WEBVTT - Freedom God Provides 0:00:00.050 --> 0:00:01.790 Well, good morning and welcome. 0:00:01.990 --> 0:00:06.420 We are continuing our conversations about freedom and the story 0:00:06.760 --> 0:00:10.600 of the Exodus. Our founding father said, we hold these 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:15.420 truths to be self-evident that all people are created equal 0:00:15.740 --> 0:00:21.390 and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, such 0:00:21.450 --> 0:00:25.900 as life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And 0:00:25.920 --> 0:00:29.640 so the idea of freedom, which the founding fathers of 0:00:29.660 --> 0:00:34.229 the country believed was a God-given right to be free, 0:00:34.729 --> 0:00:38.550 and that freedom meant the freedom to pursue life, the 0:00:38.570 --> 0:00:44.519 freedom to pursue meaning and purpose and fulfillment. And so 0:00:44.620 --> 0:00:47.560 freedom becomes a big concept when it comes to our 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:51.440 sense of well-being, of how we're made, of who we are. 0:00:52.350 --> 0:00:55.710 And the message of the biblical story is that God 0:00:55.790 --> 0:01:00.950 intends to help us be free. Whatever religion has begun 0:01:00.990 --> 0:01:05.100 to look like through the centuries, whatever trappings have become 0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:10.260 the imagery of enslaving us or trapping us or holding 0:01:10.340 --> 0:01:14.180 us back or limiting our ability to enjoy life, that 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.830 is not the message of the biblical story. The message 0:01:17.870 --> 0:01:21.490 of the biblical story is much more oriented towards the 0:01:21.530 --> 0:01:25.330 reality that life has a way of taking from you, 0:01:25.770 --> 0:01:30.530 of binding you up, of making you feel less joyful, 0:01:31.010 --> 0:01:34.390 of tying you up in knots. And God intends to 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.140 free us, to allow us to not be bound by 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:43.480 addictions or desires that are destructive to our life and 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:49.800 big picture things, not instant gratification, but long-term fulfillment and purpose. 0:01:50.420 --> 0:01:53.060 And so one of the things that becomes a a 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:59.150 topic worthy of conversation, is the reality that God works 0:01:59.210 --> 0:02:02.290 in roundabout ways. So we can make it all sound 0:02:02.330 --> 0:02:05.770 really great, but we all know whether you're a person 0:02:05.790 --> 0:02:10.350 of faith or not, sometimes life doesn't make sense. And 0:02:10.389 --> 0:02:12.309 when you're a person of faith and you believe that 0:02:12.410 --> 0:02:14.780 God is leading and God is doing good things and 0:02:14.810 --> 0:02:17.560 God intends freedom and in all things He works for 0:02:17.580 --> 0:02:19.460 the good for those that love Him and are called 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:23.630 according to His purposes— then it's hard to explain sometimes. 0:02:24.410 --> 0:02:27.250 And I don't know that there's anything personally more confusing 0:02:27.310 --> 0:02:30.109 to me or more frustrating than the fact that God 0:02:30.630 --> 0:02:34.010 does work in roundabout ways. That he seems to be 0:02:34.110 --> 0:02:38.370 frequently up to things that I don't understand. That in 0:02:38.410 --> 0:02:41.340 my own life, in my own journey, I've found that 0:02:41.350 --> 0:02:44.060 I've had a front row seat to God's leading and 0:02:44.120 --> 0:02:47.720 roundabout ways. I've had some really good ideas and really 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:52.060 good plans. And it seems like God didn't fit into 0:02:52.100 --> 0:02:55.870 those plans, wasn't willing to do things my way. Somehow 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:59.150 he had another plan. And he's led in roundabout ways, 0:02:59.510 --> 0:03:02.650 meaning I had a really hard time, have had seasons 0:03:02.730 --> 0:03:05.970 of life, frequently seasons of life, when what was happening 0:03:06.010 --> 0:03:10.350 made no sense. But looking back, I can say he's 0:03:10.370 --> 0:03:14.169 been faithful and that he's been working for the good. 0:03:14.750 --> 0:03:18.179 But boy, there are certainly times when I have a 0:03:18.260 --> 0:03:20.640 tough time seeing it. And a lot of times when 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:22.980 I don't like it, and as a person who is 0:03:23.020 --> 0:03:25.919 an apologist for God, sometimes have a really hard time 0:03:26.000 --> 0:03:29.320 explaining his ways or trying to make sense of them 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:34.010 to other people. In the Exodus story, there's this interesting verse, 0:03:34.370 --> 0:03:37.870 Exodus 13, 18. So God led them in a roundabout 0:03:37.930 --> 0:03:41.710 way through the wilderness towards the Red Sea. Thus the 0:03:41.770 --> 0:03:46.470 Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle. What 0:03:46.490 --> 0:03:49.840 a wild verse. What it suggests is that here were 0:03:49.880 --> 0:03:55.280 these people who had been under the dominion of slave 0:03:55.600 --> 0:04:00.890 drivers and guards, and now they're free. They don't have 0:04:00.930 --> 0:04:04.790 much structure. They don't have much organization. We know that 0:04:04.810 --> 0:04:07.750 there was some elder group because that's who has spoken 0:04:07.810 --> 0:04:11.089 to Pharaoh and met with Moses. So there's some organization 0:04:11.130 --> 0:04:14.869 of some kind. But can you imagine to take this 0:04:15.490 --> 0:04:21.539 number of people? and organize them into a logistical process 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.360 that allows them to march their way out of Egypt 0:04:26.700 --> 0:04:31.599 and onto a wilderness journey. No committees, no meetings, no plans. 0:04:32.430 --> 0:04:35.010 For most of us, it takes days to figure out 0:04:35.110 --> 0:04:38.370 how to do the smallest things in our homes and families. 0:04:39.470 --> 0:04:42.970 And so somehow God led them in roundabout ways through 0:04:42.990 --> 0:04:47.219 the wilderness. And in that process, there was purpose because 0:04:47.339 --> 0:04:51.660 they became organized. That in the roundabout ways, in those 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.380 roundabout days, in the meandering, in the days that it 0:04:54.420 --> 0:04:58.740 didn't make much sense, they got organized in a way 0:04:58.800 --> 0:05:03.370 that they left Egypt like an army ready for battle. 0:05:04.330 --> 0:05:07.550 So there was purpose in all of it. I think 0:05:07.610 --> 0:05:11.240 that— and this won't make any sense— It won't make any 0:05:11.300 --> 0:05:15.240 sense logically, but I think it makes sense emotionally. My 0:05:15.300 --> 0:05:20.979 hope is very intimately connected to my own logic. If 0:05:21.060 --> 0:05:24.690 I can see a way forward, if I can logically 0:05:24.790 --> 0:05:27.729 see how God is going to work things out in 0:05:27.770 --> 0:05:30.110 my life and in my story, then I have more 0:05:30.170 --> 0:05:34.469 hope and more peace. When I can't logically see what 0:05:34.510 --> 0:05:36.750 God is doing or why, then my hope takes a 0:05:36.810 --> 0:05:41.000 major hit. Then I get overwhelmed and and sad. I 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.400 think what that means is what I would like to 0:05:44.460 --> 0:05:49.660 have is a rational faith, a rational faith. I'd like 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:51.779 to have a logical faith, and I'm pretty sure that's 0:05:51.800 --> 0:05:55.090 an oxymoron. I'm pretty sure when things don't make sense, 0:05:55.170 --> 0:05:58.230 that's when I need faith. If they make sense, then 0:05:58.450 --> 0:06:00.849 I don't necessarily need faith. I just need logic. I 0:06:00.890 --> 0:06:04.350 need just rational thinking. And it reminds me of the 0:06:04.370 --> 0:06:07.690 passage in Isaiah 55, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. 0:06:08.190 --> 0:06:10.580 Neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As 0:06:10.620 --> 0:06:12.800 the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.740 ways higher than yours and my thoughts than your thoughts. 0:06:16.339 --> 0:06:19.340 Maybe somebody out there this morning, you need to hear this. 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:25.850 There are certainly times in which God really desires to 0:06:25.910 --> 0:06:27.870 lead us in a way that makes no sense to us, 0:06:27.930 --> 0:06:31.080 but we trust him anyway. We walk by faith. We 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.800 recognize there are roundabout ways. And I know there are 0:06:34.820 --> 0:06:37.320 times in my life where I want God to explain 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:39.300 it all to me and have it make sense to 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.859 me and give me the right understanding and the right 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:47.380 phone calls and the right, you know, I want a logical, 0:06:47.529 --> 0:06:50.670 rational faith. But I don't think that's how God works. 0:06:51.610 --> 0:06:54.810 Solomon writes in Proverbs 3, trust in the Lord with 0:06:54.870 --> 0:06:57.780 all your heart, lean not on your own understandings. in 0:06:57.900 --> 0:07:00.420 all your ways, submit to him and he'll make your 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:05.850 path straight. So that's the lesson, the lesson that's being 0:07:05.930 --> 0:07:09.450 taught over and over in the story of the Exodus. 0:07:10.110 --> 0:07:14.350 And today we're talking about God persists, that God sticks 0:07:14.450 --> 0:07:18.910 with it even when we don't stick with it. So 0:07:19.510 --> 0:07:24.310 Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh and they say, listen, uh, 0:07:24.850 --> 0:07:26.550 This is what we want you to do. We want 0:07:26.570 --> 0:07:28.010 you to let our people go. We're going to go 0:07:28.070 --> 0:07:30.590 three days journey into the wilderness. We're going to sacrifice 0:07:30.630 --> 0:07:33.610 to our God and then we'll come back. And so 0:07:34.550 --> 0:07:37.690 Pharaoh says, I think that's not a good idea. That 0:07:37.740 --> 0:07:39.840 would not be a good plan. You take away all 0:07:39.860 --> 0:07:42.880 of my work, all my labor. I don't I don't 0:07:42.920 --> 0:07:45.640 like it. The answer is no. And so Moses and 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.660 Aaron leave the presence of Pharaoh and Pharaoh turns to 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.640 his officials and says, hey, these people have too much 0:07:50.700 --> 0:07:53.530 time on their hands. If they didn't have so much 0:07:53.630 --> 0:07:56.330 free time, they wouldn't get these ideas in their head. 0:07:56.350 --> 0:07:58.310 So this is what we're going to do. No longer 0:07:58.350 --> 0:08:01.420 will you supply the straw that allows them to make 0:08:01.450 --> 0:08:04.820 the bricks that they're making. But we will not lower 0:08:05.420 --> 0:08:08.020 the quota. We will require the same amount of bricks 0:08:08.060 --> 0:08:09.800 to be made every day. But from now on, they'll 0:08:09.820 --> 0:08:13.240 have to gather their own straw. And so that's what 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:16.910 they put into effect. The leaders, the overseers come and 0:08:16.930 --> 0:08:18.150 they say to the people, you're going to have to 0:08:18.170 --> 0:08:20.020 make the same number of bricks, but we're no longer 0:08:20.060 --> 0:08:22.860 supplying the straw. And the people scatter. And they've been 0:08:22.900 --> 0:08:25.900 the scavenger around for whatever they can find to make 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.400 the bricks. You know, the straw is used to hold 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:32.250 the bricks together. We still make concrete the same way. 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:36.250 We put reinforcing inside so that it'll hold together. But 0:08:36.290 --> 0:08:39.750 of course, they can't possibly find enough of the straw 0:08:39.790 --> 0:08:42.250 that they need and continue to make. And so they 0:08:42.290 --> 0:08:47.830 are being beaten. by their overseers. And they come to 0:08:48.010 --> 0:08:50.670 Moses and they say, what have you done? Why did 0:08:50.710 --> 0:08:53.570 you cause this? In fact, they appeal straight to Pharaoh 0:08:53.790 --> 0:08:56.210 and they say, what's going on? We've been such good 0:08:56.270 --> 0:08:58.820 servants and now this is what you do to us? 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:01.280 And he says, hey, you know, Moses and Aaron came 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.219 and demanded that you get to go out into the wilderness. 0:09:04.340 --> 0:09:07.660 And so they turn against Moses and they say to him, hey, 0:09:08.420 --> 0:09:10.420 what were you doing to us? You've made us a 0:09:10.590 --> 0:09:14.880 stench in the nostrils of Pharaoh. And so this whole 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:18.640 process comes in. And Moses goes back to God and says, 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:21.170 what are you doing? This is not what we signed 0:09:21.250 --> 0:09:23.350 up for. This is not what we're supposed to be about. 0:09:24.370 --> 0:09:28.110 Give us a break. Why would you say such a thing? 0:09:28.170 --> 0:09:30.130 Why would you do such a thing? We're supposed to 0:09:30.170 --> 0:09:34.150 be setting them free, not making it worse. And God 0:09:34.230 --> 0:09:37.970 begins to speak very gently to Moses. And he says, listen, 0:09:38.510 --> 0:09:41.660 I'm going to tell you what to tell them. There 0:09:41.700 --> 0:09:45.940 are roundabout ways going on. I'm here. I'm going to 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.380 break the yoke of the Egyptians. I'm going to free 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:53.450 you from being slaves. Just step back a little bit. 0:09:53.510 --> 0:09:56.730 It's all going to be okay. And so Moses then 0:09:56.809 --> 0:09:59.950 gathers the people and he's going to share with them. 0:10:00.200 --> 0:10:04.060 them the news, what God has told them, how God 0:10:04.100 --> 0:10:06.920 is going to encourage them. I'm not going to tell 0:10:06.940 --> 0:10:09.910 you exactly what happens yet because we're coming up on 0:10:10.050 --> 0:10:12.950 a break, but I'm going to tell you, it doesn't 0:10:13.030 --> 0:10:17.510 go all that well. And we're a lot like those Israelites. 0:10:17.929 --> 0:10:20.250 Doesn't matter what God's big picture is. The fact is 0:10:20.309 --> 0:10:24.849 today it's not going well. And that shades everything. We'll 0:10:24.870 --> 0:10:29.060 be right back after this break. Welcome back. You're listening 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.199 to Healing Conversations on KABC 790. I'm Dave Roberts. We're 0:10:33.220 --> 0:10:38.079 talking about this crazy story. So Moses and Aaron tell Pharaoh, 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:40.660 let my people go. Pharaoh says, you got too much 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.810 ham on your hands. Doubles down, makes the work harder, 0:10:44.550 --> 0:10:46.890 makes it impossible for them to meet the quota of 0:10:47.660 --> 0:10:50.520 They're being beaten and abused because they can't keep up. 0:10:51.120 --> 0:10:52.750 They come back to Moses and they say, why don't 0:10:52.770 --> 0:10:56.070 you leave us alone? We'd rather be here making bricks 0:10:56.170 --> 0:10:59.370 and having an easier time of our slavery than be free. 0:11:00.190 --> 0:11:02.050 And Moses goes to God and says, what in the 0:11:02.110 --> 0:11:05.000 world are you doing? This is not how it was 0:11:05.020 --> 0:11:07.179 supposed to go. I was supposed to come in and 0:11:07.860 --> 0:11:10.700 tell Pharaoh. He was supposed to let people go. This 0:11:10.740 --> 0:11:13.580 was supposed to be a message of freedom. Some good 0:11:13.620 --> 0:11:16.440 was supposed to happen. And now it's worse. And God 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.360 slows him down and just said, hey, it's going to 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:21.070 take some time. It's going to take a little more 0:11:21.150 --> 0:11:26.230 than one opportunity to break the yoke of slavery. And 0:11:26.270 --> 0:11:29.590 so Moses goes back and he tells the Israelites all 0:11:29.630 --> 0:11:31.680 the things that God told him. Hey, don't worry about it. 0:11:32.010 --> 0:11:35.510 God's seen your suffering. He's going to bring down judgment 0:11:35.550 --> 0:11:37.770 on the Egyptians. He's going to set you free. He's 0:11:37.809 --> 0:11:39.960 going to take you to a place of the promised 0:11:40.010 --> 0:11:43.239 land that he promised to your fathers. And listen to 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:49.069 this verse in chapter 6. Verse 9, Moses reported all 0:11:49.090 --> 0:11:52.030 of this to the Israelites, but they did not listen 0:11:52.070 --> 0:11:57.670 to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor. That's 0:11:57.710 --> 0:12:02.740 so telling and so true. This story matters, and it 0:12:02.860 --> 0:12:06.640 matters because the people in the story have something to 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:12.069 teach us. We all understand the revelatory nature of God. 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.040 We've talked about it on this show before. That the 0:12:15.080 --> 0:12:19.400 revelation of God begins in this process of his names 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:24.150 early in the Old Testament. And then we shift gears 0:12:24.350 --> 0:12:28.110 into the patriarchs and we start to see how God 0:12:28.170 --> 0:12:30.710 is interacting. Of course, we see how God interacts with 0:12:30.790 --> 0:12:34.490 Adam and Eve and with Noah and the Tower of Babel. 0:12:34.510 --> 0:12:38.720 We're getting messages about who God really is. And now 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:44.079 the patriarchs through the captivity in Egypt. the Exodus, there's 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.400 going to be the law that's coming, the judges, the prophets, 0:12:47.660 --> 0:12:51.040 the kings in all of these places. And then finally, 0:12:51.260 --> 0:12:54.590 in the arc of the narrative, we come to Christ, Christ, 0:12:55.150 --> 0:12:58.270 who is God tabernacled in human flesh. And we're told 0:12:58.350 --> 0:13:00.490 in the New Testament is the full revelation of God. 0:13:01.470 --> 0:13:07.059 But the narrative in which Jesus enters is this reality 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:11.500 of the story that's unfolding here. In fact, biblical theologians 0:13:11.540 --> 0:13:15.339 would say that there's two great redemptive stories, that these 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.150 two great redemptive stories, one in the Old Testament, one 0:13:18.190 --> 0:13:21.250 in the New, are the pillars upon which all biblical 0:13:21.309 --> 0:13:27.410 theology hangs. So imagine a bridge and two massive pillars 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.280 holding up a suspension bridge. In the Old Testament, that 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:34.270 would be the redemptive story of the Exodus. And in 0:13:34.309 --> 0:13:36.930 the New Testament, it would be the story of Christ's 0:13:37.010 --> 0:13:41.170 crucifixion and resurrection. These two great stories of deliverance upon 0:13:41.220 --> 0:13:44.150 which all of the story hangs. And so this story 0:13:44.220 --> 0:13:46.559 matters to you and me. It is a part of 0:13:46.580 --> 0:13:48.400 the revelation. It is a part of the story of 0:13:48.460 --> 0:13:50.739 how God works. It's a part of the story of 0:13:50.800 --> 0:13:54.140 what he wants you and I to see in our lives. 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.959 Most of us have lived, and I'm guessing that a 0:13:58.980 --> 0:14:02.090 fair number of us are living today, In days where 0:14:02.370 --> 0:14:08.020 we can't see God's big picture, we don't really get it. 0:14:09.010 --> 0:14:12.730 And because we become discouraged and lonely, we have a 0:14:12.790 --> 0:14:16.890 hard time just connecting. That's what's happening to the people 0:14:16.929 --> 0:14:20.500 of Israel, that their response to life and circumstances, it's 0:14:20.520 --> 0:14:24.440 the human response. But you have to remember the deeper 0:14:24.540 --> 0:14:26.800 truths of the story. That's why we look at these 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.830 Old Testament stories. It doesn't end there. with the moments 0:14:29.870 --> 0:14:33.920 of reversal and discouragement. There's going to be more reversals 0:14:33.980 --> 0:14:37.160 and more discouragement to come. There's still some harder roundabout 0:14:37.200 --> 0:14:40.220 things to get through, but God is going to see 0:14:40.540 --> 0:14:43.440 their children of Israel all the way through to freedom, 0:14:44.180 --> 0:14:48.660 complete freedom, a trip to the promised land. You'll know 0:14:48.710 --> 0:14:51.230 the truth and the truth will set you free. Those 0:14:51.270 --> 0:14:54.480 whom the Son has set free are free indeed. In 0:14:54.510 --> 0:14:57.360 the meantime, God is leading in roundabout ways. And by 0:14:57.380 --> 0:14:59.320 the way, if you just take the arc of the 0:14:59.380 --> 0:15:02.640 narrative of Scripture, because those of us who are walking 0:15:02.700 --> 0:15:05.920 around today know this. One of the hardest things to 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.750 ever overcome is when someone we love passes away or 0:15:10.610 --> 0:15:14.870 when we're facing our own death. And the message of 0:15:15.070 --> 0:15:21.030 Scripture is that remember that death is finally deliverance. that 0:15:21.110 --> 0:15:24.910 death is deliverance from these broken bodies and these fragile 0:15:24.950 --> 0:15:29.940 emotions and the fickle relationships that bring great joy to life, 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:34.160 but also bring pain. And so deliverance is not confined 0:15:34.220 --> 0:15:37.200 to just our current circumstances. And that is the story 0:15:37.240 --> 0:15:40.609 that is unfolding in the Exodus. So as God leads 0:15:40.650 --> 0:15:44.870 in roundabout ways, as hope and logic compete for our 0:15:44.930 --> 0:15:48.950 attention and Here's a little breath prayer and some things 0:15:49.010 --> 0:15:51.690 to think about based on this little part of the 0:15:51.730 --> 0:15:55.170 story of Exodus. Number one, God sees the big picture. 0:15:56.370 --> 0:15:59.590 In the story, God sees what's happening, and he's not 0:15:59.670 --> 0:16:03.580 interested in better working positions and conditions for the slaves. 0:16:03.890 --> 0:16:07.060 He's interested in getting them free. He's working on a 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:12.980 bigger goal. These people want comfort more than they want freedom. 0:16:13.670 --> 0:16:15.580 I'm convinced if God had left it up to the 0:16:15.620 --> 0:16:18.780 children of Israel, they would have gladly stayed enslaved instead 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:23.900 of risking the pain of real change. And that's important. 0:16:24.860 --> 0:16:29.430 Most of us do not leave the things that enslave 0:16:29.490 --> 0:16:33.530 us by choice. We leave the things that enslave us 0:16:33.630 --> 0:16:37.470 because somehow, finally, the pain of being enslaved becomes greater 0:16:37.550 --> 0:16:41.660 than the pain of implementing change. And that's what's going 0:16:41.700 --> 0:16:44.920 on in Egypt. That's what's going on in our lives. 0:16:45.620 --> 0:16:47.640 And sometimes we need to breathe a prayer in the 0:16:47.700 --> 0:16:50.520 current circumstances of our life and say, you know what? 0:16:51.060 --> 0:16:56.280 God sees the big picture. God sees things I can't see. 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.840 Someday God's going to set me free because that's what 0:17:01.900 --> 0:17:06.340 he does. That's who he is. And we trust in that. 0:17:06.780 --> 0:17:11.300 We believe in that. God sees the big picture. Number two. 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:16.320 God is busy setting us free. God at this moment 0:17:16.380 --> 0:17:18.580 in the story of Israel is setting them free. They 0:17:18.619 --> 0:17:20.379 can't see it. They can't feel it right now. It's 0:17:20.400 --> 0:17:23.800 getting worse before it gets better. But his greater purpose 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.520 is to see that all of his children are truly free, 0:17:28.280 --> 0:17:31.120 that he is constantly working to set us free, free 0:17:31.180 --> 0:17:34.330 from our own worries and fears and from the sicknesses 0:17:34.390 --> 0:17:38.550 and fragility of our physical bodies, from the financial strain 0:17:38.590 --> 0:17:43.949 of being alive. God desires to free us. And the 0:17:43.990 --> 0:17:50.070 circumstances support the idea that sometimes in our lives, God 0:17:50.109 --> 0:17:53.590 doesn't see us or he doesn't care about us or 0:17:53.630 --> 0:17:56.850 that he can't help. Maybe you're in circumstances like that 0:17:56.890 --> 0:17:59.630 right now. And that's what you feel. God doesn't care 0:17:59.650 --> 0:18:03.490 or he doesn't see me or he's decided, that he 0:18:03.550 --> 0:18:07.150 can't help or he won't help. And that's a lot 0:18:07.170 --> 0:18:10.480 of how atheists think and agnostics think. But right in 0:18:10.500 --> 0:18:14.040 the middle of the chaos, there is a God who 0:18:14.119 --> 0:18:17.160 is loving, busy. And that's the part of the narrative. 0:18:17.900 --> 0:18:19.840 You have to trust it for your own set of circumstances. 0:18:19.859 --> 0:18:21.719 But in the narrative, we know how it turns out. 0:18:22.100 --> 0:18:24.520 We know that God is busy setting them free. In 0:18:24.540 --> 0:18:27.679 their minds, in their hearts, in their emotions, they're angry. 0:18:28.220 --> 0:18:32.010 But God's busy setting them free, all of us. will 0:18:32.109 --> 0:18:35.790 one day finally be free. Free from sickness, death. The 0:18:35.850 --> 0:18:39.270 revelation says one day there'll be no more sadness. There'll 0:18:39.290 --> 0:18:42.380 be no more tears. There'll no be death, no more sickness. 0:18:43.500 --> 0:18:46.440 We're all on the path to being set free. Number three, 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.679 God knows that there's trouble in between. Between where we 0:18:50.740 --> 0:18:55.030 are today and where God is taking us, there is trouble. 0:18:55.550 --> 0:18:58.429 The Israelites are experiencing this firsthand. Where they are today 0:18:58.550 --> 0:19:00.850 versus where they're going to be, things are going to 0:19:00.869 --> 0:19:04.159 get harder. There are heavy hearts. There are days of 0:19:04.200 --> 0:19:08.639 hard labor. There are injustices. There are attitudes to overcome. 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:12.800 There's division in the ranks. There's politics. There's hatred. There's 0:19:13.440 --> 0:19:19.399 factional things. There's cultural wars. There's rising anger at leadership. 0:19:20.070 --> 0:19:22.930 That's just going on in the story of the Israelites. 0:19:23.470 --> 0:19:27.689 And it's so true for us too. Some of us 0:19:28.390 --> 0:19:31.790 might want to remember what Jesus tells the disciples in 0:19:31.830 --> 0:19:34.909 John 16, 33, in this world, you will have trouble, 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:38.740 but be of good cheer of overcome the world. I've 0:19:38.780 --> 0:19:40.820 told you these things. This is the first of that verse. 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:42.480 I've told you these things so that in me, you 0:19:42.500 --> 0:19:45.250 may have peace. In this world, you'll have trouble. Some 0:19:45.290 --> 0:19:47.990 of us need to breathe that prayer that God is 0:19:48.050 --> 0:19:50.760 busy setting me free. but there's going to be some 0:19:50.800 --> 0:19:54.560 trouble between here and there. And then there's one more 0:19:54.619 --> 0:19:57.680 thought to share as we come up against break, but 0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:03.680 it's this. Those Israelites were just too discouraged to hear. 0:20:04.740 --> 0:20:07.659 They didn't listen because they were discouraged because life was 0:20:07.700 --> 0:20:10.800 so hard right now. And I bet there are some 0:20:10.859 --> 0:20:13.260 of you listening today that know exactly what that means. 0:20:13.859 --> 0:20:16.820 That you're so discouraged and the circumstances are so hard 0:20:17.240 --> 0:20:21.530 that it is really hard to hear any kind of encouragement. 0:20:22.310 --> 0:20:27.790 But God leads in roundabout ways. His ways are higher 0:20:27.830 --> 0:20:30.310 than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. 0:20:31.710 --> 0:20:36.630 And so we can live hopelessly or we can live faithfully. 0:20:37.380 --> 0:20:40.720 trusting in something bigger than ourselves, something we can't understand. 0:20:41.520 --> 0:20:43.609 Trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. Lean 0:20:43.640 --> 0:20:46.210 not on our own understanding. In all our ways, acknowledge 0:20:46.250 --> 0:20:50.570 him and let him direct our paths. We're going to 0:20:50.630 --> 0:20:52.730 unpack this right after this break. 0:20:53.390 --> 0:20:53.870 Welcome back. 0:20:54.150 --> 0:20:58.629 You're listening to Healing Conversations on KABC 790. I'm Dave Roberts. 0:20:58.690 --> 0:21:01.609 I'm welcoming into the studio, Eric McLenahan. Welcome, Eric. 0:21:01.950 --> 0:21:04.810 Hey, Dave. How you doing? Pretty good. This is a 0:21:04.850 --> 0:21:05.830 pretty good time of year. 0:21:05.850 --> 0:21:06.409 Yeah. 0:21:06.590 --> 0:21:07.690 Football is starting. 0:21:07.710 --> 0:21:09.230 Yeah, I do love that. 0:21:09.609 --> 0:21:11.169 School's back in session. 0:21:11.900 --> 0:21:13.340 Yeah. Get your life back. 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:16.940 Well, you know, my family does well with rhythms. 0:21:17.340 --> 0:21:17.560 Yeah. 0:21:17.820 --> 0:21:21.520 And school gives you a natural daily rhythm. Yeah. Where 0:21:21.560 --> 0:21:23.639 summer is a little bit more chaos. 0:21:24.090 --> 0:21:24.240 Yeah. 0:21:24.750 --> 0:21:29.080 And we're only a month away from baseball playoffs. So... 0:21:28.390 --> 0:21:29.260 So there you go. 0:21:29.740 --> 0:21:32.740 Everything's ramping up. And so, you know, we've talked about this. 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.740 You don't really have a pro team as far as football. 0:21:35.780 --> 0:21:39.120 You really are a USC fan. Is that right? 0:21:39.740 --> 0:21:40.720 Yeah, I'm a USC guy. 0:21:40.740 --> 0:21:41.439 Still true? 0:21:41.660 --> 0:21:43.859 I mean, my dad went to USC. And then when 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:47.590 I was young, my dad worked for Prime Ticket at 0:21:47.619 --> 0:21:51.570 the time, which became Fox Sports West. And he produced 0:21:51.990 --> 0:21:55.179 USC football games. So... I would hang out with him 0:21:55.220 --> 0:21:56.869 in the truck at the games and go on the 0:21:56.910 --> 0:21:59.410 field before the games. And it's kind of hard not 0:21:59.430 --> 0:22:00.810 to become a diehard fan. 0:22:01.010 --> 0:22:01.470 Of course. 0:22:01.550 --> 0:22:05.030 Yeah. Elementary school kid running around, seeing the players. 0:22:05.230 --> 0:22:07.270 Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. 0:22:07.630 --> 0:22:10.390 So, yeah, I don't really have an NFL team because 0:22:10.630 --> 0:22:12.409 I grew up in the era where there was no 0:22:12.530 --> 0:22:13.650 NFL team here. 0:22:13.810 --> 0:22:14.050 Yeah. 0:22:14.150 --> 0:22:16.149 I missed the mark on all of that. So I 0:22:16.170 --> 0:22:17.970 was a USC guy. We had season tickets for 31 years. 0:22:19.190 --> 0:22:22.330 I think we're both just like we do just enjoy sports, 0:22:22.450 --> 0:22:24.850 generally speaking. And so this is a good time of 0:22:24.869 --> 0:22:26.490 the year. A lot of good things going on. 0:22:26.510 --> 0:22:29.070 I enjoy sports except for the Dodgers. 0:22:29.750 --> 0:22:30.090 Yeah. 0:22:30.550 --> 0:22:34.170 My emotions twist and turn with the fate of the Dodgers. 0:22:34.350 --> 0:22:38.449 Yeah. You have a Dodger situation the way I have 0:22:38.470 --> 0:22:44.040 a Cowboy situation, except you're spoiled. You're spoiled. You know, 0:22:44.400 --> 0:22:47.640 back to back World Series. 0:22:47.940 --> 0:22:48.800 Spoiled now. 0:22:49.480 --> 0:22:50.869 Spoiled now, yeah. 0:22:52.030 --> 0:22:54.050 You were spoiled for a while with the Cowboys. 0:22:54.070 --> 0:22:58.810 Yeah, 30 years ago. I can hardly remember it, but yes. Well, good. 0:22:58.890 --> 0:23:03.720 So as you think about this, God's persistence that he 0:23:03.800 --> 0:23:08.220 stays with us, keeps chipping away at whatever is going on. Yeah. 0:23:08.280 --> 0:23:10.980 And the roundabout ways. I mean, what stood out to 0:23:11.020 --> 0:23:12.000 you as you were listening? 0:23:12.600 --> 0:23:16.060 Yeah, I mean, clear as mud, right? Now I know 0:23:16.500 --> 0:23:21.580 how God works. I feel good about it. Ever since 0:23:21.619 --> 0:23:24.830