Speaker 1: 0:09

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast brought to you by A Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined again with Pastor Tim and we are in week two of our sermon series, the Benefit of Doubt, and man really enjoying this series, I think, tim, it's having a tremendous impact on so many people in our church. I think the response from week one, as you and I were talking, was just almost overwhelming. How many people were responding to that. I know you had said that you had gotten a few emails after that sermon. I think this is an issue people are dealing with. Then, just this past Sunday again, just how many people are saying man, I am right here in the middle of this thing, and so it's been a great series to just acknowledge man, we all love Jesus. But I still got some doubts. I still have some questions.

Speaker 3: 1:19

And that's important for us to acknowledge and not be ashamed and I think a lot of people do. We read those passages of Scripture where Jesus calls out the doubters. He does it in a very loving way and he doesn't chase anybody away, but he says where's your faith? And we feel like that's a condemnation when we lose our faith in certain situations or we're wondering what God's doing. And it's a very tough situation for people to deal with because there's really heavy things out there. My son-in-law lost one of his best friends. It was his cousin. He's only 44 years old, he's got three kids and now she's all alone with those three kids and it's like god, what are you doing?

Speaker 3: 2:16

yeah, what are you doing and uh I am a survivor of that same situation. My uh mom, my father, died when I was three years old. My mom was stuck with a three-year-old and a five-year-old and all by herself and, like god, what are you doing? What are you doing? And that kind of thing's happening all over the place and it makes you doubt. Lots of people run into. Sorry about that, everybody that's my fault.

Speaker 3: 2:52

And I don't even know how to turn it off. But everybody runs into a situation like that. It's like God, what are you doing? How are we going to navigate from here? Job is probably the best to point to a scripture and say what about your doubts? And that's what Job was doing. He was struggling with his doubt. God, what is going on? I've done everything you told me to do and then you're allowing this to happen to me.

Speaker 2: 3:29

What I love about Job's story is he never doubts God's presence, his is-ness, you know, like God is. That's not even in question for Job. It's. How do I reconcile all that's happened to me with this? And so, yeah, if you've never read the book of Job, I would encourage you to take some time to read it this week. It is, I mean, just the depths of despair that Job walks through, and even the community that comes around him. He's got some guys that show up and it's like a lot of times they're more trouble than they are a help, and then he has to. I mean, he wrestles with God. And God, were you there? Who are you to really show Job? This is who I am. You thought this right. This is who I really am. Such a powerful story.

Speaker 3: 4:24

And those real life situations. Job lost his family this is who I really am. Such a powerful story and those real life situations. Job lost his family, he lost his wealth and then he got sick. He even got sick too. So all those things are happening around us as we speak, as we're having this podcast. It takes faith to confront these different trials in life. We just had that faith, gratitude and hope thing on Saturday, and it takes faith to confront those things. But also, at the same times, those things bring doubt. And Jesus says I'm going to take your faith and we're going to take your doubt and we're going to bring them together. And I'm going to show you a little bit more about who I am.

Speaker 3: 5:17

And he looks at questions as a pathway to intimacy, and that's one of our core values here at A Fresh Wind. Even since we started this thing 18 years ago, we didn't want to shy away from questions. We wanted to jump in and that's who we should be, but as doubt the church grew up.

Speaker 3: 5:42

And this time, in this time period, right now, doubt is the enemy and you should be ashamed of your doubt. And let's not be ridiculous. Doubt is one of the best things we have to navigate this life and without doubt we can get in a lot of trouble. I look at our political situation here in the United States and I'm like where is your doubt? You can't believe all these guys. Come on.

Speaker 2: 6:13

No, no, no, yeah, we'll doubt God's goodness, we'll doubt scripture man. Was there really a worldwide flood? That seems ridiculous. And then a politician gets on TV and we believe everything they say. What does Pat say? How do you know? A politician gets on tv and we believe everything? They say, yeah, um, what does pat say? How do you know politicians is lying? Their mouth is moving, you know, but we're like no, no, no, I trust that guy I think independently.

Speaker 3: 6:32

We all realize what's going on, but when it's our team, right, right, a lot of groups they can yeah, it's it. It's. You know we're, we're the. It's like us browns fans. You know as bad a roster as we have right now we're thinking we might make it to the playoffs.

Speaker 2: 6:49

This could be the year.

Speaker 3: 6:51

It's just come on, guys. We've got to give up on that, and when you have a doubt, you need to explore it. Are they telling me the truth? Am I being hoodwinked here? At the stoplight you were telling me that story. A lady ran that red light and what it got you, guys, if your wife wouldn't have doubted that she was going to stop or not?

Speaker 2: 7:17

I mean, yeah, if she just had faith. My green light means go, her red light means stop. I'm not sure I'd be sitting here, because that lady went through that light doing 50, 60, 70 miles an hour, didn't even look. So thank God for Joy, who normally doesn't drive, If I was driving let's just say this story would probably be different.

Speaker 3: 7:40

Well, I want to tell a story that Teresa reminded me of, that happened to us and because there's a lot of little nuances to the story.

Speaker 3: 7:45

We were out in Alaska and we went to hike this trail that goes up on top of this one mountain and there's a saddle that runs from this mountain to another mountain peak and we wanted to cross over the top of that peak and there was a place where you could sit and see the ocean and the town underneath. It was in Ketchikan, alaska, which is an island, and so we drove out there and as we're going back, this dirt road heading toward the, the parking area, about a half mile from the parking area, we're driving along and there's a little baby bear sitting in the middle of the road, just sitting there cutest thing. And um, first thing, uh, teresa did. She goes, oh, and then she looked at me and says where's the mama? Because Teresa has a bear thing. She's's been trying to figure out the whole. What do you do if a black bear attacks you? And what do you do if a grizzly attacks you? And what do you do if a polar bear? It's the run, fight, play dead. What do I do?

Speaker 2: 8:56

Yeah, you know I've been trying. Every vacation I go on I'm trying to find bears out in the wild. I love finding animals in their natural habitat, not at the wild. I love finding animals in their natural habitat, not at the zoo. So I've been to, like Tennessee, the Smoky Mountain area now a few times and I'm always looking for bears. I've still not seen one man. We've run into cabin one time and I was leaving food outside Like y'all come on and no nothing.

Speaker 3: 9:18

Well, if you want to see bears go to Ketchikan, they're all over the place. So, matter of fact, they got a bridge you can go out to and they come out in the evening and pick up the salmon that have flopped ashore and, getting everybody's garbage cans, you can get all the bear watching you want there.

Speaker 3: 9:36

But we, so we, this thing runs off into the grass and we drive on down and then there's our parking area and we're like that's not too far from where that baby bear was, you know where's mama. And so we decided to hike anyway. So we, we, we started hiking up this trail and it's a big, long climb and we get to that saddle. And it is, get to that saddle, um, and it is, I mean, in some sections it was maybe two foot across. It just was a complete drop off on one side, a complete drop off on the other, and I would say it's about 150 yards, maybe 200 yards long and there's just a narrow path.

Speaker 3: 10:24

It's a good path, it's a solid path, just right down the top of that saddle till you get to that other mountain. Then you got to climb back up and over the other side. So, uh, right away we were comfortable. So we started out, uh, walking across that saddle and it's like, wow, it's scary up here, you know, and the wind's blowing a little bit, but we're hiking on and we're not really thinking, we don't have any doubt, we're completely confident.

Speaker 3: 10:53

And then um, we're coming through, uh, where it it's about three foot wide most of the time, and then it narrows down a few times and um narrows down a few times and um, at a place where it narrowed, teresa broke her hiking pole she had two and one snapped on her and she sat down right away and we had this um, come to Jesus moment, you know, and she's like I just realized where I am.

Speaker 3: 11:28

You know, I'm walking down this thing just as confident and I broke my pole and I could have went over and I just realized where we are, and so we were stuck two thirds the way across this span, stuck two-thirds the way across this span and she's like I don't want to go back and I don't want to go forward. And she just had doubt. We were completely confident when we when we started out, but when that pole snapped, part of her support system disappeared and suddenly she didn't have enough to go on. So we sat down there and afraid to go back and afraid to go forward, and we just had a cup of tea just trying to so and we were wondering what are we going to do if someone comes up this trail and wants to get by us? They're going to have to step over us. You know, can you guys move? No, you're to have to step over us.

Speaker 2: 12:24

Can you guys move? No, you're going to have to climb over.

Speaker 3: 12:29

So it was a situation and she brought it up this week and she said sometimes your doubts can paralyze you when you're trying to decide whether that doubt is something good for you that's telling you to stop don't go that way or if doubt is something that's keeping you from moving on. And she said do you remember that time we were up in that saddle on that little cross over to the other mountain and we just got stuck there and I thought, man, what a great situation to bring up when we're talking about doubt.

Speaker 3: 13:09

Because we were stuck. She didn't want to go back, she didn't want to go forward and I was like you know, we're safe here because that bear probably wouldn't come out on this thing you know, that's what I was thinking.

Speaker 3: 13:23

At least we're in a spot where the bear won't come out. And this thing you know that's what I was thinking. At least we're in a spot where the bear won't come out and get us. So who knows, that bear probably ran up and down that thing all day long. But what do you think about that? What do you think about the fact that we're stuck in a spot where our doubts is keeping us from going back and keeping us from going forward?

Speaker 2: 13:41

You know, I think, the providence of God and sometimes how he orchestrates things. You know, I almost wonder if he put you in that spot just for this sermon series, because what an incredible picture of how life works and how doubts come in. And you know, you look off and your mind instantly fills with all these what if? Questions. What if I slip? What if this happens? What if a strong wind gust comes in? What if, what if? What if I slip? What if this happens? What if a strong wind gust comes in? What if, what if, what if, what if? And our doubts do the same thing. Right, and then we get in this spiral of what ifs and, man, you can take that to the bottom. I mean it's almost endless. And man, we get there. I joke with my kids all the time, anytime they start to get worried about something. I heard this old Joyce Meyer quote and she said worry is down payment on a problem you might never have?

Speaker 2: 14:30

Yeah, that's true, and I think with our doubt man, we can get stuck there and we start worry, the anxiety, you know all these, the fear, and it all stems from that moment of doubt which could be good, could be bad, you know, and it all stems from that moment of doubt which could be good, could be bad. Joy's doubt about that lady saved our lives a couple days ago. But then we have that doubt that keeps us stuck. But if we stay here, even though the bear might not come out, we're not safe.

Speaker 3: 15:01

No, we're not safe.

Speaker 2: 15:01

Try falling asleep on that little saddle.

Speaker 2: 15:04

You'll roll right down the side of it you know, if it got dark we would have been in serious trouble and and so now you're in this precarious spot where you know maybe you even you know you feel comfortable for a moment, we, we get to that spot where it's just better here, it's, it's safer here than to move forward or move back. But then your vigilance. You're on edge all the time, watching for the wind, watching for the next step, and you're exhausted, you're drained. There's no life there. And I've got to choose. Do I stand up in faith and move forward, or do I trust that what's behind me was better? But I've got to go one way or the other. I can't stay here. There's no life here. Right? What an incredible illustration for for how doubt comes in and affects us.

Speaker 3: 15:59

Well, let me throw another wrench into the machine here. Um, I was thinking, when I was up on that saddle and we're sitting there, I was thinking if I wouldn't have went to Walmart and bought those crappy poles she normally didn't use that, I use every type of hiking equipment that I can get on my body.

Speaker 2: 16:24

Yeah, you're bringing them all with you.

Speaker 3: 16:27

But she's always had good balance and all that kind of stuff. If that pole wouldn't have broken, we would have marched.

Speaker 3: 16:34

I think we would have marched right across that thing and climbed up and got to the point where we wanted to take pictures and I just thought, man, if I wouldn't have gave her those poles, if that pole wouldn't have broke, she wouldn't have lost confidence and we would have been across this thing already. And so that was uh. And you know, I was like, well, here you can have my pole. And she's like, well, no, then you wouldn't have a pole. You know so, and I want you to have a pole too. I didn't, you know, I don't want to. Uh. So we were stuck up on the up on that thing, all these things running through our head. And now we're talking about doubt in life. What happens when your spiritual mentor falls, or someone in your life dies, or your church fails?

Speaker 3: 17:26

you or you know and suddenly man. I was having this walk of faith and now I feel like I'm all alone out here on this ridge and the thing that I was trusting in is broken. It might be your spouse, or it might be, you know, your sister or your brother and your family that has turned away, or you had confidence in, and then you caught them in the middle of something that you never thought they'd be, involved in and you know it just breaks your confidence.

Speaker 3: 17:58

And then suddenly you look around and say what am I doing out here?

Speaker 2: 18:07

what am I doing out here? Yeah, cause, whether we we know it or not, I mean, I think, unintentionally, as we walk this faith journey, we we kind of pick up some crutches, you know, things that that are helping, hold us up, and sometimes they're not bad things. We need a church family, we need community, um, we want to have strong relationships with our spouse and kids and even our extended family. Like we, we want all those things, um, and they're good when they support you and hold you up. But we can get so dependent on it sometimes that, yeah, one of those things break and next thing we know we're toppling over the side of this saddle, um, wondering what just happened. And I don't think we realize how much sometimes we're leaning on those things. And you know, on Sunday we talked about the story of Peter and the faith that it has For Jesus to say Peter, you have little faith. The dude just got out of the boat and you're like what is he talking? About that's huge faith.

Speaker 2: 19:03

Yeah, which one of us is stepping out of the boat. But man, he was good, he was rock solid and it says that he walked towards Jesus. So it's not like he stepped out of the boat, looked, saw the wind and sank. He was walking, we don't know how long, how far, but he was taking steps in faith towards Jesus. And then he started to sense the winds. He started looking at the waves and, all of a sudden, that crutch of man. I'm leaning on Jesus, I'm trusting him. This is awesome, met with the reality of I'm on the middle of the sea right now. What is happening of the sea right now, what is happening? And now he begins to sink.

Speaker 2: 19:53

When those crutches break, is our faith in Jesus strong enough? Is that what we're leaning on truly? Or have we begun to rely on these other things Because it's going to happen? Right, life is hard. People are fallen and sinful, and so you're going to get let down. Even you and I and I think we are pretty great pastors Even we're going to fail at some times and let you down. We're not going to call you when we said that we'd call you. We're not going to show up when you thought that we would, we would show up that those things are going to happen. And if, if you're leaning so hard on that crutch to to maintain your faith and it goes, if, man, we're, we're building our house on, on saying you know.

Speaker 3: 20:39

Yeah, I think. I think sometimes we think our faith is stronger than it is and when we get out, on the water and start looking around, we realize Whoa I'm?

Speaker 3: 20:52

I'm not where I thought I was you know, and um in uh, Teresa and I's situation up on that mountain um, we knew where we were, but we had confidence in some things around us that were going to hold us up.

Speaker 3: 21:07

And when that confidence went and it wasn't the fact that that one broke and I don't have another one to replace it it's like I can't trust these things at all anymore, you know, even the one that's still working. So I think that's where we get in this pickle when doubt seems to overcome us, and we need to, in those situations, keep our eyes on Jesus and move ahead. I think that's what that story's trying to teach us. But we get excited, we get emotional, and Peter's the whole thing was look what he's doing, I want to do that, let's go, I want to do that. And then he gets out of the boat and he realizes what was I thinking? This is not where I want to be, and the doubt come rushing in, and we see that in our lives as we move forward. I mean, I ran into that truck, I got out there and I thought, man, that is everything I want.

Speaker 3: 22:12

And Teresa was like just get it. Your other truck's falling apart. And I'm like oh man, I can't afford that payment. I can't, and sure enough I bought that. Oh man, I can't afford that payment, I can't, and sure enough I bought that truck and I can't afford that payment.

Speaker 1: 22:24

It's killing me.

Speaker 3: 22:25

It is just it is killing me, you know, and it's like in that situation I should have looked around and retreated instead of going forward, and uh so I don't know, man.

Speaker 2: 22:38

Man, I do like to borrow that truck.

Speaker 3: 22:40

Everybody likes to borrow that truck, but we have a. Definitely have a um decisions, decisions to make. When we get in that situation, is it time to retreat and?

Speaker 3: 22:52

uh I, I told theresa, I said, let's just, it's shorter to go back, let's just go back. And uh, so we, so we went, we went back after our beef, jerky cheese and a cup of tea, and then we said, yeah, we thought about it, let's just go back. And uh, and we did, uh, we retreated and and who knows, that could have been, uh, what God wanted in the first place. Uh, but yeah, we got, we got scared and we stopped, and we stopped in a bad place. And so, if you're in that situation today, call out to Jesus, because he's the one that's going to grab your hand and pull you back to your feet and give you the confidence either to move forward or encourage you to retreat. That's what we're looking for you to do when you doubt.

Speaker 2: 23:41

Because it's easy to think I'm all alone in this. If I express this to my life group, what would they think of me If I brought this up at church? People would question my Christianity, my salvation, my spirituality, my maturity. And so we talk ourselves into this whole thing where I man, I've got to put on the face, I got to have the look, and inside man, we're, we're wrecked by these things.

Speaker 2: 24:11

I, one of the guys that go here, posted on Facebook last night so I'm assuming it's public knowledge because he put it on Facebook. I won't give his name though, just in case, but just talked about how he had lost his dad. I think he said about 10 years ago, and since that moment has you know, had doubts about God's goodness and his faithfulness and just talked about how the sermon on Sunday was like it was for him. He's like man. This is where I've been and we learn to live in that place and we go on like this is normal, I'm supposed to have these things or I'm never going to get past this. Jesus wants you to bring that to him, right, and we're not saying to question when you have doubts, to question it for a lookout, right, job, great example, god, I'm not looking for the out, I'm not trying to disprove your existence, and sometimes we go there, right, culture, society, our college professors, that's where they're going to point you. That's not what we're saying and it's not helpful to point you. That's not what we're saying and it's not helpful. We're saying take a sincere look at those things and bring it back to the Lord.

Speaker 2: 25:26

And when Peter reached out and cried out for help Lord, save me Jesus reached out and grabbed him. He was right there and he will pull you out of those doubts. Um to if you'll just cry out to him, reach out, he's, he is there. And, man, as a church family, we want to be there for you too. Um, when you have those things, uh, I had a guy come up to me and I mean, just crushed by some past church hurt and it. I think he didn't tell me what church it was at, but a different church that he had attended. Um, you know just all this stuff going on in his life, and he felt like man, nobody was there for me. I was going to this church and nobody was there for me.

Speaker 2: 26:11

We can't be all things to all people, right, um, and the reality of life is. Even our church is limited by the people time resources that we have, right, but we can pray and we can do our best to support you. We want to be the Aaron and Her that are helping to hold up your arms so that when you get tired, you've got people here in your wing supporting you, praying for you, cheering you on in your wing, supporting you, praying for you, cheering you on, giving you the guidance, pointing you back to Jesus. At that day of faith, gratitude and hope talked about those guys who carried their buddy, who had been paralyzed, to Jesus. We want to be the kind of people who carry you towards Jesus, not pull you away. And so we're here and this is a safe spot for you to wrestle with those doubts and with those questions and, and I believe, if you do that sincerely yeah, pursuing God's truth and his goodness in those things you'll find that he's faithful.

Speaker 3: 27:11

And I think a lot of times, um, when we, when we're reaching out for people to lean on, we're like the person who's drowning and the lifeguard gets up to them and they just go crazy and climb up on his head. When we were studying, I was a lifeguard in my younger years and as I was taking my test you know they would say this is what's going to happen as soon as they see you.

Speaker 3: 27:46

If you get close to them without talking to them, they will drown you, they'll crawl up on your head and they'll they'll just pull you under and you'll you'll both die. You need to stop while they're drowning and say, hey, hey, this is what I'm going to do.

Speaker 3: 28:05

Um you're going to have to let me do it and, um, and if they don't respond, they teach you to go underwater, grab them by the feet and pull them under and then lock them in your hold Good night feet. And pull them under and then lock them in your hold and then pull them because they're flailing away and you're and you're both in danger. And uh, sometimes we, um, when we're looking for someone to bail us out, you know we do that we try to crawl up on top of their heads and and uh, and people, people get leery of that. You know how do, how do I deal with this person? You know, um, and and people are heavy and and when we, when we're in doubt and we're struggling, um, sometimes we're going to have to to learn to swim a little bit to help the, to help the person who's trying to help us. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 28:59

And that's um, that's something a lot of people who are really hurt and don't want to hear, but they know it's the truth. It's just getting them to realize it in their panic. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:16

It's easy as soon as the help comes along. Man, yeah, I'm so tired of this fight and I've been drowning and struggling. Right, just take me right yeah, and that's.

Speaker 2: 29:25

You know, that's what I had. I told that guy. I was like man, we're we, we want to help you and we'll do whatever we can when someone in our church is hurting. We want to be the kind of people to do whatever we can. Same time, we're limited to you know, um, but we, we want to be that place where you can come and you can bring those questions and, and if we can't do anything, what we'll do is we'll, we'll pray and we're going to point you to Jesus and we'll try to walk through the best way that we can. You know, and that's that's so powerful to have a community that does that. Cause, if, outside of the church, where do you get that? Um, you go to other people with doubts and questions and, man, they, our culture, will quickly pull you into, you know, definitely away from the Lord, but into this, um, um, individualizing, where I can't see anything but myself, and it'll suck you inside and I'm telling you there's no life there. That's sitting on the on the Ridge there stuck.

Speaker 3: 30:25

Right, Because you lost that thing that might've supported you. And now you're looking on both sides of the Ridge saying that you know, I I need help. Someone's got to get me out of here. Teresa and I, we had to get up and walk out, and that's the scariest thing, because you're going to go and you're going to say why did God let this happen to me? Why did God? You know, that's what the doubt is. Is God good? Why would he do this to me? This doesn't make sense. You know, sometimes, when we're rebellious and we've been bad and we automatically think that well, I deserve this.

Speaker 3: 31:04

You know I, if I was god, this is what I would do to me. But other times you're, you're like what is going on, god? And you're going to let this happen to me. And you're going to go to your support team, you're going to go to your church, you're going to go to your pastors, you're going to go to your and you're going to go to your support team. You're going to go to your church, you're going to go to your pastors, you're going to go to your life group. You're going to go to your friends and say why has this happened to me? And you know what they're going to say. I don't know.

Speaker 3: 31:32

And so when you're in that, somebody tell me something that I can grab a hold of. And you're stuck in that I don't know what's going on. I don't know why this happened. I don't know why he did that to you. I don't know why she left. I don't know why I don't. I don't know why, but I, I know who you can reach out to, and that's what we need. Even when we're angry with him for what has happened, he's the guy you should be reaching for Now.

Speaker 3: 32:02

It's just like that lifeguard who pulls you under, you know and then he wraps his arm around your chest and he gets complete control of you. And then you both climb up out of the water and he says to you okay, I'm going to swim and you're going gonna be on my hip, don't fight me or you'll lose, because I'm just gonna take you back down under the water again. And uh, and what's happening there is your life is being saved and you're in a battle with the one who wants to save your life, and that that is um, that is the Christian walk. Right there. We're going to have to learn. We're going to have to learn that this guy's got his arms wrapped around me.

Speaker 3: 32:47

I, you know, I'm struggling, I'm scared. I, you know, I want more than him, taking one little paddle at a time, one little kick at a time. You know, I want out. Get me out, right, right, but we have to. That's how we build our faith, even when we don't trust him, even when we think you know God, you're the one who let this happen to me in the first place. He's the one that's going to swim you out. And are you going to make that decision? Or are you just going to say, no, I got, I got this, and um, and leave yourself out there by yourself. And the lord's always. He's always like I'm.

Speaker 3: 33:29

I'm gonna come get you um but it's gonna be a battle right and uh, just relax, just relax, just relax into me and I can get you out of this. And it's tough on us. I think it's tough especially in our culture, where we got to do something to fix this and everything we do doesn't fix it Right.

Speaker 2: 33:53

I said on Sunday that we're intentionally or not, we're building our faith, building our trust on something. And we can try to build it on some philosophy, some idea, our cultural or religious upbringing, all those things, or we can choose to build it on scripture. Jesus said my word is truth. He said I am the way, the truth, the life, and so you can choose to build it on him. And, yes, that takes faith, but you're putting your faith in this other thing to hold you up to. And so today I want to give you some, maybe some practical tools to help you navigate doubt with confidence. When I'm in that moment, when I'm up on that ridge or on that saddle and I got to walk out of this thing, I got to stand up and make a move. How do I do that with confidence? I think number one we've been saying in this series you got to acknowledge your doubts.

Speaker 3: 34:51

I think that's the most important thing. A lot of times we try to. A lot of times we try to. Our faith is strong in God, but when we have doubts we try to outrun them. Yeah, or to just like I'm going to put my head down and just go forward.

Speaker 2: 35:13

No, god, we need to deal. And I briefly talked about the father of that boy who was possessed by a demon. He brings him to Jesus and he says I do believe. Help my unbelief. You're like? Well, hold on. I thought you just said he came to that point where he acknowledges those things and he says God, I do believe, but I need you to help my unbelief. So, acknowledge those things, bring them to the Lord. The whole point of the sermon on Sunday was God can handle your doubts, he's not afraid of them. Yeah, acknowledge those things and then next seek knowledge.

Speaker 2: 35:45

I talked about how do we, how do we build a support system? We do it through that old song, the B I B L E. This is the book for me. I stand upon the word of God. That's what we do. The problem, as I talked about on Sunday, is we all come with our own lenses and biases and filters, and so I challenge people on Sunday approach scripture through the lens of God's love. God is love. So everything he does in your life, even when it's pulling you under the water because you're trying to climb on top and fight against him, is love. He does it because he's love and because he loves you. And so when you reach you know this passage of Peter Peter you have a little faith. Why did you doubt? When you read that, not as condemnation, not as disappointment, but as love, it changes the whole thing. And could it be that God, when he looks at you and says man why'd you doubt?

Speaker 2: 36:41

me. He's not doing it like your disappointed coach who wonders how many times he's going to have to teach you to swing that golf club. Why are you still doing it wrong? But he's doing it because he loves you.

Speaker 3: 36:54

And another thing is that we live in a Christian community. There's nothing happening to you that hasn't happened to someone else. That's right, and you need to look out there. Focus on the family, the gospel coalition. There's people out there. There's divorce groups, there's AA groups that focus on scripture and they're out there. They're dealing with the same thing that you're dealing with, and sometimes, when you seek knowledge, you need to seek it from someone who's been in that pit and climbed out the other side and said Jesus pulled me through. That's the person you need to talk to. I remember when um, my nephew, passed away zach and um sharon, um shimmy that's shimmy in our church her name got changed when my son was born, because he couldn't say sharon, so he called her shimmy.

Speaker 3: 37:51

And she says I'm taking it. That's my name from now on. I never liked sharon, so we call her Shimmy. But she kept asking Lord, how am I going to live? I can't live, I can't breathe. And she kept walking, and struggling, and walking and struggling, and now when someone loses their kid, she's the first one to call them. We have a community of faith that people have been through. God has led them through some things which we all experienced on Saturday when we came to the faith, gratitude and hope.

Speaker 3: 38:30

What? Are we calling that Conference. Event. Conference.

Speaker 2: 38:35

Yeah Conference, who knows? Yeah conference of day meeting conference of men meeting.

Speaker 3: 38:40

Yeah, it was great to see how God was faithful in these people's lives. And when you're doubting, you want to seek that. Seek not just the knowledge in the scriptures but also seek people who have experienced the same thing and has made it out on the other end.

Speaker 2: 39:00

Yeah, and I would say that's, you know, kind of another one of those things we need to engage in community. Paul actually wrote to the Corinthians and he says that God comforts us so that we can comfort others in their time of need. And so you might be wondering, man, why am I going through this? And I just remember, as Ravonda was, you know, got her diagnosis and was coming to terms with with that reality, I had spoke to her or her and Scott I don't know if it was on the phone or if they came into the church. I think they came into the church, we had a meeting, um, but you just said, I know that God has me in this, for for a reason, in the whole event that happened on Saturday was her saying we want to provide comfort and encouragement to others.

Speaker 2: 39:44

That God has brought us through this and they started planning that event and had that idea long before they knew what the outcome was going to be for her. So, whether or not this ends the way that we hope it does, we're still planning this event because we know that God wants to use us to bring hope and comfort to other people.

Speaker 2: 40:04

And man, we need to engage in that kind of community and, like I said, there's all kinds of community out there. Most of them are going to pull you away. You want to engage with the community that's going to pull you and even like those guys who picked up their paralytic friend on that mat and carry you towards Jesus when you can't even get yourself up off the floor.

Speaker 3: 40:26

You know what you mentioned the guy in Mark 9 who said I do believe, help my unbelief. I think we discredit him because he knew these disciples were casting out demons and he believed. And he brought his son to the disciples and they couldn't do it. And so it was like that pole breaking. No, I'm where I'm supposed to be, I'm doing what I think I'm supposed to be doing, but, man, that pole has broken. And they bring him to Jesus and he says to Jesus, if you can, will you heal my son? And Jesus says, if you can. And he says everything is possible for the one who believes, believes in who believes in jesus, everything is possible. And uh, and he says, you know, I did believe, I did believe. And he reaches back to grab a hold of that. You know, I brought my son here because I believed. I'm not completely, you didn't. You didn't chase me down, I chased you down, right. I brought my son here because I did believe, but help my unbelief. You know there was a failure there. I, I do believe, but I'm struggling. Help my unbelief.

Speaker 3: 42:00

And that you know, when I was talking about Thomas in the opening of this series, I was like I want to give some credit to his doubt. I want to dignify it. And this guy, I want to dignify his doubt too. He brought him to the disciples. It didn't happen, you know, but he brought him, you know. So let's dignify that a little bit for that guy, because that's probably where you are and you need to reflect on the past, on the past, your past faith, what things have brought you through to this point, and that's one of the practical steps for navigating doubt. Remember you had faith when someone else was going through what you were going through, and it wasn't you. You led them to faith that it would work out. You had faith. So recall moments of your own faith is probably the number one step.

Speaker 2: 43:04

Well, and what that does is, when we look back in those moments of faith that we had, what we find is God's faithfulness, because there has been seasons of your life when you thought I can't get through this, I can't breathe, I don't know how to go forward, I don't know what my next step is. And now you're five, 10, 15 years down the road. Well, you did something, you got through it. God didn't leave you then. He didn't fail you then. He's not going to fail you now. And I know this is new and I know the scenery isn't what you thought. And you're looked up and you're like whoa, how did I get on this saddle and why am I standing here Right? But he didn't fail you before.

Speaker 2: 43:49

He's not going to start today. You know I joke with joy all the time. She doesn't think it's funny, but I do Anytime she tells me I'm wrong. I was like you think. I picked a random Tuesday to be wrong for the first time. If I'm going to be wrong, I'm going to pick a special day. I'm just going to do it on Tuesday. You think God's going to fail you. Now he just all of a sudden today decided I'm done with this whole God thing. No, he has been faithful over and over and over again and when we look back on those moments we can see man. He was with me there. He was with me in the fire. He was with me in the valley. He was with me up on that ridge.

Speaker 2: 44:28

He's always been there and we kind of have that moment, like Jacob had, when we look up and say, man, surely the Lord is in this place and I was unaware.

Speaker 3: 44:38

Yeah, when we acknowledge our doubts, we should probably write them down journal that you know, so we can look back and say you know, the Lord led me through this and now this thing happens, even though it seems a whole lot bigger. He led me through that, he can lead me through this.

Speaker 2: 44:57

Yeah, and I think the final one that we'll we'll leave you with and I'm going to try to wrap us up here, cause we went real long last week, so give you a little bit of a reprise, and our wives are going to be like no, it was still too long, um, but I want to encourage you don't discredit this one. We need to. We need to pray, um, don't give up on prayer, and even when you feel like it's I don't know, this is working. This is the last resort. Keep bringing those things to prayer. Paul said cast all of your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you. That's the kind of God he is. So keep bringing those things to him. And I know you've prayed about it a hundred times and I know you don't feel like it's working Keep bringing it to them, as when we pray and I've done a whole series on this, so I don't want to talk about it all here but, man, we don't realize all that we acknowledge when we say, when we begin to pray, because when I do that, I'm saying there is a God in heaven.

Speaker 2: 45:58

I acknowledge that I'm saying there is a God in heaven. I acknowledge that and I believe that that God hears my prayer, how powerful. And not only does he hear me, but I believe that the God of the universe, who keeps the earth in motion and is still to this day expanding the galaxy, he cares enough to listen to me and that he's powerful enough to act. Every time you pray, you're doing those four things, and how powerful. That's why the devil tries to convince us all the time that prayer is ineffective, because there is so much power every time we go to the Lord in prayer. So keep bringing those things to him, god, I believe, but help my unbelief. Help me in this moment. God, I need you to move. I need you to show up. Keep coming to him in prayer.

Speaker 3: 46:48

And be honest, god, I know you're good, but it doesn't feel like it. And just keep bringing those honest thoughts. God doesn't want you to come and lay some platitudes on them and you try to convince him to do something for you. He wants your honest, heartfelt prayer.

Speaker 2: 47:09

Read the Psalms Right Watch David wrestle with that Hopefully he did your homework last week of the psalmist who was saying God man, I look out and I see all this going on. Are you paying attention?

Speaker 3: 47:22

Right, I love that Psalm 73, isn't it yeah?

Speaker 2: 47:26

Be honest with them. God knows what you're feeling anyway, it's not like you're keeping it from them. But, man, bring those things to them and I believe that as you do that, you're going to learn that he is faithful even when we are faithless, that he is good, that he is love, that his word is truth. And if you keep doing that, he's going to reach out, he's going to grab a hold of you and I love how the CSB says he caught hold of them. He's going to catch hold of you and he's going to walk you to sure footing. Catch hold of you and, uh, man, he's going to walk you to sure footing, um, and so, pastor Tim, will you pray for us?

Speaker 3: 48:10

Father, I want to thank you for this study, um, because I I think our doubt needs to be dignified and not just swept into the corner. And, uh, father, I pray for all your people who have doubts and are letting those doubts pull them away from you, looking for an answer other than you. And, lord, I pray that you'll lead them to reach out to you so that you can grab a hold of them. Grab a hold of them, and I know, lord, that, uh, a lot of them are drowning and, um, you're just out of reach from them and they're in a panic and they're like, lord, do something. And, uh, you're talking to them quietly.

Speaker 3: 48:52

I am going to do something, um, but I'm it might be a little tough and the way out is going to be, uh, a rough ride. And, uh, I just, I just want you to know I'm going to love you through this, even though it might be tough. Lord, I pray that we'll embrace that and, uh, and we'll let you put your arms around us and swim us out of the mess that we're in. Lord, I know that a lot of life has nothing to do with us how we live, what we do. It's just, things happen in a fallen world and it crushes us.

Speaker 3: 49:36

But, lord, I want you to reach out to your people, grab a hold of them and give them that life-saving word and bring them back closer to you through their doubt, not in spite of, but through it. In Jesus' name amen.

Speaker 1: 49:55

Amen. Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. Amen, offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ. Simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.