Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 206 | Kobe's Death & the Sovereignty of God

Episode Date: January 29, 2020

Why do the deaths of famous people we don’t even know hit us so hard? Should they? Today, we grapple with Kobe Bryant’s death and the lessons the Bible teaches us about life, purpose, and dying.

Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political. They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort.

We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this D-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Hey, guys, welcome to Relatable. I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. So today we are going to talk about Kobe Bryant and some lessons we as Christians can draw from that. And some analysis I have on the coverage surrounding this tragic events. We're going to ask the question. question, why do we care so much when someone that we don't know who is famous dies? And don't guess my answer on that, because you don't know. I'm going to dig into that. And we're going to look at what scripture has to say about all of this. I will try to also get into a little update on the election, on the primaries. And then I did want to get into what I wanted to talk about on Monday,

leftism against the family and what that kind of looks like. I'm also going to answer some of the questions that you guys sit me on Instagram. So I want to get into all of that. We'll see how much time we have. I have a lot to say about the Kobe Bryant thing. Hey, this is Steve Day. If you're listening to Allie, you already understand that the biggest issues facing our country aren't just political.

They're moral, spiritual, and rooted in what we believe is true about God, humanity, and reality itself. On the Steve Day show, we take the news of the day and tested against first principles, faith, truth, and objective reality. We don't just chase narratives and we don't offer false comfort. We ask the hard questions and follow the answers wherever they leave, even when it's unpopular. This is a show for people who want honesty over hype and clarity over chaos. If you're looking for commentary grounded in conviction and unwilling to lie to you about where we are or where we're headed, you can watch this T-Day show right here on Blaze TV or listen wherever you get

podcasts. I hope you'll join us. Okay, now we are going to get into today's episode. So Kobe Bryant, you know by now. This happened on Sunday, so you've probably heard a lot of news coverage on it. I hope not to repeat more of what you've already heard. But just in case you haven't gotten a recap on it, I will tell you a few of the details. Kobe Bryant died tragically in a helicopter crash on Sunday. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, was with him along with seven other people, other parents and their children. They were all headed to their kids' basketball game. Apparently, the pilot of the helicopter. He had a lot of flying experience, a lot of hours under his belt, but he was just unable to navigate the fog, which was really thick that day. He was trying to fly under it,

but something went wrong. We obviously don't know all the details. We'll never know exactly what happened. I mean, I cannot imagine. You can't help but thinking about this, but I really can't fathom those few seconds that they felt, if there were those few seconds, that felt absolutely helpless when they realized that something was wrong. It's just too much for us to think about. It's probably not super productive for us to think about because we can't control it. There's nothing that we can do to change it. And if we were in that situation, there would be nothing that we could do to control it then either. Kobe and his wife, Vanessa, were married in 2001. So they've been married for a long time. They have three other daughters, one of whom was born just this summer. So about seven or so months old,

it's absolutely devastating. If you watch the videos that have been circulating on social media that are kind of in tribute to Kobe Bryant, what it seems like, at least through these videos and what other people are saying about him, is that he loved his family. He loved being a dad. He loved his girls. He started playing in the NBA at 18. He was obviously one of the winningest basketball players to ever exist.

He, of course, I'm guessing, will be inducted into the basketball hall of fame. From what we read through reports, he has grown up a lot during the past 20 years of his life, which is to be expected and to be hoped for not just someone like him, but for all of us. He has left a legacy, not just of basketball, but also a family. I want to play one clip from ESPN, from Ellie. I don't know if it's Ellie or Elle. El Duncan describing her interaction with Kobe Bryant from a couple years ago. When it came to sports, he said that his oldest daughter was an accomplished volleyball player and that the youngest was a toddler, so TBD.

But that middle one, he said, that middle one was a monster. She's a beast. She's better than I was at her age. She's got it. That middle one, of course, was Gigi. When I reflect on this tragedy and that half an hour that I spent with Kobe Bryant, two years ago, I suppose that the only small source of comfort for me is knowing that he died doing what he loved the most.

Being a dad, being a girl dad. Now, there are a few points that I want to make from all of this. One is the question of why we mourn so deeply and so widely, a person that we don't know, as if their life is any more important than anyone else is. So why was I, someone who does not follow basketball? I've never followed basketball. I've never really thought about Kobe Bryant. I mean, the seconds that he has occupied my brain probably total like 15 throughout my life. Why was I? So, shocked and disturbed when my husband walked into our room and said and told me that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash. Like, why does that still feel so sad to me? Why does that feel so heavy to me? Why do I feel like it's not real? Why does it feel so surreal to someone like me, someone who doesn't really care about this sport? Certainly doesn't idolize Kobe Bryant. Why does it matter to me and matter to people like you so much? I don't know the full answer to that question, but and thinking about this, I think that we subconsciously immortalized cultural icons in our minds.

We place them as fixtures in walls in our minds. And we may never even pay attention to that fixture that we have on our wall. But when it's taken down, when it's not there, it leaves a space that we begin to notice. And we didn't even realize that we put it up. But now we kind of have this void. And we didn't even know anything was filling it before. And that's kind of what it feels like to me. I think it also reminds us of our own mortality. If we've immortalized this cultural icon when they do die, it's a little bit jarring. When someone as strong, as powerful, as rich as Kobe Bryant dies, we realize that death is imminent for all of us. He had the best kind of helicopter out there from what I read. I don't know a lot about helicopters. I also have

no desire to ride in a helicopter. But from what I've heard, this was the best kind of helicopter that money could buy. He had one of the most experienced pilots out there. This was a routine flight on a normal, albeit foggy day, but a pretty normal day. And something went wrong. And now he's gone. And his 13 year old daughter is gone. He was also young. And I think that's another reason why it's hard for us to take in. He was only 41 years old. He had just, retired and in a lot of ways it just started a whole new part of his life, maybe even a more meaningful part of his life, we're reminded in that that death is not fair. It doesn't make sense. We look for some kind of meaning to it or something to make it feel less blunt, less cruel,

but we can't. Death has existed as long as humanity has existed and yet we're just not used to it. Like we can't become comfortable with it. We're looking for something to redeem it, but it rattles us. It confuses us. It haunts us. So when someone young and influential that we have immortalized, that we have placed as a fixture on the wall of our mind suddenly and unexpectedly dies, we are forced to face the uncomfortable reality of mortality, not just for the people that we look up to, not just

for the people that we assume are going to live long, influence. and healthy lives, but also for ourselves. James 414 says, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. So you, me, Kobe Bryant, we are blips on the span of eternity. Our lives are here today, gone tomorrow. We are small specks on the timeline of history, but we are not insignificant. Our existence isn't arbitrary. God placed each of us when and where he did on purpose specifically. Sometimes we joke, especially I would say us conservatives, we're like, oh, we're born in the wrong time. We should have been born 50 years ago,

or we should have been born 100 years ago when America was better, when America was in its prime, when patriot doesn't matter, when Christianity was more mainstream. We kind of joke about all of this stuff, or sometimes we feel unprepared for the future. We don't want to confront the changes happening to our country or we feel unequipped. But God has played. you and I, has placed all of us when and where he did with intention. So not accidentally, not arbitrarily, purposely. God is sovereign over our lives. Even when we look at a death like Kobe Bryant said it seems premature, it seems like we've been robbed of something. The reality is, in light of God's sovereignty, we haven't. Jesus asks this rhetorical question, which I assume

most of you know in Matthew 627, and which of you, by being angry, anxious can add a single hour to his span of life. That question always punches me in the gut because I'll be honest, I am a pretty anxious person. Naturally, I can lay in bed at night and just come up with things that I should be worried about that really aren't worth my worry, but it's almost like my mind is addicted to worrying about something or trying to control something. And if I don't have something to worry about, I will conjure up something to worry about. That's how naturally sinful and naturally in need or in want of control all of us are. And when Jesus asks this question, it gets me right in my core because it's like he's asking it to me and everyone like me.

Who of you by worrying? Who of you by being anxious can add one hour, 60 minutes? And this is really just a figure of speech. So even one second to your life is worrying going to add one second to your life and I would even add on to that. Can any of you by worrying add an hour to your kids' life, to your spouse's life, to the people that you care about can it add to their life? And of course, the answer that Jesus is getting at is no. The rest of the chapter in Matthew 6, Jesus tells us, stop worrying. Stop worrying about your provision. If you can't even add a single hour to your life, you don't need to worry about anything. So stop worrying about your clothes. Stop worrying about what's going to happen to you. He says, does God not provide for the birds? Doesn't he care for flowers? Doesn't he care

for grass? And if he cares for these, don't you think he'll give you what you need? His own children, human beings that are made in his image, children that he has called to himself, reconciled to himself through Christ, if not even a sparrow falls out of the sky apart from the father's will? This chapter says, do you think anything could befall you that is not in his control? And what are we to do with this knowledge of God's total absolute sovereignty? Jesus tells us in the same chapter. Seek first, his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things. Everything God knows that you need will be added to you.

That doesn't mean that we're always going to get the health and the wealth and the ease and the luxury that we are looking for. It means that whatever provision that God has determined we need, he will provide it for us. and we don't need to worry about it because there is absolutely nothing our anxiety can do. This chapter, Matthew 6, by the way, flies in the face of the whole self-care movement, which says that you are solely responsible for meeting all your needs and caring for yourself in order to be rejuvenated, in order to be effective, in order to be a good mom, in order to be a good person.

It gives us something better. Jesus gives us something better in this chapter that God cares for you, that you, that you, you are not the shepherd of your soul. You are not the shepherd of your needs or the giver of your needs. God is the same God who cares for the birds, who cares for the lilies of the field. He cares for you. And he cares for you a lot more because you are in Christ his child. In Job 38 and 39, these are some of the most stunning chapters in the Bible. And I want to say they're my favorite, but I almost don't because I would be Job. Like I would be the person questioning God and being like,

what have I done to deserve this? The answer is a lot. But questioning God's will. And God is speaking to Job as if he in the same way that he would speak to us if we are questioning his will. And here is part of what he says in chapters 38 and 39. This is the Lord answering Job. And I'll just read some of the verse.

verses they are long chapters, and I've talked about them on this podcast before I encourage you to read the book of Job, but to read these two chapters and to see how God responds when we question whether he really is powerful, whether he really is, whether he really does know what he's doing when we question his sovereignty. Here are some of the things that he asks rhetorically to Job. Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know. Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sank together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb? When I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band and prescribed limits for it or set bars and doors and said, thus far you shall come and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed. Have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this. Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the doze? Do you number the months that they fulfill? And do you know the time when they give birth? Is it by your understanding? that the hawk soars and spreads his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle

mounts up and makes his nest on high? This is the God who cares for us. This is the God who has reconciled us to himself through Christ. This is the God who promises to meet our needs, who, as Psalm 23 says, is our shepherd. He leads us beside still waters. He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. This chapter says and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. So even when we look at a tragedy like Kobe's, which in many ways serves as a reminder of everyone's mortality, we have peace.

Trusting that the God that we serve is totally sovereign, that he cares for us completely and that we have a purpose while we are here on earth. It's not arbitrary. It's not accidental. It is to seek his kingdom and his righteousness, knowing that all of these things, everything that God determines that we need will be added onto us. Here is how 1st Peter 5, 6 through 11 puts it.

Humble yourselves. Therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood

throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever, amen. One thing I love about God, there are a lot of things, obviously, I love about God. But one thing I love about God, and I've been thinking about that this week, while he is eternal, he's suspended in the eternal now, so he's not limited at all by time while he is eternal and commands us to have an eternal perspective. So to think of ourselves as citizens of heaven, not citizens of this world. He does care about the here and now. He cares about our physical needs. He cares about our earthly lives. Sometimes we create this false

dichotomy in our heads between the spirit world and the physical world. And we act like God has called us to not care about the physical world at all. Well, that's not true. The Bible is very concerned about the physical world. God is very concerned about our physical needs. He's very concerned about our earthly lives. He doesn't dismiss our worries by saying, oh, they don't matter. Just wait till you are where I am. He doesn't dismiss them at all. He doesn't scoff at us as immature or naive or say, oh, just wait until your next stage of life until you're really busy, which is what we do sometimes when we look at other people. So for example, if you're a mom and you hear someone who is not a mom say, oh, I'm so tired, I'm so stressed. What do we do? Well, I hope I don't do this, but what do

a lot of times, what's our propensity say, oh, you don't even know what stressed is. You don't even know what tired is until you have kids or you don't even know what tired is if you just have one kid. Wait till you have seven kids or something like that. Well, God has every right to do that to us, but that's not what the Bible says that he does with our concerns. Now are some concerns valid and some concerns not? Yes, absolutely. But that's not what God does when we have anxieties. He doesn't say, hey, they don't matter. He says, give them to me. These worries are now mine.

I will take them on. Those anxieties that you have, those heavy burdens that you're carrying, I will carry them for you. I will take them. I will bear that weight. So you don't have to. Let me replace them with my burden, Jesus says, which is light and my yoke, which is easy. You know when kids, just to keep going on this example, you know when kids are when teenagers care about things that we adults know ultimately won't matter.

like I think back to when I was a teenager and I went through like a breakup when I was 15 years old and I thought it was going to be the end of the world like I'm never going to get married because when do you find your future husband if not at 15 years old in high school but I remember Karen so much when I got broken up with when I was like 15 or 16 years old and I remember coming home to my mom and I can actually tear up talking about this not not the breakup but the situation that I'm about to explain I remember coming home and talking to my mom about it in her care so much in her crying too, not because she thought it was, you know, the end of my dating career, the end of my life, or the biggest tragedy that would ever defal me, but or befall me, but because

she was empathetic, because she cared about what I cared about, because she cared about my pain. And so in a much bigger way and a much deeper way, in a much more significant way, God also looks at our weakness and looks at our anxieties and looks at the things that we care about and he offers us sympathy. He offers us compassion. He says, give me your anxieties. Give me your burdens. He doesn't just write them off or scoff at them or make fun of them. He says, I understand that you have anxieties and all the things that you really need. I'm going to provide for you. He pays attention to us. He sees us. We serve a sovereign and compassionate God. We serve a God who took on human flesh and died to death. He didn't deserve to die, in part to be able to sympathize with our

weaknesses. Hebrews 415 says, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are and yet is without sin. So praise God. That's just one of those verses that you read and it just hits you, how gracious and how good and how merciful God is to us. But Jesus didn't just come so that he could sympathize with our fleshly weaknesses. He came for God's glory to rescue us from death through his resurrection. There is something in us that naturally, I think, seek some kind of redemption and stories of death. So you'll see on Twitter or you'll hear when people are talking about Kobe's death, at least. Like, at least they lived a full

life. At least they did a lot of things. At least they died doing what they loved it. At least. But really, and I'm not speaking about Kobe specifically, I'm just talking about unbelievers. I don't know whether or not Kobe Bryant was a Christian. But there is really no at least when it comes to death for the unbeliever. For the unbeliever, there is no redemptive piece of the death story to be found. And yet for the Christian, we rejoice that we have been redeemed from death through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When the world is looking for something to make death feel more comfortable, it is their soul yearning for the risen Jesus. And that is the answer we Christians present them.

part of what I try to do, Unrelatable, is to talk about the things that you guys are thinking about and answer the questions. You're at least digging into the questions that you guys have. And some of you might be wondering about Kobe Bryant's muddled history. There was a rape allegation against him many years ago that ended in a settlement. And what I want to talk about on that is whether or not, and I guess it's kind of weird because I am, bringing it up. But like I said, I'm bringing up the fact that it was brought up. And I'm questioning whether or not we should bring up these moments in the wake of someone's death. Again, realizing

that I am doing it. But I wouldn't, I don't think I, well, okay, let me just get into this. So there was a reporter for the Washington Post that literally within hours of hearing about his death, tweeted a reminder that he had a rape allegation. against him and how it ended. And then that kind of started this cascade of other women also tweeting, hey, remember, this guy is a rapist. And of course, these people were dragged through the mud on Twitter for the most part saying, you know, why would you bring this up at this time? This is not who he is. It was an allegation. It wasn't proven. All of that stuff. So my question is whether or not we should be talking about that kind of thing in the wake of someone's death.

And I try to look at it from both sides. On the one hand, if I were the victim of this case, and again, we don't know exactly what happened or even if it happened as the allegation went. But if I were a victim and my attacker was being celebrated after his death, would it be very hard for me to see all those accolades knowing that there is a sight of him that most people are just ignoring and pushing to the side, a big part of him, if true, the other people are pushing to the side. Yes, it would absolutely be difficult. And I would probably be wondering as a victim, why the heck are people hailing him as a hero? Why are they looking to him as some kind of role model? Don't they know what he did to them? So on the one hand, I do understand why reporters would bring this up to say, hey, just a reminder,

this happened, or at least this allegedly happened, we need to remember the victim of this case. If I were the victim of this case, yes, it would be very difficult for me to see this kind of thing going on. On the other hand, if you are Kobe Bryant, or if you are someone in his position, or if you are a family member of Kobe Bryant, if one of your loved ones dies, and right after they die, someone reminds you of their worst moment that happened several years ago, that happened, I think it was decades ago at this point, or even just a rumor about that. them because again, we don't know all the details and we don't know exactly what's true. Like, how would you feel if someone brought up that one terrible mistake that you made or a

terrible allegation against you that almost ruined your life or whatever it was? Do you think that that is the right moment to bring up the worst thing that you've ever done? We've all done bad things. Not that, but we've all done things that we regret. We've all said things that we regret. And certainly we don't want in the seconds in the, in the wake of our death, for a someone to bring up our lowest moments or allegations against us that were that represented our lowest moments. No, I don't think that that is what we want and I don't think it's appropriate.

There's a reason why at funerals, we don't talk about all of the terrible things someone said or did, maybe some of you are proponents of being more honest at funerals, but we try to focus on the good that people did, on the influence that they had, their faith if they had a faith. and we try to respect the family members and the loved ones that are warning this person, that for all of their flaws, this person was deeply loved, deeply needed in his family's life. And so we try to respect that as much as possible. So in my opinion, it seemed a little insensitive towards Vanessa, towards his daughters, to bring up that kind of allegation, literally hours within the death,

especially since this was just one part of his life. Now, obviously, if it really happened, that's a huge part of someone's life. And I don't think it's, I don't know, I think that we can disagree on whether or not it was right for someone to bring that up immediately. Now, here's where I disagree with a lot of the people who were angry at the women who tweeted about this in the wake of his death. Do I think it was? Was a like, would I have done it? No, I would not have done it. I think that it's, it's just too cruel. But, but I do not agree with what happened to this Washington Post reporter. So the woman who brought up, hey, by the way, he's an alleged rapist, she was actually suspended by the Washington Post. And a lot of people are saying serves her right. She shouldn't have brought it up. Now, I disagree with that. Like, I don't think that she should be punished for it. She just brought up. facts of the case. Like she wasn't, it wasn't conjecture. She didn't make up some random conspiracy theory. Maybe it wasn't the best timing in the world, but it was a fact. What she was reporting was true.

And it was her perspective on it and she felt the need to bring it up. I do not think that merited suspension. And for all of us who believe that it's important to say what is true, for all of us who believe in reporting facts, I think it's a little bit troubling. that she was suspended for doing that. Again, I disagree with the timing. I don't think that she should have done it when she did and maybe how she did. Again, that just seems cruel to the victim's families. It just doesn't seem right since he had done so much in his life. But it was still true. That doesn't change the fact that she reported facts. And I don't think that that is punishable. That's just my opinion on it. And I know I disagree with a lot of people on that.

but I just don't think that that is something that is worth castigating officially anyway. Of course, people can on Twitter say that she was wrong for it. But for the Washington Post to suspend her for that, that just seems a little bit crazy, especially since the Washington Post has glorified the deaths of terrorists, by the way, called the terrorist that was taken out by our military recently an austere scholar. So they have botched plenty of obituaries with factless headlines. And so it also seems a little bit hypocritical to suspend this person who brought up this one dark part of Kobe Bryant's life. So I tried to see that situation from both sides and tried to have empathy for both sides.

Ultimately, yes, it is a true part and an important part of his story. I just wouldn't have brought it up how and when she did. So that's my take on that. As far as the election and impeachment goes, I know we're kind of shifting into something kind of starkly, but that's because we're wrapping up the end of the episode. I know I said I might talk about that, but we're going to talk about that on Friday. I have a special guest that's going to break that all down for us who will give her expert insight into all of that. But really, I just wanted to focus on this very poignant moment in our lives. And whether we understand why, or not, it is significant to us. No in the long run or really at all, is his death any more significant than any other father's death? No, it's absolutely not or any more significant than any other individual's death. No, from dust we came to dust we go. And it is all the same. We are all image barriers of God. But there is a cultural significance to it. And like I said, it kind of reverberates our own fears and our own concerns about mortality.

and there's a lesson to be drawn from that, especially from us, for us as Christians. Okay, I'm going to answer some of the questions that you guys sit me on Instagram. Okay, one question that someone had, one question that someone had was on yoga and mindfulness, and I answered that last, well, I actually talked about it on Monday. So you can listen to that episode if you want to know that. Someone else asked me, though, if I think it's biblical for women to get, or I guess men, too, to get cosmetic surgery, and I am assuming that also means Botox. Now, this is a little bit touchy because I know there are people that listen to this podcast

that have gotten Botox. I have a friend who recently got Botox, and I remember when I worked for someone who was only 28. She got Botox regularly, and she said she started when she was 26. And so I know a lot of people who have gotten Botox, and I'm sure in my life I will know more and more. In this industry, there are certainly people who get Botox, get all kinds of surgery, fillers in your lips that's really popular. Just full disclosure, I have never done any of those things. Whether or not it is biblical. So the Bible talks about the honor in having gray hair,

the honor in becoming old, the honor in having children and having generations that you leave as your legacy, hard work as your legacy. And so what we know is that God adding years to our life is a blessing. The fact that we reach 28, 30, 40, 50, 50, 60 years old is an immense blessing from the Lord that he has allowed us to enjoy the life that he has given us, that he has allowed us to build earthly legacies that of course don't compare at all to the heavenly glory that we Christians will experience one day. But every year that God gives us is a blessing that we should be thankful for. It is a very worldly mentality to dread age 30 or to dread age 40. Now, there is, of course, something to the concern that maybe we haven't been as obedient in our lives to God as we

would like to be. Maybe we haven't been as purposeful or as intentional as we would like to. our lives. Maybe we look back and we see apathy and we see laziness. And so we feel regret and shame over that. Or maybe we see sins that we have committed in our lives and we say, oh my gosh, I'm 30 years old or I'm 40 years old and I've done all of these things that I regret or I haven't done enough and all of that. And so, of course, there's something to that aspect of aging. But as far as not wanting to age or not liking aging, that is a worldly mentality. That is a worldly mentality. And I know easy for me to say, as I'm only 27 years old, and I don't want this to sound like I'm condemning everyone who has ever gotten Botox. But I do think for all of us, and I mean, it's the same thing,

by the way, using night creams. And I'm not saying that's ungodly, but we all have the same desire to, yes, we're going to age, but we don't want to look like we've aged in the same way that when we have a baby, we want to bounce back. We want to be able to button up our pre-baby pants immediately after we have a child, we don't want any physical effects of having children to show at all. We want to be able to look perfect immediately after we deliver our child. And that's just not the case in the same way that we eventually are going to age. And we are eventually going to show the effects of age. It just depends on how slowly or how fast you are going to do it. And I think we have to assess our hearts and ask ourselves, why? Why do we feel?

feel like we want to lessen the effects of aging. Is it because we're embarrassed? Well, that would be ungodly because aging is a blessing. Is it because we are trying to match worldly standards? Well, that would be ungodly because we are not called to worldly standards. Is it because we're afraid of what people think? Well, the Bible tells us that we are to care what God thinks, not what other people think. And the Bible also says that charm is deceptive and beauty is slinging, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. And so not just about Botox or cosmetic surgery, but if we're focusing too much on anything when it comes to our external appearance, we probably need to take stock of where our heart is and all of that. And why? Why we are doing the things that we do. I mean,

I get highlights. I wear makeup. I use anti-aging face cream. So there's certainly room for me to ask these questions too. I don't think those of us who haven't had any cosmetic work done can look down at those who have if we are also using our own anti-aging measures that might not be surgical or might not be invasive. We all have to take stock of where our priorities are, why we do the things we do. And if our mentality and if our priorities are too superficial, we need to ask God to change our hearts about that. And for him to search us and to see if there be any, you know, selfish motives or ambitions in any of us. So that's my thought on that. There are a lot of other questions that I could answer. Thank you to those of you who submitted it.

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