S06E008, It Is What It Is, Endurance

 

 

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Steven and Nathan are back with Endurance after a bit of a break, and they are using the expression ‘it is what it is’ to talk about accepting what is.

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

#GoDeeper

In this GoDeeper, Steven talks largely about accepting what is. He begins by pointing out that in order to change you have to first accept where you are at, and he gives an example from his own life.

Then he discusses those things in life that don’t change even after much prayer. The apostle Paul had some experience of that, which Steven unpacks from 2 Corinthians 12. The other point that he makes is that we need to accept the past because we definitely can’t change that.

He concludes with a passage of Scripture from Ecclesiastes. 

#GoDo

For the last segment, Nathan and Steven discuss the topic a bit further, focusing on some interesting points:

1. We can’t change the past.
2. You can’t deal with a problem if you can’t even accept it exists.
3. What is ‘it’ exactly?

Watch this week’s episode to learn more about how to accept what is.

Steven and Nathan

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[00:00:00] Nathan: Hello, my name is Nathan, and this is Endurance your weekly spiritual workout. So get ready for the tough spiritual exercise. Our title today is, It Is What It Is. What do we do when we can't accept our situation? When circumstances are not what we want, how do we deal with that? We just can't change our circumstances.

[00:00:45] Nathan: Well, Steven will be along in a moment to explain this, and he's referring mainly to a portion of 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about a thorn in his side. That should be interesting. Recently, BerryBunch has had a new website launched called [00:01:00] BerryBunch.Org. You can go there and take a look at all the Endurance episodes and all our regular broadcasts, so sit back and enjoy.

[00:01:10] Steven: What does it benefit anyone? If you have sound theology, but don't show the love that Christ showed you. #speaktruth 

[00:01:18] Jo: Family prayer time. So what is it, Peter? 

[00:01:26] Peter: Well, it's where me and Mum or well, Jo, we look at, we find a subject for a prayer, so maybe the Psalm or a country. And then we pray as we feel led and Bob's your uncle. 

[00:01:37] Jo: Excellent. Yeah, absolutely. It's Family Prayer Time. Me and Pete pray together and we'd like you to pray as a family. So join us for Family Prayer Time.[00:02:00] 

[00:02:07] Steven: So here we are back for another Endurance Go Deeper where we go deeper into the topic for Endurance. And as Nathan said, it is what it is. And the first thing I think I want to bring up on that is something that we've talked about before, which is accepting where you're at. You can't make a change in your life until you accept where you're at.

[00:02:22] Steven: So for instance, I was recently a bit discontent and I kept denying the fact that I was discontent, and as a result, I couldn't really get rid of discontentedness. The only way to do that was to accept, first of all, that I was discontent, even though I didn't really have a reason to be. And then once I accepted that I could make a change.

[00:02:39] Steven: And the same goes for any and all areas of fit, of life, including fitness, which is what we talk about here on Endurance.

[00:02:49] Steven: The other aspect which Nathan picked up on was the accepting that some things don't change. Accepting the things in life that no matter what we do, no matter how much we pray, they just do not change. 

[00:02:59] Steven: And Paul in [00:03:00] the Bible had some experience with this. He said this in 2 Corinthians 12, verses 7 through to 10, and I'm reading this from the CSB, Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I could not exalt myself. Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. But he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. 

[00:03:26] Steven: Therefore, I'll most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and in difficulties for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 

[00:03:42] Steven: And the bit that I really wanna stick to is, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. Which is God's words to Paul, after something in his life wouldn't change.

[00:03:52] Steven: So if you've got something in your life that just doesn't seem to change, could be where you're at in finances, could be where you're at. Perhaps there's an [00:04:00] ailment or health problem that you can't seem to get rid of, no matter how much you pray. God's grace is sufficient, whatever it is that could be constantly there that you can't seem to get rid of.

[00:04:14] Steven: And lastly, accepting the past, accepting what is in the past. There will be things that we will have regretted, things that we've done or said that we wish we could take back, but we can't. It is what it is. We can't take back what it is we've done or said, but ultimately Jesus paid the price for that. So it is in the past and we just need to accept that it is what it is and move on.

[00:04:39] Steven: I've recently been reading Ecclesiastes, which is an excellent book, full of loads of wisdom, and it ends with a conclusion, this, Here now is my final conclusion, fear God and obey His commands for this is everyone's duty. Now, I could probably end every single Endurance with that, but accepting the past, you move on.

[00:04:57] Steven: How do you move on? We have faith in God, to [00:05:00] trust him in terms of the grace is sufficient, if there's something in your life that isn't changing. Moving on from the past, just leaving it there and at the end of the day, just fear God and obey his commands. That is, it is what it is.

[00:05:17] Andy B: Two minutes a day can change your world and in just a thought, that's kind of 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? How can a tiny spider, or a, the handle of a microwaveable rice pot, affect our life and how can it help us learn something about ourselves and the world around us?

[00:05:41] Andy B: 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 stripy fabric all have in common well you're not alone. And they actually link wonderfully together, as you will find out in the book.[00:06:00] 

[00:06:00] Andy B: 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 in his loving purpose and wise ways. 

[00:06:14] Andy B: As we go through life, there's all these things that go on. There's all these 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.

[00:06:52] Nathan: A splendid talk, Steven, quite interesting how you also gave something of your own experience just recently. 

[00:06:57] Steven: Yes. Thank you. It's good to learn from other people's [00:07:00] mistakes if you can. 

[00:07:00] Nathan: Absolutely.

[00:07:00] Steven: It's easier than making them yourself. 

[00:07:02] Nathan: Absolutely. And of course I usually do that because I struggle to learn from my own mistakes, cause there are so few of them. 

[00:07:09] Steven: Mm. Yeah. . 

[00:07:12] Nathan: Yeah, the the crew doesn't sound very convinced either. 

[00:07:14] Steven: No, no. I don't think anyone's convinced of that. 

[00:07:19] Nathan: All right. So moving on, I was thinking you made an interesting point. We, we can't change the past, can we? If we've made a mistake or a situation that has taken place, we can't undo it? Can we?

[00:07:29] Steven: No. 

[00:07:30] Nathan: No. And as you say, if you can't even accept that there's a problem, you can't deal with it. 

[00:07:36] Steven: No. So like you just stated that you haven't made any mistakes. Right? And that you can't unsay what you just said. And so now the whole world thinks you don't make any mistakes and you've gotta live with that, cause people will have a higher expectation of you. Yeah, exactly. So you can't change a past. 

[00:07:53] Nathan: Yes. I suppose a good way of putting that is acceptance is the first step to change, [00:08:00] isn't it? 

[00:08:01] Steven: Yeah. Though the expression, it is what it is, is usually used to state that something is what it is and it's not gonna change. But I used it that way. Anyway. 

[00:08:10] Nathan: Yeah. Well, I mean obviously if we were poor God obviously made it clear that in that particular case he didn't, he wasn't going to change the situation. He cuz he wanted Paul to learn that God's grace was sufficient. 

[00:08:22] Steven: Yeah. We don't actually know what that thorn in his side was. There's a lot of speculation. It could be could 

[00:08:27] Nathan: Could be an ailment, could be a relationship. 

[00:08:29] Steven: Yeah. And maybe it did get removed at some point. We don't know. 

[00:08:35] Nathan: No. 

[00:08:35] Steven: We get the impression that he had it forever, but we don't actually know if it got taken away later in his life, perhaps. 

[00:08:41] Nathan: But whatever this was, he was able to run the race to completion. 

[00:08:45] Steven: Though I find it interesting that he played, prayed three times and then that was, that was enough.

[00:08:50] Steven: Like he must have had great faith if he prayed for something three times, it didn't happen and that was that. 

[00:08:54] Nathan: Well, there's some interesting synergy there because Jesus prayed three times that God would take the cup from him. 

[00:08:59] Steven: Three is a very [00:09:00] important number in the Bible, isn't it? 

[00:09:01] Nathan: Extremely important. 

[00:09:02] Steven: Like nine is an important number in the Lord of the Rings.

[00:09:04] Nathan: Yes it is. 

[00:09:06] Nathan: All right, so I have one more question, though. I know what I know. It is what it is, but what is it? What is it? If it is what it is, then what is it? 

[00:09:16] Steven: It is X, let X equal it. 

[00:09:20] Nathan: Okay. Okay, so five minus X would be five minus it. 

[00:09:27] Steven: Mm-hmm. 

[00:09:28] Nathan: Okay. Got it. Yeah, that makes sense now hope, I hope you understand that.

[00:09:33] Nathan: So, jolly good. So in conclusion then we need to accept what is, because it is what it is and we have some really encouraging words from 2 Corinthians 12 verse 9, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness, and that's great encouragement and we know that even when we don't seem, feel that we have the strength to keep going, God's power is sufficient, God's grace is sufficient.[00:10:00]