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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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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 six.

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You’re listening to episode 213
of the Where Did You See God

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podcast.
Father God, I just thank you

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that you were God and you were
good and I just say Holy Spirit

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move and not just the choosing
of the verse, not just the

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reading the verse, but the
processing of the verse and also

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for whoever is listening that
they would experience you

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through that as well.
So I give you this time, Holy

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Spirit move.
Amen.

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Just got home.
So this is later.

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Usually do it in the morning.
This is the one, This is the

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one.
Is this one or is this 20?

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It’s 2.
Which one of the two is it this

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one?
All right ready y’all ready?

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All right Proverbs 2414.
Know that wisdom is such to your

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soul.
If you find it, there will be a

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future and your hope will not be
cut off.

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I feel like I got to go to
Proverbs 24 for this.

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Know that wisdom is such to your
soul.

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So what is it referencing there?
Proverbs 24 starting and let’s

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go to verse 14.
Since this is no, this is 14.

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Let’s go to verse 13.
Interesting.

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So this is a collection of
sayings in Proverbs 2413 says

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eat honey, my son, for it is
good.

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So you know, little nutrition
honey from the comb is sweet to

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your taste.
Know also that wisdom is like

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honey for you.
Interesting.

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OK, that this is helpful.
If you find it, there is a

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future hope for you and your
hope will not be cut off.

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So eat honey my son, for it is
good.

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Honey from the comb is sweet to
your taste.

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Know also that wisdom is like
honey for you.

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So wisdom is good.
And when you get it right from

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the source, it’s sweet to the
taste.

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And if you’re able to find it,
there is a future hope for you

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and your hope will not be cut
off.

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So just one quick note, this is
the value in exploring different

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translations of Scripture.
There are some people that they,

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there is one translation they
use and that’s it.

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And if that’s you, that’s great
for those that don’t have that

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restriction in place.
As you noted when I read the

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first verse, and I don’t know
what version these actually are,

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I know it’s not NIV, so maybe
ESV.

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It says know that wisdom is such
to your soul and I had no idea

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what such was, but in the NIV it
names it no.

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Also that wisdom is like honey
for you, but it doesn’t mention

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the soul.
Interestingly, if you find it,

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there is a future hope for you
and your hope will not be cut

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off.
So same message, slightly

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different emphasis.
I do think we fear that our hope

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will be cut off sometimes I
think that’s part of our fear.

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And having hope is like we can
accept that hope is something

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that’s not yet, but we are
actually more afraid that hope

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is something that may not be,
that we may lean in and then

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find out that we were wrong.
And honestly, I think that’s

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where I find myself often is
what if I’m wrong about what I

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perceived or assumed?
What if I thought that was God,

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but it was not?
And so there is a fear that this

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hope that I was holding to well,
at some point just sometimes

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suddenly be gone and I’m, I’m
left with nothing, feeling like

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a fool.
And so a key to this then a key

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to this is it’s talking about
finding something so that you

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can have that future hope and
the hopes not cut off.

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So what do you find?
Wisdom.

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Wisdom is honey to your soul.
Your wisdom is good.

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It is sweet.
Wisdom is different from

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knowledge.
Knowledge is having facts,

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wisdoms, knowing what to do with
it.

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That’s a very like concise way
of understanding it.

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But I think this is the other
thing is, is we know where

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knowledge comes from.
It comes from books, it comes

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from researching the Internet
these days, it comes from

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people.
Knowledge can come from a lot of

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practical places.
So where does wisdom come from?

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If wisdom is different than just
conveyed information and 2413

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hits on that.
It’s talking about honey coming

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from the comb, honey coming from
the source.

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If somebody just hands you a jar
of honey, you kind of trust

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where it came from, but you
don’t actually know.

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It’s it’s like the difference
between store bought honey and

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local honey.
There are people that just swear

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by the immense difference in it,
the value in local honey versus

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store bought honey, the purity
of it.

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But also if you get local,
local, local honey, sometimes it

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can help with allergies because
the the pollen and so forth that

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you’re able to get it into your
body in a Safeway and build up.

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You know, I’m not going to get
into this.

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I’m a little, I’m still tired.
Folks did not sleep well.

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So I’m not going to tell you the
nitty gritty of of honey, but

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the point is this, depending on
where you get the honey can

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determine the quality of it, the
value of it.

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So the question is where are we
seeking wisdom?

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Are we seeking store bought
wisdom, easy access, cheap in

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bulk?
Or are we willing to do the work

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to find that local honey wisdom,
wisdom that may not be as easy

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to access, may cost you a little
bit more like the value of that.

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So this is my encouragement to
you.

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If you are feeling like it’s
hard to find hope, and if you’re

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afraid that that hope will get
cut off, Proverbs 2414 gives you

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the answer.
It tells you what to look for.

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Know that wisdom is such, is
honey to your soul.

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If you find it, if you find
wisdom, there will be a future

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hope.
Your hope will not be cut off.

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So the challenge today is to
consider, are you seeking

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wisdom?
And from what source are you

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seeking wisdom?
And when you find it, do you eat

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it or do you say, no, I’m good?
All right, let me pray.

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I got to just thank you that you
were God and you were good.

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And for this word and I think
for this beautiful day, because

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I’m going to sit on the porch
and I pray for the person

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listening that they would get a
sense of where wisdom is and

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they would pursue it.
Last Parents Holy Name, Amen.