Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the
Recovered Christian, the podcast
for believers who want to breakthe chains of addiction and
live a recovered life.
Join host Suzanne Bloomer eachweek as she shares her personal
journey of recovery, providesencouragement for yours and
takes a deep dive into thescriptures.
God wrote a book, and the Bibleis full of hope, wisdom and
(00:21):
practical applications for allof us.
So whether you're just startingon the road to sobriety or are
hoping to take the first step,this podcast is for you.
Tune in each week for abiblical shot of courage and
let's recover your life, onedevotion at a time.
Now here's Suzanne with Today'sShow.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Hey everyone, this is
Suzanne, and welcome to Today's
Show.
What do you do when you're introuble, when things feel
hopeless and dire, or when theway is blocked and you can't
find a way out?
What do you do?
Where do you turn?
I do what most people do I tryto figure it out on my own.
(01:06):
Our human nature is to beself-sufficient and rely on
ourselves, rely on our mentaland physical abilities to figure
out problems, to rescueourselves from harm.
Anyone who grew up withoutsomeone taking care of them,
like I did, knows this all toowell.
I had no choice but to helpmyself.
(01:26):
No one else was doing it.
I had to take care of myself inevery situation.
But that is not what God callsus to do.
The Bible tells us over andover again to call on God when
we are in trouble, lost, weary,overburdened, scared.
Let's look at Jonah.
(01:47):
There's nothing more troublingthan being stuck in the belly of
a fish.
I mean, honestly, I'm not sureI'd have the presence of mind to
do anything, but Jonah did.
God gave Jonah a message Go tothe city of Nineveh and announce
the Lord's judgment against it.
At the time, nineveh was thecapital of Assyria, a city full
(02:11):
of violence and wickedness, acity so big it took three days
to see it all.
Bless Jonah's heart.
He didn't want to head over toNineveh, so he ran away.
He boarded a ship and sailedaway in the other direction.
But you can't escape God whenhe is pursuing you for good and
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for bad.
The Lord caused a powerfulstorm to come upon the ship.
The crew drew lots to find outwho had quote offended their
gods, and Jonah was found to bethe culprit.
Jonah told them he served theLord L-O-R-D.
Capital letters the God ofHeaven who made the sea and the
land.
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Jonah told them the storm wasall his fault for running away
from God and that they shouldjust throw him overboard.
And so they did.
And immediately the stormsubsided, the sailors were
awestruck by the Lord's powerand vowed to serve him.
Score a big win for God.
But he wasn't done with Jonah.
(03:12):
God had arranged for great fishto swallow Jonah, and there he
stayed for three days and threenights.
Wow, three days and threenights that's a long time to be
in a fish.
We don't know what Jonah wasthinking during this time.
Was he mad at God for allowingthis?
Mad at himself for hisdisobedience?
(03:34):
Resigned to his fate, wonderingwhy he was still there and not
fish food, scared, hopeless,angry, numb.
No, we don't know.
But after three days Jonahprayed, and these are the
scriptures from Jonah, chapter 2.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord,his God, from inside the fish.
He said.
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I cried out to the Lord in mygreat trouble and he answered me
.
I called to you from the landof the dead and Lord, you heard
me.
You threw me into the oceandepths.
I sank down to the heart of thesea.
The mighty waters engulfed me.
I was buried beneath your wildand stormy waves.
(04:15):
Then I said oh Lord, you havedriven me from your presence.
Yet I will look once moretowards your holy temple.
I sank beneath the waves andthe waters closed over me.
Seaweed wrapped itself aroundmy head.
I sank down to the very rootsof the mountains.
I was imprisoned in the earth,whose gates lock shut forever.
(04:38):
But you, oh Lord, my God,snatched me from the jaws of
death.
As my life was slipping away, Iremembered the Lord and my
earnest prayer went out to youin your holy temple.
Those who worship false godsturn their backs on all God's
mercies, but I will offersacrifices to you with songs of
(05:00):
praise and I will fulfill all myvows, for my salvation comes
from the Lord alone.
Then the Lord ordered the fishto spit Jonah out onto the beach
.
We don't know why it took Jonahthree days to start praying,
but when he did, god answered.
He repented his disobedienceand God saved him.
(05:22):
He promised to fulfill his vowsand God ordered the fish to
spit him out safe, unharmed andwhole.
When we are in trouble, ourfirst action should be to pray,
to call on the Lord for help.
The Father of all things, theCreator of the universe, the
Master of the heavenly armies,hears us.
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He can stop the storm in aninstant, he can turn hearts of
evil towards him and he canorder a fish to spit out his
beloved child.
When we feel trapped by life'schallenges, our first instinct
should be to call upon God,recognizing his sovereignty and
our dependence on him.
This doesn't come naturally, atleast not to me, but you can
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develop it and cultivate it andpractice it until it does.
Jonah's prayer reflects apivotal moment of surrender.
He acknowledges that salvationbelongs to the Lord, recognizing
God's sovereignty over his life.
Surrendering to God's will intimes of trouble requires
humility, faith and awillingness to let go of our
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plans and our own desires.
It also requires trust that Godwill do what he promises.
And let's take a look at a fewother scriptures Psalm 50, verse
15.
Call on me in the day of trouble.
I will deliver you and you willhonor me.
Psalm 34, verse 17.
(06:51):
The Lord hears his people whenthey call to him for help.
He rescues them from all theirtroubles.
I love that one.
Psalm 145, verse 18.
The Lord is near to all whocall on him, to all who call on
him in truth.
Jeremiah 33.3.
Call to me and I will answeryou until you great and
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unsearchable things you do notknow.
Isaiah 41, verse 10.
Don't be afraid, for I am withyou.
Don't be discouraged, for I amyour God.
I will strengthen you and helpyou.
I will hold you up with myvictorious right hand.
1 Peter, 5, verse 7,.
(07:36):
Cast all your anxiety on himbecause he cares for you.
Matthew 11, verse 28,.
One of my very favorites.
Then Jesus said Come to me, allof you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I will giveyou rest.
2 Chronicles, chapter 17, verse14, if my people, who are
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called by my name, will humblethemselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wickedways, then I will hear from
heaven and I will forgive theirsin and will heal their land.
And lastly, psalm chapter 18,verse 6, but in my distress, I
cried out to the Lord.
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Yes, I prayed to my God forhelp.
He heard me from his sanctuary,my cry to him reached his ears.
Love, love, the picture of that.
These verses tell us over andover that God hears us, he draws
near to us in times of trouble,he will strengthen us, he loves
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us.
I have never been stuck in thebelly of a fish for three days,
but I have been stuck insickness and despair and
hopelessness.
Every time I called on God, hewas there.
One time I even heard hisaudible voice comforting me and
guiding me, and I will neverforget it.
(09:01):
We need to make it a practice tocall on Him in times of trouble
and not call on ourselves.
To turn to Him for directionand help, and not the world.
To stop worrying and startpraying.
This was hard for me at first,but the more I intentionally did
it, the more natural it became,and I'm still working on it.
(09:23):
I'm just going to keep at it,because our Father wants nothing
more than to have a close,intimate relationship with us.
He is our Father, who loves us.
Let Him be your Father.
Go to Him for everything, goodand bad, problems, and
thanksgiving.
He will always be there.
He will never let you down.
(09:44):
No one on this physical earthcan promise that to you, but he
can.
He told us he can and he will.
I'll see you next time.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Again, thanks for
listening and we hope you'll
join us again on the RecoveredChristian.