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Speaker 1: Life audio. In Anne LaMotte's book Traveling Mercies, she shares

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Speaker 1: the story that led her to take the leap into

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Speaker 1: her own faith journey. It was the story of Abraham

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Speaker 1: and Isaac that caught her attention. The reality and authenticity

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Speaker 1: of Abraham's belief and trust in God's provision compelled her,

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Speaker 1: and it led me to ponder and process that moment

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Speaker 1: in Abraham's life. This is where we're headed today on

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Speaker 1: the Unhurried Living podcast. After a word from our sponsor,

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Speaker 1: will dive into our conversation for today. You want to

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Speaker 1: prioritize your own soul care and self care, but you

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Speaker 1: don't know where to begin, you don't believe you have

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Speaker 1: the time, and you might feel stuck, overwhelmed, or distracted. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'm inviting you to join our community of women in Replenish.

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Speaker 1: Replenish is coaching, training, and community to help you live

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Speaker 1: a more sustainably, paced and productive life. You can confidently

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Speaker 1: engage a life of transformation with the ongoing support of

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Speaker 1: experienced coaches and mentors. Real connection, ongoing support, lasting change.

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Speaker 1: Join us now in Replenish by going to Unhurried Living

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Speaker 1: dot com slash replenish If you're new to this podcast. Welcome.

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Speaker 1: I'm so glad you've found us, and if you haven't already,

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Speaker 1: please subscribed, and I'd love it if you'd share this

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Speaker 1: podcast with your friends and colleagues. Now let's return to

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Speaker 1: Abraham and Sarah. At an age beyond childbearing. Abraham and

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Speaker 1: Sarah were given a promise of descendants greater in number

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Speaker 1: than the stars, impossible. But after growing tired of waiting,

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Speaker 1: Sarah brings Hagar into the story, and Ishmael is born,

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Speaker 1: and this brought about its own storyline that we'll leave

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Speaker 1: for another time. But more time passes and the original

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Speaker 1: promise is actually fulfilled. Isaac is born as promised. God

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Speaker 1: kept God's word to Sarah and Abraham. Then the moment

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Speaker 1: comes when God decides to check in on Abraham's heart

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Speaker 1: in Genesis twenty two, verse one. In Genesis twenty two,

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Speaker 1: verse two, it says, this, take your son, your only son,

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Speaker 1: whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Mariah.

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Speaker 1: Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain.

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Speaker 1: I will show you now. Abraham willingly obeys the instruction

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Speaker 1: to sacrifice the fulfilled promise, his own son, his impossible

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Speaker 1: son born to a woman beyond the age of childbearing.

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Speaker 1: I cannot imagine this scenario, but this level of invitation

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Speaker 1: took Abraham to his deepest place, the ultimate test of trust.

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Speaker 1: God was not messing around, and Abraham proved what was

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Speaker 1: in his heart. It was sheer, fate and trust. As

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Speaker 1: father and son walked to the place of sacrifice, Isaac

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Speaker 1: the fulfilled promise, asks a question in verse seven. The

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Speaker 1: fire and wood are here, Isaac said, but where is

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Speaker 1: the lamb for the burnt offering? In Verse eight, it

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Speaker 1: says Abraham answered, God himself will provide the lamb for

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Speaker 1: the burnt offering, my son. If we put ourselves in

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Speaker 1: Abraham's place, what level of trust might emerge from our

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Speaker 1: own deep place? How far would I go in sacrificing

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Speaker 1: that which I hold most dear? The length I go

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Speaker 1: to will match my level of trust. I have a

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Speaker 1: very personal connection with this particular passage of scripture. Many

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Speaker 1: years ago, when I was in my mid twenties, Alan

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Speaker 1: and I had been married for a few years and

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Speaker 1: were trying to build our family. I had already had

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Speaker 1: one miscarriage, and we had been trying for a few

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Speaker 1: years to get pregnant with no success. One particular evening,

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Speaker 1: I had arrived at church for our regular midweek gathering,

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Speaker 1: and I found myself quite disturbed and angry. I was

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Speaker 1: so emotional that I could not stay, so I told

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Speaker 1: Alan I was going home. At the center of my

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Speaker 1: frustration was my inability to get pregnant. As I drove home,

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Speaker 1: a worship song echoed from the speakers in my car.

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Speaker 1: It was when praised a man's sacrifice by Laarnel Harris

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Speaker 1: back in the day, I told the story of Abraham

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Speaker 1: and Isaac in the sacrifice that was asked of Abraham.

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Speaker 1: As tears streamed down my face, I realized my inability

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Speaker 1: to get pregnant was affecting my relationship with God at

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Speaker 1: that time, and I didn't want there to be anything

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Speaker 1: more important to me than God. And so, in my

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Speaker 1: own way, I let go of my dream. I I

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Speaker 1: opened my hands, and even at that young age, I

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Speaker 1: had a sense of freedom and peace as my trust

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Speaker 1: took a leap into the depths. Now, I want to

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Speaker 1: be very careful here. I am not saying that it

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Speaker 1: is not ok to get angry about an unrequited desire.

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Speaker 1: It's good to feel and express our actual emotions. I'm

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Speaker 1: also not saying that it's not ok to get angry

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Speaker 1: with God. All we have to do is look into

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Speaker 1: the psalms and see people being all levels of angry

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Speaker 1: and frustrated with God. We have emotions, and we get

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Speaker 1: to express them toward healing. What I am saying here

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Speaker 1: is that for me, at that point in my life,

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Speaker 1: it seemed important for me to allow God to rise

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Speaker 1: above the fray of my disappointment. My growth was to

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Speaker 1: not allow my circumstances to dictate my contentment, happiness, or

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Speaker 1: my sense of being loved and cared for. Trust trust,

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Speaker 1: and my faith grew, and I have been able to

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Speaker 1: build on that trust since that time. Now, the great

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Speaker 1: news for me is that shortly thereafter I did become

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Speaker 1: a mother to three amazing and wonderful sons, and I

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Speaker 1: am so grateful for them, and I'm thankful that I

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Speaker 1: was able to release them into the hands of God

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Speaker 1: even before they were born. I know that all stories

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Speaker 1: do not come to an end like mine. Some of

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Speaker 1: you are still waiting for something you truly long for,

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Speaker 1: and I honor and respect your journey. An infinitely important

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Speaker 1: question arose from me that night, is anyone or anything

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Speaker 1: more important to me than God. Now, at this level

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Speaker 1: of thought or question, there's no room for legalism or

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Speaker 1: shoulds or have to's are oughts. This question is very personal.

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Speaker 1: It's out beyond measuring sticks. This question is about really

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Speaker 1: relationship and it deals with the heart. Who do I

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Speaker 1: believe God to be a harsh judge withholding parent, an

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Speaker 1: unjust boss, or wonderful counselor the helper, the good shepherd,

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Speaker 1: the Prince of peace? So, at whatever level you are

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Speaker 1: able at this point in time, ask yourself, is anyone

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Speaker 1: or anything more important to me than God? If you

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Speaker 1: borrow the faith of Abraham? What level of trust might

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Speaker 1: emerge from your own deep place? And finally, how far

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Speaker 1: would you go in sacrificing that which you hold dear

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Speaker 1: in a spirit of loving trust. As you ponder these questions,

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Speaker 1: I'll leave you with a passage from Exodus thirty four,

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Speaker 1: verses six and seven. The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate

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Speaker 1: and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

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Speaker 1: maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion pleas sin,

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Speaker 1: God will provide. Thank you for joining me on the

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Speaker 1: Unhurried Living podcast. You can download free resources, and learn

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Speaker 1: more about us at Unhurried Living dot com. And please

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Speaker 1: subscribe and share this podcast with your friends and colleagues.

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Speaker 1: We'd also like to thank our partner, Life Audio. Check

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Speaker 1: out their other faith centered podcasts at life audio dot com.

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Speaker 1: Blessings to you as you make your way