1 00:00:02,660 --> 00:00:13,790 Speaker 1: Life Audio Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to 2 00:00:13,830 --> 00:00:17,669 Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is about strengthening 3 00:00:17,829 --> 00:00:21,540 Speaker 1: our stakes. We'll return with the devotional after a brief 4 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: message from our sponsors. Strengthening Your Stakes Preparing for What 5 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: Only God Can See Written and Read by Hannah Benson 6 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: Enlarge the place of your tent and let the curtains 7 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 1: of your habitations be stretched out. Do not hold back. 8 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:56,860 Speaker 1: Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. Isaiah 54-2 ESV 9 00:00:58,220 --> 00:01:02,220 Speaker 1: God often does things we don't expect. As I read 10 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: Isaiah 54 the other day, God showed me that he 11 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:08,479 Speaker 1: will often tell us to prepare for things he's bringing us. 12 00:01:09,340 --> 00:01:12,140 Speaker 1: In this passage, he tells a barren woman to expand 13 00:01:12,180 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 1: her tent and strengthen her stakes for a family she 14 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: doesn't even have yet. Our job isn't to know the why, 15 00:01:18,620 --> 00:01:21,180 Speaker 1: but to prepare in obedience even when we don't know 16 00:01:21,220 --> 00:01:24,270 Speaker 1: what we are getting ready for. All we can do 17 00:01:24,780 --> 00:01:27,290 Speaker 1: is walk in obedience even when we don't know where 18 00:01:27,330 --> 00:01:30,750 Speaker 1: the obedience will lead. It reminds me of the parable 19 00:01:30,790 --> 00:01:34,260 Speaker 1: Jesus told of the ten virgins in Matthew 25. When 20 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:36,679 Speaker 1: they went to meet the bridegroom, only five of the 21 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,980 Speaker 1: virgins took extra flasks of oil with them before they departed. 22 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: The other five foolishly didn't. They didn't prepare. Or in 23 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,190 Speaker 1: Genesis 6, when God commands Noah to build an ark. 24 00:01:49,230 --> 00:01:51,550 Speaker 1: Do you think Noah might have thought it a bit strange, 25 00:01:51,630 --> 00:01:53,950 Speaker 1: the command to build an ark when there wasn't rain 26 00:01:54,050 --> 00:01:57,050 Speaker 1: anywhere in sight? Not to mention the earth had never 27 00:01:57,130 --> 00:02:01,130 Speaker 1: flooded before. Undoubtedly, the idea would have been a foreign 28 00:02:01,190 --> 00:02:04,970 Speaker 1: concept to him. But Noah chose to trust God and 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,260 Speaker 1: it was counted to him as righteousness, Hebrews 11.7. I'm 30 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,160 Speaker 1: in a season right now where I don't know where 31 00:02:11,220 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: I'll be in the next year, the next few months, 32 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:16,340 Speaker 1: or even next week. All I can see is what 33 00:02:16,380 --> 00:02:20,780 Speaker 1: God has placed in front of me right now. Think 34 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: about it. Noah didn't build the ark in a day. 35 00:02:23,780 --> 00:02:27,639 Speaker 1: It took decades of waking up, grabbing a hammer, and 36 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: building one plank at a time. He didn't see a 37 00:02:31,419 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: drop of rain for years. He just saw the single 38 00:02:34,650 --> 00:02:37,910 Speaker 1: wooden plank in front of him each day. He had 39 00:02:37,950 --> 00:02:41,050 Speaker 1: to wait years for God's promise and prophecy to be fulfilled. 40 00:02:41,770 --> 00:02:44,370 Speaker 1: Perhaps Noah began to wonder if it would really happen, 41 00:02:44,550 --> 00:02:47,780 Speaker 1: or if he'd heard wrong. When we think about Noah, 42 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,139 Speaker 1: we often envision the completed ark. But what we don't 43 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: see are the 50 to 75 years of back-breaking labor, 44 00:02:55,139 --> 00:02:58,370 Speaker 1: years of faithfulness before the first drop of rain ever fell. 45 00:02:59,290 --> 00:03:02,310 Speaker 1: He had to be faithful in the daily, ordinary tasks 46 00:03:02,430 --> 00:03:05,829 Speaker 1: of building the ark before he ever fully understood the 47 00:03:05,990 --> 00:03:09,840 Speaker 1: why of the assignment. We are called to be faithful 48 00:03:09,900 --> 00:03:14,540 Speaker 1: in the little things, Luke 16.10. Think about it. Noah 49 00:03:14,580 --> 00:03:17,820 Speaker 1: spent more time building that ark without seeing any results 50 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: than some of us have even been alive. Certainly more 51 00:03:21,220 --> 00:03:25,190 Speaker 1: time than we've probably ever spent on a project. Do 52 00:03:25,230 --> 00:03:27,130 Speaker 1: you think Noah knew the full weight of the task 53 00:03:27,150 --> 00:03:30,550 Speaker 1: he'd been asked to undertake? Yet if he hadn't trusted 54 00:03:30,610 --> 00:03:33,270 Speaker 1: God's word spoken to him, none of us would be here. 55 00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: God used Noah's faithfulness to save the world. If he 56 00:03:38,460 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: hadn't built the ark, his family would have drowned. If 57 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: his family drowned, the earth would have been wiped out, 58 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,060 Speaker 1: which means none of us would be here today. 59 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:47,900 Speaker 2: Wow. 60 00:03:48,980 --> 00:03:52,910 Speaker 1: That's pretty weighty to think about. In Luke 12, 48, 61 00:03:52,910 --> 00:03:55,290 Speaker 1: Jesus tells us that to whom much is given, much 62 00:03:55,330 --> 00:04:00,300 Speaker 1: will be required. Intersecting faith and life. While we might 63 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:02,420 Speaker 1: not be asked to build an ark that will preserve 64 00:04:02,460 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: the population from dying out, we are asked in Matthew 28, 19, ESV, 65 00:04:08,500 --> 00:04:11,940 Speaker 1: to go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing 66 00:04:11,980 --> 00:04:13,580 Speaker 1: them in the name of the Father and of the 67 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,739 Speaker 1: Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 68 00:04:16,940 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: all that Jesus has commanded us. Even if we are 69 00:04:20,140 --> 00:04:22,740 Speaker 1: not called to save people physically, we are called to 70 00:04:22,820 --> 00:04:25,380 Speaker 1: point them to the one who can save them spiritually. 71 00:04:26,830 --> 00:04:29,250 Speaker 1: We often find we want the much more than we 72 00:04:29,270 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: desire the little. We want the completed project, the fulfilled dream, 73 00:04:33,510 --> 00:04:37,020 Speaker 1: the clear future. But God tests our hearts in the little. 74 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:39,539 Speaker 1: He looks at how we handle what he has already 75 00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: given us. We are called to be faithful in the 76 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:47,039 Speaker 1: small tasks we may consider mundane. Answering an email, studying, 77 00:04:47,140 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: folding laundry. Think about it. Remember, God says that to 78 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,070 Speaker 1: whom much is given, much is required. Luke 12, 48. 79 00:04:56,070 --> 00:04:59,530 Speaker 1: Perhaps God keeps us in seasons of quiet daily preparation 80 00:04:59,570 --> 00:05:02,130 Speaker 1: because if he gave us the big platforms or massive 81 00:05:02,190 --> 00:05:05,330 Speaker 1: answers to prayer before our character was tested, in the 82 00:05:05,410 --> 00:05:08,980 Speaker 1: small things, the weight of the responsibility would crush us. 83 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: And how important those small things are even if we 84 00:05:12,339 --> 00:05:15,799 Speaker 1: don't realize it. We may find it hard to believe 85 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,739 Speaker 1: when we're folding another load of laundry or washing dishes. 86 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: But remember, Noah probably couldn't fully imagine the importance of 87 00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:24,360 Speaker 1: each part as he built the ark. 88 00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:25,920 Speaker 2: One piece of wood. 89 00:05:26,540 --> 00:05:30,810 Speaker 1: One layer of pitch and tar at a time. Pray 90 00:05:30,850 --> 00:05:34,789 Speaker 1: with me. Dear Father, thank you that your plans are 91 00:05:35,010 --> 00:05:37,950 Speaker 1: better than anything I could imagine. Forgive me for the 92 00:05:37,990 --> 00:05:41,510 Speaker 1: times I lose sight of that. Help me to remember 93 00:05:41,630 --> 00:05:45,390 Speaker 1: Noah's decades of unseen faithfulness and give me the strength 94 00:05:45,510 --> 00:05:49,200 Speaker 1: to fulfill every task, no matter how mundane it may seem, 95 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,580 Speaker 1: with a heart of worship. Teach me to obey your 96 00:05:52,660 --> 00:05:55,940 Speaker 1: voice even when I don't understand the why behind the assignment. 97 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,010 Speaker 1: I trust that you are preparing me for whatever you 98 00:05:59,050 --> 00:06:02,790 Speaker 1: have next. In Jesus' name, amen. 99 00:06:07,089 --> 00:06:10,070 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what 100 00:06:10,100 --> 00:06:12,180 Speaker 2: you heard today, we want to make sure you know 101 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,180 Speaker 2: about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer. 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