S04E007, Meh! Endurance
This week’s episode of Endurance is all about going through the mundane. The firsts are great but after a while anything can become mundane, day in day out the same routine can become dull and uninteresting. But as Christians aren’t we supposed to be happy? It’s about facing the repetition of life with an eternal joy that only comes from the Lord.
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#GoDeeper
Andy B begins this week’s episode of Endurance by first explaining what exactly we mean by the mundane with the emoji “meh.” He goes on to compare short-term happiness with the eternal joy of the Lord. Short-term happiness, or pleasure, obviously doesn’t last and could become a bit of an addiction.
He touches on Ecclesiastes, the Psalms, and 1 Thessalonians as he walks us through the difference between being happy and being joyful and what the bible can teach us about the mundane.
Andy B then takes the idea of the Olympics and representing your company and how we wall want to make a difference in the world whether for ourselves or others. But we can easily get hooked into seeking a short-term thrill, or even just a short-term alleviation from the mundanity and chasing the thrill of drinking or partying.
John 3 v 16 points us in the right direction for how we can truly be a part of something where we can make a difference for our own lives and for the lives of others: a relationship with Jesus Christ, because this never fades or spoils. It literally lasts for eternity, providing joy, peace, and hope in this lifetime too.
You can read the GoDeeper Transcript here.
#GoDo
Steven and Nathan look at the mundanity of life in this episode which is appropriately named ‘Meh’. They talk over three points for us to #GoDo whenever we are struggling with life being mundane.
Firstly, all of us struggle with that repetition of everyday life every now and then. We all become bored of the same daily routine every once in a while.
Secondly, with God, we can always have joy. Nathan quotes Psalm 118:24 (after Steven has a go), which explains the fact that each day is made by God.
Thirdly, they challenge us to change our perspective whenever we are frustrated with the mundanity of life. Steven points out the fact that if nothing is going wrong, we have something to thank God for. While life might not always be especially exciting, if we have breath in our lungs and life in our bodies, we should be grateful and, as it says in 1 Thessalonians, “…give thanks in all circumstances…”
Steven and Nathan
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Transcript
Steven 1:04
Welcome to Endurance. This is titled "Meh"! So we're talking about the mundane. Sorry, I'm Steven.
Nathan 1:12
I'm Nathan.
Steven 1:13
Yeah, I missed that part. So, yeah, we're looking at the mundane, going through the repetitive seasons where everything seems like it's going the same. That's what we're looking at today.
Nathan 1:25
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Steven 1:41
So the theme, the mundane, dad will,, sorry, Andy B will unpack for us after the break.
Andy 1:51
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Andy 2:04
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Andy 2:11
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Andy 2:20
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Andy 2:28
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Steven 2:42
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#GoDeeper Transcript
Andy 2:54
So "Meh!" Or perhaps even "Muh!"
Andy 2:57
If you've seen the Emoji Movie, and a lot of people thought it was a bit pants, but I actually really enjoyed it. I thought was brilliant! And one of the characters is, is Meh. He doesn't quite fit. He's not joy. He's not sad. He's not angry. He's not even an ice cream cone. But he's an emoji which is "Meh". It's kind of in the middle.
Andy 3:19
I've used this before, but, where where I'm from, the Black Country you have, "how you doin?", "Fair to middlin". It's kind of you're not good or bad. It's just somewhere in the middle. You're Meh. And so much of life, I suspect, for most of us, actually, is Meh.
Andy 3:34
We get up. We go to work. We go to school. We go to the office. We go out and we ge to the gym. Or we we go and buy some fuel for the car. Or we buy some food. Or we go to the tip with the stuff we no longer need. And none of these things are necessarily, especially, exciting. The first day of a brand new job, yeah, that can be great. But the 15,000th day at the same job? And that's where Meh comes in.
Andy 4:01
Let's dive into a little bit of Scripture to really build us up today. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 1, Verse 2, says this,
Andy 4:08
"Meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher. Utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless."
Andy 4:14
How many of us can identify with the words of that little bit of Scripture? Where life feels so the same, mundane? It's just day in, day out. And yet that's most of life. So how are we supposed to deal with that? As Christians aren't we supposed to be happier? Isn't there a better way?
Andy 4:34
Let's go to Psalms. We will go to Psalms when i've found it. Psalm 118, Verse 24 says this,
Andy 4:44
"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Andy 4:49
Now if you're a certain age, and I'm probably that age, you might remember this song, and it always felt a little bit naff, but it was based on Scripture which is very good. And, actually, this is the day the Lord has made. And we should rejoice, and we should be glad. So why don't we? And I think part of that is because we let life grind us down. We, we forget the joy that it is to know, and have, a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Andy 5:14
The first day that we've decided to become a Christian, if you've decided to follow Jesus when you're a bit older, it's an amazing day. I don't remember that I was 7. My boys were 4 or 3 years old. Jo, on the other hand, was in her 20s. She remembers vividly the day she followed Jesus. And it's an amazing day. And she still tells it with amazing excitement, because it was a great day. But, over the years, that amazing stuff can kind of start to wane, and drift a little bit, as we get on with life.
Andy 5:45
Let's just jump to 2 Thessalonians. No 1 Thessalonians 5, 16, which says this,
Andy 5:50
"Be joyful, always. Pray continually. Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus".
Andy 5:58
God's will for us is not to go through life depressed, fed up, down, dour. We're supposed to have joy. What does that joy look like? Well, that joy means that when bad things happen, we're not happy about it. But we have an inner peace about it. It's not some weird, wacky meditation thing. It comes from a relationship with the Holy Spirit. It's not really to do with us at one level. It's more to do with the Holy Spirit pouring out of us just like the fruit of the Spirit. It isn't something that we deliberately kind of create, it happens as a result of a relationship with Jesus.
Andy 6:30
Where am I going with this today? Well, the mundane of life can get us down. The idea of going through the same things time and time again. Yeah, there's kind of mini highlights. But, often, life feels quite, quite boring. But the world tells you to live life to the max.
Andy 6:46
So how do you live life to the max if you're a Christian, and we're supposed to be dour and, you know, not getting too excited. Well, that's a load of rubbish! We should be joyful. And I've met people who have got this down to a tee. Whenever you meet them they're beaming with smiles. "Do you know what I woke up this morning and I have breath in my lungs, and I praise God, and I can hear the birds, and it was raining, which is wonderful, because it's feeding the plants." And we can change our mindset to be less down.
Andy 7:14
When life gets fed up, and boring, and frustrating, and depressing, and mundane, it's easy to do what the world tells you. Go party. Go and sleep with a bunch of people. Get into drinking. And buy a faster car and do things which will give you short term fixes, a short term happiness. But what the Bible's talking about is not a bit of happiness. It's talking about joy.
Andy 7:35
Happiness is a counterfeit of joy. Joy is coming from the Lord. It's an amazing relationship with Him. It just fires you up in your heart. It brings a smile to your face. Happiness? Well, I can feel happy having a Mars bar or, or a packet of sweets, and then it kind of fades. Because it's not eternal. Joy is eternal. We need to be chasing joy, not a buzz, not a fix.
Andy 8:02
Where's all this going? Well, there's a piece of scripture, which I think sums up well what I'm trying to say better than I can, which is no surprise, 'cos it's the Bible.
Andy 8:11
If life is getting you down and you're thinking, well, I want to make a difference in life, I want to mean something, I want to stand for something, I want to make a difference to people's lives, you can! But when we try and build our own little kingdom, I can promise you, it's going to crash down at some point. Because we're gonna die. This isn't depressing stuff. This is just real life stuff.
Andy 8:32
So, how do we go through life well of joy, and doing something for a purpose that's going to last Because that's, ultimately, what we want, to make a difference. We want to be the difference.
Andy 8:43
I had this idea about the Olympics. We can't all go to the Olympics and represent our country in the 100 metres, or the 800 metres, or the long jump, or the pole vault, or cycling, or swimming. Only a few people can go and do that. It's the same with Armed Forces. You can't have 10,000 pilots. You have a tiny handful of pilots who are supported by all these other people, and everything works together for something that's bigger than one person.
Andy 9:08
The Olympics is bigger than that one person who's doing their representation for that country. It's bigger than that. But yet we can't all be in the Olympics. So, we can however, all walk or swim, or we can do a bit of archery. And we can do these different things. But we may not represent the UK, or the US, or wherever you're from, France, Italy. We may not be doing that. But it doesn't devalue what we're doing. And we can still take great joy in swimming for God, or running for God, or cycling for God. Making a cup of tea for somebody for God. It's all stuff that we can do for others. And it's building something where we can make a difference, where we're gonna matter. Perhaps not as we want to.
Andy 9:48
We're gonna matter 'cos we're gonna make a difference in other people's lives. So while we can't all be in the Olympics and represent our country we can still exercise and enjoy it. We can still run, or run, or climb or swim, or whatever it is that you enjoy doing.
Andy 10:03
So, what is it we can do that has a lasting, meaningful impact on the world? Well, let me let Scripture speak for itself. John 3, 16 says this,
Andy 10:15
"For God so loved the world that He gave one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
Andy 10:24
If you wanna make a difference in this world. If you want to matter. If what you do, you want that to make a difference to people's lives, then you need to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because it's the only thing that lasts.
Andy 10:39
Yeah, you can go out and party. You can go drinking. You can do all sorts of stuff. You can go and do drugs, and it'll alleviate the boredom for a while. You can go and find a new girl every night and, you know, and there's kind of some excitement in that. It's true! But it's short term. And then we need something bigger. And the next time it needs to be something bigger again.
Andy 10:59
When we do something that, that we try and use to get away from the boring and the mundane, we have to increase it to be able to tell the difference, so it feels more exciting than the last time. That's basically an addiction. But if you want to make a difference in people's lives, so you're not addicted to something bad, but you still are meaning something in life, you're never gonna find it in what you do. But you can find that in whom you serve. It almost sounds a bit boring. 'Well follow Jesus and you'll find joy', but it's true.
Andy 11:32
I became a Christian at 7 I am now 44. That's quite a few years walking with Jesus. I have never walked away from Him. I've doubted my faith. I've questioned my faith. But I've never gone any further than that because my joy of knowing Jesus is too great.
Andy 11:46
If you want to make a difference in this life. If your life feels mundane, boring, it's just the same, I get up I go to work, or school, I come back, I do some emails, and I go back, and sleep, and.
Andy 11:57
Make a difference in the world. Have a relationship with Jesus Christ and you will find that you have joy. That that joy is eternal. And that joy, being eternal does all sorts of good stuff inside you to bring you peace and joy.
Andy 12:13
Let's pray. Father God, I thank you for joy. I thank you the happiness, whilst it can be good, I thank you that joy is your gift to us. You don't want us to be happy. You want us to be joyful. It comes out from inside us. And it pours out to people around us. Help us to make a difference to people's lives not by trying to be important. Not by trying to be the difference, but be part of something greater, be part of your kingdom and sharing your love with the people around us. Amen.
Andy 12:51
So what's your, what's the best part of your marriage so far?
Jo 12:58
Oh my goodness, I suppose to be honest, coming to 25 years, I'm quite chuffed that i've, we've lasted this long.
Andy 13:06
I'm tryign not spit my tea out.
Jo 13:10
I am. I was like, oh, wow what an achievement.
Jo 13:11
You could have warned me before you said that!
Jo 13:11
Sorry, I didn't know I was gonna say that. It's quite an achievement. I'm quite chuffed with meself, you know, like, I've lasted this long.
Andy 13:15
Oh, great. That's really making me feel great before I get in bed.
Andy 13:33
Broken Dreams, and Hope! is a new book. My first, very, very first book that I've ever written. And it's all based out of the fact that in life, we have hardships and we have difficulties. We have things that will break us physically, emotionally, mentally, financially. There are these things that can come along that can cause us immense hurt and pain.
Andy 13:52
Maybe we've made a mistake, we've done something wrong, we have to face the consequences of that. We get broken. Maybe we've just been caught up in a tragic accident. And we've been accidentally involved in something that was nothing to do with us. It breaks us.
Andy 14:07
Broken Dreams, and Hope! is a book that I've written specifically because I've been through some difficult times. I've been broken. But, despite being broken, there was hope. And that hope has a name.
Andy 14:20
Broken Dreams, and Hope! is all about the fact that no matter how broken we may have been there is still hope. And that hope has a name, and that name is Jesus Christ.
Steven 14:35
Welcome to the last segment of Endurance. Today we're looking at mundane, right? Mundanity.
Nathan 14:42
Yes.
Steven 14:42
Which is apparently a real word. Mundanity.
Nathan 14:45
Mundanity? Yeah? It's just mundane with a suffix to form a noun.
Steven 14:50
Thank you.
Nathan 14:51
You're very welcome. These are the important things we discuss on this.
Steven 14:55
Yep, yep. The first point we're gonna make is 'you will face times of mundanity'.
Nathan 15:01
It's the second point we talked about actually.
Steven 15:04
No, that's the first point. Trust me, that's the first point.
Nathan 15:06
Oh, alright.
Steven 15:07
Ok first point is you will face mundanity in life. We've experienced it. I think this week I might have put down as rather mundane.
Nathan 15:15
Yeah.
Steven 15:15
Just wake up. Same routine. Wake up tired. Grab a cup of tea. Get to work.
Nathan 15:21
Uninteresting repetition of daily life and routine, isn't it?
Steven 15:26
So you are going to experience it. We are gonna experience it. We've experienced it, you will experience it again.
Nathan 15:31
Everyone does. We as humans, you know, we all, all of us get bored of something. When it's new and exciting we are very excited about it, by it. We're interested. But over time that excitement subsides and we, we can very quickly become bored. Everyone does it no matter who you are.
Steven 15:49
Yeah, so it's normal, basically. That's the first point. The second point was
Nathan 15:57
We need to make sure we keep thanking God.
Steven 15:59
Yes. Oh, yeah.
Nathan 16:00
To change your perspective.
Steven 16:01
'Cos if things are going mundane then it's neither good nor bad, then it's not bad. So therefore, it's what have you got to complain about?
Nathan 16:10
Yeah.
Steven 16:11
So if, if the past week was a bit mundane, but nothing really went pants, nothing went bad, nothing went wrong.
Nathan 16:18
Nothing went really well or really badly. It's just somewhere in the middle.
Steven 16:22
Can't complain, really!
Nathan 16:23
No.
Steven 16:25
Yeah, can't complain.
Nathan 16:26
You change your perspective a lot of the time, isn't it we? We can get bored. But if we change our perspective, so that we actually, we think about the fact that, 'hey, actually, nothing's gone wrong. I'm alive, I'm doing okay. I've got everything I need.'
Steven 16:42
Yeah!
Nathan 16:43
Rather than thinking, wow, I only have what I need. You think, well, I actually have all that I need, you know. You change perspective in that regard?
Steven 16:51
Yeah, can't go over it can't go under it, you have to go through it. If you're going through it, you might as well be , what's the word? Joyful. Oh, yeah, that's the point, joyful in our salvation in Christ, because Psalm 118 Verse 24
Nathan 17:09
"This the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Steven 17:12
Yeah, I knew that, yeah. Just giving you an opportunity to show that you.
Nathan 17:16
Oh, you're really too kind.
Steven 17:18
I know, I know. I just wanted to give you that opportunity.
Nathan 17:21
Thank you so much.
Steven 17:22
Yeah, anyway, the point of that scripture is
Nathan 17:27
You know, each and every day is a gift from God eally.
Steven 17:30
Yeah. And therefore we need to rejoice in it.
Nathan 17:33
Exactly.
Steven 17:34
So, in the mundane, each day in the mundane is from God. God made it, therefore we should rejoice in it. It's really straightforward innit?
Nathan 17:43
Yeah. God made us. He made the world for us to enjoy.
Steven 17:47
So, putting that into three points, which was a bit messy. First point was accepting that we are in, we're gonna experience mundanity, mundanity.
Nathan 17:57
Yeah.
Steven 17:59
And the second point was rejoicing and being grateful. Changing our perspective in the mundane because it's a good idea.
Nathan 18:08
We have a lot to be grateful for.
Steven 18:10
And then lastly, it's kind of rejoicing in our salvation, in what God has given us.
Nathan 18:15
Exactly.
Steven 18:16
Right, so, #GoDo.
Andy 18:27
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Steven 18:42
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Nathan 18:47
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Peter 18:54
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Jo 19:00
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Steven Berry, 24/04/2022