Alan Wright, pastor, Bible teacher, and author of his latest book, The Power to Bless. There is such a thing, right, that you're just tired, and what you really need is some rest and refreshment. So this is part of the problem of perseverance.
How do you know when it is that you're just tired, and you're supposed to take a break from all that and rest right now versus you're tired, and you need to take another step because you're going to find your second wind? That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Second Wind as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now, a copy of Pastor Alan's book, Lover of My Soul. This can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.
As you listen to today's message, go deeper as we send you today's special offer. Contact us at PastorAlan.org. That's PastorAlan.org. Or call 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. More on that later in the program. But now, let's get started with today's teaching.
Here is Alan Wright. I pressed through a little bit of difficulty and now every day I'm trying to learn something new and I want to be better than I ever was and I'm trying to get my fingers to go into positions that they don't want to go in and at first it's frustrating. You know, anybody's ever tried to learn anything, you know, right? It's frustrating because I can't do it. And there's something when you're just like, it's just not fun to not be able to do it. But if you just try it a little bit and then you didn't totally succeed but pick it up the next day, it's like in the guitar, you know, what you call barring a chord, a bar chord is where you take your index finger and you press down all the strings and then do other things with your fingers and it's kind of hard, honestly. And so, at first I was like, man, my bar chords are just terrible. They sound awful. And then I just, next day I'm just like, and then I was playing last night and I was like, that doesn't, I'm playing the Doobie Brothers long train running.
That sounded pretty good. And so, I'm just like, it's coming, it's coming back. There's a paradox, I'm saying, of pain because, yeah, I mean, on the one hand pain is there to teach you what you're supposed to avoid. So how do we understand this thing where there's pain that you're supposed to press through? And we're going to talk some more about this in the coming weeks, but let me start with this. I've been asking the Lord a lot about this and studying the scripture and I think it mainly boils down to this.
I think I've got a lot more to learn about answering that question. How do you know the difference between the pain you're supposed to avoid stuff versus press through? And I think it's this, it's the difference between a call from God that elicits our glad obedience to a direction that He's given us versus a fleshly commitment to a personal ambition.
That's a big difference. In other words, the things that God calls you to, and you know He's called you to it, there may be pain on that journey and you just press through it. There are other things in life that it wasn't about God's call. It's just something that's in your own mind or your own flesh. And sometimes you experience pain and that's where you go, ouch, wait a minute.
I think that's not even supposed to where I'm supposed to go. And we need a lot of discernment about this. The other thing we need a lot of discernment about is there's another paradox when it comes to this. What I'm talking to you about the problem of perseverance and dealing with the temptation of giving up. And this would be another paradox, it's a paradox of exhaustion. The paradox of being tired.
Because again, similarly to the issue of pain, the fact of the matter is that lots of times when we're tired, you know, we need to give in to the tiredness and get some rest. We have a joke in our, and I have a joke that we repeat to each other a lot because there was a guy in my first church that I served many years ago in Durham named Claude. When he was 90, he still plowed his garden with a mule. Claude was unbelievable. Claude, I was in my 20s and Claude was in better shape than I was.
I mean, it was just, he was unbelievable. So one of the things is being a pastor all my life is I just get to be around all the generations. So even when I was a young man, I just, I find somebody that's old and healthy, I'm like, how'd you do it?
What's going on here? You know, because I was like, I want to go that direction. And I remember one day I was talking to Claude.
It might've been at his 90th birthday. And I said, Claude, I said, tell me about it. How do you do it? How do you, I mean, what's, what's the key, man? I mean, here you are looking, you're incredible. Everybody, you know, and you're still plowing your garden with a mule.
You're still out there. I mean, he's like 90 cutting down, chopping wood and stuff, you know? And he said, well, he said, you know, pastor, he said, when, when you've had a long day and you've been working hard and you're feeling tired and you come in a nice air conditioned house. And you see the couch over there and you just want to go and just sit on that couch and just, just lie there for a while. I said, yeah, I know what that feels like. He said, don't do it. He said, don't do it.
Get up and do something. And, and so, and so Ed and I were like, every time we see each other go get on the couch, we're like, don't do it. Well, the thing is funny about it is that there is a time for just taking a nap. I had an associate one time who got into a difficult season of his life. And so he went to see one of the most profound and wise spiritual counselors to go and deal with some of what were the deep, deep issues that were going on in his life. And after their first session together, the counselor said, you don't need me, you just need a nap.
There is such a thing, right? That you're just tired and what you really need is some rest and refreshment. So this is part of the problem of perseverance. How do you know when it is that you're just tired and you're supposed to take a break from all that and rest right now versus you're tired and you need to take another step because you're going to find your second wind?
It's a little tricky. It takes discernment. I think that when God is leading you to keep going on and it's not just a matter of, oh, you're supposed to stop. It's the difference. It's a spiritual thing. It's the difference between knowing the voice that you're hearing about why you should pause.
I'm going to come back to this in coming weeks, but I think it's this. I think when you hear an inner voice that feels like a tone of despair that has, that's just laced with all those hopeless things, that's when you're not supposed to give up. God's invitation to rest is more like, come to me, all you who are heavily laden. I'll give you rest. It's more like we're going to keep going, but I'm going to give you some refreshment.
But the way the devil speaks to us is look at you. Yeah, you think you're going to make it to the finish line, but you're not. You're tired. Just give up.
That's a voice of despair. So I think the problem with perseverance, everyone feels the temptation to give up. Everyone gets tired. Even youths still stumble and fall and young men shall fall exhausted. And there's a paradox of pain and exhaustion that we have to have some discernment about. But what this text is really about is the provision for perseverance.
And we want to just camp out on this in coming weeks. Isaiah 40, 28, just glorious, isn't it? It's like a response from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah to all the questions that people that were in exile in Babylon had. They're like, we have been in Babylon now for a long time and they're not at their home. They're not at their temple. They don't have their priests. They don't have their sacrifices.
They feel like they don't know what to do with themselves. How long is this going to go on? And the word of the Lord comes. Have you not known?
Have you not heard? Wait a minute. Time out. Remember who God is.
That's Alan Wright. And we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series. God's love. You've heard about it with your ears.
You believed it in your mind. Now experience it in your heart with Alan Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like. For any woman who has searched for true love, what you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of the five love languages, says, The incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart. Accept Christ's proposal, enjoy his embrace, revel in his love.
After all, it's a match made in heaven. It's Lover of My Soul by Alan Wright. The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support. When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAlan.org. Today's teaching now continues. Here once again is Alan Wright. Yahweh, your God, the name of God in covenantal terms, Yahweh, the Lord, is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.
His understanding is unsearchable. If you want to have renewed strength, if you want to persevere, the whole foundation of it is right here. The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth, and he does not faint or grow weary. God doesn't run out of anything because God can't be tired and he can't be weary. It means something really important about the way that we see God that is fundamentally different than the way we see any other person or any other resource in this world.
The invitation of Isaiah 40 is to just completely see God in a whole different light than anyone else in your life or any other thing in your life. See, with all earthly providers, we know they get weary. I mean, people just get weary. If you need something from somebody, at some point they're going to get weary.
If there's a resource you need, you know at some point it's scarce and it runs out. But God, the everlasting God, literally the Hebrew says he's the God of the ages. Not just this moment. See him in a bigger scope. Our circumstances, when they're difficult, the pain of it makes us get so focused on what's happening right now that Isaiah is saying lift your eyes up to the one who is not confined by a moment in time. And he is also the God of the lands, not just the God of your homeland. He's God over Babylon. He's God over the ends of the earth. He's transcendent, I tell you. He's awesome.
He's big. If you're feeling alone in Babylon, you're not. If you're wondering if God just isn't making sense to you in this moment and he's not there, then it means that you don't understand God's in the long game. God's in the long-term vision. He's not swayed by these momentary afflictions. And when you start to see this, if you can really see it from the scope of eternity, then you can come to the place where Paul says I consider these temporary afflictions not even worth comparing to the glory of God that awaits us.
There's no comparison if you can keep the vision of God. See, the reason it's hard to understand or believe that God doesn't get faint or weary is because it's hard to understand the idea of a creator. He created everything that exists out of nothing. The fact that God and God alone can create something out of nothing, nobody can do that. We can make something out of it. We can get metal and make something out of it.
We can take wood and make a piece of furniture. We can take some food from the ground and make it a beautiful feast, but we can't make something out of nothing. That's what God does.
And the fact that God can do that means that, I wish we could wrap our mind around this. He is not the source of your energy. He is energy. He is not the giver of light in the darkness.
He is light. See, it might make sense to say, my car has run out of gas if the tank is empty, but what doesn't make sense is to say the gas is out of gas. No, it is gas. Fuel is fuel.
Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. So you have to change your way of thinking. It's not like God's really big and therefore He has a lot. It's not like saying, look how vast the oceans are. We won't run out of water. It's not like saying, look how big the sun is and its burning brilliance. We won't run out of light. No, we know that even the biggest things, we're talking spatially.
We're talking about capacity. And God's totally different than that. He is the life, you see. So when He speaks, let there be light, it's because He is the energy of the cosmos. He is the light. He's the one in whom we live and move and have our being. He's our alpha and our omega. He's our all in all. There is no one who's like Him. He's not just bigger and better.
He's altogether different, glorious. Keep your eyes on that. It's an invitation to wait expectantly. Those who wait upon the Lord. Some translations say those who hope in the Lord. The reason is because this word wait, it doesn't mean like wait, it means like you are waiting in the line of the DMV. Just trying to pass the time.
It's not what this word means. It means waiting with expectant hope of what's gonna happen. I'm waiting to be able to have my fingers work a little better and play that next chord that I'm trying to play. And I'm going to be able to.
But I might, it might take me another week before I can get that down if I just keep, but I'm waiting, I'm waiting on it. The power of God gets released in the midst of weakness, verse 29. He gives power to the faint and to them as no mighty increases strength.
He specializes in perfecting His strength and our weaknesses. So it's a reinterpretation of our exhaustion. I'm tired. Oh, great. This is where God moves.
I feel like giving up. Oh, great. This is where I get to endure and a huge blessing is embedded into this.
Yeah. Those who wait shall mount up with wings like eagles. I've been studying eagles a little bit this week. You know that there are bald eagles that nest along the Yadkin River? And I live near the Yadkin River and twice in the last four years, I was sitting on my back deck and a bald eagle came and perched in a branch in a tree in my yard.
Unbelievable. I had our friends Bishop J.C. Hash and Joy Hash over for the first time to our house a couple of years ago. They were seeing our new place and we had dinner together and fellowship. And he said, this is beautiful. Said, do you ever see any wildlife out here? And I said, oh, yeah, sometimes I do.
I've seen some beautiful things back here. And we stepped on the back deck and as if God was listening in on the conversation, a bald eagle flew and landed on a branch in front of us. When they spread their wings, scientists have studied how every pinion is designed to catch the currents and navigate with precision. They soar. They do not flap.
Hardly ever. A few flapping of the wings early on to get them. But there are two kinds of updrafts, thermal updrafts, changes in heat in the atmosphere that calls updrafts.
And there are updrafts that come because of geographical geological formations, mountains and winds hit it and then bring the updrafts. And the eagle is expert in waiting on the drafts. They navigate the winds and extend those massive wings. And soar. Those who wait expectantly, knowing that God has good things in store, wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the move of the Spirit. Wait upon the second wind will mount up not as those that are flapping with fatigue, but like an eagle.
Sometimes we do need a nap. Some things we are supposed to quit doing and abandon, but most of the time, beloved, we give up one minute too early. And I think God has come at the end of this long year of pandemic to say to the body of Christ, oh, don't think it's wasted. And whatever you do, don't give up now. Something good is on the way. Look for it.
Wait for it and spread your wings. Because if nine out of ten people give up, if you just don't give up, you're already in the top 10 percent. And that's the gospel. And Pastor Alan is back with us in the studio sharing his parting good news thought for the day in just a moment. God's love. You've heard about it with your ears.
You've believed it in your mind. Now experience it in your heart with Allen Wright's beloved book, Lover of My Soul. The Bible is a love story from beginning to end. You are the spiritual bride of Christ, the perfect bridegroom. The Bible tells about a God who has gone to unimaginable lengths to woo you, to win you, and to walk with you hand in hand. For any man who has fallen in love with a woman, you've tasted the sweetness of what God's love for you is like. For any woman who has searched for true love, what you long for can only be found fully in God. Gary Chapman, renowned author of the five love languages, says, The incredible reality that God pursues us in love comes to life in Lover of My Soul. Ancient biblical accounts explode in the heart, accept Christ's proposal, enjoy His embrace, revel in His love.
After all, it's a match made in heaven. It's Lover of My Soul by Allen Wright. The gospel is shared when you give to Allen Wright Ministries. This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support.
When you give today, we will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Allen Wright Ministries. Call us at 877-544-4860.
That's 877-544-4860. Or come to our website, PastorAllen.org. Back here in the studio sharing Pastor Alan's parting good news thought for the day. And Master Allen, what's your word for those who are waiting to soar?
It sounds good right about now. The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.
Daniel, that is astounding encouragement for all of us who are weary. God is the creator. He is the one who said, let there be light because He is the source of light. He is light. He is energy. He doesn't ever, it's hard to conceive of this, but He never ever gets tired.
He never runs out. And so there's an unlimited capacity within God who has a perfect love for each of us to become the very life-giving wind that causes you to soar. So we say, Lord, here we are, here are our wings, and we're ready to mount up and do some soaring. Give us our second wind.
Give us the lights to do so. Thank you, listeners, his second wind. Find out more about these and other resources at pastorallen.org. That's pastorallen.org. Today's good news message is a listener-supported production of Allen Wright Ministries.
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