Welcome And Scripture Of The Week

Chris Grainger 1:27

Welcome to the Blind Within Us, a podcast serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders, God intends you to be. I'm your host, Chris Granger. Let's jump in. All right, guys, this is your spiritual kickoff. Let's get right into it. Okay, so the scripture of the week this week is in the book of Ecclesiastes, third chapter, 11th verse. So 311 says he has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart without the possibility that mankind will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. So that's the verse, guys. It's a lot to think about here in this one verse. We're going to take some time. We're going to see how we can simplify and apply it to our life. Again, we do a spiritual kickoff every day, Monday through Friday, at The Lion Within Us. So this is a great way to be encouraged in God's Word. Some days I get pretty fired up on it. Some days we're just reading it and just trying to encourage you. Today is a pretty fired up day. So hopefully, you know, some guys really enjoy those. It also gives you access to our prayer request space. We have a prayer meeting every Monday. We'd love to invite you to come to that. And then if you're in the Continental U.S., we have a free gift. Well, I'd like to drop that in the mail for you. Okay. So all that stuff, guys. All free. Thelionwithin.us. That's where it's at. And if you're not supporting the ministry as well, consider doing that as well. So you can go to the lionwithin.us, you'll find all sorts of ways to support the ministry. So if you're enjoying the podcast, for instance, every week, or if you enjoy the plans on the Bible app, but we need your help. We need your support. So just think about jumping on and helping us out there, okay? All right. So

Free Resources And Ministry Support

Chris Grainger 3:05

for this scripture, let's see how we can simplify and apply it. And before we get into it, we need to think about where is it? Okay, because Ecclesiastes is one of those books of the Bible. Yeah, I'm not sure exactly sure where that's at, right? So it's in the Old Testament. If you get to Psalms and Proverbs, just keep flipping, and you'll find Ecclesiastes right after that. Okay. So if you get to Song of Solomon and you went a little bit too far, just back up. So that's where it's going to be. And

Finding Ecclesiastes And Naming Patience

Chris Grainger 3:29

this whole week we're going to be talking about, I don't even want to say the word, patience. Patience. Okay. And uh so I wrote a plan for the Bible out talking about I'm just a guy without patience. I thought, you know what? Let's just take that one and share on the podcast.

Seasons Of Life And God’s Perfect Timing

Chris Grainger 3:44

So for this episode, though, we're going to talk directly about trusting God's timing. And this, again, this verse right here talks about he's made everything appropriate in its time. So Ecclesiastes, if we look at Ecclesiastes 3, it reminds us that life is all about seasons, guys. Right? There's a time to plant, right? There's a time to uproot, there's a time to weep, a time to laugh, there's a turret, a time to search, and a time to let go. And Solomon, you know, who wrote Ecclesiastes, he's not describing a random cycle of events here. But really, he's looking at uh uh the world under a wise and sovereign hand of God. That's where it's at. And even when we can't see the whole picture, God sees the beginning, the middle, the end, everything, everything in between. And that's why Ecclesiastes 3.11 is such a steady promise. He's made everything beautiful in its time. So remember, I say this all the time, you guys are gonna know it before I even say it. His timing is perfect. He's just rarely early, rarely early. And

Hay Harvesting And Waiting For Conditions

Chris Grainger 4:57

you know, when we moved to the farm a couple years ago now, uh I've shown this and I've learned this to be true time and time again. And take for instance the process of growing and harvesting hay. And I'm looking out in my pasture right now as we as I'm recording this, and we're getting close to that to that cutting time. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting close. You know, God's been blessing it finally in the fall, and I think we'll have a fall harvest prayer fruit. And that was a couple of years ago. The whole idea of growing hay and and harvesting hay was a completely foreign concept, but I didn't need to know about it, right? So, and but I've learned about it as I live here because it's so vitally important to what we do here at on our farm, and um I've seen through this process as I've watched, I've gone through some hay seasons now, that it's a it's such a vivid reminder of how often we just have to trust his timing. And and we have a couple areas on our farm where we grow hay, and we're we're we're caring for about a dozen horses on a regular basis. And if you care for a dozen horses, if you have if you know anything about horses, you know you go through a lot of hay. They eat a lot of hay, right? From hay bags to their stalls to bales that are placed out in the pastures. They they're munching all the time. In fact, you can't uh let a horse go, I think, more than like four or six hours without having eating something because it's just not good for their stomach, they can colic and all these different types. It can be bad. And it's also from a farming standpoint, hay is one of the biggest expenses that we have, period. And to manage cost, we try to produce as much of that hay on our own. It lowers the cost so much the more we can produce in a house. So that means you have to manage the fields, we have to take care of it, but we have to understand the timing and whether it looks right in the spring and the fall to cut, because when that when that time comes, it's all hands on deck. It's all hands on deck. And and here's the thing: when it comes to hay, there's so many good analogies and connections to life and to the scripture here, but the conditions have to be just right. Of course, if it's not, all that work can be be for nothing. Because if you cut it too early, check what happens. You risk losing yield, and you can even re-hurt the re the hurt the regrowth. Or if you wait too long, a lots of times the nutritional value drops, and it can be less appealing, i.e., the horses won't eat it. So, I mean, that's that's that's so that's just the timing of when you cut it. But then there's the weather. So ideally, for cutting hay, again, you didn't probably didn't pop on this podcast thinking that you're gonna learn about cutting hay, but here we are, right? But what from a hay harvesting standpoint, ideally you'll have several days without rain and low humidity. Now, why would that be? Because you need the hay to dry out. You need it to dry out so that you can cut it and then it can dry and and and you don't want any moisture, or you're trying to limit the moisture that creeps into the hay, right? So, in other words, there are a lot of things outside of our control when it comes time to harvesting hay. We genuinely have to just all right, wait on God and trust Him. Okay, when is it time? When do you desire for us to move? And that waiting can be agonizing because that's what the stakes are significant. Again, if we act too soon or we miss the window, it can become it can be very costly. And during that season, what do we do most of the time? I'm gonna tell you straight up, I'll tell you what I do. We pray. I pray all the time. Me and my wife, we do it together. We're praying for God's guidance, we're praying for his wisdom in discernment, we're praying for him to show us when do we want to act. And time and time again, guess what? He shows us. He shows us. And here's the thing: when it comes time to act, we get to work. And we get to work like no other. Tractors are running all day. All day. I mean, we'll have headlamps glowing into the evening time. Because we want to get that hay cut, get that hay tethered, we're going to get that hay bailed, and we're gonna get to get that hay off the pasture so that if the rain does come, it's not gonna impact it. And I'm trying to share this the whole point of sharing the narrative, the story of cutting hay, right? The whole point of sharing that is to help you see something. And it's very simple. While we

Stillness Over Noise In A Hurry World

Chris Grainger 9:28

focus on harvesting hay a couple times a year, check this out. God is working 24-7, 365. He is, man. He never takes a break. Even when we're getting frustrated, or I definitely get frustrated with his timing at times, he's teaching me to trust him. He's teaching me not to trust my circumstances or my emotions, because emotions are terrible things to trust, right? And to and to stop limiting my perspective because I have this fixed mindset when I start limiting my perspective. And it's when I act too soon or when I hesitate to move, and he tells me not, and he tells me to move, that's when I get in trouble, right? Getting ahead of him or not acting fast enough, or not acting when he's asking me to act to do something. And and this is for me as a disciple, maybe you can can relate with this as well. This is a great challenge. It's a hard challenge of being a disciple. Because why? Our world thrives on instant gratification. And waiting in many ways has become a lost art. Because we're quick to feel every little moment with noise and distraction. And we don't we don't want to wait. And and you know, like I even seen this with my kids, like they don't they they they feel like they need something, some something in their hands at all times, or you know, you've got these kids now with these fidget spinners and all this stuff, it's because we don't we've lost somehow along the way the ability to just be still and know that he is God. And and if we're trying to fill every single moment with noise and distraction, and we're we're so missing it. Because what if, what if, think about this, instead of forcing busyness, we learn just to rest at his feet. What if our stillness became an act of worship and we show him that we're trusting his timing? And I've got several things, I've gone through the haste thing that I've shared with you guys, but got several things within the line within this ministry that I'm just having to do this right now. And here, here, please hear me. This is not easy. This is some of the hardest stuff you'll ever do as a believer. And because patience sometimes, I'm gonna go ahead and say it. It can feel like God's forgotten you. It can. When you're patient, you're waiting, and God's not doing anything, it feels like you're like, God, are you hearing me? But please be rest assured of one thing. That's not the case. Because his word proves us and he promises to us over and over again that he's gonna make everything beautiful in its time. This includes the seasons that you understand and you're seeing it, and the seasons that you don't understand and you're not seeing it. And this includes the prayers that he's answered, and you can look back and say, Oh, wow, God really moved right here. And the ones that seems to be kind of waiting on the field, if you will. But in the waiting, think about this. He is shaping you, he's preparing you, he's refining you for something pretty awesome. So try not to rush what God is perfecting. Trust in his timing. And to see Kim and all that you do, and trust, and and believe me here, he's never late. He's just never late.

Trusting God While Sharing The Gospel

Chris Grainger 12:56

So, question to really think about this week is where in your life are you struggling to trust God's timing? And we all have these things that we trust that we struggle with, right? I don't none of us are immune to this. But trust his timing, believe in that. And also trust his timing for for maybe you're struggling right now because you've tried to share the gospel with people, or you have a one more, and you're trying to share with them over and over and over, and they're just not receiving. They're not receiving it, they don't want to hear it, they're just they're just putting you off, putting you off, putting you off. I'm just here to tell you, guy, like his timing is perfect. And you may not be the one that's going to harvest that that salvation that you're praying for. But it could be your seeds of obedience, where you're you're planting the gospel into this person throughout uh as often as you can, and someone else may harvest it. But at the end of the day, if you're sharing the gospel, if you're taking the opportunity with people that you don't know, or people that you know that don't know the Lord, that's that's more common, and you're letting them know that they're made in the image of God. They're right. That that when God formed everything and formed Adam out of the dust of the earth and breathed the breath of life, the rua, into his nostrils, and Adam set up and he was face to face with his creator, and it was perfect. We were made in his image, and that's who we are made out of, right? We're made in the image of God. And then ultimately, the problem that Adam and Eve ran into was a sin issue that started with temptation, temptation from the evil one, and that led to a sin. And sin is simply anything that separates us from God, and then that's the problem. They were separated from God, and now we have this gap between a holy and righteous God and unholy us. That's just who we are. And quite frankly, so many people, particularly guys, we want to overcome it on our own. We want to close that gap. We want to, excuse me, we want to earn our salvation. We want to earn our way into heaven. Like, hey, Chris, how can I get into heaven? Well, I think I just gotta be a good, I'm just a good person and help people and do the right thing and and just live a good moral life. I think that'll be okay. Wrong. Wrong. It's just not true. I don't want to feed you a bunch of lions here on the lion within us. If you come here for to the lion, we're gonna feed you the truth, period. You may not like it, but we'll feed you the truth. We're not gonna lie to you just to tickle your ears and tell you something that is gonna be completely false. Because we stand on the word of God. So wait a minute now, so you're telling me there's nothing I can do for myself to earn my salvation? Right. Oprah is wrong. Period. There's not many paths to heaven. Whoever told you that, don't know that they're not they're just too dumb to talk to. There's only one way, and I think that's Jesus.

The Gospel Explained With Clarity

Chris Grainger 15:52

That's why what he did coming from heaven on a rescue mission for us is so doggone important. He was born, it was a virgin birth, right? Well, how can you have a virgin birth? But God. Period. God did it. So he can do whatever he wants to do. He had this virgin birth, and he gave us his son, who lived the perfect life and showed us and taught us and did all these signs and miracles and teachings and revealed these things to us. And then he took the ultimate step, which is going to the cross to die for the sin of the world. He paid the ultimate penalty for our sin. And he was thinking about you when he was hanging on the cross. How crazy is that? We were guilty and he still did it. He still did it. That's mind-blowing what Jesus did for us on the cross. And it and and if it ends on the cross, think about this for a second. If it ends right there, with Jesus dead, lifeless body hanged on the cross, then why are we getting so excited as Christians? Like that's a terrible thing to happen to Jesus. And it was a terrible thing to happen to Jesus. It was excruciating. The pain, the torment that he went through for us, unbelievable. But the story doesn't stop there, does it? Because what happens, they laid Jesus in a tomb, which is like an Airbnb for Jesus, because he just needed it three A's just for the weekend. And then on that Sunday morning, that first Easter morning, boom. He rose. And we worship a living Savior, not a dead guy in a tomb. And that's the difference. He is risen. And I don't know about you, but I'm following the one that conquers death. Death can't hold him. Nothing can hold him. He is risen. And then he has sent it to the Father. And he told us that look, I'm preparing a place for you. And no one comes except through me. And there is no other name under heaven that has been given to us, guys, by which we must be saved. So I implore you, I beg you, I'm just I'm I try to share the gospel on the Spiritual Kickoff podcast. Because I think it's so important whenever we can at the Lion to point people to the ultimate truth. I mean, we got some awesome stuff at the Lion. And we we really do. We have some great resources to help guys. We really want to walk with guys. We are super intentional and about everything that we do. But at the end of the day, the ultimate glory is his, not ours. And if for a second we get out of alignment with what he's calling us to do, I've told I've asked God pretty much every day, shut it down. If we get out of sync with what you want, shut the lion down. But the news that I just share with you the gospel, it's life-changing. It's life-giving. Like salvation. It's it's a free gift. And it's available to you. All you have to do, right, is just accept a gift. Admit that you're a sinner in need of a savior. Right? Just admit that first and foremost. Now it can be a stumbling block for lots of people. Then believe Jesus is who he says he is. He's either a liar, lunatic, or lord. C.S. Lewis said it best. So which one is he to you? Is Jesus lying? Is he a is he a crazy guy, lunatic, or is he Lord? And if it's Lord, confess him as Lord for your life. Surrender your life to him, not just on Sunday morning or Wednesday night if you're a super Christian, but your life. How you respond everywhere. When you're alone, in the bathroom, in the bedroom, in the boardroom, uh, in the community, at the grocery store, driving, there's a big one. All those areas. Your marriage, how you parent your kids, everything. The food you eat, the way you treat your body. I mean, I can I can go on and on and on. He's got to be Lord over all of it. More he, less me. Period. And look, if you're listening to the lion, and I just went through this gospel message for you right now, just presenting you the good news. You're like, well, Chris, I've never accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. What you're telling me, I'm actually hearing it for the first time. I mean, I've heard it before. Maybe you're hearing it for truly for the first time now. Guys, that's that's spirit. That's not Chris. That's the spirit. So my encouragement to you in this moment right now, do something about it, man. Do something about it. Take a step. Surrender your life to him. I'll pray for you right now. Look,

Prayer To Surrender Your Life

Chris Grainger 20:49

you don't have to be sending the church pew to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior wherever you are. Guess what? He's with you. He's with you. So let's just pray it up and invite Jesus to come into your life. So, Father Lord, I'm just so thankful for the opportunity to share the gospel on the line week in and week out. Lord, I never know who listens to the podcast and all the way it impacts people. I hear from people from time to time, but ultimately that doesn't even matter. All that matters is that they're hearing the truth. And I'm inviting them, as you've told us to, to into that relationship with you. So I'm praying for that one who's who's surrendering his life to you, or maybe even her life to you right now. Lord, I'm just praying for them. I pray his protection around them. I notice you hear their prayer. I pray as they as they take this most important step that you put people in their life that will walk with them on their discipleship journey that starts today. So we love you, God. We praise you so much. We pray it all according to your perfect will. In Jesus' name. Amen. So

Email Us And Get Connected

Chris Grainger 21:55

look, if you just accepted Jesus, let's go. First and foremost. Like touchdown. You should be pretty thinking excited right now. And I'd love to hear from you because I got a bunch of resources we just want to give you. Just put them in your pocket, give them put them in your inbox, just hand them to you. I love to celebrate with you as well. So just send me an email. You can either do support or Chris at thelinewithin.us. I'll get both those emails. They come to so I'll I'll I'll get it sent to me. Love to connect with you, love to hear from you, just to just and try to give you some encouragement. And also try to uh if you haven't done it already, help you get plugged into a good, you know, gospel-focused Bible teaching church. Period. That that is most important, right? It's not it's not about the flashiness or the size. It's are we teaching the word of God and are we focused on the gospel and advancing it? You do that, you focus on that first and foremost. Everything else, like the color, the carpet, and all that stuff really don't matter. Okay. So anyway, I pick because I care. So let me know, guys. Just hit me up if you have questions

Events Resources And Funding The Mission

Chris Grainger 23:00

on that. Other than that, uh, go to thelangwithin.us, fellas. Check out our events page. We got lots of things happening, lots of speaking. I'll be speaking all over the place. If I could help you with your men's group, hey, hit me up. You just go to thelangwithin.us, you have ways you can connect with us there. I'd love to get plugged in and serve your men's group any way possible. We got our book, Unleashing The Land Within, that's out. So, fellas, go get a copy of that. Joby Martin, Pastor Joby Martin. Martin wrote the forward for it. So we'd love for you to check that out. So many guys are using that book and with their discipleship groups. And I'm so encouraged by that. Along with the book, we also have our Bible plans on the Bible app. I'm constantly writing plans for the Bible app. I get the ideas from the guys at the line and I put the plans on the Bible app. It's that simple. I get the ideas, I put them on the Bible apps. So go check the plans out, fellas. All that stuff's free on the Bible app. And then if you want to connect with me on the Bible app, just go to the lionwithin.us slash Bible. There's a link right there. You can connect. I think it takes you directly to the Bible app. You can connect with me there. And then when I send out a plan, like a reading plan to do it with a group of people, you'll be the only invite. I'd love to do that with you. So we have all those resources. Join Alliance, then the mastermind, all that fun stuff we can we have different ways to serve. And the big thing, guys, I mentioned at the beginning, but support the line within us. We need your help. This ministry is not easy. It is growing. It's 100% volunteer led. And we need your help. Obviously, we want to go full time. We feel like God is calling us to this, but if to go full time, we need your support. Just straight up. We need your support and we'd love to have it. So go to the linewithin.us. You'll find lots of ways you can pray for us. You can donate to the mission. We want you to be, would love for you to be a monthly donor. You know, one times are great, but that monthly, that just that helps us understand the type of resources we have to build with what God's calling us to do. So prayerfully, we'd ask you to think about that, consider it, talk with your spouse, talk with whoever, look at your budget, and then see if that's something you could support us with. We would be definitely grateful for that. And no amount too small. If you're like, Chris, bro, I can only give up five bucks a month. Okay, fine, great. Because if we had thousands of guys that were willing to do that, we would be so equipped to do more and more what God's calling us to do. Finally, I just ask for your prayers. I need prayers. I really covet your prayers for my family, for me, for as I travel, for family health, for my health, for clarity, for the lion, for the writing, for the speaking, all the things that God's called me to do. None of them are easy. I'm not sitting here saying, you know, that that uh I'm not I'm not out here building a road by myself. I know it's not like that, but the spiritual warfare is real. So I would covet your prayers, and I definitely thank you for them. Okay. All right, guys. Get after it. Have a great day. Thanks for hanging out. We'll see you next time. And uh you know what's going right. Just keep unleashing the lion within. Let's

New Husbands Support Group Invitation

Chris Grainger 26:04

just say it out loud. Marriage is one of the greatest gifts that God can give a man, and one of the most consistent places where we can feel unsure of what we're doing. Even the strongest marriages have moments where you look at your wife and you think, you know what? I love you. I'm so committed to you. But right now, I have no idea what I should do next. And that's why we launched something new inside the line within us community. It's our very first support group. And it's for husbands. And we're calling it committed and occasionally confused. This isn't just a place for men in crisis. So if you're there, hey, you're welcome. This is for any man who refuses to coast and wants to take his marriage from good to great. So inside, you'll find an active chat and a feed and honest conversations and brotherhood that says, hey, you're not alone. We've been there. Let's bring this to God and grow. And we're also doing a monthly couples night where your wife is invited because we're not letting the world set the agenda for our homes. Now, if you want access to this support group, it's very simple. Go to thelionwithin.us and join the Lions Dan. Okay, that's the LionWithin.us. Start your 30-day free trial of the Lions Dan community, and boom, you have instant access to the committed and occasionally confused support group. We'll see you inside the den.