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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, thank you for listening to you. We're

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Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each

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Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us.

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Speaker 1: I'm your host, Carol McCracken. We're continuing our lent series,

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Speaker 1: God Meets You in the Wilderness, and after a short

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Speaker 1: word from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible verse

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Speaker 1: Isaiah fifty, verse four. As we continue our Lenten series

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Speaker 1: God Meets You in the Wilderness, today's passage reminds us

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Speaker 1: that God strengthens the weary, even when obedience is costly.

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Speaker 1: I woke up already tired, not just physically soul tired,

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Speaker 1: the kind of tire that comes from doing the right

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Speaker 1: thing over and over again when it feels unnoticed, misunderstood,

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Speaker 1: or even painful. I showed up in that hard conversation,

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Speaker 1: and I forgave when I didn't feel like it. I

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Speaker 1: stayed when it would have been easier to walk away.

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Speaker 1: I obeyed when it cost me. My work situation was painful,

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Speaker 1: and I almost quit several times it would have been

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Speaker 1: easier to leave, and I thought several times I am

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Speaker 1: too old to deal with this junk at work. Again.

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Speaker 1: I noticed a younger teammate pretty much getting away with

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Speaker 1: the proverbial murder. It felt like my manager looked the

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Speaker 1: other way, and I was very misunderstood when I tried

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Speaker 1: to talk to my manager about it. Yet I felt

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Speaker 1: like God wouldn't let me walk away. Day after day,

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Speaker 1: it was all I could do to walk into the office.

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Speaker 1: My manager expected me to give grace, and I felt

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Speaker 1: so hypocritical, while it appeared my manager felt like I

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Speaker 1: was unfair in my judgment, and I felt so worn down.

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Speaker 1: Lynd has a way of exposing this kind of weariness.

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Speaker 1: The wilderness seasons of life strip away distractions and reveal

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Speaker 1: what's underneath our fatigue, doubts, longing for God to meet

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Speaker 1: his where obedience feels heavy. Into that exact place, Isaiah speaks.

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Speaker 1: Isaiah fifty four reads, the Sovereign Lord has given me

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Speaker 1: a well instructed tongue to know the word that sustains

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Speaker 1: the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my

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Speaker 1: ear to listen like one being instructed. Isaiah fifty is

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Speaker 1: part of what scholars often call the servants Songs in

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Speaker 1: isaiah prophetic passages, pointing to the coming Messiah that's Jesus.

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Speaker 1: In this section, this servant describes a life of deep

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Speaker 1: obedience to God. It's not glamorous obedience. It is costly.

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Speaker 1: It involves suffering and rejection and perseverance and just if

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Speaker 1: as later we read, I offered my back to those

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Speaker 1: who beat me. I did not hide my face from

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Speaker 1: mocking and spitting. That's Isaiah fifty six. This is the

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Speaker 1: road to the cross. But before the suffering comes a quiet,

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Speaker 1: powerful truth. God equips and strengthens his servant to sustain

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Speaker 1: the weary, starting with listening to him daily. This is

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Speaker 1: not just about Jesus. It's also an invitation for us,

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Speaker 1: as followers walking through wilderness seasons, to learn how God

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Speaker 1: meets us and strengthens us for costly obedience. Isaiah begins,

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Speaker 1: the sovereign Lord has given me a well instructed tongue.

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Speaker 1: And this isn't natural talent. It's not personality or charisma.

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Speaker 1: It's something given by God. And the phrase suggests a disciple,

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Speaker 1: someone taught, trained, or shaped by listening to the Lord.

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Speaker 1: Why to know the word that sustains the weary. Now,

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Speaker 1: God doesn't just strength and the obedient, He equips them

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Speaker 1: to strengthen others. When you walk through hard obedience like

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Speaker 1: staying faithful in marriage, are leading when you feel inadequate,

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Speaker 1: or serving when unappreciated, or tell him the truth when

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Speaker 1: it costs you, you develop a depth that can sustain

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Speaker 1: someone else. God wastes nothing in the wilderness. Then Isaiah says,

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Speaker 1: he wakens me morning by morning to listen. Obedience isn't

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Speaker 1: sustained by willpower. It's sustained by relationship, morning by morning.

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Speaker 1: It's daily dependence. It's daily listening, it's daily surrender. Before

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Speaker 1: the servant speaks, he listens, before he acts, he receives.

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Speaker 1: And that's how weary people stay faithful. And then we

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Speaker 1: see the cost and verses by through seven, the servant

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Speaker 1: describes being struck, mocked and shamed and still remaining obedient.

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Speaker 1: Why because this sovereign Lord helps me. Therefore I have

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Speaker 1: set my face like flint. In verse seven, obedience isn't easy,

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Speaker 1: but it's not unsupported. God strengthens the weary, not by

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Speaker 1: removing the cost, but by sustaining them through it. That's

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Speaker 1: the Lton road, that's the wilderness path, and that's the

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Speaker 1: road Jesus walk to the cross. In this series, we've

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Speaker 1: been looking at how God meets us not after the wilderness,

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Speaker 1: but in it. Isaiah fifty shows us three ways he

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Speaker 1: strengthens the weary when obedience is costly. First, he meets

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Speaker 1: us in the morning, not once, not occasionally, but daily.

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Speaker 1: Strength comes through ongoing relationship, not one time inspiration. Second,

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Speaker 1: he gives us words for the weary. Your heart season

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Speaker 1: isn't just about survival. It's preparation. God is forming compassion, wisdom.

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Speaker 1: It's spiritual authority in you. Third, he helps us endure

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Speaker 1: what obedience requires. Faithfulness often costs something, but you're never

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Speaker 1: carrying that cost alone. The wilderness is not punishment, it's formation,

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Speaker 1: and Lynch reminds us Jesus didn't avoid the costly path,

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Speaker 1: He walked it for us. If you feel weary today,

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Speaker 1: ask yourself, what is obedience costing me right now? Maybe

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Speaker 1: it's staying faithful when you feel unseen. Maybe it's forgiven again.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it's stepping into a role that feels too big.

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Speaker 1: Maybe it's trust in God when answers are slow. Here's

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Speaker 1: the truth, Isaiah points to. God does not call you

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Speaker 1: to cost the obedience without also strengthening you for it.

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Speaker 1: So here's your next step in this Lenten season. Start

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Speaker 1: your day by listening before doing, before checking your phone,

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Speaker 1: before solving problems, before carrying the day's responsibilities, Ask Lord,

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Speaker 1: what do you want to say to me this morning?

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Speaker 1: Let Him sustain you first, so you can walk faithfully

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Speaker 1: and maybe even sustain others. Because when God meets you

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Speaker 1: in the wilderness, he doesn't just help you survive it.

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Speaker 1: He strengthens you to walk through with courage and clarity

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Speaker 1: and with endurance rooted in him. Jesus lived this pack,

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Speaker 1: this passage rather perfectly. He listened to the Father, He

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Speaker 1: obeyed when it cost him everything, He endured the cross,

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Speaker 1: and because that, we're never alone in our obedience. So

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Speaker 1: if today feels heavy, if faithfulness feels costly, if you

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Speaker 1: are tired of doing the right thing like I was,

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Speaker 1: take heart. The same God who sustained his servant, the

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Speaker 1: same God who strengthened Jesus, is strengthening you morning by

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Speaker 1: morning in your wilderness too. Will you pray with me,

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Speaker 1: dear Lord, then you know what wilderness feels like. And

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Speaker 1: yet you were obedient even unto death. We're human and

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Speaker 1: that doesn't surprise you. Lord. You created us, but we

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Speaker 1: just need your help even when we don't know it. Lord,

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Speaker 1: remind us that when things feel heavy, when it feels

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Speaker 1: like you're slow to answer, that you know how it feels.

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Speaker 1: You walked that path, you carried a literal cross. Lord,

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Speaker 1: our figurative crosses are heavy. Sometimes it feels like we'll

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Speaker 1: never be able to carry them. But Lord, you remind

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Speaker 1: us that you are carrying them with us, because we

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Speaker 1: are never alone. Thank you for this word today and

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Speaker 1: your precious name. We pray Amen