Podcast Summary: “Who Can I Run To?”

Podcast: Change Church Podcast
Host: Pastor Dharius Daniels
Episode Date: December 21, 2025

Overview

In this episode, “Who Can I Run To?”, Pastor Dharius Daniels delivers a message rooted in Matthew 2:13, exploring how God orchestrates escapes for His people. Using the story of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fleeing to Egypt to evade King Herod, Pastor Daniels draws parallels between God's guidance in times of danger and the modern believer's temptation to seek quick relief instead of God's direction. The sermon distinguishes between true escape—God’s way out—and escapism—our self-made relief that leads to further bondage. Pastor Daniels brings urgency and practical insight, encouraging listeners to trust God’s timing, embrace paths of growth, and avoid shortcuts that compromise development and safety.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. God is the Orchestrator of Escapes

• Scripture Basis: Matthew 2:13—Joseph is told by an angel to “get up” and escape with Mary and Jesus to Egypt because Herod seeks to kill the child.
• Central Insight:
  • God “invades” and “intervenes” to orchestrate escapes when His people are trapped by situations beyond their control.
  • Feeling trapped does not equal being trapped; God can make "a way out of no way."

Quote:
“Just because we feel trapped doesn’t mean we are trapped. And just because we can’t see a way doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.”
(Pastor Dharius Daniels, 03:40)

2. Escapes vs. Escapism

• Definitions:
  • Escape: Following God's guidance out of danger, which protects destiny and fosters development.
  • Escapism: Creating one's own escape route, seeking temporary relief that leads to new forms of bondage.

Quote:
“When we create our own escape routes instead of waiting on God’s escape routes…what we experience is not escapes. We experience escapism. And escapism is not freedom. Escapism is the exchange of bondage.”
(Pastor Dharius, 10:20)

3. Divine Timing and Urgency

• Key Moment: Joseph was commanded to get up immediately, not at his own convenience.
• Insight: God sometimes calls us to act before we feel ready for our own protection.

Memorable Moment:
“He tells him, get up. Now, I want you to see a couple of things here…Here comes God giving him a command that disrupts his comfort.”
(Pastor Dharius, 13:05)

• Application: Obedience to God’s timing—delayed obedience can be as costly as disobedience.

4. Herod as a Symbol of Threat and Adversity

• Who is Herod? He is a “client king”—ambitious, insecure, and threatened by the birth of Jesus.
• Analogy:
  • Herod represents adversity; he operates from insecurity and unbridled ambition, feeling threatened by things that aren’t even competing with him.
  • We often face our own “Herods”—stress, enemies, or life circumstances.

5. God’s Way Often Feels Longest, But Is Safest

• Joseph was sent to Egypt, even though Nazareth or Jerusalem would have been faster or seemed safer.
• Insight:
  • God prioritizes covering and protection over convenience.
  • What feels like the “long way” may remove us from the jurisdiction of the threat (Herod).

Quote:
“When God says Egypt, he’s not choosing convenience, he’s choosing coverage. I’m putting you where you’re protected.”
(22:45)

6. Where Do We Run When We’re Under Threat?

• Reflection: We’re often tempted to run to what brings the quickest relief—friends, substances, distraction.
• Challenge:
  • Rushing for immediate relief can lead to escapism rather than true freedom.
  • Escapism includes:
    • Addictive behaviors (substances, caffeine, unhealthy relationships)
    • Avoidance (overwork, endless activity)
  • Only God’s path leads to real development and destiny fulfillment; shortcuts rob us of needed growth.

Quote:
“We don’t break chains, we trade them. We don’t leave the prison, we just change cells.”
(29:50)

7. Nuanced, Honest Reflection on Relief Sources

• On Plant Medicine & Alcohol: Daniels provides balanced commentary—he does not make broad, condemnatory statements about their use, but asks whether these are substitutes for prayer and processing with God.
• Regarding Caffeine and Overwork: He also addresses how overactivity and overconsumption can become forms of escapism.

Memorable Moment:
“You need 14 cups of coffee because you’re living at a pace that is not consistent with the principles and the practices of Jesus.”
(44:20)

8. God’s Egypt: Three Paths for Dealing with Adversity

• Pastor Dharius offers practical responses to drama, disappointment, and disruption:

| Situation | God’s "Egypt" Response | Description | |------------------|---------------------------|-------------| | Drama | Wise Withdrawal | Creatively withdraw from toxic chaos to hear God and regain peace (cf. Luke 5:15; Jesus withdrew to pray). Not avoidance, but boundaries.| | Disappointment | Prophetic Lament | Bring honest grief, loss, or pain to God (“Lamentations”). It is healing to be truthful about feelings rather than hiding behind “blessed and highly favored” rhetoric.| | Disruption | Sacred Yielding | Yield control when God reroutes your plans, surrendering resentment (e.g. Jesus in Gethsemane). Accept God's way even when you do not understand.|

Quote:
“The season where you stop saying yes is the season you’ve actually stopped walking in your purpose.”
(36:25)

Quote:
“What are you running to? Because the thing you run to relief for will eventually become the thing you need relief from.”
(50:15)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On God’s Coverage:

  “When God is determined to get you out, nothing can keep you in. He’s the God of escapes.” (07:20)

• On Escapism:

  “Escapism is avoidance. We don’t break chains, we trade them. We don’t leave the prison, we just change cells.” (29:50)

• On Honest Prayer:

  “Prayer, which is God’s pathway, takes longer. But it develops the stamina and the resilience that destiny will require.” (34:10)

• On Living at God’s Pace:

  “If you get addicted to prayer, that’s an addiction it’s okay to live with.” (46:50)

Important Timestamps

• 00:01 – Setup, Matthew 2:13-15: God orchestrates escapes.
• 10:20 – Difference between escape and escapism.
• 13:05 – Divine timing: “Get up” now, not later.
• 22:45 – God chooses coverage over convenience.
• 29:50 – The realities of escapism and avoidance.
• 34:10 – Honest prayer and development amid adversity.
• 36:25 – On fulfilling, not just participating in, purpose.
• 44:20 – Escapism includes overwork and caffeine; live at Jesus’ pace.
• 46:50 – The safeness in developing an addiction to prayer.
• 50:15 – What we run to for relief can become our next bondage.
• End – Three responses (wise withdrawal, prophetic lament, sacred yielding).

Conclusion & Call to Action

Pastor Dharius brings the message to a close with a strong "holy warning": in this season, listeners should take care not to run to self-made escapes which may expose them to new dangers. Instead, the invitation is to run to God, even when His path is longer and less convenient, and trust Him for guidance and growth. The episode ends with a communal prayer for the Holy Spirit’s guidance to choose true escape and protection over escapism.

“Come, Holy Spirit… Today I choose to run to you. Come, Holy Spirit.”
(Final Prayer)

This summary captures the heart, structure, and urgency of Pastor Dharius Daniels’ message, providing actionable insight for listeners seeking guidance on where to turn in times of threat, stress, or adversity.