Welcome again to another podcast of Struggling Well, and Suzi and I are delighted that you've joined in with us, whatever time of day, whatever day day of the week it may be for you. we're glad to have you and so I a couple years ago was the last time I have been in the nation of Israel and actually traveled in southern Israel in places I hadn't been previously and we were in the bus one day and driving and the tour guide just kind of casually pointed out we're right here in the valley of Ela and I'm thinking Ela what happened there? Well that's the How do you say that again?
Ela, I believe is how you e L
I don't know.
Ah, so I'm sure all of our Greek scholars and scholars will call in and correct me.
Yeah. Well,
u anyway,
maybe it's a
maybe it is. There you go, babe. But it's much better pronunciation because you are more the linguist than I.
Oh, totally. You speak one.
but I then I began to remember what happened there in that valley. Now, whe whether the spot we passed through was the exact spot or not, I don't know, but there's a brook that runs in the bottom of that valley. And on either side there's mountain ranges and that's where David fought Goliath,
right?
biblical story that maybe there's some people who don't know it, but a lot of us do. And u David's just a young boy and he goes out and he takes on Goliath. But what's interesting is I'm thinking about this. What gave this young shepherd boy the courage to take on Goliath? And I think some of it has to do with what he remembered. So in first Samuel 17 in the verses that precede the actual fight between he and Goliath, he says this to Saul, who isn't real keen on letting him go into battle. He says, "Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and the uncircumcine Philistine will be like them." And then he goes on and says, "David said, the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.
He remembers what God had done in his life already. Pretty amazing. I mean, I know how much you love wildlife.
Oh my gosh. Yes. It's called wildlife for a reason. They need to stay in the wild and we need to stay away from them.
Yeah. And so I know that the thought of facing something like a lion or a bear.
No.
No. No.
No.
And David not only face them, but he defeated them. But he gives
as he was a shepherd.
As he was a shepherd,
right?
But and he gives credit to the Lord for doing that because he remembers what God had done. And there's something about that. I know we like to put the past behind us because you can't change the past. But there are places where I think it's important to remember the past in this sense to remember what God has done for us. And so I'm going to flip now to the New Testament.
Well, before you go into the New Test David also says in 1st Chronicles 16 8, he says, "Oh, give thanks to the Lord. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him. Sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his presence continually. Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he has uttered. Yeah.
So again, it's about remember.
Yeah. And so it's something that again I don't think David was unique in calling upon the remembrance of the things that God had done. But I also think sometimes we forget how God's responded to us in the past.
I think about the disciples. They're on the Sea of Galilee and this is in Matthew chapter 8. Jesus has just delivered the sermon on the mount which is this powerful declaration of what the kingdom of God should look like and how we should live in that kingdom and he and the disciples get in the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Now you and I have been there on the Sea of Galilee and we've been there most times we've been there. It's been very peaceful and calm. You don't you wonder how it could rage but we know it does. And so they get into the boat and they're rowing across the Sea of Galilee or sailing across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus goes down into the bottom of the boat and falls asleep. Now, at least four of the guys in that boat, Peter, Andrew, James, and John are experienced fishermen on that sea. We know that.
Matthew, not so much. He was a tax collector. But the there's experience. And a storm rises up and it's raging and they go down into the b hull of the boat to wake up Jesus. And they say, "Teacher, you don't you care? Lord, save us. We're perishing."
Yeah.
now these are the same guys who had just listened to the sermon on the mount. They had heard Jesus speak. They had seen him heal people. They had seen him do all kinds of miracles. And yet, when they're in this situation, which is an overwhelming situation, they don't remember. And they're like, "Don't you care for us?
Yeah.
You going to let us perish? wake up.
And that is so true of us today. I mean, it's been that way for decades, just that we have short-term memory loss. We remember maybe more about the cool things we've done or think we have done or who we think we are. But as far as remembering God's faithfulness, we're pretty short on that. And oftentimes when you're in a difficult place, you've forgotten that maybe six months ago or a year ago when you thought it's over. It's all over. I got to pack it in. It's over. And God rescued you. He became your shelter. And I think we talked a couple of weeks ago about being under his wings, his pinions covering us. And it's that we do that thing of forgetting. Israel did it. I know you're looking at the New Testament, but they were told to put up rocks of remembrance of altars so that when they passed that way again, which they did in the wilderness, they kind of went in circles for 40 years. But when they passed that way again, they would remember what had happened at that spot. And you know, I know people do little jars filled with rocks of remembrance, but our memories aren't that awful. Why do we so easily forget what he's done and brought us through?
Yeah. it's like we live in the moment and we can't remember history. We love to we live in a culture right now that loves to rewrite history. and yet it's in our history that I think we see and prove who he is, his faithfulness. The truth of the matter is, Suzi, I we shouldn't need more than the cross as a reminder,
right?
But beyond the cross, he's given us so much. And so, one of the things I there a couple things that I hope people can take away from this podcast. One is what it looks like to celebrate who Jesus is,
to celebrate him as That's the difference maker in all of history.
Yeah.
Not just big picture history, but my history, your history.
So, what aspect of celebrating Jesus comes to your mind?
Well, I would say what comes to my mind, and this would bleeds maybe into remembering what he's done for me, but I want to celebrate that he loves me.
Unconditionally loves me.
And it's not like we don't have a lot of proof of that cuz from Genesis all the way through Revelation, it's constant about how much he loves us, how he provides for us, how he's rescued us. every time the Israelites cried out, he answered. Every time I cry out, he answers. Now, it may not be the way I think he should be because that's when I do my own write my own theology, but yeah, his love is spoken about all the way through.
Yeah, it is. And so it's like can you celebrate him for who he is? And not just what he's done, although I do want to remember what he's done.
Yes.
But I want to celebrate him as the unique son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the divine son of God, and celebrate him for who he is. And then, and this is where it gets hard to me, can I wait on him and can I trust him?
Yeah, it always comes down to that, babe.
I think week after week is we do this podcast. it always comes down to that.
Yeah. And so when the disciples wake Jesus up in the bottom of the boat and you know we're perishing, we're going to die. Don't you care for us? That whole thing. He then calms the storm.
Yeah,
he does in his time.
So Lord, help us with our short shortterm memory.
Yeah. And that's Suzi, I go back to we've you and I have known Christ for a long time. We've grown up really all of our adult lives and into our teenage lives.
I mean, trust back
back or not unless you're reverting, which
No, I don't think I'm reverting. I don't want to live through all that all over again. No.
anyway,
since we were teenagers and we still have to grow in our trust of him.
Yeah.
It's not easy.
It's not. But, you know, I think when I'm scrambling, when I'm overwhelmed, I forget. I just somebody just shared with me, my son-in-law actually shared with me a passage from Deuteronomy 1. I think it was 26 and 27, and it was speaking about when the spies went out to look see if the promised land if they could go in and the spies come back and talk about how plentiful it is. But then they also get a report from like these guys are tall, they're big, they're fierce, and Moses says to them, "Don't dread or be afraid because God will carry you like a son, a father carries a son to the place to the place where you're supposed to be." And that's been reverberating in my mind all this week, too, that God will carry me to the very end. And it to the end of my life, to the end of the wherever I'm at the moment, he will carry me. Again, Lord, please help me. with my unbelief.
Yeah. Yeah. So, as you go through your week this week, whatever it may be, whatever may your week may hold, maybe it's a great week, a week where you feel really in tune with the Lord, maybe it's a tough week where you wonder, then we want you to do this. Celebrate who Jesus is to you today. Take time to do that. Remember what he's done for you and then be willing to wait and deepen your trust in him. that he has your life in control.
Thanks so much for joining us for another episode of Struggling Well.