Ep 74: Farther Along

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Hey, good morning and welcome to
the show.

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I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for
your Sunday morning drive, the

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short podcast with the goal of
providing some motivation, some

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drive and encouragement on your
way to worship and helping you

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recenter your mind on those
spiritual things on a hectic

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Sunday morning.
We are brought to you by the

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Ministry League network of
podcasts.

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Ministry League offers some
great free resources to help you

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build up your faith and
encourage you throughout your

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week.
And they're available through

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ministryleague.com or you can
always download their app.

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Well, listeners, last week was a
heavy one for many.

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I know it was for me.
And I just wanted you to know

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before we get into the episode
today that you are loved, that

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you are not alone and encourage
you not to let the darkness fool

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you.
The sun is on the horizon.

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And I hope today's episode is
encouraging.

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Let's go ahead and get the show
on the road this morning.

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This is episode 74.
Farther along, let's go to

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church.
Are we there yet?

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Farther along, we'll know all
about it.

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Farther along, we'll understand.
Why have you stopped in the last

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week and ask the question of
why, especially as it relates to

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all the tragedy in life lately.
I know I have, and I'm sure I'm

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not alone in that.
Maybe we asked the question,

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God, why?
Why is a young father not going

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home to his wife and two kids
this week?

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Why are their little children
being harmed in our schools?

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And why is evil celebrated while
your Saints suffer?

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Or maybe we ask why it wasn't
stopped, or maybe even why it

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was allowed to happen.
Maybe in the midst of our grief,

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we cry out like David and say as
he did in Psalm 22, My God, my

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God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping

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me and from the words of my
groaning?

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Oh my God, I cry in the daytime,
but you do not hear.

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Well, friends, I don't have the
answers to these questions.

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No, I don't know why ultimately
suffering is allowed to exist,

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or why it seems that in some
instances the end result is

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deliverance and in the others it
is demise.

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I don't know why we are OFT made
to wonder why it should be thus

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all the day long when sometimes
we cry out to God for something

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miraculous to relieve the
suffering or the persecution

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that we endure.
But like the hymn says, farther

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along we will, and knowing that
there are some things that we

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can take comfort in.
Think back with me, if you

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would, to Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego in Daniel chapter 3.

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Let's set the scene for a
moment.

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These three men are brought
before King Nebuchadnezzar, and

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they're charged with not bowing
to worship the great image that

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he had set up.
And in his rage, the king gives

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them one more chance.
He says if you do not worship

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this idol, then you will be cast
into the fires of this furnace.

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What would we have done?
Would we have wrung our hands?

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Would we have bowed?
Would we have defied the will of

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a king?
Would we have called out to God

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for the miraculous, and in doing
so made his response the hinge

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pin of our faith?
This is a life or death

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situation, but notice what they
say.

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Daniel chapter 316 through 18.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

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replied to the king.
O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need

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to give you an answer concerning
this matter.

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If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from

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the furnace of blazing fire, and
He will deliver us out of your

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hand, O King.
But even if he does not, let it

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be known to you, O King, that we
are not going to serve your gods

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or worship the golden image that
you have set up.

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They say God is able to save us,
but even if He doesn't, we will

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trust in him.
How inspiring.

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You know the rest of the story.
God did not snatch them from the

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flames, but He was with them in
the midst of it.

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He saw them through to the other
side.

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But the trust that these men put
in God did not hinge on his

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action.
Rather, it relied on his

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sovereignty.
You see, Nebuchadnezzar was not

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the king they were submitting
to, it was Yahweh.

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And there's something we can
learn from these three men.

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Trust in God even when we don't
have the answers.

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Sometimes we sit around in
distress and in turmoil and in

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doubt, all because of what is
going on in our lives or in the

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lives of those around us.
And we say, God, if you are

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acting in our lives, show me
something miraculous.

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Do the miraculous thing, pull us
out of the fire, All the wild

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friends failing to realize that
the miraculous life saving thing

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has already been done for us.
Jesus died on the cross and he

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rose again.
John 316 and 17 For God so loved

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the world that he gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever

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believes in Him should not
perish, but have ever lasting

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life.
For God did not send his Son

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into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world

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through Him might be saved.
No, we might not have all the

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answers, but I know who does,
and He has already saved us from

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the flames, both in this life
and in the next.

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And you know, as long as I know
that, I'll wait for answers to

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those other questions till I'm a
little bit further along.

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The old hymn says Faithful till
death, said our loving master.

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A few more days to labor and
wait.

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The toil of the road will then
seem as nothing as we sweep

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through that beautiful gate.
So cheer up my brother, live in

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the sunshine.
We'll understand.

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Well, those are my thoughts for
your Sunday morning drive.

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Now it's time to hear yours.
Our discussion questions for

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this week are, why do we
sometimes lose sight of the fact

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that the victory has already
been won?

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What can we do to build our
reliance and trust in God and

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the promises of His Son?
And what can we do this week to

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reach out and encourage someone
who is struggling with these

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same questions?