August 14 Podcast: Trust the Process

The 10th Sunday After Pentecost

Scriptures: Jeremiah 23:23-29; Luke 12:49-56

Key Verse: “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! (Luke 12:49)

<music>

<Intro:>

Hello, This is Jade.

Welcome to Yi.kigai

A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life

<music>

<Message:>

One of my part-time jobs that I enjoyed very much was teaching aerobics classes during my college years. Besides earning my own allowance, there were two benefits that I didn’t get from my other jobs. The first one was losing weight while helping others do the same. The second one was enjoying a luxury Finnish style bath called “San-Wen-Nuan.” It included the steam room, the sauna, and the massage bath, and was very popular back then in Taiwan. Since San-Wen-Nuan was offered to the school's members and staff for free, I signed up to teach three evening classes per week to get as much as I could. I was the fittest and healthiest at that time in my life.

Both the scriptures from Jeremiah and Luke for this week remind us that the Word of God comes to kindle us, divide us, and purify us. It is hard to picture myself burned in fire or struck by a hammer that is required to make the purification process possible. So, I thought it might be helpful to share with you my experience of San-Wen-Nuan which helps me understand a little bit of what the purification process is like and its purposes in terms of how changing temperature and humidity can affect a substance and change its quality.

Based on some factors, health practitioners consider San-Wen-Nuan a healing treatment. It can improve skin rejuvenation, metabolism, blood circulation, cardiovascular function and stress management, etc. In this healing process, our bodies are stimulated by hot, warm, and cold temperatures along with various humidities in a short amount of time. As a result, our bodies go through a soothing, suffocating, releasing, refreshing, and relaxing experience.

Not everyone can take or tolerate such a healing process well, especially for those who have skin or heart diseases or disabilities. However, for those who have busy lifestyles or those who do not have a concept of what having a healthy body is like, such a healing process may go wasted. And if tried, most people will take well to the healing process of soothing, releasing, refreshing, and relaxing. But the process of suffocating that comes before all the good stuff, like the sauna room or the massage bath, is pretty challenging.

Isn’t that what the Word of God does to us and for us? I believe that we all experience the power of God’s word that speaks to us differently and uniquely depending on where we are, what we are doing, and how we are feeling about ourselves, others, and our surroundings at the time. Through our daily or weekly devotion, or our proclamation on Sunday, the Word of God confronts our ego and a self-centered life, and at the same time releases our guilt and shame and restores our brokenness. When we feel suffocated, may we take a moment to ponder and reflect. It is a signal to talk to God and discover if we are the ones not willing to change or misunderstanding the true meaning and purpose of what God is saying to us. And remember, pain is a part of a healing process not the end. The end is the peace that God offers.

<Music>

<Closing Prayer:>

May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace

As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life

<Outro:>

Thank you for listening. Please subscribe and follow yi.kigai.

<music>