God welcomes us to bring everything to Him in prayer, as He desires a close and trusting relationship with us and our adherence to His word. When we are committed to living according to His commandments, He assures us that He hears our prayers and provides guidance, comfort, and support in all circumstances.
[00:00:00] We're the spray friends together on our knees, let us pray friends together on our knees And I fall on my knees with my face to the rise in sun, all over the earth we see on the knees. Welcome to the Bible Speaks with Elgin Carelock.
[00:00:30] The Bible Speaks is a weekly ministry of harvest international. Our prayer is that the Bible Speaks will encourage you in your study of God's Word. You will be able to contact Elgin at the address given at the end of this broadcast. And now here's Elgin.
[00:00:45] Brothers and sisters, we welcome you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to another edition of Words of Inspiration. And today we are joined by my sister in Christ, this can swell the show. For a conversation on the subject of purpose in pieces.
[00:01:08] And our scripture inspiration comes from Acts chapter 27, verses 22 through 25 and 43 through 44, which reads, But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost. Only the ship will be destroyed.
[00:01:32] Last night, the angel of God, to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sell with you.
[00:01:50] So keep up your courage, man, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. But the Centurion willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose and commanded that they, which could swim,
[00:02:07] should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land. And the rest, someone boards and someone broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass that the escape all saved to land. In our American culture, we speak about getting ourselves together.
[00:02:28] How we must have everything in order to have our best life. While I certainly believe there is a need for balance between mind, body and spirit, I've asked my daughter in Christ, because well as sure, to join me in the discussion of whether we sometimes put
[00:02:47] undue pressure on ourselves to have everything together. When the Bible gives many examples of great things happening with pieces,
[00:02:57] the Squish rule text I read earlier, for me is a prime example of when we set out on a mission, fully equipped and a firm plan for what the outcome should be, but God had other plans.
[00:03:13] Not only was the plans of the Centurion's change, but their deliverance came in a form of something they would have normally feared. If when the journey began, they were told that their lives would be saved by the destruction of their boat.
[00:03:29] They probably would not have gone or thought you were out of your mind for saying so. Yet we asked God to tell us what's next for our lives, how we were to get from where we are to where we want to be.
[00:03:42] What if God says something like Paul did at the beginning of our text that none of us will be lost, but our ship would be destroyed, the way we thought we were going to get there would be destroyed. What would you have done? What would you say?
[00:04:00] We like to have details, but do we always wait for full instructions? Can God trust you with the full vision? Meaning will you be as diligent and waiting for the guidance of the Holy Spirit when you know where you're supposed to end up?
[00:04:18] For those of you who don't know, Consuela is a licensed mental health counselor. And I would like her to speak about the anxiety that can be caused by trying to put all of your pieces together all at once. Consuela? Thank you.
[00:04:35] Trying to put all your pieces together at once. When I think about everything that you just went through, I began to actually write. And as you were speaking when we talked about all the pieces, the first thing I want to elaborate on is all the pieces matter.
[00:04:59] And many times the anxiety comes because sometimes we're trying to decide what to keep, what to get rid of if it's something that I need or how do I use it, when do I use it and which in terms creates the anxiety.
[00:05:16] When we think about it, that each piece has a place, it's a matter of figuring out what that place is.
[00:05:25] And then one of the key components would be if I really think I need all these pieces when we talk about this text, each one of them only needed one piece.
[00:05:38] And so when we think about, when we look at our life and we're thinking about all of the different things we're trying to manage and we're trying to figure out what to do, I think about learning how to allow yourself to step back and say, first of all let me evaluate where I am.
[00:05:58] While I may have all these pieces, are they necessary for where I am now and do I necessarily need it to get over? They didn't need the whole boat to get over.
[00:06:10] They only needed the piece that they had to make it to the next side or to the over other side. And so when we think about that as it relates to our life, while those pieces may still be significant and they may matter, is it a piece that I need to make it to the next place in life? Is it the piece that I need right now to make it till tomorrow?
[00:06:34] And so while we're trying to handle the whole week, we need to look at our pieces and figure out which piece do I need just to make it till tomorrow? Or if it's that morning and you feel you have all these pieces and they're causing so much anxiety where you're saying what do I do, how do I do, if I do this, if I do that, what if this doesn't happen that doesn't happen. I think it's a matter of saying what piece do I need for this next hour?
[00:06:59] Yes. I can float in the next hour on this piece and then when I get to that next hour, what piece do I need for the next hour?
[00:07:10] And by giving yourself the grace of understanding that all of the pieces are important. See God sent you with all of the pieces that you need.
[00:07:21] Now, unfortunately for us as humans, it looks like that Jigsaw box that had a thousand pieces and you're trying to say that both the pieces black, how else we know which one goes with. Exactly. And God is saying, that's what I'm for.
[00:07:36] Right. You trust me and I'll tell you which piece but we always want to ask before this time.
[00:07:43] The other part to that is when you use the illustration about the two black pieces because we have the anxiety of trying to put it together, we're not paying attention to the detail of the pieces.
[00:07:57] We're not looking to see that yes, they're both black and so we're seeing through the the lens of the anxiety and not the lens of you know what?
[00:08:10] Well, that piece has a curve at the top and at the bottom. The other piece has a curve on the left side and the top. We just see there are two black pieces.
[00:08:22] But when we begin to let ourselves stop for a moment, let me remind myself who is navigating my boat. Who is the author of everything that I am having to encounter? Who in fact allowed me to even get into the place that I'm in.
[00:08:40] And then we get there and think that he's not the same one that can take us over on a piece. Yes, you know and and we have scripture that actually reaffirms that point.
[00:08:55] I'm very very very very familiar with because in that scripture it says give us this day absolutely. So give me the piece I need for today. For today absolutely and I think people feel that they can't allow themselves to only function in the day.
[00:09:16] Yes, when he says listen that begins off with our father. And so we're saying all I need is what I need for today because he said take no thought for tomorrow for tomorrow.
[00:09:32] For tomorrow and if I can allow myself to bring my mind into captivity of the spirit of God and allow myself to focus on the one day.
[00:09:41] I wouldn't have as much anxiety about all of the rest of the week because while yes, the rest of the week does matter. It's a matter of saying but for the moment I only need this piece.
[00:09:55] Yes and when you think about the realization of all of the people who were blessed and healed on the island of Malta. Absolutely. You know they weren't going there okay they were there because you're ship right.
[00:10:08] And floating over on those pieces led to a great saving and revival and an introduction to the powerful guide and sharing in the kingdom expansion all from broken pieces. Absolutely and think about the fact that again you said they were not even headed there.
[00:10:31] So to me that says divine he already had navigated he already strategically laid out the plan the route that you would take. You didn't know that you would be in that space you didn't know for sure that you would be and you didn't expect.
[00:10:52] To be on a broken piece in and up in Malta. Yes, where even when they got there. They didn't expect to be there but then they also had the opportunity to see the miracle work of power of God as they got there.
[00:11:09] Yes, right because that's where they were built in the fire right and he reached down to warm up his hand. And it's snake. What you say and he everybody said they're looking away from the puff up and die right absolutely.
[00:11:24] And he didn't happen because why he knew the God that he served and the power because if surely if he allowed them to make it there he wasn't going to allow them not to make it to their destination.
[00:11:40] He had already purpose for them. So the snake couldn't take him out. That's right. It didn't have enough power. That's right. It's a whole them. Yes, okay. All right. So brothers and sisters.
[00:11:51] God's power to bring deliverance on broken pieces demonstrates his ability, his incredible ability to work through even the most fragmented and challenging circumstances in our lives. Just as he safely brought Paul and his companions to the shore on broken pieces of their ship.
[00:12:09] God can use the shattered aspects of our experiences to achieve his purposes and fulfill his promises. So being encouraged that even though it may seem like you don't understand how things come together, just know that all things work together for your good.
[00:12:30] Okay. So we thank you for spending time with us on today and we look forward to our conversation on tomorrow until then God bless.