Stay in Babylon

From the Salvation Army you're listening to wonderful words of life. Welcome back to wonderful words of life. I am Bernie Dake and with me is our new host Maj. Cheryl Gillam hey, nice to be with you all today again so we've been talking about revisiting mental health then I'm just wondering I Bernie can't remember a time that you made a rash decision. While in the middle of a valley or a very stressful time when you're upset about something. Yes like unfortunately I think when I get emotional. I either eat or I I just get so upset and then I'm afraid to share it with people because I'm kind of a big guy and it can be intimidating and I don't mean to be that way. I really am a lover, but can think of a situation where people were someone had come up to me so angry about a situation that was first not my fault, and nor my responsibility, but they felt impassioned enough to come to me and just let me have it in an angry way and then walked away and I didn't have a chance to respond. I looked at the people that were around us and said what just happened, and then just started making ultimatums I want my boss here. I want that guy fired. I want this and that and that didn't help the situation. Fortunately, someone with a level head came to me and said, take a deep breath don't make ultimatums to people may take you up on that and thirdly, let's let's kinda get to the root of this and then will go to Ammon and solve the service in a Christlike manner, so any situations I really need to learn not to air to live above our feelings and our feelings. We need to ask God for wisdom absolute right so that we can can navigate these situations and all of us have feelings that rise up and we just want to lash out or we want we want to risk react and not respond right so yeah we need ask God for wisdom in those situations and try to get his perspective right absolutely right this week as we continue our series with the Argonauts were going to study a moment in the book of Jeremiah, the Lord tells his people to settle down and be patient, sometimes trusting the plans God has for you is really difficult especially on a bad day, it can lead us to question and possibly make a rash decision to fix the situation on her own, or even run away yeah you know I mean I can definitely relate to all this, I mean like I said, everyone of us deal with the fact that things come at us you know in the in the in our everyday lives that we want to react to and for me I just I really have asked the Lord to just help me to respond in an appropriate way. Again, not living in my feelings but respond with wisdom in and to cut be able to step back that takes intention, though you know that's not something that all of us are wired like that were a lot of us are just read. We how trigger-happy we want to just kind of writ respond or react to things. So I think it's really important that we just kind of ask God to help us to step back and to respond.

Absolutely I think to running away doesn't solve the problem because it's not resolved constraint is right. Cheryl is from upstate New York. Originally, I will introduce you just a little bit over the episodes, but in the United States we would be referred to as Yankees and there's this thought that Yankees are are like these really gruff people that just speak their minds, and I don't think that's necessarily true. Of course, everywhere there's different types of people. We all handle things differently, but I I'm certain what we won't do is back down from a problem we try to address the issue and get to know that's you meet you Norm. I don't want to speak out of turn. What I'm saying is neither of us enjoy confrontation that we won't back down from you early because because at the end of the day. I want right relationship right. It's not about being confrontational and ugly way and by the way, I think Yankees maybe sometimes are a little aggressive because the cold weather. I frankly I am wrong let you know that you think you are right, but the truth the matter is, is that in my own life and I'm sure for you as well Bernie that we just want on you know we want right relationship with people we want to make sure that were living in such a way that promotes godly kingdom relationships and uniting I was dealing with people on the other side better in that position as well or have that as their aim or their goal in life but truly we can only be responsible for ourselves.

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Salvation Army USA.org I love Psalm 137 and is not often read what it says by the rivers of Babylon. We sat and we wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars. We hung up our harps for our captors asked for us to sing songs and our tormentors demanded songs of joy.

They said sing us those songs of Zion again. Won't you, but how can we sing praise to the Lord while in a foreign land.

I think about this all the time about what exile meant to the Israelites to the Jews that they lost everything that even their temple, the place where God dwelt was destroyed and I can imagine the depression that probably felt like he was overwhelming them. Yeah I can imagine losing everything. I don't know that I've well yeah I I have lost something very dear to me when my daddy died.

That was huge.

It was a huge loss for me because along with you. Daddy was represented a pillar of strength for me in my life. He was my go to and he himself dealt with mental illness. Daddy was a World War II vet and four years after he came home from the war he he married within that for years had two daughters 24 months apart and his wife was tragically burned to death, so get that I lost I lost a deep sense when he died and is interesting because our parents generation mental health was not talked about Leah. We will think that mental health talked about.

Now, when it was them and some of us don't even understand the genetic disposition towards depression and bipolar and even schizophrenia and all those types of things because it was hidden from us those secrets of our family that we didn't know about. II often you think about how eventually you know the Jews will return to Jerusalem. And there's the story of Job in word everything is taken away from Job you like I can imagine not only losing like your father, but losing your kids and your wife like that. That's gotta be very visceral and how over the course of 40 chapters he has these guys who come by him and basically say you must've done something wrong or you don't have enough faith yeah yes, agreed. And, and I almost wish that Job didn't end the way it did. Now we know the last chapter he's restored like double fold of everything, but I also think about Habakkuk the prophet, and in chapter 3 the last chapter of that book and he sees the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and in that final chapter he you eat after crying out to God, where are you what are you going to do about this.

He realizes that this is coming and nothing's going to stop it, and God is not going to intervene in those final words of saying if the if the vineyards are empty if there is no sheep in the pen. If everything goes against me yet. I will serve you, Lord. He still took his eyes and looked up to the Lord and said, I will receive my strength from you because there was nothing left for strength for him in the world on the earth. Yes, circumstances cannot dictate our decisions can they know and you and I always have this funny saying right yes in the months of January through March. We do not make any life-changing decisions. One, because of seasonal affect disorder plays into it and then also we've just come off of a very busy time in our professional ministry and of Christmas and so we are dog tired. If I can say that. So our minds aren't as keen as they should, because all of the physical tiredness so yeah we don't make any life decisions and I think is you never make life decisions when you're in a valley because the grass does look greener.

At that time and you're thinking that everything's going to be better. In fact, while the people are in exile in Babylon. There is a prophet called Hannah Anaya who tells all the people hey we need to rise up, we need to release the chains of bondage. We need to be free.

We need to rewrite this justice and go back to Jerusalem and rebuild and the prophet Jeremiah says no, no, in fact, God wants you to settle here amidst these foreigners build houses, build vineyards and marry pray actually for peace in the city that is your enemy and do well here because the way you live your life in the valley is going to be seen in front of your captors that whole verse that we always cling to of Jeremiah 2911 is after Jeremiah has said stay put for I know the plans I have for you not to destroy you but to give you a future of hope that future of hope is not today, and it's not tomorrow it might not be next year. It might not even be five years from now. In fact, for the Israelites.

It's a course of 40 years if somebody else can see Jesus in the midst of trial and temptation.

That's what Paul was all about so and how we respond and react. Though our circumstance doesn't change, it's about our response and our reaction.

That's what the world sees and when we are in that valley.

So next week is actually Palm Sunday and it's always like a celebrated celebratory thing right and you may know that the first thing that he, Jesus.his after coming into Jerusalem on a donkey, is he goes the temple and drives the money changers how Jesus was angry. So this idea we celebrate Palm Sunday, but as we come into this holy week. We realize that that Jesus himself is filled with a lot of emotions that we can really resonate with our Savior actually went through this difficulty were to talk about that next. The Salvation Army's mission doing the most good means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army visit Salvation Army USA.org to offer your support and we would love to hear from you. Email us at radio@uss.salvationarmy.org or call 1-800-229-9965 or write us at PO Box 29972, Atlanta, GA 30359 when you contact us will send you our gift for this series is totally free for listeners like you, one per household, while supplies last. You can also subscribe to our show on iTunes or your favorite podcast store and be sure to give us a rating. Just search for wonderful words of life follow some social media for the latest episode extended interviews and more. And if you don't have a church home. We invite you to visit your local Salvation Army warships will be glad to see this is Bernie day inviting you to join us next time. Salvation Army wonderful words of life