1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Thank you for listening to your Nightly Scripture, 2 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: a calming, scripture centered devotional podcast designed to help you 3 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: end each day with God's word in your mind and 4 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 1: on your heart. Right after this short message from our sponsors, 5 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: we'll reflect on tonight's scripture, Isaiah chapter forty one. Tonight's 6 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: scripture reflection is written by Peyton Garland and read by 7 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:53,880 Speaker 1: Kerrie Eichberger. Isaiah chapter forty one. Be silent before me, you, islands. 8 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:58,200 Speaker 1: Let the nations renew their strength, Let them come forward 9 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,600 Speaker 1: and speak. Let us meet together at the place of judgment. 10 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: Who has stirred up one from the east, calling him 11 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:08,480 Speaker 1: in righteousness to his service. He hands nations over to 12 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,240 Speaker 1: him and subdues kings before him. He turns them to 13 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: dust with his sword, to wind blown chaff with his bow. 14 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: He pursues them and moves on, unscathed by a path 15 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: his feet have not traveled before. Who has done this 16 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: and carried it through? Calling forth the generations from the beginning, 17 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: I the Lord, with the first of them, and with 18 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: the last, I am he. The islands have seen it 19 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,360 Speaker 1: in fear, the ends of the earth tremble. They approach 20 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,039 Speaker 1: and come forward. They help each other and say to 21 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: their companions be strong. The metal worker encourages the goldsmith, 22 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: and the one who smooths with the hammer spurs on 23 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 1: the one who strikes the anvil. One says of the welding, 24 00:01:52,760 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: it is good. The other kneels down the idol so 25 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: it will not topple. But you Israel, my servant, Jacob, 26 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:03,840 Speaker 1: whom I have chosen you, descendants of Abraham, my friend. 27 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 1: I took you from the ends of the earth, from 28 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: its farthest corners. I called you. I said, you are 29 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: my servant. I have chosen you and have not rejected you. 30 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: So do not fear, for I am with you. Do 31 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:21,119 Speaker 1: not be dismayed, For I am your God. I will 32 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with 33 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: my righteous right hand. All who rage against you will 34 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: surely be ashamed and disgraced. Those who oppose you will 35 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, 36 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: you will not find them. Those who wage war against 37 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: you will be as nothing at all. For I am 38 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right 39 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:48,639 Speaker 1: hand and says to you, do not fear. I will 40 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: help you. Do not be afraid, you worm Jacob, little Israel, 41 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 1: do not fear, for I am myself will help you, 42 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: declares the Lord, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. See, 43 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,240 Speaker 1: I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, 44 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, 45 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: and reduce the hills to chaff. You will winnow them. 46 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: The wind will pick them up, and a gale will 47 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: blow them away. But you will rejoice in the Lord 48 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: and glory in the Holy One of Israel. The poor 49 00:03:20,639 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: and needy search for water, but there is none. Their 50 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,280 Speaker 1: tongues are parched with thirst. But I, the Lord will 51 00:03:27,280 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. 52 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,160 Speaker 1: I will make rivers flow on bare heights and springs 53 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools 54 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: of water, and the parched ground into springs. I will 55 00:03:42,280 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the 56 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 1: myrtle and the olive. I will set junipers in the wasteland, 57 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: the fur and the cypress together, so that people may 58 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: see and know, may consider and understand that the hand 59 00:03:56,320 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One 60 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: of Israel has created. Present your case, says the Lord. 61 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: Set forth your arguments, says Jacob's King. Tell us, you idles, 62 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: what is going to happen. Tell us what the former 63 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: things were, so that we may consider them and know 64 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:16,679 Speaker 1: their final outcome. Or declare to us the things to come. 65 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: Tell us what the future holds, so we may know 66 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: that you are gods. Do something, whether good or bad, 67 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: so that we will be dismayed and filled with fear. 68 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:29,560 Speaker 1: But you are less than nothing, and your works are 69 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: utterly worthless. Whoever chooses you is detestable. I have stirred 70 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: up one from the north, and he comes, one from 71 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: the rising sun, who calls on my name. He treads 72 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: on rulers as if they were mortar, as if he 73 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,160 Speaker 1: were a potter treading the clay. Who told of this 74 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:51,160 Speaker 1: from the beginning so we could know, or beforehand so 75 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: we could say he was right? No one told us this, 76 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 1: No one foretold it, No one heard any words from you. 77 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,719 Speaker 1: I was the first to tell Zion, Look here they are. 78 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,360 Speaker 1: I gave to Jerusalem a messenger of good news. I look, 79 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,479 Speaker 1: but there is no one, no one among the gods 80 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: to give counsel, no one to give answer when I 81 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: ask them. See they are all false, their deeds amount 82 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: to nothing, their images are but wind and confusion. On 83 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: hard days, of which there are many in the fallen world, 84 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: I find myself praying, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead 85 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: me to the rock that is higher than I. I 86 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 1: pre scripture on these overwhelming days, because when my mind 87 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: is so heavy and my worries keep me too afraid 88 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: to sit still, what great, crafty prayers can I offer 89 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:51,000 Speaker 1: on my own? What words of true fervor and even 90 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:56,040 Speaker 1: true faith can my anxious mind create? In twenty nineteen, 91 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: I was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, a mental condition 92 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: in which the neurine transmitters in my brain don't fire properly, 93 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 1: specifically the messages that should allow sir Tonin to be 94 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:14,200 Speaker 1: omitted throughout my body. This makes happiness something I must 95 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: fight my faulty biology, for it means that experiencing unabashed 96 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: joy is an uphill battle that I only win when 97 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: I let the Holy Spirit grant me his fruit. OTD 98 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: plagues a person with relentless intrusive thoughts that can't be 99 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: dismissed or ignored. Thus, I'm biting constant, unwanted thoughts with 100 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: a body that doesn't produce the happy hormone as it should. 101 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: Needless to say, Overwhelm and I are trauma bonded sisters, 102 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: and while I appreciate the warnings and protection that Overwhelmed 103 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 1: tries to offer, I would rather her not have my 104 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: contact information, let alone a relationship with me. It has 105 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: taken years of dismantling pride day by day, but I 106 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,799 Speaker 1: can now admit that without the strength of God Almighty, 107 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: I would be swallowed utterly consumed by life, fear, worry, sadness, anxiousness, 108 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: and even bitterness for my lot in life would leave 109 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: me in a continuous tailspin that I couldn't correct or 110 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,119 Speaker 1: salvage on my own. The more I admit my inabilities, 111 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,559 Speaker 1: the more I find His strength. The more I find 112 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: His strength, the more I find joy and hope. And 113 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: when joy and hope are at your soul's disposal, always 114 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: there to steady your head and heart. You're spiritually invincible, 115 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,040 Speaker 1: able to have God's eyes to see his heart, to 116 00:07:44,160 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: love and his faith and the impossible. Father, As the 117 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 1: day draws to a close, grant us your strength to 118 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: rebuke the thoughts and fears that seek to ruin our 119 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: Faithlet us humbly confess that apart from you, we can 120 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: do no good thing truly. Every good and perfect gift 121 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: like those of hope, joy, and faith, is from you. 122 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: May we be bold enough to admit when we are overwhelmed, 123 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: and may we be ready to hand over the circumstances 124 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:22,960 Speaker 1: that plague us and weigh us down. In this surrender, 125 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: let us feel your warmth, let us see your light, 126 00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: and let us step forward walking into a new day, 127 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,160 Speaker 1: knowing that even if our circumstances don't change, we choose 128 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,679 Speaker 1: your perspective, shift our hearts to what matters, and may 129 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 1: our minds leave all other forms of busyness, distractions and 130 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: temporary troubles by the wayside. Thank you God, that you 131 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:53,599 Speaker 1: are our rock, our great rescue, our good, good protector. 132 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:00,400 Speaker 1: In your Holy name, Father, Amen, How did Tonight's scripture 133 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: speak to you? Share your thoughts in the Your Nightly 134 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: Scripture Forum discussion. 135 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:19,200 Speaker 2: Thank you for listening to Your Nightly Scripture. Tonight's scripture 136 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 2: was read from the New International Version by Biblica. All 137 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 2: rights reserved. If Tonight's episode blessed, you, be sure to 138 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 2: follow the show on Apple Podcasts so your next Nightly 139 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:41,360 Speaker 2: Scripture is ready when you are. Your Nightly Scripture is 140 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 2: a production of Life Audio and Salem Media. Thank you 141 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:49,680 Speaker 2: and we'll see you tomorrow. 142 00:09:49,840 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: Night