Staff Talks with Francis: What Satisfies Your Soul?

[Music] Welcome to the Crazy Love Podcast. When you or someone you love is suffering, how do you respond? When our circumstances don't change, is God actually enough? Today, Francis reflects on suffering, mission, and the quiet moments alone with God that anchor us through every season. He reminds us that real peace isn't found in escape or control but in learning to be fully satisfied in Christ alone. [Music] Yeah, it's pretty cool this week. Just again, you see, I guess what came to me in prayer is kind of that. The thing God's teaching me, teaching is reminding me like everything's in His hands. You can't make these things happen. You have to be responsible. You have to obey scripture. You have to confide in who you need to confront. You need to share the good news with who you need to share the good news with. You need to pray for healing. But God decides. And there's times where you're like, wow, I wasn't expecting that. Blessing and other times you expect for there to be breakthrough and there's nothing. And I guess, super fine seeing Mark the more time I spend with Mark and go, what happened to you? You're not? You're not? I don't. I don't know who you are. It's like I'm just being reintroduced to someone that I've never met before. But what in the world? You're a different person. And then you see the hardness of heart, which was marked in the past. It's just the soil. And so it's like, you can only get so much better at sewing seed. You're just tossing it. It's kind of the whole idea of you just toss and see what sticks. That's what the soil is like. I can't change the hard path. That's something that's God's work. And then when he does it, it's just amazing. But I guess the biggest thing to me is talking to someone in the church who's just everything's wrong, everything's negative. You know, it's not just the church, it's just life, it's just everything. Why can't it be this way? Like it wasn't the past or here's the way it should be in the future. And I was trying to explain, I said, you know, first of all, a spirit-filled person is giving thanks for everything in every situation. Everything that happens to me, I always just, I know there's something good in it. I just go, God, you're going to use this for the good. You promise that. And so I can thank you for this. I just, I'm not always near at the moment, but I always get there. Like, hey, I'm thankful for this. This is good. This is a good thing. Somehow it's going to be a good thing. So thank you, Lord. But when everything is negative, but I go, that's the same like biggest concern. My biggest concern is when you're alone with God, do you walk away going? This is awesome. Do you ever, like, just in the middle of it? Isn't it, for me, it's just about every day where I get to a point where it's like, this is so awesome. Being in a room with you. This is all I need. I'm not afraid of anything. As long as I always have this. So no matter what happens in life, I really believe I can always get back to that point. So I'm not really afraid of anything. You know, there's times I go, this could get sketchy, but then you just go, "Where, wherever I'm put, I can always get along." Even though there's a bunch of people in the room, I can block it all out and just sit there and I guess it's like this on 23. Like, you're just sitting a table before me and my cup's overflowing. I don't want anything. I'm okay. And I'm sharing with this guy, like, don't you get there? You can't say, "Well, this was different. This was different. This was different. So I'm going to go out and look for those things." That's such a scary place to be. If you don't know how to get along and with your creator, savior, and just go, "I'm good." I know you're holy. And I know you love me. Life is awesome. Life is great. So if you don't learn that, then and you keep feeling like the circumstance has to change in order for you to be happy or have this piece, I really don't think you ever find it. And there'll be times when you can almost do these emotions with other things to keep you busy, to keep you, you know, just turn on Netflix and watch something and binge watch. And you can numb it. Get on some medication, you know, go have a drink, go do this. You can do all of these things. But it just hides the fact that he's not satisfying your soul, you know, like Psalm 73. It's like, "I'm going to try to understand all this. It was oppressive to me until I entered the sanctuary of God." And that's why, you know, David's like, "I should try weary land where there's no water." It's like my sulters for you. It's one thing I ask. I just want to dwell in your course forever. And honestly, I believe that for the majority of people call themselves Christians, I'm speaking in a foreign language for them right now. If they're perfectly honest, like, "Yeah, I don't get that. I don't get that contentment, which is scary. I don't get the lords, my shepherd, I shall not want. I don't understand walking through the valley shadow of death and fear I know evil." Or, "Feel like you just set a table in front of me and front of my enemies and my cups overflowing." And that's foundational. And I don't want us to miss that. I'll probably be sharing some of this on the morning because some of it this morning I was just putting together like, "Would I want to share on Sunday because I just asked it to share?" And they want us to be missional to think about like, "Hey, can you give a talk on or reduce Friday night, not reaches and stuff, okay?" And just going back to the bread and butter of, I'm like, "What is it?" And we're called to be monastic in a sense. That's what I was just talking about. We have to, there has to be a monastic side to all of us where we can just get alone and love being alone and just love. I can sit here in the presence of God and when I'm not saying a whole lot and just believe He's ministering to my soul right now He's strengthening me because His work promises the Spirit's interseeding for me. Jesus, everything is good. Everything is good. You know, when can I, you know, sound 42? That's a dear pants for streams of water so my soul thirst for you. My soul thirst for God, the living God, when can I go and meet with Him? It's just like, yeah, when can I get along? Again, when can I get away from this craziness? And like, that has to be us. And if that's not in you, then it's all. It's like the three-legged stool. Like, if you don't have the second thing, which I believe is the unity of the body, if you're not in the body, even if you've been talking about the last couple of church together, it's like, it's not going to work because the thing on your own and you have your own thoughts and you just get arrogant and now you're better than everyone and you're like, "Why am I the only one that gets it, Lord?" You don't know how to bear with one another and put up with one another. Like, God created us be a part of the body. It's the liver or kidney or whatever I had illustration of like I'm meant to be a part of the body or it doesn't work. That's not how God designed you. But then the third thing we're supposed to be is mischievous. There's something about being put in difficult uncomfortable situations that we are made for. And so when you don't have that, you don't get to experience the fullness. And so I was just realizing, you know, we're talking about this Friday nights and these things and I thought, wow, I've loved my time along the Lord this week. And I just take that for granted. I go, of course, everyone says. And then I go, wow, I really love the fellowship with just, even right now, thinking about the church body and being a part and it's just so, yeah, when my friends came and visited this, we were just like, wow, there's just such a feeling, there's such an enjoyment, that body. But then I'm thinking, gosh, okay, so when Alan and I were just driving to the jail and Sunday and driving home and talking about everything God did in the jail and the mission. You know, just when you're in a jail cell with like 20 guys and someone brings up something about, well, I just think, you know, I can take a little bit of Islam, a little bit of Buddha, little business, this and you're nodding your head, listening, going, all right, Lord, I gotta confront this. There's no way out of this cell. You know, like, but I can't let this go. This guy is three times my size. You know, I can't let it go. And here we go, Lord. And just say, hey, biblically, you're absolutely wrong about that. And it doesn't even make sense to think about it. You know, you're saying I want to take Jesus who is the son of God according to scripture saying you believe in that that he died on the cross for your sin. And you're trying to mesh that with Islam that says God has no son. And Jesus did not die on the cross. And you're going, yeah, I'm just going to take those two and push it together. No, you gotta pick a side. You know, but in that he's started sharing about like how, yeah, as a teenager, he did something horrible and I want to get into it, but it landed him 20 years. And then when he got out, felt like God was still punishing him for that. And so that's why he's found himself in and out on lesser charges. And like, he's still paying for that. And then to just share the good news of the prodigal sign, I go, you're mixing up a bunch of stuff. If this is Jesus calling you back, here's how the father responds. Not with, hey, you did a bunch of bad stuff. So let me punish you for a while. No, but the celebration put a ring on his finger. We're going to have a feast. There's no, I go to the prodigal son came with like this slavery mentality. Like, well, maybe I can do this. Maybe I can do this. Maybe I can do this. That's what you're doing. The good news is the father saying that I just told all I go, you guys, we're all going to pray for him right now. We're all going to pray for him that he would receive the love of God. And so to see all these inmates as I'm just praying over this guy, like, you know, he just go, wow, that was awesome. That was so fun. And then the, you know, other conflicts come in and questions come up in and the jails where you're like, wow, I love this guy. I love it. And, you know, and then yesterday confronting a cult leader on stuff where you just got nowhere. And it's just that heart and soil. And again, there's a little bit of like, what's going to happen? This could, this could get really ugly. But that's the mission where you go, larger, you're with me in this. I'll be okay. And not to say that in the flesh, I don't think of what I do. I just, I just part of being human. Like, you figure out your escape or out or whatever. I think I just laid down a little kick me or whatever you used to know. There, yeah, it just, that's the flesh. You're like, okay, this one I, there's no escape. It's in the jail. But in this one, I'm not seeing the flesh doesn't come in, but there's, there's just something that's, this one I made for. And I don't know how I got into the conversation with Silas. I think he was at the church gathering. And, I don't think, yeah, the small group we're discussing, what was our question? I was like, yes, two like an apologetic thing. Oh, we're answering questions. Why bad things happen to good people. There is a God, why is there suffering? That's what our small group was. Silas was in, and J. Jean, and Delali, and, and someone else, it's smart by far. But they, they started talking about suffering and how God redeems it and, and how their apostles could rejoice in it and, you know, suffering. And, oh, first we had a group and it's like, well, you know, how do we answer this question based on the book of Acts? You know, if there's a good God, why is there so much suffering? And Silas answers first because, well, there's the obvious answer. Okay. Let's see, obvious answer says, well, you know, when God created Adam and Eve, they had a choice and they, it's because they chose evil that suffering came into the world. And so it's our choices that bring the evil and there was a God that brought the suffering. It was our choice to choose people that bring suffering every time we choose. Wow, that's pretty good. Yeah, it was just very, very, dang, that's good. And then, but then someone else was talking about how we redeem God, even redeem suffering. And then I went to Colossians and how we even suffered, we fill up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions. And we just got to talking about that and how people have died for the gospel. And, you know, just explaining to Silas, like, yeah, if anything happens to me, it's okay. It's like everything, just kind of, I'm going to die anyways. Might as well die in an eternally glorious way that then I get reward forever. So, discovering anything happens to dad. It's like, yes, sad, but it's cool. It's actually really cool. I get to join that list of martyrs and even, you know, in somehow in God's economy of things, this soul is at the altar of crying how much longer and God says until the full number of the martyrs, there's still, there needs to be more dying that needs to take place, which we're just that's so counterintuitive to us. Like, that is a strange way of thinking to us, but obviously it's the right way, because it's God's thinking. We would have been like the martyrs, like, how much longer isn't that enough? Put an end to this. You know, there's, there comes a time and I'm just saying, okay, God counts me worthy and he makes me strong enough to join those who are beheaded or whatever it's, it's okay, it's temporary. And I'm just being reminded while that's at the center of our faith is everything's good, everything's okay and not to get too comfortable or fear anything. The danger is just part of the deal. Maritums part of the deal. For me to live as Christ, to die as gain, but it all goes back to that. It has to come from that time along with God. We're like, "Yeah, I'm okay, God. Whatever you got to take me through, I got it. I got it. You're with me. You're with me. Take me to the valley of Shodown Death." That's kind of what I'm made for is to be okay at those times rather than complaining and say, "Well, here's why I'm not happy because it is this, this, this. Our faith is now full of joy and hope in spite of my own peace, in spite of I have a joy inexpressible in spite of my circumstance and a peace beyond comprehension." That's like, "Wow, how could he be like that in that situation?" But just always look at your people and remind them of that just because we're prone to complain, prone to blame. That's our culture we live in and here's why I'm screwed up. And then, "We don't need to tiptoe with some of these things." It's reminding people that there's something so beautiful about that getting along with God and going, "Okay, I was burn in and then I went into the presence of God because we can't be people, saviors. We can't just answer every phone call and you know, we need to be responsible as shepherds, but at some point something's got to happen in something." And that's what the day of pentacost was all about. That's what we celebrate. Pentacost Sunday. It's like, "Okay, this is good." Even being in the jail knowing that we might get moved into a different cell block and all their inmates are ready to riot. They're mad that we can't go in there anymore. You know, I was like, "Yeah, but not cool, there's a day of pentacost." Jesus said, "I know what I'm about to be fine. This is just us going, hey, we might not be back here." Jesus said the same thing and he goes, "It's actually to your advantage and to get these guys to believe, I think you're supposed to lead yourselves." Maybe. I don't know, I know what God's plan is, but either way, it's not like Jesus is leaving you. It's just me. You know, and you've got the Holy Spirit. God, I believe these things. And that's why I can look at a gown, a baptized Sunday and realize, "Why wait, one week with her, we may never see her again." But she made a profession of faith and got baptized and I believe the Holy Spirit can continue to minister to her. And then these inmates that are surrounded by darkness, it's not the Spirit enters into them. They'll be fine. We absolutely find. I want to feel like our flesh has to structure something perfectly for them to be okay. I just keep believing what the Spirit does internally in people. Thank you for listening to the Crazy Love Podcast. Join us next week for a new episode, but until then, for more resources from Crazy Love Ministries or to support the work of Crazy Love, please visit our website at crazylove.org.