It Was Necessary

Hey, what's up? This is Tim Pratt Jr. I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to this content today. I hope you hear something that adds value to your life, shaping your perspective, faith, and hope, as well as the application to see and do in this thing that we call life. Enjoy. Episode 5: It Was Necessary. So last episode 4, I talked about the importance of faith and highlighted on a few things dealing with how it's one of the most underrated aspects of our life, but at the same time, you know, we don't often tend to let's just met with opposition. And nothing works without it, because if we go to God without, you know, without faith, it's like, I'm gonna go to you and I'll make my request known, but at the same time, I don't really believe you can do what you say you can do, or you even who you say you are. And so in this episode, it's kind of dealing with a collection of what produce that episode of why faith is so important. And so it's kind of to paint the lens that I want you to see this episode through, is that a while back I did an episode on dealing with coaches and mentors. And you know, when I seek out a mentor or a coach, I'm often not really looking forward to dealing with someone that's going to basically regurgitate a bunch of theory. I'm not saying there's nothing bad about that all the time, but if we all be honest, a lot of times we want somebody that's proven, you know, that they have went through things been tested and tried. And oftentimes when you talk to them after they had their level of success, they would say it was necessary. It was necessary what I went through because it taught me how to, you know, become the man or the woman I am today. And so that's kind of what I want you to see, that see this through. And so last year, many of you know about my youngest son DJ going through cancer a second time. He was re-diagnosed and up at St. Jude. And then on top of that, my, seeing the demands on my parents, my mom and dad, my mother and father-in-law, how my mom, sickness had took a hit. I think at one point she was sick for up to 21 days of fever, in and out of the hospital, couldn't walk. And it was just real bad for a lot of those same 6 months. I was going back and forth on the highway to St. Jude consistently being separated from my wife. It wasn't even a year into a new role I was taking as a technical project manager, trying to manage and navigate people and project management and just be a leader, something I had wanted so desperately for a long time. Like I said, the demands on my mother and father-in-law doing ministry but up and down the highway, trying to manage a business. Same thing with my father, you know. Being kind of like one of those primary caretakers of my grandmother, trying to be there for my mom, his wife, you know, and ministry, lead the church, pastor, working a secular job as well as be there for us. My brother going through the State Police Academy, you know, fracturing his hip, something that he's been wanting to do for a lifetime. It's Indian to be recycled, not want to give up and still trying to press it through. You know, if as many of you seen the pictures, uh, this recent, you know, of course he graduated, thank God, but the process to that. And then last but not least, Cameron, um, how a lot of times he would get the short end of the stick just because of the capacity that I didn't have because I was giving out so much. And then it's like, you know, I would come home to him or it would be my week, as you know, in the co-parenting process or whatever you want to call it, and how I was just— I would be tired and just like frustrated quickly with him But, uh, it sucked because it really changed kind of the landscape of our relationship. And so I'm like crying out to God, like, why? Like, why am I going through all of this? And I think I highlighted on this in the last episode. And the Lord, you know, like, man, can't you just stop the storm like you've done so many times throughout the Bible, most notably with the disciples when, you know, Peter walked on water? And Jesus spoke to me, you know, God spoke to me and was like You know, yes, I can do that, but you're going to get to know me as a sustainer. And what I'm learning, and I believe I highlighted on this too, is that sometimes a calling on our life, man, in the world and the carnality part of it, is that we're going to be met with so much opposition and resistance, uncertainty and pressure, that we're not going to be able to withstand without a certain level of faith that's going to be matured and developed cultivated in, uh, in God. And so everything that I went through in life, like I said, I can chalk it up to it was necessary. And I want to kind of back this up with the passages of scripture, you know, most notably dealing with Acts 27:20-26. And this is basically how these people are giving up hope because they're in the midst of a storm, and Paul is on this ship and it's about to be a shipwreck. And so Paul, you know, basically gets visited from the Lord, the angel of God, And this angel says it's going to be some loss, but nothing important, basically meaning that their lives— like, everybody's going to be okay solely because you're on the ship. And so it's so many things that you can point out, you know, that connection is vital. That's one of the things that I— as I reflect back, like, when my, my father and my father-in-law, um, when my wife got the call that our youngest son was re-diagnosed with cancer the first people we talk to are our parents, most notably our fathers. And it's like they prayed a prayer of faith before they went into anything. And that's kind of what Paul— that's not kind of, that is what Paul did in this text, like saying, look, I know we're going through this, sucks, but I'ma hold fast to the promises of God. And another thing too that Paul did in that— in this passage, Acts 27:20-26, is that although they had made a bad decision, he didn't want to spend time there. But what he was pointing out is a lot of times is that everything is not a— uh, every storm is not because of the devil. It's really just some bad decisions because we're too ambitious. We want what we want. We want to move when we move versus being sensitive to the spirit. And I'm not saying that's an excuse to basically stay back and not do anything, but you just have to make sure you're spirit-led versus fear or versus a culture that's driven by ambition. And so just find that balance. And like I say, to me, you know, faith is not 100% all the time. It's really just trusting God. I don't really believe anyone can just, for the most part, absolutely say, oh yeah, I knew 100% this is going to be all right, you know. I think it's always an opportunity for doubt to creep in there because we are human at the end of the day and stuff. And so, but the main thing that I love about what Paul did with this was in that last verse when he said, nevertheless We must run aground on some island, meaning that, yeah, it sucks that we're going through a lot, we gonna be in the storm, we're gonna be tried, but I still have to choose ministry over misery. I don't have time to spend in a, in a reason right here. And so of course, as we go on and move over to Acts 28:1-6, we understand that it is a shipwreck, you know, and they're on this island called Malta. And Malta might be that place like, say, if you're going through a divorce or bad breakup, separation, a big financial hardship. It can be a number of things. It's an unusual place. And that's kind of how it was in the text. It was cold, it was rainy, people weren't speaking Paul language. And so to make it relevant, it's just an unusual place that we're in in life. And that's kind of how it was with me with a number of things, especially the St. Jude situation and seeing my mom health deteriorate. Deteriorate, as well as, you know, Cameron and my wife, and so on and so on. And so in that, man, you talk about sustaining faith, and just so much was going on. But at the same time, you'll see in the next couple of verses that Paul continued to choose ministry over misery. And in choosing that, you know, he just survived another blow And then this time, you know, as he's helping, you know, load the firewood, a viper snake jumps out, is driven out by the heat, and attaches itself to his hand. And I think a lot of times in this walk with Christ, you know, we feel like that we don't supposed to go through blows, but that's simply not true. And so as this snake fastened itself to his hand, it didn't just bite him, it locked down on it. And the people were looking, saying, oh man, he's going through this because of that, or going through this because of this, you know, he's a murderer. And all this type of stuff, and they're saying these things. And oftentimes, you know, we find out, yes, we do go through a lot of things because of what we do, but Paul wasn't doing anything wrong. It's persecution in just basically living the right life, you know, living the Spirit-filled life. We're going to be partakers in it. And so, but Paul, he preached one of the greatest messages ever to me. Like, he didn't get on Facebook, he didn't get on text messages, call the phone, social media. IG story or none of that to try to defend himself. He just shook it off. And I'm not saying this is negate counseling, you know, we go through things or been hit by blow after blow in life, but it's being empowered by the Holy Spirit to shake these things off and keep pressing forward because we know that it's necessary. It's necessary in order for us to basically keep our eyes fixed on God and know where our help comes from, our true strength, our source. And to develop that faith and belief in God that's necessary in order to withstand anything in this world. Because we know at the end of the day, when it's all said and done, we're going to be with him. And Paul did that because right after that, it was an expectation. People were waiting on him to see if he was going to swell up and die. And so people— yeah, like when my brother was going through, I bet you it was like expectation. Is he going to go back next year? Is that marriage going to survive this? Is DJ going to live? What are they going to do now? Oh, is Cameron going to be shaped by this? Is he going to need like a lot of help? Is his mom going to make it? They preach all this gospel, why are they going through all of this, you know? And so this is what I just feel like people say. And, you know, by the grace of God, we made it. And it all played a part on us deepening our level of faith with God. That's why I didn't too much say anything. A lot of times I spent counsel with my dad and my mom when I knew family members were saying stuff and all of that, you know, associates and friends and so on and so on. But like they say, man, you know, shake it off. And as you see in the text, and so, but the one of the things I really want to highlight with Paul is that when it was all said and done, you know, he went through this adversity which created, enabled the opportunity to produce God glory. So Publius, which is the chief official islander, uh, he sent for Paul, requested for him. I want to meet this man. It survived the shipwreck. And survived a snake, a viper snake fastened to his hand, he sent for him. Paul went there, and Paul would see that Publius' father-in-law was sick. And so he laid hands on him. And, you know, basically, if you continue to read the text, to paraphrase it, the father-in-law— I mean, not the father-in-law, but the father of Publius was healed. And so one of the things, like, very important things to point out right here is that the same hand, if I may say, that caused Paul pain was the same hand that brought forth the glory of God. Because as this took place, what ended up happening was that Paul, after Publius' father was healed, people wanted the same thing. Like, people that desired, they wanted the same thing. And so they literally had to turn their church into like— I mean, their house into like a local church. And, and this is what produced God's glory. And so, and also what we'll note is that in the midst of that, they end up supplying Paul and company, if I may say, with what they needed in order to continue on the transition or their journey to Rome. And so the thing that I want to challenge you all as well as myself is that don't run from your assignment. I believe Paul would say, man, now the reason why I'm here is because of this. Paul chose ministry over misery. He chose to live by revelation over reason, as Steven Furtick says a lot, and that the supply was wrapped up in his assignment. And so that's what I wanna challenge you all today, is that whatever you're going through in life, like I say, it's not to take away from therapists and counselors, we need them. I totally believe in them, I've had it. And, but at the same time, you know, we have to hold fast to God and just trust that whatever we have been through, even the things that suck, man, And I know it's some sick stuff out there, and I'm not condoning it. I'm not saying God made that happen, but I also believe that nothing starts or stops without God and that he can use anything to make us relevant. That the things that we go through, it's not necessarily just for us, it's to help comfort others in their times. And so, because it's God comforted us. And so with that being said, don't run from your assignment because everything that you need, as you've seen in this text, is wrapped up in it. Hey, what's up? So once again, I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to the content today. Also encourage you to subscribe to the podcast as well as share with family, friends, and on your social media platforms. Also check out www.timothyprattjr.org for more information about this thing that we call life. Be blessed.