October 1, 2025 • 44 mins
What if God’s will isn’t a maze to solve but a way to walk today? We sit down after wrapping our “God, Just Tell Us” series and make a simple case that might change how you make decisions: the just live by faith. Not flawless plans. Not airtight certainty. Faith. We talk about how Philippians shapes our desires to please God, why Hebrews tells us faith is what actually pleases Him, and how that reframes real choices—from career and calling to parenting and serving in the local church.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 00 (00:08):
Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode
of the Midweek Podcast, broughtto you by a Fresh Wind Church.
Each week, our team brings younew content to help you take
steps towards Jesus and discovermore in Christ.
Today's episode is hosted byPastor Ryan.
Speaker 01 (00:27):
Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast.
Pastor Ryan joined as alwayswith Pastor Tim, and we have
wrapped up this past Sunday, ourseries, God Just Tell Us.
And we've been talking aboutthe will of God each week.
And man, Tim, I'm getting somegreat feedback on this series.
People seem to really uh reallybe into, I guess, figuring out
(00:49):
what is God's will, how do Idiscover it?
How do I walk that out and liveit?
And so um man, just superexcited to have done this
series.
Speaker 03 (00:56):
Yeah, and and it's been an extended series because
that's what Philippians is allabout, right?
God is working um to teach youto please him.
Right.
Uh, and he's always working inthat area.
He wants to uh he wants you towant to want him, he wants you
to want to please him, he wantsyou to want to live in his will.
(01:20):
And Philippians is all aboutthat.
And um it's good, it's great tobe reminded that you're not
alone out there.
The Holy Spirit is working youto will in the direction that
God wants you to go.
And you're one of the biggestthings uh about the will of God
is it's always, I don't want togo to Uganda, you know, right.
(01:42):
And uh, but if you don't wantto go, right away you know,
well, there well, now we have aquestion.
Because God is working in me tochange my will to please him,
and if he wanted to go to wantedyou to go to Uganda, you would
probably have a little that'd beterrible to go to Uganda, but
(02:05):
man, what an adventure.
You know, you'd have a littlething there, right?
And uh, but God is working umin all of his people that
they'll want to do his will, andthat's a a great thing.
I mean, that's the basis of it,right?
And we went through Philippiansand now we're coming through
this series, and they just kindof all click together.
(02:27):
It was really good.
Speaker 01 (02:28):
Yeah.
I gave everybody kind of thischallenge, ultimatum, uh, at the
end of the message on Sunday tosay, and we've been talking
about God's will for the pastfour weeks, and then yeah, even
diving back into the Philippiansseries.
Um now you have a choice tomake.
We've talked about how you candiscover God's will, how
important it is to walk in hisways, all these things.
(02:50):
And you can choose to standhere and just let this all be
head knowledge say, all right, Iget it.
Or you can take a step.
And and that step is alwaysgonna require faith.
And that was um, I even I wason, I think it was Facebook, and
a guy from church uh listenedto the message Sunday, and he
(03:11):
said he posted that quote aboutum, you know, we we want to
follow Jesus, but we want tolive a faith-free life.
And how that that just hit himhard right in the nose, you
know.
Because I I want I want to Iwant to do the God things and
the church things.
Speaker 03 (03:28):
I just I want guarantees.
Speaker 01 (03:32):
Yeah, guarantees.
I this I want to know, I wantcertainty.
And the author of Hebrews says,without faith, it is impossible
to please God.
And so my challenge was thisstep is gonna require faith.
You're gonna have to step in,and you're not gonna be 100%
sure.
You're not you're not gonnaknow if this is exactly where
(03:54):
you should go.
People are gonna say, What onearth are you doing?
That looks crazy.
That sounds crazy.
Why would you do that?
And you're gonna have to takeit anyways.
With the encouragement, howeverimperfect that step is, if
we've taken it in faith andwe're walking in God's ways,
we've sought godly counsel,because it's not about just
blind faith.
This is totally different.
(04:14):
It's not about stupid risk justto do something.
It's you you seek counsel, youyou get in God's word, and then
you take a step, you know.
Uh Peter stepping out of thatboat onto the water.
You know, like Jesus said,Come, all right, there's my
call.
Is that water gonna hold me up?
You know, what what is you yougotta take the step of faith?
Speaker 03 (04:37):
And it's important.
Um Reformation coming up, refReformation anniversary is
coming up, and um Martin Luther,that it was just that one
phrase that Paul wrote.
The just shall live by faith.
And as as I've been gettingolder and people come to me,
(04:57):
what do I do about this?
And what do I do about that?
You have faith that God willwork it out because that's how
you're supposed to live.
But how do I how do I make surethat God does this thing?
I you don't.
The just live by faith in everysituation.
And it's it it's it's tough uhfor Martin Luther to wrestle
(05:20):
this down, and uh that's how Godis demanding that we live.
Um we got in a big discussionin discovery class about why God
makes you live by faith.
Why don't he just show up inthe sky and and uh we found a
passage of scripture inEphesians chapter three.
(05:41):
It says God is proving hismanifold wisdom to these
authorities and heavenly beingsthrough his church in whom he
demands to live by faith.
So God, God has got uh motiveswithin motives.
Number one, he wants to teachyou to trust him.
That's why you're gonna have tolive by faith.
(06:02):
And number two, he's using yourfaith to prove something to
somebody.
But I got Forrest, he's tryingto figure out who those guys
are.
So uh he's working on that forthe church.
If he figures it out, I'll letyou guys know.
Speaker 01 (06:16):
That'll be the next discovery class, yeah.
And uh speaking of next, um, onthis reformation thing, a
little promo.
Uh our October series is comingup talking about reformation
roots, and we're gonna talkabout scripture alone, faith
alone, grace alone, Christalone.
So definitely come and be apart of that.
This is some some of that coredoctrinal stuff that I think we
(06:36):
we really need.
And, you know, I think comingoff of this series on God's
will, we talked about howeverything needs to be filtered
through the word of God, right?
Absolutely.
This is gonna be a great way tokind of bolster your your faith
in God's word, the yourconfidence in who he is, and
really build a foundationbecause as you know we talked
about how does God speak to us,you know, influence of others,
(06:58):
life situations leading to thespirits.
You need to know, okay, well,what is God's will and what our
word and how do I filter thesethings through it?
Be a great series to startbuilding that foundation
together.
Speaker 03 (07:08):
And this is uh this is a great time talking about
the will of God.
Um in Discovery Class, we weretalking about we have this life
projection screen in front ofus, and we project what we think
is true as we come intoChristianity and we put it up on
the on uh our uh lifeprojection screen, and we think
(07:31):
it's true, and we try to try tolive by that, but some of those
things are not true, like Santa.
You know, you're a kid, Santa,Santa, you know, and you get to
be about you six years old, andit's like parent alert.
Yeah, don't let your don't letyour kids listen to this.
(07:51):
You get six years old and andyou're you get an orange and
you're like, no, this is not theSanta on TV.
How come I I get an orange, youknow?
And uh so you you start erasingthat off your projector screen,
and that's an emotional turmoilfor a kid, you know, to take
(08:12):
that down.
That that's not actually true.
Everybody just pretends.
Why does everybody pretendthat's true?
And uh so they have to takethat down, and that happens to
Christians all the time.
You've got untruth that youhave brought in with you that
has to be broken down.
And that's what happened inthis Will of God series is we
(08:34):
had a belief, and I've heard itall my life.
All my life.
God has the perfect person foryou.
He's got one person for you.
Just thinking through that forabout three minutes and you
realize, well, if somebodyscrews up, then the whole
system.
Right, right.
(08:54):
So, and we, you know, God hasthis one will for you, and God
has this one perfect thing foryou.
And if you missed it, or if youjust um you you backslid that
month and you you missed thatdecision, you know, what do I do
now?
And uh this this study has beengreat for that.
If you guys haven't listened toall the sermons, listen to them
(09:16):
all in a row, and um this stuffwill start uh making sense to
you.
But that's one of those thingson our our screen, our life
screen that we get is that thethis one thing, and if I miss
it, then I'm in trouble.
What if you come to the Lordand you're 40 years old?
You got a wife, you got threeor four kids, you got a job to
(09:40):
support them, your your wifefinally was able to quit so she
could focus on the the last twokids, you know, and um and now
you're thinking, okay, the Lord,the Lord wants me in Uganda,
you know.
I I don't know why Ugandaalways comes up.
Um and you're like, how do Iget there?
(10:01):
You know, how do I move?
What do I what do I do?
And this this series of sermonsthat we preached right here
helps you navigate that you ifyou belong in Uganda, if you
will follow his ways, he'll getyou there.
And and you don't have to worryabout making those big
(10:24):
decisions and how am I gonnasupport my family and all that
kind of stuff.
The Lord is gonna lead you inthat direction because the just
live by faith.
Just step out in faith in thethings that um show up in your
life that you feel like the Lordis calling you to do.
And guess what?
(10:44):
I can tell you this.
If you miss that decision, itdon't matter.
You can't disappoint Godbecause he already knew.
He's gonna tell you to turnleft and you went straight.
And um you didn't realize youmissed it.
But he already knew before thefoundation of the world that you
(11:07):
were going to do it your wayinstead of his way in that
moment.
And uh, but he still has plansfor you.
Speaker 01 (11:14):
Yeah, I mean the king of contingency plans,
right?
Right up they well, there theyblew right past it.
Right.
Um he he's he is so good, he'sso faithful at redeeming all of
those those missteps and thosemistakes, and um shoot, I I I
wasn't paying attention.
Right.
Um man, I was driving to asoccer game a couple weeks ago,
(11:37):
and you know, we got the wholeturnpike is being rebuilt, it
seems like at least all thebridges on the turnpike.
And I missed one exit.
Thought, well, I'll just comeup, turn around at the next one.
So I did that.
Well, came back.
Well, the exit that I neededwas closed down on that side
because the bridge was out.
I had to go all the way backdown to Elyria, had it on 30
minutes because I missed oneexit.
(11:58):
And we're like, man, if I screwthis up, I've just I've missed
it all.
God's gonna redeem all thosethings, you know?
Speaker 03 (12:05):
Yeah, and you know what?
I don't even like that wordcontingency.
Uh think about this.
God, what I mentioned earlierneeds to be brought out, which
is you can't disappoint God.
He cannot be disappointedbecause he already knows.
Right.
It's for him to bedisappointed, he'd have to be
shocked.
Right.
Speaker 01 (12:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (12:25):
And uh since he's when he sees all time like a
book, he's read the book, and hecan turn to whatever page he
wants to, and he's present inevery time.
I I know that's good, but ifyou just think about it for a
minute, how can he be surprised?
How can he be like, oh no, theydidn't turn left here.
(12:50):
Now I'm gonna have to make upall these.
No, no, no, no.
That's not who God is.
There is no contingency becausehe already knew.
And you're like, Well, how am Igonna find this perfect will of
God?
Just follow him.
That's a good way to do it.
Follow him, and he's gonna he'sgonna take you there.
And it doesn't matter how manytimes you get off the exit when
you shouldn't have or stayed onand and didn't get off the exit.
(13:13):
Uh it doesn't it doesn't matterto God because he already knew
that was gonna happen.
And uh your life has been redfrom beginning to end already.
So take a deep breath and letall that out, Christian.
Just and live by faith.
That's right.
And you'll end up where youneed to go.
Um I was in a situation yearsand years ago where it looked to
(13:39):
me from the outside thatsomeone chose something
different than what God hadplanned for him.
And um I look back at thatsituation and I I would have
sworn up and down that God hadsaid, You need to do this.
And he said no.
(14:00):
And um he loved the Lord.
Um I don't know why he said no,but he said no.
Um and I thought, man, I wonderwhat God's gonna do to him.
I wonder he's gonna get a badspanking and uh and all this
kind of stuff.
Um but he went where I knew hewasn't supposed to be and served
(14:23):
God and won all kinds of peopleto the Lord.
So you know, I look back andsay, I can say he said no.
But then God continued to usehim wherever he ended up.
And I and I know, guys, I'm notgiving you you're gonna get
your spanking if you say no.
Um but it really doesn't matterif you do.
(14:46):
God knew you were gonna say noand he planned for other things
for you to do on the other sideof that no.
Um we're we're dealing with aGod who can't be disappointed.
Yeah and so you relax.
Relax.
Follow his ways, and you'llfind yourself in his will.
Speaker 01 (15:05):
Yeah, don't don't take what we're saying here as
permission to just ignore thewill of God.
Um this is this is all reliant,like you walking in his ways.
Um, sin carries consequences,disobedience carries
consequences, absolutely, andyou can say, Well, I'm gonna do
(15:25):
it one day.
Uh, you know, I I I know whatGod's calling me to, but I'm
just not ready.
I want to go live it up whileI'm young.
Scripture talks about should wego on sinning that the grace of
God may abound?
No, Paul says.
Yeah, you're being crazy.
How stupid, how stupid can yoube?
No, you don't live like that.
Yeah, um so we're trying tofree you from all those times
(15:50):
when you look back and say, Man,I missed it.
I missed it.
And to say, start right now,walk in his ways right now.
Today.
And as you begin to do that,he'll lead you in his will.
Speaker 03 (16:05):
And we always push his will out.
You know, it's out theresomewhere, and I'm kind of
looking for it.
No, his will is present righthere today.
That's good.
Be the man that God has calledyou to be today.
When you got the four kids andyou got the job that you can't
leave because it's paying foreverything that's going on in
(16:28):
your life, and and your wifefinally got to, you know, take a
break and and be with the kidsand all those things, that's
fantastic.
Walk in your walk in his waystoday, and you will end up if
it's Uganda one day or if it'sretiring from that job and
getting your kids through schooland having a big Thanksgiving
(16:51):
uh where you can all join handsand thank God for your lives.
You know, that's that's just asmuch part of his will as
running off as a missionary orbeing a preacher or all these
things.
But as long as you're livingfor him, uh the way he wants you
to live, yeah, right now, todayis is how you live in God's
(17:15):
will.
So take a deep breath and quitlooking out in the future and
think about hey, shouldn't I bedriving the speed limit right
now?
Maybe that's what's going on.
Speaker 01 (17:27):
And uh we'll we'll put we'll put God's plan and
will for our life on hold,waiting for some big temporary
thing.
And yeah, he's he's saying,Well, why don't you be faithful
right now?
You know, it makes me think ofthat parable Jesus, you know, he
gives these guys some talentsand he gives you know one guy
one, another one five or two,whatever.
(17:49):
One gets is it one, two, andfive, something like that.
Yeah, um the guy with fivedoubles it, and the guy with two
doubles it.
The guy with one, he goes andburies it.
Um one day, you know, and he hewas worried about you know, I
know you're harsh and you'regonna say all these things when
you come back, and I didn't wantto screw it up.
But isn't that what we do withGod's will?
(18:11):
Like I I didn't want to screwit up, I didn't want to make a
mistake, I didn't want to missit.
And God said, I gave you thisopportunity.
Go and serve it and use me.
Man, what if I get it wrong?
And what if I what if I justI'm not ready?
Well, maybe I can put it onhold and go do these other
things first.
And we want, we're gonna putall these things on hold,
(18:33):
waiting for some big thing.
And then Jesus comes back andhe's like, Well, what'd you do
with it?
Well, I buried it in theground.
Well, that's not what I askedyou to do with it.
You know, we need to befaithful in the here and the now
with the the things God hasgiven you.
And it's easy to look atsomeone else and say, Well, man,
I wish I had their life.
I wish I got the talents thatthey got, I wish I had the money
(18:54):
and the resources they had.
And if if I had those things,then I could follow God.
Then I could pursue God's willfor my life.
Do it right now.
Whatever you do, whether inword or deed, do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God the Father through
him.
Whatever it is.
And so, yeah, God might wantyou to go to Uganda, but you
(19:15):
know what?
I I know for sure, He wants youto be a great dad.
Yeah, he wants you to be agreat wife, wants you to be a
great mom or dad.
He wants you to be the bestemployee that your boss has.
That when people like, man, whodo we call?
We call this person becausethey show up.
I know for a fact that's whoGod wants you to be.
Speaker 03 (19:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 01 (19:34):
We can sit here and we can talk about you going to
Uganda and we can dream up, youknow, all these plans.
We can start looking at, youknow, f the cost of flights and
we can buy you some suitcases,we can do it all.
Speaker 03 (19:44):
The cost of living, how many churches you're gonna
have to go to to get yoursupport to live there, and and
um but the truth is what are youdoing today?
Right.
You're not gonna get to Ugandaum by not living for God right
now.
Speaker 01 (20:01):
Yeah, we want we want that big thing, and it's
like even if God said, Yep, Iwant you to go to Uganda because
you're gonna serve me there,God could send you to Uganda
right now, but if you haven'tbeen doing all the right things
along the way, you're not gonnabe the right person for Uganda
when you get there.
Absolutely.
You know, so start nowfollowing him and saying yes to
(20:24):
him, and he'll get you to Ugandaif that's where you're supposed
to be.
And I know a lot of us we'reafraid.
We're like, well, dear God,that's what I'm afraid of.
He's gonna send me to Uganda.
Well, just be a great dad, be agreat mom.
You know, start doing thosethings.
And like you said, maybe God'swill for you is to retire and
get your kids through school andbe a great grandma or grandpa
(20:44):
for your grandkids one day.
And you're gonna impacteternity just by living
faithfully now.
And serving your local church.
Yep.
Speaker 03 (20:53):
Um we're all given a gift to serve the local church,
and we're always worried aboutgoing to Uganda.
You know, hey, what is Godtelling you to do in your
church?
And um, you might just be oneof the guys that run up there to
the altar and pray with peoplewhen they go up.
Um, or you know, you might bethe guy who makes sure all the
(21:16):
words are correct when we'redoing the the slides for the
songs, the off-the-wall music.
Remember you do you rememberthat?
Were you at church when thatlady came in?
I remember you telling me thestory.
She came in and she goes, Doyou guys do that off the wall
music?
And I'm like, I don't know ifI'd call it off the wall.
(21:36):
And uh it's it's pretty normalChristian music.
She goes, No, I mean when youput it up on the wall.
Oh, yes, then our music istotally off the wall.
Yes, and we said we can'tafford hymn books, so it's gonna
be off the wall music.
But um I think this I thinkthis series has really served
(21:59):
our church.
Because God wants you to do hiswill today, um, with your
responsibility to your family,to your local church, to your
personal relationship with theLord.
And like I said, if somethingbig is in your future, he's
gonna give it to you.
You know, um Church.tv.
(22:25):
Craig Rochelle.
We went to that leadershipsummit a few months ago and uh
he was talking about flossinghis teeth to all these leaders
from all over the nation.
Right.
He says, Great leadershipstarts with flossing your teeth.
And uh he goes into this storywhere he's like I hated flossing
(22:49):
my teeth.
And everybody told me youshould be flossing your teeth.
And uh he said so I put it inmy routine, and after I floss my
teeth, I did this, and after Idid that, I read my scripture,
and after I did this, I I wenthere, and then I did my
exercise, and then I studied forpreaching, and then I and he
(23:11):
said, I did the little thingsfor years until I can do the big
thing.
Yep, and uh my big things aretwo a year.
I go somewhere like this and Ispeak to all these people, but
my life is made up of littlethings.
Yeah.
(23:31):
And my big thing is about anhour and 20 minutes, you know,
and it's big and it makes mescared.
And I gotta get out here infront of all you people, and you
don't know me, and I know mypeople at my church, and I know
what I can say and what I can'tsay, and what'll be funny to
them and what's not funny, andthen my big thing is to come up
(23:54):
here and tell you that my lifeisn't about standing in front of
20,000 people and talking aboutthis stuff.
My life is about flossing myteeth.
If every day I get up and Ifloss my teeth and I do my
little things, yeah, then I geta big thing.
And I'm always scared of it,but I do it.
(24:17):
And he says, We all start withlittle things.
Do your little things andyou'll be ready for your big
thing.
Speaker 01 (24:25):
Right.
And uh that's so important.
Speaker 03 (24:27):
And I mean, we could cover most of the will of God
sermon series just by sayingthat.
Do your little things.
Speaker 02 (24:34):
Yep.
Speaker 03 (24:34):
And uh follow the will of God right now, today.
If it starts with flossing yourteeth, and he'll he'll tell you
if he don't floss his teeth,his day falls apart.
You know, he goes, I gotta makesure I get up and floss my
teeth, or I I I don't runthrough my little things um that
(24:55):
get me ready for the big thing.
And that's what God is tryingto tell you through this, and
your pastors are trying to tellyou through these series, and
that's what Paul was trying totell you in Philippians.
You know, hey, God's gonnachange your heart on your way
and just live by faith, andyou'll end up where you need to
be.
I love that.
Speaker 01 (25:13):
On the way, on the way.
So take those imperfect steps,and you know, we we read
Proverbs chapter three and justgreat passage of scripture, but
I grew up reading um from theNIV.
And I think the NIV trying toremember exactly what it was.
If one of the translations usesacknowledge, another one uses
(25:34):
submit.
I think it was in all your waysacknowledge him, one of those
ways.
Yeah, do not lean on your ownunderstanding in all your ways,
and like I said, depending onthe translation you grew up
with, it was acknowledge orsubmit to him and he will make
your past straight.
And then I was reading the CSB,this as I was studying for the
sermon, and said, In all yourways, know him.
(25:54):
And I was like, What?
That's not how I remember it.
Yeah.
Um, and so you, you know, wegot this fancy Bible software
logos, and I click on that wordno, and then I go into the Bible
word study, and like, okay,well, the Hebrew word is yeda.
And and it doesn't necessarilyI understand what they were
(26:16):
trying to say in the NIV and youknow, New King James and all
those ones, by using the wordacknowledge or submit.
And it reads a whole lot betterthat way.
We get it, yeah.
But the Hebrew word is muchdeeper than that, and the CSB
nailed it.
It means know him in all yourways, know him.
(26:36):
And man, it it struck mebecause I one, I'm not used to
reading it that way, but two, itchanges the connotation a
little bit because now I can Ican acknowledge God in what I
do.
That doesn't mean I like doingit.
You know, it doesn't mean I'mI'm okay with it, but I
acknowledge this is what hewants.
I can submit to him and still,you know, kind of just
(26:58):
grudgingly getting gritting myteeth, getting through it.
But to know him in all my ways,and it seems so much more
intimate, yeah, so much morepersonal.
Speaker 03 (27:09):
I like I like that idea because it's I know that
bracelet we all handed out didseveral years, what would Jesus
do?
Um, but it it's deeper that,deeper than knowing what he
would do, it's knowing why hewould do that.
Yeah, and that's thedifference.
That's the difference.
Speaker 01 (27:29):
Yeah, and all your ways know him.
So as a as a dad, how do I howdo I know him in my ways?
You know how I deal with theyou know kid who Gavin just had
a birthday and he's gonna lovethat I'm sharing this story.
I don't know if he listens tothe midweek podcast, but if he
does, I think we're safe.
Probably okay to share it.
(27:52):
That he was doing dishes theother day.
We have you know, fall in ourhouse is crazy.
We got four kids, six differentsports teams, and then all the
school stuff running around likecrazy, mad people.
And so our house little becomesit's more like a motel room.
You come, you just drop yourstuff on the floor and go to
bed.
Um, wake up and do it all overagain.
Speaker 03 (28:14):
I know we hit uh about August.
We don't see you guys untilJanuary.
Speaker 01 (28:20):
January, for real.
Um, and we're I mean, we arecoming up gasping for air come
January.
Um, but we finally had uh a dayoff.
Kids didn't have school lastFriday, and so I said, Hey, we
got a day off.
I need you guys to help me getsome stuff done around here so
we can get back to normal.
Um, and so I had Gavin washingthe dishes, and I had said
(28:42):
something to him, and he underhis breath goes, You can wash
the dishes.
And I'm like, Well, what didyou just like I'm not far enough
away yet?
Yeah, you you let me get onestep.
You gotta wait till I get tothe other room before you say
something like that.
And I I will tell you, I don'tknow if I knew God in all my
(29:06):
ways in that moment because Ikind of lost it, you know.
Um, I grounded him, I think,till eternity and took his cell
phone.
His birthday was the next day,and I just boom blew up.
And how do I know God in all myways in that moment?
(29:27):
How many times has God given megrace when I've I've made the
snarky remark under my breath?
Yeah, you know, how do I in inmy relationship with my wife,
how do I know him in in all myways?
When it comes to preparing for,you know, church and Sunday
(29:47):
service, and I man it it it'sbusy.
Every week we seem to turnaround and there's more and more
people showing up.
And it's like, man, how do we,how do we disciple all these
people?
How do we get connected withall these people?
Or Our team here would tell youone of the things I'm worried
about all the time is peoplefalling through the cracks.
How do we how do we connectwith these people?
Build relationships.
Who do we need to call?
(30:08):
Who haven't we seen?
They're like, golly, dude, giveme a break.
Um, how do I know him in thoseways?
Right.
And and I just meant I lovedthat idea because it's so
personal.
I yeah, not just what wouldJesus do, but why would he do
it?
Right.
Why would he respond like thisto my son who just smarted off?
(30:31):
Why would he respond this wayto our team as we're trying to
think how we grow and disciplebelievers?
Why why God, why would you doit that way?
And man, I I think there'sthere's so much joy in getting
to know him in that way.
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (30:46):
Um that's growth.
You wonder, um you wonder howyou get to be that person and um
who terrible things arehappening all over the place,
and and they're just sittingthere um, are you sad?
No.
Are you mad?
No.
I'm sitting here living in joy.
(31:08):
And yeah, but all this stuff isgoing on and God's got it.
Oh, that is so weak.
You know, that is God's got it.
I mean, that's that's where andit's it's like yeah, but I've
spent a life stepping out infaith and God has always had it.
(31:29):
So I'm not afraid.
Yeah.
And um I've known severalpeople like that in my life, but
it it it is about not lookingout there for the will of God,
it's about knowing Him infollowing His ways.
Yeah.
You know, why do you want me todo this?
(31:49):
Why why do I have to um Ibought this car, it goes 180
miles an hour, and I'm onlyallowed to drive 70.
Why?
Why?
Why can't I just go?
And and the Lord says, Well,you spent a lot of money and you
only needed a car that would go70.
So this is why, you know.
(32:11):
Um, so we have this um constantlooking for something more, and
that's part of being American,you know, looking for a little
bit more, a little bit nicer, alittle bit bigger, uh, something
with a pool or with anoutbuilding, you know, just you
(32:33):
know, I'd love to have a reallynice car that I didn't drive,
you know, and all that kind ofstuff.
And Lord, why did you say noabout this, you know, ten years
ago, but now you're like, yeah,if you want a nice car, go buy
it.
What was different?
(32:53):
I want to know why this isdifferent now.
And it might be financialthings or it might be you just
don't love that car as much asyou used to, and he couldn't
have that car in your life backthen.
Um so yeah, I I like that.
I like that.
Know him in this.
(33:13):
Not just what he wants you todo, but why he wants you to do
it.
Speaker 01 (33:18):
Yeah, it's the it's the joy of the relationship, you
know.
It's like it's great to to bemarried.
Um man, when you really startto to know your spouse, and I I
told Joy the other day we sawsomething in her and I, I'm not
kidding you.
We said the same exact thing atthe same exact time we saw
whatever it was that we saw, andI was like, this is getting
(33:41):
creepy.
Yeah, like we are now thinkingthe same, like we're having the
same thoughts.
Speaker 03 (33:47):
Well, wait, wait till you start saying the wrong
word, but she understands it asthe right word.
Everybody around in you aroundyou is looking like, what's
going on?
Speaker 01 (34:00):
Imagine what it would be like to be that way
with Jesus.
Uh huh.
You see a situation and youthink the same about it.
The same thought comes to yourhead.
Yep.
Oh man, this is what we need todo in this situation.
Not just because that's what hewould do, because but it it
it's almost so in it's likeinnate now.
We think the same way about it.
(34:22):
That's what God is trying toget in your life.
Speaker 03 (34:25):
And this is this is very important.
We talked about it at discoveryclasses last night.
Um, God not only forgives you,that's the first part of
salvation, but he also gives youa new identity.
Old things have passed away,all things become new, and then
he comes to live his life inyou.
(34:47):
Not the other way around.
You're not living Christ's lifeform.
He's in you living his life.
You are Acts chapter, wheredoes Acts end?
22?
You're Acts chapter 23.
You're you're the narrative ofthe gospel of Jesus Christ, and
(35:09):
and he wants to live his life inyou.
So the most important thing youcan do is know.
Yeah.
In your in in everything thatyou do.
Know what he wants you to doand why.
If that is your goal, you don'thave to worry about the will of
(35:30):
God because you'll be there allthe time.
Speaker 01 (35:33):
All the time.
Well, was it your dad thatwould say get to know Jesus as
well as a forgiven sinner can?
I I love that because it's itis so much more than just this
rote obedience.
You know, I'm just doing itbecause I'm, you know, I'm like
a dog.
You know, this is what he sayssit, so I sit.
I don't even know why I'msitting, but he said sit, and
he's got a little treat, itlooks like.
(35:54):
You know, no, this is man, knowhim, get to know him.
Speaker 03 (35:58):
And that's important.
And I love that illustrationwith the dog because you know, I
got an old dog, and if she getsout of her routine, she's lost,
she's uncomfortable, she shedoesn't know what's going on,
she wants to cry abouteverything, you know, and and
she gets out of her routine, andthat'll happen to you,
(36:20):
Christian, if you're justsaying, Oh, he said this, I
gotta do it.
He said that, I gotta do it.
And then when you get out ofthat routine, God has something
special for you, you're like,oh, now I am all uncomfortable
because you don't know why youwere doing all those things.
Speaker 01 (36:37):
Yeah.
But when you know the why, anew situation, a new
opportunity, a new relationship,a new door can open, and you'll
know.
Oh, yeah, this is what I'msupposed to do in this
situation.
Well, did a God speak to you?
Did he did he send a dove?
Did he did he write it on thewall?
Did he speak in a burning bush?
No, I just know him.
I know him.
(36:58):
Right.
This is this is what he woulddo.
And church, in in this wholeseries, I guess this is what
we've been driving towards, iswe want you to know him that
way.
Speaker 03 (37:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 01 (37:08):
And when you you know him and you walk in his
ways, he'll lead you in hiswill.
We've said it over and over andover again.
And we're saying it one moretime.
And all your ways, get to knowhim.
And it I think you know, yousaid a little bit ago, the
series, how timely it was.
Um, and you look out at theworld and we have lost some some
(37:32):
giants.
We have.
Um, you know, Charlie Kirk isone that comes to mind, but then
we lost Vody Bacham recently.
And then I was like, well, man,we lost um John MacArthur this
year too.
Speaker 03 (37:45):
And oh caveat.
Just because we said theirnames, we don't agree with
everything they said.
Speaker 01 (37:53):
Yes.
Um, but I'm but they weregreats.
There some just giants inChristendom.
Yeah.
You know, and yeah, I mean,there's Despurgeons and all
those, but I mean, I'm talkingmodern day giants.
Yeah.
And I thought, man, we're herewe are in this series about
following God's will.
And I give this challenge onSunday, like, okay, well, now
(38:15):
you got to take a step.
We need those people who aregonna step up and walk in the
ways of God and be the personGod's called them to be.
And I'm not gonna wait till I'm25.
I'm not gonna wait till I'mgraduated, I'm not gonna wait
till I pay off my debt.
I'm not gonna wait till I findthe right one or the right
career, the right city.
(38:36):
I'm gonna do it right now.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna be that person.
And we need, and like I said, Idon't care whether you agree
with Charlie Kirk or JohnMacArthur or Vody Bacham or not.
We need those people that wecan look forward at and say,
man, look at that guy, look atthat girl who said yes.
(38:56):
That's who I need to be.
And just go.
We need some of those giants,and and I'm praying the Lord's
raising some up, and I'm prayinghe'd do it right in our church.
Speaker 03 (39:07):
Yeah, amen.
Do it right.
And we're looking for you.
We're looking for you.
We want um we want you to standon our shoulders and um and
reach what the heights that Godhas for you.
And um, but when God,everybody's everybody's part of
the body of Christ, andeverybody's important.
(39:29):
Um, if you get turf toe, youknow, you might be the mightiest
man, but you're done.
Speaker 01 (39:36):
And you'll ruin my fantasy football season, too.
Speaker 03 (39:39):
Right.
Um you might be the toe or umyou might be the spleen, but the
body without it doesn'tfunction.
So whatever you are in God'sGod's sight, you're important.
Yeah.
And he's planned for you andknows what's gonna happen.
And you can take a deep breathand say, I'm just gonna follow
(40:03):
your ways.
I'm gonna floss my teeth, andwhatever comes after, I'm gonna
do my small things.
And if you got a big thing forme, then I'll do that too.
But if it's just living forJesus in my church, in my
family, and at work for the restof my life, I'm gonna be that
guy.
And if you know Jesus, you'regonna know why you're that guy.
(40:27):
And you'll realize um as you dothis, you'll become a pillar uh
for people all around you.
And um they'll love you.
And I know this, I know this bymy dad's personal testimony.
Um, he was a pillar, and peoplecome to me like they think I'm
(40:52):
dad, and I'm like, uh, I knowwhat you're looking for, but
he's not here no more.
You know, and uh they'relooking for those pillars that
they can that they can trust.
And you can be one just bybeing faithful.
Speaker 01 (41:06):
That's right.
And we got a guy in our churchtold me on Sunday that uh he had
the opportunity to inviteanother friend from church, and
his friend showed up this pastSunday.
Um and here's a guy, he runsthe camera for us.
And nobody would look aroundand think, man, that guy's got a
real big important position inthis church.
He doesn't even run the cameraministry, he just runs the side
(41:27):
camera.
Not even the I don't think he'sever even ran the camera
switcher.
He runs the side camera.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
Meaning he just sits on a stooland points his camera back and
forth.
That's all he's gotta do.
And nobody would look at thatand say, well, that's that's all
that important.
That's that's not doing a biggreat thing for God or you know
(41:49):
the kingdom or the church.
And yet, I think in the pastcouple years he's invited three
people from work.
They've come to church, they'vebeen exposed to the gospel.
I know one of them, not onlydid we baptize him, his son
accepted Jesus, and we webaptized him too, all because
this guy who runs cameras onSundays is trying to be faithful
(42:12):
and he's looking foropportunities when he goes to
work and says, God, how can youuse me here?
And God is as he walks in hisways, God's leading him in his
will.
And now he's impacting people'slives for eternity.
Speaker 03 (42:25):
And you won't e you'll never even understand how
impactful that will be.
Those people are gonna that oneboy's gonna grow up and uh
serve God and uh who's he gonnabring into the fold?
Speaker 02 (42:39):
Yep.
Speaker 03 (42:40):
And those uh those are the type of things that
don't happen unless you chooseGod's will today.
Speaker 01 (42:47):
Today.
Today.
So good.
Past Tim, will you pray for us?
Speaker 03 (42:50):
Father, I want to thank you for this study.
And Lord, I pray that yourspirit, if I know we've been
pounding the pavement on this,but we just want to release
people uh from this fretfulChristianity, whereas, man, I
gotta be careful or I'll I'llnot be, you know, what God had
wanted me to be, and my lifewill be never be what it could
(43:13):
be.
Lord, I pray that you'll justlet them have faith in you.
That you got this thing.
And if they'll follow you,follow your ways right now,
today, that they will be whatyou've called them to be all
along.
And Father, I pray that you'lljust free us from the bondage of
(43:34):
of that myth that it's one wayor the highway with you.
I want to thank you for youbeing such a good God.
Uh not even that.
A good dad to us.
You're great.
Thank you in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
Speaker 00 (43:55):
Thanks again for joining us for this episode of
the Midweek Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
Let us know how God is usingthis resource in your life or
send any podcast questions ortopic ideas to podcast at a
freshwind.org.
If you would like to supportthis ministry financially and
help us continue offering newresources that equip you to
discover more in Christ, simplytext any amount to the number
(44:19):
84321.
We're so grateful for yoursupport.
Make sure to tune in next weekfor a brand new episode of the
Midweek Podcast.
Be blessed and have a greatweek.
Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode
of the Midweek Podcast, broughtto you by a Fresh Wind Church.
Each week, our team brings younew content to help you take
steps towards Jesus and discovermore in Christ.
Today's episode is hosted byPastor Ryan.
Speaker 01 (00:27):
Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast.
Pastor Ryan joined as alwayswith Pastor Tim, and we have
wrapped up this past Sunday, ourseries, God Just Tell Us.
And we've been talking aboutthe will of God each week.
And man, Tim, I'm getting somegreat feedback on this series.
People seem to really uh reallybe into, I guess, figuring out
(00:49):
what is God's will, how do Idiscover it?
How do I walk that out and liveit?
And so um man, just superexcited to have done this
series.
Speaker 03 (00:56):
Yeah, and and it's been an extended series because
that's what Philippians is allabout, right?
God is working um to teach youto please him.
Right.
Uh, and he's always working inthat area.
He wants to uh he wants you towant to want him, he wants you
to want to please him, he wantsyou to want to live in his will.
(01:20):
And Philippians is all aboutthat.
And um it's good, it's great tobe reminded that you're not
alone out there.
The Holy Spirit is working youto will in the direction that
God wants you to go.
And you're one of the biggestthings uh about the will of God
is it's always, I don't want togo to Uganda, you know, right.
(01:42):
And uh, but if you don't wantto go, right away you know,
well, there well, now we have aquestion.
Because God is working in me tochange my will to please him,
and if he wanted to go to wantedyou to go to Uganda, you would
probably have a little that'd beterrible to go to Uganda, but
(02:05):
man, what an adventure.
You know, you'd have a littlething there, right?
And uh, but God is working umin all of his people that
they'll want to do his will, andthat's a a great thing.
I mean, that's the basis of it,right?
And we went through Philippiansand now we're coming through
this series, and they just kindof all click together.
(02:27):
It was really good.
Speaker 01 (02:28):
Yeah.
I gave everybody kind of thischallenge, ultimatum, uh, at the
end of the message on Sunday tosay, and we've been talking
about God's will for the pastfour weeks, and then yeah, even
diving back into the Philippiansseries.
Um now you have a choice tomake.
We've talked about how you candiscover God's will, how
important it is to walk in hisways, all these things.
(02:50):
And you can choose to standhere and just let this all be
head knowledge say, all right, Iget it.
Or you can take a step.
And and that step is alwaysgonna require faith.
And that was um, I even I wason, I think it was Facebook, and
a guy from church uh listenedto the message Sunday, and he
(03:11):
said he posted that quote aboutum, you know, we we want to
follow Jesus, but we want tolive a faith-free life.
And how that that just hit himhard right in the nose, you
know.
Because I I want I want to Iwant to do the God things and
the church things.
Speaker 03 (03:28):
I just I want guarantees.
Speaker 01 (03:32):
Yeah, guarantees.
I this I want to know, I wantcertainty.
And the author of Hebrews says,without faith, it is impossible
to please God.
And so my challenge was thisstep is gonna require faith.
You're gonna have to step in,and you're not gonna be 100%
sure.
You're not you're not gonnaknow if this is exactly where
(03:54):
you should go.
People are gonna say, What onearth are you doing?
That looks crazy.
That sounds crazy.
Why would you do that?
And you're gonna have to takeit anyways.
With the encouragement, howeverimperfect that step is, if
we've taken it in faith andwe're walking in God's ways,
we've sought godly counsel,because it's not about just
blind faith.
This is totally different.
(04:14):
It's not about stupid risk justto do something.
It's you you seek counsel, youyou get in God's word, and then
you take a step, you know.
Uh Peter stepping out of thatboat onto the water.
You know, like Jesus said,Come, all right, there's my
call.
Is that water gonna hold me up?
You know, what what is you yougotta take the step of faith?
Speaker 03 (04:37):
And it's important.
Um Reformation coming up, refReformation anniversary is
coming up, and um Martin Luther,that it was just that one
phrase that Paul wrote.
The just shall live by faith.
And as as I've been gettingolder and people come to me,
(04:57):
what do I do about this?
And what do I do about that?
You have faith that God willwork it out because that's how
you're supposed to live.
But how do I how do I make surethat God does this thing?
I you don't.
The just live by faith in everysituation.
And it's it it's it's tough uhfor Martin Luther to wrestle
(05:20):
this down, and uh that's how Godis demanding that we live.
Um we got in a big discussionin discovery class about why God
makes you live by faith.
Why don't he just show up inthe sky and and uh we found a
passage of scripture inEphesians chapter three.
(05:41):
It says God is proving hismanifold wisdom to these
authorities and heavenly beingsthrough his church in whom he
demands to live by faith.
So God, God has got uh motiveswithin motives.
Number one, he wants to teachyou to trust him.
That's why you're gonna have tolive by faith.
(06:02):
And number two, he's using yourfaith to prove something to
somebody.
But I got Forrest, he's tryingto figure out who those guys
are.
So uh he's working on that forthe church.
If he figures it out, I'll letyou guys know.
Speaker 01 (06:16):
That'll be the next discovery class, yeah.
And uh speaking of next, um, onthis reformation thing, a
little promo.
Uh our October series is comingup talking about reformation
roots, and we're gonna talkabout scripture alone, faith
alone, grace alone, Christalone.
So definitely come and be apart of that.
This is some some of that coredoctrinal stuff that I think we
(06:36):
we really need.
And, you know, I think comingoff of this series on God's
will, we talked about howeverything needs to be filtered
through the word of God, right?
Absolutely.
This is gonna be a great way tokind of bolster your your faith
in God's word, the yourconfidence in who he is, and
really build a foundationbecause as you know we talked
about how does God speak to us,you know, influence of others,
(06:58):
life situations leading to thespirits.
You need to know, okay, well,what is God's will and what our
word and how do I filter thesethings through it?
Be a great series to startbuilding that foundation
together.
Speaker 03 (07:08):
And this is uh this is a great time talking about
the will of God.
Um in Discovery Class, we weretalking about we have this life
projection screen in front ofus, and we project what we think
is true as we come intoChristianity and we put it up on
the on uh our uh lifeprojection screen, and we think
(07:31):
it's true, and we try to try tolive by that, but some of those
things are not true, like Santa.
You know, you're a kid, Santa,Santa, you know, and you get to
be about you six years old, andit's like parent alert.
Yeah, don't let your don't letyour kids listen to this.
(07:51):
You get six years old and andyou're you get an orange and
you're like, no, this is not theSanta on TV.
How come I I get an orange, youknow?
And uh so you you start erasingthat off your projector screen,
and that's an emotional turmoilfor a kid, you know, to take
(08:12):
that down.
That that's not actually true.
Everybody just pretends.
Why does everybody pretendthat's true?
And uh so they have to takethat down, and that happens to
Christians all the time.
You've got untruth that youhave brought in with you that
has to be broken down.
And that's what happened inthis Will of God series is we
(08:34):
had a belief, and I've heard itall my life.
All my life.
God has the perfect person foryou.
He's got one person for you.
Just thinking through that forabout three minutes and you
realize, well, if somebodyscrews up, then the whole
system.
Right, right.
(08:54):
So, and we, you know, God hasthis one will for you, and God
has this one perfect thing foryou.
And if you missed it, or if youjust um you you backslid that
month and you you missed thatdecision, you know, what do I do
now?
And uh this this study has beengreat for that.
If you guys haven't listened toall the sermons, listen to them
(09:16):
all in a row, and um this stuffwill start uh making sense to
you.
But that's one of those thingson our our screen, our life
screen that we get is that thethis one thing, and if I miss
it, then I'm in trouble.
What if you come to the Lordand you're 40 years old?
You got a wife, you got threeor four kids, you got a job to
(09:40):
support them, your your wifefinally was able to quit so she
could focus on the the last twokids, you know, and um and now
you're thinking, okay, the Lord,the Lord wants me in Uganda,
you know.
I I don't know why Ugandaalways comes up.
Um and you're like, how do Iget there?
(10:01):
You know, how do I move?
What do I what do I do?
And this this series of sermonsthat we preached right here
helps you navigate that you ifyou belong in Uganda, if you
will follow his ways, he'll getyou there.
And and you don't have to worryabout making those big
(10:24):
decisions and how am I gonnasupport my family and all that
kind of stuff.
The Lord is gonna lead you inthat direction because the just
live by faith.
Just step out in faith in thethings that um show up in your
life that you feel like the Lordis calling you to do.
And guess what?
(10:44):
I can tell you this.
If you miss that decision, itdon't matter.
You can't disappoint Godbecause he already knew.
He's gonna tell you to turnleft and you went straight.
And um you didn't realize youmissed it.
But he already knew before thefoundation of the world that you
(11:07):
were going to do it your wayinstead of his way in that
moment.
And uh, but he still has plansfor you.
Speaker 01 (11:14):
Yeah, I mean the king of contingency plans,
right?
Right up they well, there theyblew right past it.
Right.
Um he he's he is so good, he'sso faithful at redeeming all of
those those missteps and thosemistakes, and um shoot, I I I
wasn't paying attention.
Right.
Um man, I was driving to asoccer game a couple weeks ago,
(11:37):
and you know, we got the wholeturnpike is being rebuilt, it
seems like at least all thebridges on the turnpike.
And I missed one exit.
Thought, well, I'll just comeup, turn around at the next one.
So I did that.
Well, came back.
Well, the exit that I neededwas closed down on that side
because the bridge was out.
I had to go all the way backdown to Elyria, had it on 30
minutes because I missed oneexit.
(11:58):
And we're like, man, if I screwthis up, I've just I've missed
it all.
God's gonna redeem all thosethings, you know?
Speaker 03 (12:05):
Yeah, and you know what?
I don't even like that wordcontingency.
Uh think about this.
God, what I mentioned earlierneeds to be brought out, which
is you can't disappoint God.
He cannot be disappointedbecause he already knows.
Right.
It's for him to bedisappointed, he'd have to be
shocked.
Right.
Speaker 01 (12:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (12:25):
And uh since he's when he sees all time like a
book, he's read the book, and hecan turn to whatever page he
wants to, and he's present inevery time.
I I know that's good, but ifyou just think about it for a
minute, how can he be surprised?
How can he be like, oh no, theydidn't turn left here.
(12:50):
Now I'm gonna have to make upall these.
No, no, no, no.
That's not who God is.
There is no contingency becausehe already knew.
And you're like, Well, how am Igonna find this perfect will of
God?
Just follow him.
That's a good way to do it.
Follow him, and he's gonna he'sgonna take you there.
And it doesn't matter how manytimes you get off the exit when
you shouldn't have or stayed onand and didn't get off the exit.
(13:13):
Uh it doesn't it doesn't matterto God because he already knew
that was gonna happen.
And uh your life has been redfrom beginning to end already.
So take a deep breath and letall that out, Christian.
Just and live by faith.
That's right.
And you'll end up where youneed to go.
Um I was in a situation yearsand years ago where it looked to
(13:39):
me from the outside thatsomeone chose something
different than what God hadplanned for him.
And um I look back at thatsituation and I I would have
sworn up and down that God hadsaid, You need to do this.
And he said no.
(14:00):
And um he loved the Lord.
Um I don't know why he said no,but he said no.
Um and I thought, man, I wonderwhat God's gonna do to him.
I wonder he's gonna get a badspanking and uh and all this
kind of stuff.
Um but he went where I knew hewasn't supposed to be and served
(14:23):
God and won all kinds of peopleto the Lord.
So you know, I look back andsay, I can say he said no.
But then God continued to usehim wherever he ended up.
And I and I know, guys, I'm notgiving you you're gonna get
your spanking if you say no.
Um but it really doesn't matterif you do.
(14:46):
God knew you were gonna say noand he planned for other things
for you to do on the other sideof that no.
Um we're we're dealing with aGod who can't be disappointed.
Yeah and so you relax.
Relax.
Follow his ways, and you'llfind yourself in his will.
Speaker 01 (15:05):
Yeah, don't don't take what we're saying here as
permission to just ignore thewill of God.
Um this is this is all reliant,like you walking in his ways.
Um, sin carries consequences,disobedience carries
consequences, absolutely, andyou can say, Well, I'm gonna do
(15:25):
it one day.
Uh, you know, I I I know whatGod's calling me to, but I'm
just not ready.
I want to go live it up whileI'm young.
Scripture talks about should wego on sinning that the grace of
God may abound?
No, Paul says.
Yeah, you're being crazy.
How stupid, how stupid can yoube?
No, you don't live like that.
Yeah, um so we're trying tofree you from all those times
(15:50):
when you look back and say, Man,I missed it.
I missed it.
And to say, start right now,walk in his ways right now.
Today.
And as you begin to do that,he'll lead you in his will.
Speaker 03 (16:05):
And we always push his will out.
You know, it's out theresomewhere, and I'm kind of
looking for it.
No, his will is present righthere today.
That's good.
Be the man that God has calledyou to be today.
When you got the four kids andyou got the job that you can't
leave because it's paying foreverything that's going on in
(16:28):
your life, and and your wifefinally got to, you know, take a
break and and be with the kidsand all those things, that's
fantastic.
Walk in your walk in his waystoday, and you will end up if
it's Uganda one day or if it'sretiring from that job and
getting your kids through schooland having a big Thanksgiving
(16:51):
uh where you can all join handsand thank God for your lives.
You know, that's that's just asmuch part of his will as
running off as a missionary orbeing a preacher or all these
things.
But as long as you're livingfor him, uh the way he wants you
to live, yeah, right now, todayis is how you live in God's
(17:15):
will.
So take a deep breath and quitlooking out in the future and
think about hey, shouldn't I bedriving the speed limit right
now?
Maybe that's what's going on.
Speaker 01 (17:27):
And uh we'll we'll put we'll put God's plan and
will for our life on hold,waiting for some big temporary
thing.
And yeah, he's he's saying,Well, why don't you be faithful
right now?
You know, it makes me think ofthat parable Jesus, you know, he
gives these guys some talentsand he gives you know one guy
one, another one five or two,whatever.
(17:49):
One gets is it one, two, andfive, something like that.
Yeah, um the guy with fivedoubles it, and the guy with two
doubles it.
The guy with one, he goes andburies it.
Um one day, you know, and he hewas worried about you know, I
know you're harsh and you'regonna say all these things when
you come back, and I didn't wantto screw it up.
But isn't that what we do withGod's will?
(18:11):
Like I I didn't want to screwit up, I didn't want to make a
mistake, I didn't want to missit.
And God said, I gave you thisopportunity.
Go and serve it and use me.
Man, what if I get it wrong?
And what if I what if I justI'm not ready?
Well, maybe I can put it onhold and go do these other
things first.
And we want, we're gonna putall these things on hold,
(18:33):
waiting for some big thing.
And then Jesus comes back andhe's like, Well, what'd you do
with it?
Well, I buried it in theground.
Well, that's not what I askedyou to do with it.
You know, we need to befaithful in the here and the now
with the the things God hasgiven you.
And it's easy to look atsomeone else and say, Well, man,
I wish I had their life.
I wish I got the talents thatthey got, I wish I had the money
(18:54):
and the resources they had.
And if if I had those things,then I could follow God.
Then I could pursue God's willfor my life.
Do it right now.
Whatever you do, whether inword or deed, do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, givingthanks to God the Father through
him.
Whatever it is.
And so, yeah, God might wantyou to go to Uganda, but you
(19:15):
know what?
I I know for sure, He wants youto be a great dad.
Yeah, he wants you to be agreat wife, wants you to be a
great mom or dad.
He wants you to be the bestemployee that your boss has.
That when people like, man, whodo we call?
We call this person becausethey show up.
I know for a fact that's whoGod wants you to be.
Speaker 03 (19:33):
Absolutely.
Speaker 01 (19:34):
We can sit here and we can talk about you going to
Uganda and we can dream up, youknow, all these plans.
We can start looking at, youknow, f the cost of flights and
we can buy you some suitcases,we can do it all.
Speaker 03 (19:44):
The cost of living, how many churches you're gonna
have to go to to get yoursupport to live there, and and
um but the truth is what are youdoing today?
Right.
You're not gonna get to Ugandaum by not living for God right
now.
Speaker 01 (20:01):
Yeah, we want we want that big thing, and it's
like even if God said, Yep, Iwant you to go to Uganda because
you're gonna serve me there,God could send you to Uganda
right now, but if you haven'tbeen doing all the right things
along the way, you're not gonnabe the right person for Uganda
when you get there.
Absolutely.
You know, so start nowfollowing him and saying yes to
(20:24):
him, and he'll get you to Ugandaif that's where you're supposed
to be.
And I know a lot of us we'reafraid.
We're like, well, dear God,that's what I'm afraid of.
He's gonna send me to Uganda.
Well, just be a great dad, be agreat mom.
You know, start doing thosethings.
And like you said, maybe God'swill for you is to retire and
get your kids through school andbe a great grandma or grandpa
(20:44):
for your grandkids one day.
And you're gonna impacteternity just by living
faithfully now.
And serving your local church.
Yep.
Speaker 03 (20:53):
Um we're all given a gift to serve the local church,
and we're always worried aboutgoing to Uganda.
You know, hey, what is Godtelling you to do in your
church?
And um, you might just be oneof the guys that run up there to
the altar and pray with peoplewhen they go up.
Um, or you know, you might bethe guy who makes sure all the
(21:16):
words are correct when we'redoing the the slides for the
songs, the off-the-wall music.
Remember you do you rememberthat?
Were you at church when thatlady came in?
I remember you telling me thestory.
She came in and she goes, Doyou guys do that off the wall
music?
And I'm like, I don't know ifI'd call it off the wall.
(21:36):
And uh it's it's pretty normalChristian music.
She goes, No, I mean when youput it up on the wall.
Oh, yes, then our music istotally off the wall.
Yes, and we said we can'tafford hymn books, so it's gonna
be off the wall music.
But um I think this I thinkthis series has really served
(21:59):
our church.
Because God wants you to do hiswill today, um, with your
responsibility to your family,to your local church, to your
personal relationship with theLord.
And like I said, if somethingbig is in your future, he's
gonna give it to you.
You know, um Church.tv.
(22:25):
Craig Rochelle.
We went to that leadershipsummit a few months ago and uh
he was talking about flossinghis teeth to all these leaders
from all over the nation.
Right.
He says, Great leadershipstarts with flossing your teeth.
And uh he goes into this storywhere he's like I hated flossing
(22:49):
my teeth.
And everybody told me youshould be flossing your teeth.
And uh he said so I put it inmy routine, and after I floss my
teeth, I did this, and after Idid that, I read my scripture,
and after I did this, I I wenthere, and then I did my
exercise, and then I studied forpreaching, and then I and he
(23:11):
said, I did the little thingsfor years until I can do the big
thing.
Yep, and uh my big things aretwo a year.
I go somewhere like this and Ispeak to all these people, but
my life is made up of littlethings.
Yeah.
(23:31):
And my big thing is about anhour and 20 minutes, you know,
and it's big and it makes mescared.
And I gotta get out here infront of all you people, and you
don't know me, and I know mypeople at my church, and I know
what I can say and what I can'tsay, and what'll be funny to
them and what's not funny, andthen my big thing is to come up
(23:54):
here and tell you that my lifeisn't about standing in front of
20,000 people and talking aboutthis stuff.
My life is about flossing myteeth.
If every day I get up and Ifloss my teeth and I do my
little things, yeah, then I geta big thing.
And I'm always scared of it,but I do it.
(24:17):
And he says, We all start withlittle things.
Do your little things andyou'll be ready for your big
thing.
Speaker 01 (24:25):
Right.
And uh that's so important.
Speaker 03 (24:27):
And I mean, we could cover most of the will of God
sermon series just by sayingthat.
Do your little things.
Speaker 02 (24:34):
Yep.
Speaker 03 (24:34):
And uh follow the will of God right now, today.
If it starts with flossing yourteeth, and he'll he'll tell you
if he don't floss his teeth,his day falls apart.
You know, he goes, I gotta makesure I get up and floss my
teeth, or I I I don't runthrough my little things um that
(24:55):
get me ready for the big thing.
And that's what God is tryingto tell you through this, and
your pastors are trying to tellyou through these series, and
that's what Paul was trying totell you in Philippians.
You know, hey, God's gonnachange your heart on your way
and just live by faith, andyou'll end up where you need to
be.
I love that.
Speaker 01 (25:13):
On the way, on the way.
So take those imperfect steps,and you know, we we read
Proverbs chapter three and justgreat passage of scripture, but
I grew up reading um from theNIV.
And I think the NIV trying toremember exactly what it was.
If one of the translations usesacknowledge, another one uses
(25:34):
submit.
I think it was in all your waysacknowledge him, one of those
ways.
Yeah, do not lean on your ownunderstanding in all your ways,
and like I said, depending onthe translation you grew up
with, it was acknowledge orsubmit to him and he will make
your past straight.
And then I was reading the CSB,this as I was studying for the
sermon, and said, In all yourways, know him.
(25:54):
And I was like, What?
That's not how I remember it.
Yeah.
Um, and so you, you know, wegot this fancy Bible software
logos, and I click on that wordno, and then I go into the Bible
word study, and like, okay,well, the Hebrew word is yeda.
And and it doesn't necessarilyI understand what they were
(26:16):
trying to say in the NIV and youknow, New King James and all
those ones, by using the wordacknowledge or submit.
And it reads a whole lot betterthat way.
We get it, yeah.
But the Hebrew word is muchdeeper than that, and the CSB
nailed it.
It means know him in all yourways, know him.
(26:36):
And man, it it struck mebecause I one, I'm not used to
reading it that way, but two, itchanges the connotation a
little bit because now I can Ican acknowledge God in what I
do.
That doesn't mean I like doingit.
You know, it doesn't mean I'mI'm okay with it, but I
acknowledge this is what hewants.
I can submit to him and still,you know, kind of just
(26:58):
grudgingly getting gritting myteeth, getting through it.
But to know him in all my ways,and it seems so much more
intimate, yeah, so much morepersonal.
Speaker 03 (27:09):
I like I like that idea because it's I know that
bracelet we all handed out didseveral years, what would Jesus
do?
Um, but it it's deeper that,deeper than knowing what he
would do, it's knowing why hewould do that.
Yeah, and that's thedifference.
That's the difference.
Speaker 01 (27:29):
Yeah, and all your ways know him.
So as a as a dad, how do I howdo I know him in my ways?
You know how I deal with theyou know kid who Gavin just had
a birthday and he's gonna lovethat I'm sharing this story.
I don't know if he listens tothe midweek podcast, but if he
does, I think we're safe.
Probably okay to share it.
(27:52):
That he was doing dishes theother day.
We have you know, fall in ourhouse is crazy.
We got four kids, six differentsports teams, and then all the
school stuff running around likecrazy, mad people.
And so our house little becomesit's more like a motel room.
You come, you just drop yourstuff on the floor and go to
bed.
Um, wake up and do it all overagain.
Speaker 03 (28:14):
I know we hit uh about August.
We don't see you guys untilJanuary.
Speaker 01 (28:20):
January, for real.
Um, and we're I mean, we arecoming up gasping for air come
January.
Um, but we finally had uh a dayoff.
Kids didn't have school lastFriday, and so I said, Hey, we
got a day off.
I need you guys to help me getsome stuff done around here so
we can get back to normal.
Um, and so I had Gavin washingthe dishes, and I had said
(28:42):
something to him, and he underhis breath goes, You can wash
the dishes.
And I'm like, Well, what didyou just like I'm not far enough
away yet?
Yeah, you you let me get onestep.
You gotta wait till I get tothe other room before you say
something like that.
And I I will tell you, I don'tknow if I knew God in all my
(29:06):
ways in that moment because Ikind of lost it, you know.
Um, I grounded him, I think,till eternity and took his cell
phone.
His birthday was the next day,and I just boom blew up.
And how do I know God in all myways in that moment?
(29:27):
How many times has God given megrace when I've I've made the
snarky remark under my breath?
Yeah, you know, how do I in inmy relationship with my wife,
how do I know him in in all myways?
When it comes to preparing for,you know, church and Sunday
(29:47):
service, and I man it it it'sbusy.
Every week we seem to turnaround and there's more and more
people showing up.
And it's like, man, how do we,how do we disciple all these
people?
How do we get connected withall these people?
Or Our team here would tell youone of the things I'm worried
about all the time is peoplefalling through the cracks.
How do we how do we connectwith these people?
Build relationships.
Who do we need to call?
(30:08):
Who haven't we seen?
They're like, golly, dude, giveme a break.
Um, how do I know him in thoseways?
Right.
And and I just meant I lovedthat idea because it's so
personal.
I yeah, not just what wouldJesus do, but why would he do
it?
Right.
Why would he respond like thisto my son who just smarted off?
(30:31):
Why would he respond this wayto our team as we're trying to
think how we grow and disciplebelievers?
Why why God, why would you doit that way?
And man, I I think there'sthere's so much joy in getting
to know him in that way.
Yeah.
Speaker 03 (30:46):
Um that's growth.
You wonder, um you wonder howyou get to be that person and um
who terrible things arehappening all over the place,
and and they're just sittingthere um, are you sad?
No.
Are you mad?
No.
I'm sitting here living in joy.
(31:08):
And yeah, but all this stuff isgoing on and God's got it.
Oh, that is so weak.
You know, that is God's got it.
I mean, that's that's where andit's it's like yeah, but I've
spent a life stepping out infaith and God has always had it.
(31:29):
So I'm not afraid.
Yeah.
And um I've known severalpeople like that in my life, but
it it it is about not lookingout there for the will of God,
it's about knowing Him infollowing His ways.
Yeah.
You know, why do you want me todo this?
(31:49):
Why why do I have to um Ibought this car, it goes 180
miles an hour, and I'm onlyallowed to drive 70.
Why?
Why?
Why can't I just go?
And and the Lord says, Well,you spent a lot of money and you
only needed a car that would go70.
So this is why, you know.
(32:11):
Um, so we have this um constantlooking for something more, and
that's part of being American,you know, looking for a little
bit more, a little bit nicer, alittle bit bigger, uh, something
with a pool or with anoutbuilding, you know, just you
(32:33):
know, I'd love to have a reallynice car that I didn't drive,
you know, and all that kind ofstuff.
And Lord, why did you say noabout this, you know, ten years
ago, but now you're like, yeah,if you want a nice car, go buy
it.
What was different?
(32:53):
I want to know why this isdifferent now.
And it might be financialthings or it might be you just
don't love that car as much asyou used to, and he couldn't
have that car in your life backthen.
Um so yeah, I I like that.
I like that.
Know him in this.
(33:13):
Not just what he wants you todo, but why he wants you to do
it.
Speaker 01 (33:18):
Yeah, it's the it's the joy of the relationship, you
know.
It's like it's great to to bemarried.
Um man, when you really startto to know your spouse, and I I
told Joy the other day we sawsomething in her and I, I'm not
kidding you.
We said the same exact thing atthe same exact time we saw
whatever it was that we saw, andI was like, this is getting
(33:41):
creepy.
Yeah, like we are now thinkingthe same, like we're having the
same thoughts.
Speaker 03 (33:47):
Well, wait, wait till you start saying the wrong
word, but she understands it asthe right word.
Everybody around in you aroundyou is looking like, what's
going on?
Speaker 01 (34:00):
Imagine what it would be like to be that way
with Jesus.
Uh huh.
You see a situation and youthink the same about it.
The same thought comes to yourhead.
Yep.
Oh man, this is what we need todo in this situation.
Not just because that's what hewould do, because but it it
it's almost so in it's likeinnate now.
We think the same way about it.
(34:22):
That's what God is trying toget in your life.
Speaker 03 (34:25):
And this is this is very important.
We talked about it at discoveryclasses last night.
Um, God not only forgives you,that's the first part of
salvation, but he also gives youa new identity.
Old things have passed away,all things become new, and then
he comes to live his life inyou.
(34:47):
Not the other way around.
You're not living Christ's lifeform.
He's in you living his life.
You are Acts chapter, wheredoes Acts end?
22?
You're Acts chapter 23.
You're you're the narrative ofthe gospel of Jesus Christ, and
(35:09):
and he wants to live his life inyou.
So the most important thing youcan do is know.
Yeah.
In your in in everything thatyou do.
Know what he wants you to doand why.
If that is your goal, you don'thave to worry about the will of
(35:30):
God because you'll be there allthe time.
Speaker 01 (35:33):
All the time.
Well, was it your dad thatwould say get to know Jesus as
well as a forgiven sinner can?
I I love that because it's itis so much more than just this
rote obedience.
You know, I'm just doing itbecause I'm, you know, I'm like
a dog.
You know, this is what he sayssit, so I sit.
I don't even know why I'msitting, but he said sit, and
he's got a little treat, itlooks like.
(35:54):
You know, no, this is man, knowhim, get to know him.
Speaker 03 (35:58):
And that's important.
And I love that illustrationwith the dog because you know, I
got an old dog, and if she getsout of her routine, she's lost,
she's uncomfortable, she shedoesn't know what's going on,
she wants to cry abouteverything, you know, and and
she gets out of her routine, andthat'll happen to you,
(36:20):
Christian, if you're justsaying, Oh, he said this, I
gotta do it.
He said that, I gotta do it.
And then when you get out ofthat routine, God has something
special for you, you're like,oh, now I am all uncomfortable
because you don't know why youwere doing all those things.
Speaker 01 (36:37):
Yeah.
But when you know the why, anew situation, a new
opportunity, a new relationship,a new door can open, and you'll
know.
Oh, yeah, this is what I'msupposed to do in this
situation.
Well, did a God speak to you?
Did he did he send a dove?
Did he did he write it on thewall?
Did he speak in a burning bush?
No, I just know him.
I know him.
(36:58):
Right.
This is this is what he woulddo.
And church, in in this wholeseries, I guess this is what
we've been driving towards, iswe want you to know him that
way.
Speaker 03 (37:07):
Absolutely.
Speaker 01 (37:08):
And when you you know him and you walk in his
ways, he'll lead you in hiswill.
We've said it over and over andover again.
And we're saying it one moretime.
And all your ways, get to knowhim.
And it I think you know, yousaid a little bit ago, the
series, how timely it was.
Um, and you look out at theworld and we have lost some some
(37:32):
giants.
We have.
Um, you know, Charlie Kirk isone that comes to mind, but then
we lost Vody Bacham recently.
And then I was like, well, man,we lost um John MacArthur this
year too.
Speaker 03 (37:45):
And oh caveat.
Just because we said theirnames, we don't agree with
everything they said.
Speaker 01 (37:53):
Yes.
Um, but I'm but they weregreats.
There some just giants inChristendom.
Yeah.
You know, and yeah, I mean,there's Despurgeons and all
those, but I mean, I'm talkingmodern day giants.
Yeah.
And I thought, man, we're herewe are in this series about
following God's will.
And I give this challenge onSunday, like, okay, well, now
(38:15):
you got to take a step.
We need those people who aregonna step up and walk in the
ways of God and be the personGod's called them to be.
And I'm not gonna wait till I'm25.
I'm not gonna wait till I'mgraduated, I'm not gonna wait
till I pay off my debt.
I'm not gonna wait till I findthe right one or the right
career, the right city.
(38:36):
I'm gonna do it right now.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna be that person.
And we need, and like I said, Idon't care whether you agree
with Charlie Kirk or JohnMacArthur or Vody Bacham or not.
We need those people that wecan look forward at and say,
man, look at that guy, look atthat girl who said yes.
(38:56):
That's who I need to be.
And just go.
We need some of those giants,and and I'm praying the Lord's
raising some up, and I'm prayinghe'd do it right in our church.
Speaker 03 (39:07):
Yeah, amen.
Do it right.
And we're looking for you.
We're looking for you.
We want um we want you to standon our shoulders and um and
reach what the heights that Godhas for you.
And um, but when God,everybody's everybody's part of
the body of Christ, andeverybody's important.
(39:29):
Um, if you get turf toe, youknow, you might be the mightiest
man, but you're done.
Speaker 01 (39:36):
And you'll ruin my fantasy football season, too.
Speaker 03 (39:39):
Right.
Um you might be the toe or umyou might be the spleen, but the
body without it doesn'tfunction.
So whatever you are in God'sGod's sight, you're important.
Yeah.
And he's planned for you andknows what's gonna happen.
And you can take a deep breathand say, I'm just gonna follow
(40:03):
your ways.
I'm gonna floss my teeth, andwhatever comes after, I'm gonna
do my small things.
And if you got a big thing forme, then I'll do that too.
But if it's just living forJesus in my church, in my
family, and at work for the restof my life, I'm gonna be that
guy.
And if you know Jesus, you'regonna know why you're that guy.
(40:27):
And you'll realize um as you dothis, you'll become a pillar uh
for people all around you.
And um they'll love you.
And I know this, I know this bymy dad's personal testimony.
Um, he was a pillar, and peoplecome to me like they think I'm
(40:52):
dad, and I'm like, uh, I knowwhat you're looking for, but
he's not here no more.
You know, and uh they'relooking for those pillars that
they can that they can trust.
And you can be one just bybeing faithful.
Speaker 01 (41:06):
That's right.
And we got a guy in our churchtold me on Sunday that uh he had
the opportunity to inviteanother friend from church, and
his friend showed up this pastSunday.
Um and here's a guy, he runsthe camera for us.
And nobody would look aroundand think, man, that guy's got a
real big important position inthis church.
He doesn't even run the cameraministry, he just runs the side
(41:27):
camera.
Not even the I don't think he'sever even ran the camera
switcher.
He runs the side camera.
I don't know what you'retalking about.
Meaning he just sits on a stooland points his camera back and
forth.
That's all he's gotta do.
And nobody would look at thatand say, well, that's that's all
that important.
That's that's not doing a biggreat thing for God or you know
(41:49):
the kingdom or the church.
And yet, I think in the pastcouple years he's invited three
people from work.
They've come to church, they'vebeen exposed to the gospel.
I know one of them, not onlydid we baptize him, his son
accepted Jesus, and we webaptized him too, all because
this guy who runs cameras onSundays is trying to be faithful
(42:12):
and he's looking foropportunities when he goes to
work and says, God, how can youuse me here?
And God is as he walks in hisways, God's leading him in his
will.
And now he's impacting people'slives for eternity.
Speaker 03 (42:25):
And you won't e you'll never even understand how
impactful that will be.
Those people are gonna that oneboy's gonna grow up and uh
serve God and uh who's he gonnabring into the fold?
Speaker 02 (42:39):
Yep.
Speaker 03 (42:40):
And those uh those are the type of things that
don't happen unless you chooseGod's will today.
Speaker 01 (42:47):
Today.
Today.
So good.
Past Tim, will you pray for us?
Speaker 03 (42:50):
Father, I want to thank you for this study.
And Lord, I pray that yourspirit, if I know we've been
pounding the pavement on this,but we just want to release
people uh from this fretfulChristianity, whereas, man, I
gotta be careful or I'll I'llnot be, you know, what God had
wanted me to be, and my lifewill be never be what it could
(43:13):
be.
Lord, I pray that you'll justlet them have faith in you.
That you got this thing.
And if they'll follow you,follow your ways right now,
today, that they will be whatyou've called them to be all
along.
And Father, I pray that you'lljust free us from the bondage of
(43:34):
of that myth that it's one wayor the highway with you.
I want to thank you for youbeing such a good God.
Uh not even that.
A good dad to us.
You're great.
Thank you in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
Speaker 00 (43:55):
Thanks again for joining us for this episode of
the Midweek Podcast.
We'd love to hear from you.
Let us know how God is usingthis resource in your life or
send any podcast questions ortopic ideas to podcast at a
freshwind.org.
If you would like to supportthis ministry financially and
help us continue offering newresources that equip you to
discover more in Christ, simplytext any amount to the number
(44:19):
84321.
We're so grateful for yoursupport.
Make sure to tune in next weekfor a brand new episode of the
Midweek Podcast.
Be blessed and have a greatweek.
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