August 1, 2025 • 46 mins
What is the ding in your life right now? Chris' daughter has one of those fancy, newfangled windshields, and she got behind a truck and you guessed it, a rock flew up and put a ding in the glass. Her response was, "Don’t let the ding get you down." So what ding is getting you down? What is stealing your joy? Encourage others with your story on Chris Fabry Live.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:05):
Into every life a little rain must fall, a little trouble,
a little conflict, a little tension, a little pebble in
your shoe. Today at the radio backyard fence. Put these
words on your rear view or your bumper as a
bumper sticker. Write them on the mirror in your bathroom.
Seven words of wisdom straight from one of my daughters.
She said, don't let your ding get you down. We're
(00:29):
going to talk about that today, and I want you
to tell me about your ding. I want you to
help me define the ding and answer the question that
arises from it. Hey, it's just you and me today
on this Friday, and I believe you sharing your ding
might just be the thing somebody else needs to hear today.
Some encouragement for life is straight ahead on Chris Fabry Live.
(00:50):
We begin with a thank you to Ryan McConaughey doing
all things technical. Tricia is on vacation, so Lisa is
in the chair to. Hiro will be answering your calls today.
And since it's Friday. That's right friend, it's time for
the fabulous Faber Friday. Sigh. Here's what it does one.
We oxygenate your blood. Two we get your endorphins going.
Three we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
(01:12):
And five we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
call it the five love languages. We also stimulate your
vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And don't you
dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation. Take in
four seconds of air through your nose right now. Hold
it four seconds, and then as you release that air
through your mouth, push on the left side of your
(01:33):
ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the dings in your life.
Those little foxes that steal the grapes. Somebody said something
at work today and it wasn't a big thing, but
it stung. It was a ding to your heart. Sometimes
the dings are financial, an unexpected expense that is not
going to break the bank, but it's still painful. Sometimes
you have a communication ding, an internet outage, or you
(01:56):
say something that somebody else takes the wrong way. A
ding is something that spins in your mind, something that
you can't help seeing even if you want to look
past it. Today's fabulous Fabric Friday size, brought to you
by the American Ding Association. And the message we're sending
across the fruited plain. Don't let the ding get you down.
Void where prohibited. I am hoping this conversation here on
(02:19):
a Friday. I think it's a perfect Friday conversation as
we launch into another weekend here the first weekend of August.
Can you believe August is here? July. Thank you for
all you did. Um, August is here, and it's cooler. Uh,
unless it's not where you are. I really hope this
is encouraging to you, because I need to heed the
advice of my daughter. She is. I have five daughters.
(02:42):
Can you believe that? Five daughters and, uh, $5. She
is in her 30s. She's single. She has a little
teacup poodle that travels around with her in a van
down by the river that she bought a couple of
years ago. This is basically her house, and she signed
up for a class in Kentucky and passed her certification.
(03:05):
Way to go! Been a little toasty in Kentucky this summer.
As some of you may know in that area of
the country. But she drove from Arizona and she drove
through Texas, and she spent some time in Arkansas down
by the river. And one day she called and she
was distraught and I could hear it in her voice.
It was an emergency. You know, it wasn't like a
(03:26):
life threatening or anything. It was just dad. It was
one of those dad. It was like she needed to
tell somebody what had happened. And, uh, her van has
this windshield that is hooked up to all kinds of
newfangled gadgets and computers. It tells you your tire pressure
and your blood pressure and what you ought to have
(03:46):
for lunch. Not really, but it's pretty close to that.
And she said she was on the interstate going below
the speed limit. You know, she she drives slower than
the speed limit. And she said this big old truck
passed her and pulled right in front of her. And then, yes,
you guessed it, she hears this sickening tick of the
(04:10):
rock hitting the windshield. And now, have you ever had
that happen? I've had this happen. You're driving behind a
like a cement truck, and it's like, I didn't realize
that was a cement truck. I need to get around
this cement truck, or there's a pickup truck that just
comes from a muddy area and is ramping up on
the interstate, and a rock comes bouncing down the highway
(04:31):
and you can see it. It's almost like it's in
slow motion as you're driving, like this hanging curve ball
that buckles your knees and smack. There it is. Well,
for my daughter, it was this tick in her windshield
wasn't a great big crack. It didn't go across the
whole windshield. It was a ding. It was like a
little star. And she said, what, dad? What should I
(04:56):
do with my ding? And immediately I went into fix
it mode. I said, well, it probably would pay for
you to have, you know, depending on your insurance, you know,
do you have that? It probably pay for you to
go find a town nearby and go in there and
have somebody fill that ding in so it doesn't spread,
because I've had that happen. And and it actually works
(05:19):
depending on where it is on your windshield. This is
this program is not about the windshield, but it is
I went in to fix it mode and that wasn't
really what she needed. And she didn't criticize me for it,
you know? But later on, as I'm thinking about it,
it's like, wait a minute, she didn't need me to
fix the ding. And my guess is today, you don't
(05:42):
need me to fix the ding, or you don't need
anybody else to fix your ding. What she needed was
for someone to enter into the pain of the struggle
that she was going through and to feel it with her. Oh,
that is too. That is. I'm so sorry. I'm so
sorry that happened. But it was then that she uttered
(06:04):
the bumper sticker phrase that I will pass along to you.
And that's what we've titled the program today. Don't let
your ding get you down. And she said that, dad,
you know, she said dad in there too. So she
got the alliteration. And dad, don't let the ding get
you down. She was having a good trip. She was
excited about the class that she was going to take
(06:26):
a lot of positive things going on, but when she
climbed behind the wheel, what did she see? Not the.
Not the whole windshield. The ding. The one ding. So
today's program is don't let the ding get you down.
That's my topic. And I want you to help me
define it and then give me an example from your life.
(06:49):
It might be something that is going, What happened this
morning happened. You're looking at the radio and you're saying, uh,
how did you know that there's a ding in my life.
And again, not necessarily about it. I'm not talking about
your car. It could also be, you know, somebody let
the the cart go in the parking lot, and you
had a relatively new car, and now you got a
(07:11):
dent in your. So this is not all about cars.
I want to hear the ding in your life. What
you have learned from the ding. And does anybody feel
this way? I get wrapped up with my kids who
go through a ding in their life. Sometimes it's their
ding is harder for me than the ding that I have.
(07:33):
Call me. Just you and me today. Here's the number.
Write it down. (877) 548-3675. Here's a theological question. Does God
allow the dings or does he cause them? Is there
a Bible verse I can go to when I encounter
a ding in my life. And again, the windshield is
(07:54):
a metaphor. It's my daughter's example. I want to hear yours.
What is the little thing that's stealing your joy? In
other words, the little foxes. Song of Solomon, chapter two.
Catch the foxes for us. The little foxes that spoil
the vineyards for our vineyards are in blossom. I don't
know if that goes right along with the ding, but it.
It's these little foxes that a lot of times will
(08:16):
come along and steal your grapes and, and it makes you,
you you can't be content when you got these little foxes.
They're the big things for me. The big things are overwhelming.
The cataclysm, it always waylays me. But it's these small
things that will often cause me to stumble every day.
(08:37):
Let me give you an example from my own life
this week. Got a critical email the other day I
got a critical email about a program that I thought
was I finished the program was like, that was really good.
It was really helpful. It was on target biblically. It
was spiritually uplifting. It was deep. It was real. It
was authentic. We had people who were sharing from the heart.
(08:59):
We wrestled with some biblical truth there, and the email
came and only mentioned something I said in passing. As
you know, you shouldn't have done that. Now, to be
fair with the person, I went back and I looked
at it and the first thing that was said was,
thank you for your show. So I, I even bypassed that.
(09:21):
But then it went on to point out the thing
that he or she thought that I shouldn't have said. So,
since I am circumspect and I always try to respond
to whatever I hear, I wrote back, I first, I wrote,
I get that it's a fair criticism, and then I
(09:41):
wrote what was going through my mind when I said
what I had said, and I went on a paragraph
or two, and I got to about the middle of
what I wanted to to pour out, and I thought,
methinks thou doth protest too much. So I deleted the
paragraph because I realized all I really needed to say,
(10:01):
all the person who emailed really needed to hear me
say was, I get that that's that's a fair criticism,
you know, thanks for your response. And it was and
just that process, the comment dinged me. The comment stung
me because it was unexpected. It was opposite of what
I thought had happened that day. But just that simple
(10:25):
response allowed me to not let the ding get me down,
and to hear the criticism and think hard about what
is she, he or she right about this so that
I can learn from the ding? What about you? What's
your ding that's getting you down? And and I will
define it. Here. Let me give you the number 5483675.
(10:48):
My definition of the ding. And if you have a
better one, call me. But my definition of a ding
is a small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated setback or dent in
your day that becomes a negative focus that can steal
(11:10):
your joy. With the emphasis on can, it doesn't have to,
but it can steal your joy. And I think the
first step is to actually see it and realize what
it's doing on the inside. I want to talk about that,
but I want to talk with you. Do you agree
(11:31):
with that definition of the ding small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated, setback,
or dent in your day that becomes a negative focus
that can steal your joy? Are you going through that?
Have you gone through it? Maybe. Maybe it happened years
and years ago. And you want to tell us about
your experience? (877) 548-3675. Somebody is listening right now. And there
(11:55):
has been this ding in your day. And it's your
story is going to help that person. You're our greatest resource. (877) 548-3675.
(12:19):
It's not a Friday side today. It's a Friday. Ding.
What is your ding. And how do you not let
your ding get you down? I have some thoughts about this,
but I want to hear from you today at the
radio backyard fence. Again, this is your story. Your struggle
might help somebody else. So let me. I've got a
couple lines open for you. (877) 548-3675. Larry is in temple, Texas.
(12:44):
I'm sorry. Temple Terrace, Florida. I was going to move
to temple, Texas after what happened. Larry, tell me what happened.
S2 (12:52):
Hold this. Oh, yeah. I just handed my wife the
radio Temple, Texas. Uh, right. What happened? Chris, related to this? Um,
that's important in our lives. I was, uh, going down
a major street. A young man turned in front of me.
He turned this down. He did a U-turn and clipped
(13:12):
my car. He was driving this car, his parents car,
for the first time from another city, and we pulled
over together, ironically under an insurance building that was closed. Um,
I said, well, let's take a look at this moment.
He was shaking and said, why don't we say a
prayer about this for a moment and let this honor
God so he can settle this? And I pray the
(13:35):
Lord help us to settle this in a amiable way,
and that you'll bring glory to you. Amen. And, uh,
he did not even tell his parents about this, nor
the insurance company. I called my company right away and
later got it settled. But I just want to illustrate
that every moment of our life can be a moment
(13:55):
for God's glory. And I am not this way as
my wife. I am not always this way. So just
realize that what is this negative opportunity negative situation mean
in a way that I can honor God. And really,
that's what we're talking about. I know that's your theme
for the day. I'll hang up and listen to you.
S1 (14:17):
Well, it is, it is. Larry. Hang on, hang on.
Don't hang up yet. Um, I want to know how
you got there, though, because if somebody does a U-turn
in front of me and dings my car, it's like I'm.
I'm upset.
S2 (14:32):
Here.
S1 (14:33):
I don't think Larry can hear us. Bring him down there. Right. Uh, okay. But.
But you heard Larry's story. You see what's going on?
It's like how? How do I think the answer is?
In the idea that he saw the young man was
shaking that he was able to enter into. He wasn't
(14:55):
consumed with his own doing. He was looking at the
other person and how he was responding to all this.
And I think seeing that is the first step. In fact,
that's the thing that I wrote down about ourselves in
our own heart. Seeing the ding and what it's doing
(15:16):
to you is the first step, because I often want
to talk myself out of feeling bad about a ding.
I say, oh, I shouldn't feel bad about this. Just
a little thing. I don't let it bug. I shouldn't
let it bug me. So when it bugs me, then it's.
It's a double wound, I feel guilty. I feel shame
for letting this little thing steal my joy I shouldn't do.
(15:38):
I should be further along than this. And along with
that comes comparison. You know, we need to look at
this because I hear somebody saying, don't. You shouldn't sweat
the small stuff. Well, okay, I am it's the small stuff.
I'm sweating right now or you shouldn't do that. Look
(15:58):
at the people who are in a worse situation than
you are. They don't even have a car. Or they're
going to a funeral today, or they lost everything in
a fire or tornado or whatever it's like. So there's
always somebody who has it worse than me and my ding,
so you shouldn't feel bad. And it's true compared to
(16:19):
other people. There's somebody in a worse shape than I am,
somebody in better shape. And a ding in my windshield
is not a big deal. But if I spike it,
if I. If I push down the reality of what
is in front of me, I'm going to miss something.
And I think Larry put his finger on it. It's like, okay,
(16:40):
how can how can I invite God into the middle
of this? Because I think there's abundance in the dings,
not in solving all the problems or letting people walk
over you because he said, I, I got the I
got the insurance company involved and, and they, they covered this.
It's not in the fixing of it or solving all
(17:03):
the problems or spiking it. It's living fully in the
middle of the dings. Does that speak to does that
sing in your soul? Uh, Maureen is in Cleveland or
in that area? Hey, Maureen, why'd you call today? And
I'm not hearing. Maureen. Ryan, are you hearing Maureen? Okay.
S3 (17:25):
Can you hear me now?
S1 (17:27):
I can hear you, Maureen. Go ahead.
S3 (17:29):
Oh, good. Well, I just wanted to say that my
ding was my memory because I was so determined. I
was to see my hematologist today for the very last time,
and it was actually yesterday and I missed that appointment.
I was so looking forward to it. I just had
(17:49):
my 17th blood transfusion last week and I needed to
hear from him about my blood work, what he thought
of it. And so I was so disappointed. But I decided, oh,
I'm going to go today anyway. And I went up
to find out and make an appointment with the new hematologist.
(18:11):
And I just asked, well, um, would he be in today?
And he's never there two days in a row. And
he was. And so I started making him a card saying, oh,
I'm so sorry I missed your appointment. My appointment. And
out he walked and, uh, and gave me a big
(18:34):
hug and I just felt so blessed that well. And
also realizing, okay, Lord, um, I'm really sorry. I really
wanted to see him, but you have a plan and
a purpose, and I just felt really, really called to
make that, um, effort to go to the office today.
(18:58):
And he surprised me with a big hug.
S4 (19:01):
So your own.
S3 (19:02):
My big thing because.
S4 (19:04):
I it.
S3 (19:05):
Was my last chance to see him. And, um, uh,
I really, really needed an appointment right away.
S4 (19:14):
Well, we are all on pins and needles, Maureen.
S1 (19:16):
We all we all want to know. You don't have
to tell us. You know, HIPAA laws are in vogue here,
but was the. Was the news good from him?
S3 (19:27):
Um, well, I'm, um, I've had three cancers for eight
years and I haven't had any treatment at all. So
they call me a walking miracle because I don't have
any symptoms except that my blood gets my hemoglobin gets
(19:49):
really low, and it's been happening now every month instead
of every like three months. Yes, but I'm still feeling
good and I'm still in not in pain. So I
feel very thankful at 85 that I've still got energy
and I'm still able to do what I need to do.
(20:11):
But the doctors have been very good at just monitoring
my bloodwork and keeping track so that I know what
I can do to steward my body.
S4 (20:24):
Yes. Well, that was very good works.
S3 (20:27):
God planned for me to do bingo.
S1 (20:30):
Bingo right there. Uh. Ephesians two. Right. Um, what you're
saying is that you expect the ding allowed you to
experience something even more than what you had, if you'd
remembered correctly and showed up on time on the right day, uh,
things would.
S4 (20:47):
Have gone well.
S1 (20:49):
Because of the ding of your memory. And you went
ahead and showed up and look at what happened. Look
at the the you didn't let that keep you down
or say, oh, my memory is so terrible. And I'm, I'm,
I'm a worthless human being. ET cetera. ET cetera.
S4 (21:05):
No, it's like.
S1 (21:06):
We all get. We all make mistakes. We all have struggles.
And I'm glad you went there. And, Marina, I'm glad
that you called today at 85 years. I agree with you.
God has things planned for you to do. And today
was one of them calling us about. Don't let your
ding get you down. Isn't that a good story? What
(21:27):
about you? Your story might be used for somebody else today. (877) 548-3675.
What is your ding? I want to see if this
definition actually works in the real world. A small, unexpected, unwanted,
unanticipated setback or dent in your day that becomes a
negative focus that can steal your joy. What's the positive
(21:52):
of that? Well, you've just heard it from a marine
that it that it doesn't have to steal your joy.
That allows you to move. I think there's something about
trust in here. And there's something about believing that God
has good things in store. Let's see what Dennis has
to say. Dennis, why did you call it today?
S5 (22:13):
Yes, sir. Well, I've been a Christian for a long time. Uh,
August 18th is my 59th, uh, born again birthday. And so, um,
I'm in my 70s, and so I've had the opportunity
just to be to live all over the country. I
worked as a writer for the 700 club. I just
had tremendous teaching in my life, but about seven years ago, brother,
(22:35):
I got introduced to the writings of the Puritans. I
knew nothing about them except they had something to do
with Thanksgiving. I always had this misunderstanding about sanctification. Personal sanctification.
I have a master's in counseling from a Christian university,
and we never really got into that. It was more
Freudian and more secular. I had to, I hate to
(22:56):
say it, but it was. So as I began reading
and to John Owen his teachings on sanctification, I finally
realized I just got so excited about it that I
just wanted to share it with everybody because it was
starting to change my life. I realized that the moment
that we're born again, our will is made alive. Where?
(23:17):
Before it was dead in Adam. And it's the agent
in obedience. And then the agent in sanctification and change
is the Holy Spirit. But there has to be a partnership.
And you know, you aren't going to get that change
if you're not obedient. Well, I never understood that I
was praying for God to be obedient. So sometimes I
get so excited about that. And it just happened two
weeks ago in my church. We're having a core of
(23:40):
a catechism to help new believers learn about the core
doctrines of the faith, the Trinity being born again. ET cetera,
et cetera. So that topic came up, and I co-facilitated
it with a friend of mine. And so I just
got so excited and I. And so afterwards, he he
he pulled me aside and I was sharing what I
had learned and what it means. It's a gradual process,
(24:03):
how we're sanctified in Jesus, but that sanctification is growing
and who we are in Christ, all that good stuff.
And so he pulled me aside and he said, Dennis,
don't talk so much. And it was just like, like,
like the rug got pulled out from underneath me. It
really did. And so but then, you know, it's those,
like you said in one, one scripture, I try to
(24:24):
keep in, in my head all the time. To keep
unity in the body is is the little foxes that
destroy the vineyards. So I just let it go. I
didn't say anything to him. It really hurt for a while,
but I took it before the Lord and and I
with that scripture. And so I said, okay, maybe I
do get too excited and I talk so much. I said,
(24:46):
but Lord, when I start talking about you and your
core doctrines, they're so how we need a a biblical
reformation in the church with those core doctrines. People don't
know him, brother, and that's why we're seeing this crazy
stuff in the world so that it set me, it
set me back. But but it didn't completely wipe me out.
S1 (25:05):
Well, and the reason why you were so vociferous or
loquacious or you had a lot of words there, is
because you're so excited about it and because you wanted
to share that from your heart to to others, what
you've seen. How can you not be excited about that?
But the other thing is that when you get a
ding like this from a criticism, you have to ask
(25:27):
the question is there some element of truth? Do I
need to listen to this? Like you said, you don't
need to justify yourself or come back. Well, I was
this it's like, let me think about that. Let me
process that. And that's what we're doing here today at
the radio backyard fence. Don't let the ding get you down. Dennis.
Thank you. (877) 548-3675. When the dings of life get you down,
(26:05):
listen to Chris Fabry live. This is our first Friday
in August conversation at the radio backyard fence. Thanks for
tuning our way today. We'll get right back to your
calls after I tell you about something exciting we have
for you in August. Have you ever felt like you
don't know how to pray? Like your words feel inadequate
when you're talking to God. Talking with God. That's the
(26:28):
important thing. Ryan Cook and today and word have transformed
it that with that book transformed your prayer life. That's
their goal because the book walks you through the Psalms,
teaching you to bring everything to God your fears, your doubts,
your heartaches, your joys, your dings. Learn to pray with
(26:50):
the raw honesty of the psalmist's. Call 86695 Febry give
a gift of any size. I'd love to send you
talking with God. Or you can go to Chris Fabry live.
Scroll down, you'll see this is a first day we're
offering this. We'd love to send it to you. Let
me play just a clip of. I'm hoping to have
(27:10):
him on later in the month, but we had Ryan
on in May, and he gave an example from his
own life that I really resonated with. Listen to this.
S6 (27:18):
Our youngest daughter is 13 now, so it's been a
while since we've had little, little kids. But if you
think about how an infant learns to speak their native language,
how do they learn how to do it? You know,
you don't sit them down as a two year old
and say like, okay, this is a subject, this is
a verb, this is an adjective. Um, but the way
they learn it is just by listening to the adults
(27:38):
around them. They mimic them. They try to use some
of the same phrases. They might play around with it
a little bit and find out what's appropriate to say
when or where. But it's really through that imitation and
practice that they are able to develop their own voice
and use this language to be able to communicate. And
I think there's an analogy there that works well with
the Psalms. It's not that these are the only prayers
(28:01):
we're supposed to pray, but they give us a vocabulary
and a syntax to be able to know how to
talk to God and what different kinds of situations and
what's appropriate and helpful, and what are ways we can frame,
you know, suffering or joy or thanksgiving so that we
can find our own voice with God, and I think
(28:22):
that's one of their primary roles in the canon, is
to help us with that. As followers of Christ.
S1 (28:28):
Talking with God is the title, but finding your own
voice with God. There's another. You could put that title
over as well. That's Ryan Cook and he, along with
today in The Word, have put together talking with God.
You can find it as our thank you this month.
Call 86695 Febry or go to Chris. Chris. Don't let
(28:54):
your ding get you down. Uh, Joanne's in Arkansas. Hi, Joanne.
Go right ahead.
S7 (29:00):
Hello. I'm so thankful to get to talk with you. Uh,
my thing happened when I couldn't go to a prayer meeting. Uh,
but the leader said that she would call me and
we could pray over the phone, but my phone wasn't working. Um,
that was the ding. And I found out that the
(29:21):
automatic payment that I usually have didn't happen. Uh, so
I tried to, um, call in and fix it online,
but I couldn't do that either. So that was kind
of another ding. But fortunately, I was able to go
to the phone place quite quickly, and when I got there,
they figured it out and I was able to get
(29:44):
switched over to a different phone plan that I had
already tried to do, but wasn't able to. But this
time I was. So I felt like that God was
showing me that even though things didn't go like I
wanted them to for a while there, he had some
purpose in mind that he wanted to bless me with.
S1 (30:07):
So the the inner turmoil then as you go through,
you know, several layers of the ding, it's like you're
you're frustrated with this. And then you find out that
it was the the payment didn't go through. And then
the only way you know, you want the you want comfort,
you want resolution to your life, right? And you're in
the middle of. And there was something good on the
(30:27):
other end of the line, you know, praying with somebody else.
Why are you not allowing this? But you you stayed
with it and you were able to get that. Well,
you know, who doesn't like to save money and be
on a better plan, right?
S7 (30:42):
Right. Yes.
S1 (30:46):
I think that's a double edged sword, though, because I
find that in my life that the ding that will
happen to me is, will come up. And it's like,
if I don't fix this right now, I can't go
on with my life. And that's not true. In some
ways it is. If you have a flat tire, you know,
you got to get where you're going. Uh, you got
(31:07):
you got to have that fixed. But but the most
of the dings that we have, we don't have to
have it fixed immediately. But that's the way it feels inside,
isn't it?
S7 (31:20):
Yeah. That's so true. Yes.
S8 (31:24):
So how do I overcome that?
S1 (31:26):
Joanne, thanks for your call today, I appreciate it. That
is one of the symptoms that I want it fixed
and I want it fixed now. And, you know, I
can move on with my day. I can move on
with whatever is ahead. Uh, after I fix this thing,
after I fix this. Ding. A lot of times this
will happen because one of my nets, you know, that
(31:49):
wraps me up is the financial thing. And if I
get home and I've seen that the the person who
checked me out at the grocery store, which is usually me,
made a mistake, you know, double charge me for this
or I had two of these blips when it only
should have been one. What do I do? I feel
(32:10):
like I've got to go back right then. And, you know,
we live kind of out, out in the hinterlands. So
it's like you don't you can't just do that without
it expending some some gasoline and some time and all
that is there. There's this discontent that I have. And
I went through a book. I pulled this off the
(32:31):
shelf by Joanna Weaver, embracing Trust. I think there's something
about can I trust God with my ding or not?
Because she puts Philippians 411 and 12 in here from Paul,
who was going through a bunch of things that were
even more rejection, insult, hardship. I have learned to be content,
(32:55):
whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be
in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living
in plenty or in want, in ding or not, It.
I have learned to be content. Is that what the
(33:18):
ding can do in your life? Can the. As, uh,
this Dennis was talking about sanctification, the learning process. Here's
another question for you. Do you deal with things any
differently now than you did last year, or five years ago,
or ten years ago? Have you? Do you see a
(33:41):
change in your personality in the way that you handle this?
I think that's a good question to ask to. Barbara
is calling us from Tennessee. Barbara. Go right ahead.
S9 (33:53):
Hey. Good afternoon. This is great. I'm loving this show.
I just wanted to call in some encouragement. Encouragement. And
maybe these words will help someone else. My father in
law used to ask me because when I was younger,
I was. I was the queen of things. Okay? Everything
was the thing for me. But now I'm older. I
don't much let anything bother me, you know? I just
(34:15):
laugh and go on. But my father in law would say, well, Barbara,
do you think it's going to matter in six months
from now? And that would really make me think, gosh,
I probably won't even remember that in six months. And
so it's kind of like a perspective thing. And then
my mother, who was so wise, she would always say, well,
(34:36):
if money can fix it, it's not a problem. Can
money fix this? You know, no matter what it was,
if you had money or. No, you know, it's the
things that money can't fix. Those are the problems, you know.
And it made me look at things a little differently.
And so that's really helped me along the way. You know,
as far as how I look at things that that
(34:59):
come up that really used to just irk me and
my little sister, if I can inject a little humor,
she's the funniest person I know. You know, if I
tell her someone pulled out in front of me and,
you know, whatever the story might be, she will look
me dead in the eye and sober face and say,
but did you die? And so, you know, it's just
(35:22):
I thought maybe it would just help someone else to
know that it's just really all in how you look
at it sometimes, you know, you just gotta decide how
you're going to look at it.
S8 (35:32):
What you are.
S1 (35:33):
Saying is something that I wrote down here and see
if this rings true with you. The ding causes you
to focus on something small, so you have to. You
have to use by your will. You have to pull
back so you can see the big picture of what
(35:53):
really is going on here. And that's what your dad
and your sister were saying to you, right?
S9 (35:59):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.
S8 (36:03):
That might.
S1 (36:04):
Help somebody. And I've never heard that thing about the money.
If money can fix this, well, I guess it it
matters how much money that it's going to cost, right?
S9 (36:13):
Well, and that's what my argument, my comeback was the
same thing. But she would say, hey, it doesn't matter.
You can get the money. You know, you can get
the money. I'll loan you the money. Someone will loan
you the money if you need money. God's going to
give it to you. But it's the things that money
cannot fix. Yes. Those are the things that need your attention.
S8 (36:36):
Well, the things are fixable. Yes.
S1 (36:40):
I think this goes back to something that we talked
about earlier in the week, too. And that is, uh,
all of this points to the things in our life.
They're thermometers to us. And is there something off here?
Is there something too high or too low? And so
the ding becomes not something to just get past quickly
(37:03):
or fix quickly, so that I can be comfortable again.
The dings are opportunities for you and me to live
fully in the knowledge that, number one, God is good
and God is for us. And if he does have
a plan and he is good, I'm going to develop
(37:23):
that a little bit more when we come back. This
is Chris Fabry live. The ding trying to not let
the ding get you down today at the radio backyard fence.
I don't know about you, but I need to hear
(37:43):
this today. Don't let the ding get you down. That's
what my daughter said to me when she had this
ding on her windshield. And I started thinking more about this.
We we need to talk about this at the back fence.
Because the little foxes from Song of Solomon. I thought
of the moths and the rust. All of these things.
(38:03):
These pebbles in our shoe of life. The dings point
us really to a kingdom without dings, the kingdom that
we are longing for ultimately, and seeing where we are
and and that we're not there yet. It allows us
(38:25):
then to let these dings become opportunity. A ding can
make you sing. You know a ding can make you
lament and do that if you need to. But it
ding can also make you sing. There's going to be
one day when we don't have these chip windshields, and
we don't have all of the struggles that you, you
see here that's going to that's going to be reality.
(38:47):
The tears will be wiped away. And that's why I think,
you know, does God cause the dings? Does God allow
the dings? We talked about sovereignty a little earlier in
the week, and a listener wrote me this and said,
there is an Alan Redpath quote that you sent me.
And I went back and I found it. I found
(39:08):
the whole quote, and here it is. There is nothing.
No circumstance, no trouble, no testing. Dare I add, no
ding that can ever touch me. Until first of all,
it has gone past God and passed Christ right through
to me. If it has come that far, it has
(39:30):
come with a great purpose, which I may not understand
at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky,
as I lift up my eyes to him and accept
it as coming from the throne of God for some
great purpose of blessing to my own heart. No sorrow
will ever disturb me. No trial will ever disarm me.
(39:54):
No circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall
rest in the joy of what my Lord is. That
is the rest of victory. So the dings can. We
can either be panicky. We can either try to figure out,
you know, all the fix, and I, I go straight
(40:14):
to there, or we can rest in him in what
he has, in what he says about me, rather than
what I may think or somebody else may say. Which
takes us to Barb, who's on the line. Hi, Barb.
Go right ahead.
S9 (40:34):
Hi, Chris.
S10 (40:35):
Thank you very much for taking my call. Um, I
was at a just a gathering of girlfriends a couple
of weeks ago, and I was the first one to leave. Well,
after after I left, one of the ladies called me
and proceeded to tell me that after I left, um,
the ladies were starting to gossip about me, so. So
(40:56):
I actually felt that ding. And then right after that,
I felt that familiar nudge, You know, that we get
from the Holy Spirit. And I said to my girlfriend,
I said, just wait a minute. I said, I don't
need to hear this. And she said, well, if it
was me, I would want to know what other people
are saying. And I said, I don't care. My value
(41:19):
comes from God and not man. I mean, the Lord
knows me inside and out. He knows both the good
and the bad, all of me. And he still loves me.
I said, so I don't need to hear this, you know.
And if they had any constructive criticism, I'm happy to listen. Mhm.
But if people don't tell me face to face what's
(41:39):
going on, as far as I know, I'm, I'm in
a good place, I don't know, I don't need to
hear it. So and I'm also saying this too because
I have a lot of friends. We're all like in
our late 60s, and I see this with a lot
of women my age where things like this just stymie them.
They stopped them in their tracks and they can't get
beyond it. But if they knew how much the Lord
(42:01):
loved them and that you know that that in His
Word it just says that, you know, we take our
value from him and not from your man. Um, that
hopefully that they would they would learn. And it's a process. Chris,
I know you asked that question. It's you know, it
takes a while to get there, but it is a process.
But the more that you're in his word and more
time you're spending with him, um, you know that you're
(42:24):
loved and that's okay.
S1 (42:25):
So here's the big question then for you, Barb. And
that is, have you been have you been back to
that group yet?
S10 (42:32):
I have not, because it was two weeks ago when
I was on vacation. Um, I.
S1 (42:36):
Yeah. Are you going to go back?
S10 (42:38):
Oh, absolutely. And to me, unless they can, if they
have constructive criticism, I'm happy to take it. You know,
because you don't know what you don't know if I'm
happy to take that. And I'll just treat them like
I always have. I mean, I wasn't there, and I
certainly wouldn't want to involve any other, uh, this other
person who who called me and tried to tell me
what they were saying. I mean, that would just be.
(42:59):
That would just be bad.
S1 (43:00):
Yes. Well, that shows maturity. That shows. You know.
S10 (43:05):
I'm old.
S1 (43:06):
I'm old. Yeah. Well, you can be old and immature.
You know, and I, I've lived that a lot myself. So.
So let me go back to my definition. A ding
is a small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated setback or dent in
your day. And that's what happened. Here's what they're saying
about you. That can become a negative focus that steals
(43:27):
your joy. Or. And I haven't put this part of
it in. So you help me here or it can
what could what can it do? This this ding did
not steal your joy. Or what can it do to
propel you to the heart of God for you? Is
(43:47):
that what you're saying?
S10 (43:49):
Propel me? Yeah. My nudge from the Holy Spirit just
propelled me. It's like, wait a minute, Barbara. I can
hear him hear his voice, you know? Wait a minute, Barbara.
Who's who's talking here? And who are you? You know,
where is your value? Who's our. Who's are you? Who
do you belong to?
S1 (44:07):
Did that. The gossip thing though, when you first heard it,
it it got you down. It was a ding to
your heart. You didn't just say, well, la la la.
I'm not going to listen to that anymore.
S10 (44:18):
That's correct.
S1 (44:19):
Immediately you allowed that. And don't you think that's what
most people need to do? It was what my daughter
needed to do. She just needed somebody to hear this
windshield ding, you know, and just enter into the pain
a little bit with her.
S10 (44:34):
Yes, yes. But I had to ward this person off
because they really wanted to tell me.
S1 (44:41):
Yes. And that takes skill. And it takes the ability to, um,
to process that. See, I'm a slow processor. And the
other thing that comes in here, Barb, thank you, is
perfect end to our program here today about the dings,
because I think of things in, in, uh, in fiction,
(45:03):
you know, in fiction writing. And one of the things
about fiction that you have to have in order to
have an engaging story is you got to have somebody
in trouble, and you have to, uh, allow that trouble
to propel the main character toward their goal. There's something
(45:23):
in the way, and the struggle actually propels the story.
And one of the criticisms of some of the things
that have with editors that I've had who've been much
better than me and have shown me this is don't
make it so easy on your characters. Because what I'll
do is I'll get people in trouble, and then all
of a sudden I'll solve it. You know, this person
(45:44):
will come in, you know, God will come in and
do a miracle or something. No, no, no, don't don't
do that. Allow them to stay in the in the
trouble because the trouble is going to propel them is
going to make them different people. And that's what a
ding can do. The ding can send you closer to
your own heart, you know, makes you make you like Barb.
(46:08):
You know, I'll never go back there. I'll never let
myself open up myself to that kind of gossip. Gossip
and that kind of thing. Or or it can say, God,
I'm going to believe what you say about me and
not what other people think about me. Not easy, not easy.
But it's a good thing to do. Hope that encourages
(46:28):
you today. If you find somebody who has a ding
in their life, listen to them. First of all, come
on back. Monday, she's back. Rosalie De Rosé is going
to talk about Sacred Space right here at Chris Fabry
live production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Have a great weekend.
Into every life a little rain must fall, a little trouble,
a little conflict, a little tension, a little pebble in
your shoe. Today at the radio backyard fence. Put these
words on your rear view or your bumper as a
bumper sticker. Write them on the mirror in your bathroom.
Seven words of wisdom straight from one of my daughters.
She said, don't let your ding get you down. We're
(00:29):
going to talk about that today, and I want you
to tell me about your ding. I want you to
help me define the ding and answer the question that
arises from it. Hey, it's just you and me today
on this Friday, and I believe you sharing your ding
might just be the thing somebody else needs to hear today.
Some encouragement for life is straight ahead on Chris Fabry Live.
(00:50):
We begin with a thank you to Ryan McConaughey doing
all things technical. Tricia is on vacation, so Lisa is
in the chair to. Hiro will be answering your calls today.
And since it's Friday. That's right friend, it's time for
the fabulous Faber Friday. Sigh. Here's what it does one.
We oxygenate your blood. Two we get your endorphins going.
Three we raise your serotonin level. Four we promote lymphatic drainage.
(01:12):
And five we stimulate your parasympathetic system. That's why we
call it the five love languages. We also stimulate your
vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine. And don't you
dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation. Take in
four seconds of air through your nose right now. Hold
it four seconds, and then as you release that air
through your mouth, push on the left side of your
(01:33):
ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the dings in your life.
Those little foxes that steal the grapes. Somebody said something
at work today and it wasn't a big thing, but
it stung. It was a ding to your heart. Sometimes
the dings are financial, an unexpected expense that is not
going to break the bank, but it's still painful. Sometimes
you have a communication ding, an internet outage, or you
(01:56):
say something that somebody else takes the wrong way. A
ding is something that spins in your mind, something that
you can't help seeing even if you want to look
past it. Today's fabulous Fabric Friday size, brought to you
by the American Ding Association. And the message we're sending
across the fruited plain. Don't let the ding get you down.
Void where prohibited. I am hoping this conversation here on
(02:19):
a Friday. I think it's a perfect Friday conversation as
we launch into another weekend here the first weekend of August.
Can you believe August is here? July. Thank you for
all you did. Um, August is here, and it's cooler. Uh,
unless it's not where you are. I really hope this
is encouraging to you, because I need to heed the
advice of my daughter. She is. I have five daughters.
(02:42):
Can you believe that? Five daughters and, uh, $5. She
is in her 30s. She's single. She has a little
teacup poodle that travels around with her in a van
down by the river that she bought a couple of
years ago. This is basically her house, and she signed
up for a class in Kentucky and passed her certification.
(03:05):
Way to go! Been a little toasty in Kentucky this summer.
As some of you may know in that area of
the country. But she drove from Arizona and she drove
through Texas, and she spent some time in Arkansas down
by the river. And one day she called and she
was distraught and I could hear it in her voice.
It was an emergency. You know, it wasn't like a
(03:26):
life threatening or anything. It was just dad. It was
one of those dad. It was like she needed to
tell somebody what had happened. And, uh, her van has
this windshield that is hooked up to all kinds of
newfangled gadgets and computers. It tells you your tire pressure
and your blood pressure and what you ought to have
(03:46):
for lunch. Not really, but it's pretty close to that.
And she said she was on the interstate going below
the speed limit. You know, she she drives slower than
the speed limit. And she said this big old truck
passed her and pulled right in front of her. And then, yes,
you guessed it, she hears this sickening tick of the
(04:10):
rock hitting the windshield. And now, have you ever had
that happen? I've had this happen. You're driving behind a
like a cement truck, and it's like, I didn't realize
that was a cement truck. I need to get around
this cement truck, or there's a pickup truck that just
comes from a muddy area and is ramping up on
the interstate, and a rock comes bouncing down the highway
(04:31):
and you can see it. It's almost like it's in
slow motion as you're driving, like this hanging curve ball
that buckles your knees and smack. There it is. Well,
for my daughter, it was this tick in her windshield
wasn't a great big crack. It didn't go across the
whole windshield. It was a ding. It was like a
little star. And she said, what, dad? What should I
(04:56):
do with my ding? And immediately I went into fix
it mode. I said, well, it probably would pay for
you to have, you know, depending on your insurance, you know,
do you have that? It probably pay for you to
go find a town nearby and go in there and
have somebody fill that ding in so it doesn't spread,
because I've had that happen. And and it actually works
(05:19):
depending on where it is on your windshield. This is
this program is not about the windshield, but it is
I went in to fix it mode and that wasn't
really what she needed. And she didn't criticize me for it,
you know? But later on, as I'm thinking about it,
it's like, wait a minute, she didn't need me to
fix the ding. And my guess is today, you don't
(05:42):
need me to fix the ding, or you don't need
anybody else to fix your ding. What she needed was
for someone to enter into the pain of the struggle
that she was going through and to feel it with her. Oh,
that is too. That is. I'm so sorry. I'm so
sorry that happened. But it was then that she uttered
(06:04):
the bumper sticker phrase that I will pass along to you.
And that's what we've titled the program today. Don't let
your ding get you down. And she said that, dad,
you know, she said dad in there too. So she
got the alliteration. And dad, don't let the ding get
you down. She was having a good trip. She was
excited about the class that she was going to take
(06:26):
a lot of positive things going on, but when she
climbed behind the wheel, what did she see? Not the.
Not the whole windshield. The ding. The one ding. So
today's program is don't let the ding get you down.
That's my topic. And I want you to help me
define it and then give me an example from your life.
(06:49):
It might be something that is going, What happened this
morning happened. You're looking at the radio and you're saying, uh,
how did you know that there's a ding in my life.
And again, not necessarily about it. I'm not talking about
your car. It could also be, you know, somebody let
the the cart go in the parking lot, and you
had a relatively new car, and now you got a
(07:11):
dent in your. So this is not all about cars.
I want to hear the ding in your life. What
you have learned from the ding. And does anybody feel
this way? I get wrapped up with my kids who
go through a ding in their life. Sometimes it's their
ding is harder for me than the ding that I have.
(07:33):
Call me. Just you and me today. Here's the number.
Write it down. (877) 548-3675. Here's a theological question. Does God
allow the dings or does he cause them? Is there
a Bible verse I can go to when I encounter
a ding in my life. And again, the windshield is
(07:54):
a metaphor. It's my daughter's example. I want to hear yours.
What is the little thing that's stealing your joy? In
other words, the little foxes. Song of Solomon, chapter two.
Catch the foxes for us. The little foxes that spoil
the vineyards for our vineyards are in blossom. I don't
know if that goes right along with the ding, but it.
It's these little foxes that a lot of times will
(08:16):
come along and steal your grapes and, and it makes you,
you you can't be content when you got these little foxes.
They're the big things for me. The big things are overwhelming.
The cataclysm, it always waylays me. But it's these small
things that will often cause me to stumble every day.
(08:37):
Let me give you an example from my own life
this week. Got a critical email the other day I
got a critical email about a program that I thought
was I finished the program was like, that was really good.
It was really helpful. It was on target biblically. It
was spiritually uplifting. It was deep. It was real. It
was authentic. We had people who were sharing from the heart.
(08:59):
We wrestled with some biblical truth there, and the email
came and only mentioned something I said in passing. As
you know, you shouldn't have done that. Now, to be
fair with the person, I went back and I looked
at it and the first thing that was said was,
thank you for your show. So I, I even bypassed that.
(09:21):
But then it went on to point out the thing
that he or she thought that I shouldn't have said. So,
since I am circumspect and I always try to respond
to whatever I hear, I wrote back, I first, I wrote,
I get that it's a fair criticism, and then I
(09:41):
wrote what was going through my mind when I said
what I had said, and I went on a paragraph
or two, and I got to about the middle of
what I wanted to to pour out, and I thought,
methinks thou doth protest too much. So I deleted the
paragraph because I realized all I really needed to say,
(10:01):
all the person who emailed really needed to hear me
say was, I get that that's that's a fair criticism,
you know, thanks for your response. And it was and
just that process, the comment dinged me. The comment stung
me because it was unexpected. It was opposite of what
I thought had happened that day. But just that simple
(10:25):
response allowed me to not let the ding get me down,
and to hear the criticism and think hard about what
is she, he or she right about this so that
I can learn from the ding? What about you? What's
your ding that's getting you down? And and I will
define it. Here. Let me give you the number 5483675.
(10:48):
My definition of the ding. And if you have a
better one, call me. But my definition of a ding
is a small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated setback or dent in
your day that becomes a negative focus that can steal
(11:10):
your joy. With the emphasis on can, it doesn't have to,
but it can steal your joy. And I think the
first step is to actually see it and realize what
it's doing on the inside. I want to talk about that,
but I want to talk with you. Do you agree
(11:31):
with that definition of the ding small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated, setback,
or dent in your day that becomes a negative focus
that can steal your joy? Are you going through that?
Have you gone through it? Maybe. Maybe it happened years
and years ago. And you want to tell us about
your experience? (877) 548-3675. Somebody is listening right now. And there
(11:55):
has been this ding in your day. And it's your
story is going to help that person. You're our greatest resource. (877) 548-3675.
(12:19):
It's not a Friday side today. It's a Friday. Ding.
What is your ding. And how do you not let
your ding get you down? I have some thoughts about this,
but I want to hear from you today at the
radio backyard fence. Again, this is your story. Your struggle
might help somebody else. So let me. I've got a
couple lines open for you. (877) 548-3675. Larry is in temple, Texas.
(12:44):
I'm sorry. Temple Terrace, Florida. I was going to move
to temple, Texas after what happened. Larry, tell me what happened.
S2 (12:52):
Hold this. Oh, yeah. I just handed my wife the
radio Temple, Texas. Uh, right. What happened? Chris, related to this? Um,
that's important in our lives. I was, uh, going down
a major street. A young man turned in front of me.
He turned this down. He did a U-turn and clipped
(13:12):
my car. He was driving this car, his parents car,
for the first time from another city, and we pulled
over together, ironically under an insurance building that was closed. Um,
I said, well, let's take a look at this moment.
He was shaking and said, why don't we say a
prayer about this for a moment and let this honor
God so he can settle this? And I pray the
(13:35):
Lord help us to settle this in a amiable way,
and that you'll bring glory to you. Amen. And, uh,
he did not even tell his parents about this, nor
the insurance company. I called my company right away and
later got it settled. But I just want to illustrate
that every moment of our life can be a moment
(13:55):
for God's glory. And I am not this way as
my wife. I am not always this way. So just
realize that what is this negative opportunity negative situation mean
in a way that I can honor God. And really,
that's what we're talking about. I know that's your theme
for the day. I'll hang up and listen to you.
S1 (14:17):
Well, it is, it is. Larry. Hang on, hang on.
Don't hang up yet. Um, I want to know how
you got there, though, because if somebody does a U-turn
in front of me and dings my car, it's like I'm.
I'm upset.
S2 (14:32):
Here.
S1 (14:33):
I don't think Larry can hear us. Bring him down there. Right. Uh, okay. But.
But you heard Larry's story. You see what's going on?
It's like how? How do I think the answer is?
In the idea that he saw the young man was
shaking that he was able to enter into. He wasn't
(14:55):
consumed with his own doing. He was looking at the
other person and how he was responding to all this.
And I think seeing that is the first step. In fact,
that's the thing that I wrote down about ourselves in
our own heart. Seeing the ding and what it's doing
(15:16):
to you is the first step, because I often want
to talk myself out of feeling bad about a ding.
I say, oh, I shouldn't feel bad about this. Just
a little thing. I don't let it bug. I shouldn't
let it bug me. So when it bugs me, then it's.
It's a double wound, I feel guilty. I feel shame
for letting this little thing steal my joy I shouldn't do.
(15:38):
I should be further along than this. And along with
that comes comparison. You know, we need to look at
this because I hear somebody saying, don't. You shouldn't sweat
the small stuff. Well, okay, I am it's the small stuff.
I'm sweating right now or you shouldn't do that. Look
(15:58):
at the people who are in a worse situation than
you are. They don't even have a car. Or they're
going to a funeral today, or they lost everything in
a fire or tornado or whatever it's like. So there's
always somebody who has it worse than me and my ding,
so you shouldn't feel bad. And it's true compared to
(16:19):
other people. There's somebody in a worse shape than I am,
somebody in better shape. And a ding in my windshield
is not a big deal. But if I spike it,
if I. If I push down the reality of what
is in front of me, I'm going to miss something.
And I think Larry put his finger on it. It's like, okay,
(16:40):
how can how can I invite God into the middle
of this? Because I think there's abundance in the dings,
not in solving all the problems or letting people walk
over you because he said, I, I got the I
got the insurance company involved and, and they, they covered this.
It's not in the fixing of it or solving all
(17:03):
the problems or spiking it. It's living fully in the
middle of the dings. Does that speak to does that
sing in your soul? Uh, Maureen is in Cleveland or
in that area? Hey, Maureen, why'd you call today? And
I'm not hearing. Maureen. Ryan, are you hearing Maureen? Okay.
S3 (17:25):
Can you hear me now?
S1 (17:27):
I can hear you, Maureen. Go ahead.
S3 (17:29):
Oh, good. Well, I just wanted to say that my
ding was my memory because I was so determined. I
was to see my hematologist today for the very last time,
and it was actually yesterday and I missed that appointment.
I was so looking forward to it. I just had
(17:49):
my 17th blood transfusion last week and I needed to
hear from him about my blood work, what he thought
of it. And so I was so disappointed. But I decided, oh,
I'm going to go today anyway. And I went up
to find out and make an appointment with the new hematologist.
(18:11):
And I just asked, well, um, would he be in today?
And he's never there two days in a row. And
he was. And so I started making him a card saying, oh,
I'm so sorry I missed your appointment. My appointment. And
out he walked and, uh, and gave me a big
(18:34):
hug and I just felt so blessed that well. And
also realizing, okay, Lord, um, I'm really sorry. I really
wanted to see him, but you have a plan and
a purpose, and I just felt really, really called to
make that, um, effort to go to the office today.
(18:58):
And he surprised me with a big hug.
S4 (19:01):
So your own.
S3 (19:02):
My big thing because.
S4 (19:04):
I it.
S3 (19:05):
Was my last chance to see him. And, um, uh,
I really, really needed an appointment right away.
S4 (19:14):
Well, we are all on pins and needles, Maureen.
S1 (19:16):
We all we all want to know. You don't have
to tell us. You know, HIPAA laws are in vogue here,
but was the. Was the news good from him?
S3 (19:27):
Um, well, I'm, um, I've had three cancers for eight
years and I haven't had any treatment at all. So
they call me a walking miracle because I don't have
any symptoms except that my blood gets my hemoglobin gets
(19:49):
really low, and it's been happening now every month instead
of every like three months. Yes, but I'm still feeling
good and I'm still in not in pain. So I
feel very thankful at 85 that I've still got energy
and I'm still able to do what I need to do.
(20:11):
But the doctors have been very good at just monitoring
my bloodwork and keeping track so that I know what
I can do to steward my body.
S4 (20:24):
Yes. Well, that was very good works.
S3 (20:27):
God planned for me to do bingo.
S1 (20:30):
Bingo right there. Uh. Ephesians two. Right. Um, what you're
saying is that you expect the ding allowed you to
experience something even more than what you had, if you'd
remembered correctly and showed up on time on the right day, uh,
things would.
S4 (20:47):
Have gone well.
S1 (20:49):
Because of the ding of your memory. And you went
ahead and showed up and look at what happened. Look
at the the you didn't let that keep you down
or say, oh, my memory is so terrible. And I'm, I'm,
I'm a worthless human being. ET cetera. ET cetera.
S4 (21:05):
No, it's like.
S1 (21:06):
We all get. We all make mistakes. We all have struggles.
And I'm glad you went there. And, Marina, I'm glad
that you called today at 85 years. I agree with you.
God has things planned for you to do. And today
was one of them calling us about. Don't let your
ding get you down. Isn't that a good story? What
(21:27):
about you? Your story might be used for somebody else today. (877) 548-3675.
What is your ding? I want to see if this
definition actually works in the real world. A small, unexpected, unwanted,
unanticipated setback or dent in your day that becomes a
negative focus that can steal your joy. What's the positive
(21:52):
of that? Well, you've just heard it from a marine
that it that it doesn't have to steal your joy.
That allows you to move. I think there's something about
trust in here. And there's something about believing that God
has good things in store. Let's see what Dennis has
to say. Dennis, why did you call it today?
S5 (22:13):
Yes, sir. Well, I've been a Christian for a long time. Uh,
August 18th is my 59th, uh, born again birthday. And so, um,
I'm in my 70s, and so I've had the opportunity
just to be to live all over the country. I
worked as a writer for the 700 club. I just
had tremendous teaching in my life, but about seven years ago, brother,
(22:35):
I got introduced to the writings of the Puritans. I
knew nothing about them except they had something to do
with Thanksgiving. I always had this misunderstanding about sanctification. Personal sanctification.
I have a master's in counseling from a Christian university,
and we never really got into that. It was more
Freudian and more secular. I had to, I hate to
(22:56):
say it, but it was. So as I began reading
and to John Owen his teachings on sanctification, I finally
realized I just got so excited about it that I
just wanted to share it with everybody because it was
starting to change my life. I realized that the moment
that we're born again, our will is made alive. Where?
(23:17):
Before it was dead in Adam. And it's the agent
in obedience. And then the agent in sanctification and change
is the Holy Spirit. But there has to be a partnership.
And you know, you aren't going to get that change
if you're not obedient. Well, I never understood that I
was praying for God to be obedient. So sometimes I
get so excited about that. And it just happened two
weeks ago in my church. We're having a core of
(23:40):
a catechism to help new believers learn about the core
doctrines of the faith, the Trinity being born again. ET cetera,
et cetera. So that topic came up, and I co-facilitated
it with a friend of mine. And so I just
got so excited and I. And so afterwards, he he
he pulled me aside and I was sharing what I
had learned and what it means. It's a gradual process,
(24:03):
how we're sanctified in Jesus, but that sanctification is growing
and who we are in Christ, all that good stuff.
And so he pulled me aside and he said, Dennis,
don't talk so much. And it was just like, like,
like the rug got pulled out from underneath me. It
really did. And so but then, you know, it's those,
like you said in one, one scripture, I try to
(24:24):
keep in, in my head all the time. To keep
unity in the body is is the little foxes that
destroy the vineyards. So I just let it go. I
didn't say anything to him. It really hurt for a while,
but I took it before the Lord and and I
with that scripture. And so I said, okay, maybe I
do get too excited and I talk so much. I said,
(24:46):
but Lord, when I start talking about you and your
core doctrines, they're so how we need a a biblical
reformation in the church with those core doctrines. People don't
know him, brother, and that's why we're seeing this crazy
stuff in the world so that it set me, it
set me back. But but it didn't completely wipe me out.
S1 (25:05):
Well, and the reason why you were so vociferous or
loquacious or you had a lot of words there, is
because you're so excited about it and because you wanted
to share that from your heart to to others, what
you've seen. How can you not be excited about that?
But the other thing is that when you get a
ding like this from a criticism, you have to ask
(25:27):
the question is there some element of truth? Do I
need to listen to this? Like you said, you don't
need to justify yourself or come back. Well, I was
this it's like, let me think about that. Let me
process that. And that's what we're doing here today at
the radio backyard fence. Don't let the ding get you down. Dennis.
Thank you. (877) 548-3675. When the dings of life get you down,
(26:05):
listen to Chris Fabry live. This is our first Friday
in August conversation at the radio backyard fence. Thanks for
tuning our way today. We'll get right back to your
calls after I tell you about something exciting we have
for you in August. Have you ever felt like you
don't know how to pray? Like your words feel inadequate
when you're talking to God. Talking with God. That's the
(26:28):
important thing. Ryan Cook and today and word have transformed
it that with that book transformed your prayer life. That's
their goal because the book walks you through the Psalms,
teaching you to bring everything to God your fears, your doubts,
your heartaches, your joys, your dings. Learn to pray with
(26:50):
the raw honesty of the psalmist's. Call 86695 Febry give
a gift of any size. I'd love to send you
talking with God. Or you can go to Chris Fabry live.
Scroll down, you'll see this is a first day we're
offering this. We'd love to send it to you. Let
me play just a clip of. I'm hoping to have
(27:10):
him on later in the month, but we had Ryan
on in May, and he gave an example from his
own life that I really resonated with. Listen to this.
S6 (27:18):
Our youngest daughter is 13 now, so it's been a
while since we've had little, little kids. But if you
think about how an infant learns to speak their native language,
how do they learn how to do it? You know,
you don't sit them down as a two year old
and say like, okay, this is a subject, this is
a verb, this is an adjective. Um, but the way
they learn it is just by listening to the adults
(27:38):
around them. They mimic them. They try to use some
of the same phrases. They might play around with it
a little bit and find out what's appropriate to say
when or where. But it's really through that imitation and
practice that they are able to develop their own voice
and use this language to be able to communicate. And
I think there's an analogy there that works well with
the Psalms. It's not that these are the only prayers
(28:01):
we're supposed to pray, but they give us a vocabulary
and a syntax to be able to know how to
talk to God and what different kinds of situations and
what's appropriate and helpful, and what are ways we can frame,
you know, suffering or joy or thanksgiving so that we
can find our own voice with God, and I think
(28:22):
that's one of their primary roles in the canon, is
to help us with that. As followers of Christ.
S1 (28:28):
Talking with God is the title, but finding your own
voice with God. There's another. You could put that title
over as well. That's Ryan Cook and he, along with
today in The Word, have put together talking with God.
You can find it as our thank you this month.
Call 86695 Febry or go to Chris. Chris. Don't let
(28:54):
your ding get you down. Uh, Joanne's in Arkansas. Hi, Joanne.
Go right ahead.
S7 (29:00):
Hello. I'm so thankful to get to talk with you. Uh,
my thing happened when I couldn't go to a prayer meeting. Uh,
but the leader said that she would call me and
we could pray over the phone, but my phone wasn't working. Um,
that was the ding. And I found out that the
(29:21):
automatic payment that I usually have didn't happen. Uh, so
I tried to, um, call in and fix it online,
but I couldn't do that either. So that was kind
of another ding. But fortunately, I was able to go
to the phone place quite quickly, and when I got there,
they figured it out and I was able to get
(29:44):
switched over to a different phone plan that I had
already tried to do, but wasn't able to. But this
time I was. So I felt like that God was
showing me that even though things didn't go like I
wanted them to for a while there, he had some
purpose in mind that he wanted to bless me with.
S1 (30:07):
So the the inner turmoil then as you go through,
you know, several layers of the ding, it's like you're
you're frustrated with this. And then you find out that
it was the the payment didn't go through. And then
the only way you know, you want the you want comfort,
you want resolution to your life, right? And you're in
the middle of. And there was something good on the
(30:27):
other end of the line, you know, praying with somebody else.
Why are you not allowing this? But you you stayed
with it and you were able to get that. Well,
you know, who doesn't like to save money and be
on a better plan, right?
S7 (30:42):
Right. Yes.
S1 (30:46):
I think that's a double edged sword, though, because I
find that in my life that the ding that will
happen to me is, will come up. And it's like,
if I don't fix this right now, I can't go
on with my life. And that's not true. In some
ways it is. If you have a flat tire, you know,
you got to get where you're going. Uh, you got
(31:07):
you got to have that fixed. But but the most
of the dings that we have, we don't have to
have it fixed immediately. But that's the way it feels inside,
isn't it?
S7 (31:20):
Yeah. That's so true. Yes.
S8 (31:24):
So how do I overcome that?
S1 (31:26):
Joanne, thanks for your call today, I appreciate it. That
is one of the symptoms that I want it fixed
and I want it fixed now. And, you know, I
can move on with my day. I can move on
with whatever is ahead. Uh, after I fix this thing,
after I fix this. Ding. A lot of times this
will happen because one of my nets, you know, that
(31:49):
wraps me up is the financial thing. And if I
get home and I've seen that the the person who
checked me out at the grocery store, which is usually me,
made a mistake, you know, double charge me for this
or I had two of these blips when it only
should have been one. What do I do? I feel
(32:10):
like I've got to go back right then. And, you know,
we live kind of out, out in the hinterlands. So
it's like you don't you can't just do that without
it expending some some gasoline and some time and all
that is there. There's this discontent that I have. And
I went through a book. I pulled this off the
(32:31):
shelf by Joanna Weaver, embracing Trust. I think there's something
about can I trust God with my ding or not?
Because she puts Philippians 411 and 12 in here from Paul,
who was going through a bunch of things that were
even more rejection, insult, hardship. I have learned to be content,
(32:55):
whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be
in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned the secret of being content in any
and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living
in plenty or in want, in ding or not, It.
I have learned to be content. Is that what the
(33:18):
ding can do in your life? Can the. As, uh,
this Dennis was talking about sanctification, the learning process. Here's
another question for you. Do you deal with things any
differently now than you did last year, or five years ago,
or ten years ago? Have you? Do you see a
(33:41):
change in your personality in the way that you handle this?
I think that's a good question to ask to. Barbara
is calling us from Tennessee. Barbara. Go right ahead.
S9 (33:53):
Hey. Good afternoon. This is great. I'm loving this show.
I just wanted to call in some encouragement. Encouragement. And
maybe these words will help someone else. My father in
law used to ask me because when I was younger,
I was. I was the queen of things. Okay? Everything
was the thing for me. But now I'm older. I
don't much let anything bother me, you know? I just
(34:15):
laugh and go on. But my father in law would say, well, Barbara,
do you think it's going to matter in six months
from now? And that would really make me think, gosh,
I probably won't even remember that in six months. And
so it's kind of like a perspective thing. And then
my mother, who was so wise, she would always say, well,
(34:36):
if money can fix it, it's not a problem. Can
money fix this? You know, no matter what it was,
if you had money or. No, you know, it's the
things that money can't fix. Those are the problems, you know.
And it made me look at things a little differently.
And so that's really helped me along the way. You know,
as far as how I look at things that that
(34:59):
come up that really used to just irk me and
my little sister, if I can inject a little humor,
she's the funniest person I know. You know, if I
tell her someone pulled out in front of me and,
you know, whatever the story might be, she will look
me dead in the eye and sober face and say,
but did you die? And so, you know, it's just
(35:22):
I thought maybe it would just help someone else to
know that it's just really all in how you look
at it sometimes, you know, you just gotta decide how
you're going to look at it.
S8 (35:32):
What you are.
S1 (35:33):
Saying is something that I wrote down here and see
if this rings true with you. The ding causes you
to focus on something small, so you have to. You
have to use by your will. You have to pull
back so you can see the big picture of what
(35:53):
really is going on here. And that's what your dad
and your sister were saying to you, right?
S9 (35:59):
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.
S8 (36:03):
That might.
S1 (36:04):
Help somebody. And I've never heard that thing about the money.
If money can fix this, well, I guess it it
matters how much money that it's going to cost, right?
S9 (36:13):
Well, and that's what my argument, my comeback was the
same thing. But she would say, hey, it doesn't matter.
You can get the money. You know, you can get
the money. I'll loan you the money. Someone will loan
you the money if you need money. God's going to
give it to you. But it's the things that money
cannot fix. Yes. Those are the things that need your attention.
S8 (36:36):
Well, the things are fixable. Yes.
S1 (36:40):
I think this goes back to something that we talked
about earlier in the week, too. And that is, uh,
all of this points to the things in our life.
They're thermometers to us. And is there something off here?
Is there something too high or too low? And so
the ding becomes not something to just get past quickly
(37:03):
or fix quickly, so that I can be comfortable again.
The dings are opportunities for you and me to live
fully in the knowledge that, number one, God is good
and God is for us. And if he does have
a plan and he is good, I'm going to develop
(37:23):
that a little bit more when we come back. This
is Chris Fabry live. The ding trying to not let
the ding get you down today at the radio backyard fence.
I don't know about you, but I need to hear
(37:43):
this today. Don't let the ding get you down. That's
what my daughter said to me when she had this
ding on her windshield. And I started thinking more about this.
We we need to talk about this at the back fence.
Because the little foxes from Song of Solomon. I thought
of the moths and the rust. All of these things.
(38:03):
These pebbles in our shoe of life. The dings point
us really to a kingdom without dings, the kingdom that
we are longing for ultimately, and seeing where we are
and and that we're not there yet. It allows us
(38:25):
then to let these dings become opportunity. A ding can
make you sing. You know a ding can make you
lament and do that if you need to. But it
ding can also make you sing. There's going to be
one day when we don't have these chip windshields, and
we don't have all of the struggles that you, you
see here that's going to that's going to be reality.
(38:47):
The tears will be wiped away. And that's why I think,
you know, does God cause the dings? Does God allow
the dings? We talked about sovereignty a little earlier in
the week, and a listener wrote me this and said,
there is an Alan Redpath quote that you sent me.
And I went back and I found it. I found
(39:08):
the whole quote, and here it is. There is nothing.
No circumstance, no trouble, no testing. Dare I add, no
ding that can ever touch me. Until first of all,
it has gone past God and passed Christ right through
to me. If it has come that far, it has
(39:30):
come with a great purpose, which I may not understand
at the moment. But as I refuse to become panicky,
as I lift up my eyes to him and accept
it as coming from the throne of God for some
great purpose of blessing to my own heart. No sorrow
will ever disturb me. No trial will ever disarm me.
(39:54):
No circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall
rest in the joy of what my Lord is. That
is the rest of victory. So the dings can. We
can either be panicky. We can either try to figure out,
you know, all the fix, and I, I go straight
(40:14):
to there, or we can rest in him in what
he has, in what he says about me, rather than
what I may think or somebody else may say. Which
takes us to Barb, who's on the line. Hi, Barb.
Go right ahead.
S9 (40:34):
Hi, Chris.
S10 (40:35):
Thank you very much for taking my call. Um, I
was at a just a gathering of girlfriends a couple
of weeks ago, and I was the first one to leave. Well,
after after I left, one of the ladies called me
and proceeded to tell me that after I left, um,
the ladies were starting to gossip about me, so. So
(40:56):
I actually felt that ding. And then right after that,
I felt that familiar nudge, You know, that we get
from the Holy Spirit. And I said to my girlfriend,
I said, just wait a minute. I said, I don't
need to hear this. And she said, well, if it
was me, I would want to know what other people
are saying. And I said, I don't care. My value
(41:19):
comes from God and not man. I mean, the Lord
knows me inside and out. He knows both the good
and the bad, all of me. And he still loves me.
I said, so I don't need to hear this, you know.
And if they had any constructive criticism, I'm happy to listen. Mhm.
But if people don't tell me face to face what's
(41:39):
going on, as far as I know, I'm, I'm in
a good place, I don't know, I don't need to
hear it. So and I'm also saying this too because
I have a lot of friends. We're all like in
our late 60s, and I see this with a lot
of women my age where things like this just stymie them.
They stopped them in their tracks and they can't get
beyond it. But if they knew how much the Lord
(42:01):
loved them and that you know that that in His
Word it just says that, you know, we take our
value from him and not from your man. Um, that
hopefully that they would they would learn. And it's a process. Chris,
I know you asked that question. It's you know, it
takes a while to get there, but it is a process.
But the more that you're in his word and more
time you're spending with him, um, you know that you're
(42:24):
loved and that's okay.
S1 (42:25):
So here's the big question then for you, Barb. And
that is, have you been have you been back to
that group yet?
S10 (42:32):
I have not, because it was two weeks ago when
I was on vacation. Um, I.
S1 (42:36):
Yeah. Are you going to go back?
S10 (42:38):
Oh, absolutely. And to me, unless they can, if they
have constructive criticism, I'm happy to take it. You know,
because you don't know what you don't know if I'm
happy to take that. And I'll just treat them like
I always have. I mean, I wasn't there, and I
certainly wouldn't want to involve any other, uh, this other
person who who called me and tried to tell me
what they were saying. I mean, that would just be.
(42:59):
That would just be bad.
S1 (43:00):
Yes. Well, that shows maturity. That shows. You know.
S10 (43:05):
I'm old.
S1 (43:06):
I'm old. Yeah. Well, you can be old and immature.
You know, and I, I've lived that a lot myself. So.
So let me go back to my definition. A ding
is a small, unexpected, unwanted, unanticipated setback or dent in
your day. And that's what happened. Here's what they're saying
about you. That can become a negative focus that steals
(43:27):
your joy. Or. And I haven't put this part of
it in. So you help me here or it can
what could what can it do? This this ding did
not steal your joy. Or what can it do to
propel you to the heart of God for you? Is
(43:47):
that what you're saying?
S10 (43:49):
Propel me? Yeah. My nudge from the Holy Spirit just
propelled me. It's like, wait a minute, Barbara. I can
hear him hear his voice, you know? Wait a minute, Barbara.
Who's who's talking here? And who are you? You know,
where is your value? Who's our. Who's are you? Who
do you belong to?
S1 (44:07):
Did that. The gossip thing though, when you first heard it,
it it got you down. It was a ding to
your heart. You didn't just say, well, la la la.
I'm not going to listen to that anymore.
S10 (44:18):
That's correct.
S1 (44:19):
Immediately you allowed that. And don't you think that's what
most people need to do? It was what my daughter
needed to do. She just needed somebody to hear this
windshield ding, you know, and just enter into the pain
a little bit with her.
S10 (44:34):
Yes, yes. But I had to ward this person off
because they really wanted to tell me.
S1 (44:41):
Yes. And that takes skill. And it takes the ability to, um,
to process that. See, I'm a slow processor. And the
other thing that comes in here, Barb, thank you, is
perfect end to our program here today about the dings,
because I think of things in, in, uh, in fiction,
(45:03):
you know, in fiction writing. And one of the things
about fiction that you have to have in order to
have an engaging story is you got to have somebody
in trouble, and you have to, uh, allow that trouble
to propel the main character toward their goal. There's something
(45:23):
in the way, and the struggle actually propels the story.
And one of the criticisms of some of the things
that have with editors that I've had who've been much
better than me and have shown me this is don't
make it so easy on your characters. Because what I'll
do is I'll get people in trouble, and then all
of a sudden I'll solve it. You know, this person
(45:44):
will come in, you know, God will come in and
do a miracle or something. No, no, no, don't don't
do that. Allow them to stay in the in the
trouble because the trouble is going to propel them is
going to make them different people. And that's what a
ding can do. The ding can send you closer to
your own heart, you know, makes you make you like Barb.
(46:08):
You know, I'll never go back there. I'll never let
myself open up myself to that kind of gossip. Gossip
and that kind of thing. Or or it can say, God,
I'm going to believe what you say about me and
not what other people think about me. Not easy, not easy.
But it's a good thing to do. Hope that encourages
(46:28):
you today. If you find somebody who has a ding
in their life, listen to them. First of all, come
on back. Monday, she's back. Rosalie De Rosé is going
to talk about Sacred Space right here at Chris Fabry
live production of Moody Radio, a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Have a great weekend.
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