During Sanctity of Life Month, I want to share about an organization that's been walking alongside families for generations. Focus on the Family exists to help families thrive, offering trusted biblical resources, counseling, and support for parents, marriages, and children at every stage of life. They also support women facing unexpected pregnancies through compassionate, life-affirming care. Right now, a gift of $60 provides a woman with a free ultrasound, offering clarity, medical care, and hope at a critical moment. If you want to stand for life by strengthening families, learn more or give today at focusonthefamily.com forward slash save a life.
Life audio. Yeah. Hi from the Salvation Army, you're listening to Words of Life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life.
Welcome back to Words of Life. This has been one of my favorite series I think we've ever created on Words of Life. I am so grateful for our panel of friends for being vulnerable and sharing how the Word of God continues to bring hope and encouragement in their life. Be sure to check out the show notes for plenty of links to Bible study resources to also help you in your own Bible study journey. If I'm going to be honest.
There's probably verses that we all struggle with too. the idea that we can be challenged by this infallible word of God. And as an example, one that has been both an encouragement and a struggle, we find in James 1. Where he says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. Because the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
And that sounds good. Except when you're in the middle of the trial. And it's really hard for me to wrap my mind around. And I think. We've heard it at least.
From each person around this table. There's Ben Valleys. Yeah. I think all of us would testify that God certainly has never left us. as we look back on some of those valleys or those trials.
And we can celebrate that now. Hindsight's always twenty twenty. But in the moment When we are trying to grasp at what scripture we're supposed to read or pray or say or speak. That one's always been a hard one for me. And I you know, if I'm if I'm being honest, I I am encouraged by it.
But it is hard. And uh I wondered if anybody else has a similar feeling or a challenge by scripture Caleb's looking at me as if I'm a heretic for even suggesting that scripture might be challenging. No, I mean, that's been the experience of all the people of God from time immemorial. And in fact, No one should become a Christian without hearing the words of Jesus to take up your cross and follow me. Yeah.
That. Christian life isn't just Prone to suffering, but in some way it embraces suffering. It certainly goes to where suffering people are. And We're called to enter into those places. Where There's a need and we're Life is hard and people are disadvantaged and marginalized and oppressed and Two offer to them That Joy that comes from knowing God and defies.
are present realities. is inexplicable. There are these moments in scripture sometimes, and particularly in the Psalms, where you have Like uh Thanksgiving Psalm, which will start with. Just this terrible litany of awful things that has happened. And then there's a pivot.
And sometimes the pivot just happens. And you read this psalm. And everything's Really dark, and you're kind of feeling like this really shouldn't even be in the Bible. I don't know what this is doing here. Seems kind of appropriate to put that kind of.
or like real life experience in the Bible. Things are really bad and then There's this pivot, this turn, and the rider suddenly. is compelled to praise and to thanksgiving and We don't even know that necessarily that the circumstance changed all that much. But something entered in. And changed the psalmist.
And that's a part of our walk with the Lord, too. continue to walk through those valleys with him. Never shying away from how we're feeling, 'cause God doesn't call us to have to do that. But taking those real emotions to the Lord. Uh Placing before him.
being honest with him. Not trying to have an outlet some other place.
So Find consolation, not turning to all the stuff the world has to offer to numb us. God said, You don't have to try to numb how you're feeling before me. You can come to me to. Speak frankly about what's going on, be vulnerable, be real. about where you are.
and then trust. And thankfully, he enables our trusting, too. by his grace. And then At some point The pivot will come. the turn, the inexplicable change.
that Spark. of divine joy. I don't know how it happens. I don't have a formula for it. I don't have a timeline for it.
But that's a part of the walk. Walk with the Lord. I think you said a word that is really important, and it's the word trust. That In good times, it's easier to trust, maybe. but even and especially in the harder times.
That We still have to trust. And I think as we've been talking about reading through the Bible and in the last books in the Old Testament. during the Babylonian captivity and exile. It was hard. Those were so hard, and those books are hard and discouraging to read what they were going through.
But it was so encouraging to me because Like you were saying in a lot of the Psalms, the people were crying out and pouring their hearts out. Why is this happening? Why are we here? And then, even when. They went back.
Uh to rebuild the temple. and the obstacles they faced. There was always hope. like all of those Books of the Bible. as discouraging as they were to read.
There was always this theme at the end that there was hope, that they didn't give up and they were trusting. And I think that is so important in our life that We continue to trust. even when we cannot see, and a whole lot of the times we don't know how things are going to end. But we trust, and that's where faith comes in. If you didn't trust.
Then is it really faith? Mm-hmm. Uh Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. We're gonna take a quick ad break and we'll be right back. What does it really mean to walk with God?
not just for a season, but for a lifetime. Join best-selling author Beth Moore for a five-week journey through Scripture. to discover how people throughout the Bible walked with God. and what walking with God can look like for you today. Walking with God is available as a beautifully designed workbook with plenty of space for notes and reflection.
Or as an e-book for study on the go. or as a specially adapted audiobook read by Beth Moore. Each of which is supported by six video teaching sessions. Available for purchase at Tendale Christian Resources.com. To learn more, please visit WalkingWithGod Bible Study.com.
I have struggled with Ephesians 5:22. In the beginning, where it says, wives, submit to your husbands. And that tells a little bit about me. I am a really strong person. I do believe God made us to lead and God uses men and women both in ministry.
Everybody around the table knows my husband really well and quite good friends with him. And to me, to submit is a very hard thing, more than to my husband, but to submit to anyone. That is very hard, I think, individually for us. To have somebody lead over you, to have somebody head over you. the pain that it is to give yourself.
and make yourself less. And especially in our world today. That is. Terrible. You know, you don't make yourself less.
You're worthy. You have all these wonderful things that are said to grow your esteem and grow who you are. And I think for a long time, I didn't know what that word submit, that biblical word submit in Ephesians means. And it wasn't make yourself less, it wasn't make yourself more unworthy. It wasn't any of the things that I connect it with in culture or I've seen, or the abuse that.
Happens around that, around this. That I don't think the Lord. Means that, or Paul meant that when they were writing that letter. It just means love, right? It means love, holding that person in all of your love and all of your attention, but not just a one-way street.
It goes both ways because right after that, it says, For the husband is the head of the wife, but also Christ is the head of the church. And it also is calling for the husband to love their wife and love each other. I still have a hard time submitting. I think the way that I've looked at it is very much an our day type of definition instead of what it really means and when it was written, which is complete love toward each other, complete support toward each other, increasing each other as Christ begins to dwell more and more in you is respect and love, forgiveness and patience. The rest of the Bible says for us to hold in our relationships with each other.
It's a great passage to cite in terms of challenges we have with scripture because that's a frequent one, too. One of the things I love about that passage too is You know, when Paul addresses wives, he gives about a verse or two of Instruction to them. And then when it comes to the husbands, it's like a full-on paragraph. That's right. But more than that.
That's right. But yeah, more than that, he uses actions. He tells the husband to do things that, in that cultural framework of that time, Women would primarily do, not men.
So things like, Uh Washing. Uh cleaning. Making sure there's no spot or wrinkle or blemish. This is all work that was. seen as domestic and was for wives to do.
And Paul is somewhat playing with the cultural biases of the day. And saying, Okay, men. You want to really be like Jesus. You want to really serve your wife. Embrace this posture of humility and of.
Service and mutual submission in serving one another, don't puff yourself up, but even take on. chores that you would think are beneath you because of the accidents of your birth. And I think you see throughout scripture, just in that particular issue of like the status of men and women, status of women in the church and in the home. The sort of trajectory of scripture actually challenging the prevailing views of the time. And more and more putting women and men on an equal footing.
And certainly Before the fall you have that. And it's that giving up of the thought of what is beneath you. Right. For both, for men, women, wives, husbands, on a giving of self, on a servanthood of what you've just said, and come to the realization: oh, you know what? I do have a lot of self inside of me.
I do think this is beneath me. Lord, help me, clean me, let me be a servant. You want me to do this, help me to do this. Surrendering to each other in that relationship because we're surrendering to the Lord, because God loves us so much. He loved us first, and so we will love each other in that way.
He served us first, and so we can serve each other in that way. We pray that you're enjoying and being blessed by this conversation. We're going to take one more ad lake and we'll be right back. What does it really mean to walk with God, not just for a season, but for a lifetime? Join best-selling author Beth Moore for a five-week journey through Scripture.
to discover how people throughout the Bible walked with God. and what walking with God can look like for you today. Walking with God is available as a beautifully designed workbook with plenty of space for notes and reflection. or as an e-book for study on the go. or as a specially adapted audiobook read by Beth Moore.
each of which is supported by six video teaching sessions. Available for purchase at TyndaleChristian Resources dot com. To learn more, please visit WalkingWithGod Bible Study.com. The Bible is not all happy ending good. You know, I mean, it was real life then, and there's so many more.
Versus that have been meaningful to my family or to me, and that's easier for me to talk about. And those hard things, those terrible things that all of us are in agreement are just terrible. I think God thinks it was terrible too. Right. And I think it broke God's heart too.
So, those things that we wrestle with, don't agree with, some of these. Facts and history and some of the things broke God's heart. Breaks God's heart. Right. Yeah, for sure.
The encouragement to get from this is like: it's okay to wrestle. It's okay to bring those questions to God. That is the encouragement. The name Israel itself means wrestles with God. And so we're all going to have things that are complicated to read through in the Bible, but the encouragement is God wants you to take those to Him and He will work those out with you.
You know, we may not get the full picture or the full answer, but as we see in the Psalms, like Caleb said, take it to God. And then if we continually just bring it to God, At some point, God is going to do something within us that helps us move forward. The Salvation Army's mission, doing the most good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit SalvationArmyUSA.org to offer your support.
You can subscribe to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit SalvationArmysoundcast.org. Join us next time for the Salvation Army's Words of Life. These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life.
We want to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the show. Visit lifeaudio.com, where you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They have shows about prayer, Bible studying, parenting, and more. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time.
Many of us feel hurried. Did you know that being in a hurry is costing us more than we realize? Hi, I'm Jem Fadling, co-host of Unhurried Living, where my husband, Alan, and I help people learn to live and lead from fullness rather than on empty. We provide resources and training to teach you healthy patterns for rest, work, and spiritual connection. With more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of spiritual formation and leadership development, Unhurried Living seeks to inspire others to rest deeper, live fuller, and lead better.
Join us each week as we continue to have conversations about leadership, soul care, the power of prayer, and much more. You can find Unhurried Living at lifeaudio.com and on your favorite podcasting app. I'm Mark Vinette, host of the Historical Jesus Podcast, which presents the new series, Miracles, focusing on biblical miracles from the Old and New Testament. Join me on the Historical Jesus Podcast as I explore the interesting, compelling, intriguing, and wonderful miracle stories of the Bible and the many great miraculous events inspired by the words and deeds of Jesus Christ.
