WEBVTT - God Is Not Against Me. 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.120 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:04.840 Church and. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:05.880 This is our podcast. 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:08.360 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.360 --> 0:00:11.080 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. Hope it 0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.600 gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:14.720 Enjoy the message. 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:20.880 God is not against me, but He's in it with me, 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.960 working through me, and fighting for me. And it would 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.600 seem like I would know that at my core and 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:33.360 never doubt it. But I was driving to the church 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:37.320 to preach. It has been several months ago. It might 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:41.120 have been, you know, it might have been a particular 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:43.519 Sunday where I felt my message was confusing and I 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:44.760 didn't know if I was going to be able to 0:00:44.760 --> 0:00:45.440 communicate it. 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.320 Maybe I didn't sleep good that night. 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:49.559 I don't remember. I just remember pulling in thinking of 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.839 all the ways it could go wrong. You know you 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.000 do that sometimes, like you're driving up to something. You're like, 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:59.360 I'm probably gonna blow it. These pants feel tight, look 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.319 at this, my hair is doing this thing. It could 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.000 be any little dumb thing, and you just start imagining 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:05.920 all the ways it could go wrong. Well, I was 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.720 doing that about my sermon. And as I pulled into 0:01:08.760 --> 0:01:12.200 the church, I thought, wait a minute, I'm showing up 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:16.720 today to help people, to give them God's word, to 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:18.920 share with them what the Lord says the best I 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:22.839 know how. And it won't be perfect, and I'll miss 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:26.640 some things, and I'll mispronounce some things, and I'll probably 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:29.039 make a mess of some of it. But do I 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:32.839 not believe that God is for what I'm doing today, 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.080 that he wants to help these people more than I do. 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:39.160 That he wants to lift these people out of the 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.040 pit that they're in more than I do. That he 0:01:41.080 --> 0:01:44.360 wants to give them their next step to fulfill his 0:01:44.400 --> 0:01:47.160 purpose for their life more than I do. And it 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:52.080 hit me, Stephen, You're showing up like God is opposing you, 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.280 like he wants to trip you, leg sweep you. Why 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:58.360 do you believe that? And I just said right there 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.640 in my car, God is not against me. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:03.800 Now I've said that sung that thought about that. 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.560 It's a core teaching in the scripture that if God 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:08.960 is for us, who can be against us? But it 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.720 kind of hit that time, and then I thought about 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.800 the consequences. Well, if he's not against me, what is 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.280 he He's in it with me? Yea, working through me 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:24.440 and fighting for me, and from there I show up 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:25.640 knowing He's got my back. 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:27.280 Let's do this now. 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.079 I think for a lot of people that almost sounds 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:33.040 like I have an imaginary friend. My imaginary dad can 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:34.480 beat up your imaginary dad. 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:35.720 I don't see it that way. 0:02:36.440 --> 0:02:39.160 I really have come to tap into that belief and 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.320 the times that I do operate in confidence the times 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:46.600 that I don't operate in insecurity and inferiority. 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:49.200 So let's talk about that a little bit practically. 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.760 Let's get it out of the cartoonish realm where we 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:55.840 sometimes put it, and let's put it in the realm 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:59.839 of that everyday confidence, walking in the confidence that God 0:02:59.880 --> 0:03:02.160 is not against me, but he's in it with me, 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.280 working through me and fighting for me. Hit me with 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.160 your best stuff on confidence, because you teach this like 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:09.360 nobody I've ever heard. 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:12.680 Well, I don't think it's cartoony at all. I think 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:15.600 it's a powerful metaphor because I like to tell people 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:17.919 loneliness only got you this far. 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:21.399 When you feel alone. 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:24.800 In life, how do you act when you feel like 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.000 nobody's got your back? How do you act when you 0:03:28.040 --> 0:03:30.680 feel like no one understands you? How do you act 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:35.600 those thought patterns of I'm alone, everybody's against me, no 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:40.240 one's for me. That doesn't inspire your courage. But I 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.240 work with a lot of elite people in the military, 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.680 and they have that phrase of all is one, right, 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.160 that moment where if you're on the battlefield and you're 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:52.480 by yourself as a lonely warrior, it's terrifying and you 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.280 hunker down, you don't charge. But when you're at the 0:03:55.320 --> 0:03:59.320 line with all the guys, all is one. Yeah, there's 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.640 a four moment. There's assertiveness to it. It's like we 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:04.320 got this, and you got to at some point go 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:04.920 we got this. 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:05.680 Yeah. 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:10.440 Because if you're disassociated from your faith, if you're disassociated 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:13.920 from God, I just believe you're disempowered. And so there's 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:15.600 got to be that element in your life. You know what, 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:19.000 loneliness only took me this far. If I don't believe 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.880 he's here, if I don't believe that someone is fighting 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:25.520 with me, I will continue to procrastinate and to blame 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:26.960 and be frustrated. 0:04:27.279 --> 0:04:29.480 So the metaphor is really powerful. It's not cartoonish. 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:31.159 And when you approach the day of that day. 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.800 You swarm the day you don't like hide on the couch, 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.080 and so I don't think people realize the incredible power 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:40.120 of there is strength with you, and there is strength 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:40.640 in you. 0:04:41.160 --> 0:04:44.520 And there's stuff like swarm the day. Yeah, I'm like 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.680 put that on it hood. That's a great phrase. Yeah, 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:51.000 I mean swarm the day. 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.560 It's true, you're either caged in your day or you're 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:54.400 charging the day. 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.720 And we often talk aged or charging. Yeah, you're you're 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:58.760 in the caged life. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.240 Yeah, And the cage life is where you just continually 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:08.039 your thoughts continually trap you where you're at, or you're 0:05:08.080 --> 0:05:11.120 more open and you're more generative and you have higher agency, 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.240 which means you're charging the day. It doesn't mean you 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:15.599 you crush every day and every day is perfect. It 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:17.799 means you're moving forward even if you're a hot mess. 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.360 You're moving forward to even in doubt. You're moving forward 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:24.240 in strength, even though you know you have weaknesses because 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:25.440 you're empowered by something higher. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:28.800 I'm glad you said the part about sometimes you move 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:33.240 forward messy because that feeling that God is not against me. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:37.039 It doesn't really mean the most to me when I 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.800 feel like I'm doing good because I feel Him with me. Yeah, 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:45.359 I need this mindset. When I don't feel Him with me, 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:49.279 that's the moment where I believe I don't have to 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:50.560 feel it for it to be true. 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:52.040 That's where my faith kicks in. 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:55.040 And I think a lot of times when we're having 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.800 a real proud moment and we feel like, look at me, man, 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:00.479 I actually like, actually showed up for that I did. 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.760 That God is not against me. So I'm like, of 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:07.640 course he's not. Who wouldn't want to be on my team? Like, hey, God, 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:10.279 come work with me. I'm like a first round draft pick. 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:15.200 And then you hit those moments where you go, if 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.960 I were God, I wouldn't want to be on my team, 0:06:17.960 --> 0:06:20.520 I wouldn't want to use me. And not only do 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:22.440 all the Bible heroes have this, but there's one in 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.159 specific that we both love and I use this for 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.960 probably the central character for this mindset in the book, 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:32.120 and it's Gideon. Yes, and the reason I chose Gideon. 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:36.000 I'm telling you, Brendan, I had a moment writing these 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:39.000 chapters about Gideon that I will never be able to 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.760 share with anyone because it was so powerful from God 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.160 to me. And I've read the story of Gideon, preached 0:06:45.160 --> 0:06:47.599 the story of Gideon all the way from the Lavigne 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.840 Senior Center, when we had eighty people in the room. 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:53.000 I'm up there talking about Gideon and his army of 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.479 three hundred and we don't have what we think we need, 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:57.240 but if we have God, we're a majority. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:57.480 Right. 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:00.600 And yet the personal message of it was when I 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:04.719 saw Gideon in a wine press threshing wheat, which represents 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:05.960 us kind of in. 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.360 Hiding in the caged life. 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:12.360 And so he's caged in this oppression of the Midianites, 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.200 and how they've spent all of these years being subdued 0:07:16.240 --> 0:07:19.320 by these people, and he's come to believe these things 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.640 about himself. I'm the littlest, I'm the least, my tribe 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.680 is the smallest. All of these things that he begins 0:07:25.720 --> 0:07:28.760 to believe. Right, the Angel of the Lord comes and says, 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:31.360 the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.000 And he says, if the Lord is with us, why 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:35.360 has all this happened to us? 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.360 And I won't repreach the whole story, but what the 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.880 Lord said to Gideon that was so powerful to me 0:07:41.160 --> 0:07:46.440 was go in the strength you have love that, because 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.760 it hit me in that moment that the strength Gideon 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:55.680 had was God and he's so focused on I'm the littlest, 0:07:56.040 --> 0:07:57.440 I'm the least, and you may be too. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.760 I do it all the time, the best singer. 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:04.320 I'm not the smartest person to take a Bible text apart. 0:08:04.520 --> 0:08:06.840 I'm not really even good with geography, and here I 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.880 am trying to talk about Midian and Gideon and Israel, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.800 and I can barely find where I live on a map. Sometimes, 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:15.760 if I stay stuck in that and don't get into 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:20.080 the mindset God is in it with me, working through me, 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.440 fighting for me, then my strength is always limited to 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:28.920 my situation. My strength is always limited to my skill set. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.800 The moment that I realize go in the strength you 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:38.360 have is a command to tap into God himself, then 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:41.200 it becomes unlimited what God can do through me. Why 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.000 I put three different things behind God is not against me? 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:46.680 Is it isn't just God is not against me so 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.200 I can buy a Lamborghini. Now. He wants to work 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.800 through me for others, for something bigger than me. He's 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.640 fighting for me, not just fighting against the people I 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:58.520 don't like because I don't like them. He's fighting for 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:01.120 his purposes. He's fighting the make sure that I can 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:03.880 do everything I need to do, and he's in it 0:09:03.920 --> 0:09:04.240 with me. 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:06.720 Even before I change. 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:10.680 He calls me strong and courageous when I don't feel 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:13.640 like I am. Yes, So let's talk about separating your 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:17.840 confidence from your feelings, because that can be so dangerous. 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.079 Yeah, I imagine when you think about Gideon, you imagine 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.080 him in this wine press, and I'll give you this 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:24.800 framework for what's going on in his head. 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.680 Maybe because we trap ourselves a lot. 0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.120 And I always use this metaphor, we zap our success, 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:35.120 which means it's just an acronym, zap we zap our success. 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:36.720 And you'll notice your thoughts to do this. 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.520 You have momentum, you feel good, and then zap it 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.040 disappears because you're like, what happened to my confidence? 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:42.880 What's wrong with me? 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:47.400 What happens with zap is zap z sent for zoom. 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:53.000 We zoom in to a problem, and we catastrophize. We 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:56.280 zoom in and we worry if I take action, I'll 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.800 be ruined, I'll be rejected, i won't be able to 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.960 hand the responsibility, or I'll regret it. So I'm just 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.160 gonna stay right here in this winepress, because if I 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:06.120 go out there, I'm gonna get killed. 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:07.880 I'm gonna slow you down and give us the four 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:10.280 rs again because I think those are very big. 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:11.360 Will you do them again? Yeah? 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.760 Are four primary big fears that prevent action. The first 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:17.280 one is ruin, which we just believe if I do 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.439 something that's going to ruin my reputation, that's going to 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:24.319 ruin my opportunities, that's going to ruin my ability to 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.760 get ahead. Then we go, oh, well, I'm worried if 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:31.679 I take action, people will reject me. I'll be ostracized, 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:36.080 I'll be abandoned. They won't understand. Then we fear responsibility, 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:38.440 which is the one most people forget. It's like we're 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:42.679 scared of more responsibility. If you get that responsibility, I'm 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:44.760 not to be able to handle it. I don't know 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:47.679 if myself. I mean, I'll burn out, I'll freak out. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.400 I'll have too much anxiety and stress. I don't want 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.600 the responsibilities. It's too much to bear. And then we 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.040 fear a regret. Well, if I do take action and 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:59.080 it doesn't go well, I'll always regret I made that 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:01.600 decision to trust her. I'll always regret I made that 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:05.520 decision to try that thing. I'll always regret and that's 0:11:05.640 --> 0:11:08.520 the form of catastrophizing that we have in a problem. 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:11.120 We just zoom in. Oh my gosh, there's gonna be ruined, 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.400 there's gonna be rejection. I can't handle it, and I'll 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.319 regret it forever. Why would you take action after that? 0:11:16.880 --> 0:11:20.959 And then a is we attach ourself to it. This 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:25.840 problem is me. This circumstance that I don't like is me. 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:29.760 I'm the problem. I'm the same. We make our psychology 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.199 the same as the problem, and we forget that our 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.679 personhood is bigger than the problem, and that the problem 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:40.720 is not permanent. The problem is placed there to challenge 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.319 us to rise above it. And then the p what 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.680 we do is so we've zoomed in and catastrophized. We've 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.480 attached ourselves to it, so we feel insecure, and now 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:57.160 we procrastinate or we pause or we punish. 0:11:57.400 --> 0:12:00.280 What that means is we say, oh, well, I just. 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.360 Want to do it, because you know, we start telling 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.760 ourselves all these stories about why we're procrastinating, Well, I 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.719 don't have enough resources, or this is going on or 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:07.360 that's going on. 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.800 Then we punish ourselves. 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:15.520 It's weird, like we're scared because we've catastrophised and we 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.200 don't feel enough. So now we do all these weird 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.600 things to punish ourselves. We overeat, we get addicted, We 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.520 turn to video games all day long. 0:12:23.720 --> 0:12:26.040 Nothing against video against but all day long, you know. 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:28.319 We go into social media and we scroll because we're 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:32.000 uncomfortable and we're doing these behaviors that are not moving 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.360 anything forward. And like we talked about previous sessions, you 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.880 have to learn to flip that thing. Instead of zooming 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.520 in and catastrophizing, we zoom in. 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:42.640 We ask what if? 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:46.600 What if God actually has my back here and I 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:50.560 am being challenged to grow into more of his glory. 0:12:51.559 --> 0:12:56.040 What if instead of you know, attaching myself to it, 0:12:56.160 --> 0:13:01.920 I attach spirit to it. Instead of taking it personally, 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.880 what if I recognize it's part of the world and 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:08.480 it's part of a plan that I don't understand, And 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:12.080 instead of pausing, then I kind of power up in 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.040 his faith and I power up and I go, Okay, 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.880 I know that I have been given these tools. I've 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.760 been given his faith, his words, And he said, did 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:27.080 I not command you? And so he's saying, did I 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.160 not command you? This is in front of your life. 0:13:29.160 --> 0:13:32.320 You didn't want it there, but I put it there, yeah, 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.160 and then you have to go, oh, and it gives 0:13:34.160 --> 0:13:36.840 you a different edge. And this is what you always 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:38.839 have to realize when you're facing a problem in life, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.760 and when you're thinking about this, you know, is God 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.600 fighting for me or not? If you believe God is 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.160 fighting for you, have an edge, just like when you 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.959 were sitting in the car wondering are my pants too tight? 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:52.280 Am I going to do a good job in the 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:56.599 sermon today? What's happening there is You're going to insecurity? 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.160 Yeah? 0:13:58.200 --> 0:13:59.559 And I always want you to hear it's like, am 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.120 I feeling insecure about something? Or do I feel the edge? 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.480 The edge is like a forward lean. It's a confidence. 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:09.600 And the funny thing, it's the same it's the same acronym. 0:14:09.720 --> 0:14:10.400 It's still ZAP. 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:12.960 But now I'm I'm zooming into the opportunity. 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:17.000 Okay, all right, this is what I wanted you to get. 0:14:17.120 --> 0:14:22.000 This level of We're talking about ancient warrior in a 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:24.920 wine press. It takes some jars and read Judge A 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.880 six and he goes and defeats Midianites. I'm really really 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.960 just trying to pay this rent, bro, Like I'm really 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.080 really just trying to get my kid back off drugs 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.920 and doing good in school. Like I'm really just trying 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:39.800 to recover from this miscarriage. 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:44.360 I don't I like the story. I believe that, Yeah, 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:45.000 I believe it. 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:51.440 But how we always used to say Holly's thing was hallelujah? Now, 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.840 how like praise the Lord He's with me? Now? 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:56.840 How do I have him with me? 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:59.680 Because I can't see him, I can't always feel him. 0:15:00.160 --> 0:15:01.560 This is a tool, Zach. 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:04.840 It's a tool for me to know what's happening when 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.440 I'm shrinking myself, because I used to think that when 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:13.600 I shrink myself that magnifies God. You know, I grew 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.840 up in a great little Methodist church, and I went 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.360 to a Baptist church to learn how to do ministry, 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.320 and then I went to seminary, and none of. 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:22.560 My professors taught me this. 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:25.840 They all taught me well, I'm sure that the things 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:28.360 they said were good. But somehow I got the message 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:34.080 that in order for God to be great, I almost 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:40.080 had to make myself little and less. And my feeling 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.320 about that has changed over the years. And I'll tell 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:44.600 you what it is. It's not that, oh I think 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:46.560 I can do it without God. Because I know now 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.080 more than ever, if he doesn't show up, I'm done. 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:54.040 Is that I realized that the children that God has 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:57.480 given me to raise, Elijah, Graham and Abbey, the woman 0:15:57.520 --> 0:15:59.160 that God has given me to love Holly, the. 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:01.240 Church that God has pastor. 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.040 They don't need me in the wine press of all 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:08.680 my reasons why I'm not good enough. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:09.720 And the same is true. 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.120 Of the people in your life when you think, oh, 0:16:12.240 --> 0:16:15.880 beating up on myself is kind of like giving God 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:19.360 glory because I know that He's holy and I'm not holy. 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:23.360 But didn't he make you holy? Isn't that why Jesus died? 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.960 If you want to zoom zoom into the. 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.080 Cross and see how he paid the price for you, 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:31.080 Now zoom back out from that. 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.120 Who would he die for? That he would not fight for? 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:40.400 So now I know that any situation I find myself in, 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.920 I already have evidence. I don't need another evidence. I 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.680 already have evidence because I believe God sent his son 0:16:47.760 --> 0:16:50.120 to die for me. And that may not be your belief. 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.440 Right now, I'm just telling you where my confidence is. 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:56.240 It's in the Cross. It's in the fact that after 0:16:56.280 --> 0:17:00.480 he died he rose again. So now if he went 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.800 down into the grave for me. What situation will he 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:06.199 not get in with me? 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:06.960 Right now? 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:09.600 You're telling me God won't be with me through a 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.280 divorce when he went to the grave. You're telling me 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.399 God won't be with me through a bankruptcy when he 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:16.800 went to the grave. You're telling me God won't get 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:20.000 in the middle of my insecurity and the trauma that 0:17:20.040 --> 0:17:22.400 I went through and helped me heal through that and 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.800 then turn around and work through me so I can 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:28.400 be a healer of others, so we can give glory 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:31.880 to God together. That's what he's all about. That's what 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.120 I mean. He's in it with me. That's what I mean. 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:36.760 He's working through me. That's what I mean. He's fighting 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:40.280 for me. But you don't see any of that if 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:45.159 you're zap. I listen to acronyms like most people eat candy. 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:47.720 I'm like hogging into the acronym and we just. 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:49.760 Did so much and it's all going to be right 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.679 here for you to go back and revisit and go 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:54.800 what was that? Or again, what am I doing right now? 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.480 Which one am I at right now? Or when I'm attaching, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.240 I'm attaching what if you'll go through it slowly, and 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.480 I want to encourage you go back through this masterclass, 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:06.800 go back through the ones that you haven't watched yet, 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.000 get into this truth, and get this truth into you 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.879 because it gives you a way to tap into the 0:18:13.920 --> 0:18:19.000 strength that you have. You have no idea what resource 0:18:19.080 --> 0:18:22.440 is available to you through your relationship with God when 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:27.280 you are accomplishing His purpose. Now, I want to bring 0:18:27.359 --> 0:18:29.159 up another thing that might be a little difficult to 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:33.160 talk about. Maybe if I feel like God is against me, 0:18:34.800 --> 0:18:38.160 it's because I'm going in the wrong direction. There will 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:41.480 be times in my life where I'll feel like, man, 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.400 God is against me, and it may just be He's 0:18:44.400 --> 0:18:46.960 closing a door to something because it's what I want, 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.679 not what he wants. And we have to be so 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:55.639 careful in those moments not to mistake the circumstances that 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:58.159 are not favorable for the absence of God. I've always 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.960 liked to say that the presence of problems doesn't prove 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:04.440 the absence of God, right, And so now we want 0:19:04.480 --> 0:19:10.280 to get into what I call non circumstantial confidence, where 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:13.080 we can just know that this is always true, God 0:19:13.160 --> 0:19:14.119 is in it with me. 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.600 What's it fill in the boything? 0:19:16.880 --> 0:19:19.879 Yeah, yeah, I think it's so important because you mentioned 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.240 earlier about how some people you know, minimize themselves or 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:26.000 shrink themselves. And you know, a lot of my audience 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:28.359 have never heard me speak a whole lot about my faith. 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.000 Have been telling my car accident story where I found 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:35.320 my connection with God. But I often have to tell 0:19:35.320 --> 0:19:39.520 my friends of faith there's a difference between being receptive 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:42.679 of his word and the idea that he might be 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:47.720 powerful and responsibility. You can be recept you can be receptive, 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.959 or it can be responsible. And I think you have 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:53.400 to know there's a spectrum there right. Some people are 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.600 very receptive, but they're very passive, and some other people 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:01.760 are receptive, but their response and what I always got 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:04.160 from Gideon, and this was a turning point, I think 0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:06.400 in our friendship, at least for me, when you told 0:20:06.440 --> 0:20:07.919 me the story of Gideon. The way you explained it 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:11.040 to me was that you know, no matter what's going 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:16.560 on around you, it still do not be afraid, be 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.520 bold and courageous, yeah, and go in. The strength that 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:21.520