:11.039 We're one week in, but if you don't know what that is, it's essentially eating vegan. 00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:13.920 And it's just this physical reset. 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:16.720 And it's been so good. 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:19.200 There's been hard parts to it, but it's been so good. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:21.039 Would you prioritize your physical health? 00:28:21.200 --> 00:28:22.720 Rest, nutrition, exercise. 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:23.920 You're like, right, I'm depressed. 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:25.119 I don't want to exercise. 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:26.400 I don't want to go to the gym. 00:28:26.559 --> 00:28:28.480 I look in the mirror and I feel bad about myself. 00:28:28.559 --> 00:28:30.240 I don't like any of those sort of things. 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:31.680 I know it's difficult. 00:28:31.839 --> 00:28:35.440 Here's what I'm asking you to do not to go to the gym, go for a walk. 00:28:36.480 --> 00:28:37.440 Just go for a walk. 00:28:37.680 --> 00:28:38.240 Ten minutes. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:39.440 Can you go for a walk? 00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:40.160 Yes, you can. 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:41.119 You walked here. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:43.920 Okay, if you're watching online, you didn't walk here. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:48.000 Ten minutes. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:49.759 Get in nature. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:51.519 For some, even. 00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:56.799 Listen, and this is there's there's a chemical reality. 00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:00.720 Getting good medication to help some of those imbalances. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:04.319 But would you prioritize your physical health? 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:11.599 God ministered and cared to his physical needs first before lovingly caring for his internal world. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:14.799 Secondly, embrace your true identity. 00:29:15.519 --> 00:29:17.039 Embrace your true identity. 00:29:17.200 --> 00:29:21.519 Do you know the very first word that Elijah or that God said to Elijah? 00:29:22.319 --> 00:29:23.359 It wasn't a question. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:26.319 In our text, it says, What are you doing here? 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.119 In Hebrew, you know what it says? 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:31.039 Elijah. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:33.680 God started with his name. 00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:35.119 Elijah. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:36.160 Elijah. 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:37.200 And changes, doesn't it? 00:29:37.279 --> 00:29:37.920 Doesn't that change? 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:40.160 Elijah, what are you doing here? 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:41.279 Elijah. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:42.880 You know what Elijah means? 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:44.559 My God is Yahweh. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:46.079 That's what Elijah means. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:49.359 Like you've wandered, you're tired, but this is your identity. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:55.440 In the Old Testament, in the New Testament, a name signified a person's identity and character, who they are. 00:29:55.680 --> 00:29:57.359 And he's not a failure. 00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:58.880 He's not a wanderer. 00:29:59.039 --> 00:30:02.880 He's not whatever his identity is that he's taking on in that moment. 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:04.319 His name is Elijah. 00:30:04.640 --> 00:30:06.000 This is your identity. 00:30:06.240 --> 00:30:08.960 Your God is Yahweh, and he's with you. 00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:15.200 I just wonder, what are the names that you've been calling yourself? 00:30:16.319 --> 00:30:18.480 The names that you've been taking on. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:20.640 Broken. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:24.720 Unlovable. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:27.119 Failure. 00:30:28.880 --> 00:30:30.000 Worthless. 00:30:32.240 --> 00:30:33.519 Lost cause. 00:30:39.680 --> 00:30:43.279 Those are lies from the pit of hell. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:45.279 Here's what I want you to do. 00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:48.480 In your notes, I want you to write morning affirmations. 00:30:49.039 --> 00:30:50.720 Morning affirmation. 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.279 And I want you to take a three by five card. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:56.319 Yes, a three by five card, not on your phone. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:00.160 I want you to write down Psalm 139. 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.839 Psalm 139 talks about who you are. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:11.440 One of the lines that says, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:18.720 See, I want you to daily remember and embrace your identity. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.039 And you start with I am statements. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:24.400 This is who you are, and this is who you are in Christ. 00:31:24.559 --> 00:31:26.480 I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:29.759 You are not a lost cause, you are not a waste, you are not worthless. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:30.640 No, no, no. 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:31.759 Those are lies. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:32.960 Don't embrace those. 00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:36.319 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:39.599 Once you jot down Ephesians 1. 00:31:41.680 --> 00:31:47.440 Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul begins to unpack our brand new identity in Christ. 00:31:47.839 --> 00:31:51.680 And so it begins that you have every spiritual blessing in Christ. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:55.839 And so on that three by five card, just start off, I am blessed. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.000 Then it says, you are chosen. 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:00.480 You're not unwanted, you're chosen. 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:03.680 You're not a lost because God wants you. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:06.000 I am chosen by God. 00:32:06.400 --> 00:32:10.480 Then it goes on to say, you're adopted into his family. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:14.480 Like you're chosen, you're wanted, you're brought into the family of God. 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:18.079 I am a son or daughter of the King Most High. 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:24.319 It says you're redeemed, that God loved you so much that he gave his one and only son for you to bring you back. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:26.799 You are valuable, is what redeemed means. 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:28.160 You are so valuable. 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:30.640 You're not unvaluable, you are valuable. 00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:32.880 I am redeemed. 00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:36.559 I am forgiven. 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:42.079 I am beloved. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:49.359 Embrace your true identity daily. 00:32:50.240 --> 00:32:51.839 Get those cards out. 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:54.640 And you say it out loud. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:32:58.799 Because I ain't there to preach for you, you preach to yourself. 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:01.920 You start preaching every morning. 00:33:02.160 --> 00:33:04.640 I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:11.279 I am loved, chosen, adopted, redeemed, forgiven by the God of the universe. 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:13.759 That is who you are. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:20.240 Thirdly, challenge your narrative. 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:22.400 Embrace your true identity, challenge your narrative. 00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:25.119 You notice that God challenged Elijah's narrative. 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:27.359 He's going, What are you doing here? 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:30.799 And then you notice what Elijah does? 00:33:31.119 --> 00:33:37.119 He gives his explanation to God and is filled with truths, half-truths, and no truths at all. 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:39.279 And that's what we do. 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:44.480 And that's part of what affects our stories, determine our feelings that we tell. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:46.640 The stories that we tell impact our feelings. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:50.079 And so we tell it's got some truth to it. 00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:52.960 And so we believe that it's all true. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:53.920 No. 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:56.880 Look at what Elijah said. 00:33:57.200 --> 00:33:59.839 I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:00.799 True. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:07.599 The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:10.159 Partly true and not true at all. 00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:15.039 The Israelites did reject him, and then did you forget? 00:34:15.199 --> 00:34:19.920 Have you forgotten that he used you to bring about a spiritual revival? 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:24.079 See, we dismiss the good, only focus on the bad. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:28.880 And it wasn't the Israelites that put the prophets to death, by the way, it was Jezebel. 00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:32.880 I am the only one left. 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:34.400 Completely false. 00:34:34.800 --> 00:34:39.599 We know there's 101, and God later tells them there's another 7,000. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:44.639 And they, Israelites, know just Jezebel. 00:34:44.960 --> 00:34:46.880 See, we we we we make it bigger. 00:34:46.960 --> 00:34:48.480 It's like everyone's against us. 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:50.639 No, that's not that's not true. 00:34:53.920 --> 00:34:55.199 They're trying to kill me. 00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:58.239 You have to challenge the narrative. 00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:00.639 What's the narrative? 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:03.599 Nothing's gonna change. 00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:06.639 This is just the way I am. 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:10.400 You know, for me, the narrative was simply this. 00:35:15.519 --> 00:35:18.719 That I'm fundamentally not good enough. 00:35:21.840 --> 00:35:26.400 And it doesn't really matter whether I'm here or not. 00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:29.440 So why care? 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:33.519 It's not true. 00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:39.280 What's your narrative? 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:45.199 Those stories we tell put them on trial. 00:35:47.440 --> 00:35:49.760 Invite someone else in. 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:55.039 Have them help you see, okay, that was true, that's not true. 00:35:55.199 --> 00:35:57.119 No, that's like crazy talent. 00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:58.559 No, we don't say that. 00:36:02.079 --> 00:36:05.760 You're not broken, you're not a lost cause. 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.320 Challenge the narrative. 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:13.039 Prioritize physical health, embrace your identity, challenge the narrative. 00:36:13.119 --> 00:36:17.519 Then notice God meets Elijah, not in the spectacular, but in the silence. 00:36:17.679 --> 00:36:19.760 Turn off the noise and tune into God. 00:36:19.920 --> 00:36:22.000 Turn off the noise, tune into God. 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:23.920 Turn off the noise. 00:36:24.559 --> 00:36:26.639 We talked about this last week. 00:36:27.519 --> 00:36:38.559 This is hard for us to turn off the noise of social media, to turn off the noise of the news feed, to turn off the noise of Netflix, to turn off the noise of busyness. 00:36:39.119 --> 00:36:41.039 And here's why I think it's hard. 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:50.639 Because I think if we stop long enough to be still, we're afraid of what will bubble up and what we'll find inside of us. 00:36:52.239 --> 00:37:01.920 And so we keep ourselves busy and distracted and numb living so that we just don't have to deal with what's going on. 00:37:03.199 --> 00:37:05.679 And there's a part of us, there's a part of me. 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:13.440 That if I really am afraid that I'm gonna see something that's unfixable. 00:37:18.320 --> 00:37:22.639 God longs to meet the ache of your soul. 00:37:26.320 --> 00:37:28.239 And it turns off that noise. 00:37:28.320 --> 00:37:44.559 And as you tune into God and you allow the stillness, that's what that sabbatical exposed and did for me was to bring a level of stillness of the ache and the brokenness of my own soul, the hurry and the pace and the things that then began to bubble up. 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:51.599 And yes, it was hard, but I'm so grateful through it what he's done in and through me. 00:37:53.920 --> 00:37:56.079 Turn off the noise, tune into God. 00:37:56.239 --> 00:38:01.360 We talked about that last week, so go back, just apply last week's sermon, please. 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:06.960 And then finally, finally, we have to get outside of ourselves. 00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:11.440 We didn't read this part, we're gonna talk about it next week as we close out the series. 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:21.519 But God says to Elijah, go back the way that you came, and then he gives them a purpose, he gives them a brand new purpose for his life. 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:27.039 He says, I want you to anoint a new king. 00:38:27.199 --> 00:38:29.920 Yeah, we have some bad leadership, we gotta address that. 00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:32.639 And I want you to bring on an apprentice. 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:34.079 You've been doing life on your own. 00:38:34.159 --> 00:38:38.480 His name's Elisha, and I want him, you to pour what you have into him. 00:38:40.960 --> 00:38:43.440 Would you start serving? 00:38:45.440 --> 00:38:47.440 And would you get into community? 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:55.119 For some of us, we feel like we have to get our lives figured out and fixed before we can start serving. 00:38:55.519 --> 00:38:58.159 God didn't say, Elijah, get it all fixed. 00:38:58.239 --> 00:38:59.440 He said, Go. 00:39:00.400 --> 00:39:04.800 Just get going, just go serve someone. 00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:07.199 Get outside of yourself. 00:39:12.400 --> 00:39:14.079 And get in community. 00:39:17.760 --> 00:39:24.400 Andy Stanley had this sermon that I listened to years and years ago, and it's called it the Four Faces of Courage. 00:39:24.559 --> 00:39:27.760 I'll just give you the last one because it always stuck with me. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:35.760 The last face of courage was to ask for help instead of suffering silently. 00:39:37.519 --> 00:39:47.440 And for some, you've listened to the lie of depression and the lie of the enemy, and you've retreated from community, you've retreated from help and stop today. 00:39:47.679 --> 00:39:48.960 Would you ask for help? 00:39:49.119 --> 00:39:50.559 Would you get a good counselor? 00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:52.639 Would you get back into your small group? 00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:54.000 Would you share with someone? 00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:57.360 Would you go to the prayer area and just go, I need help? 00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:00.480 Would you stop suffering silently? 00:40:01.679 --> 00:40:03.199 Get in community. 00:40:07.039 --> 00:40:11.679 Like I said, for me, my depression was an 18-month deal. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:13.920 It was a process. 00:40:14.079 --> 00:40:22.880 The minute my counselor identified what I was going through, there's another eight months of journeying of wrestling. 00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:28.000 And there was one like tipping point for me. 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:32.079 Summer 2019. 00:40:32.400 --> 00:40:36.400 Um we call it the summer for hell from hell. 00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:41.440 Prior to that, I had three concussions in a four-month period. 00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:45.519 I was that doesn't help depression, by the way. 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:49.599 And then we had a family crisis. 00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:55.920 And it was sucked. 00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:03.039 It was through that crisis. 00:41:05.519 --> 00:41:09.760 God's going, like, no, you have a purpose here on this planet. 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:14.559 Through that crisis is realize, you know what? 00:41:14.719 --> 00:41:18.320 The power of a father's voice in a child's life. 00:41:26.400 --> 00:41:28.960 Maybe just maybe today. 00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:33.360 You just need to hear, you have a purpose. 00:41:34.559 --> 00:41:37.519 God's not done with you yet. 00:41:37.840 --> 00:41:42.960 You matter, and there's hope, and he longs to use your life. 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:46.320 You have a purpose. 00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:52.480 Like how Peter said it. 00:41:55.760 --> 00:42:01.679 Talking to the church under really trying times. 00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:10.639 He says, You're a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation of people of God's special possession. 00:42:11.599 --> 00:42:16.719 I don't know how you feel right now, but that's what's true of you right now. 00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:28.800 That, and then he gives us the purpose, that you may declare his excellencies of him who brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 00:42:30.960 --> 00:42:32.719 God's not done with you. 00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:34.480 You matter. 00:42:36.000 --> 00:42:37.519 There's hope. 00:42:38.400 --> 00:42:39.760 Would you lean in? 00:42:41.519 --> 00:42:58.239 Heavenly Father, I pray right now for my friends that you would give us and give them the courage to take a small step forward and you meet us there. 00:43:03.599 --> 00:43:06.000 Would you surround them with your love? 00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:09.679 Would you anchor them with your hope? 00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:16.559 Would you move in this moment to bring life to their weary souls? 00:43:17.519 --> 00:43:19.920 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:25.119 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:43:25.360 --> 00:43:27.599 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:33.679 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.