WEBVTT 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:03.359 It's been good to have some time away. 00:00:03.439 --> 00:00:04.400 Let me ask you a question. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.279 Are you filled with contentment? 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:11.599 Joy? 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:16.559 Are you filled with confidence in the Lord? 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.800 Or is there more contempt than contentment? 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:27.120 Is your life hurried and stressed and busy? 00:00:28.640 --> 00:00:30.079 So which is it? 00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:35.039 Because I know that what God wants for you is the word. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:39.840 Let me read the words of Dallas Willard that Nathan and Jonah shared last week. 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:46.320 As Dallas is having a conversation with this guy named John Ortberg, who wrote the book, Soul Keeping. 00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:53.280 Ortberg is saying, he says, Dallas, would you tell me what I can give to my church to help them grow? 00:00:53.840 --> 00:00:56.640 I need some, give me a book, give me a list of things. 00:00:57.600 --> 00:00:58.799 Give me some material. 00:00:59.039 --> 00:01:00.240 Give me a program. 00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:04.719 Give me something to help my people grow deeper in their faith. 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:10.400 And Dallas Willard says, you, he, he, he, he says, don't, don't, let me speak to you. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:18.480 You must arrange your days so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God. 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:21.439 He says, No, you don't understand. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:24.480 Um, Dallas, I'm not talking about me. 00:01:24.560 --> 00:01:26.159 I'm talking about my my church. 00:01:26.239 --> 00:01:27.840 They just don't get it. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:29.200 They just don't get it. 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.239 They can't, they're not growing deep in their faith. 00:01:33.280 --> 00:01:36.400 He's saying, Well, let me talk to you. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:47.680 He says, You must arrange your life, your days, so that you are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in your everyday life with God. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:02:06.159 And so, if our life is not going the way that we want it to go, and maybe we're not experiencing this deep contentment and joy and confidence in the Lord, maybe the problem is not just the circumstances in your life. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:11.120 It's not somebody in your life, it's not your job, it's not your income. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.560 Maybe it's the health of your soul. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:18.560 It maybe is something deep down in your life. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:23.120 And so the very first week of this series, we we we answered the question. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:27.840 We tried to, as much as possible, to answer the question, what is the soul? 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:29.199 What is the soul? 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:34.800 Last week, Jonah answered the question, Nathan answered the question, what does the soul need? 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:44.800 Today we're gonna talk a little about what does the restored soul look like and look like and what is it, and we're gonna flesh that out that out over the next couple of weeks. 00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:51.599 We we tend to think of the soul as something that departs from us in a heavenly state. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:56.560 Remember, I talked about the first week, the the Looney Tunes version of the soul. 00:02:56.639 --> 00:03:11.120 It's Daffy Duck or one of the cartoon characters getting hit on the head with the anvil from Willie Coyote, and you see this transparent or translucent figure that floats up that has wings and is playing a heart. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:14.479 That that the soul is about eternal life. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:20.560 But the scriptures and what Jesus teaches is the soul is not just about eternal life. 00:03:20.719 --> 00:03:22.960 Your eternal life begins now. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:28.800 If you have put your faith in Christ, you have already laid hold of eternal life. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:37.759 And God wants you to experience soul rest and the fullness of the Lord in your present life. 00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:47.280 Where you step into eternity, it is a continuation of the life that you are living in the spirit now on this earth. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:52.080 And so the soul is actually the deepest part of who we are. 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:56.080 The soul is the center of our life. 00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:57.199 It is who we are. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:05.759 And we we let me refer back to the concentric circles that we talked about the last couple of weeks, where at the center it talks about the human will. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:06.800 The human will. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:10.479 And this is this is not necessarily Bible teaching. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:19.120 This is how Dallas Willard is explaining to John Ortberg how we must have alignment in our life. 00:04:19.279 --> 00:04:22.800 The human will is your decision maker. 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.519 It's your yes or your no. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:29.360 And sometimes we're real good at making big decisions. 00:04:29.519 --> 00:04:36.879 We might be good at picking our husband or our wife, or maybe picking a profession, or picking where we're gonna live. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:49.199 But man, I don't know if you've noticed, but man, my decision maker really struggles with small decisions, habits, things that that annoy me and annoy my wife. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:58.160 I mean, just those little things that we struggle with is because our will has been compromised by sin. 00:04:58.879 --> 00:05:01.600 Romans 3.23 says, all of us have sinned. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:10.720 Romans chapter 7, Paul speaks about how he does what he doesn't want to do, and even though he knows he doesn't want to do it, he will still do it. 00:05:10.879 --> 00:05:14.879 And so it's the struggle of the compromised, sinful will. 00:05:15.040 --> 00:05:16.639 The next part is the mind. 00:05:17.680 --> 00:05:19.279 It's the seat of the emotions. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:22.160 It's your emotions and feelings. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:33.439 And Paul says that we should think or fix our thoughts on what's true and honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable in Philippians 4, 8. 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.240 Um uh Romans 12, you know, one and two. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:43.839 He says, he says, do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:49.199 And so the mind is is is what you're conscious of. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:51.759 It's it affects our soul. 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:53.120 And the next is our bodies. 00:05:53.279 --> 00:05:55.360 Our bodies are our power packs. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:58.639 It's what allow they our bodies allow us to do things. 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:00.959 Our bodies allow us to to drive. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:07.920 It allows us to walk, it allows us to um you know to tie our shoes, it allows us to do things. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.560 And then next is the soul. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:17.839 And the soul is the capacity to integrate all of these things into a single whole life. 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.360 It's like an operating system in a computer. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:26.639 It's a program that brings everything into alignment. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:44.800 And what God is telling us through scripture is that when you align your will, your mind, your body, and with the things of God, and your soul is aligned, you are filled and walking in the fullness of God. 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:47.920 The Hebrew people called it shalom. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:49.839 It's peace. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.879 It's peace that the scripture says surpasses understanding. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:55.920 Shalom. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:06:59.439 It's more than a greeting, it's more than a Jewish greeting. 00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:01.439 You've been to Israel, they shalom. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:03.759 When you see somebody, you say shalom. 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:05.600 When you leave or depart, you say shalom. 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:12.319 But shalom in in the Hebrew life is a full alignment of all of these things. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:19.120 Your body, your mind, your will, and your spirit, your soul is all aligned. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:24.240 And then last week, Nathan and Jonah uh answered the question, what does the soul need? 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:27.279 We we just, the soul is so needy. 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:29.120 The soul is so needy. 00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:31.040 We we always need something. 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:41.279 We always think, if there's if I could just get that, or if I could attain that, or have this status, it's just our soul is needy. 00:07:41.519 --> 00:07:44.480 Endless desire after endless desire. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.759 You think if I could get this, it'll fix me. 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:52.879 If I can drive that kind of car or live in this kind of house, or have certain types of things. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.600 And even if we're not necessarily materially oriented, it's about relationships. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:06.879 If I could get my child fixed and settled in the right direction, or if I can, it's always something I need, I need, I need. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:20.800 But in reality, we need to arrange our days and our life in a way that we we will have contentment and joy and confidence in everyday life. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.360 Remember the parable from week number one? 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:25.439 If you didn't, you could go back and watch that. 00:08:25.600 --> 00:08:29.279 The parable of the keeper of the stream. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.720 And the the stream is our soul, and you are the keeper. 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:41.840 You are, listen, you and I, we are responsible for our soul. 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:45.360 We have input on the health of our soul. 00:08:45.600 --> 00:08:49.279 We have say so on how we pursue life. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:53.120 Now, what does the restored soul look like? 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:02.559 Let me, here's kind of a big idea, a big statement about today, and we're gonna flesh this out over the next couple of weeks even in more detail. 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:13.840 But having a restored soul through Jesus does not exclude us from hardships, hurts, and the harshness of this earthly life. 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:28.720 Having a restored soul does not exclude you from hurt, from pain, from hardships, from difficult circumstances, from experiencing loss, from experiencing lows. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:35.440 And I was thinking back to when I came and put my faith in Jesus Christ at the age of 18 years. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:41.279 At 18 years old, I was I was I was I had a spiritual high. 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:43.519 Many of you have experienced this. 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:51.519 Maybe when you came to Christ or at other times in your spiritual journey, you were, you were, let's just say, you were fired up. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:53.200 You were so excited. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:10:01.279 I remember when I came to Christ and Jesus began to change my life, I couldn't get enough of worship. 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:03.039 I couldn't get enough of the word. 00:10:03.279 --> 00:10:05.440 I couldn't get enough time with God. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:07.039 I was so excited. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:12.559 I was so um, I was learning and I couldn't, I couldn't get enough information. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:17.519 I couldn't get enough of spiritual food and nourishment. 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:19.519 And I I wanted to be with the Lord. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:20.720 I was engaged with him. 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:25.919 I didn't, when I would go sit in church, I wouldn't, I just couldn't hardly stand it. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:28.320 I'm a very physical worshiper. 00:10:28.399 --> 00:10:32.799 I want to, I want to experience the Lord in my posture. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.720 It affects who we are. 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:39.679 And and and I couldn't get enough of fellowship with other believers. 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:47.919 The church that I was in, there were these two groups fighting over me, wanting me to be a part of their what they call community groups. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.000 And man, that made me feel special. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:58.480 And I and I I joined one of the community groups, and I couldn't get enough time with other believers and other um uh people walking with Jesus. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:04.320 The fellowship with people that were in the body of Christ, I couldn't get enough. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:12.399 I I began I became extremely passionate about my friends who were still outside the faith. 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:18.320 I shared recently about one of my best friends throughout high school, Joey Adams. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.720 I said, Joey, please come to church with me. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:24.639 I broke up with a girlfriend, I said, please come to church with me. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:28.240 I began to talk and share my faith with people in my family. 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.039 I began to reach out to people that I worked with. 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.399 It was it changed my entire life. 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.080 But it didn't stay that way all the time. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:42.480 It doesn't stay that way all the time. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:12:08.799 We experience spiritual ties, but we are going to live, if we live in this broken world, we're going to experience circumstances, difficulty, hardship, where the honeymoon phase is over, the luster of the new spiritual high is gone, and life begins to creep in. 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:27.440 And there really is an enemy, there really is a devil, there really are spiritual forces working against you, and they don't want you to experience joy, they don't want you to experience contentment, they don't want you to be confident in the Lord, they want you to be depressed and doubtful, and they want you to be on a spiritual low. 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:41.600 And so the soul is the deepest part of who you are, and just as much as the soul is involved in spiritual highs, the soul is involved in your spiritual lows. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:46.480 Depression. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:49.759 Anxiety. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:55.679 It's the hot topic. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:08.000 It's it's it's it's um it's I'm gonna talk about this over the next couple of weeks and some of the statistics where um you know uh antidepressants are uh are up 300%. 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:09.759 That's just in the last couple of years. 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:26.639 And and mental health and emotional health and all those things are are major, major issues, and they need to be addressed out from scripture and they need to be addressed in the church, and they need to you need to know that it's okay to not be okay. 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:38.720 There's not something wrong with you if you experience what uh Saint John of the Cross coined the term, the phrase, the dark night of the soul. 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:52.000 In the 1500s, Saint John of the Cross was a Catholic Church leader and he had some suggestions for the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church didn't like his suggestions, and so they they didn't they didn't kick him out of church, they threw him in jail. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:56.799 And so while he's in jail, he he gets a little bit depressed. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:12.720 And he he writes a famous work titled The Dark Night of the Soul, where where this term comes from, and and and it describes a spiritual crisis in life, a spiritual uh dark place. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.039 In today's language, it would just be depression. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:20.960 And so we have all levels of it. 00:14:21.120 --> 00:14:39.200 There, there are it might be just having the blahs that come with um just the the pace of life or the difficulty of life or maybe maybe difficulties in in your marriage or your um relationships or your parenting, whatever it is, the blahs. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:50.240 And then in between you've got all different levels of depression or the dark night of the soul, all the way to crisis level, clinical level. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:54.320 Sometimes it's the it's it's it's when your soul is not in alignment. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.799 There's other areas where I don't have any expertise where sometimes it's physical. 00:14:58.879 --> 00:15:05.759 Things are not connecting in the right way in your mind and your brain, and it affects your emotional state. 00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:27.600 But it can be a part of your life as a follower of Jesus, and when you follow Jesus and when you are following the way of Jesus, it doesn't exclude you from hardships and difficulties and even the dark night of the soul or depression, it's called. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:32.559 It doesn't mean you're less spiritual, it doesn't mean you're less of a Jesus follower. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:36.320 And so go, let's go back to the Bible. 00:15:37.840 --> 00:15:39.200 There's a prophet. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:41.759 His nickname is the weeping prophet. 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.919 You know why he's called the weeping prophet? 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:46.159 Because he was depressed. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:50.639 There's a whole book that Jeremiah wrote called Lamentations. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:52.879 It's laments. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.600 It is him crying out to God. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:16:10.720 Um of the great spiritual giants that we see in Scripture, some of the great spiritual giants that we see in church history experienced what they would call the absence of God or the silence of God. 00:16:13.039 --> 00:16:17.200 And our spiritual disciplines aren't really clicking. 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:18.879 They're not doing a lot for us. 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:22.879 Maybe church isn't keeping us fired up. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:28.559 Maybe our quiet time, we don't hear the voice of God as clearly. 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:31.039 Maybe life has crept in. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:34.480 The pace of life that the world throws at you. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:37.279 You trying to keep up with everything. 00:16:37.440 --> 00:16:44.960 Whatever it is, you just lose the luster of your restored relationship. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:48.159 And it happens all in the Bible. 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:55.039 John the Baptist is often referred to as the Elijah of the New Testament. 00:16:55.279 --> 00:17:00.879 We're going to teach next, the next two Sundays are going to be on the life of Elijah, a specific part of Elijah's life. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:04.480 But John the Baptist is referred to the Elijah of the New Testament. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.480 Matthew chapter 3, verse 13. 00:17:06.559 --> 00:17:10.960 It says, Then Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:13.839 John the Baptist, but John tried to talk him out of it. 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:17.039 I'm the one who needs to be baptized by you, he said. 00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:18.880 So why are you coming to me? 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:24.079 But Jesus said, It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.880 So John agreed to baptize him. 00:17:27.119 --> 00:17:38.799 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.680 And a voice from heaven said, This is my dearly loved Son who brings me great joy. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:49.200 Now, can you imagine being John the Baptist? 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:56.319 I mean, can you imagine what that would do for you spiritually? 00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:13.599 I mean, I baptized the Son of God, the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove upon him, the heavens opened up, and God speaks audibly. 00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:18.000 This is my son in whom I am well pleased. 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:20.319 I'm just like, that's it, that's all I need. 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:21.599 I'm good to go. 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:27.759 If nothing else ever happens in my life, that's all I need. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:29.440 I don't need another conference. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:31.200 I don't need another prayer meeting. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.440 I don't need another worship song. 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:37.920 I don't, I don't need, I don't, I don't, I don't even need it, need hill song, Bethel. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:48.319 I don't, I don't need, I've, this, uh, if the heavens open up and God speaks and I baptize the Son of God, then that's it, that's all I need. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.799 But what happens with John the Baptist? 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:57.599 In Matthew 11, he's in prison. 00:18:57.759 --> 00:18:58.559 Why is he in prison? 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:10.000 Because he's a prophet and he speaks out against Herod because he's been in an illicit affair relationship with someone outside of his marriage. 00:19:10.319 --> 00:19:17.359 He speaks and he calls out, he speaks truth, calls out sin, and he ends up in prison and jail. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.720 Matthew 11, 2. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:34.559 John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing, so he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, are you the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else? 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:38.079 What? 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:50.960 Okay, the heavens open up, the dove descends, God speaks audibly, and you're asking, is he the one? 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:07.759 See, when you get into despair and depression, it's natural for doubt to fall. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:15.440 And if we all haven't been there, probably most of us have been there. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:29.200 Of course, Jesus He sends his disciples, and and they ask Jesus, and Jesus in verse 11, he speaks well of John the Baptist. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:36.720 He says, I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, he's talking about John the Baptist, none is greater than John the Baptist. 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:42.559 Yet even the least person in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is. 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:52.480 So John's in prison and he's experiencing suffering, deep pain, potential death. 00:20:53.759 --> 00:21:01.680 And he experiences doubt and despair and depression. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.680 The dark night of the soul. 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:13.440 See, having a restored soul through Jesus does not exclude us from hardships, from hurts, and the harshness of this earthly life. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:28.160 Mother Teresa, what's interesting is I I think I asked, I asked Jonah or some, I asked one of our younger staff members that have you ever heard of Mother Teresa? 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:29.519 And they said, no. 00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:33.599 Um, which is which is uh understandable. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:39.279 I I didn't realize she passed away, I think, in 1997, uh, if if if my memory is correct. 00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:48.880 But Mother Teresa, by the time she passed away, she was a famous woman for just simply obeying God. 00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:58.000 She gave her life to go serve the the those that were suffering, the poor, in Calcutta, India. 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.519 And I believe she spent 50. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.680 Years of her life among the poorest of the poor. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:06.720 By the time she passed away, she was a legend. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:12.640 She was invited to speak at the National Day of Prayer Breakfast here in the United States. 00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:15.039 I think she's from Eastern Europe. 00:22:15.920 --> 00:22:33.839 And so she stands at the podium and she basically calls out the United States of America for our rate of killing the unborn child. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:44.960 And I'm not going to tell you who was the president sitting just a couple of seats over, but it wasn't the president who would have agreed with her. 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:49.839 But she was a woman of deep conviction and deep faith. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:23:03.359 After her death in 1997, her private journals were made available and eventually published. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:10.720 These journals were never meant to be read by people outside of herself. 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:15.279 But here's just one line from her journal. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:31.039 In my soul, I feel just the terrible pain of loss, of God not wanting me, of God not being God, of God not really existing. 00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:41.839 From Mother Teresa, a woman who would who would give her whole life to serve the poorest of the poor. 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:45.839 I mean, that's shocking. 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:54.240 She wrestled with some depression on and off for the 50 years of her ministry in India. 00:23:55.039 --> 00:23:57.440 It can happen to any of us. 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:02.799 It can happen circumstantially, it can be directly related to a loss. 00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:07.839 It can be related to a health diagnosis. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.359 It can be related to a big change in life like divorce. 00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:18.720 It can be related to our kids wandering offside of the will of God. 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:23.039 It can happen to us in any set of circumstances. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:29.920 The question we must ask is when the dark night of the soul hits us, what do we do? 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:40.960 One of my heroes is Charles Spurgeon, who's a famous preacher in England in the 1800s. 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:43.680 He's called the Prince of Preachers. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:51.039 And he struggled with clinical depression for much of his adult life. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:54.480 He wrestled with it. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:57.200 What do we do? 00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:10.960 You may have heard of Rick Warren, who's just recently retired from pastoring Saddleback Church in Southern California, and his son tragically several years ago took his own life. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:19.839 And he told his daddy, you know, weeks or months before he took his own life, he said, Daddy, I know I'm going to heaven. 00:25:20.079 --> 00:25:21.440 I know I'm going to heaven. 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:26.160 Why do I have to stay here and endure this pain? 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:28.640 The pain of depression. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:30.000 The pain of loss. 00:25:30.160 --> 00:25:32.400 The dark night of the soul. 00:25:32.720 --> 00:25:34.000 What do we do? 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:37.279 What does the culture say that we're to do? 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:45.200 The culture will lure you into, you need to experience something different in your life. 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:55.200 You need to make sure you change your life or get more, uh get busier at this, or take your children and put them in this activity. 00:25:55.359 --> 00:25:57.039 There's all types of things. 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:06.400 So don't misunderstand me. 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:15.119 Sometimes it's needed, but but sometimes it's self-medication, it's alcohol, or it's illegal drugs, or or I just need to entertain myself. 00:26:15.279 --> 00:26:17.839 I need to get sent tickets to the World Series. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.400 Are you okay, Jonah? 00:26:20.720 --> 00:26:21.759 I'm kidding, man. 00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:22.960 I'm kidding. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.119 No, that would do it for me, right? 00:26:25.279 --> 00:26:26.319 No, I'm kidding. 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:40.240 No, but you that's the world said, hey, more of this, and and and you know, and and you find yourself in debt, you find yourself in trouble, you find yourself in addiction, what do you do? 00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:47.119 Sometimes there's nothing to do. 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:53.359 Which is why the psalmist will say. 00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:25.839 Most of my time was that I spent up there. 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:30.480 I would wake up and I would go walk two to three miles. 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:36.880 And I would come back to the to the house and I would eat. 00:27:39.519 --> 00:27:48.079 And I had two or three books, my Bible, my journal, and I would go sit on the front porch of the house. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:55.839 Because at that time of the day the sun was perfect, and the temperature was just right. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:57.920 And I would sit. 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:03.759 And I'd read. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:06.160 And I'd pray, and I'd just sit. 00:28:07.519 --> 00:28:08.880 Watch the squirrels. 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:12.799 And then I'd get hungry. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:16.880 And I'd go inside and I would get something to eat. 00:28:17.759 --> 00:28:23.039 And then by that time the sun had shifted, so I would go sit on the back side of the house. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:26.079 And I'd take my books and my Bible. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:27.519 And I would sit. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:32.480 That was pretty much my vacation. 00:28:35.279 --> 00:28:37.680 I got a day of that all by myself. 00:28:37.920 --> 00:28:40.400 One day, all by myself. 00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:43.839 And then the whole family showed up. 00:28:44.720 --> 00:28:48.559 It changed the dynamics a little bit, but it was still a good time. 00:28:50.319 --> 00:28:56.400 But sometimes we've got to sit and we've got to be still. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:12.720 It's next year, the Lord is, I believe, speaking to me a lot more about silence and solitude. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:24.480 It's not a practice that in my tradition that was emphasized much as a spiritual discipline. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:29.359 But sometimes we've got to sit and we've got to settle. 00:29:29.519 --> 00:29:33.680 John, would you bring my object lesson? 00:29:40.720 --> 00:30:03.920 See, most of our life consists of constant activity, constant going, constant busyness, and then you throw in some turmoil and you throw in some difficulty, you throw in hurt and pain, things that we can't account for, and we're unsettled. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:09.119 And when we're unsettled, we don't have clarity. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:14.400 We can't see God clearly. 00:30:14.720 --> 00:30:18.160 We can't hear God clearly. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:27.599 And we've got to get to a point where we stop and we sit and we settle. 00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:47.359 And over time, as things settle, you will begin to have more clarity in how you see God and more clarity in how you hear God. 00:30:50.079 --> 00:30:51.359 Let me say it this way. 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:59.119 Sometimes we've got to stop and we've got to lean in to the presence of God. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:07.359 Sometimes we've got to be still and lean into the gift of God's people. 00:31:09.519 --> 00:31:17.599 Sometimes we've got to slow down and we've got to lean in to the gift of God's promises. 00:31:19.680 --> 00:31:22.160 You sit and you settle. 00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:28.000 And you focus on truth. 00:31:29.839 --> 00:31:30.480 Truth. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:33.759 Because circumstances can change. 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:39.359 Your feelings can change and they can deceive you. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:44.240 You come back to truth. 00:31:45.920 --> 00:31:46.880 What is true? 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:50.000 I don't feel like it, but what is true? 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:54.880 God is good and He can be trusted. 00:31:57.039 --> 00:32:07.359 I don't care how bad things get in your life, you look back at the cross and the empty tomb. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:18.160 And if there's nothing else that you can think of that is a sign of God's goodness, then you focus on the cross and the empty tomb. 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:20.960 Because that is enough. 00:32:21.920 --> 00:32:24.160 Jesus is enough. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:32.559 And things will become more clear and things will become more settled. 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:38.000 We've got to recognize our limitations. 00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:41.279 And that we have limits. 00:32:42.799 --> 00:32:49.519 There needs to be margin in our life, space between where we currently are and our limits. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:57.519 Spiritually, financially, relationally. 00:32:58.240 --> 00:32:59.200 All of it. 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:09.200 And sometimes you're going to hurt, and sometimes you're going to doubt, and sometimes you're going to go through circumstances that you have no control over. 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:10.880 Nothing is wrong with you. 00:33:11.039 --> 00:33:13.279 It's okay not to be okay. 00:33:15.519 --> 00:33:17.279 You're going to experience valleys. 00:33:17.359 --> 00:33:24.880 That's why the psalmist wrote, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:33.279 Verse 4 in the New Living Translation, even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:37.359 Your rod and your staff protect me and comfort me. 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:45.440 Isaiah said this, but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. 00:33:45.599 --> 00:33:47.920 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:49.759 They shall run and not be weary. 00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:52.240 They shall walk and they shall not be faint. 00:33:52.960 --> 00:34:00.079 Let's come back to Matthew 11, that we talked about in the very first week of this series, where Jesus says this. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:09.920 He says, Take my yoke. 00:34:10.239 --> 00:34:10.880 My yoke. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:11.679 What is a yoke? 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:12.880 I'm going to explain that in a second. 00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:14.559 Take my yoke upon you. 00:34:14.719 --> 00:34:20.480 Let me teach you, because I'm humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:34:20.800 --> 00:34:25.599 My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I will give you is light. 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.599 Do you know what a yoke is? 00:34:28.559 --> 00:34:29.440 A yoke. 00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:32.239 Let me throw you a couple of pictures up. 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:36.079 A yoke is a work instrument. 00:34:37.360 --> 00:34:48.719 And it connects two oxen or two animals together so they can be connected and aligned to carry out hard work. 00:34:50.239 --> 00:34:53.679 Jesus says, says, You take my yoke. 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:54.639 What is he talking about? 00:34:54.800 --> 00:34:57.360 He's talking about my way of life. 00:34:57.679 --> 00:34:59.760 I am your rabbi. 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:01.679 I have a new way. 00:35:01.920 --> 00:35:05.679 I have a new way of living your life. 00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:12.400 And the emotional and spiritual weight that we all carry, that we all feel. 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:15.920 You don't have to carry it by yourself. 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:19.760 John Mark Comer says this. 00:35:19.840 --> 00:35:23.280 He says, there is an emotional and spiritual weight to life. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:24.559 We all feel it. 00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:27.599 We feel it, especially as we age. 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:29.199 Sorry, young people. 00:35:33.679 --> 00:35:44.480 An easy life is a myth, if not a red herring, the byproduct of an advertising drenched and social media duped culture. 00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:50.639 Life is hard, full stop, no comma, no but. 00:35:53.679 --> 00:36:00.159 Every wise person in all of history have understood it. 00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:11.519 There is no new technology, there's no new pill that will erase the effects of the fall of humanity and sin. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:23.440 But when we meet Jesus, it can change everything. 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:30.079 It doesn't mean it's going to make it easier, but he changes our perspective. 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:33.760 And he says, Hey, come come get into my yoke. 00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:42.400 See, if I was writing this, I would say, take my mattress. 00:36:42.719 --> 00:36:45.119 That's what I would I would use a different analogy. 00:36:45.440 --> 00:36:52.719 I would say, man, it needs to be, it needs to be a mattress or it needs to be a vacation, not a yoke. 00:36:52.960 --> 00:36:55.440 A yoke is a work instrument. 00:36:57.280 --> 00:37:07.039 Jesus says, your soul help, your soul well-being, it's not in a vacuum. 00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:11.440 It's not just for your sake, it is for so much more. 00:37:12.000 --> 00:37:14.239 Take my yoke upon you. 00:37:14.800 --> 00:37:23.599 And let's together reach people who are caught into a despair but have no hope whatsoever. 00:37:24.800 --> 00:37:31.199 Because even when we despair as believers, we've got the hope of Jesus. 00:37:31.599 --> 00:37:34.159 We've got the hope of eternal life. 00:37:34.400 --> 00:37:37.519 We've got a cross and an empty tomb to point to. 00:37:41.519 --> 00:37:43.599 So how's your soul doing? 00:37:50.480 --> 00:37:54.800 The next two weeks we're going to look specifically at the life of Elijah. 00:37:58.719 --> 00:38:04.400 We're going to talk about what led him into the cave of despair. 00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:12.320 And then we're going to talk about how he escaped the cave of despair. 00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:17.760 And it's going to begin really practical for us. 00:38:17.920 --> 00:38:19.519 But here's the question. 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:47.360 If you want the contentment and the joy and the confidence that Jesus is making available to you, the question for all of us is: are we willing to make adjustments in our life where we would leave behind what the world tells us will give us joy. 00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:56.079 And we begin to follow the rabbi Jesus in this new way that he has for us. 00:38:56.960 --> 00:39:04.880 And I'm not talking about theology, and I'm not talking about ethics, I'm talking about so much more. 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:10.639 Putting your hope in Jesus who can give you eternal life. 00:39:10.800 --> 00:39:12.320 Would you pray with me? 00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:13.519 Father. 00:39:16.400 --> 00:39:19.360 God, thank you for the hope that we have in Christ. 00:39:20.320 --> 00:39:40.400