Four More Gifts, episode 144

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,780
If you love a prodigal, you can discover help and hope for your wilderness journey right

2
00:00:06,780 --> 00:00:16,220
here at When You Love a Prodigal podcast and also help and hope for your own life journey.

3
00:00:16,220 --> 00:00:22,560
Last week we talked about four gifts that God gives us during our prodigal journey,

4
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:27,900
gifts that sustain and equip us for all the challenges.

5
00:00:27,900 --> 00:00:36,000
Would one of these gifts God himself, love, mercy, or grace bless, encourage, or help

6
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,000
you?

7
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:43,360
Today, we are going to talk about four more gifts our gracious God offers us, valuable

8
00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:49,920
resources on our journey to help us with our loved one and to appreciate the good work

9
00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:54,120
our Lord continues to do in each of us.

10
00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:57,720
I've said something like that several times, haven't I?

11
00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:06,240
We need to recognize that God's not only concerned about and working on our prodigal, our person

12
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,680
who's breaking our hearts.

13
00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,480
He's also working on us.

14
00:01:12,480 --> 00:01:16,920
That's a key for us to understand what's going on.

15
00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,840
God's at work in our prodigal and in us.

16
00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,520
Here's an amazing gift that he gives us, prayer.

17
00:01:25,520 --> 00:01:29,120
Prayer, you think, oh, well, prayer, you know.

18
00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,400
I said, yeah, do you know?

19
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,480
I've known Jesus for 65 years.

20
00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:40,560
I've been praying for at least that long.

21
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,600
And I work in a ministry where we pray.

22
00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:49,040
We pray mornings and meals and bedtimes and beginnings of meetings.

23
00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,900
If the meetings aren't going well, we might stop to pray.

24
00:01:52,900 --> 00:01:55,560
We pray at the end of whatever we're doing.

25
00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:57,440
We're praying people right.

26
00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:58,440
Right?

27
00:01:58,440 --> 00:01:59,440
Yes.

28
00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,320
Then I had a prodigal.

29
00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:08,640
And then I discovered that prayer really needed to be a way of life, that it was a constant

30
00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:10,760
kind of thing.

31
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:16,280
I consider it a way that I breathe in the sense that I'm talking to God.

32
00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:24,760
I'm including him in my thinking, in my conversation, in my fears, in everything that's going on.

33
00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,520
I'm including him in that.

34
00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:30,200
It's like breathing.

35
00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:35,840
Then God showed me these really wonderful verses in Isaiah 62.

36
00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:41,560
It says, I have posted Watchman on your walls, Jerusalem.

37
00:02:41,560 --> 00:02:45,440
They will never be silent day or night.

38
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:51,240
You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest.

39
00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,880
Be in prayer all the time.

40
00:02:54,880 --> 00:03:03,920
But then I love this part, and give him, that is God, no rest until he, in this case, establishes

41
00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:11,040
Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth or until he responds to your prayers.

42
00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:14,960
So he's saying, don't quit.

43
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:16,400
Keep praying.

44
00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:18,440
Continue to pray.

45
00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,160
Give yourself no rest.

46
00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,400
But then he said, give God no rest.

47
00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:30,400
God invites us to bombard him with our needs, our cares, our requests.

48
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,800
Now there's more that's going to come in with that in a little bit here.

49
00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,640
But he sent this invitation.

50
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:43,960
Come and tell me what you need, what you desire.

51
00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,000
We can talk.

52
00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:53,200
We can tell him what we think, how we feel, what we are afraid of, what we wish would

53
00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:54,200
happen.

54
00:03:54,200 --> 00:04:02,760
He invites us to come in honesty and vulnerability with our needs, our hopes, our dreams.

55
00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,320
We are welcome at his throne of grace.

56
00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:14,480
I have listed in the show notes for today some resources to help you as you're on your

57
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:20,760
knees or sitting in your chair or driving in your car, bringing your loved one to the

58
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,840
Lord.

59
00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:26,640
So that's our first gift for today is prayer.

60
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,920
Big, wide open invitation from God.

61
00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:37,080
The second gift, oh, I don't know if you'll like this, perseverance.

62
00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,680
That wasn't a gift you wanted.

63
00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,120
Me either.

64
00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,000
Who wants that gift?

65
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,120
But listen to what James says about that gift.

66
00:04:48,120 --> 00:05:00,880
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

67
00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:07,120
Once again, we see this is not just about our protocols, but it's also about us.

68
00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,640
And he's calling us to persevere.

69
00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:18,680
It's a gift that God gives us to do the needed transformation in our lives.

70
00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:26,120
He gives or allows challenging circumstances in our lives to do the perfecting work in

71
00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:34,600
us so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

72
00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:37,520
That's really a wonderful promise.

73
00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:43,400
Even though the way to get there doesn't sound wonderful, God says, it's worth it.

74
00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:45,160
It's worth it.

75
00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:51,240
I'm working in you as much as I'm working in your loved one.

76
00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:58,560
So to see in the trials of, for some of us many years with our son or daughter, as God's

77
00:05:58,560 --> 00:06:07,760
means of doing wonderful work in us, so we become mature, complete, lacking nothing.

78
00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,120
What a gift.

79
00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:15,160
He gives us prayer and he gives us perseverance.

80
00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,640
Oh, and then another hard gift.

81
00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:23,440
He gives us a call to surrender.

82
00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:29,920
My timetable for my son's recovery from his addictions and hurtful, even frightening

83
00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,040
choices was much quicker than God's.

84
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:37,400
I wanted it to happen soon.

85
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,520
Guess who's timetable one?

86
00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:41,520
God's did.

87
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,360
It was a long journey.

88
00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:48,880
His working perseverance in us takes time.

89
00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:51,400
Our patience wears then.

90
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:58,320
We threaten to give up and that brings us to surrender.

91
00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:07,520
We give up, we surrender not to the desires we have for our loved one to change, but to

92
00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:12,520
God himself and what his plan is in this.

93
00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,160
It's another gift from God.

94
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,360
Here's a challenging word for God in Isaiah 30.

95
00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:26,920
This is what the sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says, in repentance and rest

96
00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:32,640
is your salvation and quietness and trust is your strength.

97
00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,200
But you would have nothing to do with it.

98
00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,680
You would have none of it.

99
00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:45,360
You didn't want to repent and to rest and to be quiet before the Lord and trust him.

100
00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:48,520
You wanted it to happen the way you wanted.

101
00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:54,160
We want God to do things our way on our timetable.

102
00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:56,360
I was talking about myself there.

103
00:07:56,360 --> 00:07:58,280
Probably you can relate.

104
00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,280
We want God to do this the way we want.

105
00:08:02,280 --> 00:08:08,280
But over time I began to realize I'm still wanting my own way.

106
00:08:08,280 --> 00:08:12,880
I'm not easily saying I choose your way, Lord.

107
00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:20,440
One of the gifts that Josh really has been to me was to surrender to God's plan instead

108
00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:23,400
of always wanting it the way I want.

109
00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:25,960
No, we don't like the pain.

110
00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,480
We don't like the fear of what might happen.

111
00:08:29,480 --> 00:08:34,640
Yet God's still loving us and loving our loved one.

112
00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:39,080
What does it take to be able to walk through this?

113
00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:40,240
Surrender.

114
00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,800
What does that look like?

115
00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,760
God mentions four things here.

116
00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:48,920
He says to repent.

117
00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,760
I take that as to quit demanding your own way.

118
00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:59,080
Yes, we can be honest and tell him our desires, our hopes, and our dreams.

119
00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:04,840
But we let go of our demands and that it happens the way we want.

120
00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,920
He says to rest.

121
00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:13,240
Do you find yourself exhausted in this ongoing battle?

122
00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:21,120
Our Lord invites us to rest, to let him do his work in our loved ones and in us.

123
00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,080
He says to be quiet.

124
00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:31,400
If we quit making so much noise like saying, I want this, I want this to be different.

125
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:32,960
I want to see progress.

126
00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,120
I want to see a major change.

127
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,560
I want to see you work, God.

128
00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:40,520
Why aren't you doing this?

129
00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,200
I've said things like that to God.

130
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:52,920
He asks us to quietly surrender and listen to him and to trust him.

131
00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,640
He is God and he is good.

132
00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,520
He loves each of us.

133
00:09:58,520 --> 00:09:59,520
He loves you.

134
00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:04,440
He loves me as well as our loved protocols.

135
00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:16,240
He urges us to persevere, to be patient, to take a breath, to rest knowing God is at work.

136
00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,640
He never quits working.

137
00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:26,440
And as we surrender to our trustworthy God, we come to this treasured gift, life-changing

138
00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:32,120
one for me, and that is the gift of gratitude.

139
00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:38,480
One of the best gifts that I have received on our journey has been gratitude, learning

140
00:10:38,480 --> 00:10:42,440
to give thanks in everything.

141
00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:50,040
I was just this past weekend with some of my grandchildren, one of whom had a birthday.

142
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:56,680
She received gifts, of course, and as she opened each one, her mom said, what do you

143
00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:58,720
say?

144
00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:04,160
From an early age, we keep reminding them to say, thank you.

145
00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:09,920
It can take a long time before it becomes a way of life.

146
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,800
It has been even more specific.

147
00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,600
He encouraged us to give thanks.

148
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:22,960
Even, well, we can give thanks when we feel really grateful, when we like the gift, when

149
00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:25,320
we get what we want.

150
00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,760
He's delighted when we do that.

151
00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:35,200
But he says we are even to give thanks in everything, things that we don't like, things

152
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,960
that aren't going the way we were hoping.

153
00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:39,800
Is that possible?

154
00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,000
Can we really do that?

155
00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,960
How can you say thanks when something terrible happens?

156
00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,880
He doesn't say give thanks for it, but in it.

157
00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:58,520
He says, in, in the event, in the process, in the situation, give thanks to God, that

158
00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:07,120
he is in control, that he is working here, that he will bring about his good plans even

159
00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:12,880
in the midst of something that is incomprehensible to us.

160
00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:21,160
Here are some practices that God has given me that has helped me be able to almost always

161
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:28,440
in little things, like when the light at my, getting out of my housing area takes forever

162
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,000
and I'm already late.

163
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:38,440
I can say thank you, Lord, and in great big things like when my husband left, when I prayed

164
00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:43,800
with my children, the only words coming out of my mouth were thank you, Lord.

165
00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:47,800
So this has become a real thing for me.

166
00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,640
Here are these practices.

167
00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:58,800
For the most part, the most important transformed practice is to walk in the Spirit.

168
00:12:58,800 --> 00:13:06,600
Jesus said his Spirit will live in us, offering all we need to live this life, that Jesus

169
00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,920
has purchased for us by his death.

170
00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:16,880
We recognize we can't do it on our own, so we invite the Holy Spirit to fill us, to empower

171
00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:25,160
us, to give us wisdom, to give us courage, to give us perseverance, whatever we need.

172
00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:33,800
And so if I'm struggling with trusting God, being at peace, I can stop and check.

173
00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:35,320
Who's in control in my life?

174
00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,080
Am I really surrendered to the Spirit of God?

175
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:44,840
Next, this is a really easy thing to do in a way, but not always.

176
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:46,960
That's to look for the good.

177
00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:54,560
When things don't go the way we want, our natural response is to notice everything that's wrong.

178
00:13:54,560 --> 00:13:57,680
And some people do that as a way of life.

179
00:13:57,680 --> 00:14:03,120
They're always seeing what's not good, whether it's that empty glass or that somebody's

180
00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:07,200
out to get them or nothing ever works right for them.

181
00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:11,960
But God has taught me over the years to look for the good.

182
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:19,840
And even in the midst of hard, very bad things, I can find something that's got a good tent

183
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:25,400
to it that looks like it's going to make a difference, that gives hope.

184
00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:28,920
And so that's been an important thing for me.

185
00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,440
Look instead for glimpses of good that God is doing.

186
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:40,440
That gives you some hope, especially when you're thinking about your loved one and all you've

187
00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:43,280
seen are the bad things.

188
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,040
There are times when there's something that gives you hope.

189
00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,480
And to look for those and hold on to them.

190
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:58,040
This really helps me get my eyes, my mind, my heart off the negatives and instead stopping

191
00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:02,880
to acknowledge the potential positive outcomes.

192
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:04,720
And why can we do that?

193
00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:06,800
Because God is involved.

194
00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:08,680
He is there.

195
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:15,520
And as I do these things, as I walk in the spirit and look for some good, I find myself

196
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:21,440
beginning to say thank you, Lord, to give thanks.

197
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:28,080
Not thank you for something that is scary or hurtful, but thank you, Lord, because I

198
00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:33,240
can trust you even in this.

199
00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:41,560
So we get to give good gifts to our protocols, our loved ones by loving them and showing

200
00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:51,200
mercy and grace, but they are also amazing gifts that we receive from our protocol, even

201
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,080
if indirectly.

202
00:15:54,080 --> 00:16:01,440
We looked at the gifts last week of God himself, of unconditional love, of abundant mercy,

203
00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,520
of amazing grace.

204
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,240
And today we have talked about prayer.

205
00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:13,000
We get to talk to God himself and he loves for us to come and talk to him.

206
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:20,320
Perseverance, God enables us to not give up, but then he does a great work in our lives

207
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:26,640
of making us complete and lacking nothing.

208
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:27,640
Surrender.

209
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:35,360
You know, if I'm holding in my hands what I want, God say, well, when you can let go

210
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,960
of that, I have something I want to put in your hands.

211
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:46,200
And so our demanding our own way rather than surrendering with open hands, open heart,

212
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:54,400
open mind, so that God can do his good work in us as well as in our loved one.

213
00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:59,680
I'm always amazed in awe of how God multitask.

214
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:07,320
He takes his transforming work in us, even as he's doing transforming work to redeem

215
00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:15,480
and restore those who have gone astray, all through the same circumstances.

216
00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:19,680
So which gift do you need most?

217
00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:26,120
I will have some good references or good resources for you in the show notes to prepare

218
00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:34,640
for what's ahead and what's ahead coming soon is the Worldwide Protocol Prayer Day.

219
00:17:34,640 --> 00:17:38,440
Next week I'll give you a little more information on that.

220
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:57,120
God bless you.