Thursday, November 2nd | When it’s Hard to Be Grateful

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Thursday, November the 2nd. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview 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. 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.

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Absolutely nothing less than five stars. We're gonna leave a link in the description so you can do just that. Today's verse of the day is coming to us from Psalm 5, verse 11. It says, But let all those rejoice who put their trust in you.

Let them ever shout for joy because you defend them. Let those also who love your name be joyful in you. We have reason to rejoice and to be joyful, not necessarily tied to our present circumstances, but because of the eternal reality of who God is and what He's done for us. The fact that we have a heavenly Father in God, that's a beautiful truth.

Well, I also like just the causation that's in these Psalms, like the relationship between God and humanity. It's like, let all those rejoice who put their trust in you. It's like, okay, if you do this, you will rejoice. And then let them ever shout for joy because you defend them. Because God did this, now the result, the result, anytime God is involved, the result is always joy or rejoicing or being joyful in you if you love His name.

So I love that relationship. And think about that causation. Like, this is who God is. The result is worship. This is who God is. The appropriate response is for you to praise Him.

That's exactly right. Gosh, I don't even know how to bring this up because we talked about it. No, it's time for an intervention. Yeah, I knew this was happening. Oh, no. No, I knew this was happening. Yeah, it's time for an intervention.

Usually an intervention you're surprised and shocked. I'm going to cowboy this intro. Go ahead. You take it.

You take it. So yesterday we talked about the different personas, talking about Bulletin Ryan and Project John. Project John. Yes, we did. Well, one of them came out and it wasn't Bulletin Ryan. Oh, no. You draw your own conclusions.

What has Project John wrought? I made a mistake. We had Awana last night.

I made a mistake. Okay? Okay.

Had Awana last night. Uh-huh. Went well. Yep.

During Awana, Project John decides to do something with ProPresenter that's going to, for some reason, sync everything between two computers and it's going to have to upload all the files off of one and then download them onto another while simultaneously deleting all the files off of one. So all this is happening... I'll explain it if you want. Okay. I'll explain what happened.

Yeah, go for it. And I'll explain what went wrong. Nicholas got a new toy. Okay? Let's start there. He got an Elgato stream deck so that when we do our live streaming, we can map everything.

We can map all these macros, script all these actions and assign them to buttons. I was envious that he got a new toy. I'm not going to lie.

I wanted a new toy. So I was like, all right, I can do something good too. I'll make it so when the person who is running the front of house ProPresenter computer launches the countdown, it triggers the stream countdown as well so that now there's... It could be completely streamlined and it can eliminate a volunteer's position so that volunteer can do something else. We don't need two people running the exact same lyrics simultaneously if we don't need it.

It can be all automated synced over a network. Sure. I failed.

There's the short. What happened was I had to make it to where all of our ProPresenter assets are uploaded to a repository, which is our media share, and then the other computer downloads it from the repository. I'm really trying to follow. Also, you can integrate planning center so that all of the things that you do throughout the week can be pulled into ProPresenter so you don't have to have a volunteer come up here and spend their time, which we do have a guy who's very, very helpful, but I'm also trying to streamline that so that he has less repeating tasks to do. He can pull it in from planning center.

That was a huge mistake. I started at 2.30 and then it started uploading to the repository, but it was taking too long. I started trying to download it on the other computer while it was uploading and then things just got really, really chaotic quickly.

Now planning center's messed up for the next 10 weeks. There's files attached to files that shouldn't be. There are things in ProPresenter that I haven't seen in five years that are now in the thing. There's a whole playlist deleted that you couldn't find. The pre-show loops were deleted.

When I was making changes in the broadcast room, it was changed, not during Awana, but right before, it was changing stuff out on the main screens because now they're linked over the network. Oh, dear. It was bad. I couldn't figure out how to fix it because I had been doing it for four hours, so David got angry. Well, no. Can I tell you what the problem was?

Yeah, yeah. Let me tell you what the problem was. One, he started a project before Awana.

That was one of the problems. Awana started at 6. I started at 2.30. It was four hours. Four hours. Anyways, not only that, but when he started the upload to the repository, he was not patient, not realizing that you're transferring everything in our Pro Presenter library to the Media Share. Which is a lot. It's a lot. When it didn't work in 10 minutes, he was like, what's wrong?

Why am I... Why? This is not working. I'm going to go and download it. He did that for four hours.

It was probably 10 minutes back and forth each place. Then finally, after Awana ends, when he asked me to fix it, he's like, Dave, please, please fix this, buddy. I go in there, and I'm like, all right. He starts the upload, and then he's like, see?

It's not working. I'm like, we've only been in here for 10 minutes. So we wait. Probably 45 minutes goes by, and we look, and it's progressed much further than it was.

I'm like, see? You just have to wait. Maybe an hour and a half go by, and everything is transferred over. Then he downloads it from the repository, and it works exactly how it's supposed to. The problem was, he started a project too early, and then he was patient.

Then wasn't patient with the project. Yes. He's out of line to talk about me that way. But he is right.

Yeah, no, he's right. That's Project John making the appearance. With the cherry on the... Yeah, that was an example of Project John, where it's like, this should be easy. This should take about two hours tops, but it took like six or seven. And what the icing on the cake is, I still didn't get the countdown issue solved.

Firing a countdown in the main sanctuary does not trigger it in the live stream. You hate to hear that. I still have to figure out how to do that. I hate to hear that. I told Dr. Shaw when I was telling him about it, I was like, I made a real mess of things. He was pretty cool. He was like, well, you know, hey, sometimes you got to mess up and start over from scratch. I said, the reward would have been $20, but the cost in damages was about a grand.

If I had gotten it, it would have been like a $20 value, but this cost like a grand. It was bad. That's tough.

It was pretty bad. I'm not going to lie. But everything, other than the countdown, everything is kind of functioning normally? Yeah. Mostly for the most part. For the most part. We're back to square one, and I would say like a foot ahead. So we made a little bit of progress, not enough to spend an entire work day on. Sometimes you don't know until you're in it. You got to spend money to make money. That's what you got to do.

It is what it is. We're going to move forward with the show in just a second, bring Dr. Shaw in, but if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. If you know how to automate a countdown over a stream deck, please let us know. Please text me, dude. Please text me. Maybe there's somebody out there who knows how to do that. Give them the number again, dude.

252-582-5028 or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be right back. Hey, everyone.

My name's Elli. And I'm David. We want to take a minute and let you know how we can actually serve you as you're listening to Clear View today. The Bible paints an extraordinary picture of who we are as a church body. The mission of Clear View Church is to lead all people into a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ. A huge part of leading people is praying for them. A big reason that Christians have unanswered prayers in their life is because they're not praying.

You know, 1 John 5 15 says, and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. If you're listening to the Clear View Today Show, we want to know how we can pray for you as well. There's a number of ways that you can get in touch with us at Clear View and share your prayer requests, but the best way is by texting us at 252-582-5028. You can also send us an email at prayer at clearviewbc.org.

Or you can download the Clear View app on iTunes or Google Play. You know, on that app, there's a dedicated prayer wall that helps us to get to know what's going on in your life, how we can pray for you, and how we can take any necessary steps to get you moving in the right direction. Thanks for listening. Now let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon 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 or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right. We are here today at Clear View Church in the Clear View Today studio with Dr. Abbadon Shah.

If you've never listened to the show before, Dr. Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism. And Dr. Shah, I wanted to let you know, just in case you were wondering, our ProPresenter is functioning perfectly all across the campus. Everything is in tip-top shape.

All of the files are in their appropriate subfolders. John has not tried to begin a project that sabotages our entire ProPresenter operation anytime soon. Everything is fine. Everything is working well. All good on that front. All of your sermon images will be here this weekend. Well, thank you.

I just didn't even know something was wrong with it. No, there's nothing wrong at all. And I'm happy to help. I've got a servant's heart. And you know, sometimes, Dr. Shah, I think you'll see this is that you do projects for people.

You go out of your way to help people and it's hard for them to be grateful. No, no, no, no. Don't try to segue away from it just yet. No, no. Just so that the folks know, I am still lost.

I have no idea what he's talking about. Go ahead, David. Just to keep you up to date, John, you were in the intro about Project John. There's like a bulletin right in Project John. So Project John- That was yesterday. Yeah, he took over and decided to do something new with ProPresenter. Took over.

John's eyes rolled back in his head. I just wanted to get the countdowns linked. I wanted to get the countdowns linked between the stream and the- Which is a good goal. In order to do that, he started working on this project, which involved messing stuff up in ProPresenter. What project involves messing stuff up? Yours.

Okay. So it involves messing stuff up in ProPresenter two hours before Awana starts. By the way, for the benefit of our listeners or viewers, what is ProPresenter? It's our presentation software. It's how we get our slides and stuff up on screen. Any elements that are on screen are run through our ProPresenter.

Every scripture that you see, if you come on a Sunday, it's from ProPresenter. It's an advanced program. Not super advanced, but it's pretty good. It's good for volunteers, but it has a steep learning curve on the back end.

But it's very volunteer-friendly. It's also extremely critical. We're kind of joking around, but you really don't want to mess with it before a service. We've fine-tuned it to the point that it is precise to what we need it to do, and it was not that nice.

Well, it's working now, and it's all good. And again, it's- So why are we discussing this? Because it's hard for people to be grateful. These guys ought to be saying, hey, listen, I see your heart, and I'm grateful. Could we talk about this today?

It's hard. I think we should. I think we should, because I'm really struggling to be grateful. I hear you, and I hear your heart, and it's a wonderful goal, but your timing is poor. November is the season, as we're approaching Thanksgiving, to start learning how to be grateful. And I'm just humbled that you guys are going to have that opportunity. And speaking of timing in the year, it's the time where we can start talking about appropriate timing for projects.

It's not the appropriate time to start decorating your house in August for Christmas. I've been told that on multiple occasions, most of the time with people who are against me. I want to take you guys back to a time before history, in the land of 2015, when Dr. Shaw actually preached a sermon. 2015?

The time before history. When Dr. Shaw actually preached a sermon, when it's called, when it's hard to be grateful. Yes.

Yes. And this is from Psalm 13, where the psalmist is struggling, just like John was struggling. I'm not going to lie, I was scared.

Like at five o'clock starts, Awana time starts getting, I was scared. John was sweating. He says, how long, O Lord? It's kind of similar to how long, John. No, no, this is different.

This is different. He said, how long, O Lord, will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and hear me, O Lord my God, enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.

Wow. We don't think about the Psalms being this deep and sad and somber. You know, I always think about the Psalms being like happy, joyful songs in a meadow somewhere. Most of the ones that we're exposed to are that. They are the rejoicing songs or the worshiping songs.

They're the ones that are kind of like triumphant or happy or songs of thanksgiving. But the Psalms, ultimately, are real. They're real expressions of human emotion and people who have a genuine struggle, and that's brought out in the Psalmist's words. I've never, and I'm not just saying this, I've never seen a pastor make the biblical characters humans the way that you do, to bring out the humanity and to have me relate to someone who was alive thousands of years ago.

And I'm like, I can understand what this guy must be going through. Well, this Psalm, thank you for saying that, by the way, this Psalm is written by David. And David was this man who just, he's a character who is very hard to understand. On one hand, he was a man after God's own heart. On the other hand, he not only committed adultery with this woman, forced her, I would say, but then also had her husband killed.

I mean, just a very, very odd character. But he's the one who's writing this Psalm. And if you believe the superscription, the first line of the Psalms are authentic, which I believe, then this is a Psalm of David. And this Psalm was written as David was going through some great trial and suffering. And he wrote this Psalm as a prayer and a praise to God. Do we know what he was going through at that time?

Well, we don't really know the answer to that. But maybe it was when he was running for his life from King Saul. And maybe it was when David and his men were busy fighting the Philistines or the Amalekites had attacked their base camp and taken their wives and children as hostage.

Maybe it was when he was fleeing from his own son, Absalom. We don't know exactly the scenario, but it was a difficult time. And David felt like he was dying. And I know our listeners, our viewers, some of you have been through those times where you felt like you were dying. And there was no hope, there was no, and it was not like dying, like I'm dying right now. And maybe it could be, but it was more of a, I'm done.

Ever said that? I'm done. David was at that point of I'm done. It's crazy because we think that those down low seasons should only be this really small temporary part of our life. But then when it happens for like a year or so, or even more, it's kind of like David, it's like, how long is this going to go on?

When am I ever going to catch a break? Yeah. It's like this sickness. Okay. I went to the doctor, checked it out. I got to go back for another test. Okay.

So I went to the doctor, but they found something, so I got to go back and get that checked. Okay. They checked it, but now it's going to be a biopsy. So it'll be another 10 days before I find out. Okay. I found out and they told me to come on in because they're going to refer me to a specialist.

Oh, the specialist says, well, it's all good, but we're going to have to run some tests. I'm tired. I'm tired of this and I barely even have an answer yet. Right.

So I know our people who are listening understand this, or it may be struggles in your own family, but relationship struggles, relationship breakdowns, where it's like one conflict after another, just when you smooth things over. Okay. Well, why did he say that? Well, he said that because he's upset about this and this and this, but I thought we just said, you know, not to worry about that and we'll take care of this and that and the yeah. Okay. It's all good right now. Well, she is saying that he said, and you're going, man, I just, when is God going to step in? Right. When is God going to make this all simple and make sense?

He is going through, I would call the winner of his life. This is dry. It is dismal. The sun hasn't shown in a while. Joseph Parker, by the way, was a great Victorian preacher of City Temple Church in London. This is back in the late 1800s and he said that this Psalm begins with winter and ends with summer. Oh, that's beautiful.

Wow. Love that. Because a lot of us are going through a winter in our lives, whether it's financially or relationally or physically or even spiritually, you're going through a winter season. It's cold, it's drab, it's just lifeless, colorless, but hang in there. God is going to change the season and there will be a summer in your life.

That's beautiful. So in these moments, in these winter seasons in our lives, we're headed toward Thanksgiving, but obviously if you're struggling with something like this, or maybe this describes where you are, it can be difficult to feel those feelings of gratitude. Just dig deep and really summon those feelings of Thanksgiving. It's hard to access those when you're going through a struggle or you're going through a trial. How can we move through this in a way that points us back toward gratitude?

I would say first recognize the pressures of life. Just like David, and he asked God these rhetorical questions known as erotosis or erothesis. It means asking questions back to back without expecting an answer. So he's like rapid fire asking God these questions.

Ever done that? Oh yeah. Driving down the road or you just came out of the shower getting ready, but you know the day is going to be long and it's going to be one after the other. You're bracing yourself and you're asking God why. When is it going to end? I need a good day. Can I have some peace? Can I have some joy? Can I have a good news today? Like you're almost venting your questions.

Yeah. David says, how long will you hide your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Wow. I think every single one of us have asked questions like that. But like I said, we're too scared to say that we question God. We just want everyone to think we're faithful all the time. But I've asked God almost all of those questions.

Oh, 100%. I can remember times in my life when I've been just sort of up at night worried about life, worried about stuff and just saying, God, why? Why is this happening? What can I change?

What can I do? What is the purpose of this? Where are you in this? Yeah.

Even how long will my enemy be exalted? Just comparing yourself to others. I've 100% pointed to people in Hollywood or be like, God, you've given them mansions. You've given them billions and billions of dollars. Are you going to give me any of the things that I'm asking for? Is any of this going to happen? And it's so, I think, it makes me feel bad on one hand, but then to see David is going through the same thing, it's like, OK, maybe this is normal.

Maybe this is something that Christians just go through. And he's using this poetic device known as anaphora, where he's repeating the same words at the beginning of a series of statements. So how long? How long?

How long? I mean, so he's written this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but also in a way that is memorable, also in a way that touches us. He's saying, why is God just sitting there and watching me suffer? If he loves me, why doesn't he do something?

How long is he going to wait? This means that this was not some punishment for sin. This was just that he's going through something in his life.

And I've been there, and I've asked similar questions. It's not a sin to ask that question. In fact, Jesus also did the same thing from the cross. He said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Keep in mind, he's actually quoting from the Old Testament. But then comes the prayer of desperation in verse 3. He says, consider and hear me, oh Lord, my God. So even though David has been praying for a long time and has questioned God for delaying his answer, yet he does not give up on prayer. Instead, he prays again.

It's almost the opposite of what we do. When we go through tough times, we're like, well, God hasn't answered it, so there's no point in wasting my time praying. I would say this is the time you should pray even more. Something going on in your life, is it a relationship struggle? Is it with your kids? Is it with your parents? Is it with a church member?

Is it with your neighbor? Pray. This is the time you should pray all the more. Go to God and pray. Instead of thinking about how they hurt you or how they broke your trust or how they went back on their word or how they're living contrary to their claims to be a Christian, instead of stewing over that and mulling over it and rolling it in your head, immediately stop and say, God, would you be with that person today and bless them and work in their lives and let good things come in their way. Because you cannot do that for long before you begin to release your own bitterness.

Yeah. And I love that you direct us to do that, Dr. Shah, especially from the pulpit. You remind people that even though this doesn't feel like the natural response, you need to force yourself in this direction. You need to train your mind, train your heart toward this response, because that's the only thing that's going to help you is going to God in prayer.

It might feel like you want to shut it off, but you need to disobey your natural instincts and go back to God. There was something we were talking about yesterday or the day before, but we were at lunch and we were talking about the next phase of our church life. Tech related, we're talking about a lot of tech stuff, but we were talking and you were saying, listen, whatever equipment we need, ask for it.

You're not going to get it if you don't ask. And then that kind of got us onto the topic of prayer. God wants you to ask for deliverance and ask for the things that you need from him.

And so instead of being frustrated, ask God, and what do you ask for? What did David ask for? He said, enlighten my eyes. Remember the same thing that Job said, my eye has also grown dim because of sorrow and all my members are like shadows. So the greatest thing we need in trials is vision.

The ability to see things from God's perspective, what is happening? And then he even adds, lest I sleep the sleep of death means David is so worn out that he thinks this is going to kill him. This situation, this problem, this person, this struggle is going to take his life. He's just done.

It's crazy how we say that nowadays, but I mean, imagine David actually going through it. You know what I mean? And I mean, there are some situations that could kill us, but a lot of us, we just feel that exhaustion and that weight and that burden. It's kind of like you said earlier, like I'm done. If it takes me, it takes me.

I'm giving up. Verse four says, lest my enemy say I have prevailed against him, lest those who trouble me rejoice when I am moved. And so here's something, one of the hardest things to do when you're going through trials is to watch your enemy win over our lives. Yeah. I hate, I don't like to see my enemies or people who are working against me doing well while I'm suffering. Yeah.

You know, it's tough. So we have enemy, we have enemies because the way David says it is, lest my enemy say I have prevailed against him, that's singular, lest those who trouble me, those is plural. So there is the enemy that's the Satan, but then he does work through people.

So there are also plurals. And once again, Jesus understands this and he talks about this in Psalm, of course the Messianic Psalm, Psalm 22 verse seven. Then comes the praise of victory in verse five it says, but I have trusted in your mercy.

So just when you feel like all hope is gone and God is not going to answer, there is no sign from God. David prayed for vision. God answered him, which we know that he always does, but his answer came in a very different way. It doesn't say that God removed the problem or that God vanquished David's enemies. Instead, God changed David's heart, his perspective. So he is seeing life from a different perspective. And isn't that how God does for us? Because a lot of the times that I've prayed for problems to be removed, God didn't necessarily remove the problem. He just changed the way that we look at it and the way that we rely on him to get, either get over it or get through it. God doesn't always change our circumstance, but he does change us. That's good.

And we sometimes need that changing because we have a too high a view of ourselves and trials have a way of humbling us. Oh yeah. It's like the little kid who was about to stick his hand in the electric socket, just like we saw Holden do and Ellie popped his little tiny little hand. And then Gavin, your older son says, don't pop my brother's hand. Don't hit my brother.

Don't hit my brother. But it's needed. So the next time he's about to touch the socket, he'll be like, something's going to come and get me.

But there's something else. David says, my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. Previously David's joy was built upon his circumstances, but now he rejoices in God's salvation means we're talking about salvation from sin, salvation from self, salvation from Satan is also salvation from our circumstances. And Abraham had to wait 25 years for Isaac to be born. Isaac had to wait 20 years for his children. Joseph had to wait 13 years before he became a second in command. Moses had to wait 80 years before he could lead God's people.

And Jesus had to wait 33 years before he could do what he came to do. And so David's response in verse six is I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me. And I love the way that you put that earlier, is that we tend to think so highly of ourselves. And I almost tripped up and said it here, is that we think God's going to give me the strength to overcome this obstacle. Could it be that God's just going to prove how much greater he is and he's going to change my perspective realizing that and we'll find a way around? That's worth being there for. It's not always that he just gives me the strength to move mountains, it's that he's going to move it and I get to watch.

Right, exactly. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, if you have questions or suggestions for new topics, make sure to send us a text to 252-582-5028. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Be obedient to what God is calling you to do, partner with us financially, and help us reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. John, what's coming up tomorrow? Tomorrow we've got a very special episode, very Egypt-centered episode. Egypt-centered. Yeah, we're going over to... Egypt-centric. Egypt and Africa. Africa, right?

Yeah, going over to Africa. We're not. We're going to be here. But in your imagination, if you close your mind, you see in your imagination, your mind's eye will be in the land. I would say walk like an Egyptian, but we sit down for most of the show so we can talk like an Egyptian. We can do that.

Talk like an Egyptian. I used to see them do that. Yeah. Yeah.

You ever played Mario 64? We're going to Shifting Sand land. Nice. Big birds are going to steal our hat. Oh, no. Love you guys. We'll see you today.