1 00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,640 What were you born with that you have wished all of your life was 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,200 not a part of who you are? We all have insecurities and 3 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,440 personality quirks, things we don't like about ourselves. 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:14,880 And for Barbara Rainey, it was her shyness. 5 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:19,280 You may never see the reason why God did this in your life this side 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,120 of heaven. You may never experience traumatic healing like the man 7 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,960 born blind, but you can know without question that God did not 8 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,680 make a mistake in your life. Today we'll find out how 9 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:33,660 we can have that kind of confidence because of Jesus. 10 00:00:42,380 --> 00:00:45,500 Welcome to the Barbara Raney Podcast from Ever Thine Home, 11 00:00:45,820 --> 00:00:49,580 dedicated to helping you experience God in your home. 12 00:00:49,900 --> 00:00:50,940 Thanks for listening. 13 00:00:57,180 --> 00:01:00,990 In this three episode season of the Barbara Rainey Podcast, we're 14 00:01:00,990 --> 00:01:04,830 about to listen to a message that she gave a few years back during 15 00:01:04,830 --> 00:01:08,670 a women's retreat at the COVID near Asheville, North Carolina. 16 00:01:09,870 --> 00:01:13,310 You know, everyone has longings. Everyone is thirsty. 17 00:01:13,630 --> 00:01:17,470 God designed us to find our ultimate satisfaction in Him. 18 00:01:18,270 --> 00:01:22,110 The problem, of course, is that we search for satisfaction in 19 00:01:22,110 --> 00:01:25,510 things other than Him. In this message, 20 00:01:25,510 --> 00:01:29,260 Barbara helps us see that He, God, Father, Son, 21 00:01:29,260 --> 00:01:33,020 and Spirit is enough. Let's listen to part one. 22 00:01:33,260 --> 00:01:34,540 Here's Barbara Raney. 23 00:01:38,060 --> 00:01:41,420 How many of you have read the Chronicles of Narnia to your children 24 00:01:42,300 --> 00:01:46,100 or you've read it yourself? Most of you, but not everybody. 25 00:01:46,100 --> 00:01:48,380 Okay, this is going to be fun because some of you are going to hear 26 00:01:49,020 --> 00:01:52,740 hear one of my favorite authors and something that he's written that I think 27 00:01:52,740 --> 00:01:55,930 is just as good for adults as it is for kids. 28 00:01:56,650 --> 00:01:59,930 So I brought my My lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe book and I'm going 29 00:01:59,930 --> 00:02:03,690 to read us a little story this morning. Everybody loves to 30 00:02:03,690 --> 00:02:07,330 be read to you, right? So this is the story 31 00:02:07,330 --> 00:02:11,130 of four children who found their way into another land through the back of a 32 00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:14,610 wardrobe. And they were there. And here's what happened in 33 00:02:14,610 --> 00:02:18,090 chapter seven. Shh, look, said 34 00:02:18,090 --> 00:02:21,860 Susan. What? Said Peter. There's something moving among 35 00:02:21,860 --> 00:02:25,660 the trees over there to the left. They all stared as 36 00:02:25,660 --> 00:02:29,060 hard as they could, and no one felt very comfortable. 37 00:02:30,180 --> 00:02:33,860 There it goes again, Susan said presently. I saw it that 38 00:02:33,860 --> 00:02:37,460 time, too, said Peter. It's still there, just behind that big tree. 39 00:02:38,180 --> 00:02:41,780 What is it? Asked Lucy, trying very hard not to sound 40 00:02:41,780 --> 00:02:43,700 nervous. She was the youngest. 41 00:02:45,950 --> 00:02:49,670 They all saw it this time, a whiskered furry face which had looked 42 00:02:49,670 --> 00:02:53,430 out at them from behind the tree. But this time it didn't draw 43 00:02:53,430 --> 00:02:57,150 back immediately. Instead, the animal put its paw 44 00:02:57,230 --> 00:03:00,990 against his mouth, just as humans put their finger on their lips when they're 45 00:03:00,990 --> 00:03:04,510 signaling you to be Quiet. Then it disappeared again. 46 00:03:05,230 --> 00:03:07,870 The children all stood holding their breath. 47 00:03:09,310 --> 00:03:12,870 A moment later, the stranger came out from behind the tree and glanced around as 48 00:03:12,870 --> 00:03:16,030 if it were afraid someone was watching. Hush, he said. 49 00:03:16,750 --> 00:03:20,030 I know what it is, said Peter. It's a beaver. I saw the tail. 50 00:03:20,670 --> 00:03:24,470 It wants us to go with him, said Susan. It's warning us not 51 00:03:24,470 --> 00:03:28,190 to make a noise. I know, said Peter. So the children 52 00:03:28,190 --> 00:03:31,910 got close together and walked up to the tree. And there, sure enough, they 53 00:03:31,910 --> 00:03:35,470 found the beaver. The beaver said to them, 54 00:03:36,110 --> 00:03:39,750 are you the Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve? It 55 00:03:39,750 --> 00:03:43,480 said were some of them, said Peter. Shh, said the 56 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:46,840 beaver. Not so loud. We're not safe even here. 57 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,840 Why? What are you afraid of? Said Peter. There's no one here but 58 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,200 ourselves. There are the trees, said the beaver. 59 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,320 They're always listening. Then it signaled to 60 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,000 the children to stand as close as they possibly could so that their faces 61 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,280 were actually tickled by his whiskers. 62 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:09,300 They say Aslan is on the move, he said. Perhaps 63 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:13,140 he has already landed. And now a very curious thing 64 00:04:13,140 --> 00:04:16,980 happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more 65 00:04:16,980 --> 00:04:20,540 than you do. But the moment the beaver had spoken these 66 00:04:20,540 --> 00:04:23,100 words, everyone felt quite different. 67 00:04:24,860 --> 00:04:28,420 Shh, said Mr. Beaver. Not here. I must bring you where we can have a 68 00:04:28,420 --> 00:04:32,060 real talk. And also some dinner. So the children 69 00:04:32,060 --> 00:04:35,580 followed Mr. Beaver to his little home built out of sticks. They 70 00:04:35,580 --> 00:04:39,380 crawled in the home, and Mrs. Beaver was there cooking dinner. And they 71 00:04:39,380 --> 00:04:42,960 sat down and they all had dinner and they talked. And after 72 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,600 dinner was over, they said together, yes? 73 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,120 Please tell us about Aslan, several said at once. For once again, that 74 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:53,920 strange feeling, like the first signs of spring and like good news had 75 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,919 come over them. Who is Aslan? Said Susan. 76 00:04:57,400 --> 00:05:01,200 Aslan? Said Mr. Beaver. Why, you don't know? He's 77 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:05,040 the king, he's the Lord. He's the lord of the whole wood. But he's not 78 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,880 often here, you understand. Never in my time or in my father's time. 79 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,600 But word has reached us that he will come back. He is in 80 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:15,680 Narnia, and he will make everything right. 81 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,600 But shall we see him? Asked Susan. Why, daughter of Eve. That's 82 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,440 exactly why I brought you here. I'm to lead you to him, said 83 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:28,240 Mr. Beaver. Is he a man? Asked Lucy asked. 84 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,440 Man. A man? Said Mr. Beaver sternly. 85 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,280 Certainly not. I tell you, he is the king of the Wood. 86 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,320 And the son of the great Emperor beyond the Sea. 87 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,720 Don't you know who is the king of the beasts? Aslan is a lion. 88 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:46,000 The lion? A great lion. 89 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,600 Oh, said Susan. I Thought he was a man. Is he 90 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,240 safe? Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about 91 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:57,840 meeting a lion. That you will, dearie. Make no mistake, 92 00:05:58,780 --> 00:06:02,540 then he isn't safe, said lucy. Safe, said Mr. Beaver. 93 00:06:02,700 --> 00:06:06,060 Don't you hear what we said to you? Who said anything about 94 00:06:06,060 --> 00:06:09,620 safe? Of course he isn't safe. But 95 00:06:09,620 --> 00:06:13,140 he's good, I tell you. He is the king. He is the 96 00:06:13,140 --> 00:06:16,820 king. So we're going to talk about this God of 97 00:06:16,820 --> 00:06:20,540 ours who is good. He is very good. 98 00:06:21,500 --> 00:06:23,420 But he isn't always safe. 99 00:06:25,350 --> 00:06:28,670 And all my life I've wanted a safe God. I don't know about you, but 100 00:06:28,670 --> 00:06:32,470 I wanted a safe God that I could understand, a God I 101 00:06:32,470 --> 00:06:36,190 could figure out, a God I could kind of put a 102 00:06:36,190 --> 00:06:39,990 formula to or some kind of system of rules to. So I knew how he 103 00:06:39,990 --> 00:06:43,830 worked, so it made sense to me. And I've learned the truth 104 00:06:43,830 --> 00:06:47,670 of Mr. Beaver's words, that our God is very good, but he 105 00:06:47,670 --> 00:06:51,460 is also not always safe. But I have 106 00:06:51,460 --> 00:06:54,940 learned that he is enough for my past and for my present 107 00:06:55,180 --> 00:06:58,700 and for my future. So this morning we're going to look at three different 108 00:06:58,700 --> 00:07:01,340 scripture verses about God the Father, 109 00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:06,099 one about God the Son, and about God the Holy Spirit, the 110 00:07:06,099 --> 00:07:09,900 Trinity. And we're going to look at who they really are. And we 111 00:07:09,900 --> 00:07:13,620 want to. I'm hoping that as we do this, we will be humbled 112 00:07:13,620 --> 00:07:16,460 before their majesty and we will be led to worship. 113 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:20,840 First, we're going to talk about God the Son, and that he is enough 114 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:24,760 for your past. God the Son is enough for your 115 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:28,480 past. And we're going to look at a passage in the Book of John. But 116 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,480 before we do that, I want to tell you that there's a context to this 117 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,320 passage. In fact, there's a context to all of the ones we're going to read, 118 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:38,160 because all of Scripture is written in the context of other things that 119 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,760 are happening. And there are two things of context that I want you to be 120 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:45,320 aware of as we read it. The first one is the word believe. 121 00:07:47,030 --> 00:07:50,470 There are 84 uses of the word believe in the Book of John. 122 00:07:51,030 --> 00:07:54,630 That's a lot of repetitions of one word. Jesus 123 00:07:54,630 --> 00:07:58,230 uses the word believe over and over again as a line in the sand, 124 00:07:58,710 --> 00:08:01,670 asking everyone in various ways, who do you 125 00:08:02,310 --> 00:08:06,070 believe that I am? There's no middle ground with 126 00:08:06,070 --> 00:08:09,750 Jesus on belief. Either we believe or we 127 00:08:09,830 --> 00:08:11,990 don't believe. We're in unbelief. 128 00:08:13,690 --> 00:08:17,490 And in the context of our lives, where we find ourselves today, Jesus 129 00:08:17,490 --> 00:08:21,290 is still asking us today, who do you believe that I 130 00:08:21,290 --> 00:08:24,890 am? Interestingly I looked up the word believe, 131 00:08:24,890 --> 00:08:28,610 and in the Greek, it's. It's a feminine verb. And 132 00:08:28,610 --> 00:08:31,730 I find it fascinating. I'm still hoping I can get to do some study on 133 00:08:31,730 --> 00:08:35,410 this more someday. But English doesn't have masculine and 134 00:08:35,410 --> 00:08:39,090 feminine assignments to all of our words. Our words are 135 00:08:39,090 --> 00:08:42,570 just what they are. But there are a lot of languages that have masculine and 136 00:08:42,570 --> 00:08:45,970 feminine verbs, masculine and feminine adjectives and 137 00:08:45,970 --> 00:08:49,250 adverbs and nouns. Spanish does, Greek does, 138 00:08:49,570 --> 00:08:53,370 French does. A lot of them do so in Greek, the word believe is a 139 00:08:53,370 --> 00:08:57,050 feminine noun. It means a conviction of truth. It means believing 140 00:08:57,050 --> 00:09:00,530 in God, in divine things, with the idea of 141 00:09:00,530 --> 00:09:04,090 trusting and having holy fervor. And it 142 00:09:04,090 --> 00:09:07,330 reminds me of the story of the woman, the women who went to the tomb 143 00:09:07,650 --> 00:09:11,450 on Sunday morning. I think the women had a greater 144 00:09:11,450 --> 00:09:15,250 capacity to believe, and I think that's a part of the reason why the 145 00:09:15,250 --> 00:09:18,730 word believe is a feminine noun. Because I think we do. 146 00:09:19,770 --> 00:09:23,490 I think that's why Eve believed the serpent. I think we have 147 00:09:23,490 --> 00:09:27,290 a greater capacity to believe. Now, nobody has told me this, 148 00:09:27,290 --> 00:09:31,050 who's a great theologian. But as I've looked at the way we're 149 00:09:31,050 --> 00:09:34,770 wired, the way we operate, one of the greatest gifts my 150 00:09:34,770 --> 00:09:37,970 husband says I've ever given to him is that I believe in him. And I've 151 00:09:37,970 --> 00:09:41,690 always believed in him. I believe in my children. And that 152 00:09:41,690 --> 00:09:45,370 belief empowers and fuels and strengthens those that 153 00:09:45,370 --> 00:09:48,930 we love. And I think that the women who went to the tomb, 154 00:09:49,250 --> 00:09:52,970 their faith in who Jesus was, was rewarded when they saw him 155 00:09:52,970 --> 00:09:56,690 first. I think Jesus honored and recognized their faith. 156 00:09:56,690 --> 00:10:00,450 They're quick to believe in him. Faith when they went to the tomb. 157 00:10:00,930 --> 00:10:04,610 So the word of. The word belief is a part of the context 158 00:10:04,770 --> 00:10:08,500 of, of the story in John. And then secondly, this 159 00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:11,620 story is in John, chapter nine. So if you've got your Bibles, you can turn 160 00:10:11,620 --> 00:10:14,980 there now. But the timing of this story is really interesting. 161 00:10:15,300 --> 00:10:19,060 It's the halfway point of Jesus ministry. Two 162 00:10:19,060 --> 00:10:22,740 months earlier, Jesus had just been in Jerusalem and he had celebrated 163 00:10:22,740 --> 00:10:26,580 the feast of Tabernacles. And at the feast of Tabernacles, he had 164 00:10:26,580 --> 00:10:29,940 claimed to be the light of the world, which created a ruckus 165 00:10:30,260 --> 00:10:34,040 among the Pharisees. But he had stood up and said, I am the 166 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:37,760 light of the world. Well, this story in John chapter nine is 167 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:41,480 happening in the month of December. And then 168 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:44,960 this month is the feast of lights. The feast, the festival of lights. 169 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:48,560 And it's. We call it Hanukkah, or we know it as Hanukkah. 170 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,720 So we're going to look at the story of John, chapter nine real quickly. 171 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,200 Verse one says, and as he passed by, he saw a 172 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:01,020 man blind from birth. I want to talk for a 173 00:11:01,020 --> 00:11:04,740 couple of minutes about this man who was blind from birth. First of 174 00:11:04,740 --> 00:11:08,420 all, Jesus saw this man. The man didn't see him because he was blind. 175 00:11:08,420 --> 00:11:11,980 He couldn't see. But Jesus saw this man, saw his 176 00:11:11,980 --> 00:11:15,580 need, saw his heart, recognized who he was. And he 177 00:11:15,580 --> 00:11:19,180 knew, because he was fully God, that this man had been blind from 178 00:11:19,180 --> 00:11:22,980 birth. He knew that he needed help. Now think 179 00:11:22,980 --> 00:11:26,300 about this man in his life growing up. If he was born without 180 00:11:26,380 --> 00:11:29,510 sight, how did he function in the world? 181 00:11:30,070 --> 00:11:33,870 He had to have help for everything. So from the time he was born, he 182 00:11:33,870 --> 00:11:37,430 was dependent on people for everything. For his food, for 183 00:11:37,430 --> 00:11:40,470 his clothing, for his sustenance, for everything. 184 00:11:41,030 --> 00:11:44,750 This man was needy. When we look at the passage, we think 185 00:11:44,750 --> 00:11:48,510 he was probably of age, which meant he was probably 30 because he was 186 00:11:48,510 --> 00:11:52,350 allowed to go into the temple. He was grown. And I thought 187 00:11:52,350 --> 00:11:55,670 about how did he feel as a kid growing up, or how did he feel 188 00:11:55,670 --> 00:11:59,270 as a teenager or even as a young man? And I would 189 00:11:59,270 --> 00:12:03,070 imagine he felt left out. My guess is there were times he 190 00:12:03,070 --> 00:12:06,870 was rejected. I think there were probably times he was made fun 191 00:12:06,870 --> 00:12:10,510 of. There were probably times when he was not allowed among 192 00:12:10,510 --> 00:12:14,190 the community of believers, because in those days, anyone who had something 193 00:12:14,190 --> 00:12:17,390 wrong with them was unclean and they were cast out. 194 00:12:19,150 --> 00:12:22,990 And I'm wondering if he was trying to get well, did he have 195 00:12:22,990 --> 00:12:26,800 hope anymore that he would get well? I 196 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,160 don't know, but he'd always been this way. So I think it's 197 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:33,680 entirely possible that he had no hope of ever being 198 00:12:33,680 --> 00:12:37,000 healed. I wonder if he had lost his 199 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,680 initiative. So in this story, just in verse one, 200 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,800 we see that this man did not take the initiative, but Jesus took 201 00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,600 the initiative to reach to him, which is what he has done 202 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,590 in all of our lives. We love because he first loved us. 203 00:12:52,830 --> 00:12:56,110 Jesus loved this man, and he reached out to him, 204 00:12:56,750 --> 00:13:00,550 verse 2. And his disciples asked him, saying, rabbi, 205 00:13:00,550 --> 00:13:03,950 who sinned this man or his parents, that he should be born blind? 206 00:13:04,990 --> 00:13:08,510 And I just love this because this is so who we are. The disciples 207 00:13:08,510 --> 00:13:12,310 wanted to know, not, are you going to heal him? Not what 208 00:13:12,310 --> 00:13:15,070 are you thinking about this man? They wanted to know whose fault it was. 209 00:13:16,270 --> 00:13:19,910 Why did they want to know whose fault it was? Because they 210 00:13:19,910 --> 00:13:23,730 wanted to avoid a similar fate. And I think it's an issue 211 00:13:23,730 --> 00:13:27,290 of control, quite frankly. They didn't trust 212 00:13:27,290 --> 00:13:31,050 God. We don't trust God because we think we can manage this. We think 213 00:13:31,050 --> 00:13:34,810 we can control the circumstances if we just figure out what's really 214 00:13:34,810 --> 00:13:38,570 going on below the surface. And then 215 00:13:38,570 --> 00:13:42,370 verse three, Jesus answered and said it was neither that this man sinned 216 00:13:42,370 --> 00:13:45,970 nor his parents, but it was in order that the works of 217 00:13:45,970 --> 00:13:49,730 God might be displayed in him. He didn't rebuke them for 218 00:13:49,730 --> 00:13:53,490 asking the question, he let them ask the question 219 00:13:53,730 --> 00:13:57,530 and he turned it and showed them what the truth was. And the truth 220 00:13:57,530 --> 00:14:00,770 was, is that God wanted his glory to be seen. 221 00:14:01,250 --> 00:14:04,610 He wanted those who were there to watch Jesus power 222 00:14:04,850 --> 00:14:08,610 and who he really was. There's a verse that I 223 00:14:08,610 --> 00:14:12,410 think is really interesting, Exodus 4:11. And the 224 00:14:12,410 --> 00:14:16,140 verse says this God said to Moses, who 225 00:14:16,140 --> 00:14:19,820 made man's mouth or who makes him dumb or deaf 226 00:14:20,060 --> 00:14:23,740 or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord 227 00:14:24,700 --> 00:14:28,100 who was behind this man's blindness? It wasn't the parents 228 00:14:28,100 --> 00:14:31,780 fault, wasn't the man's fault. It 229 00:14:31,780 --> 00:14:35,540 was God who had his glory in mind. It was God who 230 00:14:35,540 --> 00:14:39,120 wanted to do something to demonstrate who he was to 231 00:14:39,270 --> 00:14:42,950 to people. God intentionally made this man blind. 232 00:14:43,510 --> 00:14:47,230 That kind of sits wrong with us, doesn't it? Because we think of our God 233 00:14:47,230 --> 00:14:50,590 as a good God and he is a good God, but this is where he's 234 00:14:50,590 --> 00:14:54,230 not always safe. God intentionally made 235 00:14:54,230 --> 00:14:57,670 this man blind. He intentionally subjected him to 236 00:14:57,670 --> 00:15:01,270 decades of life with a handicap, a disability, 237 00:15:01,990 --> 00:15:05,720 and the man suffered for it. We don't like that 238 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:09,440 kind of God, do we? But the reason 239 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,080 he did it, Jesus makes it really clear in verse three. Because God had a 240 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,640 higher purpose in mind to display his glory. 241 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,520 And as I thought about it, I thought if the man had been born whole, 242 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,160 he would have never experienced the wonder of being healed. 243 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,680 He wouldn't have appreciated it. But he lived with this 244 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,200 blindness for so long that when Jesus healed him, he was 245 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:35,720 exuberant. If you read the rest of the chapter, he couldn't stop talking about 246 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,540 it. He was jumping up and running around and telling everyone what had 247 00:15:39,540 --> 00:15:43,380 happened to him. And we would too, right? The man knew he was 248 00:15:43,380 --> 00:15:46,380 blind and he understood his need for healing. Now 249 00:15:47,020 --> 00:15:50,140 I want to turn this to us. What 250 00:15:50,140 --> 00:15:53,740 handicap were you born with that has never left you 251 00:15:53,740 --> 00:15:57,260 since birth? My handicap was not anything 252 00:15:57,260 --> 00:16:00,540 physical that could be seen or measured like blindness or deafness. 253 00:16:01,020 --> 00:16:04,710 My handicap, I always felt like, was that I 254 00:16:04,710 --> 00:16:08,470 was shy and I was insecure and I was quiet and I 255 00:16:08,470 --> 00:16:12,270 didn't. I wasn't comfortable with people. And I remember 256 00:16:12,270 --> 00:16:15,670 going through high school and noticing people who were really 257 00:16:15,750 --> 00:16:19,310 popular and they had fun and they talked easily. And I 258 00:16:19,310 --> 00:16:23,070 remember thinking, why can't I be more like those people? Why can't I 259 00:16:23,070 --> 00:16:26,910 be like those friends of mine that I knew that I'd probably been 260 00:16:26,910 --> 00:16:29,990 in elementary school with? Why can't I be like that? 261 00:16:30,630 --> 00:16:34,070 And I tried to be different, and I couldn't break out of my shell. 262 00:16:34,310 --> 00:16:37,750 And it followed me all of my life. And I always 263 00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:41,510 felt like if I didn't have this, if I wasn't made this 264 00:16:41,510 --> 00:16:45,190 way, if I wasn't made to be cautious and quiet and 265 00:16:45,350 --> 00:16:48,670 think things through, if I could be more like these other people, I would be 266 00:16:48,670 --> 00:16:52,350 happier, I would have more fun. People would like me. 267 00:16:52,350 --> 00:16:56,100 I could be popular. I remember one day, 268 00:16:56,100 --> 00:16:59,580 years later, I was married, I had kids, and I was still 269 00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:03,220 struggling with this and feeling insecure, and I just didn't like 270 00:17:03,220 --> 00:17:06,900 the way I was. And I was driving somewhere and I just had this thought 271 00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:10,540 out of the blue, which of course was God himself, the Holy Spirit. 272 00:17:11,020 --> 00:17:14,860 And he reminded me that it was important for me to 273 00:17:14,860 --> 00:17:18,580 be that way. He said, you don't know what you escape. You 274 00:17:18,580 --> 00:17:21,900 don't know what you were saved from because you were not a part of that 275 00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:25,329 group of kids that you long to be a part of. And I went, 276 00:17:26,049 --> 00:17:28,209 yes, Lord, you are right. 277 00:17:29,649 --> 00:17:32,569 I shared this story with a group of women about a month and a half 278 00:17:32,569 --> 00:17:36,129 ago at a retreat. And one of the ones in the group 279 00:17:36,129 --> 00:17:39,529 is we all shared. It was a much, much smaller retreat, and we all shared 280 00:17:39,529 --> 00:17:43,129 what our handicap was. And one woman said, I 281 00:17:43,129 --> 00:17:46,529 always felt like the odd person in my family because 282 00:17:46,609 --> 00:17:50,409 everybody else in my family, all my other siblings were just like my parents, 283 00:17:50,409 --> 00:17:54,200 and I was so different from anyone else. I always felt like 284 00:17:54,200 --> 00:17:57,480 the odd one out. I felt like I was a mistake my whole life. 285 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:01,680 And it was a really powerful time of sharing what we have 286 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,520 felt trapped by our entire lives. So I want you to 287 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:09,280 think for a second. What were you born with that you have wished 288 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:13,080 all of your life was not a part of who you are? Write 289 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,040 that down on your notes if you know what it is. 290 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,980 You may never see the reason why God did this in your life this side 291 00:18:20,980 --> 00:18:24,820 of heaven, you may never experience dramatic healing like the man 292 00:18:24,820 --> 00:18:28,660 born blind, but you can know without question that God did not 293 00:18:28,660 --> 00:18:32,500 make a mistake in your life. You can know he meant it for your 294 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:36,260 good and he meant it for his glory that the works 295 00:18:36,260 --> 00:18:40,020 of God might be displayed in you. The story of a 296 00:18:40,020 --> 00:18:43,860 man born blind finishes with Jesus going and finding this man and asking 297 00:18:43,860 --> 00:18:47,710 him, do you believe? Do you believe in 298 00:18:47,710 --> 00:18:51,550 the Son of Man and the blind man who was now 299 00:18:51,550 --> 00:18:55,390 seeing said, yes, I believe, and he fell on his face and he 300 00:18:55,390 --> 00:18:59,230 worshiped Jesus. So my question for you and 301 00:18:59,230 --> 00:19:02,990 for me Will you be like the blind man who recognized his 302 00:19:02,990 --> 00:19:06,230 need, who believed God intended good for him? 303 00:19:07,030 --> 00:19:09,670 Or will you be like the disciples who wanted control? 304 00:19:12,230 --> 00:19:15,870 It takes faith to believe that Jesus, the Son of God, is 305 00:19:15,870 --> 00:19:19,670 enough for your past, and to believe that God knows what he's 306 00:19:19,670 --> 00:19:23,350 doing as he wisely allows even the difficult things in 307 00:19:23,350 --> 00:19:26,870 our lives. That's Barbara Rainey from a message she gave at a 308 00:19:26,870 --> 00:19:30,590 retreat for women a few years ago. I hope 309 00:19:30,590 --> 00:19:34,190 you'll take a moment to browse through the articles, resources 310 00:19:34,190 --> 00:19:37,630 and podcast episodes on Barbara's Substack page. 311 00:19:37,870 --> 00:19:41,310 She wrote an epic poem that covers the entire Bible. 312 00:19:41,630 --> 00:19:45,440 It's called the Wonder of the Word, and you can check out 313 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,320 more information about it on Substack. Just go to 314 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,120 barbarainey.substack.com 315 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,480 in this episode, Barbara showed us why God the Son is 316 00:19:56,480 --> 00:20:00,040 enough for our past. Next up, we'll hear part two of 317 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:03,520 Barbara's message. She'll explain what she means by her statement, 318 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,800 God the Father is enough for our present. I'm 319 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,160 Michelle. Thanks for listening today. Join us again on the next 320 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,640 episode of the Barbara Rainey Podcast. From Ever Thine Home, 321 00:20:15,140 --> 00:20:26,060 Sam.