Delighting in God’s Will

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Thursday, July the 27th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right. You can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. And the verse of the day today comes from Psalm 126, verse 2. I love that we've been camping out in the Psalms for a little bit. Yeah, I love the Psalms. Psalm 126, verse 2.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. I mean, that's the goal, right? The goal is that your worship and your devotion to the Lord should be so obvious to the community around you and to the world around you that they say, man, God is moving and working in that church. We've heard people say that about Clearview since I've started coming here, and I'm sure long before, that God is doing something. And when people see God doing something, they want to be part of it.

And that's the way that it should be. The Lord has done great things for them, not just because they are favored or they're the special chosen ones, but because their mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with singing. We're worshiping God. And when God is being worshiped, things start to happen. Right, exactly. Your worship should inspire those around you.

And that's not just a time in service. That's not just a worship genre or style of music. Worship is your life.

It's your lifestyle. Are you responding with praise to the things that God gifts you? Are you responding with praise to the situations in life?

We talked about Job in our summer sports camp just a couple nights ago. We talked about Job, and Job's response to all of the difficulties that he faced was worship. It says that he fell down and he worshiped God even after everything bad happened to him. So our worship, both in the good times and the bad times of life, and in every moment in between, should inspire people around us to be brought into worship. That's right. You know, we're recording a worship album right now.

An album filled with worship songs. And so we're recording it in a studio that's in the Charlotte area. And so that's about two and a half hours away.

That means you've got to devote a few eight-hour days to eight-hour sessions. We're staying in some hotels. Now, David and I went with one of our other drummers, and so we get back to the hotel at about seven o'clock. I go night-night. I laid down and I was like, hey, look, I'm just going to close my eyes for just like... No, I'm going to rest my eyes. I'm going to rest my eyes. I just want to rest my eyes. It's like, what, seven thirty? That's a very dad line. It was like seven. Yeah, I said I'm just going to rest my eyes. It was seven o'clock. That's a dad thing to say.

Now you take over the story here, because I know you wanted to tell this. All right. So John is going to rest his eyes at seven thirty or something like that. We're going to go to the gym at like eight.

Supposed to. So obviously, I know as soon as John rests his eyes that we're not going to the gym. I just sit down in the hotel room, open up my book. Our drummer puts something on TV, and then we just kind of are sitting there. Then finally, me and the drummer are like, OK, I'm kind of hungry. We need to go get something to eat. It's ten o'clock at night. I've been asleep for three hours.

John's been asleep the whole time. So I wake John up. I'm like, hey, we're going to Steak and Shake. It's literally right up the road. We walked in like a minute and we were there. So when I shake him, I'm like, hey, we're going to Steak and Shake.

Do you want anything? The response is, no, no, you're going to Steak and Shake. I'm glad. I'm glad.

I don't remember saying that. I don't know why he's glad, but he's glad that we're going to Steak and Shake. In your mind, because you said at that moment, as you were walking out of the hotel, you knew what was going to happen. Eighty percent chance John was going to be like, I'm hungry. All right, so John wakes up. Finally, he wakes up at eleven thirty? Eleven thirty, eleven forty.

Steak and Shake closes at midnight. And his first words, like the little girl whom Jesus resurrected, was, I'm feeling kind of peckish. I don't think that little girl said that. Lord, I hunger. But I did say, I'm feeling a little peckish. I could smell the steak burgers in the room. I could smell the remnants of it.

And I was like, oh man, that smells so good. So we can just walk over there and get you a burger. So it's close by.

It's within walking distance. And I want to actually compliment David. Because typically his response would be, why did you do that? No, you missed it. I woke you up.

I tried to do this. I woke up and I said, I'm feeling a little peckish. And instantly, just started putting his shoes on. Because he knew. He knew he was expecting it.

He said, Jackson, get your shoes on. So we get to Steak and Shake, right? It's like 10 minutes to closing.

Sure. The doors are locked. Right. The front doors are locked. They see people walking up and are instantly irritated. The doors are locked. And they're like, we're not opening the doors.

Now I'm starting to get like, I'm starting to despair a little bit. Right. So we go around to the drive-thru. We go to Taco Bell first. Oh yes, we went to Taco Bell. Next door.

Also locked. So David's like, well the drive-thru's still opening because cars are going through. Let's just walk back to the hotel and get the van. And he said, forget that.

I'm getting a steak burger. Now. So I see an employee come out to take a smoke. And I was like, hey, can I just order in the drive-thru?

Like, on my feet? And she was like, um, no. But let me go in and tell them that it's okay. And so she did.

I guess it was a manager or something. Yeah, that's typically a big no-no. Yeah, they don't like that.

They don't like that. But she said, no, you can't. But let me just go in and I'll tell them to take your order. Oh, that was nice. Yeah, I had a steak burger and fries. I didn't get a milkshake. So we walked through the drive-thru at Steak and Shake. That's memorable. Yeah, it was fun. I commend your spirit.

I was really expecting you to be like, nope, you missed your shot with me. But just the sight of you being like, okay, and putting your shoes on and just gearing up and going. I was like, this is good. This is correct. This is good.

This is good for me. And I'll tell you that Steak and Shake never tasted better. I bet. I bet. We want to hear your great late-night food stories. When have you made a run that maybe some crazy shenanigans happen?

Let us know, 252-582-5028. $100 says it was a Waffle House. It was a Waffle House. I think mine was an IHOP. Yeah, IHOP's good, too.

IHOP can be kind of crazy after midnight. We're going to get Dr. Sean in just a second. You can visit us for more information online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Stay tuned. Don't go anywhere.

We'll be right back. Hey there, listeners. I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, Daily Devotions to Help You Move Forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 Days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start, but a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start, and that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 Days encourages you to find your fresh start in God's word. Life doesn't have a reset button, but our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text, 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show?

Let's do it. This is for Thursday, July the 27th. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com If you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

That's right. And if today is your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show, we want to welcome you, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show.

You can find all of his work on his website at AbbadanShah.com. Dr. Shah, what are your thoughts on Steak and Shake? They just say it. I've never been there. Really? So you never misbehaved? I was trying to think back over it. I was like, surely I've been at some point in my life.

I've been by it many, many times. You never misbehaved at a Steak and Shake? Just acted a fool at Steak and Shake? I can't say that.

You have? Well, not on purpose. I overslept, and then we tried to go to Steak and Shake at the very last minute. We took 20 minutes to closing, and they said, well, we're not going to let you in, but you can order the drive-through. And I'm on foot.

It was me and Jackson today, but we were on foot, and I was like, okay. So I walked through the drive-through and ordered a steak burger. It was delicious. The thing about Steak and Shake is they have hilariously thick straws and hilariously thin French fries. Thick straws? Thick straws. When you go to drink your drink, the straw is that big.

Why? I don't know. I guess the milkshake is so thick. Oh, milkshake. Milkshake, yeah.

But they give it to you for your drinks, too. If it's Steak and Shake, I would think, would they not have been steak fries? Like the big, thick... No. Thin. Those fries are... A strong breeze will take them away. Really?

A strong breeze will turn them to dust. I never leave Steak and Shake feeling full. Now that you say that, I don't think I've been to Steak and Shake, but I'd be willing to try it. But apparently I'm going to leave hungry.

Yeah. I've never left there feeling full. Ever. Ever.

That's funny. Well, on today's episode, Dr. Shaw, we want to explore this concept that people talk about this a lot, and it's one of those things that I feel like there's certain terms or phrases that get overused in Christianity or overused in the Christian life to the point that we don't even really know what they mean anymore. But people oftentimes will talk about leaving it up to God's will or praying for God's will or praying that God's will for their lives. But it's almost with a sense of, I guess, trepidation or even fear.

Like, I'm going to pray for God's will, but I know this is going to be not great. Have you seen that? Where does that come from? Oh yeah.

A lot. Well, it just seems like if you follow God's will, then you're going to be miserable. Right. People often... You said it so loudly. You're right! You're exactly right! I've always said that!

That's the mindset of a lot of people, I feel like. They may not come out and say that, but they'll be like, yeah, if I follow God's will, it's going to be... You are now set for a life of misery. Yeah, you're the martyr. You're the martyr. It's a way of bringing the attention on you, really, because it's like, I'm following God's will for my life, but it's like I'm the noble hero making the sacrifice and giving up my fun life to do the noble right. I'm headed to the monastery. That's right. I'm going to shave my head.

I may see you in ten years from now. I say that myself from all the world. From behind the curtain. They do that thing where they shave only the top of the head. They shave only the top, and the side of their hair is still there. Just the top is... A musty brown robe, and they're just going to chant.

And hit themselves with the wood plank. And you'll never marry. You will be single. You have been condemned to a life of celibacy. And that's the Christian life, folks.

Am I a hero for following it? I'm not going to say it, but I hope someone else will. I hope someone else thinks of me that way. All you drink is warm water. Oh, gross. Can't even be cold. Can I get at least an ice cube or something? No, and then just this soup. It's like potato soup, but it's like... There's no potatoes in it.

No, it's warm water with a skin in it, and someone's like, oops, and they just fish it out with their hands. They put up potatoes, took the potatoes out, and that's what you get. This is what Christians think of when they think this is God's will for our life. This guy's silly. And we wonder why people don't want to jump on the bandwagon. Like, what's wrong with you? Don't you want to follow God's will?

To the contrary, God's will is actually the best thing that can ever happen to you if you would only let it happen. It's one of those things where the fear of missing out. Like, Eve had that desire.

What was the FOMO? The fear of missing out. She's like, people will do that. They'll put their best, most fun life up on social media. Like, all these selfies and these filters and make it look so good because the boring Christians in church can't have their Sunday on the lake.

So we're going to go do it and show you what you're missing out on. And also, there are boring Christians out there. I hate to admit that, but I'm not claiming them. Even God doesn't claim them and says, I've got nothing to do with them. You're not associated with me.

You're not affiliated with me. It's like people think that God sits up in heaven and goes, great, another Christian just got saved. Now I need to go to the idea board and find trials and tribulations that just throw at this guy. To the contrary, God knows life. He knows life from the beginning till the end. He knows the deep things of life. He knows the pain and suffering of life because of sin.

It's not because of him. God did not sit there and say, how can I brew the most painful life for people? This has nothing to do with God. This has to do with what's called free will.

Human beings have that. And because of that, they chose to sin. And because of sin and the enemy, Satan, this entire world has been thrown into this chaos. And it's God's Holy Spirit that maintains some sense of decency and righteousness in this world. Without him, this world would be completely destroyed, imploded, exploded, whatever you want to say. But it's because of God's hand that this world actually functions in a sane manner.

But if it wasn't for that, it would be miserable. But God knows this world. God knows the craziness of this. God knows us. He knows how we think. He knows what makes us us. And he also understands what is the best for us. He knows what's the best for us. And the best is not just some miserable life, some dark, dry life.

No, best is what we would want for ourselves if we only had the sense enough to want it. Trials and tribulations and all those things are part of that, but it's not the end goal. It's to help us get to God's best.

And which is, just like we're discussing, if we only had the sense enough to want it, it is the best, most awesome life God has for us. How is he bringing you closer to him? How is he getting you to be holy? That's also part of this growth process. How is he training you because sometimes God sends trials in our lives repeatedly to train us so that we know the next time when pride comes in, we know, I'm about to get my hand slapped.

I need to stop this or stop thinking like this, stop acting this way. So these are all the training moments of life. But going through this is not the end. It's the means to an end, which is God's best. So the passage that comes to my mind is Revelation, Romans chapter 12, verse 2. It says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. It's one of those things where, again, I think people have that misunderstanding because they don't think it's the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

They think it's the dreadful, awful, painful, difficult will of God. It will ultimately bring us to a good place. But it's like, I've got to wade through all this muck to get there. I'm sitting at the buffet of life and I have two choices in front of me. I can either go with the ice cream that the world has to offer.

I'll go with the steamed kale. I know it's good for me, but I'm going to suffer through it, and then I'm going to die, and then life's going to be over. Could it be that ice cream is not the best thing, but there's something far better than ice cream that God has, and that's not this tasteless stew that you're looking at?

This gray slop. Like school lunches and old cartoons. If you think about it, it really is kind of an insult that that's what we equate this Christian life to, this beautiful thing that God has created for us and wants us to enjoy. Somewhere in the back of our minds, or even in the front of our minds, that's what we equate it to. I've even heard people say, growing up in church, people have said, God doesn't want you to be happy, he wants you to be holy. I understand what they're saying, but the way that you're saying it makes it just sound like God doesn't want you to be happy, period.

That's the end of that sentence. And even we make holiness to be contrary to happiness. When in reality, true holiness will lead to true happiness.

Why don't we say that? We also do the same thing with joy. We try to do this thing where we can say, God never said he was going to give you happiness, he's going to give you joy. So I'm going to be joyful and miserable at the same time? That means I just have to dig deep and find that joy in the midst of my unhappiness. It's like we pretend happiness and joy don't go together at all. They can be two different things, but they're not antonyms. They're not opposites. In fact, joy is deep happiness.

That's true. It's contrary to happiness, because we say things like, happiness depends on happenings. I get it, but that turn of the phrase may not be reality.

So joy is deep happiness. Let's back up over here to verse 12, verse 2, chapter 12 of Romans. It begins by not conforming to this world.

Paul says, and do not be conformed to this world. The word actually is age, which means the culture in which we live. Do not mold yourself to this age. This age has a way of thinking. Now, we know that we are all products of our generations. I do a lot of seminars and teachings and I've been part of that on generations, different generations like the Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Zs, Generation IY, Gen Z, and then Generation Alpha. These are all different generations. And we're all going to have certain characteristics of our generation. We're more like our generation than our parents. So that's okay.

Nothing wrong with that. But what is wrong is when you become like the worst of our generation, right? When you become like the problems or the sinfulness or the selfishness of our generation, the anti-godness of our generation.

That's what Paul is saying here through the Holy Spirit. Do not become like your generation. For example, Gen Xers can be judgmental, very judgmental. And that's not a good thing to have. So I have to work on that and go, yeah, you may have some valid reasons to be this, but hey, offer grace, offer grace, just give grace, give grace, be patient.

Don't have to be so critical. So I have to work on that. How about generation or the millennials? Millennials can be, it's all about me.

That's great. In some sense, that's wonderful to be self-adjusted, confident, proud of who you are, person. But sometimes that can become the end in itself. It's all about me.

Everybody, just rotate around me. You'll end up making life decisions based on whether or not this is good for you in this moment. Right.

And this does not bring me the maximum amount of joy, so it can't be right for my life. Right. Yeah. Right.

Then there's, who's the next one? Generation Z. Generation Z, right? And Gen Z, they have their own set of issues.

So we got to make sure that we don't get conformed to the ugly side of our generations. Do you feel like what people have done is overcorrected almost? Yeah. Like they so don't want to be part, like, all right, don't be conformed to this world. So I'm going to run the complete, total opposite direction.

I feel like that's been most of church history, is just overcorrection. Yeah. We're so scared of this thing, we totally swing the pendulum way far in the opposite direction. When we should have gone the other way, but many have taken it way too far.

Yeah. Choose God's way. Find what is God's will for your life in this generation, rather than swinging to the opposite extreme. One of the most helpful things you've ever told me, Dr. Shah, was that, I know you had something funny, I cut you off.

No, go ahead. One of the most helpful things you've ever told me is that, you know, a lot of times people will view things in extremes. Like, if this is this way, then we swing the pendulum completely in the opposite direction. Right. Could it be that the best way is a third option in the middle? In the middle.

The middle way is usually the best way. Yeah. Well, I just had a scenario come to my mind. It could be like a TikTok sketch or something, but it's like, the Bible says, hey, avoid this thing. So people just go full tilt in the opposite direction. It's like, I imagine myself like driving up to work here at Clearview and then Dr. Shah comes to the door and is like, hey, by the way, there's a crack right there, just avoid that crack. And I get in my car and just go home. Just leave.

It's like, oh, I need to avoid the crack. So I just go the full extreme opposite direction. Yeah. And that's what people do. They're like, all right, I'm going to forsake all worldly pleasures because this one thing God said, avoid it.

Yeah. And it's also somewhat dependent on the previous generation or the older generation because then they say, oh, you know, you're acting like that. That's ungodly. You got to act like my generation. And that in itself is a fallacy because the generation prior to you thought you were sinful for acting. That's right. That's exactly right.

So I think do not be conformed to this age is primarily referring to the value system rather than the things that can I share this funny story? Please. I went to a men's conference several years ago and throughout that conference, the joke was on what are they called? Skinny jeans.

Yeah. I've heard them so many times. Skinny jeans. Skinny jeans. They were making fun of skinny jeans. Anybody who wore skinny jeans was stupid. Why would you wear skinny jeans? I mean, this went on throughout the evening. I wasn't wearing a skinny jeans. I didn't care. I was like, okay, it is what it is.

Guess what? Those same people from that stage who were saying that today wear skinny jeans. Yep. On the stage.

Yep. Even some should not be wearing it at that age in life where you need to wear comfortable jeans. Yeah, you really need to wear skinny jeans. Don't wear skinny jeans. You need to wear clothes that fit. So, you equated that into your values and later on you jumped on the same bandwagon and now you're part of the same group. In fact, you wear that with pride and you're going to keep wearing it while the next generation is going to get into comfy clothes.

You'll still be wearing skinny jeans. Yeah. Well, that's happened now.

It's exactly what's happening. And then you will condemn people with comfy jeans. You see them wearing that. I tell you what.

What's with these comfy jeans? Yep. Yep.

Guarantee you they're having men's conferences making fun of that new style. What's with these homeless people? Yeah. All the homeless people. So, what are the values of this age? They revolve around money, sex, and power. That's it.

That's it. God is not the center and focus of your life. God's word is not the final authority in your life. You think about your own happiness. If it feels good, do it.

If it makes you happy and doesn't hurt anyone, do it. Get rich at any cost. These are the values of this age that God wants us to avoid. If you want God's will in your life, these are the things.

Don't get hung up on the externals, okay? But secondly, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. In other words, once you're saved, the Holy Spirit begins the process of reprogramming or reformatting your mind. I like that. It's like an illustration of like just a computer, just technology. You wipe it clean and you start over or you go back to the last point that you know that it worked and you start from there. This transforming, this renewing, there's this sense of freshness. There's this sense of cool, okay, now I can start.

You know what I mean? And it's not easy because we are so prone to going back. Sometimes the programs used to have this. I don't even know if they have it anymore because I'm using a Mac now. But if your computer got some kind of a virus, some situation, you could pick a point in the past. Yep, you can still do that. You can still do that and didn't have to do it. And you pick that and then everything is kind of gone back to the past. I don't know if you can do it on Mac. I don't know if you can do it.

Yeah, I don't think so either. But you can pick that point and you can go from there. So our minds are terrible about that because of our sinful nature, because we were born in trespasses and sin. So even though we are a new creation in Christ, we tend to revert back to the old creation. We try to dig up the old man from the grave and try to put on the old man instead of putting on Christ.

So we have a tendency to go backwards. So it is difficult nonetheless, every moment submitting ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One thing that's unique about you that I have not heard, I'm sure other people out there preach this way, but just in my 10 years of being here, I've not heard it from other people, from other pastors, is that there's so much emphasis on how you behave, how you act. But you say from the pulpit and on the show, if you don't think correctly, you can't behave correctly. I agree.

You can't, there's no point talking about how to behave and what to do if you don't think right. There's no point. You can't feel it. You can't feel your thinking, absolutely.

Right. We have the thinking of a sinful nature. And in Romans 1, verses 29 through 32, it tells us what that stinking thinking looks like.

Oh, very nice. It says in verse 28, this is Romans 1, 28, and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, that's who I am as a sinful person, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting. This is who I am, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.

These are some of the characteristics. I'm not saying every one of us becomes that, but we have the propensity to go in that direction. Wow.

Untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, all these things, the Holy Spirit begins to clean out. That's something I had to learn the hard way is that naivety is not innocence. Yeah. It's bad. Yeah, it is bad. It's because it means that God gave you a mind that he wants you to sharpen. You're not doing it.

Because you don't either, you don't want to face the harsh realities of life or you always want a clean pass or whatever it might be, but naivety is not innocence. And that was a lesson that took me years to last, I was still learning it in a lot of ways. Yeah. I know we've got to wrap today's episode.

I would love to give this as much space to have this discussion. And I think we are probably going to have to stretch it over into another episode. Yeah. Maybe like tomorrow with that. Yeah.

Maybe tomorrow we can talk about how to apply all these changes. Yeah. Sure. Sure. Absolutely.

We talked about what the transformation looks like, but then how do we practically do that in our lives? Man, so helpful for us. If you guys enjoyed today's discussion, if you have questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. And don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website. Click that donate button, let us know that it's coming from our Clearview Today Show family. We love you guys. And we'll see you tomorrow on Clearview Today.