Transcription
You know, the enemy will come to you when you're chooching, when you're up, when you got a full head of steam and things are going well. You're spending time in the forge. You're eating clean whole foods. You're retaining your seed. You're spending time in worship. You're spending time in prayer. You're reading the book. He'll come to you and put a sickness or something on you. And that seems to be the thing that always trips me up. And pretty soon, you're off your diet and you're making excuses. I can't go to Well, I'm back. I'm back.
But it doesn't really matter if you fall down. It makes no difference. You never I don't know. I I can only speak for myself. I you you just have ups and downs. You have times that that that you do well and times that you don't do well. And that that never doesn't really matter. I mean, that is the contrast of life that we need. If it was happy, happy happy all the time, you know, that would get tedious and monotonous. It's you have to get down in the mud in the trenches from time to time to get some perspective so you can truly enjoy the high points. That's just the fallen state that we live in.
So don't think that some evil has come upon you and I'm preaching to myself here when you have a difficult time or things God seems that he has turned his as the as the good book says as the heavens have turned to solid brass meaning that there is no interaction. You can't God can't hear you. You can't hear him. It's as if there's been a barrier a solid brass barrier that is hemming you in obstructing you from the love of God. Don't think that something evil has come upon you.
It's how I would explain that is you're going forward learning to ride the bike. We've all experienced this personally or we had kids and pretty soon your your father your your father's running along with you holding you up encouraging you and you're pedaling and you're starting to balance and you're doing good and you're happy a and you're going on your own steam and then all and all a sudden you look back and you see dad's not holding the bike anymore. It's not that dad wants you to crash. He knows that unless he takes the hands off the seat and you learn to ride and to balance on your own that you'll never progress. You'll never move beyond the training wheels. Sometimes God will carry you, especially when you're in moments of deep despair, give you just a little bit of extra, but ultimately he wants you up on your two feet moving forward, trusting him, walking with him, not being carried by him all the time.
And on those times, you know, when I remember looking back, the moment I realized that dad wasn't holding the bike anymore and wasn't running along beside me, you immediately are filled with terror. and you go into the ditch and you crash and you cry, bang up your knee. Dad comes up, brushes you off, puts you back on the bike, point you in the right direction, and here we go. I mean, that really is the analogy. Excuse me. I'm still not over the u the boweapon that was attacking my lungs.
It doesn't make any difference how you feel. How I feel, gentlemen. I know we like to have that warm fuzzy that burning in the bosom as our Mormon friends like to call it. But that's not a state that you can stay in. You need to we need to grow up. We need to walk on our own two feet. And sometimes God will release you and let you go forward and see how you do. And uh that's just part of it. So it doesn't matter how you feel. What matters is if you've fallen off, if you've not going to the forge, if you've made compromises with alcohol, pornography, if you've fallen short of our original plan that we were starting, it doesn't make any difference. The only thing that matters is that you get back on it. You get back on it and you start once again.
It really does. If you want to troll and make the adversary super super mad and defeat him and take away his joy and his glee of watching you suffer and your family suffer, then you just keep getting up and dusting yourself off and just keep moving forward. That's really where it is. That's the mark of a man. It isn't usually a great thing that we do, some amazing act. It is consistently not giving up just moving towards the market that the target just plotting along moving forward always remembering gentlemen that we were never meant to be in this environment. This is not our home. Don't be surprised that you're not happy here. Don't be surprised if you're always uneasy. If you can't find peace or contentment, it's only natural. It only tells you that your body is awake. Your your body and soul is waking up to the fact that this is not my home. I am in enemy occupied uh territory. I was never designed to live in this hell hole.
And also remember this is a short time. The race is long. It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. And those that will complete the race will have their reward. And the re reward is greater than you could possibly imagine. eye is not seen, nor has it entered into the hearts of man the things that God has in store for those who love him and keep his commandments. [Music]