Ep 119: Ice Cream and Angels

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What can a chance encounter 
teach us about providential 

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encouragement? 
Let's talk about that. 

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Welcome to the show. 
I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for 

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your Sunday morning drive, the 
short podcast with the goal of 

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providing some motivation, Dr. 
and encouragement and helping 

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you to recenter your mind on 
those spiritual things on a 

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Sunday morning just like this or
whenever you listen. 

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And I also wanted to just say 
thank you to those that filled 

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out the listener survey. 
I'm leaving it open one more 

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week, but the response has been 
great and I hope to, as always, 

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make the show better. 
Anyway, thanks. 

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Before we get started, I want to
put out there that the story 

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I'll share today is a personal 
one, and to be honest, I was 

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hesitant about using it on the 
show. 

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It deals with past 
discouragement, and what I see 

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is God's providential help. 
And on that note, I want to 

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highlight that it's not my goal 
to unpack a deep theological 

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study, certainly not of angels 
and the divine in under 8 

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minutes. 
Rather, my goal is to encourage 

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and give God the glory. 
But if you would like to learn 

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more about angels, I've included
a link in the show notes to a 

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series of podcast episodes by 
Doctor Ed Gallagher. 

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Check them out now. 
I pray this is encouraging. 

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I hope you hear me out, and 
let's go ahead and get the show 

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on the road. 
This is episode 119, Ice cream 

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and angels. 
Let's go to church. 

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Are we there yet? 
God has blessed us in some 

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pretty astounding ways as His 
people. 

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But sometimes we forget. 
Sometimes we need to be reminded

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of that. 
Isn't it interesting how when we

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need that reminder the most, it 
seems that God providentially 

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provides it? 
And often that reminder hits us 

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when we pick up our Bibles and 
stumble across a passage like 

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Matthew 1029 through 31. 
Are not 2 sparrows sold for a 

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cent, and yet not one of them 
will fall to the ground apart 

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from your Father? 
But the very hairs of your head 

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are all numbered, so do not. 
You are more valuable than many 

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sparrows. 
Sometimes it's an encounter with

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our brethren, or a text from a 
friend out of the blue. 

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And sometimes that reminder 
comes from somewhere else and 

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someone else all together. 
And if you'll spare me a moment,

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I'd like to share one of those 
moments from my life with you, 

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and I hope you'll be encouraged.
I think we all have days like 

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this. 
Those days in your Christian 

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walk where something 
devastatingly discouraging has 

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happened. 
A betrayal by a closer than 

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family brother or sister may be 
a moment when an eldership fails

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to have your back. 
An unimaginable loss in your 

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family that leaves you feeling 
without direction and lost. 

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Or just the weariness that 
sometimes sets into our bones 

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when we try to do too much 
without help. 

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You know what I'm talking about?
Those days, right or wrong, 

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where we want to throw up our 
hands and petulantly stomp away 

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like a child and just leave the 
master's work altogether? 

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Those days when we ask, is it 
worth it? 

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Am I doing anything of value for
God? 

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Does he care? 
Sometimes maybe we phrase it 

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like this. 
Why did this happen to me? 

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Well, a few years back, my wife 
and I found ourselves in just 

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such a situation. 
Our hearts were burdened with 

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sorrow, and from our own limited
and perhaps somewhat 

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overdramatic view, all was lost.
We were beside ourselves with 

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grief and frustration and hurt, 
and we did not know what to do. 

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We spent much time in prayer to 
God, asking for guidance and 

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getting advice from those around
us that we knew had been through

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similar things. 
And they're encouragement was to

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simply press on and trust God. 
But as I'm sure you know, the 

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heart sometimes doesn't want to 
hear the advice that the head so

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badly needs. 
The heart wants to wallow, to 

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Stew in it just for a bit. 
Well, in order to lift our 

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spirits and maybe clear our 
heads, I suggested we turn to 

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that great physician, the great 
comforter, that helper in times 

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of trouble, ice cream. 
So off to Dairy Queen we went, 

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and there we were, sitting in 
our booth with our children, 

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licking our wounds and our ice 
cream cones, feeling miserable 

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and sorry for ourselves, having 
forgotten how blessed we were. 

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Then, out of nowhere, this 
disheveled man that we'd not 

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seen when we walked into the 
restaurant was standing right 

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next to our table. 
I was prepared to be annoyed. 

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I remember thinking, Buddy, this
is not the time. 

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Without any prompting, he opened
his mouth and he said this. 

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I need to tell you something. 
You have a beautiful family and 

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wonderful children. 
God has really blessed you. 

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Keep up the good work. 
What a reminder. 

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I remember Whitney and I 
immediately looking at each 

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other, just absolutely shocked. 
Shocked that we had just heard 

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exactly what we needed to hear 
when we needed to hear it. 

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We had found this great 
encouragement from an unexpected

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and unknown source. 
When we turned back to look at 

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this random stranger, he was 
gone. 

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I assume he had possibly run to 
the bathroom or walked up to the

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counter where he couldn't be 
seen. 

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But regardless, Whitney and I 
were dumbfounded. 

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And when we'd recovered from 
that momentary pause, we both 

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had the same question. 
I remember us looking at each 

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other and just saying, Was that 
an Angel? 

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Now, I certainly don't intend to
unpack or debate centuries of 

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theological thought on how and 
where God's messengers act or 

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serve in the present age. 
Far greater minds than myself 

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have many, many things things to
say about it, but I am willing 

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to bet that none of them have 
ever written at length about the

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heavenly host assembling in a 
Dairy Queen. 

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What I can tell you is that I 
believe that whoever or whatever

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this gentleman was, he was 
needed, as was his message to 

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two young discouraged servants. 
Whitney and I certainly thanked 

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God for him in our prayer that 
night, and I firmly ascribe him 

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to God's Providence because 
having heard His words, we 

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finished our ice cream and wiped
up the kids. 

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We dusted ourselves off, hugged 
our children, thanked our God, 

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and got back to work. 
I share this story because maybe

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you too, this morning are 
driving to worship because you 

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need to be sustained in your 
commitment to God and by the 

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love of your brethren. 
Maybe you're hanging on by a 

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thread and maybe that thread has
snapped and you are sitting at 

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home this morning saying I just 
can't do it today. 

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Maybe you are desperately in 
need of encouragement, or maybe 

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you know someone that needs 
help. 

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Maybe God wants to use you in 
that capacity to minister to 

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them because God's Providence is
so, so good. 

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And don't discount the idea that
maybe you, like Esther, might be

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used to help others in need, 
Mordecai tells her in Esther 

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414. 
For if you remain silent at this

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time, relief and deliverance 
will arise for the Jews from 

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another place, and you and your 
father's house will perish. 

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And who knows whether you have 
not attained royalty for such a 

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time, time as this. 
We as Christians are royalty 

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too, a royal priesthood. 
We're part of the Kingdom of 

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heaven. 
We can be used to make a 

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difference. 
Take advantage of those 

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opportunities and don't 
underestimate ordinary moments. 

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God's Providence often wears 
ordinary clothes and apparently 

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also lacks a Blizzard every now 
and then. 

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Well, those are my thoughts for 
you on this Sunday morning 

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drive. 
Now it's time to hear yours. 

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The discussion questions for 
this week are can you think of a

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time when God encouraged you 
through an unexpected person or 

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situation? 
What happened? 

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Why is it often so difficult to 
remember God's blessings when 

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we're discouraged, and how can 
we remind ourselves of them? 

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And who in your life might need 
encouragement this week? 

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And what is 1 practical way you 
could be God's instrument to 

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help them? 
We also have a question for the 

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kids this morning. 
Have you ever made someone smile

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by saying something kind or 
helping them? 

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How do you think that made them 
feel, and do you think it 

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pleased God? 
Hey, thanks for listening. 

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I know this was a little bit of 
a different story, but I hope it

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was beneficial. 
I hope you understand what I was

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getting at. 
I hope if you're discouraged 

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this morning, you find someone 
that'll help you. 

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And I hope that if you know 
someone that's discouraged, 

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you'll spend some time helping 
them. 

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And when you've done that, maybe
go grab some ice cream. 

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Hey, thanks for listening and 
I'll see you Sunday.