S06E004, What Doesn’t Kill You… Endurance

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What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger is the theme for this week’s episode of Endurance.

Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!

#GoDeeper

In GoDeeper this week, Steven starts off by attempting to educate us on the history of the expression: “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” After which he explains that although running strengthens bones, it can be associated with some serious injuries. Steven gives an example of one such injury, relating it to how we can learn from suffering.

Steven also explains 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 as best as he can. He points out the writer of this passage, Paul, likens Christians to fragile clay jars with treasure inside. That treasure is the gospel. Despite all of the suffering that Paul endured, he was not totally destroyed because God was at work in his life.

You can read the GoDeeper transcript here.

#GoDo

For the final segment, Nathan and Steven discuss some interesting points:

1. I suppose there are certain hardships that do not benefit us. How do we deal with those?
2. We know that “all things work together for the good of those who love God…” And, of course, God is our Redeemer. This is helpful for us when hardships cause us damage.

Check out this episode to hear what conclusions they reached.

Steven and Nathan

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Nathan: Hello and welcome to Endurance, your weekly spiritual workout. This week's episode is titled What Doesn't Kill You, but don't worry, that's not quite as drastic as it sounds. We're basically, we're looking at the idea of going through hardships and getting stronger as a result. In the same way that in physical exercise, you can't actually get any stronger or any fitter unless you actually do push yourself a little and.

[00:00:48] You can't build up muscles without some amount of pain. In the same way, it's true in life that many of the experiences we go through, though they are difficult, they do make us stronger. It's quite a well [00:01:00] known phrase, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Plenty of other similar versions of that phrase, such as no pain, no gain, but basically different experiences make you stronger. Or do they? Steven's going to look at this idea in a moment and extrapolate on the idea of getting stronger during hard circumstances.

[00:01:21] Obviously, if you want to keep up to date with everything that we produce, including Endurance, then you can sign up to our newsletter by going to www.Berrybunch.family. Hope you enjoy this episode. I'm Nathan. Enjoy.

[00:01:36] You can't win if you are not willing to lose. #speaktruth

[00:01:52] Jo: You'll never guess what? Dave the Dog has his own show and it's called Dave Unleashed.

[00:01:59] Steven: Are we sure [00:02:00] about this?

[00:02:00] Jo: I'm gonna be there on hand. I'm gonna help him.

[00:02:03] Steven: What mayhem are we to expect?

[00:02:05] Jo: To keep him on track. He's got story time, he's got art time, so you know, and I'll be there to help him.

[00:02:12] Steven: What could possibly go wrong?

#GoDeeper Transcript

[00:02:33] So it's another go deeper with me, Steven. And this week we're looking at what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's the topic for this week. So I did some research and the phrase was first penned by one Frederick Nietzsche? Nietzsche, I think. Probably pronounced that wrong. He's was German in the 19th century and he wrote down what doesn't kill you makes you stronger or crudely translated, that's what it means.[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] But a professor from Glasgow said that he didn't mean that all suffering produces strength, but more that most suffering can produce strength if we allow it to. So like in exercise, when you go, if you go running, it strengthens the bones of your legs, unlike cycling, which doesn't quite do the same thing.

[00:03:20] Having said that, running is more prone to certain injuries and I should know cause I suffered from shin splints for a little while, which is when the bones of the shin, really sore and tender from bad technique in running. So I managed to fix that. Now, I didn't necessarily grow stronger from having caused shin splints, but I did learn from it.

[00:03:36] And you can learn from lots of the obstacles in life, even if it doesn't necessarily make you any stronger. So life has challenges and we can learn or we can grow stronger from those challenges. So you could rephrase the thing. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger or you can learn from it.

[00:03:55] Two Corinthians 4:8-9 says this. [00:04:00] Hang on. There we are. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted but not abandoned. We are struck down, but not destroyed. Now I looked that up trying to work out what that meant. And I came across Got Questions who are really helpful on stuff like this. If you are like not understanding a passage of scripture or anything like that, you can go to gotquestions.org and it's really helpful.

[00:04:30] And they were saying how this book 2 Corinthians, Paul has already said that we are like fragile jars of clay with this precious treasure inside, which is the gospel. And despite all the inflictions that we face, which is what this passage here is about. We are not crushed, we're not destroyed.

[00:04:45] And that's because of what God is doing. So if, if you're going through a rough patch, we're like jars of clay, as I said, and you're not being totally destroyed or totally crushed. It's because God is at work and perhaps you've been through suffering and whatnot and God has [00:05:00] somehow done stuff that we aren't even aware of. Like it, we could have come off a lot worse, but God is at work even though we didn't realize it.

[00:05:06] 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 says this, Five times I received, oh, sorry. This is Paul, he's having a moment, he's groaning about some of the things that he's gone through or not groaning, but giving his some of the hardships he's been through. So he says, Five times I received the 40 lashes minus one from the Jews, so that would be 39. Three times I was beaten with rod rods, once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea and dangers among false brothers, toil, hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, often without food, clothing, and cold.

[00:05:54] So he knew what he was talking about, did Paul about this suffering and stuff. All that he went through there throughout his ministry and [00:06:00] whatnot. And yet he was not totally crushed or destroyed.

[00:06:02] And that's cuz God was working in his life. So sometimes you might have been, I don't know, gone through suffering and yet somehow you came through the end of it. Just like Paul, it's probably cuz God was at work. Cuz we are like, those fragile jars of clay with this treasure and whatnot.

[00:06:14] What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We can learn from the stuff that we go through, but sometimes things come up there a bit beyond us and perhaps we come out the other end worse than we were, or perhaps it changes us in a bad way, but still it could have been a lot worse cuz God is possibly at work keeping us going.

[00:06:29] So what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We can choose to be stronger from it at the end. So that is What doesn't kill you.

[00:06:37] Andy B: Two minutes a day can change your world and in Just a Thought, that's what I do because I take the ordinary moments of life and think, how can this apply to faith, to life, to moving through this world with people around us?

[00:06:51] How can a tiny spider or the handle of a microwavable rice pot affects our life? And how can it help us learn something about ourselves and the [00:07:00] world around us?

[00:07:01] So here's what I thought. Have you ever wondered what red flags, shredded tires, persistence, holes, dishwater tea, rice maker handles, tape measures, giant spiders that are not and stripey fabric all have in common? Well you're not alone, and they actually link wonderfully together. As you will find out in the book.

[00:07:20] I'm just gonna read this out from Reverend Johnny Douglas, who wrote the forward very kindly for me, Just a Thought is a collection of pregnant brain thoughts, but it's so much more than this, Andy reflects a determination, character and grasp of God and his loving purpose and wise ways.

[00:07:34] As we go through life, there's all these things that go on. There's always exciting things of life, but actually it's the ordinary and it's the normal from which we can learn so, so much. Each little chapter will take you a few moments to read, but hopefully will get your brain working and ready for the day. Just a thought.

[00:07:57] Nathan: Marvellous [00:08:00] talk, Steven. I think that was very good. It's not an easy subject, is it? What doesn't kill you mean? How exactly do you explain the idea of that phrase? The point of that phrase?

[00:08:23] Steven: It seemed so easy in my head.

[00:08:25] Nathan: Yeah, but it's interesting, isn't it, from a biblical perspective. How do you explain it? Because it's not actually a biblical phrase as such.

[00:08:31] Steven: No, it isn't..

[00:08:32] Nathan: Well, Anyway, are you ready for these questions?

[00:08:36] Steven: No.

[00:08:37] Nathan: Good. So firstly I suppose there are certain hardships, you alluded to this, but there are certain hardships that don't benefit us. In fact, they influence us negatively.

[00:08:47] Steven: Yeah. Things like trauma. Yeah.

[00:08:50] Nathan: So how do we deal with those?

[00:08:52] Steven: I dunno, the best way you can with God. A lot of things. Time is a good healer, isn't it? Sometimes like with a case of shin [00:09:00] splints, I couldn't start running properly until it was healed. So I just had to wait until it was healed, wait until I recovered, and then I could try this new technique to try and not cause shin splints.

[00:09:11] Nathan: And when it comes to spiritual matters, I suppose, it does say in the Bible that God will not crush a broken reed. So when we have been through a, an experience that has damaged us, has affected us negatively, that has not made us strong, but in fact made us weaker, God will help us to heal. He's the healer.

[00:09:29] He is our provider, and he will comfort us. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. And often the time, a lot of the time, all we need to do, we just need to endure, don't we?

[00:09:37] Steven: Yeah. Endurance. Exactly.

[00:09:39] Nathan: Obviously it says in Romans 8 that all things work together for the good of those who love God. So that's suggests even if this situation is not good for us, even if his situation causes us spiritual, mental or physical harm, God can turn it around, can't he? He is our redeemer.

[00:09:54] Steven: Absolutely. He can redeem any situation for his glory. I think.

[00:09:57] Nathan: You think? You sure about that?

[00:09:58] Steven: Maybe we should cover doubts next [00:10:00] week. I dunno.

[00:10:01] Nathan: That might be a good subject. But yeah, God does redeem situations and we know that, you say look, think about Paul for example. He went through many difficult circumstances, but he came through it and through it he was able to help many people come to Christ.

[00:10:16] That shipwreck, for example, one of the shipwrecks, God turned that around because when he was shipwrecked on an island, he was able to bring many people to Christ who were on that island.

[00:10:26] Steven: Was that a question? Sorry? More of a statement.

[00:10:28] Nathan: More of a statement.

[00:10:29] Steven: Oh, yeah I agree with you. Absolutely. Amen. All that.

[00:10:31] Nathan: Yeah. Amen. Hallelujah. Yeah. So I suppose to conclude what doesn't kill us will often make us stronger. Those hardships, those tough circumstances. They can help us to get close to God, they can help us to strengthen our spiritual muscles and in, in our physical lives, they can help us to get stronger physically.

[00:10:49] But at the same time, yeah, there will be situations we go through which will not help us. Maybe traumatic events, but God will always help us through them and he will, he can redeem any situation.[00:11:00]

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