Episode #9 JESUS CARES… EVEN WHEN HE DOESN’T STOP THE STORM

SPEAKER_01: We're gonna find out that welcome back. Call your money.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Another episode. It's been uh it's been a minute since we've been in the studio. It's good to be back. Got a good topic today. We got Storms of Life. But dude, I feel like you've had a like a different facial hair pattern every single episode so far. It's it's a little bit weird. I'm getting used to the mustache, but I'm liking it so far. It looks good. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_00: It's definitely, I think you're right. I think it has been multiple. So I'm sorry, viewers, for the constant change in my appearance. I swear I'm the same person. Maybe I'm wouldn't say I'm the same person.

SPEAKER_01: I grow each day, but yeah, he might be throwing his wife through a loop with all these facial hair changes, but oh no, this is exactly how she wants me.

SPEAKER_00: The wild long hair and the the mustache. She she wouldn't take it any other way.

SPEAKER_01: Looking like a dope fireman. But we just want to say thank you to everybody who's been who's been listening, and thank you for all the encouragement that everybody has given us. It's been more of a blessing than you guys know. We at at the time of this recording, we just released episode four where we had Chase on a couple days ago, and it was it that that episode was just awesome. But we've had countless people, dozens of people just reach out to us with encouragement, and we just want to say thank you and your encouragement.

SPEAKER_01: It gives us a lot of the the motivation and the drive to to keep going. So thank you guys for for listening. And I don't think we ever said this, but if this encourages you, we encourage you to share it with somebody.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is. I mean, I've been thinking it this last week, you know, like we we just haven't really encouraged anybody to do that. But I mean, there's so many people watching, you know, praise God. You know, it's been so cool, like just kind of watching how many people are keeping up with it, you know. But if anybody knows how the social media realm works, you know, for it to grow and for it to spread, you do have to like, share, and subscribe because that's how they, you know, how they blow up the algorithm and it starts, you know, spreading.

SPEAKER_00: So if you guys want to join in with us in that, you know, just like, share it, subscribe, show everybody at work, you know, share your share it with your family and just do the thing, you know, and then this thing's gonna take off, and before you know it, we're gonna be, you know, getting the gospel to people that may never never have heard it before, you know, and that's that's the most important thing for us.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, that's all we care about. It's it's it's the the testimonies that we hear. And I mean, I'm more I'm more encouraged by the by the one message I get about how how an episode encourages them than I am by however many people came across our stuff or viewed or whatever. I mean, I that's the only thing that matters to me. Just just that that the one or two or how many however many people that reach out to us.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: But let's get into it. We're gonna be talking storms of life today. Something something was kind of been a little bit more heavy on my heart the last couple weeks. We had plans to talk about something else today, but we just felt like this was the most the most fitting. So we're gonna be kind of bouncing between a couple different scriptures today. We're gonna talk in Matthew 8, whenever Jesus and his disciples, they cross the Sea of Galilee, and there's a a big storm that arose, and then we also want to flip it over to John 11 when when Jesus goes to meet Mary and Martha and and their family right shortly after the death of of Lazarus.

SPEAKER_01: But if y'all have your Bibles, we encourage you to open to Matthew chapter 8. We're gonna kind of structure this more like a Bible, so we're gonna read, talk about, and go from there. But so where we're gonna start, we're gonna start in in verse in verse 18.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Go through go through like twenty-two.

SPEAKER_00: Through twenty two. Okay, so just yeah, just that little section we'll talk about. All right. So when Jesus saw the crowd around him, he instructed his disciples to cross to the other side of the lake. Then when one of the teachers of religious law said to him, Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. But Jesus replied, Foxes have dens to live in, birds have nests, and the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head. Another of his disciples said, Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.

SPEAKER_00: But Jesus told him, Follow me now, let the spiritually dead bury their bury their own dead.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so this is right before they before they get on the boat and cross Sea Galley to the other side. And what I always like to point out whenever going through this passage of scripture with people is in the first verse where where you see that Jesus gave orders to go to the other side. I think some translations, uh some other different translation, will say he gave a a command to go to the other side. Yeah. So he gave a command, we're gonna we're we are going to cross this sea. And what the disciples didn't know is that they're about to go through this giant storm, you know.

SPEAKER_01: But Jesus knew that. And what's crazy is in the next passage that we read, it talks about Jesus being asleep during the storm.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: It's just crazy to think about, man.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, which I mean, kind of you can kind of elaborate on what you know what you called me with the other day regarding this, you know, when you were on your prayer walk. I think that would be a really good vision for everybody to kind of have in their minds while we're going through this.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, just be a little bit more vulnerable and intimate. The last well, really this week has been has been great. God's just been working on my heart and just been walking with him this week and just been getting me back in the right place mentally and spiritually. But a couple weeks prior to that, man, it I'll just be honest, like it just was not going great, man. I was just just getting punched in the face every single day, man, multiple times a day, and it it just it just sucked, man.

SPEAKER_01: And I I like to go on on prayer walks as our consistent listeners know by now. I always emphasize the importance of of having that alone time with the Father, because if Jesus did it, how much more should we do it? So be alone with him and and and just just be be intimate with him and tell him the things that that are on your heart. Because, hey man, the fake you is doing just fine. God wants the real you, he's called you to a real thing, and the real Jesus wants a real relationship with you. So don't give him the fake you, give him the real you, and just pour out your heart to him, and he meets you every single time, and he answers that prayer.

SPEAKER_01: But while I was on this prayer walk, I remember I just I just closed my eyes for just a split second, and uh this will make more sense once we read the next passage, and I just saw this this this vision. It's like I was there almost. I was it was dark out, and and there was a I was in this boat in the middle of a sea, and there's this giant storm, and I see the back of somebody's head and who's and he's taking a nap. And as we're gonna see in this next passage of scripture, we're gonna find out that that's Jesus.

SPEAKER_01: But the purpose of reading the passage of scripture that we just read, I just really wanted to emphasize that he gave orders, and for some of us, I think God's given us a vision and he's gave orders like, hey, this is a place that we're going. This is a calling that that I want you to to go to, this is something I want you to pursue. So we know the destination, but not necessarily the steps. And that's a scary thing. I mean, do you think if the disciples knew the steps to get to the destination that that Jesus just said, do you think they would have wanted to get on that boat if they would have known that there's a possibility like, hey, there's a giant storm, I could get seriously injured, hurt, you know, the whole the whole all all the things, man.

SPEAKER_01: So I think I think it's super cool that that God doesn't reveal those things to us because he uses he uses those little things as as as growing moments and he gives us as as Chase would say when we had him on to give his testimony, he gives us bricks to start building our house and he's sharpening us and refining us. And I think during those moments, man, that's that's when I feel him the most. And there's the scriptures that talk about when we are weak, he is strong.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: And if it takes me being in that sort of place for me to feel him the most, then I'm I would totally be happy with the Lord leaving me there because it makes me depend on him, it makes me want him, it makes me knock, it makes me seek, it makes me ask, it makes me do all the things that that make me rely on him. That's the beauty of the storm, man.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important too, like when when you said he gives you the bricks to build your house, build your foundation on. I think it's really important that we remember to keep him as the cornerstone, keep him as the foundation. Because it's huge that we remember that, you know, he's giving us these bricks, and sometimes we get into this comfort zone where we're like, oh man, like okay, it's just it's rapidly building and everything's good, everything's kosher, and we forget the steps that it took to get there.

SPEAKER_00: We forget what he's done along the way, and sometimes we can get lost in that. And I think it's very important that we keep him as that center, as that that foundation that we're building that house on, and remembering that the house can topple over if he's not under it.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. And that's exactly what what happens to the disciples in this upcoming passage. We can go ahead and read in verse verse 23, Matthew chapter 8. And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him, and behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. I was a crackle of that. And they went and they woke him saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you afraid, O you a little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm, and the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this that even the winds in the sea obey him?

SPEAKER_01: So there's a there's a lot to break down here, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01: I mean, even Peter man, he's a fisherman. This is familiar terrain, this is common ground for him, and I'm sure uh well I know there's a couple more other more disciples who were avid fishermen, yeah, and they've been on the sea a lot, and where the Sea of Galilee is, it's it's like it's like in this wind tunnel geographically, and it's very common for there to be storms, and it's not really a big sea at all. Like you can see from one side to the other if you're staying on top of one of the mountains on one of the other sides.

SPEAKER_01: But, anyways, point being, there's a lot of storms that that happen on the sea, and the disciples know this because they're out there all the time. And what happened when they're going through this storm, they took their eyes off Jesus, the one who controls the circumstance and put their eye on the circumstance, and they're getting so wound up by everything that's going on around them, and they're like save us, or we're perishing. But what's so interesting is that in the midst of that, Jesus is taking a nap in the boat because he already gave a command in the previous scripture, he said, We are going to go to the other side.

SPEAKER_01: But here we go. He we got the disciples who are freaking out right now.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, it's like it's like you just said, if you if you break that down, he said, We are going to the other side. So if he thought that they were going to go into this storm and his power wasn't going to like sustain it, and that they were gonna fall on the water and and drown and all the things, then why would the words out of his mouth be, we're going to the other side? And I think that's what the disciples missed, you know. And if you if you read back in Matthew, or really any of the other gospels before this point, how many miracles and how many things did he perform in front of these men, proving that he's the Son of God, proving that he knows all things, proving that he can do all things, proving that he's gonna provide, whether it be with food, whether it be with a place to sleep, whether it be new people joining, you know, with them, just all the things that Jesus has provided through the Father for them.

SPEAKER_00: And yet they're getting in this boat, hearing the audible words from his mouth say, we're going to the other side, and they're all lost in this thing of like, oh, we're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die. How many times do we do that in our own life? Constant.

SPEAKER_02: Right.

SPEAKER_01: Constantly, man. We we had conversations in group about this, but it's a very big tragedy when people place the majority of the faith that they have in things that are not constant. Our circumstances are not constant at all. Life is a j is a giant roller coaster. We're always just going from mountaintop to valley, man. It's con there's no stagnant line that we're riding through life, man.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: I mean, if if if you're not going, uh I mean, you I'm sure we've heard this phrase a million times, but if you're not in a storm, you're you're either uh getting getting out of one or about to be in one, man. But the same is true for all of us. There there's always the the next storm. I mean, if if you're having if if you're on a high right now and you're having a good time and things are just great, praise God, man. Yeah enjoy that. Celebrate that. Praise praise the Lord for for for a good season, man, and for for the blessing of of the abundance that he's given you right now.

SPEAKER_01: But know that there's there's something coming. I mean, there's gonna be that that that phone call nobody wants to get. And there's things that even I mean people approach me with and I just don't have an answer for. I mean the the the cancer, the car wreck, the natural disasters. I mean, I I mean I look at them, I just I mean what what what am I supposed to do with that? I just I don't I don't know what this I don't know what to say to that, honestly. I mean I w one thing that that broke me, I I used to which I'm still part of their lives now, but teach a group on Sunday night and there was a young married couple in there and they've been trying for a baby for a while, and like they're faithful to the Lord and they're they're they're following Jesus, man, and they're they're they're hearing from the Lord and they're being very careful and intentional with their walk and they just want to raise the little disciple.

SPEAKER_01: How am I ex how how am I supposed to explain their infatility, man?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: It's just things like that. It's these these things are gonna happen, man. Maybe the thing that these people need in the moment when they come to you with these with these burdens and these trials and these tribulations, maybe they just can't handle your theology, man. Maybe they just need your presence. And we're gonna see that in in John 11, once we get to it, when when Jesus wept, instead of giving her this theological answer, yeah, just just his presence, man, was enough. And that's gotta be the same with us too.

SPEAKER_01: Sometimes sometimes words just can't solve problems that people are going through, man. But but what can solve the problem is the king that's asleep in your boat. Yeah. Just like we see in this story, man.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important for us as well for for everybody to really step outside of what you're praying for, step outside of what you're dealing with, and and the things that you're asking the Lord for in these moments, and think about where you are in that time. You know, like we hear oftentimes people saying, you know, I've prayed for this, I've prayed for this, I've prayed for this, nothing's happened, I haven't gotten an answer, I haven't gotten a revelation, nothing's happened, you know, where is God, right?

SPEAKER_00: I think a lot of people, myself included, where we get in that mindset and we have to remember and we have to think, we have to humble ourselves and go, if he were to give me what I'm asking for, what I'm praying for right now, would I be a good steward of it? Am I in a good place for him to give me what I'm asking for? What or would I screw it up? You know, I think I think a lot of times we have to think about silence being an answer. You know, it's not necessarily a yes or a no. It's a not right now.

SPEAKER_00: You know, because I think a lot of times it's like, you know, I think about it like with college football, right? You look at a lot of the players before this NIL stuff started happening, right? Where a lot of them were just like they are in the sport because they loved it, they enjoyed it, and they had aspirations to be in the NFL. And a lot of them were genuine good kids. A lot of them were good teammates. They stuck with each other for four years, right? And now you see the NIL where these college kids are getting paid millions of dollars before they even get to the NFL.

SPEAKER_00: So they're transferring teams two to three to four times. They're getting arrested for speeding in these million-dollar cars that they're buying, or they're getting in, they're getting hemmed up and arrested for rape allegations and all these things because these kids were not ready to be handed millions of dollars. And even some of them getting the NFL were not ready to be handed millions of dollars. And I think we have to think about it in our walk with God that way. If if he were to just hand us everything right then and there when we asked for it and we prayed for it, one, would we need him anymore?

SPEAKER_00: You know, would we seek him through that, through that time frame, through that growth period, through that storm? No, because he would, he would, we, we prayed, we got it, we wouldn't be seeking him, we wouldn't be seeking his face. And then number two, we would screw it up. Almost, almost, almost guarantee it that we would screw it up because we would be we would be relying on our own understandings, we would be relying on our flesh, we would be relying on all the worldly things instead of relying on him.

SPEAKER_00: And I think that it's very important that we remember that we go through these storms so that way we can learn, so that way we can trust, so that way we can remember later on in the future where we were and what he brought us through, that he was by our side the whole time. And when we get to that point where he's okay, he's like, okay, now I'm going to give you this. Or now I'm going to show you why I didn't give you this. And then we can go, aha, that light bulb goes off. It makes sense. And we're like, God, thank you for that.

SPEAKER_00: For either giving it to me or not giving it to me, because you've given it to me at the right time, and now I can steward it properly. Now I can I can disciple people with it properly, or there's the flip side, you didn't give it to me, and I'm glad that you didn't, because I would have fumbled the football and I would have screwed it up, and God knows how many people that would have affected if you would have given me that thing or that that uh place or or whatever it is that we're seeking.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, for sure, man. I'm I think if God was a God of instant gratification, we would we wouldn't praise him for for for Jesus. We would praise him for the things that he gives us. I mean, that's a dangerous trap to be in, man. And man, I'm we we're we're saying this not to to belittle any of the the hardships and trials that people are going through. And I mean, I'll admit, man, some of it's just not fair. It's just uh just at surface level, it just it doesn't look right. And some practical things.

SPEAKER_01: That I would say to that person right now who's who's going through that that that seemingly unfair situation is man, you need to worship your way out of it, man. Because worship is is anti-worry, man. Worship is is anti-anxiety, anti-stress, anti-depression. I mean, all the stuff. You need to praise him for who he is, and you need to remember what he's done for you in your life, and you need to cling hard to Romans 8.28. I mean, that that that verse is still true during your storm. That God is going to work all things for the good for those, for those who love him.

SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I know I I know some people going through storms in in our church, and I think it's the most beautiful thing when I when I see them worshiping, they got their their eyes closed, and they're just they're just they got their head up towards heaven and they got their hand raised and and there's tears flowing down their face. And I I look at that and I'm I mean you talk about humble yourself before the Lord.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Like that man is is doing it right. He doesn't care what he looks like. He's just he's putting himself in a position to be to to give him everything, give Jesus everything in that moment. And that that's that's something that's gonna get you through this storm, man. When you praise him for who he is, even though even though you don't feel like it.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: And going back to to this even though there's a storm around you, you don't have to be controlled by the circumstance. But rather you can be controlled by the one who controls your circumstance. Yeah. Jesus Christ.

SPEAKER_00: The one who wrote the story.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. Yeah. He wrote your your story. That's crazy to think about. Yeah. That the God of the universe can be so giant, yet so personal, that he that he's intimate with us and he's intentional with us and intentional with pursuing us, and he wrote our story beginning to end. How crazy is it to think about that?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, like you were just you were just spitting those bars there a second ago, and I was sitting here thinking about like, you know, we just experienced, you know, act like men together.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: And, you know, hopefully it was the impact that I gassed up for you, you know, the experience. Because I know for me, the first time I went, man, it was just incredible. And, you know, for the viewers that didn't make it or didn't see it, like, man, it was it was so different because last year there was only like 2,000 men that showed up. This year was 3,104, not including the people that were serving. And it it brings me back because, you know, everybody's worshiping in the beginning or whatever, you know, and then of course Mr. Matt Tuning has to come out there and just humble us all, you know, and just tell us like y'all's worship is whack.

SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, he he walked into the room and he saw some people with their hands up, and a lot of people were just standing, you know, and it and it it broke his heart, you know, because we're we're we're in a room full of men where we can be vulnerable together. And we had people in the room that were just like, yep, nope, I'm not doing that, you know, I'm not I'm not showing that side of me. You know, and when he came out there and and spoke, man, I think it it woke that that line in everybody of like, man, like he is so right.

SPEAKER_00: And to watch, to look around the room, and and and you know, my my stepson included, you know, the you know, the the things that he's walking through right now with just struggling with the belief in God and just struggling whether he's with the idea of him even being a thing, and watching him get on his face and be prayed over, watching him, you know, singing and mouthing the words, like no, he wasn't like jumping up and down, but it was growth. But just looking around the room and watching 3,100 men with their hands up singing, crying, putting their hands on each other and just and worshiping, and and like I could feel like the vibration in the floor when everybody was just worshiping and singing together, you know, and and that's that's what worship is, that's what it should be.

SPEAKER_00: We should all be vulnerable with each other, you know, in those moments and just glorify and honor him and every word coming out of our mouth when we're worshiping.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I think people become extremely critical when it comes to worship.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't like this church. They've got their hands up. I don't like this church. They're they sang this song. I don't I don't like that lyric.

SPEAKER_00: The music's too loud.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's too loud. Too many people. Too many people, electric guitar, drums. Oh no. They they must be Pentecostal. It always gets me. But Paul tells Timothy to raise holy hands in the sanctuary.

SPEAKER_01: So we see that pretty clearly in the scripture. And you saying all those comments about about the way we worship it just kind of tells me where your heart posture is. I mean, we see David dance before the Lord the Lord like a fool. Because of not not because of anything other than who he is and what he's done. Stripping his garments in front of everybody. Yeah, everything, man.

SPEAKER_02: You know.

SPEAKER_01: It it's it's a crazy thing. But I get I get overwhelmed sometime, sometimes in worship, because just the words make me reflect back to what he saved me from. And that's why we're emphasizing how critical it is when you're going through a storm. Because if you can remember back to what he saved you from, you remember the nature of who he is and the character of who he is and just how good of a father he is to you and how much he loves his kids, and how he is grieved that you are grieved. And he is moved in the spirit because you are not well right now.

SPEAKER_01: So you need to worship, baby, worship.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Big time. Yeah. I mean, I I challenge the listeners, man. Next time you go to church, whether it's a big rock band plan or whether it's just old school barefoot Baptist band plan, you know, stand up, close your eyes, put your hands up, and sing with all your heart and see what happens. See how the room moves when when you act that way and and see what God does in the room. Like I tell you, man, I was singing so hard at Act Like Men, I was losing my voice. I had to like stop and get a drink of water in between because I was just, you know, I man, I was like yelling because it was just, you know, the Holy Spirit was moving, and it was just so cool to experience that and and to watch the other men around do it because you know they see you doing it, and it's you know, it's just it's contagious.

SPEAKER_00: And I I really encourage everybody to just try it. Don't worry about what anybody thinks about you, don't worry about what looks you're getting. Who cares? Because the one who has his eyes on you is the Lord, and that's the only opinion that matters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I mean, worship's anti-worry, and worry is anti-prayer.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Fear is anti-prayer, man. Take it to the Lord, take your burdens to the Lord, cast your cares upon him because he cares about you. And fear will trap you where you are. Fear paralyzes, but faith produces action. That's coming from my boy Jovi Martin. Love his stuff. I've been listening to his podcast. It's been a blessing to me. But I mean, he's right.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Why would why would you get caught up in fear of your circumstance rather than take that to the one who controls it? Yeah. And just and just say, Lord, hey, what's going on around me is scary. There's there's heavy winds, these waves are crashing, there's water falling in my boat. But Lord, I trust that you are taking a nap in my boat because you've already said this is somewhere that we're going.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah. Well, it's it's funny you bring up Joby Martin, you know, because you just read his book. I mean, I'm I'm currently reading it. Uh, if the listeners haven't read it, I I encourage it. It just brings me back to the story at the beginning of that book. You know, he's 17 years old with a buddy. They spend their only$100 that they have to rent a canoe together and they put it on the water and they get going, and their their idea was, because they only had one vehicle, was to only go a distance to where they could stop and walk it back and not be a big deal.

SPEAKER_00: And before they know it, they're like they feel like they're miles downstream, you know, and so they're like, okay, well, we got to stop. So they they try to stop and they end up getting sideways against the log, and then the law, the water sucks the canoe under the water, and all their things is going downriver, and they're like, crap. You know, so then they're walking back, they're not talking to each other. They're like, man, what did we just do? We just lost our hundred dollars, all these things.

SPEAKER_00: And then right as they're starting to feel that way, they hear a boat motor coming up the river. And next thing you know, there's an old man in a John boat pulling their canoe with all of their stuff in it, you know, and they tell the man the story and all the things, and and they're like, you know, what a what a blessing this is. Everything got brought back to us when we thought we lost it all, you know, and I think it's it was a beautiful part of the book because it remembered me of many times where you know my boat got sucked under and everything went with it, you know, and I and I had to real I had to spend some time kind of like dealing with that.

SPEAKER_00: And in that time of dealing with that, that's when the Lord comes back and says, Hey, I got you. You know, everything that you thought you lost is right here and then some.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I mean that's Romans 5, it tells us that that these heavy winds and these these big waves, these these things produce character in us, perseverance and hope. So God's not wasting your pain, man. He's gonna use that to build something in you and to turn you into something that you never thought you could be, man. Because he's a good dad. And the Lord the Lord puts us allows us to go through these things to to put us in a position to get to know him and to get to know his character, and he's very likely building you into something that that he can use later on, man.

SPEAKER_01: I want to read in in John 11, when uh this is whenever Lazarus dies, and and based on scripture, Jesus was close with Lazarus, they were they were good friends, and and he he knew the family. But anyways, Lazarus dies, and and Jesus actually waits a couple days back on where he previously was. I can't remember off the top of my head, before traveling back to where Lazarus and his family were. And all the disciples are like, Well, what's going on? And even Mary and Martha, they're like, Hey, if you were here, my my brother would have not died.

SPEAKER_01: And we're we're gonna see what happens to with the situation here. So in John chapter eleven, and starting verse twenty-eight, we're gonna be reading. So verse twenty it says, When she when she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

SPEAKER_01: Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled, and he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him, but some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?

SPEAKER_01: This is Man, it's such an important passage of scripture. One thing one takeaway that I get off the bat from this is Jesus gives her no theological response on, hey, this is why this happened, and this is why you shouldn't feel this way. But he says, Where have you laid him? And then he started crying with with Mary and Martha and the other Jews that were around him crying. And I think a big takeaway is that Jesus does not just observe your suffering from a distance, but rather he joins in in your suffering with you, whatever that might look like.

SPEAKER_01: And he he's present with you, and he's close, even though it might feel like he's not close to you. I mean, I I know when I'm going through difficult storms in life, man, it just feels like the Lord's just not close to me. But notice notice how Mary Yeah, Mary fell at his feet whenever whenever Jesus came up. That's when you can really feel how close he is when you're going through a storm. It's easy to be distant from him whenever you're whenever you're struggling. But I just encourage all of y'all to whenever you're struggling, man, just fall at his feet and just give him your everything.

SPEAKER_01: He's not he's not in he's not intimidated by your prayers. Just be honest and open.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean I think it's it's really important to remember the cross, what he endured, what he went through, and what he experienced. There is not one thing that he does not understand that we're going through. During that whole process, he witnessed the men that he had been discipling for over three years doubt and struggle and leave him and abandon him and all the things, just as he said was going to happen. He told, he told Peter. He told him that he was gonna not he was gonna deny him. And Peter was like, Oh, I would never, I would never, I would never, Lord, I will never leave your side.

SPEAKER_00: And what did he do? And so, you know, how many times in our own life have we felt abandoned or we felt alone or we felt all these things? He knows exactly what you're feeling and what you're going through at an even deeper level, you know, because none of us have been on a cross and embarrassed and and whipped and lashed and all the things. And so how much more could he understand?

SPEAKER_00: You know, I think it's really important to remember that he endured that for us because he loved us that much. And he loved Mary and Martha so much and the Jews and and the people that were going to experience what he's about to do in this passage, that he he allowed Lazarus to go to sleep. He doesn't say he dies or that he's gone, he just says that he's asleep because to him he was just asleep. But to that to the people, he was dead, he was gone, he was he was he's been in a tomb for four days, you know, he's rotted and all the things.

SPEAKER_00: And you know, he gets there in that moment and and allows himself, even though he knows what he's about to do, allows himself to weep, allows himself to show everybody like, I see you, I see your pain, I understand it, I love you, watch this. And then, you know, i as you go in the scripture and the in this moment, you see that uh he gives them all the more reason to hope and believe in him.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: He's building in you a testimony that that that backs up who he is, and he's revealing to you his character and his nature. I mean, he he knew very well that he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead after this. So you look at that and like, Jesus, you already know that he's gonna get raised from the dead. Why are you crying, man? It's because he loves his kids and he is grieved when you are grieved.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, this is also the Mary too that was earlier at his feet, you know, anointing his feet and using her hair to to dry his feet, you know, as she was weeping, you know, and so him and him and Mary have a very intimate understanding of each other and and a belief in one another.

SPEAKER_01: And to even go a step further, there was a third time too. Yeah. Where she was sitting at his feet listening to his teaching. And then that's when Jesus is like pouring into pouring into her theology. Like there's a s there's a season for everything. That's I mean, Ecclesiastes 3. There's a time and there's a season for everything. There's a time to laugh, there's a time to mourn, there's a time to weep, there's a time to be taught, you know, all the things. And Jesus was teaching her in that moment, but right here, he he was he was weeping with her.

SPEAKER_01: And it's okay to be grieved and upset by what's by what's going on around you. Dude, I get it, man. We live in a lost, broken world, and things things happen that suck. But what matters is what you do with those with those with those fears and with those hardships, with the with that pain. What do you do with that? Do you internalize it? Do you keep it to yourself? Or do you take it to the Lord's feet, man? Do you take it to other people who can who can help you and pour into you? I think uh I think a lot of times as men, which we've talked about this, we don't we're we're very bad about opening up about what's wrong with our lives.

SPEAKER_01: But hey man, the fake you's doing just fine. How is the real you? Are you okay? What what's going on in your life? Let me in past surface level. I want to hear about your day, I want to hear about your week, I want to hear about how you feel, how is your walk with the Lord? Let's get down to the details. Let's be honest. And then also as disciples, we need to make ourselves available to other people who are going through these storms because odds are, I mean, I'm I'm sure we both know people right now.

SPEAKER_01: I can think of people on the top of my head who I know are going through storms right now.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: There's great chance that that if if you're listening, you know somebody who's going through a hardship right now. Make yourself available to that person. Don't just say, hey, bro, I'll pray for you. I mean, a lot of times we say that, we don't even do it. You need to be intentional about approaching them and making yourself available for them to pour into you and and you just pour pour their pour their hearts out and what they're going through. Yeah. We do a bad job about that.

SPEAKER_00: Well, I mean, even to piggyback off of that, if you're that person on the opposite side of that coin, you need to humble yourself in that moment. That person is coming to you more than likely 99.9% of the time because the Lord's put it on their heart to come to you. They they have had some type of feeling or some type of revelation, whether it's in their quiet time or whatever, just through knowing you, knowing that you're going through something and they're coming to you to help you. And I think there's a lot of people that might be listening.

SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of people that we know in those times that they're going through something and somebody tries to pour into them. Somebody's trying to guide them, be there for them, comfort them, or whatever. And you want to act like you've got it all figured out. You want to act like you you know it all. You want to act like, you know, it's no big deal. You need to humble yourself in that moment and allow that person to be there for you. You need to listen to what that person has to say. And whether you agree with it in the moment or not, you need to be grateful that that person put their yes on the table to come to you in that in that moment and be what they're being for you.

SPEAKER_00: Whether they're being loving and kind, whether they're being understanding, or whether they're calling you out on your crap, you need to be willing to hear what it is that they're saying, and you need to be humble enough to say, you know what? Thank you. You're absolutely right. Maybe I am being a fool. Maybe I am being an idiot. Maybe I am doing a little too much of this or not enough of that. Thank you. Instead of coming at them with, oh well, but you don't know me. You don't you don't know what I'm going.

SPEAKER_00: You don't know my heart. That's beside the point.

SPEAKER_02: You know. Yeah. Yeah, that's super important, man.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we we we've got some we've got some guys that we're that we're talking with now and not really wanting to hear us, and it can be frustrating as a leader. So yeah, we just encourage everybody, just humble their humble yourself and and listen to what they have to say.

SPEAKER_01: I think uh I think a lot of times which we we've heard this too, people think that that that God is silent when they're going through these storms. And hey bro, I understand it. Sometimes it just the silence is is is just so loud. That's when I like to point people back to to the cross, man. Think about that, think about that day in between. It was real silent then. They just murdered the king of the universe on a cross. There was an entire day of silence, but then Sunday morning he rose from the grave, man.

SPEAKER_01: So the presence of silence never equals the absence of God.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah. I mean, and think about what he did when he rose from the grave. You know what I mean? Like he could have just as easily ascended to the Father right then and there. But instead, he spent time with the people. He made it known, he made it evident that he was alive, that he was back. He let them touch the holes in his hands, he let them see the the scar on his side from being pierced, and in the the scars on his back and just all the things, so that way they could intangibly see this is our God, this is our king, and he's back.

SPEAKER_00: He did exactly what it is that he told us that he was gonna do.

unknown: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: You know, I think oftentimes, like you said, in that in that silence, in that moment, we we want to just be like, oh, he's not there, he's not there, he's not there. Well, the resurrection says otherwise. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: If he can if he can turn the water into wine, if he can feed the 5,000, if he can make the blind see, if he can free the captives, if he can do all of these things, he can absolutely handle your your circumstance. If he can beat death, hell in the grave, he can handle your circumstance. And you can cling to the you can cling to the Savior, man. And you can hold you can hold fast to his promises through scripture because they're still true through your storm. I know we said that earlier in the podcast, but I just want to re-emphasize that.

SPEAKER_01: It's it's so important, man. You need to you need to cling to scripture. You need to believe in in the promises of God more than you believe in your next breath. If you can get to that point, all the things that that that that seem like a level 10 problem become a level two or three problem. It's like, oh, that's not so bad. You see fear, you see, fear of our circumstance, it makes us it makes us really puff up how big it actually is. You know. We we tend to put a lot more emphasis on something and we we like to turn a level two or three circumstance into a level ten circumstance.

SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, my life can end. It's gonna be the worst thing ever. But reality, I mean, it might not be like that. Yeah, as we were talking a second ago, it reminded me of of something else, man. I think uh I think a lot of times people go through storms, it might be like more of a self-inflicted wound. And they'll like, oh God, how could you let me do how could you let me go through this? And I mean, like, hey bro, look like take take take take take this example. So say say you're driving down the road and you're you're you're texting, you're you're scrolling, scrolling Instagram, whatever, you drive your car into a ditch, and and you blame God for that.

SPEAKER_01: It's like no man, God's not punishing you. You're just walking through a consequence right now. So God will let you walk through a consequence for you to learn your lesson. And don't take that as a punishment, but but you just just lean into that, man. Learn from it, grow from it, hold his hand through it, man. He's gonna use that to teach you something to build you into something, man. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, it's another example is like you having an issue, or let's just say you're uh, you know, terribly dark person, right? And let's just say you go to confront somebody and you end up murdering them, right? And then you want to go, oh, well, God, why did you allow that? Why did you let me do that? And it you're blaming God. God didn't do that. God didn't make you pull the trigger, you pulled the trigger. That's a decision that you made, and now you're gonna deal with the consequences. And even in that moment, you're about you may be about to spend the rest of your life in prison, but he can still encounter you.

SPEAKER_00: He can still use that, you know, to to to grow you, to, to change you, to, you know, do all the things, you know. But I think oftentimes, like you said, we fall into this mindset of like trying to blame God, trying to make it his problem, trying to say it's his fault, you know, God made me do it. It's the same we we do the same thing with the enemy. Yes. How many times do we say how many times do we say, oh, well, well, Satan made me do it? The enemy made me do it. No, he didn't.

SPEAKER_01: No, you did it, bro.

SPEAKER_00: He he didn't have any power over your actions. You're the dummy that did it. Is he rejoicing in the fact that you did it? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, and he's trying to get you not to go back to the father after you did it. Yeah. Like, dude, I've heard, oh, the enemy made me watch porn last night. No, he didn't, bro. You you you got on your phone and you looked up the website on your phone and you made the choice to do that. He didn't make you do that. He encouraged you to do that, and you took the bait. You bit the bot, you you bit the bait, man. And now he's whispering in your ear, oh, you're not good enough to go back to God.

SPEAKER_01: And maybe that's the reason that you're in a storm right now. You you're keep you're you you're falling into this cycle of doing whatever it is, you whatever your your thorn is. And when you when you're continuously falling into that, the enemy's voice just gets louder and louder and louder, and to the point where it drowns out the voice of God. And you can see when that's happening in people's lives. Yeah people start to change, the way they talk starts to change the their mannerisms, man. We we've seen that with with guys that we know.

SPEAKER_01: And it kind of makes you ask the question, is there something you're not repenting of right now?

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: Because you're your your words and your actions are telling me that that you're not you're not repenting. Because the person that I knew who was following the Lord, I'm not hearing that same person anymore. So I it makes me wonder if you've got another another voice in your ear, man, that's louder than the voice of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00: Yeah. And that that's where you have to use your discernment too, of like what it could be a podcast you're listening to. It could be a YouTuber, it could be a certain movie genre or a music genre, or I mean, not all Christian or gospel music is true Christian or gospel music. There's some out there that, you know, it's me, myself, and I that they're singing about, not the Lord. And it's really important that we catch that, that we use our discernment and go, oh, wait a minute, hold on. What is this music glorifying?

SPEAKER_00: What is this movie glorifying? What is this show glorifying? What is what what is it that I'm doing or that I'm allowing to go into my mind and into my ears right now? What is it glorifying? If it's not glorifying God, well then maybe that's why you're in that storm. That maybe that's why you're feeling down and out and alone and empty and all these things, because you're allowing something that's not fruitful, you're allowing something that's not of God to be in your ear and get into your mind.

SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly what the enemy uses. Yeah. I think it's it's really important to pay attention to what it is that you're allowing to get into your mind or who you're hanging out with. You know, uh, are the people that you're hanging out with that you're talking to on a day-to-day basis, are they following God? Are their intentions legitimate? Are or are they they following God to impress the girl that's in, you know, in the church to get her to like them, you know, or are they actually there because they're trying to have a moment with God, because they're trying to glorify him and praise him for the previous week or month that they had or the storm that he's rescued them them from.

SPEAKER_00: I think it's really important to know people's intentions. And there's a reason why Jesus had 72 and then he had 12 and then he had three and then he had one, you know, that he was close to. I think it's very important that you pay attention to who's in your circle. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: And you don't not not everybody deserves access to you. If you if you're going through something and and you need you need like help, you don't have to you don't have to stand on stage at church and announcing to everybody. Who who are your three or four dudes or gals in your life that you can turn to and like, hey, that's a that's a good man. That's that's a that's a good woman right there. I trust these guys. These guys have the spirit of God in them. They're following the Lord. Take it to them, bro.

SPEAKER_01: You don't have to tell every single person, man.

SPEAKER_01: If you have any closing thoughts for somebody, or maybe just a word of encouragement for somebody going through a through a storm right now, what what what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_00: I mean, I would tell them to to go back to your word and uh the word in this book and read how many times people doubted and people thought that you know no good was gonna come of it, and how many times Jesus reminded them in that moment by performing something, just like in in the in the boat. You know, he's sleeping, he's not worried. Everybody in the boat, even though they heard his word say, we are going to the other side, meaning they're gonna get there safely no matter what happens. And he they they wake him up and he gets up and he's like, All right, storm, flee, get out of here, you know, leave us alone.

SPEAKER_00: And it just calms and it's quiet and it goes away. He's going to do that in your life. When that is, I don't know. You don't know, nobody knows, only he knows. And there's a reason why he's allowing the storm to go on as long as it is. Some storms are going to last a day, some can last a week, some can last a month, some can last a year. It just depends on how humble you are in the moment and realizing that he's going to provide, he's going to get you through it, he's going to teach you something.

SPEAKER_00: There is a lesson that he is trying to help you see. And the sooner that you get out of your own way, get out of your own head, tell the enemy to leave you alone, and you know, the enemy flees by the name of Jesus. He flees, he runs, he's terrified of it. He's weak because of it. The sooner that you understand that, the sooner that storm's gonna come to a rest. It's gonna come to an ease, and he's gonna, he's going to show you what it is that he was providing for you in that moment or during that time frame and time period.

SPEAKER_00: So I I just really encourage everybody to just take a deep breath and just remember that he's going to get you through it. Everything is going to be okay. It may not seem like it, and that's fine. It's okay to get upset. It's okay to cry. It's okay to be vulnerable. That's what he wants from you. He wants you to be vulnerable. When you when you keep puffing your chest out, like Joey Martin says, and beating your chest like a gorilla and saying, I got this, he's not going to bring you from that storm because you're not ready.

SPEAKER_00: He wants you broken and humble and at his feet. That's when he's going to go, okay, you got it. Now I'm going to take you to the next thing. I'm going to show you what it is that I was trying to get you to see all along. I think that if you just look at examples around you, uh, I'm sure that each of us has a person that we're close to that was going through a tough season and it didn't last very long. Right? Look at that person and ask them, hey, like, dude, you just lost your job and you had no money and you were broke, and now all of a sudden you've got this job and you're back on your feet.

SPEAKER_00: How is that? And I can almost guarantee you it's because they humbled themselves before the Lord, they trusted him and they said, Okay, I know you got it. I don't. And now they're out of that storm. That could be you. That could be all of us. The sooner that we remember he's got it. He's going to provide, we're going to be okay. This storm's only going to last a short period of time. And let him have control of the steering wheel, the shorter those storms are going to last.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's real good, man.

SPEAKER_02: I would say just take what little you have to him.

SPEAKER_01: Jesus told us that with the fate, the size of mustard sea, we could we can move a mountain. And the mustard sea is literally like one of the tiniest physical objects that you can you can grasp. I think it's yeah, it's extremely, extremely small. But I think what he was trying to emphasize through that was if your faith is in me, I can take what little you have and turn it into something big. So keep going to him. Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. Just be at his feet and pour it onto him because he cares for you.

SPEAKER_01: Man, lean on your community. Seek godly wisdom, seek godly counsel. Open yourself up to people because the church cares about you. The church is not just a building, man, it's it's the people of God. The people of God care about the people of God. We're all one family. And and when when you hurt, I hurt. That's just how it is, man. We're all one family, we're all under under the same blood, the same covenant, man. And and we're we are ready to to join you in this and and weep with you if need be.

SPEAKER_01: There's people that that love you and care about you, and they want to lean into you and and and help you and see you through this storm. But it's up to you whether you humble yourself and m put yourself in a position to be pursued by other people. Don't get all closed off, man. Don't hide in your room. Don't hide in the dark. Don't keep it all internally. Because what what what's internal, what's in the dark, that's what Satan's gonna just pour into, man. But once you expose that to the light of other believers who who want to help you, once you expose it to Jesus, and once you just just just pour everything onto him, man, the light you can the light just overcomes the darkness.

SPEAKER_01: Every single time, man. And the Lord of heaven and earth, who created everything, created you, and he has a plan and a purpose for your life. And Romans 8 is still true that the guy God works all things for for those for those who love him. He works everything for the good, man. So cling to that. Remember that. Remember what he's brought you out of when he didn't have to, man. He he loves us so much, so much that we can't even understand. We don't deserve a single droplet of his grace, man, but he pours us on it.

SPEAKER_01: He pours it on us in buckets. Who are we that he would even think about us and consider us to be worthy to go through suffering? It's a it's a it's a blessing to be able to to suffer for for the name of Jesus. Because he's considered me worthy enough to be refined, to be to be built into something different, man. It's an awesome thing. And we can we can we can smile through our suffering because there's a risen grace.

SPEAKER_02: Jonah with the mic drop there.

SPEAKER_01: Hey, it's only him. I mean, he's he's been he's been my source of my strength when I when I go through difficult times, and he is the only reason that I'm able to to look at people in the face and smile when I've got a a mountain in front of me that I can't move.

SPEAKER_01: Only him. Nothing that I can do. I can't conjure up the strength. I don't have enough muscles to get through it, man.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: But the little faith that I have, he turns that into something beautiful.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: I mean, he can make beauty from ashes, guys.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: You know, I mean, he he he's done it. He created Adam from the dust and he breathed into him life. I mean, it's I'm with you on on what you just stated, you know, like I've been going through some some tough stuff, you know, family-wise. You know, you're you're aware of a lot of it. But man, just hanging in there, keeping my head held high, and just trusting that God's gonna provide and he's gonna do his thing. You know, I I can I can sit here and say that the patience has been hard to have, but man, has it been worth it?

SPEAKER_00: Because I've seen so much positive the last few weeks and so much beauty from those things by just trusting that he's gonna handle it. You know, and and you're right, it ain't nothing that I've done, it's all been him by just staying humble, trusting he's gonna do his thing and and that he's gonna provide and he's gonna change hearts, he's gonna soften hearts. And man, has he done it? He's made a complete change in some people in my life, and it's it's just been so awesome to see. Praise God, man.

SPEAKER_02: Yeah. Yeah. He makes it impossible possible. Yeah. 100%.

SPEAKER_01: Yeah. God, thank you so much for for today, for this conversation. Lord, my heart goes out for for the one listening to this who who's going through a storm. Maybe they're they're in the middle of one right now and the waves are crashing and there's a lot of wind and and the boats rocking and things seem unstable and they're uncertain of their next step. Lord, would you just would you just cling, would you just cling close to them right now? Lord, your word says that you are close to the brokenhearted.

SPEAKER_01: So I just pray that you your presence will be with them during this moment. And would you just remind them that the king is asleep in their boat? And he knows the destination. He knows the end goal, and he knows the plans that he has made for this person's life. So, Lord, would you comfort them through the storm? Um, we just we just love you and we thank you for the cross of Jesus, for the bucket of grace that you pour over us in Jesus' name. Thank you guys for watching today's episode. If y'all feel led to um to share this, if this encouraged you at all, we encourage you to do that.

SPEAKER_01: Like, comment, share, and um join us next time. Love you guys.

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