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Are you worried about stepping into something new and how you'll be provided for?

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Today, I want to remind you that the provision is in the mission.

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Hello, Fearless One.

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This is Nerissa Golden and welcome to the podcast.

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Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen.

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Thanks so much.

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One of my favorite songs is It Remains to be Seen by the Mississippi Mass Choir.

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I will drop a link in the show notes.

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It's a real classic.

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But that's the whole podcast right there in that one sentence.

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The safest place on this planet is to be living in the will of God.

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That doesn't mean nothing difficult will happen there.

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It means that even in difficulty, you are not outside his care.

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How do you know what the will of God is for you?

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I'll point you back to Genesis 1, 28 as a start.

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And God blessed them and God said unto them,

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Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion

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over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing

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that moveth upon the earth.

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You are blessed, then instructed to be fruitful, to multiply, and to exercise dominion.

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This is the pattern we keep returning to, identity, development, impact, and stewardship.

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We begin with who God created us to be,

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then develop what he has placed within us,

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use it to serve others, and responsibly manage what he entrusts to us.

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We also know that Jeremiah 29 11 says,

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For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,

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saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

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You may know that last phrase as hope and a future in some other translations.

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God spoke these words to people living in exile.

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Their circumstances were difficult and the restoration would take time.

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This wasn't a promise of an instant escape.

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It was reassurance that God had not forgotten them.

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I hope that fills you with hope too.

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Your present circumstances do not tell the whole story of what God is doing in your life.

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Numbers 23 verse 19 reminds us,

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God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent.

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Hath he said and shall he not do it?

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Or hath he spoken and shall he not make it good?

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God is not human like us and capable of lying.

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We can trust what he has actually promised even when we don't yet understand how it will unfold.

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You matter to him.

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His heart towards you is good.

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If that's the case, then why do bad things happen?

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We live in a fallen world.

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People make choices that harm others, and we experience suffering, sickness, and loss.

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Not every hardship can be traced to one person's decision or lack of faith.

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Jesus himself said that we would face trouble.

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In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer.

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I have overcome the world.

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John 16, 33.

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So why doesn't God just overrule us all and make things good?

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In the beginning, he said that what he had made was very good.

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And even when humanity chose a different way,

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he made a way through Jesus to reconcile us to himself.

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Genesis 1, 31 and 2 Corinthians 5, verse 18 and 19.

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We are invited to respond to him.

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In one of the earliest podcasts, I spoke about the powerful word choice.

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We don't get to choose everything that happens to us,

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but we can make choices about how we respond and whose direction we follow.

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Yes, a lot of our choices are shaped by our parents,

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our environment, and the events that happened to us at an early age.

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However,

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the beauty in God's plan is redemption and our ability to make different decisions

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as we grow in awareness.

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We no longer have to live by the script and actions of others.

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Your ability to choose is essential to you fulfilling the plan God has for you.

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So how do we know if we are choosing our own way or God's plan?

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The Word tells us in Psalm 37 verses 23 and 24,

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The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way.

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Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.

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Notice that the passage includes someone falling.

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Being guided by God does not mean you will never stumble.

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It means you have someone to uphold you.

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When you surrender your life to Jesus as Lord,

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understanding the sacrifice he made on the cross to reconcile you to your creator,

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you receive righteousness as a gift.

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Righteousness is not something we can give ourselves.

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Roman 5.17 calls it the gift of righteousness.

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And 2 Corinthians 5.21 says,

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For he hath made him to be sin for us,

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who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

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This is important because your new life begins with what Jesus has done for you.

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You are not trying to earn your way into being accepted by God.

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When you look in the mirror and feel inadequate,

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when your thoughts shout at you about all the ways you've screwed up,

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when every step you take seems like you're walking in quicksand,

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remembering that your righteousness is found in Jesus gives you somewhere solid

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to stand.

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I wish remembering this was a one-time move.

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I say I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus once and I believe it

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and act accordingly forever.

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But no, just as we need to eat daily to nourish ourselves,

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we need to keep returning to what God says about us.

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You are not purchasing righteousness by repeating a declaration.

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Jesus has already paid the price.

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You are reminding your mind and heart of what you have received.

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Romans 12 verse 2.

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The more you receive this into your spirit,

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the more freedom you have to walk knowing that God is with you.

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So does God sit down and say, well, move there and do that?

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We've spoken before about how we hear from God, and it's not one way.

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Some of us experience impressions that guide us towards a certain path.

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Others recognize his direction as we take the next faithful step in front of us.

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We can test that guidance against scripture and seek wisdom rather

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than assuming every feeling is an instruction.

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If any of you lack wisdom,

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let him ask of God,

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that give it to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

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James 1 verse 5.

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Jesus described his own mission using the words of Isaiah.

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These words describe Jesus' mission.

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As his followers,

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we participate in his work by loving,

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serving, and bringing his truth and compassion into the places we occupy.

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So your purpose is not necessarily one job or one activity that you do all the days

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of your life.

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It includes living with the understanding that you can make a difference right

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where you are with the skills and wisdom God has given you.

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Your personality,

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your compassion, and your experience can be used to serve the people around you.

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But what if you were happy on the job and then it disappears?

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What if you've been trying to find a job but the rejection letters are numerous?

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How could that be God's will?

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Losing a job is not proof that God has abandoned you,

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nor do we have to call every painful event His instruction.

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We can bring the uncertainty to Him and ask Him how to move forward.

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When I say the provision is in the mission, this is what I mean.

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The God who calls you into relationship with Him also cares about what you need along the way.

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You don't have to make yourself financially useful before you qualify for His care.

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Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6 verse 26,

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Behold the fowls of the air,

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for they sow not,

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neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

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Are ye not much better than they?

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He goes on to speak about how God closed the lilies,

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then says,

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But seek ye first the kingdom of God,

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In that

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passage,

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Jesus is talking about our everyday needs, including food, drink, and clothing.

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He invites us to put our Father at the center of our lives instead of allowing worry to rule us.

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Being in the will of God is not just about working to pay bills or helping others.

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Your existence matters to Him.

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I have battled with this idea for most of my life.

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Jesus asked, Matthew 7, 9.

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Then he said,

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If ye then,

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being evil,

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know how to give good gifts unto your children,

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how much more shall your Father,

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which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him?

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Matthew 7, 11.

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Your heavenly Father is good.

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You can ask him for what you need.

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So what can make it difficult for us to recognize or receive the provision?

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God is not powerless,

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but our beliefs can limit the ways we permit him to work and provide in our lives.

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If I believe provision can only come through money I earn myself,

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I may reject the help,

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opportunities or instructions he sends through another channel.

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Surrender includes releasing my insistence on how the answer must come.

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Father, I trust you to provide and I am willing to receive provision in the way you choose.

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Can we allow God to lead us?

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Can we receive help without shame?

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Can we take the practical step he puts in front of us,

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whether that is applying for a job,

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asking for support, developing an idea, or accepting someone's kindness?

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We say God helps those who help themselves,

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and I used to believe it was scriptural, but that phrase is not a Bible verse.

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Jesus helped a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years.

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He fed a crowd of about 5,000 men with five loaves and two fish.

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I am sure many of those 5,000 men were able-bodied and employed.

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Yet he did not send them away.

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His compassion required that he serve them.

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Throughout the Old Testament,

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we also see God's grace and provision in the lives of people like David,

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Ruth, and Naomi, and profoundly in the story of the children of Israel.

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Their time in the wilderness shows us God caring for people in a place

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where they could not produce everything they needed.

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They had come out of slavery in Egypt,

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yet when life became difficult,

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they remembered the food they had eaten there and longed to go back.

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God provided manna in the wilderness.

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When they first saw it, they asked, what is it?

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God provided manor in the wilderness.

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When they first saw it, they asked, God provided manor in the wilderness.

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Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you,

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And the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day

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that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or no.

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Exodus 16 verse 4.

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They still had instructions to follow.

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They gathered it and on the sixth day they gathered enough for the Sabbath too.

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God provided and they responded to his direction.

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The manner continued for 40 years.

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He also guided them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night.

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They traveled when the cloud moved and stayed when it rested.

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Sometimes that meant waiting longer than they might have expected.

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Today God's Spirit lives in those who belong to Christ.

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We can ask for His guidance and learn to follow Him.

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For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, Romans 8, 14.

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Being led can also include the direction to stand still.

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At the Red Sea,

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Moses told the people,

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Fear ye not,

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stand still,

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and see the salvation of the Lord,

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which he will show you today, Exodus 14, verse 13.

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Then in verse 15, God told them to go forward.

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There is a time to stand and a time to move.

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The point is to follow his direction.

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Their battles weren't always fought with weapons either.

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In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah faced an overwhelming enemy.

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They sought God and he told them, You shall not need to fight in this battle.

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Set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you.

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2 Chronicles 20 verse 17 As they went out,

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singers praised God ahead of the army and

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the account describes God defeating their enemies.

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Praise is a way to turn our attention towards the God who is with us.

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It is not a payment we make to force a particular outcome.

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We praise because he is worthy of celebration and as a reminder and a way

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of thanksgiving when we remember we are not facing life alone.

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It is not an easy task to lift your hands and praise God

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when your head is telling you that you should be worrying right now.

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We don't have time for this, but praising God is never wasted time.

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Maybe all doors and avenues seem shut to you going out to work.

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Maybe you're a caregiver to children or elderly parents and you aren't able to work

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at the level you are used to.

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God can make a way you cannot yet see.

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You may be living with an illness that leaves you exhausted and unable to focus enough to work.

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If you can sing a song or lift your hands, do that.

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If all you can manage is a quiet prayer from your bed, he hears that too.

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You do not have to perform to deserve his care.

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It doesn't matter that you are used to being the breadwinner.

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Life may have brought you to a place where you feel at the mercy of others or the system.

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You don't know how to make enough money to pay your bills.

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You don't even know anymore what you want to be when you grow up.

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Bring that to God.

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Allow him to take the lead.

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Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.

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In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.

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Proverbs 3 verses 5 and 6.

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There have been a few times in my life when I have felt incapable

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of getting myself out of a tough spot.

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I couldn't even come up with the name of someone who could bail me out.

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But God, He is always there.

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Often, I have needed to stop trying to figure out everything on my own so I can listen.

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His instruction to me is not always, go and see this person or here's how to find the money.

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It is usually a simple instruction to serve others, to spend time writing and listening.

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He sends me to be with my children when I'm thinking that I should be trying

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to make some money right now.

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His ways of providing are not our own.

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I have never seen him not make a way.

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And when he opens the door, it's so simple.

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I wonder how come I didn't think of it myself.

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He is the all-knowing and wise one.

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I am so glad he is on my side.

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As we end today, fearless one, consider this.

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Where have you confused your ability to earn with your worth to God?

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Is there help you have resisted because you believe you should be able

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to do everything yourself?

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And what is the next step he is asking you to take?

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You can live fearless knowing that your righteousness is found in Jesus.

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You can come to your heavenly father because of what Christ has done rather than

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the strength of your expertise or resources.

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The mission begins with belonging to him.

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From that place,

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you can develop what he has given you,

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serve others and steward the opportunities and provision that come into your hands.

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Trust Him with what you cannot see.

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Follow Him in what you can do today.

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Your Father knows what you need.

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Heavenly Father, thank you that we belong to you.

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Thank you that our righteousness is a gift through Jesus Christ.

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We do not have to earn your love or prove our usefulness before we can come to you.

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Today we bring you our needs and our questions.

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You know the bills that are due,

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the applications that have gone unanswered,

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the responsibilities we carry, and the changes we did not plan for.

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You know where we feel tired, afraid, or ashamed to ask for help.

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Help us to receive your care.

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Forgive us for the times we have believed that everything depends on us.

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Renew our minds where we have confused our income with our identity or our ability

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to provide with our value in your eyes.

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Holy Spirit, give us wisdom for this season.

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Show us when to move and when to wait.

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Help us to recognize your direction and act on it.

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Give us courage to ask,

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humility to receive,

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and discernment to recognize the opportunities and support you placed before us.

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Father, provide for those who are listening today.

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Bring food, shelter, work, practical help, and rest where they're needed.

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Strengthen those who are ill and those who are caring for others.

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Remind them that they are seen and loved, even when they have very little strength left.

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Help us also to notice where we can be part of your provision for someone else.

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Teach us to use our skills, our time, and our resources with generosity and wisdom.

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We surrender our plans to you.

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We do not have every answer, but we trust your character.

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Lead us in the next fateful step.

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And help us to rest in your presence as we take it.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Thank you for spending this time with me, Fearless One.

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If this episode encouraged you,

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share it with someone who needs the reminder

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that they are not facing this season alone.

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Remember to subscribe wherever you listen.

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And until next time, live fearless.

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Thank you for listening to Fearless One with Nerissa Golden.

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For more resources or to get in touch, head to nerissagolden.com.