Made For More

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You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1286. Today's episode is called Made for More. Hey there. We're the Aleskies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.

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That's why we partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Lauren Alessi and I will be your host for this week.

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This is gonna be a fun week. This is gonna be challenging. Exciting.

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More challenging than exciting. But I'm excited. So I kind of got this inspiration from the last time I did this podcast. I made a joke about the My Morning Devotional. And for those that live in South Florida, that is the Miami Seaquarium theme song. And I stole it. And a friend reached out to me and she was like, you know, they closed Miami Seaquarium down. And I was like, no, they didn't. I passed by it, like, pretty often. It's still open. So we looked it up and basically, if you want to do your research, you can, but it's this aquarium in Miami that the county went and saw the state the aquarium was in and was like, you have to close this down. This is not safe.

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This is not how you're supposed to be taking care of animals. The most Miami thing you've ever heard in your life. And they forced Miami Seaquariums to close down. And I kid you not, Miami Seaquarium refused to close down. You can buy tickets and go to Miami Seaquarium today. They are still open. And it was like four years ago that they forced the aquarium to close down. And, like, Google it right after this episode. Google it. You could buy tickets and go tomorrow to Miami Seaquarium. It's a thing.

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But that kind of inspired me for this week about doing a whole week dedicated to not giving up and being like Miami Seaquarium and just pushing for more that God has for you, knowing the more that God has on the inside of you. And essentially, yeah, not giving up and even channeling the higher capacity that God has put on the inside of you. So that's what I mean by it's going to be a little challenging. So that's the story time. Now we're going to jump into the verse of the day. The verse of

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5, and it says this. If you have raced with men on foot and they have Worn you out. How can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan? This is a part in the Bible where Jeremiah's just frustrated with life. He's. He's just upset. And God basically just lets him know. He's like, hold on. If you're tired now, how are you going to handle what I have for you in the future?

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And he's basically like, look, you got to suck it up, because I have so much more for you ahead. And that's why I named this episode Made for More, which is also a great worship song. If you want to go listen to that after you listen to this and after you Google the Miami Seaquarium thing.

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But anyways, today's episode is all about how this verse, if you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? It's not meant to shame or crush us or to make us feel condemned. This verse is meant to call us higher. It reminds us that what we see right now as what may be breaking points, what may be challenging points, God sees as training grounds, as moments to make you stronger. And he uses that pressure to prepare us for what's ahead.

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So even though we may see it as difficult, he's seeing that as, no, no, no. This is supposed to be developing you for what I have for you in the future. And we're the same people who want to say, oh, I want big dreams. I have big dreams, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. But then we may get stuck in the difficult moments. God wants you to have the big dreams and the biggest, the higher capacity and the big life. But that means we've got to face some challenging moments and view them as training ground for now. God believes that you are built for more, even if you don't feel like it or see it today. He believes you're built for more. And that's why you may be facing challenges, but that doesn't mean they're meant to break you down. They're meant to be training you up for what's ahead.

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So when life feels very, very hard and you are tempted to just give up, maybe think on this, reframe that thought in your brain. Maybe you're not being punished, but you're being prepared for the doors God is going to open in the future. Whether that's with your job, whether that's with your marriage, your family, your kids, your house, maybe God is preparing you for what's up ahead.

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So let's pray. Lord, you see all of us right where we are at today and you meet us there. God, whether we're tired, whether we're frustrated, God, whether we feel like we have a very low capacity, God, but we want a higher capacity, Lord, you meet us right where we're at. And Lord, we just choose to believe right now that, God, you're using these moments of tiredness and frustration, God, not as punishment, not to shame us, but Lord, to build us up. Because we know that you have made us for more. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.