WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.839 Growing up in a tiny rural church tucked away 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:05.580 in the Ozarks, I had a spiritual upbringing that 00:00:05.580 --> 00:00:08.220 most people would classify now as ultra -low 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:11.140 budget. We didn't have any specialized programs, 00:00:11.400 --> 00:00:13.539 we didn't have a sprawling modern facility, and 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:16.500 we absolutely did not have production value. 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:19.039 You know, whatever that is. No fog machines, 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:21.859 no stage lights, no dramatic worship countdown 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:24.519 videos with slow motion wheat blowing in the 00:00:24.519 --> 00:00:28.140 background. But we did have people. And one of 00:00:28.140 --> 00:00:30.679 the people who shaped my life the most wasn't 00:00:30.679 --> 00:00:34.719 the pastor, wasn't a youth leader or youth pastor, 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.299 and it wasn't anybody with a fancy title stitched 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:40.979 onto an Awana name badge. It was one of our local 00:00:40.979 --> 00:00:43.759 Bible ladies. If you grew up in certain pockets 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:46.259 of the country, you know exactly who I'm talking 00:00:46.259 --> 00:00:49.159 about. For decades, there were women who went 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:51.979 into schools and small country churches to tell 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:55.960 stories using flannelgraph. And if you're under 00:00:55.960 --> 00:01:00.490 40, Imagine felt cutouts of Abraham, Noah, and 00:01:00.490 --> 00:01:03.350 a sheep that looks suspiciously like a cloud 00:01:03.350 --> 00:01:06.609 stuck to a fuzzy board. It was basically the 00:01:06.609 --> 00:01:08.810 original version of PowerPoint, just softer, 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:12.829 literally. So the Bible lady's name was Henrietta. 00:01:13.530 --> 00:01:16.090 Every Sunday morning, before the main service 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:18.709 got going, Henrietta gathered us kids down in 00:01:18.709 --> 00:01:21.109 front and told a Bible story. I looked forward 00:01:21.109 --> 00:01:23.849 to it every week. Not because she was flashy. 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:26.560 but because she believed the story she was telling. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:29.459 You can tell when someone believes what they're 00:01:29.459 --> 00:01:32.379 saying. You don't look at them and see a performance. 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:35.700 They don't have to force the room to react. They 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:39.159 just are steady. Henrietta also told missionary 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:42.000 stories at Vacation Bible School and a local 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:44.799 church camp. Somehow she made the world feel 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:48.819 big and God feel near. But there was another 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:51.540 side to Henrietta I didn't understand as a kid. 00:01:52.140 --> 00:01:56.640 She lived on a modest income. And somehow, this 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.900 still amazes me, she gave most of that income 00:01:58.900 --> 00:02:02.379 away. She supported missionaries. She helped 00:02:02.379 --> 00:02:04.359 small churches buy things they couldn't afford. 00:02:04.760 --> 00:02:07.420 She found ways to give out of what little she 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:10.819 had. Nobody asked her to. Nobody was tracking 00:02:10.819 --> 00:02:14.080 it on a donor spreadsheet. Later in life, Henrietta 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:16.960 was diagnosed with cancer. And even then, she 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:20.099 kept serving. As long as she could walk into 00:02:20.099 --> 00:02:22.759 the church building, she showed up. As long as 00:02:22.759 --> 00:02:24.979 she had enough breath to teach kids about Jesus, 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.259 she did. And when the disease confined her to 00:02:28.259 --> 00:02:31.520 her bed, she didn't suddenly decide she was useless. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.819 Now, she struggled with those feelings, but she 00:02:35.819 --> 00:02:38.719 just had a different mission field. She prayed 00:02:38.719 --> 00:02:41.180 for the people that visited her, the nurses. 00:02:41.500 --> 00:02:44.620 She pointed people to Christ from the place most 00:02:44.620 --> 00:02:47.580 of our modern metrics would call the end of productivity. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:51.210 Henrietta never chased a platform. She never 00:02:51.210 --> 00:02:53.550 clung to a role like her identity depended on 00:02:53.550 --> 00:02:56.409 it. She never needed applause in order to stay 00:02:56.409 --> 00:02:59.530 obedient. She just remained faithful right where 00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:02.830 God had placed her. Henrietta did not cross the 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:06.090 finish line with widespread recognition earthly 00:03:06.090 --> 00:03:11.710 side, but she finished with fruit. And that redefined 00:03:11.710 --> 00:03:14.949 success for me. Scripture never tells us visibility 00:03:14.949 --> 00:03:20.939 is the win. It tells us faithfulness is. Welcome 00:03:20.939 --> 00:03:23.259 to Grace in the Grind, brought to you by Arrow 00:03:23.259 --> 00:03:25.340 & Roots Coffee Company, where faith meets the 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:28.280 everyday. Here we take time to notice God's presence 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:31.719 in the middle of life's busiest moments, to find 00:03:31.719 --> 00:03:35.080 encouragement, clarity, and a reminder of His 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:38.520 grace right in the grind of daily life. So grab 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.020 your coffee, and let's take a sip of this cup 00:03:41.020 --> 00:03:45.900 together. Today I've got January 29th from Arrow 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:47.900 & Roots Coffee Company brewed in an Arrow Press 00:03:47.900 --> 00:03:51.520 in a hotel room in Wichita, Kansas. Nothing fancy, 00:03:51.580 --> 00:03:54.159 just hot water, good coffee, and a quiet reminder 00:03:54.159 --> 00:03:57.500 that faithfulness is usually formed in ordinary 00:03:57.500 --> 00:04:01.539 places. Not in the spotlight, but in the repetition. 00:04:03.000 --> 00:04:05.879 So as we start this cup, we live in a culture 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:09.719 that defines success by speed, scale, and visibility. 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.000 Bigger, faster, and more are the way we think 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:16.120 of it, and those assumptions do not stop at the 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:19.720 church doors. They shape how we think about calling, 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.079 ministry, parenting, fruitfulness, and impact. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:26.379 The American dream trained us to measure life 00:04:26.379 --> 00:04:29.579 by the wrong finish line. It taught us to ask, 00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:32.240 how far did you get? How much did you build? 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:35.639 How many people noticed? But scripture asks a 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:39.000 better question. Did it produce love? Did it 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:41.899 produce worship? Did it form people who know 00:04:41.899 --> 00:04:45.279 God more deeply? Did it leave fruit that remains 00:04:45.279 --> 00:04:48.399 when your pace slows down and your capacity changes? 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:54.139 Our anchor passages today are Psalm 71, Ecclesiastes 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.839 12, and 2 Timothy 4. And by the end of this cup, 00:04:57.939 --> 00:05:01.600 I want you to see the finish line more biblically. 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:05.620 Not the American one, but the kingdom one. Psalm 00:05:05.620 --> 00:05:08.769 71 is written from... The perspective of someone 00:05:08.769 --> 00:05:12.829 late in life. It's not a psalm of ambition. It's 00:05:12.829 --> 00:05:29.490 a psalm of testimony. Verse 18 says, Notice what 00:05:29.490 --> 00:05:33.009 he does not ask for. He doesn't ask for his youth 00:05:33.009 --> 00:05:36.069 back. He doesn't ask for one more season of public 00:05:36.069 --> 00:05:39.720 proof. He does not ask for a bigger role so people 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.839 will still know he matters. He asks for enough 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:46.579 sustaining grace to proclaim God's might to the 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:50.500 next generation. The prayer is not, make me impressive 00:05:50.500 --> 00:05:53.920 again. It is, keep me steady enough to testify. 00:05:54.699 --> 00:05:57.399 Give me enough breath to hand down what is true. 00:05:57.899 --> 00:06:00.439 The American dream knows how to celebrate climbing. 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:05.220 It does not know what to do with testimony. Psalm 00:06:05.220 --> 00:06:08.910 71 continues, I will hope continually and will 00:06:08.910 --> 00:06:13.470 praise you yet more and more. No resume, no scoreboard, 00:06:13.629 --> 00:06:17.850 no public metrics, just hope, praise, and time. 00:06:18.449 --> 00:06:21.990 That was Henrietta. She did not proclaim the 00:06:21.990 --> 00:06:26.069 goodness of God with an arena microphone. She 00:06:26.069 --> 00:06:28.730 proclaimed him with consistency, week after week, 00:06:28.829 --> 00:06:31.610 year after year, felt board after felt board. 00:06:31.990 --> 00:06:35.149 And a lot of churches are held together by saints 00:06:35.149 --> 00:06:39.459 like that. more than by the platforms we tend 00:06:39.459 --> 00:06:42.800 to notice. Most of us are not really terrified 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:45.100 by wrinkles, by the way. We're not terrified 00:06:45.100 --> 00:06:47.879 of really getting old. We're terrified of becoming 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:51.220 unnecessary. We don't mind having wisdom as long 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:54.220 as somebody's still asking for it. But when people 00:06:54.220 --> 00:06:57.740 stop asking, we start acting strange. We talk 00:06:57.740 --> 00:07:00.000 louder in meetings. We tell the same stories 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.759 three times in the same conversation. We offer 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:05.889 intents. unprompted advice to young leaders who 00:07:05.889 --> 00:07:09.709 never asked for it. At that point, we're less 00:07:09.709 --> 00:07:12.389 like wise mentors and more like spiritual pop 00:07:12.389 --> 00:07:15.110 -up ads. Are you sure you want to proceed with 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:19.009 your life without my expert opinion? Psalm 71 00:07:19.009 --> 00:07:22.689 pulls us back. You do not have to fight for relevance. 00:07:23.670 --> 00:07:27.410 You are called to remain faithful. I saw the 00:07:27.410 --> 00:07:31.170 same kind of faithfulness in my pastor, who really 00:07:31.170 --> 00:07:34.230 helped raise me in a lot of ways. He was called 00:07:34.230 --> 00:07:39.129 Papa Sam. He was joyful, grounded, and pastorial. 00:07:39.589 --> 00:07:42.290 He could teach hard truths in a way that made 00:07:42.290 --> 00:07:45.910 you feel loved instead of attacked. But he was 00:07:45.910 --> 00:07:48.930 not afraid to correct us. One Sunday after service, 00:07:49.149 --> 00:07:51.850 a group of us kids noticed leftover communion 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:53.970 bread sitting unattended at the altar table. 00:07:54.750 --> 00:07:58.110 One of the ladies in our church baked the fresh 00:07:58.110 --> 00:08:00.509 communion bread every time we had communion, 00:08:00.709 --> 00:08:03.839 and it was phenomenal. So being feral children 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:07.120 with almost zero survival instincts, we swarmed 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:10.680 that sacred table like starving vultures. Papa 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:13.699 Sam intercepted that operation pretty quickly. 00:08:14.480 --> 00:08:18.500 He didn't scream. He didn't yell at us or do 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:21.199 anything like that. He just got serious. He sat 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.560 us down and reminded us what the table represented. 00:08:24.139 --> 00:08:27.459 He talked about reverence. He warned us that 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:29.259 scripture takes the Lord's Supper seriously. 00:08:30.139 --> 00:08:33.970 And what struck me? was this. His correction 00:08:33.970 --> 00:08:38.570 did not feel legalistic. It felt loving because 00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:41.230 he was caring for our souls, not just managing 00:08:41.230 --> 00:08:44.850 our behavior. But the strongest lesson he taught 00:08:44.850 --> 00:08:48.509 me came near the end of his ministry. As Papa 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:51.690 Sam aged and his capacity declined, he did not 00:08:51.690 --> 00:08:55.090 cling to his title. He did not treat the congregation 00:08:55.090 --> 00:08:58.870 like it was his personal legacy project. He intentionally 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:01.879 looked for a younger man to shepherd the people 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:06.000 he loved. He initiated the handoff because he 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:08.200 understood something our egos hate admitting. 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:13.360 The flock did not belong to him. He was a steward, 00:09:13.419 --> 00:09:17.820 not the owner. Owners cling to power. Stewards 00:09:17.820 --> 00:09:22.059 prepare the handoff. That cuts directly against 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:25.279 the American dream. The world says keep climbing, 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:28.220 keep expanding, maximize influence, and outrun 00:09:28.220 --> 00:09:31.539 decline. But Papa Sam lived like scripture was 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:35.320 true. Prepare the next generation. Pass the baton 00:09:35.320 --> 00:09:38.340 cleanly. Trust God with what you were never meant 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.759 to hold forever. That is what finishing well 00:09:41.759 --> 00:09:46.279 looks like. Most of us know how to start. We 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:48.080 know how to build. We know how to hustle. We 00:09:48.080 --> 00:09:51.159 know how to push. We know how to redline the 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:54.259 engine and call it dedication. But finishing 00:09:54.259 --> 00:09:58.019 well requires release. And release is hard when 00:09:58.019 --> 00:10:01.340 your identity has been tied to capacity. When 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:04.539 the season changes, we start measuring ourselves 00:10:04.539 --> 00:10:07.820 by what we can no longer do. I can't serve like 00:10:07.820 --> 00:10:10.440 I used to. I can't lead like I used to. I can't 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:13.259 produce like I used to. I can't keep the pace 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:18.299 I used to. And shame slips in. We start wondering 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:21.759 if our best days are behind us. But if my best 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:25.220 days are the only days when I had that. highest 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:28.799 output, then my definition of success was tied 00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:33.559 more to capacity than to Christ. That's why Ecclesiastes 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.419 12 helps us. Ecclesiastes 12 is honest about 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:41.500 limits. Strength fades, eyesight dulls, teeth 00:10:41.500 --> 00:10:45.139 fail, and pace slows. This was written in a time 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:47.960 where there probably wasn't a dentist handing 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:50.620 out good dentures down the road, and there definitely 00:10:50.620 --> 00:10:54.059 wasn't an optometrist giving out the best contacts 00:10:54.059 --> 00:10:57.340 or glasses in the world. These were real issues. 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:01.799 But the teacher does not panic. This is wisdom. 00:11:02.519 --> 00:11:05.559 Ecclesiastes strips away the illusion we keep 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:08.659 trying to protect. Life will not always stay 00:11:08.659 --> 00:11:12.240 the same. Capacity will change. Value is not 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.919 tied to output. And then the book ends with this. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.960 The end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:24.480 God and keep his commandments, for this is the 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.379 whole duty of man. That is not defeat. That's 00:11:29.379 --> 00:11:33.960 clarity. He does not say, sprint harder before 00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:37.700 it's too late. He says, fear God, revere him, 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:42.399 walk before him, worship him, obey him. That 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:47.559 is what outlives you. And that is freeing. Because 00:11:47.559 --> 00:11:50.960 if that is the finish line, You can't stop sprinting 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:54.059 like a maniac trying to prove strangers that 00:11:54.059 --> 00:11:58.320 you still matter. Very few of us learn this through 00:11:58.320 --> 00:12:02.480 gentle meditation. Limits usually show up uninvited 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:05.679 and rude. It's the minor injury that suddenly 00:12:05.679 --> 00:12:08.159 takes six months to heal instead of six days. 00:12:08.899 --> 00:12:11.440 It's the season where your energy refuses to 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.860 cooperate with your calendar. It's when your 00:12:13.860 --> 00:12:19.940 body looks at your to -do list and laughs Actual 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:24.039 rest. Now, that's offensive. You wake up one 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.419 day and you realize you cannot power through 00:12:26.419 --> 00:12:29.000 on four hours of sleep and pure stubbornness 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.200 like you used to. And part of you wants to argue 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:34.820 with your body like it's being dramatic. But 00:12:34.820 --> 00:12:38.519 you also realize, I don't think I can. Ecclesiastes 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:41.399 stands in the doorway and says, buddy, that argument 00:12:41.399 --> 00:12:45.980 is already over. Sit down. Limits do not disqualify 00:12:45.980 --> 00:12:49.669 you from usefulness. They clarify your current 00:12:49.669 --> 00:12:53.490 assignment. They force the question. If I can 00:12:53.490 --> 00:12:56.330 no longer do what I used to do, what does obedience 00:12:56.330 --> 00:13:00.149 look like right now? Near the end of his life, 00:13:00.370 --> 00:13:03.190 riding from prison while awaiting death, Paul 00:13:03.190 --> 00:13:05.929 says to Timothy, I've fought the good fight. 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:08.190 I've finished the race. I've kept the faith. 00:13:08.970 --> 00:13:12.809 We quote that verse all the time. It's on all 00:13:12.809 --> 00:13:15.129 sorts of random social media posts with a sunset 00:13:15.129 --> 00:13:17.740 in the background for some reason. But notice 00:13:17.740 --> 00:13:19.960 what Paul does not say. He does not say, Timothy, 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:22.700 look at my numbers. I was wildly successful. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:26.240 He doesn't say, and I built something impressive. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:31.240 He says, I kept the faith. A fight implies resistance. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:35.659 A race implies endurance. Keeping the faith implies 00:13:35.659 --> 00:13:38.980 guarding something entrusted to you. Paul is 00:13:38.980 --> 00:13:42.019 not checking analytics from his prison cell. 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:45.600 He's describing perseverance. The biblical finish 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:47.559 line is not defined by worldly accomplishment. 00:13:48.039 --> 00:13:51.500 It's defined by faithfulness over time. For those 00:13:51.500 --> 00:13:55.460 of us shaped by speed, scale, visibility, and 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:58.299 the American Dream's version of success, that 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:01.139 confronts almost everything we were trained to 00:14:01.139 --> 00:14:04.419 measure. Most of us are still carrying a scoreboard 00:14:04.419 --> 00:14:08.200 around with us. We just won't admit to it. We 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.480 changed the vocabulary so it sounds more spiritual. 00:14:11.100 --> 00:14:13.159 We don't call it building an empire. We call 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:16.100 it maximizing kingdom impact. We don't call it 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:18.500 chasing attention. We call it stewarding our 00:14:18.500 --> 00:14:22.639 influence. But it cannot function the same way. 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:26.139 Paul does not reference a scoreboard, an analytical 00:14:26.139 --> 00:14:29.080 chart, or a spreadsheet from prison. He references 00:14:29.080 --> 00:14:33.720 faith. You cannot track kept faith on a pivot 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:37.019 table. And that might be one of the biggest things 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:42.179 about it. Henrietta did not interpret declining 00:14:42.179 --> 00:14:45.000 health as God throwing her away. As long as she 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:47.120 could teach kids, she taught. As long as she 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.100 could serve, she served. And when she was bedridden, 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.720 her assignment changed shape. So she bore witness 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.919 from her pillow. Papa Sam did not cling to the 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.779 spotlight out of fear. He did not confuse stepping 00:15:00.779 --> 00:15:03.620 back with failing the mission. He understood 00:15:03.620 --> 00:15:06.980 stewardship. Both of them showed us this. Faithfulness 00:15:06.980 --> 00:15:10.019 can adapt to the season without losing the substance. 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:14.039 The outward shape may change. The core remains. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:17.340 The American Dream says if you are not constantly 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:20.440 growing and expanding, you are losing. Scripture 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:23.740 gives us a better sentence. If you kept the faith, 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:27.159 you finished well. You do not have to be impressive 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:30.429 to be faithful. You don't have to... Move fast 00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:32.669 to be fruitful. You don't have to be publicly 00:15:32.669 --> 00:15:35.950 visible to serve the kingdom of God. Some of 00:15:35.950 --> 00:15:38.549 the most important lives in the church were barely 00:15:38.549 --> 00:15:41.850 noticed by the culture. They were not trying 00:15:41.850 --> 00:15:44.870 to manufacture a legacy. They were aiming for 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:48.350 obedience. When you aim for your own legacy, 00:15:48.590 --> 00:15:51.450 you start trying to manage outcomes. But when 00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:54.850 you aim for obedience, you leave the fruit with 00:15:54.850 --> 00:16:00.259 God. This week, ask two questions. First, What 00:16:00.259 --> 00:16:03.259 season of life am I actually in right now? Not 00:16:03.259 --> 00:16:05.639 which one do I want to be in. Not which season 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.399 am I afraid of entering. Which one am I standing 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:13.320 in right now, today? Second, what does obedience 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:16.679 look like here? Not what did it look like 10 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:19.399 years ago. Not what does it look for someone 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:24.059 online, here, now. It might look like serving 00:16:24.059 --> 00:16:27.659 quietly. It might look like stepping back to 00:16:27.659 --> 00:16:30.279 make room for others. It might look like mentoring 00:16:30.279 --> 00:16:34.179 instead of driving the ship. It might look like 00:16:34.179 --> 00:16:37.919 rest instead of frantic expansion. None of those 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.860 are lesser forms of Christian obedience. They 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:43.500 may simply be the right form for this season. 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:46.879 And if you're grieving what you can no longer 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:50.879 do, that's not failure, that's transition. Scripture 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:54.740 gives us room to grieve, changing seasons, without 00:16:54.740 --> 00:17:00.240 abandoning our post. So typically here, you're 00:17:00.240 --> 00:17:02.620 told, hey, if you want to support this, buy a 00:17:02.620 --> 00:17:04.220 bag of coffee from Arrow and Roots Coffee Company. 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:05.920 But here's what I'm going to tell you today. 00:17:07.480 --> 00:17:10.099 It's great if you can. But if you can't afford 00:17:10.099 --> 00:17:12.960 a bag, don't worry about it. Enjoy the conversation. 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:16.660 If you don't like coffee, don't worry about it. 00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:20.460 Share this with somebody. Let them enjoy the 00:17:20.460 --> 00:17:24.480 conversation. Because ultimately, we want to 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:28.059 continue doing this however we can. If you want 00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:31.019 to support that, great. Help us how you can. 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:36.019 If you can't afford to, or just don't like coffee, 00:17:36.160 --> 00:17:38.819 that's okay too. We want to be faithful in this 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:41.819 season where God has called us, and we'll keep 00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:44.119 doing this. You keep joining the conversation. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:50.059 A faithful life rarely wraps up with fanfare. 00:17:50.839 --> 00:17:54.079 More often than not, it looks like steady obedience 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:57.759 over a long period of time. Ordinary people loving 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:01.059 God, loving their neighbors, trusting him with 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:03.700 outcomes they never lived long enough to see. 00:18:04.220 --> 00:18:08.380 That is not a failed life. That is faith. And 00:18:08.380 --> 00:18:12.160 it's more than enough. If this episode connected 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:16.259 with a tired place in your soul, we get that. 00:18:17.819 --> 00:18:20.660 If you notice someone else that's struggling 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:23.660 with that, share that with them, not as a passive 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:26.480 -aggressive hint. Don't throw it like a spiritual 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:31.140 grenade, okay? Just encourage someone else with 00:18:31.140 --> 00:18:36.279 it, if it would help. Thanks for listening to 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:38.539 Grace on the Grind today, where we keep the coffee 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:42.160 strong and our faith stronger. Success didn't 00:18:42.160 --> 00:18:45.920 define the finish line. Faith does. We'll see 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:46.500 you in the next cup.