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About the episode:

Jaime Luce’ testimony has daunting personal mountains and treacherous financial valleys. She was trapped in day-to-day stress and couldn’t see a way forward. But how she started is not how she finished! And she wants you to know God has a plan for your life too, no matter how tough it seems. Today, Jaime has been married to the love of her life for almost three decades, owns two companies, and has become an author and podcaster. God’s way is always the blessed way!  Learn more.

Related reading:

• How To Heal Through Responsibility and Faith
• How To Use Your Kingdom Authority In Prayer
• Plug Into A Warfare Prayer Source
• Have a Different Spirit
• Be A Good Gardner

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Full Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated and not perfect. We hope it blesses you.

0:00:03 – Jaime Luce

Welcome to the Jamie Luce Podcast. I’m your host, Jamie Luce. Thank you for listening today. All of my blogs, social and YouTube links can be found on my website, jamieluce.com. If you enjoy this podcast, you can support it by liking, subscribing, getting notified and sharing this broadcast. Another way you can help is by rating and reviewing on Apple Podcast. My hope and goal in every episode is to give you tools found in Scripture, either by teaching, discussions, testimonies or interviews that encourage and equip you as you navigate living a real Christian walk in a difficult world. I would love to hear from you whether you have a comment, question or prayer request. You can email me at mail at jamieloosecom. If you’re watching on YouTube, drop me a comment. I’d love to partner with you on your journey of faith. If you’re listening today on any podcast platform, take a screenshot and tag me and I’ll post it to my Instagram story. And now join me for today’s episode. Welcome to the Jamie Loose podcast. Hey everybody, i hope that you are doing well today.

I really wanted to take today to. In one sense, i wasn’t sure if this was going to be one message or two. I’m still not sure And we’re going to see how the Holy Spirit leads. But I was pondering a couple of different passages and how those fit together, how we can be so human in our efforts to do what the Lord has called us to do or in our lack of doing what the Lord has called us to do, and it just got my heart stirred. I was thinking about several of you who have been making comments, and your comments have touched my heart because there’s a real sense that you are wanting to hear God, obey God and yet at the same time, you are struggling with your humanity in doing that. And I wanted to encourage you today, because I know we all struggle with this And it’s not just a matter of what we’re feeling that day.

I think that so many times we like Paul. I’m not going to be using Paul as an example today, though I could have. I’m going to be really using Old Testament heroes to prove a point, but I want you to think about how Paul had said I don’t do what I want to do. I do what I don’t want to do, and we understand that the struggle that we face is in our flesh man, and we get kind of confused on what is acceptable behavior, acceptable thoughts, acceptable feelings when it comes to our relationship with the Lord, and we can feel that we aren’t doing it right. We’re not doing it well enough. We are. We are ill-equipped, inadequate, unprepared, and I just, if you will lean in today, no matter what God has called you to do, whether you are in ministry of some sort, whether you’re you’re a layperson you have a job. You serve where God tells you to serve and you have a marketplace job. You could be a stay-at-home mom and you are trying to train up your children and the ways of the Lord. I’ve done all of those And there we have a. We have a real enemy who would love to cause us in our humanity to either think that we are disqualified or that we are not qualified enough. Maybe we haven’t done something that we think disqualifies us, but we haven’t done anything that we think qualifies us. It doesn’t matter what camp you fall in.

Today I want us to look at at several. You’re going to need your Bibles. You’re going to need something to write with you. We’ve got several things that I need you to look at with me today, and the first I first want us to start in Numbers, chapter 11. Numbers, chapter 11.

And we’re going to look at the life of several men who God chose to use for his glory and for his purpose. And these men, you know there are heroes, there are biblical heroes. They they deserve to be our biblical heroes for for many reasons. But on the same token, these men dealt with with being a man. Now I’m a woman, i’m not a man, so I’m, i’m not going to be. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about their humanity. I’m talking about they have a flesh And they had to deal with that. And they dealt with anger and frustration. They made terrible mistakes. They didn’t they didn’t do it perfectly, but yet God used them And they’re still our heroes in the faith And I want you to be encouraged today. You may have made mistakes, you may not have gotten this all right.

I’m not saying it’s okay to just accept that we’re human and sorry, this is the best I’ve got. I’m not talking about that. I’m not talking about a lack of submission to the Lord, to his ways, or a lack of submission to being conformed into his image. We’ll talk about that further in the message. But this is something we have to deal with. We are.

If it wasn’t something we’d have to deal with, if our flesh wasn’t something we’d have to deal with, then why did Jesus why is it said of him that he had to be born a flesh experience everything we’ve experienced, feel and be touched with the infirmities and the feelings that we are touched with, and yet not sin? He had to be able to experience what we do and then do what we couldn’t do, which was not sin. So he had to be able to do it in the humanity that he knows we face and be an acceptable sacrifice for us. So there is a very real element that we have to face about ourselves, about our flesh. If you think you do it perfect all the time. Now I’m not talking about being obedient or being disobedient Well, i will talk about that, but I’m not talking about that just yet.

I’m talking about the fact that we live in a body that gets tired. We can catch a cold and get sick, we could have disease in our body, we could have dysfunctional families, we can have terrible things happen, traumatic events happen in our lives, we could be involved in car accidents and we are touched by this world. We are affected by this world, and so I want to look at honestly, at the humanity and the pain that we go through wanting to serve the Lord, and how we need to look at that, why we need to look at that, how that is not a disqualifier for us being used by God. We’re gonna answer a lot of questions today. So if you will turn the first person I wanna look at, who was touched with great frustration, great stress, anxiety of pressure, the weightiness of carrying a very heavy thing that God has asked him to carry, somebody who feels that in their physical body can’t do it.

We’re looking at Moses first. This is somebody who says I can’t even speak clearly. Now it’s estimated that he had a stutter, a stutter. I don’t necessarily read that in the text. He could have had a stutter. I think he was not. He just felt like he wasn’t an eloquent speaker, that he might be someone who kind of stumbles over his thoughts and over his words, and he didn’t feel like people would listen to him, that he wasn’t eloquent. So to be a speaker, to be representative of someone who will go and speak before the Pharaoh, would be a difficult thing.

So let’s look at numbers 11, 11. So Moses has already said yes, he’s already approached Pharaoh, he’s already delivered this people in out of the desert and into the desert, out of the Red Sea, out of Egypt, into God’s plan And he’s trying to lead this people. This is a man who said yes to God after already being someone who committed murder. Somebody who murdered an Egyptian did it in what he felt was a righteous indignation that he had, but you can see that he had a problem with anger. I mean to the point that he murdered. Okay, he actually had great emotion. This was a man with great passion and emotion. So let’s look at numbers chapter 11, verse 11. Well, i’m gonna start in verse 10. Actually, let’s start in verse 10. Moses heard all the families standing in the doorways of their tents whining, and the Lord became extremely angry. Okay, so God’s angry, moses was also very aggravated And Moses said to the Lord and I want you to hear this because Moses is going to be complaining to the Lord Have you ever felt yourself complaining to the Lord?

I did it recently. I do it sometimes And we’re not supposed to be complainers, but I gotta be honest, sometimes we get overwhelmed. I mean, we tend to look at people, especially on this platform. You look at anybody in social media and you see them get ready to record something, no matter who they are. They could be in a service, in a church service, they can be influencers, they could be whoever. It is everybody’s on anyway, and we tend to portray ourselves in the best light possible, right? Nobody wants to go on and just show themself in the worst possible light, right? That wouldn’t be normal either, but in our attempt to do so, what people see then is only a very small sliver of someone’s life, and we tend to think, god, they do it so well, or they’re so gifted, or they’ve got all these talents and I don’t have anything. And we don’t see their humanity in social media. And so we’re here trying to do stuff in our humanity. We’re trying to do what God’s called us to do in our humanity. Come on, give me a break. That’s not easy. That’s very difficult. We are very real people with very real feelings and emotions and very real circumstances that we have to deal with, and Moses is under tremendous pressure. He’s got millions of people he’s leading. Okay, a couple million people he’s leading, and people of every age, every circumstance. Okay, let’s continue reading verse 11.

And Moses said to the Lord why are you treating me, your servant, so harshly? Have mercy on me. What did I do to deserve the burden of all these people? Did I give birth to them? Did I bring them into the world? Why did you tell me to carry them in my arms, like a mother carries a nursing baby? How can I carry them to the land you swore to give their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep whining to me saying give us meat to eat. I can’t carry all these people by myself. The load is far too heavy. If this is how you intend to treat me, just go ahead and kill me. Do me a favor and spare me this misery.

I don’t know if you’ve ever felt that way. More than one person has felt this way. You are not alone Today. First, let me tell you you are not alone. If you just think this is too hard, why are you asking this of me? Why have you put this on me? And what’s kind of comical about that, folks is? so many times we asked God for it. We asked him to use us, we submitted ourselves to him, we volunteered not everybody, but many, many. Sometimes God does call us to stuff and we didn’t want any part of it. And we hear his voice and we know he’s gone, so we’ll read one of those too. But this is stuff that we have to understand.

Moses, before he ever murdered that Egyptian and ran away, he felt he was a deliverer. He felt he was supposed to defend all these people. This is not something that Moses, this wasn’t sprung on Moses after 40 years. This was in Moses’ spirit and heart, from the time he could remember. He understood he was raised in the Hebrew home. He knew the plight of the Hebrew people. He also recognized that he was being raised in Pharaoh’s home with ability and access and platform that nobody else had. But this man was so miserable, so frustrated, so angry at the people and what he was carrying that he went to God and blamed God for it. He’s saying why did you make me do this? Kill me now. There is a movie where honored sports and I was in it. Kill me now. I mean this is just kill me now. Right And again. This is not the only person who felt this way And I’m wondering if you feel that way today.

I want to give you hope. First, i want to tell you, because we tend to think that we can’t be honest with God, that we can’t say what we feel. Well, the truth is, he knows the truth. Anyway. You’re only adding, lying to it and deceiving yourself. If you think he doesn’t know, i mean, come on, give me a break. He knows. He knows what we think. He knows what we feel. He knows our thoughts are far off. I mean, he knows what I’m going to think before I ever know what I’m going to think. Okay, that’s how much he knows. And so when I think about how God knows us, when I think about how God, he knows what I’m feeling. He knows how he made me, he knows how I’m made. He knows what he’s called me to. He knows the task is going to be difficult. He knows what’s ahead of me, and so it’s okay for me to come to him and be honest with him and say this is what I’m battling, this is what I’m feeling. This is the complaint against me, this is my complaint against you. This is how I feel.

The good part was he went to God. He took it to God. He didn’t take it and complain with the people. He didn’t go to the people say yeah, i feel you. I hate this. I don’t want to do this either. I hate that I’m here. He didn’t go and complain to Aaron. Why did God do this? Why, you know. We know in a separate instance, when Miriam and Aaron complained together about Moses, they didn’t go to God. They were being used by God, called by God, but they didn’t go to God. Moses went to God. It’s okay to go to God with how you feel, so let’s just put that out there first, and then we’ll look. I’m going to give you.

Well, let’s go ahead and do it now. Let’s look at how God responded to Moses. I’m going to skip ahead and look at that. Let’s go to verses 16 and we’ll do 16 and 17. Then the Lord said to Moses gather for me before me 70 men who are recognized as elders and leaders of Israel. Bring them to the tabernacle to stand there with you. I will come down and talk to you there. I will take some of the spirit that is upon you and I will put the spirit upon them also. They will bear the burden of the people along with you, so you will not have to carry it alone. I love this response.

God did not respond to Moses in anger. He wasn’t angry with him for what he felt. Instead, he said let me help you. Let me help you. I’m going to show you where the answer lies. I’m going to show you how to fix this problem. I know you feel this way. I have the answer. I’m glad you came to me. Let’s have a talk about this, and that’s what God wants to do with us. I know this is frustrating. I know you’re in trouble with this. I know it’s overwhelming. You feel burdened. It’s too heavy. You feel like you’re drowning. Thank you for coming to me. I have an answer. God has an answer, and he wants to share that answer with you.

Let’s look at another example. Let’s go to Psalm. We’re going to look at the life of David And I’m picking a Psalm and I’m going to give you an answer. That’s not in the Psalms, but just because it’s so prevalent in the Psalms. This is where we hear so much of David’s heart is in the Psalms, and so I wanted you to hear this coming from him. And then I want you to hear how God saw David and responded to David. So this is Psalm 77.

And he says I cry out to God, yes, i shout, oh, that God would listen to me. He feels like he is crying out and he thinks God’s not listening. He feels abandoned, he feels left, he doesn’t feel strength, he doesn’t feel encouragement, he doesn’t feel like God is with him. When I was in deep trouble, i searched for the Lord All night long. I prayed with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted. I think of God and I moan, overwhelmed with longing for his help. You don’t let me sleep and I’m too distressed even to pray. Have you ever felt that way? I have.

I think of the good old days, long since ended, when my nights were filled with joyful songs. I searched my soul and I ponder the difference. Now, how has the Lord rejected me forever? Will He never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion? And I said this is my fate. This is his self-talk. The Most High has turned his hand against me.

But then I recall all you have done, o Lord. I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works, o God. Your ways are holy. Is there any God as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders. You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations. By your strong arm, you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. When the Red Sea saw you, o God, its waters looked and trembled. The sea quaked to its very depths. The clouds poured down rain. The thunder rumbled in the sky. Your arrows are a lightning flash. Your thunder roared from the whirlwind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth trembled and shook. Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters, a pathway no one knew was there. You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

I love this because you have the misery that he’s in, you have the bad self-talk and the wrong kind of feelings and thoughts going on, and yet in it he remembers all the good that God really has done, the proof of who God really is, god’s character. He’s bringing his character, his actions, who he is, back into the limelight in his misery, and he makes this in verse 19. He says your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters, which indicates that sometimes the answer comes while I’m still in this very difficult place. The surroundings haven’t changed yet. My circumstance doesn’t look like it has changed yet It’s not like all of a sudden the burden and the problem just disappeared. It’s still there. Yet he’s saying your road led through. It didn’t stay there. It led through the sea.

Your pathway through mighty waters, difficult things, fearful things, but there was a pathway there and no one knew it was there. You know how many times we said we don’t know the way to go. But yet we know Jesus, you’re the way, you’re the way. When there is no way, he said I am the way. The truth in life. We know Jesus is the way. We just think there is no way and we don’t understand There is a pathway And, like Moses, we have to let the Lord lead us through that way. But I wanted to read to you. That’s the David. We could list every difficult thing he faced. He faced everything from giants and huge armies to betrayals in his family and enemies throwing rocks at him, spitting at him, hurling insults at him. I mean, he’s dealt with every kind of thing right, but what was his encouragement? What did God want to say to him? So let’s look at Second Samuel.

Hi, my name is Jamie Luce. I wanted to share with you some information about a brand new book entitled You Don’t Need Money. You Just Need God. It’s a playbook for miraculous provision And I want to share it with you because it solves the problem we are all facing right now. The economy is going crazy, gas prices are soaring, there’s wars and rumors of wars. We’ve got everything hitting us all at once, with interest rates rising. You need to know what to do, and so many times we think we need the money, but you don’t need money. I’m telling you the answer is you need God, and that’s exactly what we want to teach you through this book. We’ll give you practical ways to know what to do and how to do it, so that you get answers now. You can find my book on Amazon. You can also go to jamieluce.com. You can also find this book at You Don’t Need Money YouJustNeedGod.com. This book is available today. Go to Second Samuel And we’re going to look at chapter 7 and verses.

I’m going to start in 11b the second half of 11, and read through verse 16. And it says starting from the time, i appointed judges to rule my people, israel, and I will give you rest from all your enemies. So he’s saying from this time. This was my promise. Ok, god’s explaining his promise And I will give you rest from all your enemies. But this is his promise that he’s making to David. Furthermore, the Lord declares that he will make a house for you.

Speaking to David, a dynasty of kings I mean he’s talking to you about his own personal life and a dynasty that will come after him of kings. For when you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will raise up one of your descendants, your own offspring, and I will make his kingdom strong. He is the one who will build a house, a temple, for my name, and I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father and he will be my son. If he sins, i will correct and discipline him with the rod, like a father would do, but my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time And your throne will be secure forever.

God is saying no matter what comes, no matter what difficulties come, my promise to you goes far past your life even. That’s a wonderful promise. To know that David had the kind of relationship with the Lord where he could complain and cry out and say I can’t even pray to you, have you left me forever? and pour out his complaints. And yet God was so faithful to say David, i know your humanity better than you do, i know all of the mistakes you’ve made, and yet I am making a promise to you that goes far beyond even your lifetime, into a dynasty of kings that will come after you And it will be forever. This promise I’m making you is secure, forever, no matter what you’re facing folks, god’s promises are everlasting. They are from everlasting to everlasting, just as He is, for His word cannot fail. And if you will be one who says yes to the Lord, if that’s you now and you are in the struggle of it, remember His goodness and His promises are forever. He has not turned His back on you, he has not looked away from you. Of course we come. of course we say, like David oh God, search my heart, see if there’s any wicked way in me, like God said He would do for His son, i will correct Him. If He screws it up, i’m going to correct Him, i’m going to discipline Him And we can say Lord, that is my security, that you are my Father, that you will support me and correct me, you will guide me and you will discipline me, but that is because you are my Father. I have this relationship with you.

Let’s look at Jeremiah. Go to Jeremiah, chapter 20. Jeremiah, chapter 20,. Let’s look at verses 7, 8, and 9.

Here’s Jeremiah complaining oh Lord, you misled me. I mean, that’s an accusation, folks. Oh Lord, you misled me and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked. Every day Everyone laughs at me. When I speak, the words burst out Violence and destruction. I shout. So these messages from the Lord have made me a household joke. And if I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in His name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones. I am a word. I’m sorry, i am worn out. Trying to hold it in, i can’t do it. This poor man you know, when you read Jeremiah and then you read Lamentations, you just this poor man cried out to God all the time.

He was given a very difficult task. His task was that you’re going to have to speak to a people who will not listen. You’re just going to have to be my mouthpiece. Jeremiah, i’m asking you to do something that you’re not going to get recognition for. This is how you know if you’re doing it for God or doing it for you. Are you doing what He’s called you to do because you’re hoping you’ll get recognized by men? Are you hoping that your ego is stroked and that you’ve got some pride there and you’re wanting to puff up your insecurities a bit and think that you’re worth something and you want to hear the accolades of men? I can tell you Jeremiah was called to a task where he would never get, that, he would never receive the accolades of men, not until now. Now we know who Jeremiah was. Now we understand.

But he had to be the one who brought the tough word. He had to be the one who brought something that the people didn’t want to hear. It didn’t tickle their ears. They didn’t like to hear what he had to say. And yet his relationship with the Lord, his yes to God, meant that he would deal with great struggle, frustration, pain, anger, anguish of soul, not to mention what he physically had to go through, because they actually imprisoned him, dropped him in the mud, in the mire, and barely fed him. He was going to die. I mean, they treated him terrible. He had to be exiled. You know he was part of the exile. He got to stay in Judah, but he was a part of. He had to go through everything that the people went through. God provided for him, god took care of him, but he had to go through it Again. A pathway was led through the difficult things.

Sometimes we just think God’s going to, it’s not God and he’s not with me because he hasn’t plucked me out of this completely. No, sometimes, folks, he makes us go through it, but he’s there with us. He’s protecting us in it, he’s teaching us and leading us through it. He’s not left you And it’s okay that you’re honest and you’re frustrated and you’re angry. It’s okay to think God, you did this to me. In essence, he may have If you’re saying yes and he’s leading you into something difficult, it’s not inaccurate to say that God put you there, but he doesn’t leave you there, uncared for What your needs not met. He will provide for you.

Let’s look at how God speaks to Jeremiah and how he promises Jeremiah something in this. So let’s keep reading. Let’s go to verse. We’ll stay in chapter 20. Let’s go to verses 11 to 13. But the Lord stands beside me like a great warrior before him. My persecutors will stumble. They cannot defeat me. They will fail and be thoroughly humiliated. Their dishonor will never be forgotten. Oh, lord of Heaven’s armies, you test those who are righteous and you examine the deepest thoughts and secrets. Let me see your revenge against them, for I have committed my cause to you. Sing to the Lord. Praise the Lord, for, though I was poor and needy, he rescued me from my oppressors. You can take your troubles to the Lord. You can be honest with how you feel. You’re not disqualified because of how you feel. God still will be your defender, your shield, the one who cares for you and takes care of you. I want you to look. Now let’s go to first Kings. We’re going to look at the life of Elijah.

These next couple men felt very much like Moses did, felt very much the same. I don’t want to do this anymore. God, you’re making me do this. This is your fault. I’m dealing with this. Why are you ignoring me? why did you put me on this? why did you call me to this? why am I having to deal with this? I’d rather die.

But let’s look at first Kings, chapter 19, and we’re going to go to verses 3 and 4. This is after Elijah had called down fire from heaven. He has defeated and killed all the prophets of Baal. I mean, he’s had this great victory. But then let’s look. Well, let’s just start with verse 1, let’s just give you this whole thing. When Ahab got home because Elijah told him you better run home it’s going to start raining. God’s going to break this, the drought that we’ve had, this drought for three years. And I’m calling I’ve proven who God is and he’s sinning the rain. you better get home.

When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah may the gods strike me and even kill me if, by this time tomorrow, i have not killed you, just as you killed them.

Elijah was afraid and fled for his life here. He killed all these prophets and now he’s afraid of this one woman. He went to Be’er Sheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, lord, he said. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors, who have all ready died. I’m as good as dead. I’m no better than them. Kill me now. Then the angel of the Lord, let’s see. Did I skip that? No, let’s start verse five.

Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. So he felt he could be. He was honest with God. He said I am, this, is it I’m. I can’t do this. I’m as good as dead. Just kill me, i’m done. I did everything you told me to. I’m done.

Okay, then he’s exhausted and he’s afraid. Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him get up and eat. He looked around and there, beside his head, was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again.

Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you. I love that. What is the angel telling him? He’s saying listen, you’re not as good as dead. I’ve heard you. I know this is how you feel. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you need to rest. I still have more for you to do And if you don’t take care of yourself, then this is going to seem too hard. I care about you, i care how you feel. I care that your body can only take so much. Take care of yourself. Let’s take a nap, let’s eat some food, and God cares when he thinks that the journey is too much for us. He cares about how you feel in it. So I want you to see that, even in their frustration, they wrongly bring their accusations to the Lord, but the Lord isn’t angry. The Lord understands And he says I have an answer for you. I’m the answer.

So he got up and he ate and he drank the food gave him and the food gave him enough strength to travel for 40 days and 40 nights. I mean, that’s some powerful sleep and food. And he goes to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God. There he came to a cave where he spent the night. Now we’re going to shift.

This first portion is to tell you his complaint that God was dealing kindly with him, and his complaint. But now I want us to look at what God intends in teaching him while he’s in this process, because you know what? I won’t read the whole thing, but it’s Elijah, why are you here And he’s asking them well here, he sends them on this journey, but then he asks them why are you here? He’s not asking him, why are you in this cave per se? He’s saying why are you in this condition And why are you feeling this way? And he’s wanting him to know God in a deeper, remind him of the deeper way that he knows God. So, in one sense, he starts sending all of these things, whether it’s the hurricane, whether it’s an earthquake, rocks falling, blasts happening, all these things are happening. And yet God says but God wasn’t in that And God’s not in all this trouble and turmoil that you’re experiencing. That’s not where God is at. But God is with you And he’s with you in what? In the still small voice. He’s with you in your relationship with him. He’s with you in your time with him, where you’re actually crying out and saying Lord, this is where I am, this is what I feel. This is so hard. I need you, i don’t feel you, but going to God and going to that relationship is what restores us and gives us the strength and the ability to continue to do what God has called us to do. Let’s look This is the last one I’m going to show you today.

Let’s look at Jonah. We all like Jonah. Everybody, even kids who don’t go to church, know the story of Jonah. Right, let’s look at Jonah. So Jonah is going to be found after Daniel and Hosea, after Joel and Amos Obadiah. These are the little minor prophets and the little books are so tiny that you’re going to you could skip over them if you don’t, you’re not careful. Right before the last book of Micah. It’s all right, micah, zachariah Malachi, sorry, Okay. So, jonah, let’s look at chapter four, and we’re going to read verses one to three in chapter four. So if you don’t know the story of Jonah, i’m sure most of you do.

But God tells Jonah go to Nineveh. I have a word for the people of Nineveh. And Jonah doesn’t want to go. He disobeys God. Now God’s like Jonah. You’re going to go. I’ve chosen you. I’m not changing my mind about you. I know right now you’re in rebellion. So in my salvation of you and you get on your little ship going the opposite direction, i send a great whale to swallow you up, because this way you’re going. Have you ever tried to run from the plan of God? And when you’re on that road, he makes it impossible. He keeps putting blockades up. I mean this horrible storm comes and the people that are all around are like why is this happening? This shouldn’t be happening. And they’re all like this is God? God’s angry with somebody. This is happening for a reason. And Jonah’s like it’s me. You’re going to have to throw me overboard so that you guys are all safe, because this is not coming on you because of you. This is coming on you because of me. I’m the one in disobedience. And so God sends a whale or a big fish, swallows him up. He’s in the belly of the fish for three days. He spits him out. Jonah finally says okay, fine, god, i’ll go.

Now Jonah goes, he gives the word of the Lord And what you would think would be a great outcome is the people would listen to him. I mean, this is the opposite of Jeremiah, who can’t get anybody to listen to him. The whole nation of Inevitable listens. They totally repent before God. I mean they totally do what’s right. And Jonah’s mad. He’s totally mad about it. He’s mad that God’s plan worked.

So let’s look at this Chapter. Four, verses one through three. This change of plans greatly upset Jonah. What’s the change of plans? The word was if you don’t listen to God, he’s going to destroy you. Vengeance is coming, god’s mad and he’s going to punish you.

But this change of plans greatly upset Jonah, because they listened. So there was no punishment, there was no destruction, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it. Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, lord? This is why I ran away to Tarshish.

I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. This is hilarious. He is angry because he knows how good and kind and loving and merciful God is. You are eager to turn back from destroying people. Just kill me now, lord. I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.

So what’s the problem? Here’s the real issue. He’s angry not because of a legitimate reason. He’s angry because he’s worried that what he says isn’t coming to pass. How is this gonna make me look, god? You’re making me look like a fool.

So what was Jonah’s real intention in his heart? It wasn’t to just be God’s mouthpiece and to do what God tells him, hoping that they’ll listen. No, he was worried about his reputation. Jonah was worried about his own reputation. He was worried about how he would look. He didn’t want his ego messed with, and it made him angry. I don’t know which category today we all fall in, but this was why he was angry. He was worried about what will the people think. Then the Lord replied so let’s look at now God’s response. Okay, is it right for you to be angry about this? Now? I love this because God could have just said Jonah, i could have let you die in that fish’s belly. You deserve the destruction more than these people. I sent you to Shame on you for feeling this way, but he didn’t.

He says to Jonah, who’s obviously loving, unfailing love, doesn’t? he’s slow to get angry, he’s merciful and compassionate. And he says, in his compassion and love is it right for you to be angry about this? Then Jonah went out to the east side of the city and made a shelter to sit under As he waited to see what would happen to the city, and the Lord got arranged a leafy plant to grow there, and soon it spread broad leaves over Jonah’s head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort and Jonah was very grateful for the plant, but God had arranged for a worm Also the next morning. At dawn, the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away, and as the sun grew hot got arranged for a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. The sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. This man has a death wish. Death is certainly better than living like this, he exclaimed. Then God said to Jonah is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? Yes, jonah retorted, even angry enough to die. Oh, even angry enough to die. He says I’m sorry I read that wrong. Is it right for you to be angry because this plant died? Yes, jonah retorted, even angry enough to die. Wow. Then the Lord said you feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly, but Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?

Sometimes, in God’s goodness to us, he has to change our perspective. He has to say you’re looking at it like this. You’re only seeing this from the part of this that affects you personally, the part of this for you that makes you uncomfortable. But look at how I’m looking at this. Don’t you wanna do what I’ve called you to do? He’s truly being merciful to Jonah, causing him to want to see God’s heart in why God does what he does. Instead of screaming at Jonah, instead of demanding a difference in Jonah, he lovingly explains his heart, why he’s called him to what he’s called him to. Can I do that for you today? I can tell already by how much time has gone that I need to break this into two different messages, so I’m going to stop this here.

We will pick up in our next episode and really dive a little deeper into David and this whole concept of how and why God uses who he uses, that it’s okay for us to be mere men and women. It’s why God is not angry with you because of what you feel or the complaints that you have laid against him. He will lovingly answer your questions. He will guide and direct you through the answers. I want to encourage you today. It’s okay that you feel what you feel And it’s okay that you don’t want to feel that way. It’s also God’s desire for you to be healed in that, to be healed from that and to be able to see his perspective moving forward so that your heart is not burdened, the same way That your desire in it is to, yes, obey the Lord, but to also have his heart in it, to see it from his perspective, to love what he loves, to be changed in it, to have our natures conformed into his image. He’s not angry with you, child of God. He is not angry with you for laying bare your heart, for pouring out your complaints, for even blaming him, but he does want you to come honestly into relationships so that he could answer those for you, that he could speak into your life and fix what needs fixing, encourage what needs encouraging, remind you of the promises he’s made you, because he’s faithful and his word never fails. Thank you so much for joining me today. Let the Lord’s comfort come to you today and bring you to a place of surety in what he has designed for you, knowing he will not leave you here. He loves you and he wants to make a way through.

If you will like and subscribe, you can get notified for any new messages, especially the one coming because it is part two. I want you to make sure and do that. I don’t want you to miss it. So simply hit the subscribe button and you’ll get notified And then, if you like this and share this, you can encourage somebody else who might be struggling with this very thing themselves. Thank you again so much for joining me. You can find me at jamieluce.com and on any podcast platform, as well as YouTube, and if you’d like to contact me, you can do that by emailing me at mail at jamieluce.com. That’s J-A-I-M-E-L-U-C-E. Thanks again for joining me today. We’ll see you next time. Bye-bye. Thank you for listening to the Jamie Luce podcast.