09/10/2019 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 6:1-7:25, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33, Psalms 54:1-7, Proverbs 23:1-3

Today is the 10th day of September. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian and it is a great day to be together around the global campfire with you. And, so, we just exhale, right? We just roll our shoulders and twist our neck just exhale. These moments here are sacred moments that we come in out of whatever is going on and we just have a safe place to be together. And, so, in my mind anyway, that’s where the global campfire came from. There’s just a fire, we’re here, we’re peaceful, we have this space. Whatever is swirling around in our lives it’ll still be there, but we have this oasis to allow God’s word to wash over us and into our lives. And, so, let’s just take a deep breath and let it go and take the next step forward. We’re reading this week from the English Standard Version and working our way into the book of Isaiah. Today we’ll read chapters 6 and 7.

Commentary:

Okay. There’s some really, really good stuff for us in the Scriptures today, some stuff for us to really take to heart. So, there were two stories that we encountered today, one in Psalms and one in second Corinthians that both kind of boil down to the same thing and that is that life…like isn’t always easy and a lot of life is spent problem-solving, right, facing opposition and resistance and enduring through it.

So, in our Psalm today, which happens to be Psalm 54, David had been running for his life from King Saul’s assassins and King Saul himself, but someone had told the king where he was. So, he was in this life or death situation, everything was opposing him from basically every side, everything was a slog. He was running for his life. Everything was resistance. He was trying to stay alive, which makes his prayer pretty clear. “Come with Your great power oh God, rescue me, defend me with Your might, listen to me, pay attention to me, right? Strangers are attacking me. Violent people are trying to kill me. They don’t care anything about You.” So, that makes that Psalm very clearly when we understand where it’s coming from. David is not having an easy time at all.

And then in second Corinthians we start this boasting that we talked about yesterday. Paul feels like he’s been undermined by people who are trying to validate themselves through association with the “super apostles”, but what they were teaching was a little bit different than what Paul was teaching. And, so, he’s in this position where, you know, there looking at Paul going, “well…these guys walked with Jesus., these are “super apostles”. So, Paul now has to validate himself. And, so, he’s like, “are they Hebrews? I’m a Hebrew. Are they Israelites? I am too. Are they a descendent of Abraham? I am too. Are they a servant of Christ?” And then he’s like, “I know this sounds like I’m crazy, but I served Him more. I worked harder. I’ve been put in prison more. I’ve been whipped more. I’ve faced death, more.” Like, he’s bragging about all that he’s had to go through. What he is boasting about is how hard his life has been since he started following Jesus and bringing the good news, right? So, life wasn’t easy for Paul and life wasn’t easy for David and that is just the tip of it all, right? We have been going through the Bible together for all of these months and we see that the stories that we see in the Scriptures are full of challenges. And we have plenty of examples of people who buckled under those challenges and when resistance came, they caved. And we have many examples of people who faced resistance and challenge and endured it and grew stronger, but the common thing is they all faced challenges and hardships. So, why are we so surprised? Like, why are we so angry? Why do we get so upset when we have to face them ourselves, especially in light of the fact that Jesus told us this was can happen? Right? Remember in John, if the world hates you remember it hated me first. So, we have to face that sometimes. Resistance, challenge is normal. It’s normal. It’s part of life. And Jesus, and for that matter, the Bible never claimed that that it would be anything different. And, so, here’s the thing. We need resistance. Like, we need challenge. It’s actually a necessary part of life. It’s how we learn. It’s how we grow. Resistance makes us strong, right? Like, if you’re hitting the gym, what are you doing? You are…you are making your body endure some sort of resistance so it can grow strong. So, the choice has always been ours. We can buckle under that. We do. We run away. We get mad. We start screaming at the sky. We start treating each other badly. Like, we buckle, or we can rise up. And the Bible shows us both of those roads. So, if you’re at this place…and believe me…I have been at this place…I’ve been at this place many times…even this year where you feel like you kinda…like it’s too much, you’re gonna buckle, you’re gonna cave. You can do it. You’ve been doing it. You’ve here. Somehow you made it. So, you can do this. You can do this. And you’re not alone. Everyone in the whole world faces the same kinds of oppositions and resistance. It may be that we’re enduring and its personalized into our own story, but we all face challenge. And the thing is about us, people, if you look at world history and the things that people have gone through, if you look at biblical history and look at the things that people went through, people can go through an awful lot when they believe in why they are doing it and what they’re doing. And, so, that is what becomes central here for us today. We’re facing hardship. The only way is to endure. The only way forward is to endure and allow the endurance to make us lean and strong. The question simply is, “do I believe in this enough to endure it?” And, so, maybe our prayer isn’t that God will make things easier so that we can grow weak. Maybe we should ask him to teach us to endure so that we can grow strong because this is what we need. This is how we grow.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that. It’s hard to ask You to help us grow stronger. What we really want, what be ideal for us is that we can do whatever we want, and You be the strong one, but You’ve invited us into a relationship, You’ve invited us to collaborate with You in revealing Your kingdom in this world. And, so, You need strong, mature sons and daughters and this is what we do for our own children. And, so, come Holy Spirit, help us to reinterpret some of the things that we are going through that we’ve been complaining an awful lot about because it’s hard. And we complain about hard a lot. And, yet…and yet with You we can do very hard things. So, come Holy Spirit and show us what that looks like in our lives right now. What are the things that we’ve been misinterpreting, things that are actually going to make us very strong, things we need, but we’re just spending all of our energy trying to get away from them rather than simply enduring and growing strong and walking through it with You? Come Holy Spirit we pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Song:

Easier – Manic Drive

Every single step
The further I get doesn’t seem to get easier
It doesn’t seem to get easier
I’m running out of breath
But You wouldn’t give me strength if it’s meant to get easier

If it’s meant to get easier
So help me I’m asking please
There’s gotta be another remedy
I’m running out of my options
I’m running out of my options so
So show me how to get
How to get

Stronger
Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier
Not until You make me stronger
No it doesn’t get easier
So show me how to get
How to get

Stronger
Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier
Not until You make me stronger

Makeshift happiness
Mistaken being blessed with artificial exteriors
Fabricated with smoke and mirrors
We can never reach new heights
Without obstacles to climb

No, getting there isn’t effortless
I’m gonna need a hand with this

So help me I’m asking please
There’s gotta be another remedy
I’m running out of my options
I’m running out of my options so
So show me how to get
How to get

Stronger
Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier
Not until You make me stronger
No it doesn’t get easier
So show me how to get
How to get

Stronger
Stronger

Don’t expect it to get easier
Not until You make me stronger

I’m gonna break through even if it hurts
Don’t want no medication it just makes it worse
Cause if I’m numb to the freedom
I’ll never come through if I’m comfortable
No I’ll never leave this room

No it doesn’t get easier
No it doesn’t get easier

So show me how to get
How to get

Stronger
Stronger
Don’t expect it to get easier
Not until You make me stronger