Navigating the Night: Finding Clarity in Uncertain Seasons

Navigating the Night: Finding Clarity in Uncertain Seasons

Episode Overview: 
In this insightful episode, Pastor Charlie Mitchell explores John chapter 9 to dissect the themes of vision and focus during challenging times. As many struggle with feeling overwhelmed and unfocused due to life's uncertainties, Mitchell offers a biblically grounded approach to finding clarity and purpose. The discussion is framed around the "Night Vision" concept, emphasizing the need for spiritual insight when navigating the  'night' or difficult periods in our lives.

Practical Application: 
1. Embrace Focus: Limit your commitments and concentrate your energy on fewer tasks to increase productivity and stability.
2. Seek Spiritual Insight: Use this season to deepen your spiritual vision and understanding, using the quiet and stillness to reflect and grow.
3. Use the 'Night Vision' Tools: Engage with the spiritual disciplines and resources provided, such as prayer and scripture meditation, to gain clarity and direction during these 'night' seasons.

Key Takeaways:
1. Uncertainty isn't a punishment but a call to deeper dependence on God and refined focus in our lives.
2. Difficulties can be a backdrop for God's work to be displayed, emphasizing that challenges should redirect us to seek God and His purpose.
3. Clarity comes from simplifying our lives, focusing on fewer things with greater depth and commitment.

Relevant Scripture(s):
- John 9: The story of Jesus healing a man born blind illustrates that not all suffering is due to personal sin but can be an opportunity for God's works to be displayed.
- Psalm 119:148 encourages meditation on God's promises during the night, highlighting the importance of spiritual vigilance.

Conclusion:  
"Navigating the Night: Finding Clarity in Uncertain Seasons" will inspire you to transform your perspective on adversity. By adopting a focused approach and seeking God's vision for your life, individuals can navigate uncertain times not just with survival in mind but with a strategy for spiritual growth and effectiveness. Charlie's call to adopt "Night Vision" is a toolset for thriving in the midst of darkness, ensuring that when dawn comes, we are prepared and rejuvenated for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

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Continue your journey with the Charlie Mitchell Teachings Podcast for more episodes that inspire and equip you to live out your faith boldly and effectively. Subscribe and share to help others find clarity and purpose in every season of life.

Transcript

Charlie Mitchell: 0:13

Yo, what's up family? turn in your Bible to John chapter Over the last several weeks, we've gone through all kinds of transition. Many of us are tired, overwhelmed. We've got a lot of stuff on our plate and it's just become overwhelming. I've said to myself, I don't want to keep going on this rollercoaster ride the same way I've been going through it. We don't know what's coming tomorrow, but doggone it, I'm going to put my feet down, I'm going to plant myself, and I am going to determine to navigate with a level of clarity this strange season. I've gone through the topsy turviness and now I am determined to figure out how I'm going to make the most of this season. What I'm not talking about is you gotta go out and start a job, you gotta go out and become a doctor overnight. That's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is that feeling like there is so much on my plate and I can't get it all done. And the reason that is, is we need Focus. Okay? We need focus. I found this interesting quote by Henry Ford. All human flourishing is limited primarily because we try to do too much. The reason we don't get as much done is because we're trying to do too much. And so, we need to focus. We need to pick a few things and focus our energy on those things. And what we'll do is we'll come out on the other side of this season more accomplished. More equipped, more stable, and stronger. And that's my goal for us. And so we named this series, over the next several weeks, Night Vision. Because I think we need vision in this weird nighttime season. Now, if you would Pull up John chapter nine. If you've got it up, pray with me real quick and we're going to dive right in. Jesus. I just say thank you for this time that we get to spend in your word. Thank you for your word that you've given us to be a light unto our feet in the midst of the darkness. And Lord, I pray for all of those under the sound of my voice. I pray for all of their families. I pray for peace in their homes. I pray for health. I pray blessing over them. I pray God that they will be transformed by your word and God that you would give them vision in this season. I pray all of this in Jesus name. Amen. Now, here is what the word of the Lord says. As he was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, they're talking about Jesus, they're asking Jesus, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents? That he was born blind. Here's what Jesus said, Neither this man nor his parents sinned. This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. Couple of crazy things happens. Everybody wants to know who's fault it is. Where did this Corona virus come from? Who caused it? Was it China's fault? Was it Russia's fault? Was it the internet's fault? Is it, is it, whose fault is it? Why are you getting sick? Is it your fault? You didn't wash your hands. You didn't do it. You didn't do that. And all these things that we're trying to look for somebody. First thing I want you to see in this passage is this. When bad things happen, we look for somebody to blame. We want to know whose fault it is. We do that at my house. When somebody, when somebody spills some milk, when somebody does something wrong, breaks something, who did it? Who did it? When things go wrong at work, when things happen at school, what do we do? Who did it? We want to know whose Fault. It is. And many people are asking that question. Whose fault is it? Is this God's fault? Did he start this? Is it our fault? Did we do this? We are looking for somebody to blame. The disciples had the same line of thinking. There was a popular Jewish thought that said something like this. There is no death without sin and there is no suffering without iniquity. Did you catch that? They believe that there was no death, that if you died suddenly, it was because you committed some kind of sin. And if you are suffering in your life, if you are poor, if you got hurt, if you went through an accident, if you got, have some kind of illness or sickness, it is because you've got some kind of sin in your life. That ain't nothing new. Right now, today, people are saying, man, if you do something, if you did something wrong, it's going to come back to haunt you, kind of like karma. And we, we just think that that's how the world works, that each thing I do, there's going to be payment for it somewhere down the line. And nine times out of ten, that's not how it works. Because we've seen people that we know have done bad and horrible and evil things. Man, it seems like their life is good. That's what Psalm 73 said. And then you see people that are good, genuine, godly people that are loving and kind, and they go through tremendous suffering and pain. It doesn't make sense, but we're always trying to find somebody to blame. But look at Jesus response in verse 3. Neither the man nor his parents sinned. Neither the man nor his parents sinned, okay? When bad things happen, he wants us to look to God. This came about so that God's works might be displayed in him. This came about so that God's works might be displayed. When bad things happen, we don't look, need to look for somebody to blame. When bad things happen, we need to look to God. That is what we need to do. Bad things are not always the result of personal decisions. We know that that's just not how it works. That's just not the real economy of life is one of the lessons. We all have to learn life is not always fair, but where does that come from? Bad things are often suffering. Poverty, racism, pain, violence, death, illness, hurricanes, tornadoes, all of these things that we see that flood our timeline, that give us anxiety and stress today, bad things are often the result of sin and our falling condition in general. When you understand that what happened in Genesis chapter 3, when our forefathers Adam and Eve rebelled against God, that it opened up the Pandora's box of sin that we still deal with, like the boxer said, to this day. So the pain, the sickness, the death, this is the result of living in a sinful broken world, birth defects, miscarriages. Divorce, financial hardship are all the result of sin. The pandemic is not God's fault. He didn't start a pandemic. I don't believe that. I think this is the work of the enemy. Jesus told us in John chapter ten, the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy but I, Jesus, have come to bring life and life more abundantly. God is the giver of good gifts. He is not the one who is seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. And so for many of us, this is the nature of living in a sinful and broken world. But that ain't even the main point. That I learned and saw something illuminating this week. Look at verse 4. This is what stood out to me this week. We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. That stood off the page to me this week, unlike any other time. I've read this story, I can't tell you how many times, but that stood out to me in a unique way this past week. Now, in the scripture, Jesus is talking about his earthly ministry, that he has a limited amount of time, that he has come to fulfill the law, and then he has come to lay down his life, and he is going to go to the cross, and that night is coming where he will be betrayed and he will not be with us in the same way that he was with them in the first century. But what struck me was, he had this in his mind that night is coming when no one can work. Here's what I felt like the Lord is saying to me in this season and I think he is saying to us as a church and just, just as a way for us to think through this season that we're going through right now. A strange night has fallen on the world. This is a strange night that we're going through. And I say that because ever since the coronavirus has shown up on the scene, it is like a night has descended on the entire world. It's quieter like it is at night. There is less movement like there is at night. There are more animals out in broad daylight. I just saw a deer jump over my neighbor's fence across the street, 11 o'clock in the morning. There are things that are happening that would typically happen at night that are happening all throughout the day. We move more cautiously like it's the night. When darkness falls, fear tends to rise and our minds begin to wander. And we feel vulnerable because, it's not that we're afraid of the dark, but when, when the darkness comes over us, a lot of the deep things in our heart, a lot of the deep things in our soul, naturally come to the surface. That's why you. You think through a lot of things right before you fall asleep. A lot of the things, the wrestlings of your soul come out as you lay your head on the pillow, because that's the only time your soul has a chance to allow you to, to, to really face those things. And I feel like we're in a dark night that has fallen over. I'll tell you about when I lived in Denmark, right after high school. It was the strangest thing to me, uh, to be a Florida boy who is used to, I'm from, I'm from the sunshine state. And then to go through a winter in Denmark, here's what's so strange about a winter in Denmark. Denmark is in Scandinavia. So it is very far North. And, in the winter time, the night. Can last 16 hours. The night can last 16 hours. So whereas, man, I remember getting up one day, me and my friends, we went downtown, caught a bus, grabbed some lunch, when we came outside of the restaurant, at 1, 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was already going down. And the further we got into the winter, The longer the nights got. So things we would do at 3, 4, 5 o'clock in the evening, 2, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, they were covered by stars in the sky. And it was a strange, weird, awkward, disorienting sense that you had to go through in that season. I feel like we're in one of those long seasons of the night time. Well, we can't do the same work like we do in the daylight. I think we're in a strange nighttime season, but night that I discovered, I had to go through and I said, okay, Lord, if we're going through this, this nighttime season, what does that mean? Uh, so I looked it up and, and, and the night has a lot of significance in the Bible. Check this out. The night is a time of reflection. Psalm 17 three said, you have tested my heart. You have examined me at night. The night was a time of wrestling. Jacob wrestled with God at night. The night is a time of deception. Jacob was deceived by Laban at night. The night is a time of visitation. That's when Mary was visited by an angel at night. Samuel heard the voice of God at night. The night is a time of provision. Manna was provided for the people of God at night. Restoration to our bodies happens at night. All of those things happens at night. The night is a time also, check this out, a vision. The night is a time of vision. Daniel had visions at night. Paul had visions at night. Peter had visions at night. Jacob had visions at night. Solomon had visions at night. So I believe, I do believe we're in a night time season that we're going through. But we need to make the most of it. And how do we make the most of it? We get night vision. We get night vision. I don't know if you've ever seen the military, a lot of our military personnel, they've got goggles that they can put on at night and they're able to see and accomplish things at night that other people were not able to see. They're able to do things at night that were, that were impossible to do decades ago, but now because they have night vision, they can accomplish things in the night. And I'm saying family, we need night vision. We've got to accomplish things in this night time. We've got to make the most of this season. I stumbled across this passage, Psalm 119 verse 148. It's going to be the theme passage for the next several weeks. Here's what it says. I rise before dawn while it's still dark and I cry out for help. I put my hope in your word. I am awake through each watch of the night and I meditate on your promises all night long. I'm meditating on your promises all night long. I'm crying out for help so that when dawn arises, I am ready. I am equipped to take on the day. Dawn is coming. Day is coming. We are going to get through this, but listen, while it is night, we need vision. We need vision in this season. We need night vision. So, so much of the world depends on what happens in the third shift. We all know that, right? My parents worked the third shift as custodians. My father was a fisherman. He worked overnight. He did his best work. At night, Our bodies are restored at night when we get sleep. That's why we need sleep. Amazon, the post office, FedEx, they're, they're, they're chartering ships, flying planes, uh, delivering packages in the middle of the night so that during the day we can get what we need. Offices are being cleaned all night long. Floors are being polished so that when we go to work in the day, we can be more effective. shelves at our grocery stores are being stocked at night so that when we need food for our families, when we go during the day, they will have the things that we need. So much happens in the night to prepare us for the day and family. I want to have things that I, I am better equipped for the day that is coming. Because I worked diligently and I had vision in the night. Night is the time for deep work. For many of us, it's time for us to have a vision for the deep work that we are going to accomplish in this season. Hey, we're done. We're just being scatterbrained and doing all the things. This is our opportunity to focusing on some deep things that God maybe has for us. And listen, the secret to effectiveness is focus. The secret to effectiveness is focus. And I believe if we focus our energy in this season, we will see a much brighter day on the other side of this. I'm focusing my mind in this season, not to be controlled by everything else, but I'm putting my mind on the Father of Light who gives every good and perfect gift. We're going to come through this, but we need night vision. If you don't know Jesus the most important thing you can do is get a vision of who Jesus is. He wants to meet you right now. He wants to talk to you. He wants to be your friend. Jesus said, the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come to bring life. He has a different vision for what our life should be. And if you don't know him, you will never truly know the life that you can have because as believers in Jesus Christ, we get an advantage. What's the advantage that even in the darkness of night, even when we go through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil because God is with us. And so if you don't know Jesus, I beg you call out to him today. You can do that right there where you're at, at home, in the car, in the bathroom, wherever you may be. You can call out to Jesus right now and he will enter into your heart and he will transform you. Second, if you are a believer, do not go through this season with your head held down. God has given us a vision of himself and he has prepared and equipped us. All we got to do is use the tools that he has provided for us. Fam, listen, I'm excited because I think God is going to give us some night vision. And uh, I'm excited to help provide some tools along the way that will help us to grow and navigate this strange season while everybody else is walking around trying to feel out where they're going to go or how they're going to get somewhere. We're going to have clarity about who God has called us to be, where God has called us to go, areas we need to address, and. The mission that he has called us to in this nighttime season. Let me pray a brief blessing over you. May the Father of lights, illuminate your heart and your life this week. May he bring you blessing, joy, peace, and restore your soul. In Jesus name. Amen.