HOPE Inside the HARD. 4 Steps to Trusting.

Tomorrow is TURKEY DAY SISTERS! A day to give thanks and rejoice in all of our blessings. God’s glory is endless… boundless… limitless. We are surrounded by his miracles and have the choice to be anchored in hope.

He gives us a spirit of HOPE in seasons of hopelessness. Soul-fuel in moments of sadness. Protection during persecution. God is a savior, a way-maker, and a protector — thank you, thank you, thank you, Father.

In this season of THANKFULNESS. I give thanks for HOPE. A foundation that I GET to stand on no matter what the world feels like around me. No matter what distractions, plans, or roadblocks the enemy sends my way. I know that GOD HAS GOT ME. And, He’s got you too. When we turn to HIM as our refuge, we get to live easy. Surrounded in his wonderful, peaceful promise of HOPE.

In today’s holiday episode I walk you through a message of finding hope during the hard from the book of Romans. I pray that it finds it’s way into your heart and sparks a newfound gratitude for the gift of HOPE we are given through all that God created -and sacrificed- for us.

I pray over you sisters that in a world that is hard, heavy, and sometimes hopeless… that the holy spirit ignites in you a yearning for the one and only medicine. The one and only solution. The one and only savior, Jesus.

That you are able to see clearly what you need to lay down so that you can open up for a soul shift. A heart transformation and a foundation of HOPE that you didn’t know existed. A fire inside of you to speak your truth, step into your calling, walk the path God has laid for you and leap in FAITH that He will catch you.

I ask that God wraps you in healing, comfort, and grace as you pursue His promises for you.

I love you sis.

Enjoy!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00)
Hey son. What does it mean to have joy?

(00:04)
It means have joy is greeting each other and forgiving.

(00:10)
I love that. What do you think your gift is that God gave you?

(00:15)
Oh, it is, I think funniness.

(00:20)
You’re pretty funny. And how do you bring happiness to other people?

(00:27)
You have a smile all around.

(00:30)
You have a smile all around. I love that. What do you want to say to anybody who doesn’t feel happy in their life?

(00:40)
If they’re feeling bad, then you have to be like, and to spread joy and have happiness all around again. And then that’s what makes them happy because they see us going happy and then they want to be happy.

(01:01)
So you’re saying that when you’re happy and you make people laugh that it’s contagious and other people feel that way? That’s really good. Miles. Love you.

(01:13)
Love you, too!

(01:16)
Y’all don’t our kids. Just bring it down to a level sometimes where you go, Oh my gosh, is it really that easy? Is it really that simple? That’s why I love to bring concepts to my children and get their input because my six year old, almost seven year old, what a perception of joy. How beautiful. Making people laugh and smiling all around and being contagious. I mean, yeah, son, that’s what’s up.

(01:48)
I wanted to pull that in today because I thought it was such a beautiful, A: so cute, but B: such a beautiful introduction into our topic today, which is hope. Today you’re going to be listening into a presentation that I did in my friend and clients program Kelly Tyan and she runs Addicted to the Climb Podcast. So you guys can for sure, go check her out over there. And we really dug into a message of hope.

(02:16)
I pulled from the book of Romans, and we just dug in and went through four specific steps to overcoming the hard so that we can be refreshed by God’s promise of hope and find that renewal that we all need, especially here and now. One of the hardest years of our lives in a season of thankfulness, as we begin, the next phase of this holiday season, and then ultimately a brand new year. I thought it was the perfect time to take you on this journey with me on a renewal of your hope. Let’s go girls.

(02:56)
When you’re in the ugly, the hard, those moments that feel like the breakdown. So often that’s the moment of the breakthrough. That’s the moment of the rebirth. So if any of you are feeling like you’re sitting in that moment, there is light, but you got to do it God’s way. Not the world’s way.

(04:03)
And there’s this message of just hopefulness that I wish I had had in 2016, because I had to get there, but it took so long and it felt so hard. And if I would have partnered with God sooner in the seeking part of this journey, there would have been, I feel like quicker deliverance for my spirit. Let’s talk about hope.

(04:24)
I love it. Thank you so much for sharing that because we all know how it feels to hit rock bottom. I mean, guys, raise your hand. Has anybody ever hit rock bottom? Okay. So we all have been there. It’s how we pick ourselves back up and come out of it. And which way are we going to choose to go? Are we going to choose God’s way? Are we going to try to do it ourself? It’s a mess. So hope is where it’s at and having that hope, Stef, and you mentioned we were going to go into Romans?

(04:55)
Yes. Yes. We’re going to talk tonight about Romans 8:15-21. And in this scripture, these few scriptures, Paul is writing to the Romans. If any of you don’t know the story of Paul, that would be a great story to read in the book of acts. But Paul basically talk about hope. You know, he was imprisoned in a home for two years, roughly, and he, in those two years instead of, Oh, I’m in my darkest moment, I’m just going to give up. I’m in a cave.

(05:26)
Paul ends up writing these letters to the people and to the different churches, with his message of hope. And so this is one of his messages. I want to read this to you. And then we’re going to go through four points from this scripture that I want you guys to then apply to your own lives.

(05:40)
So let’s read, this is Paul writing to the Romans. Again, Romans 8:15-21. “This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid grave tending life. It’s adventurously expectant greeting God-like what’s next Papa. God’s spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is and we know who we are, father and children, and we know we are going to get what’s coming to us: an unbelievable inheritance.

(06:16)
We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him. That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reigns it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead.

(06:49)
Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.” Whenever we read scripture, I challenge you guys to read it once. Then again, read it and underline and circle the things that are like powerful punches to you. Then observe what you read, then apply it to your life. That is how you renew your mind with God’s word. So in these few scriptures, let’s pull out of this some points.

(07:19)
Number one, Paul challenges us to be adventurously expectant. Wow. Adventurously expectant. One of my favorite prayers, ladies that I say at least once a week, I find myself back at this one, prayer is Lord, God surprise me. I’m so here for your vision of my life. I’m so excited for whatever favor, provision, people that you’ve. You want me to meet clients that you have for me or messages you want me to speak. Use me.

(07:51)
My voice is your voice. My soul is your soul. And I say that every week. And you know, what’s crazy. The dreams I had written down in Brittany Spears, the year 2016, right? All of those dreams have been crushed with God-sized dreams. I never ever in a million years thought I’d have a podcast like I do, a client base like I do, a business like I do.

(08:21)
Intentionally here with my kids working 26 hours. What this doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. The world’s way to get to where I am the world’s way. I’d have been working 60 hours a week, nonstop slave to social media. I’d be reactive and angry and resentful. But when I did it God’s way and I let him surprise me. And I lived with adventurous expectancy over my life. He crushed my dreams and replaced them with his. Number one, okay?

(08:56)
Number two, we are going to receive an unbelievable inheritance. Wow. We’re going to receive an unbelievable inheritance. So for this number two, it really helps me to shift my perspective from right now, because sometimes right now, does it feel very good to the ultimate destination. Our unbelievable inheritance that’s waiting for us. The salvation that we all have.

(09:27)
Once I was at church and it’s always stuck with me and they had this really long string. Some of you may have seen this visualization, but there’s this really long string. And the pastor’s like pulling the string, pulling the string, pulling the string like forever. And it’s like five minutes and we’re like, okay, can we get to the point? Then he grabs the whole string and he puts a little piece of tape on the two-inch square at the beginning of the string. And he says, this is your life on earth.

(09:52)
This two inch piece of this string is your life on earth. The rest of this, it’s your unbelievable inheritance. So let’s shift our perspective from what’s hard right now to what’s easy forever. Right? Okay. Number three, inside of this verse, it says if I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. So with number three, it’s related to number two.

(10:29)
When you focus on the hard times, it feels overwhelming. It feels like you can’t. Like you’re not enough. It feels like you’re constantly reactive. You’re drowning. You can’t get ahead. There’s no money. There’s no, whatever my spouse doesn’t see me, support me. My kids don’t listen. Blah-blah-blah I can’t. You’re full of limiting beliefs about the dreams that God has for you. I believe that when we have a perspective of right now in the hard time we’re blocking the miracles, we’re blocking them.

(11:06)
God’s sitting there. Earlier in this verse, it talked about, he knows, we know who he is and we know who we are, father and child, right? It’s like a father is sitting there going, okay. I’m waiting for my daughters to step up and waiting for my daughters to stop focusing on having the cool jeans at school, right? And to start focusing on loving those other kids who don’t can’t afford to have any jeans.

(11:35)
I’m waiting for her to change her perspective from herself. From a, from a point of lack, to a point of service and belief that he will get you through. Where there is lack, there’s this abundance of more. When you stop searching for it and you let him start providing it, we have to get out of the way of what he wants to give us and gift us in our lives.

(12:02)
So that’s number three. It’s starting to focus on the coming good times with excited anticipation and just believing for it, praying for it, audaciously, changing your perspective. And I’ll tell you how you change your perspective in a moment. And then number four, the fourth point that I loved in this scripture is the last sentence. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens. The joyful anticipation deepens. When you wake up in the morning, what are you focusing on?

(12:39)
The hard? What’s going on in the world? COVID 2020 being hot mess express, the extra 10 pounds, how your kids can’t go to school anymore. Like whatever the thing is you’re so hyper-focused on that’s in the moment. I challenge you to start your day with joyful anticipation of how God wants to work through you.

He wants to take your hard and make it into something that can become a beautiful garden for you, but we have to stop staying so hyper-focused on the hard and just believe that he’s going to transform it into good. So those are my four favorite parts of this first that I observed. Step two.

(13:25)
Yeah, I do. I have to just, Oh my gosh. I have, like they say the Holy Ghost goosebumps right now because it’s just, I’ve been studying different things with, I have another Bible-based group that, I don’t know if you do know Brooke Live Out Loud, Brooke? She’s does the same. She does a lot of Bible study things. So I’m in her group as well. We were just talking about all the things that you were just talking about and what you focus on grows.

(13:54)
And I just want to make one point about that, because that last point that you said is the focusing on the hard times. And right now, like, you know, your kids are unruly in their home and you don’t know what to do, and your things are a mess. If you do what Steph just said, and you just, right from that moment, you wake up and you speak out today is going to be a day led by you, Jesus and.

(14:17)
I’m going to walk in your footsteps today. You show me the path to take whatever goes on around me. I’m going to be pleasant. I’m going to be joyful and think about the blessings that he’s giving you right at that very moment. And that’s what you have to run with, right?

(14:32)
You can’t, you can’t just focus on these hard times. That’s where the hope comes in, blocking out all that noise is, right now so many people are just struggling so badly. And we have to block that noise out in turn to this, this. Love that you just went over all that because it’s just given me the goosebumps.

(14:54)
Oh good. So one thing about me though, is like, I hear all that and go, yay. Same like Kelly, like I got the Holy spirit, goosebumps, moon, and you get off call. And you’re like, but how do I do it? So we then have to apply. You need to have tangible tacticals that you guys can implement. So I really challenged myself to say, well, how am I living in this mindset? Right?

(15:20)
So here are four things I wrote down to apply this word to your life. Number one, you got to shift your perspective, shift your perspective every day. There’s my favorite way to do this is to remember that Jesus, talk about going through hard. He had, he came to this earth and he went through every persecution, right?

He went through every single temptation and yet he stayed steadfast. Then at the end of it, all, we know that he was ultimately persecuted and put to the death, right home from the cross and starved and bled and all of the pain and suffering.

(16:05)
I challenged myself to go, wow, does my persecution right now really matter when I put it in perspective of what Jesus went through for me? So I shift my perspective. It’s really not that bad. And we allow our worldly entitlement to tell us that we deserve to complain. We deserve to sit in this hard right now. We deserve not to get up and get back to work.

(16:33)
We deserve to punish ourselves with food, lack, hate. We deserve to be more Christ-like. So we have to shift our perspective. So it helps me to remember what Jesus went through for me. Also think of Paul writing this, sitting in house arrest for two years, he didn’t come at us with a message of if you’ve ever can save me, you know, send me some food, like send me, send me some movies. I’m really bored up in here.

(17:09)
He’s speaking life into everyone else who’s free. So again, perspective matters. Number two, you have to renew your mind daily. The enemy loves us to be weak. The enemy sneaks into the cracks that you have in your mind. The lies that we tell ourselves, the temptations. So how do we stay above the worldly fray? When everything feels messy and hard? We have to read the Bible.

(17:44)
You have to read the Bible, not just Jesus Calling every day. You got to get in the Word. Okay? You had to get in, pick a scripture out and dissect it, dissect it. I have heard more truth from God, like Holy Spirit, boom, download straight for you and answer straight for you by getting into the Word. I’ll be praying over something, and God will literally speak to me through these pages. So you’ve got to renew your mind every day.

(18:12)
Even if it’s 10 minutes, make that time, make it a priority. Number three, you have to have worldly boundaries. We have to have worldly boundaries. And in this, in this one area, number three, what distracts you from having a God led perspective? What distracts you from renewing your mind? You’ve got to get rid of it. Lay it down for the Lord, ladies. Okay. Is it Instagram? Get rid of it.

(18:43)
I delete the social media apps. Every weekend they’re gone. I have boundaries on myself. I’m in Instagram one hour a day, Monday through Thursday for my work. That’s it. I don’t scroll. That is not worth my time. Period. My boundaries, they’re hardcore. Okay.

I don’t take clients in the evenings. I don’t work on the weekends. Don’t do it. What do you need to set boundaries on? You’ve got to start saying no to the things that the world is trying to distract you with and start saying yes to the provision, to the beautiful gifts God is trying to give you.

(19:23)
But you’re like, wait, but I got to get on Instagram, God, all that I need to see if I got a message and he’s like, again, okay, daughter, I’m waiting. I’m waiting. Boundaries have to happen. They have to happen. And the final one, number four, you have to have anticipation of what’s to come by reframing your current situation. So you can just write down, reframe my current situation for number four.

(19:53)
My favorite way to do this is a little diagram. In a circle on blank sheet of paper, you guys can write down some of the hard things that you’re going through, and your hard things are your hard things. And it’s okay. It’s okay to acknowledge them and to write them down and to feel into them. But then you’ve got to reframe them. You can’t sit in them, right?

(20:20)
You can’t sit in that bubble with all of the excuses and the hard and the wishing and the wants and the limiting beliefs about yourself. And I can’ts and the but when. No, those aren’t words from God, those are words from the enemy and you’re letting them dictate your life. So you’re going to climb out of that circle, okay. Into the circle on the right.

(20:43)
So you’re going to draw the circle with all the hard things. Then you’re going to make a line over here to another big circle. And you’re going to reframe, you’re going to talk about what’s to come from this hard stuff you’re going through, right? Some examples are, if I was sitting in this space of, okay, my son can’t go to school right now and I’m distance-learning my seven-year-old. I have a job. My husband has a job.

(21:09)
He’s working from home and we have a four-year-old. It’s a lot. That’s kind of hard, right? But on this other bubble, what am I going to write? I’m going to write down all the glorious miracles, the endurance, the lessons, the strength, the perseverance, and the good that God might be doing through this hard thing. So over here, I’m going to write more time with him.

(21:30)
That’s a blessing. Me learning how to be patient on a new level. Me learning how to have open communication with my spouse because our kids are here and we got to work together, learning to be a team with my husband. I’ve also learned how to be a teacher, which is not something you would have ever found on my resume. So I’m like, what are those glorious miracles that may be coming out of that hard thing?

(21:59)
And you got to stretch. Even if you’re like we’re sitting in debt. I don’t know where the next paycheck’s coming from. There are miracles, lessons, endurance, spiritual growth that’s going to happen from that hard thing. And when you write them down and then you pray over them, God’s going to use that to change your perspective. Okay?

(22:20)
That’s it, that’s my scripture. Those are my four points of observation for you. And the four things I want you to actually do to apply these to your life every single day. And I want you to come tell me in 30 days, come drop me a DM and tell me you don’t feel different. You don’t feel a new sense of hope in your life.

(22:41)
Father, thank you for this time with these incredible women. I’m just so grateful that you have brought together, such world changers and so many women that are fighting to better your kingdom, and you just are strategically placing us together. We are so grateful and we hear your call to be more and to step up and to take action on the call that you have in our life and our hearts.

(23:04)
I pray that all of these women are just encouraged this evening with a new level of hope and a belief that your plan is bigger, better, and more fruitful than theirs could ever be. Then begin to just partner with you in a deeper way. They begin to just trust you with all of their hearts, all of their minds, all of their actions, and begin living in excited anticipation of the glory that you have in store for them. We believe it in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.