WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.280 Welcome to episode 21. Today, and actually for the entire week, 2 00:00:05.280 --> 00:00:12.080 we're going to take a posture of peace by practicing possibility. 3 00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:17.280 Hi, I'm Lindsay Van Zale. Posture is a podcast that serves a short audible 4 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.240 fist bump to remind you that God is in everything. 5 00:00:20.240 --> 00:00:23.760 Together, we're going to be emboldened to take a daily posture 6 00:00:23.760 --> 00:00:26.800 of perfect peace. 7 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:34.000 In the book of Esther, chapter 4, verses 12 through 14, there's a story that you 8 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.680 may be familiar with. It's a story of Queen Esther, and it's 9 00:00:37.680 --> 00:00:40.960 when she is warned that there is danger 10 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:45.360 coming to the Jews, and Mordecai asks her specifically to do 11 00:00:45.360 --> 00:00:48.800 something, to use her influence and her position 12 00:00:48.800 --> 00:00:52.000 to help. And he says this, he says, 13 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.640 So if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the 14 00:00:56.640 --> 00:00:59.840 Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will 15 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:04.319 perish, and who knows whether you did not come to 16 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:09.280 the kingdom for such a time as this. 17 00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:13.760 You know, it's really easy to distance ourselves from the heroic 18 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.000 acts we read about in scripture, you know, because it was a long time ago, 19 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:20.960 and it was all in a very different context than what we find ourselves 20 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:24.000 today, and the ancients, you know, didn't have 21 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.960 to-do lists and nine-to-five jobs and Instagram 22 00:01:26.960 --> 00:01:34.080 to worry about. Moses rescued a nation, David slayed a giant, Esther saved an 23 00:01:34.080 --> 00:01:38.160 entire race of people, and so in comparison to 24 00:01:38.160 --> 00:01:41.600 these heroic acts that I find in scripture, 25 00:01:41.600 --> 00:01:46.560 my life seems pretty mundane, and I find myself thinking, maybe you've 26 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:52.480 thought this to yourself as well, is this all there is? 27 00:01:52.480 --> 00:01:56.240 Have you ever just looked at your life and felt like it's insignificant, 28 00:01:56.240 --> 00:02:00.080 not making a difference, not making much of an impact? 29 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:04.640 You know, that pull in us to be significant 30 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:08.080 is our DNA from heaven. We were designed, 31 00:02:08.080 --> 00:02:11.920 every human being, to be significant because 32 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:17.520 we were created in significance by our creator. We are significant to him, 33 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:22.800 and therefore we are drawn to make an impact, to make a difference, 34 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.120 to be significant here on earth. It's a beautiful thing, however 35 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:31.520 it can cause us some time to live with this great tension because 36 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:35.840 we don't feel like we're necessarily slaying giants or changing nations, 37 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:39.120 where, you know, maybe our day looks like we're changing diapers and sitting at 38 00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:43.680 our desk trying to get work done, and what's crazy is that even in all of 39 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:47.440 the mundane, we can sometimes feel 40 00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:52.640 overwhelmed by it. I know I do. You know, some days my schedule just seems 41 00:02:52.640 --> 00:02:57.920 so full, but yet my days seem empty, 42 00:02:57.920 --> 00:03:01.760 and it's tempting to think, you know, I don't actually have what it takes to 43 00:03:01.760 --> 00:03:06.800 change the world because I can't even really right now get through my Monday, 44 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:14.240 but for those of us who have said yes to Jesus, the Bible isn't just a story. 45 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:20.080 It's our history, and these heroic people are not characters. 46 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:24.720 They are our spiritual ancestors, so this type of 47 00:03:24.720 --> 00:03:32.560 significant behavior runs in our family. We're called to it. We were born for it. 48 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:36.880 You know, the Lord is eager to partner with us 49 00:03:36.880 --> 00:03:40.880 in taking ground for his kingdom, and often 50 00:03:40.880 --> 00:03:46.080 it's the ground that's right beneath our feet. 51 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:53.600 God is an expert, if you will, in leveraging the mundane to show 52 00:03:53.600 --> 00:03:59.120 the miraculous, but we have to place our expectations on that 53 00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:05.440 instead of always being fearful, overwhelmed, confused by, 54 00:04:05.440 --> 00:04:12.960 stuck in the inferior. God is so kind. You know, I went to him 55 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.160 recently because I was feeling overwhelmed, and 56 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:19.519 then I was guilty for feeling overwhelmed because I'm like, 57 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:24.000 you know, it's just mundane. It's not like I'm changing nations, you know, 58 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.360 and the Lord was so kind in his response. He said, Lindsay, 59 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:31.920 you're overwhelmed with life right now because you are not in the habit 60 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:39.440 of practicing possibility with a God who can do the impossible. 61 00:04:39.440 --> 00:04:43.760 Two scriptures sprang into my heart, the first being 2 Corinthians 3.17, 62 00:04:43.760 --> 00:04:48.000 which says, where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and then the other 63 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:52.480 scripture was Romans 8.11, which says, and if the spirit of him who raised 64 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:58.400 Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will 65 00:04:58.400 --> 00:04:59.920 also give life to your 66 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.080 mortal bodies because his spirit lives in you. 67 00:05:03.900 --> 00:05:05.480 Did you catch that? 68 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:11.000 The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and I. 69 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:17.040 And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So that means wherever we go, wherever we sit or stand, 70 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:20.620 there is freedom. There is possibility 71 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:22.760 because of who 72 00:05:22.760 --> 00:05:24.760 lives within us. 73 00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:29.680 Again, God is eager to partner with us in taking ground. So this is what I would like you to do today. 74 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:36.440 Practicing possibility. At your next work meeting, consider this. If God is in you and 75 00:05:36.640 --> 00:05:42.540 you are sitting in that meeting, then God is in that meeting. And if God is in that meeting, then what is 76 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:44.600 possible? 77 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:49.720 When you're sitting at your next family dinner, if God is in you and you are in your family, 78 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:55.480 then God is in your family. And if God is in your family, then what is possible? 79 00:05:56.360 --> 00:06:03.640 At your next doctor appointment, whether you're the doctor who's giving medical care or the one receiving care, 80 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:10.080 consider this. If God is in you and you are sitting in that appointment, then God is in that appointment. 81 00:06:10.080 --> 00:06:12.080 And if God is in that appointment, 82 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:14.480 what is possible? 83 00:06:16.280 --> 00:06:22.080 We serve a God who loves to leverage the mundane to show off his miraculous. Let's place our 84 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.280 expectation on him today and not place our expectation on 85 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:31.600 circumstances, situations, other people, even our own 86 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:36.800 natural ability. Let's practice possibility today by asking this simple question. 87 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:41.560 God is in me and I am here. Then what is possible? 88 00:06:42.320 --> 00:06:49.480 The promise of perfect peace is found in Isaiah 26 3 and in Hebrew it is shalom 89 00:06:49.760 --> 00:06:50.760 shalom. 90 00:06:50.760 --> 00:06:58.400 Meaning complete wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. This is who you are in Jesus. 91 00:06:58.960 --> 00:07:00.960 Let's declare this together. 92 00:07:01.160 --> 00:07:07.240 Today, I am kept in perfect peace. With my whole heart, I trust the Lord. 93 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:11.480 I am strong. I am victorious. I am whole. 94 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:16.720 Remember friend, you are a living testimony of Jesus's ultimate win. 95 00:07:17.200 --> 00:07:22.560 Not because of anything you did, but because of what he did for you. With every step you take today, 96 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:28.000 you're putting Jesus's victory on display and Satan's defeat on replay.