Episode 1522: Rescue Me

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1, 522 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] Marie Alessi: I'm Marie Alessi. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to choose hope and healing when dealing with loss is key.

[00:00:26] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this. The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:43] Scott Maderer: That is the moment that God wants us to do and see that then our lives are, are better. They're more full. They're more alive, not because there's no pain, but because the love of God and community is with us. And in those [00:01:00] moments, that's where we can find hope. Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:01:09] If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling. In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:37] In today's Spiritual Foundation episode, I talk about Psalm 91 verses 1 2 and 9 16. I also share how Lent is a season of reflection, but not of isolation. And I share how our rescue and relief isn't a get out of jail free card, but rather a call to love. Psalm 91 [00:02:00] verses 1 says You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, I will say to the Lord, My refuge and My fortress, My God in whom I trust.

[00:02:13] Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

[00:02:31] You will tread on the lion and the adder, the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. Those who love me I will deliver, I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me I will answer them, I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them and show them my salvation.

[00:02:53] For many people, Lent is a somber, reflective, internal season focused [00:03:00] on making us feel bad, making us feel sorry for our sinfulness. It's often about an individual journey with Christ. It's going out and wandering in the wilderness for those 40 days. The other lectionary reading for this Sunday is from Luke chapter 4, which is the story of Jesus going out into the wilderness for 40 days and wandering through them.

[00:03:25] But think about it for a minute. What if Lent, all of the somberness, all of this being sorry, all this repenting, all this introspection. Think, what does that have to do with loving? And the truth is, it has everything to do with that. What if Lent, instead of being an individual exercise, what if that introspection, that confession, that examination of ourselves is supposed to be done in community with others?

[00:03:58] What if the heart of [00:04:00] Lent is about how we live in community, how we love, how we treat each other? How we look not just to our own sin, but how we treat the presence of sin in others. We live together in love, or we should be. That's the real secret. After all, we're surrounded by a love that is indescribable in God's love.

[00:04:27] But this moment in Lent, this is about wandering in the wilderness, remember? That's the Lenten journey. We're wandering just like Jesus was but think about that for a minute the Jesus Wilderness that he's wandering in think of the description. It's not an area of green. It's not a forest It's not grass and weeds and undergrowth.

[00:04:50] I live in Texas and the wilderness where I used to live was made up of hills and scrub brush and the wilderness where I live now is made up of [00:05:00] forest and trees and Those sorts of things. But if I go to West Texas, I'll see a wilderness made up of desert. Not a wilderness of the swamp, but rather a wilderness made up of rocks and sand with the sun beating down.

[00:05:19] Texas in the summer gets quite hot. And that's closer to the wilderness that Jesus is wandering in. The wilderness that was dry and parched. And in that sun beating down, he was exposed and vulnerable. So think about Psalm 91, you who live in the shelter, who abide in the shadow, that's not about hiding.

[00:05:44] It's about relief from the blazing sun, being in the protective shadow of the Lord that moment when the cloud covers the sun, when you're baking in the heat and suddenly. You can stand up a little straighter and you can breathe a [00:06:00] little easier. That moment of relief is God's love. And that moment of relief is also the love of other humans.

[00:06:10] That reeling feeling of not being in isolation and abandonment but rather in community. A loving community. Relief from the heart's parched feeling of Not feeling loved, not feeling cared for, not feeling seen or heard. Instead, that shadow of acceptance and security, of being able to be who you are. And instead of being condemned for that, being welcomed.

[00:06:43] Instead of being bent over from feeling empty and alone, standing straight in community. It tells us, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. Think about that. [00:07:00] Trusting God for what angels will bear you up so you won't dash your foot on a stone. There's treading on lions and stakes. There's danger here, but Jesus seems to be saying, or the psalm seems to be saying that there's danger, but it's conditional.

[00:07:19] If you love God, God will deliver you. God will protect you. And those who don't know God or don't love God yet, Are they cast out? And I don't know about you, but sometimes we find ourselves in that category, either temporarily or permanently, where we don't feel that we love God or God loves us. What this protection of God, I think it's not like we suddenly get a bubble suit or protection from all illness.

[00:07:56] We, we aren't. hurt any long. [00:08:00] No, instead, because if you think about that, if that's true, then those people who are hurting at any time must not love God. But we know that's not true. We know it through our own experience. But yet, sometimes we feel abandoned. We feel inadequate. We feel like our sin has disappointed God and God has left us because of it, but we know better.

[00:08:28] We know we hear in the message that love is of God is constant and unconditional, and that's what Psalm 91 says. There's nothing that can happen to us that would take that love away when they call to me, I will answer them. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them at first glance.

[00:08:50] That may seem wow, that's Awesome. God promises to answer whenever we call and often when we call and [00:09:00] God answers, we don't hear the answer because maybe we've moved away out of hearing distance. We haven't really learned the language of God, or maybe we've set up hoops or conditions. I'll love you, God, if you do these things for me, but the promises God will answer the promises not we will hear him.

[00:09:19] And the second promises I will be with them in trouble. Notice it doesn't say God will keep us from trouble, but I will be with them in trouble. After all, a lot of the trouble we get in is our own fault. And God gives us both the freedom to wander into trouble and the freedom to wander back out again.

[00:09:41] But even in those moments of stubbornness, even in those moments of bad choices, even when we sin, even when we say we're God and try to take God's place or put another God before God, even then God says, I'll be with you in times [00:10:00] of trouble. But wait, that verse does say rescue. I'll rescue them and honor them, so rescue.

[00:10:09] Rescue must be a get out of jail free card. It must be a moment to be released, except it doesn't work that way. God will honor us, it says as well. And part of honoring us is allowing us to make our own choices and then live with the consequences. But in the end, we can be rescued. We still can be rescued.

[00:10:30] We could have a long life. I will satisfy them and show them my salvation. That's the promise. We can come back. God invites us to live in that loving moment now, to live in that loving community now. Not just in eternity, not just in heaven. That protection, that rescue, that is the moment that God wants us to do and see that then our lives are better, they're more full, they're more alive, [00:11:00] not because there's no pain, but because the love of God and community is with us.

[00:11:06] And in those moments, that's where we can find hope. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:11:23] As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode, do me a favor. Go over to facebook. com slash inspired stewardship and like our Facebook page and mark it. That you'd like to get notifications from us so that we can connect with you on Facebook and make sure that we're serving you to the best of our abilities with time and [00:12:00] tips there.

[00:12:02] Until next time, invest your time, your talent and your treasures, develop your influence and impact the world.