Learned Obedience Through Confrontation – Episode #764

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Learned Obedience Through Confrontation
Episode #764
7/25/2021

With Martha Kilpatrick and hosted by John Enslow
Special Guest: Joan Wentzel, Jean Mixon

This the continuation of a series of podcasts started in Episode #763
I could not have lived without this confrontation. I would not have come through without this level of confrontation.

Martha:
Somebody that can endure and survive the fire of God when He comes to ignite them…Joan has been transformed into another person of such enormous wisdom. If I need a scripture or a word, Joan will hit the nail on the head. And she sees and she knows God. She’s come out as I would say as a completely different person and quietly, strongly she’s in the war for the souls of men and women. She’s one of my hero’s-heroin because she is so proven her loyalty to God. There’s been much fire in her life and she has taken God’s side with all her being. And so, she knows Him, knows His mind about things and she has an intimacy that I’m not sure she really is confident in herself or maybe not aware. But she has intimacy with the Lord of host and is available to His flock. And that’s very poor words to what I really feel about her.

But, see, in spite of what I did to her we have a relationship that is really heavenly. It proceeds from the Lord. Our bond is Jesus all the way through.

John:
So, I have a question for you, Joan. Do you feel that you could have done it without going through that season of your life? Do you feel like you could…do you feel like you had to go through that season? Do you feel like you literally had to go through the confrontation?

Joan:
I would love to say, “No”. It would sound a lot better than I am. But the truth is I have a son-in-law, a wonderful Jewish son-in-law that I love and he always says this, “God offers us the carrot or the stick but we always choose the stick.” And the truth about me is I definitely choose the stick. This has been my way. God could not have done it any other way I don’t believe with me. Oh, I would love to say, “Yes” I’m a person that just can be told something. And, yes.” That is not who I am. That’s just the truth about me. But God has had to just sorely chasten me just to bring me in line, I’m sad to say but it’s true. I could not have lived without this confrontation. I would not have come through without this level of confrontation.

And I know there’s a lot of you out there that might think, “Well, that’s not thank goodness I’m just willing to learn from wisdom not experience.” I say be careful that you think that highly of yourself because we are born in sin with the satanic nature because of the fall. And I just say to you I would love to say my story didn’t need this but I did, I did need this. And I thank God for it.

And if you’re a person that this happens to come to and you realize the depth of your sin and what God is going to require to bring you to Himself…And that’s the whole thing. It’s not about punishment. My greatest encouragement to anybody who has gone through this or is in the process or has resented this it’s all about love. It’s not punishment. It’s God wanting you for Himself and bringing you to a place where you are willing to be His. And this is what it took for me and like I say I would love to say I’m somebody different and it wasn’t necessary. Not so, not so!

John:
I think if you were you’d be the only one in the room. (Giggles) We prefer the hard way. And I think that it’s pretty amazing because it proves God’s huge love and His huge commitment and the fact that He is Daddy. Even Christ…What is that scripture that always blows my mind? He learned…

Martha:
He was perfected by suffering.

Joan:
He learned obedience by the things He suffered.

John:
He learned obedience. The Son of God learned obedience by the things He suffered.

Joan:
And I needed that suffering in order to learn to obey. That was the love of God for me.

John:
What child doesn’t.

Joan:
I have seven and I didn’t have any. I sorry! It’s not who we are in reality.

John:
And the ideal will actually rob us from the experience of Him and life.

Jean:
I just want to agree with what’s been said because I know Martha’s willingness in my life and in others that I’m very close to in this body. That we have all had to face the tearing down of our self-image and our thinking that we know what we don’t know. My experience is much like Joan’s. If Martha hadn’t come down on and forced me, I would still be in my la la land of thinking I was just fine because that’s how I operated. Well, you know, I didn’t mean to be anything but…Oh yeah, righ! I don’t really have words but to say that I absolutely verify everything that Joan said that you have to have that confrontation in your life. If you don’t have confrontation in your life, you don’t have a clue who you are. You will believe your own legend.

I think I was in the room when you were talking about not looking because I think I got under my dining table because I think that’s where it happened. Because I was terrified to look at her because the fire of God was so on Martha at that moment. And, yeah! I literally was under the dining table and stayed there for a while, too, in utter terror of what happened and watched that person run out of the house and away. It was quite a moment and a learning for all of us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. I had to be confronted myself and I’m very grateful. And Martha’s love has always stayed with me in spite of the horror of what she had to face in me.

John:
I would have been under the table with you if I could have. I was wanting to be under the table with you. I was as low as I possibly could. I would have been digging to the bottom, to the basement.

Martha:
Ok, I was the one with the fire but when it was over, I was on the floor wailing and saying, “God don’t let me be mean, don’t let me be. Is this You? This is terrible. I can’t bear it if You don’t help me.” And Don who has gone to be with the Lord and you got on the floor with me because I was so upset and y’all had to encourage me because it was like a wild woman.

John:
It was. It was like a wild woman but it was…I think the reason both of us had to look at you is so that we could comfort you and…

Martha:
Uh huh.

John:
…and could…

Martha:
Testify that it was not…

John:
It wasn’t you. It wasn’t you. I’ve never seen anything like that before. I never want to see that again. I would be back under the table. But it was a ministry to Him and it was perfect.

Martha:
And the life was changed dramatically. Maybe not so much…

John:
The story is not over.

Martha:
The story was not over that day.

John:
And the story is not over now.

Martha:
Still not over.

John:
Nor with any of us.

Martha:
And that person counts me as one, still now today, counts me as one who knows God.

John:
Of course, he does.

Martha:
The most in his life. And he has given testimony to the rightness of it, too.

John:
Um hmm. It’s beautiful.

Learned Obedience Through Confrontation – Episode #764 – Shulamite Podcast

Anyone that can endure and survive the fire of God when confrontation comes is ignited by it. It’s learned obedience through the suffering.