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What tends to be the first thing that you notice about a person when you meet someone for the first time? You reach out, you shake their hand. If you're a church like mine, you go for the full on hug. Because our church, our church is a hugging church. Okay. Love it, love it. So whether you've been there never, and you're walking in for the first time or you're getting hugged, you are getting more than one hug, a couple of hugs, and sometimes people are a little stiff.
But usually people go, oh, this kind of feels nice. What's the first thing you notice about a person?
Oh, man. For me. Eyes, eyes, eyes. Yeah.
Okay, so you do. You look. What do you look for in the eyes? Like, does the the warmth. Are they connecting?
Are they connecting is big warmth. Um, a lot of times you can just see into the eyes. Are they hurting because someone can smile at you and just be, yeah, I'm great, I'm fine, I'm fine. But if you really look into their eyes, they're not fine.
Wow.
Yeah.
Jonathan.
So I think. No, it's a great answer.
No, no. Sorry. You better go deep, Jonathan, I know.
Okay.
Better not say shirt. No. What do you. What do you first notice about someone? It doesn't have to be deep.
No. Sure, I think I think what I notice, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but like it. But it may be a little explanation will come. I think when I talk with somebody for the first time, the first thing I kind of gauge or understand is, is this person a conversationalist or not a conversationalist? Because and when I say, like, am I going to have to do like ask the questions in this conversation, I don't mean that in a bad way, because everybody's made differently.
But I think that's what I start to talk with someone I understand. Okay, hey, I'm going to have to ask more questions here. Maybe this person doesn't like to just talk as much. You know, maybe they they're not going to think of the questions to ask themselves. So I'll ask the questions or it's like, hey, this person's a really big conversationalist. Maybe I'm not going to ask as many questions because they're they like to talk too. So maybe let them ask the questions.
Yeah, I like it. You know, I was thinking about this and I, I think I noticed the first thing I notice about a person is how open they seem.
Okay. In what.
Way? Well, I mean, I oftentimes the context where I meet new people is because of my kids.
Okay.
Yeah. So whether it's school or sports or birthday parties, I'm in the stage of life where a lot of the meeting of new people is like, oh, hey, you got a kid around my kid's age? Yeah, yeah. And so I realized that some people come across as very friendly and open. Yeah. And I realized that I noticed almost immediately if someone seems more closed off.
Like they don't really want to have a conversation.
Like, they say hi, but it doesn't. I notice quickly if it seems like I perceive someone's disinterest in, like, a deeper relationship.
Okay.
Yeah. And I realize that I, I can easily kind of. If somebody seems a little bit closed off, then I can make a snap judgment and go, okay, I don't really think they're interested in talking to me, so I, I move along. Yeah.
Do you feel like, uh, you're accurate most of the time in perceiving that from people?
Not always. Yeah. Because I realize that some people just need more time. Yeah. Like, I definitely I can think of one person in particular. Um, our our kids. I won't even say which kid because both of my kids play basketball. So you're not going to piece this one together. Her kid and my kid both played on a team together, and I decided pretty quickly, she really does not like me.
Ah.
That's the perception I got. She seemed, you know, I did the sort of, hey, how's it going? And I felt like it was met with, like, a little bit of a kind of a.
Don't talk.
To me, okay? And so I, you know, for like a couple of I would say like maybe a month or two. I was like, yeah, she doesn't really like me. So I'm going to kind of keep my distance. Okay. But over time we actually developed a like a good friendship, not like besties kind of thing, but like I realized that I had to quickly judged that she didn't like me. I think it's just maybe I was a lot. And
she needed time to warm up. She needed some time, like, I can I can conversate with someone pretty quickly and pretty easily and some people take more time.
That's very true.
And so sometimes our snap judgments are not correct, right?
Yeah. I think we have to be careful about snap judgments sometimes because yeah, we can be accurate, but sometimes we trust our perspective on the situation a little too much. Yeah. And uh, and maybe it's not that way in that person's head at all.
And I think I would agree with Jonathan the fact that too, it's like you want to give somebody patience because I want them to have patience with me. If I send in Invertedly, just send off a wrong signal. Please get time to know me a little bit better. I know you know. Please. I want to do the same for someone else.
Totally. Because I remember the feeling of being, like, judged by a first impression incorrectly. You're like, wait, no. I remember someone saying that they. I had met a friend of theirs and their their friend had said something that was kind of negative based on their first impression. And I was so hurt because I was like, that's not at all who I am. Exactly. I am not whatever they had decided in their first 10s with me that I was. So we want to give each other grace.
What do you notice first about a person? You can text us on this one 805 55 7898. Are they looking at me? What's the look on their face? Says 8211 I notice people's teeth. 0575 interesting. You can keep responding on this one. But coming up we are going to talk about first impressions in Scripture. Did you know that the first actions, first words that are mentioned about a person tell us a lot about their character We're going to talk about it with Doctor Jim Coakley. What
is said first about David? What are his first words, his first action, and what can we glean from that?
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Hey, I'm Allie, this is Carl and crew. Got a special guest joining us in studio. Doctor Jim Coakley, professor here at Moody Bible Institute, author of the book 14 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible. Now, this whole idea of the first mention in Scripture, when I first heard you talk about this a couple of years ago, I thought, boy, I'd never even heard that before. But explain. Before you even get to David's first mention, why is the first mention in Scripture in general so important?
Well, when we think about the Bible authors, they have to be very selective in what they can share about a character. They can't go into a long biographical, chronological history. So they have to kind of purposely select pieces of information that will help us as readers to kind of get what we say is the full characterization of who that individual is like. And so what authors do is
they use a technique, we call it characterization. And it's really then dealing with what are the first words that we see come out of that character's mouth. So look for quoted material. Look for the first actions. What do we see this character doing? And then if there is any and we don't, sometimes we have some, but not oftentimes in the Bible. Do we have any physical attributes, any physical descriptors. And so we have all of those
with David. And they all play out marvelously to help us as readers to understand the complex character that David actually is.
So first Samuel 16 is where we first see David emerge. Yes, he's the youngest son of Jesse. Tell us about his first look. First word, first description.
Well, let's talk about his first actions. The first thing we see David doing is he's shepherding the flock. And so he has to be called in to be, you know, brought before Samuel to be potential a choice for the next king of Israel. And so the first thing we see is him being a shepherd. He's watching, tending the sheep. Now we even use the word shepherd in a way called leadership. Even the word pastor is comes from the word to shepherd. And so the first thing we see
David doing is shepherding he's leader. So we see him as a leader. But then also we have at the end of chapter 16, he's in Saul's court and he is playing the harp, the lyre, and he is a musician. And of course, that's a first action that we see. And that also helps us understand that David is a musician. And so as we look at the Psalms, many of the Psalms are written by this musician. And so we see that as a part of David's full character arc.
And then we see him in chapter 17 and next chapter as a warrior, as somebody who heads up the nation in military battle. And so those first actions, we see him as a shepherd, we see him as a musician, we see him as a warrior. And those three are the major roles that David's going to play throughout the rest of his life. And that's what we're going to read about in the Bible. And so in breadcrumb format, we have introduction to the roles that David is going
to play throughout his life. So he has a very complex character.
Now, I've always been curious about the mention of David being ruddy and handsome. Now, the reason why this has always caught my attention is because just a couple of verses earlier, the oldest son of Jesse, who apparently was tall and attractive, and it's in the verse, man doesn't. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. But yet one of the first things that
we hear about David is about his physical appearance. And I always found that to be a curious kind of placement there.
Man, could I have you as one of my students in my class. That is a great question because of the fact that there is tension, and that, I think, adds to the story that David is a complex character. He is a man after God's own heart. He is somebody who is zealous for the Lord. He is humble that he's not really thrusting himself, but then he also he's very attractive because he's ruddy, he's attractive in appearance.
And as we look at all of the other characters who are mentioned as being attractive in the Bible, they're always seemingly getting into conflict. We have Sarah, we have Rachel, we have Joseph, we have Absalom, we have Bathsheba. Later on in the story with David, all of these attractive characters all have issues with them. And so thankfully, myself included, I don't have to worry about being in that problem
where I have attractiveness. It's going to be a major issue to deal with, but we often say that that sometimes attractive people get certain edges in life, but they also invite certain complex issues too. And I think that's really kind of the again, a perfect story introduction to David. He's he's a really complex character.
Now, what about this, this idea of him sort of being overlooked because when he first, first The Jesse's sons are being evaluated. David's not even in the room. And then it's only after the questions asked. Do you have any more sons? Then David is called in. How significant is that? That he was not even in the picture at first.
I think it's mainly in that case. It's mainly because of his age. He's the youngest, he's the runt of the litter, so to speak. And so he often gets, as oftentimes happens in large families, they kind of get the, you know, the low end of the stick, the low end of the totem pole, so to speak. And so David is out tending to do what the other older boys don't want to do, which is taking care of smelly sheep away from the action. I mean, who wants
I mean, Samuel's coming to town. We have an important guest. Well, somebody's got to mind the sheep. David, you go do it. And so he's not in the picture because he's being faithful and loyal to the tasks that his parents have been assigning him.
You know, and the House of David series, which I don't know if you've seen.
Not seen it yet, but I've heard a little bit.
About it. You know, this, this little element that there was an idea introduced in. Jonathan, you can weigh in because I've seen part of it, but not the. Isn't there some sort of suggestion that David was, for lack of a better word, sort of an illegitimate child?
Yes. They, uh, they continue to explain it as the series goes along. But the way the series says is that, uh, that his mother was a Philistine woman, that Jesse married illegitimately and had him, uh, you know, had him illegitimately. And so his whole family kind of shuns him a little bit.
So that obviously, is there any sort of biblical? I mean, you don't see that in the Bible. Is that a no?
Is that that's just, again, typical Hollywood kind of, uh, taking a lot of poetic license to kind of jazz up the story in ways to, to make it more controversial and more intriguing to get, you know, eyes to watch that stuff. I mean, the story is great in and of itself, of its own. And I think if producers of these kind of films would just follow the script, as it were. There's a lot of stuff already there.
You don't have to invent a lot of backstory to make it even more complex, because it is already complex as it is.
Now let's talk about the anointing of David, because he finds out pretty quickly that there's an anointing on him and that there's going to be a call on his life. But then it seems like the story sort of shifts to this anointing comes privately, not publicly. Does anyone else know that David's anointed besides David at this point?
Well, that's what this is. Again, when you think about the backstory, this is insurrection. When you really think about it, Saul was king. And so to have Samuel going anywhere and you could tell even in the text, Samuel is very nervous about doing this because he's going to be seen then as someone who's trying to lead a coup against the sitting king on the throne, King Saul. And so everyone's nervous, to be sure. And so you can understand why this is more of a private kind of situation.
But it is, again, against the grain, because for a coronation to be really worth its salt, it has to be public that everyone understands. Oh, we're now recognizing him as our next king. And if it's in, you know, one small little estate in the area of Bethlehem that's really not going to, in a sense, warrant that people are going to rally to him just because they've not seen it done publicly to where they can do that.
So when we have Coronation of Kings and whatnot, we see it on public television and, and we can see it all over the world. But in this case, it was done in a very private ceremony, again, adding to the complexity of the challenges of the time politically, and that we have an existing city king, but also now that it's going against the grain. So everything's kind of not normal, as we see David beginning to rise to the king of the nation of Israel.
Coming up here on Carlin Crew, we've got more with our special guest, Doctor Jim Coakley. We're going to move to the next chapter first, Samuel 17, which has one of the most epic stories in all of Scripture, the classic showdown between David and Goliath. Maybe you've heard this story, maybe not, but what are some interesting nuances that maybe you haven't paid much attention to? More with Doctor Jim Coakley coming up.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Well, even if you've never opened the Bible, it's likely that if someone said, hey, what happened between David and Goliath? I think you could go out right now in downtown Chicago, and most people would have some awareness that some guy named David in the Bible took on a giant named Goliath and took him down. I think the vast majority of people may be able to give you some sort of working summary of that story. It's been popularized. It's recently in the House of David series, the story of
David and Goliath. We've got Doctor Jim Coakley in studio with us right now. Interestingly, the first words out of David's mouth when he goes and he sees that this giant is taunting the people of Israel. There's a detail there that you that you want to key on. That caught my eye, too, because David, the warrior David who slays the giant, starts out with a motive that seems a little off.
Yeah. Because when we know that David must have spoke a lot of words before, the first words that we see being quoted coming out of his mouth. But the first words that we see David saying are these found in first Samuel 17 verse 26. David asked the men standing near him, because like you said, he's been hearing this guy now taunting the people, and he says, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised
Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? Now, normally we latch on to that last part because we see his zealous nature for God's honor. And so we have that motto that we often say about David. Everyone uses it. He's a man after.
God's own heart.
Yeah. And we see that very clearly because he's very zealous for God's honor. But the very first words that come out of his mouth are, what's the reward for killing this guy? And so this is the the beauty of how this first words that we hear, David, introduces us to the complexity, duality, as it were, of David as a character, because we do see plenty of opportunities where he's a man after God's own heart, but also we see where he has got personal ambition. And so, hey,
what's in it for me? If I kill this guy, what's my reward? What do I get out of it? And so we see that selfish kind of nature being displayed here in his very first words. And this is something that's going to help us as readers to understand why David's did we say Achilles heel or Fatal Flaw shows up over and over again when he puts personal ambition ahead of covenant faithfulness. And so when he takes a census, that's because he wants to see how many
army men he has under his tutelage. When he sleeps with Bathsheba, he thinks, hey, I can take her because, hey, kings are worthy of taking this kind of thing. And so when he has personal ambition ahead of covenant, faithfulness is when David gets out ahead of his skis. And that's when we see David getting into trouble. But when he is a man after God's own heart worshiping, writing psalms, you know, honoring the Lord, bringing the Ark of the
covenant into Jerusalem. That's the kind of thing that we normally like to think about, David, but he's also got this underbelly that, in a sense, also is characteristic of David. The rest of his life.
Now, the story as the story goes, which you probably know well, he he declines to put on Saul's armor because he's not been able to test it out. So he agrees to go into battle with just five smooth stones, a slingshot, basically. Uh, give us the the narrative of what happens here and any, any sort of nuances that you think we, we maybe have missed in sort of the common retelling of this story.
The one thing I loved, a little small, little detail, you know, you mentioned David trying to put on Saul's armor and it's not fitting, but one of the last things that Saul does is he puts his bronze helmet on David's head. And so when you can picture that bronze helmet being put on David's head by King Saul, it's almost as if this is perfect symbolism, as it were, of the transfer, a coronation, so to speak. That bronze
helmet is almost like a crown. And Saul has been very apathetic to his calling, and he's now, in a sense, transferring the mantle of leadership unbeknownst to him, because he's not really the sharpest knife in the drawer. He's transferring everything over to David. And of course, even David doesn't want those trappings. He wants to do things in God's way by just using the simple tools that he's used already before.
So what about this? The actual slaying of Goliath. I mean, the idea of a slingshot with a stone taking out the giant. I mean, it seems like the stuff of a of a fiction movie because you think. How how in the world is that actually possible?
Well, I mean, we even read in the book of judges how men from the Tribe of Benjamin could sling at a hair with a sling. So using a sling was a very effective weapon of war. So those projectiles could really do a lot of damage. And so it's and again, David practicing shepherding, trying to, you know, while he's bored stiff watching the sheep over the pastures, you know, taking his sling out and practicing. And until he gets it really honed. So I think it really is a
deadly weapon. And sometimes we get the feeling that, you know, David, is, you know, kind of using unconventional warfare, but this is actually the better kind of thing to use in that kind of situation, because not only is King Goliath very tall and dressed to the hilt with his armament, he's got a shield bearer, so he's already got a big portion of him protected. And so the only vulnerable spot is that place in the forehead that David was able
to to hit accurately. And so again, it shows that David was willing to trust God, but trust his skills to get the job done.
So this is a much more strategic move than maybe even we realized.
Oh yeah. And also to to think that he's small, he's got a smaller target. And also to the fact that he's mobile as compared to Goliath, who's going to be more fixed because of his size and weight. So it was actually a pretty good military strategy overall.
Doctor Jim Coakley in studio right now. We'll have more with him coming up.
He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's curling crew on Moody Radio.
We are in First Samuel right now. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. He did this. He accomplished this feat that nobody thought was possible with just a slingshot, which is a good weapon of war, apparently more so than what we had thought.
Yes. Very definitely. And also, it's interesting to David growing up in Bethlehem, it's in the Hill country. So he knew how to navigate the hills, but he also was shepherding sheep, I'm sure, in the Judean wilderness where he's on the run from King Saul later on. But he's also here in what we call the shfela, the valleys, the kind of to lead to the flatter ground towards the,
the coastline. And so David grew up in this area of three different environments, and all those environments helped prepare him as well. So his training was wonderful for being a leader, that he was able to navigate the homeland of Israel, the hill country. He was able to navigate
the wilderness because he's on the run oftentimes. And that's why he speaks very favorably sometimes of the wilderness, but also he's able to navigate where the action is because the Philistines are occupying the very more favorable ground, as it were, the grain fields and growing areas. And so Israel needs to have control of those. And so, David, when he gets to the kingship, is able to adapt all sorts of environments because he's been trained and prepped and so many different levels.
In terms of application. So often when we hear or read about this story, we kind of put ourselves as the as the David, and we think about the, the giants in our life that seem insurmountable. And anybody who's ever heard a sermon about this story that's often kind of the, the narrative that that we can take down giants with faith in a mighty God. Is that the, the the best way to apply this that kind of like I'm you and I are like David.
No probably not. It's probably more that we're more like the Israelites who are cowering in fear with Goliath taunting every day, day in and day out. And so, yeah, we like to envision ourselves as the little guy that takes on the the, you know, the big guy, right? But in reality, it's only Jesus who can actually do that. But we think about the fact that David is such a relatable character. Yes, he's got great traits, he's got great characteristics, but he also has, you know, got an
Achilles heel. He's got a flaw that's going to be a problematic. And I think for for you and I as readers of the Bible, to think that God uses even flawed characters like David. And so, yes, we like to put these guys on pedestals. We like to worship them as their hero for all they do their exploits, but oftentimes they have a, you know, a a chink in their armor that makes them vulnerable. And that's why
we always need to be. And David tries to be throughout his life, but not perfectly, but he tries to stay close to the Lord and worship him and and praise him and worship him. So, uh, but that's the, the the wonderful nature of David. He's such a relatable character. A lot that we can learn. And so this is something I think, that we can take away when we open the pages of God's Word.
And that that faith. I mean, when you, you, those words like you come at me with a sword and a spear, but I come at you in the basically in the power of God, the name of God Almighty. I'm not quoting directly here, paraphrasing, but this idea that man there, there when you when you trust in a God where there's nothing, that's impossible.
Yeah. When we think about what what it says here at the end of chapter 16, one of the servants of Saul answered, I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem. So again that lets us know his background. Who knows how to play the harp? He is a brave man and a warrior. Even before we get to chapter 17, he's said to be a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine looking man and the Lord is with him. That last statement is the.
Lord.
Is wonderful, the Lord is with him. And so that's really the key. If the Lord is with you, yes, it's going to be messy. It's going to be chaotic. It's going to have all sorts of of challenges in our way. The Giants and the Kings that are trying to thwart you. But yet, what if God is with you? You can do it all.
Doctor Jim Coakley, thank you so much for being in studio. I want you to text the key word. Give me the key word. Is it fresh? Is that right?
Yes it is.
Text fresh to 800 555 7898. For more text fresh to 800 555 7898.
A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
You know the promise that God is with us as the believer. I don't know if there's any more comforting statement than that.
No, I don't think there can be a more comforting statement than that, because everything else is circumstantial. It's, you know, fickle. It can be good at one moment and horrible at another moment. It's untrustworthy. But God is always consistent in his love and his sovereignty over stuff.
You know, I remember a time when I was going through some health challenges, and I had to be in a pretty uncomfortable medical setting for some tests that were pretty painful. And one thing they ask you before you go through these tests, they keep wanting to make sure because you can't drive yourself home, right? So they keep asking you, who's here with you? My husband was there. He was in the waiting room. He was going to take me home. And they keep asking you this question.
And so one nurse, she was like, I'm laying on this table, I'm ready to have this huge needle stuck into me. And she's like, who's with you? And I said, God is with me. And she's like, that's the best answer I've heard all day. Boom!
Boom.
And in that moment, it was like, yeah, God is with me on this table in this cold room with this needle. God is with me. What did you overcome? Because God was with you. 800 555 7898 800 555 7898.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
What did you overcome? Because God was with you. The success that David saw in his life as a mighty warrior, as a leader, as a musician, as a king, he was far from perfect. But the hallmark of his life, of his story, was that God was with him, that he sought the Lord. Uh, when he sought the Lord, he saw victory. It was when he did not seek the Lord that he struggled. I think that's the same is true of us. What have you been able to overcome? Because God was with you? 800 555 7898. Let's go
to Christy calling in this morning from Washington. Christy. Uh, tell me your story.
Yeah. Um, we were just starting 2020, the whole Covid stuff. And I was living in Arkansas at the time with my son, and I was not in a good place, not in a good relationship. And I had property in a little cabin back in Washington. And I just I prayed about it for a long time, and it was like, we need to go. We need to get out of this spot. We need to get back to our roots and go home. And it was just craziness with Covid.
And I loaded up the truck and was getting ready to leave, and I got a call about a week before that, my house burned down and insurance wasn't going to cover it. I had no money, no job, like I think I had $2,000. Then my transmission went out in my truck and I just didn't know what I was going to do. I prayed and prayed and just, you know, I thought, you know, I still have to leave. I still have to go. I got my truck fixed.
I was I was loaned some money from a relative, got my truck since we loaded up the truck and we left and made it across country during Covid. This was lockdowns, like right when lockdowns.
Hit.
And I'm driving with my son and we get to Washington, and I just was living in a tiny trailer on my property. No water, no power. It was just it was hard. And I just prayed. I said, what am I going to do? I have no money. I have no job. I have a two year old. And I met a contractor who lives right down the road. He volunteered to build my house and donated trusses for the roof because that's a big deal. The trusses are a big deal. Yeah. Donated trusses, donated his time, got together
church work groups. And I just. It happened over that summer of Covid. 2020? Yeah, the money came. I got blessed with money. I mean, it was about $10,000 that I was blessed with, and it was just done. I got it done. I finished it over time. But the moral of it is the shell of the cabin was livable by the next winter, and I lived in a very harsh climate in northern Washington, in the mountains, at like 4000ft? So the snow comes early? I wouldn't have survived in that trailer with.
Oh. Sorry, Kristy. I think we lost your connection a little bit. I think we got it, though. God was with you. Incredible story. Let's go to Heidi. Calling in this morning from Illinois. What did you overcome or what are you overcoming? Because God is with you.
Okay. Three. About four years ago, my husband fell down the stairs from the first floor to down into the basement, and it was ten steps. And, uh, he he was knocked unconscious. And of course, he was in a very bad situation. I called 911. They took him to the hospital. It turned out to be he has a brain concussion and brain hemorrhage. And he lost memory. He couldn't open his eyes. He couldn't move and I was praying because I always I have a good relationship with Jesus and
I always pray and ask for his assistance. He's my great physician and he really showed up really strong and and he helped my husband. Within three months, he was back to normal. And during the time that I was with him in the hospital, people from church that I really don't know came and and did the shopping for us, and they brought us meals and I was more than blessed. Yeah, thanks. All thanks to Jesus, the Great Physician. My best friend and my hero.
Amen, Heidi. Wow. You got to see God move. And you got to see him move through his people, the body of Christ surrounding you. Uh, sweet little element to that story. Thank you so much for your call. Let's go to Linda. First time caller from Wisconsin. What has God enabled you to overcome because he was with you?
Good morning. Your story just recently about the needle and I had met I've had many, many, uh, healings or feelings like this before, but I had I had to have a heart cath. And everybody kept telling me, oh, they're going to go. That's going to be painful. I'm like, oh, no, I trust God. He's going to be with me. He's always with me. And so I went in for the test and, um, still not knowing. I never read the
papers or nothing. I just went in and I'm laying there and I felt like when they had me on the table, I was on this huge pillow, just huge pillow, and somebody was holding me.
Wow.
Big arms wrapped around me. And I was like, wow, God, you're okay, we're going to do this. And the doctor said, okay, I'm going to go in there. I'm like, okay. And I mean, you're awake, you know, all the time. And she's going and talking and I'm thinking, this is amazing. I'm just, oh, this is so fun. And I mean, I'm just laying here. And so then I hear her say, well, you have to I have to get to that one spot once more, I think I saw I'm like, oh, okay.
She's I'm thinking my heart there in my heart. It's right down. Like so many inches from I feel like across the room I didn't. I'm like, wow, this is amazing. So I get done and then, okay, I'm coming out now. She's like, okay, everything's fine. There's no blocks or nothing. So okay, thank you. Okay. I'm a man like, wow. And the people around me were like like I was on drugs. They don't give you nothing. I mean, and I'm just sitting there and I'm like, so I said
that was, wow, they're fast. And they're like, yeah, yeah.
Linda, you're probably thinking, how in the world did I just go through something like that? And I have peace. I don't have a crazy amount of pain. Yeah. I'm sure people around you were going, what in the world is going on? Awesome, awesome. Sweet calls this morning. Uh, a lot of a lot of pain in the calls. But the promise and the assurance of God being with us. Yeah, it's so encouraging.
Yeah. I mean, the some of the situations that are talked about in my own earthly self, I can't, I can't even comprehend it. I'm like, well, how did how did you get through it? How did you deal with that? I can just imagine breaking down, but.
There's not a single situation we heard this morning. Does anyone ever want to be in?
No, of course not. But God gives us the peace that surpasses understanding. He. He has it all. He holds it all in his hands. And even when stuff is really scary, he's still got it. We can still trust.
Him and keep sharing these stories, people, because I can't imagine going through any of these situations without that hope.
Let's go to Laurie calling in from Chicago. Uh, tell me, what's something that you have overcome because God was with you.
We lost our three and a half year old grandson to a drowning while we were babysitting for him. Oh, and it it is the most horrible thing. Horrible thing ever. And I know I'm forgiven by God and I and and I cling to his love and strength through this. Because it was 19, 20 months ago and it's still so hard. But I know he's with Jesus, and in eternity we will be together. But without God, I. Wouldn't have. I wouldn't be walking. Stuffing.
Yeah. Oh, that's Lori, thank you so much for your call this morning. Man. You don't even have words to to put to something like that.
I can't, I can't even imagine. I can't.
But the getting through it with God, that's not just a trite, throwaway statement. No it's not. And our callers have illustrated that this morning that in the depths of whatever pain, whatever sorrow, whatever heartbreak, whatever tragedy, the unthinkable. The promise of God's presence gives us great comfort because we we just we don't know what a day holds. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know we have him. We know we have him. Yeah. Hold on
to God today. Cling to Jesus. Let's go to Tobin. Calling in this morning from Davis Junction. Go ahead. Tobin, what did you overcome? Because God was with you.
My fear of this cancer that I acquired two years ago, that just came back. And it's only because I surrendered my will, my life, over to him. Now, I gave him to cancer. I said, Lord, this is your deal. You give it. You want me to have it? I'm good with it. But I'm going to let you take it all however you want me to deal with it. I'm fine. I'm not exempt from the pain. But just knowing that he's got me, he's got me and my cancer. That he's got me fully covered. Whatever he wants to do.
Tobin from Davis Junction, man. Yeah, that's a powerful call.
I love what he said. He said I'm not in a surrendering to God. I'm still not exempt to the pain that I experience. But. But God's got it, and I'm gonna surrender it to him. And the peace that comes through that. There's a reason that the Bible calls it peace that passes understanding.
Peace that makes no sense.
It's peace that makes no sense.
Absolutely, man. Tobin, I want to. Jonathan, will you offer up a quick prayer for for Tobin?
Absolutely. God, I thank you so much for a man like Tobin. I thank you so much that in the midst of difficulty and strife and pain. God, that you have given him a humility that trusts you, not his own ability to get out of things or to deal with things. But Lord, knowing that he can't deal with things and that you can. God, thank you for filling him with that peace, with that trust. God, I pray, along with the entire boom crew right now, that you would heal Tobin. Yes, I pray that you would take
this cancer away. Lord. You can. I believe that you can. I believe that you are able. So God please do. Lord, we take our requests and we ultimately present them to you, asking that your will be done. Lord, whether you heal him, whether you allow him to continue to have it. God, I pray that you would let his life be a testimony to others and a testimony to himself. Lord, of how you've worked in him and how you have been there for him. Lord. Be so present with Tobin right now.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Amen.