Facing Trials? God Provides a Team!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Welcome back to the Iron Saints Podcast with your host, Dan Willis.

Welcome back, Saints. I am excited to get back at Luke again this week. Had a crazy busy weekend, so I wasn't able to get out that Saturday episode. So sorry about that for those of you that may have been hoping to hear that, but we are going to get right back into Luke today. I'm excited to do that. Huge shout out for all of you guys that are listening on all the platforms. We are on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and about a dozen other directories right now. If you guys would prefer to listen to it regularly there, please take the time to head over there and set yourself up. I will be pushing this out to all of those channels. But without further ado, let's get down to it. So excited to keep going on Luke here today, guys. We finished last week having done the birth of John, birth of Jesus, Zechariah's prophecy. Now we're heading into baby Jesus, little baby Jesus. I'm excited to get going this week. As always, guys, you're welcome to continue listening wherever you may be, but I am now available On Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, as well as about a dozen other directories. So please take the time to go over and listen where you prefer. But without further ado, we're going to hop into Luke here. Luke chapter 2, verse 22. I'll be reading from the ESV. Feel free to follow along whatever translation you would like. If you're in the car, if you're at work, I'm going to read it for you guys so you're able to just listen. So when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord. Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or 2 young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms, And blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. And his father and his mother were marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, So that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband 7 years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping and fasting in prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour, she began to give thanks to God and to speak to him of all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. How amazing is this, guys? It's not just that God fulfills the prophecy in Christ. It's not just that. He has other folks that have been waiting around, waiting their entire life, and they happen to be at the right place at the right moment. And that's happenchance or luck, or there's a lot of those words that get thrown around. But the reality is it's not. It's a designed plan. We see Simeon, who's been waiting his entire life for this baby to show up, and bam, it's there. And the immediate proclamation is, This is the salvation of the Gentiles. That's a huge statement. That's not a small declaration. That's a massive statement. The Gentiles find salvation in the coming of the Lord. Everybody in Israel was waiting for a Messiah. The Gentiles had no clue. But here comes a Christ that is going to save all. And we know this from the get-go. This is a remarkable thing. Whether, whether slave or free, Jew, Greek, it didn't matter. You were going to see salvation in Christ. How amazing is that? And immediately after the declaration of that, we see people pipe up in wonder, people worshiping, people praising. So what's the application for us on this scripture today? I'd say take a look around. God doesn't just operate on happenstance and chance. His plan and purpose are clear, and oftentimes it's not just out of our own work and device, but the people that he puts around us as well. If you're going through a challenge, if you're facing some work trials heading into a Monday, I know that can be a lot of work for folks. If you're facing challenges, whether you're facing adversity, if you're facing hardship, take a look at the people around you. Oftentimes God has put people in your circle, in your, in your spheres of, of either social or work, and they're there to help. God has provided you people that can give you direction, people that can support you, people that can cry out. This is what we see God doing. Always test that with the scripture. Always come back to the scripture. But Realize that in fellowship with those around you, you can do some pretty amazing things. So if you're feeling the struggle, if you're feeling the trial today, I would challenge you to look around yourself and say, who are the people that God has placed in my life to face this trial? Do I have to go this alone, or am I a part of a bigger body that's there to support me? And the Lord has provided me that support. All right, guys, we're going to get into the prayer section now. I did have a couple of people shoot me prayer requests last week, so I am going to pray for them. As always, guys, if you have prayer requests, feel free to drop me a DM or a post in social media, or you can email me directly. All of those are in the description for this podcast episode. But anybody that submits a prayer request, I will be doing a prayer at the end of every episode, and all the prayer requests will be anonymous. So it will either be under pseudonym or first name only. So you have that assurance. But let's get down to it here. Lord, thank you so much for the blessings that you've shown us. Thank you for your word and that we're able to listen open and freely to your scriptures like this. Thank you so much that in the trials that you present to us, in our works that we need to get done as we head into this week, we don't go it alone. You're with us, of course, But you also provide us amazing fellowship around us that have the tools and the abilities that we need to help us to succeed. Lord, I lift up John to you as he faces a bout in the hospital. Lord, he's not sure exactly what's going on. I just pray that you would be with the physicians that are there. I also lift up Tom to you and his wife, Lord, as she is recovering at home. I just pray that that would go well. I pray for Richie as he is trying to come back to the Lord's word. He's trying to get focused in his life, get right in his life with God. I just pray that you would walk alongside him, that you would show him those tools, and that you would help him to prosper, Lord. Pray for all the men that are listening here today, that the saints would walk a righteous week this week, that they would seek you in their work, but also in their home lives, as husbands, as fathers, as brothers, as sons, that they would walk in a glorifying way to you, Lord. In your name we pray. That's it for today, guys. Again, as always, we are on those new platforms, so Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify. If you're listening there, please take the time to give me a review. I would love to see your feedback on the show, what I could do to improve. And until tomorrow, have Have a great day. Catch you then.

Thank you for listening to the Iron Saints Podcast. If you are looking to share your prayer requests, check the description for social media or email to contact the show. Blessings on you all until next time.