BONUS: If You Feel Like Giving Up (with Jeff Cavins) (2024)
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Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast. In fact, you might even be watching the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is our first time where we're not only having the audio, obviously, here, but we're also doing a video podcast.

of Jeff and myself having an opportunity to sit down and just take one moment to address all of you, the community, the Bible in a Year community who have been journeying with us for so long. In fact, the journey might feel like the Israelites in the wilderness. The journey might feel like those prophets who got beat up. The journey might feel like those in exile. And so we just wanted to take a moment and just offer some words, words of encouragement to help us do that. None other than Jeff Cavins is joining us today.

to give us that word, that word of wisdom, that word of encouragement, that word of hope. - Well, it's welcome, Jeff. - Good to be with you. Nice to see you. - Good to see you too. I love the fact that your camera is so much better than mine. And I say, I love the fact, I love it. But Jeff, I know that I've been saying ever since the beginning

that people think that Leviticus was going to be the hardest. Deuteronomy, Numbers, that was going to be the most difficult. And I was like, I think it's going to be the prophets. I think it's going to be the fact that we are going to stay for months. We're going to walk for months with the prophets and their words of conviction, their words of telling people to repent, telling people to brace for what's coming. And

I think it might have affected some of our hearts in some ways. Yeah. Well, it certainly is a difficult time to read in the Bible, you know, when you're talking about the things that Israel's doing wrong and the prophets are speaking to them and giving a warning. And there's so much of it. If you take your Bible and you hold it up on the side, a good portion of the Old Testament are the prophets speaking.

And of course, reading the Bible in chronological order, as we're doing, we're not really called to read those just one after another, but it's more important to know when that prophet speaks and who, to whom the prophet is speaking. And that's what you're doing. So first, I'd love to say, hey, congratulations to everyone for getting this far.

You have already done something that very few people have done. I mean, there's a lot of people who have read the Bible straight through, and they don't understand it that well, but you've taken the time to actually go through it in chronological form. And at first it was like, oh, this is so cool, this is amazing. And then you can fall into that confusion with the prophets where you have to back up and say, okay...

I'm going to embrace the narrative and I'm going to have other times in my life where I can go back and read these prophets in their proper place and go deeper with it. But I would encourage you not to be discouraged when you are deep in the prophets. Well, that's and that's to one of the things I was speaking with a student just the other day of mine who said that the prophets has been have been so powerful.

it's been so heavy and not only that, but they experienced a, a word of conviction that turned into a word of condemnation. And it was one of the situations where they were just thinking, okay, in their, in their prayer that they just, they, in their words, they said, they seemed like the evil one was, was trying to distort God's words of conviction towards repentance and oriented towards, okay, turn back to me and turn it into something where, um,

they were feeling condemned and it was so good because we're able to identify that the fact that i mean we're we have found out that even satan can quote scripture right so that sense of being able to say um can i misapply god's word to my life and the answer of course is yes can i misapply god's word to anything in life the answer is yes because it seems to me that as we went through or are going through the prophets that uh

that there is a word of, I mean, think of the book of the prophet Isaiah that has the book of woe and the book of consolation. And, and yet even in that, the woe times, there are so many moments where God's word of hope breaks through and God's word of comfort breaks through and God's word of, of like, but this isn't, this isn't because I want to destroy you. This is because I want to save you. And that, that, that always keeps coming back to me to, to remind me of this is

This is why God is allowing this to happen. - Right, well, I look at the prophets like Isaiah as, I better understand them when I take a look at my life growing up, okay? So in the summertime, I was out every day. We would put our shorts on and we'd ride bikes and we'd be playing all day long and one thing after another. And that's kind of like the historical narrative books. Things are moving along. But every night I'd have to come home for dinner and listen to the prophets.

you know, my dad telling me what you're doing wrong. And if you do this again, this is going to happen. I say, oh, I can't wait to get out of here and go back to the narrative and play with my friends, you know, and build this and do that. But, you know, I look back now, my father loved me, you know, and he was, he wanted things to work out for me. He wanted me to fly right. And he was a part of my life that I naturally preferred to be with my friends, but I needed my

my dad. And I love reading those narrative books, but I need the prophets too.

Yeah, and I just, I got the sense that I learned the three major prophets, their voice. Because a lot of times when we read the prophets in mass or in the lectionary throughout the course of the year, or even in Liturgy of the Hours, they're little snippets. I mean, they could be a page long maybe, but yeah, it's Jeremiah, it's the same as Ezekiel. It kind of all blends together. But when we got a chance to listen to them all straight through,

I really could see, okay, here's what Isaiah sounds like. And here's what he's really passionate about. Here's what Jeremiah is passionate about. Here's what Ezekiel is really trying to communicate to the people. And they all have different voices. And God is using their heart in a different way. God's using their...

prophetic role in a different way. And that has been really consoling to me. In fact, some of the prophets speak to certain areas of my life in one way than another. If I think about Jeremiah, who's become maybe my favorite prophet, I thought some others were my favorites, but Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, has become just a source of encouragement to me, even when he talks about

those evil shepherds. And I think, okay, here's, I've been given a role as, as a pastor, I've been given a role as someone who was meant to shepherd. Um, and that word of conviction, uh, not of condemnation, but of, of, of yeah, be on guard and, and call the people, uh,

Do not neglect those who are strong and do not abandon those who are weak. And just, there's something about it that just continues to speak to my heart. And I'm so grateful. - Well, I would encourage people also, you know, Father, to at this point in the going through the Bible in a year, if you do feel bogged down

or if you feel like, okay, I'm behind, that's the most common thing I hear from people when I talk to them is, well, I love it, but I'm like four weeks behind or five weeks behind, to which I respond, great, great. You're still going to end if you keep going. You're going to end, but it's like you're going to take a later flight, you know?

You're going to get home, but it's not going to be as early as you thought. It's going to be a later landing time. And that's okay. But one of the things that I encourage people to do is mix it up a little bit. And by that, I mean take some time and just go back.

to the beginning. And don't make this overly difficult. Go back and kind of take note of some of the points that really hit you, and gather them together, keep them. Don't just walk by them, but keep them. Maybe write them down. And I know that this wonderful notebook, the Bible in a Year notebook has been a help to so many people.

where they wrote down a few little points on each day. Maybe on some days they didn't write anything down, but you can go back through this and just with a thankful heart say,

You know, the Lord has been dealing with me and refresh yourself with the word of God that way and continue to march on because tenacity is the name of the game. Faithfulness is the name of the game when it comes to salvation history. And you need to apply that as well in just reading it and just listening to it. And by the end, you're going to stand there with your arms racing. I did it. I did it. This is amazing.

And just a little bit every day at consistency beats intensity every time. And so that sense of just showing up, press play, let the Lord's word penetrate your mind and heart and, and not, not to give up again. All of the prophets are oriented towards our conversion. And one of the things that happens is with the entire Bible is that we can stop up our ears, right? We can say, I'm not listening or we can say, okay, that's challenging and maybe uncomfortable, but again,

God wants me to hear this and for in whatever reason, this is, this is for me. And I need to just say, okay, if I don't know why right now, that's okay. I,

I accept it, I note it, and then if the Lord wants to bring it back up later on, He will. But just, I don't have to understand it all right now. - No, no you don't. - As you had said earlier, that's what the rest of your life is for. - It is, you got the rest of your life to work all this out, however long that is. But remember too, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Even if you're not completely understanding, everything that you are hearing,

Faith comes by hearing, and God's Word is powerful. It's like a two-edged sword. And that which He says will not come back to Him void. It will accomplish that which He purposes. And so when you are listening to the Word of God, it's different than Shakespeare. It's different than Tolstoy. It's different than, you know, Chaucer.

It is God's word. It is powerful and it can work in your heart in ways that you never thought possible. So that is an amazing thing about the word of God. And I'm running into people almost daily who are going through this with us. And it's so fun. Yeah.

We had, a little sad note, but we had our garage was broken into several weeks ago and Emily's bike was taken. I had a bunch of fishing rods and reels taken and I called the police. The police came and I'm kind of bummed out thinking, oh, I just feel violated. Somebody broke into my garage and stole that.

And I got talking with the officer and he's taking pictures and everything. And he finds out that I'm a Bible teacher. You know, I told him I'm a Bible teacher and I got a couple podcasts. I said, one of them actually did pretty well, Bible in a Year. And he goes, oh, Father Mike, Father Mike Schmitz. I said, yeah. He goes, I was listening to it in the car. Yeah.

And I said, well, good. And I've run into my dental hygienist. You know, isn't it great when they put all this stuff in your mouth and then they ask you a question? So how's your day going? Yeah. Yeah.

And so the dental hygienist was telling me a little bit about herself. And come to find out, she's listening to Bible in a year. And I'm like, that's me without a mic. And she goes, you're the one. I said, yeah, yeah. That's awesome. And you meet so many people who are on it. And the overarching sentiment is gratefulness.

and they feel like they're a community moving forward together. And I don't think they'll forever forget this. And I hope that when people are done, that they will do it again and bring somebody with them. What are you hearing from people? - Oh, that's something similar. And it's been really fascinating for me because for half of this year,

I haven't gone anywhere and then, you know, kind of just been on campus and haven't been able to fill in and parishes haven't really traveled to any places. And so now when I, you know, spent some summertime filling in and parishes and helping out the number of people that I encounter a similar kind of situation where there's just this again, sense of community, their sense of accomplishment, sense of where not just accomplishment on my own, but also God is doing something in my life through this, that he's never done before. And,

as you said, it's the power of God's word. I also hear people say, I'm a little behind, but I'm going to catch up or, or, or I'm a little behind, but I know what you said. You said, just keep pressing play. Just keep whatever day you're on is, is the day you're on. And that is, that's all that really matters in so many ways when it comes to this, when it comes to taking this journey, it is, we're all reading and hearing the same word of God. And yet, and the same Holy spirit is doing something, but it's,

The word of God and the Holy Spirit are doing something unique in every unique individual. And the timing is fantastic. People can, that's it. Timing. I was just thinking, they could be behind, be behind like three weeks. And when you know it, they heard a reading that they absolutely needed that day. Exactly. Exactly. And that's, that happens all the time.

all of the time. It's, well, I'm 40 days behind, but this is speaking to my life right now. I'm four days behind, but this is exactly what I need to hear. Oh, happy fault. That's not an accident. Oh, happy fault. Exactly. Your laziness pays off. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Well, I just really encourage people to continue on and to remember that when you hear the Word of God,

take note of two things, and it's in paragraph 236 of the Catechism. The theology, which is knowing the mystery of the Trinity, break it down even more, to know the heart of your Father. Come to know the heart of your Father. And number two, the economy of God. Fancy word for saying God's plan, the plan of sheer goodness, as it says in the first paragraph of the Catechism. So

As you are reading, remember, this is not just an academic exercise. It's not just a marathon to get through it. You are encountering the heart of your father and you're encountering his plan so that you have a foundation on which you can trust in the future. So you're building a foundation in your life right now. And sometimes you got to roll your sleeves up when you build, but you're going to be so happy you did, especially when the winds blow and the rain falls and your house is going to stand. Yeah.

Yeah. Amen. Thank you, Jeff. And thanks everyone in this community. One of the things that we say, so I think I say every day is I am praying for you. And I know that Jeff is, I know that the whole community who produced this, um, we are praying for you and I know that you're praying for each other. Uh, so praying for you, please pray for me. Pray for us. My name is father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. I can't either. God bless. And neither can Jeff. Bye.