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In 2025, I found myself
wrestling with frustration that

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God was not giving me joy.
And then God very patiently told

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me what was actually happening.
It wasn’t that he was

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withholding joy, it was that I
was rejecting it.

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What followed was an invitation
to spend 30 days looking at 30

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passages on Joy and turning it
into a devotional called

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00:00:21,320 –> 00:00:24,800
Rejecting Joy No longer.
You’d think I would have learned

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that coming into 2026, I was
wrestling with hope.

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God, why are you making me so
hopeless?

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And God very patiently let me
know the reality.

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He wasn’t withholding hope.
I was rejecting it.

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And so now here I am, spending
30 days looking at 30 passages

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on hope.
And my hope is that this

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encourages you.
One thing that’s different this

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year is I felt like God was
inviting me to be publicly

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transparent with my processing.
To actually go live on social

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media, pull out a random verse,
and then read and process

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through it on camera.
This isn’t me coming to you as

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an expert on hope, but me coming
to you honestly as someone

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wrestling with hope.
And by witnessing that some of

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you might feel less alone, may
feel seen and understood, may

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end up being encouraged in a way
that is far deeper than the best

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platitude.
So join me as I spend 30 days

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navigating 30 passages on Hope.
This is day 15.

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You’re listening to episode 222
of the Where Did You See God

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podcast.
Yes, still tired yes God, it’s

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still good yes, we’re going to
pull a verse.

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It’s only Brian, but I just
thinking that you were God and

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you were good for the ways that
you move for waking me today.

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Thank you for Your word and
particularly your words on hope.

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And we acknowledge it’s a lot we
don’t understand.

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So Holy Spirit, I invite you to
guide my fingers to a verse,

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guide my mind to process that
verse.

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Guide not just my ears, but the
ears of those listening to hear

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what it is you want to say.
Holy Spirit moved and pray that

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you are glorified.
Amen.

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Well, let’s see what we got
here.

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We’re in Romans again.
Were we in Romans yesterday?

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Yes, but we’re a little earlier
in Romans, Romans 824 and 25.

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For in this hope we were saved.
Now hope that is seen is not

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hope for who hopes for what he
sees.

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But if we hope for what we do
not see, we wait for it with

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patience.
For in this hope we were saved.

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Now, hope that is seen is not
hope for who hopes for what he

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sees.
But if we hope for what we do

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not see, we wait for it with
patience.

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And you have to, right?
If you don’t wait for something

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you can’t see with patience,
then you’re not going to wait

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for it.
Pulling up a couple things here

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first, just curious.
Paul is defining hope here.

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I’m curious how Miriam and
Webster define hope.

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Feel like I’m doing a high
school essay.

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Merriam Webster defines hope as
to cherish a desire with

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anticipation to want something
to happen or be true, to desire

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with expectation of obtainment,
or fulfillment to expect with

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confidence.
Like trust, hope is a desire

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accompanied by expectation of
obtaining what is desired or

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belief that it is obtainable.
So there you go.

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There’s some some definitions of
hope.

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We see some pieces in this.
But hope is at its very core,

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something that cannot be pinned
down in the way that we want it

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to be pinned down.
But I wanted to also pull up

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what this hope is for.
In this hope, we were saved.

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Romans 824.
I’m gonna, I’m gonna scoot back

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even more.
The title of this section is

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Present Suffering and Future
Glory.

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I consider that our present
sufferings are not worth

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comparing with the glory that
will be revealed in us.

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For the creation waits and eager
expectation for the children or

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God to be revealed.
For the creation was subjected

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to frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the

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one who subjected it, in hope
that the creation itself will be

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liberated from its bondage to
decay and brought into the

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freedom and glory of the
children of God.

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We know that the whole creation
has been groaning as in pains of

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childbirth, right up to the
present time.

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Not only so, but we ourselves,
who have the first fruits of the

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Spirit, grown inwardly as we
wait eagerly for our adoption to

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sonship, the redemption of our
bodies.

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For in this hope we were saved,
but hope that is seen is no hope

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at all.
Who hopes for what they already

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have?
But if we hope for what we do

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not yet have, we wait for it
patiently.

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In the same way the Spirit helps
us in our weakness.

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We do not know what we ought to
pray for, but the Spirit himself

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00:05:42,120 –> 00:05:44,920
intercedes for us through
wordless groans.

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And we who searches our hearts
knows the mind of the Spirit,

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because the Spirit intercedes
for God’s people in accordance

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with the will of God.
And we know that in all things

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God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been

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called according to his purpose.
There’s a lot of stuff in there

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we might not have expected,
stuff we had heard before out of

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context.
And the greater context of this

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is this invitation to groaning.
There’s a couple invitations to

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groaning.
The first groaning is of

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creation.
We know that the whole creation

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has been groaning, as in pains
of childbirth right up to the

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present time.
Creation was subject to

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frustration, not by its own
choice, but by the will of the

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one who subjected it, and hope
that the creation itself will be

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liberated from its bondage to
decay and brought into the

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freedom and glory of the
children of God.

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It starts off talking about this
present suffering and this glory

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that will be revealed, and that
glory is incomparable.

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I mean, all that suffering
before it does not compare that

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there is this lesser state of
being.

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And it talks about the creation,
this decay, all things fade away

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and die.
Scripture says that everything

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like the grass Withers and
everything fades away except for

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God, except for his Kingdom.
And so even creation understands

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that the current state it’s in
is a lesser state.

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And not only so, but we
ourselves who have the first

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fruits of the Spirit.
So we’ve even got access to the

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Spirit grown inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption of

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sonship, the redemption of our
bodies.

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So even we inwardly there’s
something in us that understands

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that we are incomplete, that we
are lesser than what we were

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actually created to be and what
we are being made into.

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So there’s this groaning and it
gives the image between these

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two things of the the pains of
childbirth.

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I mean, most people have seen a
portrayal of it on a movie or a

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show, but if you’ve experience
childbirth or if you’ve directly

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witnessed it, you know there is
a a tremendous amount of pain

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and groaning, more than one
would ever want to endure.

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And they endure it because they
know they know something is

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coming.
Not only do they know something

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is going, they know that thing
is worth it.

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Not only do they know that thing
is worth the work, but they have

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longed for that thing, that
baby, that child.

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And so this is the nature of the
groaning, right?

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That there’s some part of us,
you know, goes back to day one

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of this hope exploration and how
the soul recognizes something

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that the body, mind and heart
don’t.

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The soul recognizes something.
The soul recognizes that, yes,

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the way things are aren’t good,
but also that there is something

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good ahead.
Not just good, but the

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quintessence of good.
And there is this, this longing

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for it, this longing to be done
with the decay and to finally be

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brought into the fullness.
Meanwhile, you know our mind,

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body, heart may perceive this
but not understand it, may just

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feel the tension and may apply
it to the other things in life.

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This is why the Scripture says,
but we don’t wrestle against

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flesh and blood.
We tend to perceive things

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beyond our understanding and
then apply it to the stuff that

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we understand.
So there may be this, you know,

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as that verse puts it, the
spiritual warfare going on and

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our limited selves.
We blame it on Frank.

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Frank’s causing my dismay.
I’m sorry, Frank, if you’re

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listening, we’re good.
And there’s a third groaning.

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In the same way, the Spirit
helps us in our weakness.

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Spirit is aware, yes, we are in
a state of weakness.

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We cannot do this.
We cannot get to where we need

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to be.
And the Spirit helps us in that.

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We do not know what we ought to
pray for because we don’t even

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understand what’s going on.
Like how do you pray when you

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don’t understand the nature of
reality?

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When you’re caught up in flesh
and blood and there’s a

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spiritual war going on?
Like how, how do you even begin

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to pray?
We do not know what we ought to

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pray for, but the Spirit himself
intercedes for us.

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Praise on our behalf, steps in
through wordless groans, and

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it’s it’s like even the Spirit
longs for this thing for us and

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also knows that it is not yet
time.

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He knows how much better what is
coming will be for us, but knows

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it is not time to just make that
happen for us right now.

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And this is hard for us because
we want it here and now.

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And so there is this hope of
something greater.

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And then there is this awareness
that that greater is not yet

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accessible to us.
And there’s groaning around

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this, as in the pains of
childbirth.

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But but there is this hope that
this thing, this, this reality,

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none of our present sufferings
are going to compare.

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They’re not even worth
comparing.

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Like it’s not just that they
can’t compare, it’s not even

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worth it.
There’s no comparison.

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Don’t waste your time.
And it’s in this hope.

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It’s in the hope of this that we
were saved.

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But hope that is seen is no hope
at all.

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Who hopes for what they already
have?

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But we hope for what we do not
yet have.

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And we wait for it patiently.
And therein is the rub.

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How do we wait for it patiently?
And I hear 2 pieces in here.

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One, it’s hard to wait for
something patiently if you don’t

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understand what you’re waiting
for.

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Not saying that we need to to
see this, but it’s like we’ve

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touched on a number of times
over the last couple weeks.

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How do we position ourselves to
choose to believe that this hope

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is real?
That the content of this hope is

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00:12:12,440 –> 00:12:16,560
real?
Because if we did believe that

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our present sufferings are not
worth comparing with the glory

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00:12:19,680 –> 00:12:23,000
that will be revealed in us, If
we actually did choose to

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believe that, then we would not
let our present sufferings stop

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00:12:27,400 –> 00:12:29,960
it.
We would not let our present

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00:12:29,960 –> 00:12:33,080
sufferings dominate our minds
because we would know they don’t

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compare to what’s going to
happen.

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00:12:34,360 –> 00:12:35,800
So do I like the present
sufferings?

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00:12:35,800 –> 00:12:37,560
Absolutely not.
Do I know how to get through

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00:12:37,560 –> 00:12:38,280
them?
No.

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00:12:38,520 –> 00:12:45,400
But I do choose to believe that
they’re not even worth comparing

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00:12:46,120 –> 00:12:50,000
to what God is going to do.
So that’s the first piece.

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00:12:50,440 –> 00:12:56,520
Do we decide to accept that
reality even while we will not

202
00:12:56,520 –> 00:12:58,040
see it?
Not just cannot see it, but will

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00:12:58,040 –> 00:13:04,360
not see it?
And two, will we accept that

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00:13:04,800 –> 00:13:09,920
that reality is not gained by
our best efforts, by our

205
00:13:09,920 –> 00:13:13,760
strength, by our knowledge, by
our spirituality, by anything

206
00:13:13,760 –> 00:13:17,680
that we can muster, but that we
need the spirit?

207
00:13:19,400 –> 00:13:21,600
The spirit helps us and our
weakness.

208
00:13:22,000 –> 00:13:27,840
Can we accept that we are weak
and this will play out

209
00:13:28,360 –> 00:13:32,240
differently for different people
in one end of the spectrum, for

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00:13:32,240 –> 00:13:35,440
the person that might learn more
towards independence,

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00:13:35,440 –> 00:13:38,240
self-sufficiency, maybe even
towards pride.

212
00:13:38,640 –> 00:13:43,240
Owning weakness is hard because
we’ve been told weakness is bad

213
00:13:43,240 –> 00:13:47,720
and wrong.
And weakness can be defeated if

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00:13:47,720 –> 00:13:49,840
you just work hard enough, if
you just learn enough, if you

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00:13:49,840 –> 00:13:53,400
just accomplish enough, if you
just have enough resources, you

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00:13:53,400 –> 00:13:57,160
can actually avoid being weak.
And this passage is inviting you

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00:13:57,160 –> 00:13:59,320
to embrace being weak, not avoid
it.

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00:13:59,840 –> 00:14:01,960
That’s going to take humility.
That’s going to put you in some

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situations that you will
realize, oh, I, I could get out

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of this, but because I’m
choosing to embrace weakness,

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I’m about to let myself get hurt
or get misrepresented.

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That’s a hard thing.
That’s a hard thing you got to

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decide is your life for you or
for God, and that’s a hard

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thing.
The other end of the spectrum is

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those who know they are weak and
therefore are disqualified, are

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unworthy, are broken, are
ruined.

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Absolutely no.
I know that I’m weak and that’s

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why there’s no point.
Why bother?

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Like the invitation there is to
say that your weakness does not

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define you.
Your weakness is a reality of

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the current version of you, that
you are actually being brought

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into something greater, as it
puts it.

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We groan in early as we wait
eagerly for our adoption to

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sonship, the redemption of our
bodies.

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So Sonship truly being God’s
children, adoption that we were

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chosen into that, not that we
earned it or deserved it or it

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was natural.
We were adopted to sonship.

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And there’s the redemption of
our bodies.

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If something’s not broken, if
something’s not limited, it

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doesn’t need to be redeemed.
So how do we accept on that

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spectrum that our weakness does
not define us and our weakness

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is not permanent?
And in those spaces, when we

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accept the reality of weakness,
we can then say, all right, Holy

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Spirit, I need you pray with
wordless groans on my behalf

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’cause I don’t even know what to
pray.

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So we’re getting a lot, a lot
out of Romans 8.

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There’s a lot to sit with in
this.

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So I would encourage you to go
through that, that whole

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passage, ’cause it keeps on
going.

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It gets into the more than
conquerors.

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Man, oh man, there’s just so
much richness in here.

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But we came here for verses 24
and 25.

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And so this is where I want to
leave us for in this hope.

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So there is a hope.
There is a hope that we are

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invited to lean into.
For in this hope, we were saved.

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But hope that is seen is no hope
at all.

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There is an acknowledgement that
can’t see it.

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No, like guys like, yeah, no,
I’m sorry.

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You, you, you do not have the
eyes and ears to really perceive

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this.
Also, it’s not yet it is to

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come.
It’s like the baby that exists

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but labor is still happening.
Almost here, actually here, but

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not yet here.
Who hopes for what they already

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have?
If you got it, then there’s

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nothing to hope for.
It’s done.

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We’re invited to this face of
hope, this unique period of time

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that exists between before the
thing exists and when the thing

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exists and the awareness that
The thing is coming.

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But if we hope for what we do
not yet have, we wait for it

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patiently.
Do we believe that this hope is

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real?
Are we willing to concede our

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weakness and invite the Spirit
to move?

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And if so, because of our
healthy understanding of reality

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and our healthy dependence on
the Spirit, we will find the

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capacity for patience even as
the present sufferings continue.

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In reality that a lot of what
we’re talking about is an

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eternity.
We will have the ability to be

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patient.
Romans 2425 For in this hope we

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were saved.
Now hope that a scene is not

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hope for who hopes for what he
sees.

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But if we hope for what we do
not see, we wait for it

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patiently.
So Father God is just thinking

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that you are God and you are
good.

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And we acknowledge that it is
hard for us to wait patiently

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and it is hard for us to hope
because we want to see it.

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It’s hard for us to understand
that there is something that is

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so great that our present
sufferings don’t even register.

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So we can see it.
All that and we say, Holy Spirit

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00:18:04,000 –> 00:18:06,880
move and our understandings and
our thoughts and any places that

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the present sufferings are
dwarfing our eyes on you

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readjust our vision.
That’s very much Holy name,

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Amen.