When Life is Lifeing

In this week’s episode of The Undiluted Word, we explore what to do when life is lifeing — when pressure presses in, distractions compete for focus, and breakthrough feels delayed.

Through Gethsemane, the olive press, practical ways to stay focused, and the God of breakthrough, this episode is an encouragement to remain anchored, remember God’s faithfulness, and keep moving forward.

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Stay blessed x

Transcript

Day 19 - Pressed, Not Wasted

Day 17 - God with Us

Day 15 - Anchored

Day 16 - Fix Your Focus

Day 20 - Breakthrough

Conclusion

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello, hello everyone. Welcome back to the Undiluted Red Podcast. My name is Dara Dare, your host. We are finally in week three of the devotional journey through the undiluted word devotional. So this week has been interesting. I feel like I say that all the time, but it genuinely has been interesting. So last week we spoke about when good doesn't feel good, and this week I have made the title of this podcast when life is life in. This is because I know that life can feel like a lot, and I have definitely joked around with my friends when I don't know, life has really beaten me up, and I'm just like, oh yeah, I'm okay, but life is life in. Um, and it's because it's not just one big thing, but it's just lots of little things happening all at once, and because of that, there's a lot of pressure, perhaps, uncertainty, things not going how you expect it to be, or you're just feeling so overwhelmed, but you're still trying to hold it all together. And I think this week really made me pause and realize that um maybe God isn't always trying to take us out of these moments when we feel like life is lifeing, um, but sometimes he's actually doing something in them, which it does link to last week's lesson, but hopefully we'll be able to kind of um bring out some more insights from the different days of the devotional that we've gone through. So, yeah, and if you haven't gone through the devotional content, it doesn't matter because you still be able to learn and gain some insight from what I will share with you today. So let's jump straight into it. And if you've got anything to kind of make some notes on, probably now's the time to get it, or open that notes app. So when we say life is life, and what exactly are we trying to convey? What message are we trying to send to others? I think most of the time it means that we're feeling the pressure and the heat and the weight of the circumstances that we're going through, whether big or small, or even just a cumulative effect of it all happening at once. So I want to take you through an analogy about how olive oil is made. For those of you who don't know, um, the only reason why I really know how it's made is because I watched The Chosen and I saw an olive press and I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. So for those of you who don't know, just a quick breakdown. Biblically or historically speaking, the way olives are made is that someone goes and gathers them, probably has to beat them off the um leaves and olive olive trees, beat them off. And um once these olives have been gathered, they have to be crushed with some heavy stones. Um, this is to be able to break the outer flesh. At this stage, it's very messy, it's very fragmented. You've just got the olive, um you've got the olives and you kind of break in it, break it into it. This is the break-in stage. Then you have the pressing stage, which is when you're trying to obviously extract the oil, which is like the juice from it. The crushed olives will be placed in like woven baskets and then put under like a lot of pressure, um, kind of like beams, to really just squeeze and squeeze and press out all the oil, and that's when the oil begins to flow. The more pressure is applied, the purer the oil will be. Then later on, you have like the separation um from the oil and the water that may have been used to produce this um olive oil juice. Um, yeah, and eventually you get the separation and it's refined. Blah de blah. Essentially, what I'm trying to tell you here is that for oil, olive oil specifically to be made, there needs to be there's a process, there's a break-in stage, then the press in stage before you get to the oil being um being produced, and these are all these stages are all important. You can't jump through the stages because if you jump through the stages, you're probably not gonna make the oil that is expected of you, or like it's not gonna be made in your most appropriate way. Um, so why does this matter? Why am I kind of saying this? I think there are times where we need to be broken or we do feel broken, but that's not the end stage, like there's still a lot more that God wants to help us achieve, even in this broken stage and broken state. Gethsemane. Let's talk about Gethsemane, which is where I wanted to link the olive oil analogy to. In Matthew chapter 26, verse 36 to 46. We see that Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane, he is praying, and he is with his disciples. He is praying to God, and in verse 37, he says, And Jesus took with him Peter and two sons of Zebedee, and he began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then he said to them, My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me. Um he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. And this carries on, going on for quite a while. In some translation, you see that the state that Jesus is in, he is in extreme emotional anguish, and he is sweating almost like drops of blood, um, in terms of how anguished he is in that moment. Um, and so you can say that as we as I said earlier, Gethsemane literally means oil press. And in this situation, you have Jesus who is praying and pleading with God, take this cup of suffering away from him. He is under intense spiritual pressure because of what he has ahead and what he has to do. But Jesus, even though he's telling God to take him out of the situation, he still sees it through. Um, he goes through this in intense spiritual pressure and he comes out of it, and he's still able to go ahead with what God has planned for him, which was to give his life up for us, um, for us to be saved. I'm so grateful that Jesus didn't decide to just throw in the towel and call it a day. Because if he did and didn't go through this process of being pressed, as olive is being pressed in this olive press, we will not be able to have this gift of salvation because if he abandons that like task that has been given to him, we like we'll probably be having a whole different conversation right now. So, this is why I believe that whole analogy of being pressed is so important. Olives don't produce oil until they're crushed and pressed, and Gethsemane literally means oil pressed, as I've said, it's a place of pressure. Even Jesus experienced that kind of pressing, not to break him, but to fulfill a purpose, and that purpose was so important for you and I, even today. So the oil doesn't come without the pressing, and I think that's very important, but I think what we can all hold on to is that value will come out from our brokenness, value will come out of the pressing, the shaking, and the beating. Um, so yeah, just wait on it, wait on it. Moving on swiftly, um, we then kind of spoke about God being with us, and I think it's very easy to feel as though like when life is life in and things are not going how we intend them to be, like, where is God in all of this? And that is something that I feel I've I've gone through, I've asked myself, like, where is God? Like, where is he? Can he not see what's going on right now? I had a night shift in the last week, two two night shifts actually. Um, and I hadn't done a night shift in my new rotation, obstetrics and gynecology. The last time I did obstetrics and gynecology, I was a baby baby doctor, and it wasn't really the best of experiences. So I think going into this night shift, I was feeling really anxious. I just wasn't feeling it at all, wasn't looking forward to it. Um, I wanted something drastic to happen for me to not have to go in. I wanted perhaps like the shift to be cancelled, which wouldn't really be the be a thing because it was my normal shift that I was scheduled to go for. Um, I don't know. I just wanted a way for it to not have to be like maybe another strike sudden suddenly. But no, that's not what happened. Um what actually happened is that I went for my shift, and the senior that I had that was working with me throughout the night was very supportive, and that made a big difference. I felt like I could do it as the shift went on. I felt more at ease, less anxious, and then at the end of it, at the end of the 12 and a half hours, I was like, okay, that actually went pretty pretty well. And I think that's a fact of me also having to change my perspective on the situation that God wasn't gonna remove it suddenly, um, but what he would do is give me that peace, um, allow me to have his presence, or even maybe even send in this supportive senior to be with me through that process as well. So I think for us, similarly as well, God may not necessarily remove us out of whatever it is we're going through, but he will find ways for us to be able to get through it. And my mum um had shared something into the WhatsApp group chat in relation to this, and she um used the story in Mark 4, verse 35 to 41, which I wouldn't read now, but my mum said basically that whenever she thinks or wonders if God is with her in any situation, she remembers this story where Jesus is in the stormy boat ride with the disciples, um, and she reminded us that God's presence with us in our day-to-day doesn't depend on our ability to see or have perfect theology or muster up enough faith or be strong in the face of difficulty. Like his presence doesn't depend on us. God is present because that is who he is, it's in his nature to be present with us. Um, Emmanuel, that is literally his name. God works miracles in all forms because that is who he is and who and what he does. Um, Psalm 77 verse 14. And praise the Lord honestly for that because I think that is just a beautiful reminder that all the like whatever it is that we're going through, God is with us, um, and that is nothing we have any say in. We just need to be aware of his presence, and I think that is very important, having that awareness. And I think it was only after the night shift ended that I was like, hold on a minute, I was very anxious about this, and like, why was I why was I fretting so much about it? Why was I like almost wetting myself? Um, just because of this night shift, and this like did I really believe and trust that God will be with me, and um, yeah, and he was with me. So, just that's just an encouragement for us all. Um, that throughout scripture, he has that constant encouragement that he will be with us. So, hold on to that. Let's move on to the next section, which is about our perspective and how we see things, especially when life is a life in. We often think of an anchor as something going down when there is a ship at sea um being tossed about. We know that the anchor is something that is thrown overboard and will help the ship stay stabilised and in one location. But actually, I think when we talk about we have an anchor that keeps us secure, our anchor isn't something that is going down, it's actually something that is upward bound and it's going towards heaven. And I think obviously that is where our hope should lie upwards towards heaven and looking up to him, um, which is something I've definitely spoken about in the past. So I have two examples in terms of when people have an upward anchor. There was someone that shared in the group chat about how they'd been having some difficulties in terms of um jobs and they weren't really seeing any breakthrough, and as a result of that, they were becoming more frustrated. But one thing that stood out to me in what she said was that even though she's going through all these difficult situations and she's waiting for a breakthrough, she realizes that there's still so much to be grateful for, so many blessings in terms of appreciating where God has brought her from and is taken her to. But he just seemed still so optimistic and happy, and I know that's not just a normal optimism or happiness, it's based on having that hope in God that keeps you steadfast and keeps you um keeps you still and sure that God is still in control and he is got your best interest at heart, and he was very grateful. Um, he'll remember the things that God has done for him and is currently doing in his life that he was grateful for, and that was so inspiring to me because even in the face of things not going your way or being frustrated, he could still see the good that God was doing in his life, which obviously links back to what we were talking about last week. So, even though for those two people their circumstances didn't change immediately, their perspective did, and I think this is what we need to have that shift in our perspective. Now, I think one of the biggest challenges when life is life in is actually being able to stay focused on God. Um, and I think from these two examples, you can see that their gratitude helped them to remain focused on God, and it just made me think, Matt, what ways can we also remain focused on God practically? Because it's so so easy to get distracted. There's always something, whether it be work, your phone, friends, your own thoughts, even things are going on around you, and before you realize it, your focus has shifted from where you intended it to be initially. Um, so I'll just share a few practical steps that I've been trying myself in terms of being focused, and I'm also still learning as well. If you have any comments in terms of how you stay focused, write it in the um I think there's a way for you to um make comments or share your suggestions as well below. So I'd look forward to hearing from you all if you have anything practical to share in terms of how you stay focused. I came across an article um that spoke about five ways to stay focused on God. Be prepared, be consistent, be accountable, be creative, and be you. And I really like that, so I'm just gonna build on that a little bit. Be prepared. This means creating that space for God. It's not a rushed period of time. Um it's not something that you just squeeze in quickly before you have to get on with the rest of your day. Unhurried time is better than spending one hour, two hours, but you're on your phone, you're distracted, you're doing this, you're coming in and out. It can be very short, but as long as it's intentional, I think that is what God wants. So you need to prepare yourself for that. That means preparing even from the night before if you want to do study in the morning. If you want to do it in the evening, then you need to prepare yourself before then as well. Because if you don't create the space, something else will fill it up. The next thing is being consistent. This doesn't mean just setting a time specifically in the day, um, and say, Okay, I must do this at six o'clock, I must do this at six a.m. whatever. Um, I think it's about maybe having almost um prompts, things to help you to say, okay, if this happens, then I need to do this. Almost like how maths works, um, how equations are very like consistent. If one plus one is two, then two plus one must be three. Like it's consistent, there's a consistent equation to it. So, for example, I've been doing things like silent prayers for a while, a few years, I'm sure, that whenever I see an ambulance go by, I'm driving or I'm walking somewhere and I hear an ambulance, I just say a quick short prayer. God be with whoever that is. Um, take them safely to the hospital or be with the physicians that will be with them. I'm always just saying a quick short prayer because I know it's nothing, it's just a way to stay consistent in terms of praying about certain things that even I don't necessarily know about, or if I hear a negative news report, I'm like, I say it say a little prayer about it. Someone sends something or I see something that doesn't really sit well with me, I just say a quick prayer about it. If if a friend says something, I'll try and say a quick prayer about it as well, and it just means that you have a way to stay consistent in terms of communicating with God and praying. Um, if we're going to if if the Bible, if in the Bible we're told to pray without season, we need to have ways and forms to actually make sure we are praying, not that oh, we're just praying at 6 a.m. and it's whatever we're praying about. I'm not saying it's bad to obviously set a time, but it could also be beneficial to just have all these other little prompts and things, life prompts perhaps um that cause us to maybe stay connected to God and not just always scheduled. The next point is about being creative. I think because focus doesn't always come naturally to us, we need to be creative in the ways that we're trying to remain focused. Um, because they're very creative. I say they, but like the whole universe conspires in terms of how it's going to cause us to be distracted. Um, whether it be going on TikTok and literally scrolling for hours before realizing you've been on the phone for so long. Um, they're very creative, they're making sure the algorithm, the algorithm is suited to what you like and your preferences, so they're keeping you locked in for a lot longer. So you've got to be creative back and you've got to fight back in terms of these distractions. One of the ways that I've been fighting this back recently, um, for maybe the last six months, is an app called Opal, and essentially what it does is helps you block out certain apps during specific times that you specify it to block these apps out. It basically helps you to stay focused and in control of how you're spending time on your phone. I think it's great, um, it's kind of fun as well, but it helps you improve your focus and make the most out of your day. So download it, they're not paying me, but I think it's essential that you download it. Let's move on swiftly. Use gospel music to sort of center your mind, help you focus on either the words of the song or just on God and His presence. I think you need that. I think that could help. Praying out loud, I think, is very important or helpful, writing out your prayers, or maybe even using a prayer board or going on a prayer what can help you when praying, because I know it happens to me if I'm praying in my mind and I'm like, yeah, I'm like, hmm. Before I know it, my mind starts to wander and I'm drifting away um and losing my focus. So I think doing things actively whilst praying can also help you to stay focused. Um, the last point or the next point in with regards to staying focused is being disciplined. I think we need to guard our space, um, especially that space between us and God. Joshua 3 verse 4 talks about the um Israelites and they were told to keep a distance between them and the ark so that they could actually see clearly where they were going. And I think that is so powerful because sometimes we fill that space with distractions and then wonder why we can't see God clearly, we can't see where He's leading. This ark was about 2,000 cubits, which is about a kilometer, I think, in front of them, so they could see exactly where they were going and where they were being led. And I think it's very important that we keep that space and there's no distractions. So part of staying focused is actually choosing not to fill every space and time that we have with noise and being intentional about that, and I think also being honest about the things that might be slowing us down, such as habits, patterns, and distractions, and choosing to let them go. This is linked with a Bible text in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 1. Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. So we're being told, drop the weight, drop the sin. And I think if we're being honest with ourselves, there are things that do slow us down, um, keep our focus off God. Maybe it's different habits or patterns of sins, things that are secret or maybe um public. Um, but it's important that we choose to let these things go because if we don't kill the sin, it will slowly kill us. Um, we need discipline in terms of removing these things from our lives, and hopefully, that will help us stay focused more on God. Being accountable, I don't know how many times I'm gonna stress this point, but being accountable is so important if you want to stay focused. Don't try to do it alone all the time. You can get a Bible study partner, you can. Get a prayer partner, get a group or a friend, someone that you trust. Having people around helps you stay grounded and help you stay stay consistent, keeps your focus back onto God. If the friends and people around you are only gonna be telling you to go shopping and telling you to go watch this show and that show and things, it's not bad to have a friend, but it's also important to have friends that keep you focused and grounded. So let's cultivate friendships that will help us continue to stay focused on God. Finally, be you. I think it's so easy to compare our walk with God, our relationship with God with other people. You may feel um you may feel the pressure to even compare your relationship with God with my relationship with God. But what might work for me might not necessarily work for you, and that is okay. Even the suggestions that I've made now, they're just things that you could potentially do. But for example, if you don't like walking or you've got a hay fever and you're like not scared of being outside, but yeah, you are scared because the grass be attacking, um, but you don't want to be outside, then there's no point forcing yourself to go on a prayer walk if that's not gonna work for you. You don't want to now be stressed and having a terrible experience outdoors because I've said in my podcast, go for a prayer walk. Um, do what works for you. There should be no pressure to feel like you need to copy others. Speak to God, tell him what you like, and he can help you say, Okay, let's do this instead, let's go for a um brunch together and having that personal time again with God. I think it's about just knowing who you are and what your aim is. And the aim and goal is not for perfection, it is more about having that connection and keeping focused on God. So, overall, staying focused on God is not something that just happens, it's something that we choose to do daily, and in seasons where life feels like a lot, focus becomes even more important. And this brings us to the final section of this podcast, which is about breakthrough. I know that a lot of us are believing God for something right now, whether that is to do with work, finances, our education, relationships, clarity, whatever it is, there's always something. In the Bible, there's this moment where David calls God Baal Perizim, the Lord who he breaks through. But what stood out to me is that before that breakthrough came, in verse 8 to 10 of 1 Chronicles chapter 14, David inquired of God. He didn't just rush ahead into battle and do his own thing, he didn't just assume what God would have wanted, he paused and asks God what to do. And I think that is so important because sometimes we want breakthrough, but we don't really stay connected in the process. Um, the process is beating us, it's shaking us, it's pressing us, and because of that, we distance ourselves from God. But what I'm asking now is that in those moments when we're waiting for breakthrough, that is when it's actually important to have that connection with God. Um connection positions us for what God then wants to do in our lives, and then, yes, as David said, we had He has that breakthrough. Um, God comes through in an overwhelming way, there's overwhelming victory, there's all these obstacles that seemed insurmountable before, now they are surmountable. Um, but connection is important before we're able to experience that. So breakthrough can happen suddenly, like a flood, in the same way that the verse describes it in 1st Chronicles chapter 14, verse 11. But even in that, we need to have an alignment, that relationship with God. I'll just like to pause for a minute for you to think about whatever that situation is that is causing you to maybe want to drift away from God. Um, you've been going through it for a while now, you're frustrated, you're getting to your breaking point, you feel like you've been pressed beyond your limit. Life has life so hard, and you just simply can't take it anymore. Just think about that moment. Speak out loud, say it to God. And I just like to pray. Lord, I want to lift up every single person listening right now. You know the areas where they are believing you for a breakthrough. And I pray that you will meet them there. Lord, where there has been a delay, bring clarity. Where there has been frustration, bring peace. Where there has been pressure, bring strength. Help us not to disconnect from you while we're waiting, but to stay close, to inquire from you and to trust you. And in your perfect timing, Lord, let there be a breakthrough. I pray that everyone listening to my voice right now will have their own Balparism moment. The Lord of breakthroughs. In Jesus' name. Amen. So when you really step back and look at it, the pressure, the weight, and the uncertainty, everything that is going on in our life when life is life in is not random. God is using it the same way Jesus was used in the Garden of Gethsemane. The pressure is all producing something, the presence is sustaining you. Your perspective is what keeps you anchored through it all. And yes, breakthrough will come, but even before it does, God is already at work. When life is life and you're not being broken, you are being formed. And honestly, I think that changes everything. There's something that has stuck with me since I heard Todd Galbert's song entitled Everywhere, and I would like to share with you. He said, Sometimes life can feel so heavy that you forget, you forget what God has already done for you, you forget how he's brought you through a certain situation, and that's the real strategy of the enemy. Not to stop God, but because he can't stop what God is doing for you or in your life, but he wants to overwhelm you so much that you stop recognizing God's work in your life. The same God that brought you out of the last hard thing is God, even in this hard thing that you're going through, and even if he doesn't take you out of it immediately, it means it doesn't mean that he's absent, but he means that he's with you in it. Um, and when life is life in, don't lose your memory of that, don't lose your memory of who he has been to you, because he will certainly see you through. I think one key line that he said is if God isn't bringing you out of it, out of the fiery furnace, maybe it's because he's coming in um to be in there with you, and I think that is just such a powerful um and beautiful reminder for us to hold on to. Um, so yes, when life is life in, God is still um godding. Um so thank you so much for listening to this podcast episode When Life is Lifin'. I pray that we'll all be able to hold on to what I've shared, and I pray that God will continue to be with us as we study his word and gain more insight into what he's trying to help and teach us. Everything you need is in the episode description box below my website where you can leave your prayer requests, whatever you name it, in the episode description box. Till meet again for another episode. Bye bye and stay blessed.