Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Journeying With Joy During Christmas Preparation Stress
Trusting God with your schedule might just lead to unexpected blessings and a more joyful Christmas season. 🌲❄️⛄❤️🎁
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butt. Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. And welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, kara R Hunt, and with me is the lovely, as always, sherri Swalwell. How are you doing this fine day, sherri?
Speaker 2:I am doing great. It is December. We're getting that much closer to Christmas. I am honestly super excited about the biblical figures that we are going to be talking about this month, because next week we get to talk about Mary and Elizabeth that story and then, of course, the week after that we get to talk about the nativity story. So I just I love Christmas, I love the whole month of December. So I just I love Christmas, I love the whole month of December, and I I always say that I wish I had a job where I could not work the month of December but just like focus on God and focus on just's birth.
Speaker 2:But you know what, Kara? That's a mindset. So whether I'm working or whether I'm sitting and sipping hot chocolate in front of the Christmas tree, it really doesn't matter because it's a mindset. So, as long as my focus and my heart is always on God and it is 24-7, so it's not just in December I guess I just want to make it a whole lifestyle, that 365 days a year, it doesn't matter what holidays coming up I just I open my eyes and I start my day thanking him and praising him and just just living in such a way that that he's just with me 24 seven that he's just with me 24-7.
Speaker 1:You know, it's just awesome that you just mentioned that because I'm one of the well one. My friends and family kind of tease me because I have like Dex the Halls as my ringtone. Every time I get an email, and it's not just around Christmas time, it could be in the heat of July and I still have Christmas music like ringtones and stuff, you know. So I understand completely what you mean by that when you say you know you want that Christmas feeling all year round, because it does seem like a different kind of feeling right.
Speaker 2:It does feeling all year round, because it does seem like a different kind of feeling. Right, it does People seem happier and it's just yeah. I just I don't know. I always used to think that I loved focusing on Christmas because I love babies and Jesus was a baby back then, but I don't think that's what it is. I just really, truly I don't know there's just Well.
Speaker 1:The world calls it that magical time of year, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because they can't seem to find a word to define it, to really define it, and I don't know the perfect word to define it. But I'm like you. It's like certain times of the year like if it was up to me I would have November, and actually it is up to me. I have to keep that mindset. You know that I will have like from October 31st to December 31st off. You know what I'm saying and I've realized I'm like Kara, you have been blessed. You kind of work for yourself, you know. So, just you. It's the time management thing. You do it right. You know, if you manage your time right the rest of the year you can manage to have that time. Because what happens and lately the Lord, I think, has just been trying to teach me to not just go through my day with all the tasks and checking off the to-do list and scratching off the to-do list, but being mindful of how I feel when I'm doing something.
Speaker 1:And so does that make sense?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so like I could be doing the most routine thing, right, and I before I just never pay any attention to it. But now I kind of feel like he's teaching me, you know, like, how do you feel? Like, are your shoulders tensing, is your jaw tightening about it, or something you know more along those lines, and that's just, and I think he's just teaching me like this particular thing is stressful to you, you know, and what can we do about it? Right, because if I keep going that way and just keep doing it, no matter how routine it is, and even though it's something I've done all the time, probably for years or even decades, it causes stress.
Speaker 1:And what does stress do? It raises your blood pressure, it causes issues, you know, in your body and things like that. And so he's just like, okay, well, let's work around this, let's figure a way around this, you know, because this is something that, yes, has to be done, but something about it is stressing you and I have come to find out, and he's still teaching me about this, but with me, a lot of it comes down to I didn't manage the time. Well, I'm not managing the time well.
Speaker 1:Because there's no and I have found out like if I, because it could be a beautiful day, a beautiful morning, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I got so much on my plate today. I could feel my body react.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:And they're not bad things.
Speaker 1:They may not be bad things, right, right, they could be 100 percent good things. I could be like volunteering with VBS, I could be, you know, getting ready to do a church event or something like that, but it's and it's not the events that's stressing me out, it's that I feel like I have so much to do, right, right, that stress, you know that, that, as to that stress, that overwhelmingness, that as to that feeling of overwhelmingness that just kind of stresses you out. And it's like again in those times, just even though you feel like boy, I got to get up on my feet, hit the ground, I'm going to be running till like 10 o'clock tonight. I just do, do, do, do, do, go, go, go, go, go. And I think he just kind of teaches me to stop, take a breath, focus on the things that really have to be done today and so many other things you can put aside. And, sherri, you and I have talked about this before how God will redeem the time.
Speaker 1:And I am a witness to that. I am a living witness to where I'm like. I just don't know how I'm going to get this done by this particular date. And you know what it gets done. Yep, it gets done.
Speaker 2:Or it finds out that it wasn't necessary and it didn't need to get done.
Speaker 1:But look, we were getting stressed about it anyway. Right, right, right. You see how the enemy works, it's like, and they're not even bad things. It's just that you know with me if I tend to start feeling overwhelming like, oh my gosh, I got to get this, I got to get this, let's get this done. You know, it's almost like Dolores told me stop, take a nap, you'll be fine. I'm like what, right it? It's like look, stop, take a nap or drink a cup of tea, clear your mind, calm down, you know, and everything else before you get started. And doesn't that sound counterintuitive? It does it, because our intuition is like no lord, I need to boy if I don't get this done, and you're right. Then you realize, if you don't get it done, you're like oh well, look, what was I stressing about it for? But we put our bodies through that and we go through the motions every day without realizing how we're feeling about it. And I'm bringing it up now, during the Christmas season, because this happens a lot.
Speaker 2:I was just going to say now is the perfect time to have yes.
Speaker 1:Yes, because it happens a lot during the holidays. Sometimes there are people who have like four or five events to go to. You have your families, you have your spouse's family, you have an event for the kids at school, then you have church events, you know, oh, and then there's always the office party at work, right? Not to mention.
Speaker 2:All things that you want to do.
Speaker 1:Yes do.
Speaker 2:But yes, and you already are busy and overloaded enough with your normal stuff to try to add new stuff in during one of the busiest seasons of the year gets super overwhelming, yes, not to mention the shopping, the, everything else, and people just tend to get very, very overwhelmed.
Speaker 1:So so I'm glad you brought this up, because during this season and I've had to kind of, you know, look at my life, and so, months in advance, I'm usually, I'm mentally right and calendarly, I guess, is the word I'm looking for, trying my best to prepare for that time.
Speaker 1:Because I realized, when I try to do all the Christmas stuff because, like you, I love the Christmas season from you know, to me it starts October 31st to December 31st it's like if I want more free time during that time, I can't think about it on October 25th.
Speaker 1:Right, I got to start preparing my calendar and organizing my time and organizing my tasks and jobs, and you know things like that in store being like, okay, just try to be as minimal as possible, because otherwise I'm super stressed at a time where God's like this is a joyous season and you're not even joyful because you got so much on your plate. And so, with me, by him just teaching me to be more mindful of the things I'm doing, I'm starting to see that when I start to feel like I'm being overwhelmed, even with routine good stuff that I need to stop. Take a sit back and go okay, something's off. There's no balance there, because if my body's being tensed about it, then something's off. Maybe I scheduled too many things on this day and no rest time, right, you know or no? No, breathing time is the way.
Speaker 1:I want to put it there's no time to breathe, to just go outside, whether it's cold or the sun is shining, take a breath of fresh air, or go for a five-minute walk, you know, or something like that. So, and with the Christmas season, it can be hectic. Fun, lots of fun, lots of merriment, but it can be hectic. Lots of fun, lots of merriment, but it can be hectic. So, anyway, I just wanted to share all of that in the hopes you know that it may help somebody to just remember to breathe.
Speaker 2:You know it's all going to get done, and if it doesn't, it's all okay. Like you said, God redeems our time when we're doing what he wants us to do and when we've asked him into or invited him into our schedule and said okay, God, it's really your schedule, Show me what you want me to do.
Speaker 2:We get it all done and we can look back and go wow, that was like so much more enjoyable and so much less stressful than it's ever been before. What changed? Well, maybe it was more of our mindset and our attitude that changed than actually our schedule.
Speaker 1:Right, because you're not so tense about it anymore. Right. You know like you want to enjoy. Your child got the got to play the lead role in a Christmas play and there's been lots of rehearsals and you want to sit there and you just want to enjoy it. But then yet your emails on your watch just keep clicking and you're like, oh my gosh, we've got to hurry up. Can this be over?
Speaker 1:You know, because I've got to go and answer these emails. Well, you can't even enjoy your child's event, right? You know it's their first time getting to roll in a church play or the school play, and you know, for Christmas, and you're just, you can't even sit back and enjoy it because you're like, oh, I got to answer this text, oh, I need to go to this email, oh, I got to answer this phone call, right. So it goes back to preparing ahead of time, like if your child has an event that day, like nothing else is getting done on this day.
Speaker 2:Right Nothing.
Speaker 1:I am scheduling nothing on December 5. That is a day I'm just going to focus on my child. You know, and I'm just assuming, just using that as a day, right? And yeah, it's like nothing else gets done, you know, and when people say, oh, we got to have a meeting on this, like mm-mm can't be there, not going to attend, not going to do it.
Speaker 2:No, you're not.
Speaker 1:FaceTiming me in or you're not Zooming me in? Nope, nope, exactly yes, because then you can just sit back and enjoy, and I think a lot of times that's what happens. These things are so routine and we're used to being hectic during the Christmas season that we don't realize the toll it takes on our body physically, right, not to mention the moments of joy it steals when you're being robbed of that time when you really just want to focus on your family, right, and there's nothing robbed at that time when you really just want to focus on your family Right, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:Like I think that we've gotten to a place in society where we feel guilty if we put our family first and that's not the way it's supposed to be.
Speaker 1:No, no, right, it's supposed to be the opposite way around, right? You're not putting your family first, right? You know? You know your child had that, you know, had this ice skating event and they really, really wanted you to be there. But you know you're late because you had to take this meeting.
Speaker 1:And then sometimes we have to ask ourselves do we have to? And sometimes, again, it's not something you have to, you can do on the spur of the moment. I get that, but it's something you have to plan, sometimes months in advance, and have that mindset and be like, okay, this day I'm not going to, this particular week in December or November or whatever, I'm not going to do anything. We do the same thing when we take vacations, exactly when we're going to an island or we're going on a cruise or something like that. So why can't we do it around the time where a lot of people are getting together, people are flying in and everything else with family? We do it all the time, you know. It's just we have to change our mindset about this. So I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go on too long about that, but I just really thought that could be so important this time during the season?
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I completely agree yeah.
Speaker 1:And right, I was going to say so. Welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. You know, thank you for joining us and Sherry, go ahead, because I interrupted you.
Speaker 2:Oh no, actually you're the one that does the intro, so I start so and then I stop, because I'm like yeah, I don't really know what to say.
Speaker 1:That's because we got. You know, we kind of took a little rabbit trail there, or, like my sister likes to say, we kind of got lost in the sauce. But I think it was a good tasting sauce right.
Speaker 2:I agree.
Speaker 1:It's such an important and relevant topic, I think just this time of year, because I don't realize we I think we underestimate the damage we do to our bodies when we're not taking the time to be mindful of how we are feeling when we're doing something and if we're feeling a little tense or a little stressed, that means we need to find a workaround.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Right. You know we need to take a minute and say, okay, lord, give me wisdom. I'm feeling stressed about this situation, but I got to do it. You know I need to work for this person or I need to go to this meeting or show up at this job, but you know, help me. You know work with my mindset or help me find a way to where to be less stressful, because we don't see the after effects of that until years later when you go to the doctor.
Speaker 2:Well, and I have to tell you so I have to share. I used to what's the right. Freak out is not the right word. I used to get so upset and I used to put myself into a turmoil when, like, my bosses would change plans on me, or you know, like I would. I was a very. This is the way it is. This is my schedule. Don't change my schedule. I was a very. This is the way it is. This is my schedule. Don't change my schedule. I was a very exact person and God has shown me over the years when I let go and give it to him. So like, for instance, one time this summer I, my husband had the day off. It was an unexpected day off and I was like, oh, I did what you said, tara, I planned my schedule around.
Speaker 2:So I had I had a really busy Monday and Tuesday and I had a semi-busy Thursday and Friday. So and I did not schedule any extra meetings on Wednesday because he happened to have a Wednesday off and I'm like, okay, I can actually spend the day with him. This is awesome. I have my one normal daily meeting, but other than that, you know, I'm good to go. Well, my my boss asked me. He's like um, so what do you have planned today? And I froze and I didn't. I didn't say, and I know I could have because he's a wonderful boss. I could have said oh, I have plans with my husband today because he unexpectedly has the day off but I didn't.
Speaker 2:I froze and I'm like, um, nothing. And I'm like, and so, um, he's like, okay, well, if I need you, you know I'll give you a call. And I'm like, oh, man, but, and it wasn't about him, it was about I didn't have the courage to, you know, say no, I have plans today. Well, he ended up calling me later and we were out for lunch and he was like oh, you're with your husband, that's awesome. He's like, we'll talk tomorrow, so like it's not. That's a two-point thing, one when we give it to god and we say, okay, god, you know, this is, this is my desire, this is what I would really love.
Speaker 1:Like yeah, can I yes?
Speaker 2:absolutely. My husband wouldn't have been mad, he wouldn't have been upset. We would have, you know, later, had a later lunch, whatever, whatever. But that's not the point. When we give it to God, he works it out. I can't tell you how many times I have stressed out because I've had a boss unexpectedly say, well, we need to do this, this, this and this, and I'm like, but I don't have the time to do this, this, this and this. I was planning on doing this, this, this and this. But God always works it out. When I give my schedule to him ahead of time, either my meetings get canceled, they get rearranged, people don't show up like something happens, and I know it's not just that people forget. I think God is in control. So when we give him like, when we give him our desires, when we say God, it's not that I don't want to work today, it's not that I'm trying to be lazy, it's that I want to spend time with my husband.
Speaker 2:He honors that. And when we, when we just? Sometimes God's answer is no, you need to work today and then we need to accept that and other times, god's answer is nope.
Speaker 2:Today you get a free pass and you get to play, and we need to thank him for that. So when we put, when we, when we do what you said, when we plan ahead which I did I had my meetings Monday, tuesday, thursday when we plan ahead, god honors that. When we plan ahead, god honors that when we ultimately give up control to him, just, you would be amazed at how he works things out. Like I have literally sat there and said, oh my word, lord, thank you so much. I can't believe that you made my schedule so much better than what I could have done. So it's a combination of that planning ahead and trusting him, and he always redeems the time, always.
Speaker 1:It does, he redeems the time. So we're both living witnesses to that and you guys are probably saying, well, and in that case, like you said, your husband would not have been upset and everything else. But you know who would have been upset you? Because you would have been like, oh Lord, I should have put my foot down, I should have said oh no, I'm so sorry. You know, can we do it tomorrow? Can you call me tomorrow, because today I have plans. You know how we are as wives we kick ourselves right.
Speaker 1:We get wife guilt and mom guilt and again it just adds to that stress to our body that causes us harm down the road. And I know there's some of you listening going yeah, Kara, but it's December, like you could have mentioned this, like way back in June, you know, and everything would have been fine. But this is my point. It's okay, do like Sherry suggested. Just be like Lord.
Speaker 1:This is how I wish the rest of this month could go. This is how I wish this particular day would go, because my child has this event, my husband has this party and everything else, and I want to be able to sit back and enjoy it with them. However, you know, I haven't scheduled any of this ahead of time, but just help me, I want to give it over to you. If there's a way for me to free things up to where, you know, I'm not so stressed about it, my body's not being so taxed about it and I could just focus on the things I love, then, you know, help it and he will do. Just sit back, trust and believe, trust, relax and believe and pray about it. Just pray about it, you know, because it's not too late, and you'll that one day where you like oh my goodness, this day is going to be so full of things. Like Sherry said, sometimes people don't show up means get canceled. Yeah, weather weather kind of into me.
Speaker 2:I have gotten to the point now, kara, that when I have a boss throw a curveball at me and my first instinct is no, and my first instinct is no, Just step back, just stop, and just say okay and then have a conversation with God. God, you know, I really don't want to do this.
Speaker 1:God, you know I have plans.
Speaker 2:God, you know I have a deadline in this job that I have to do, so you help me, you work it out the way you want, and then I just sit back and I have never, never, been disappointed. Sometimes I go through with the meetings that I have to like. Sometimes God's like okay, you still need to do this meeting, but tomorrow you just wait and see. You wait and see what your schedule is going to be like tomorrow, when you actually have the creativity and the brainpower to do what it is that I want you to do.
Speaker 2:I like he is just absolutely amazing and that fits so well with the topic that we're going to talk about today.
Speaker 1:Yes, I was just thinking about that. It works perfectly when we're talking about the mustard. So today's topic for the episode believe it or not is we're talking about having the faith of a mustard seed, and it kind of just goes parallel to what we were just talking about and everything else, and Sherry's going to tell us more about that so I'm really excited because when I so, there's there's two different references in the bible about the mustard seed and I always thought that the parable of the mustard seed was talking about the faith, like the mustard seed, but it isn't.
Speaker 2:So there's two different times when god uses the mustard seed as an example for what he wants to talk about. In the first one, the parable of the mustard seed, that's talking about um, how the kingdom one. The parable of the mustard seed, that's talking about how, the kingdom of God, which we have been talking about that for when we were talking about Paul and Silas, when they were preaching and expanding the Bible, when we talked about Barnabas, when we talked about Tennessee, when we talked about the early Christian church and when we were talking about. So anytime that we've been talking about Paul, we've been talking about the early Christian church. And so the parable of the mustard seed is found in Matthew 13, 31 and 32, mark 4, 30 through 32, and Luke 13, 18 and 19. So it's found in three of the four gospels and I'm just going to read it to you. It sounds very similar in all of them, but I'm just going to read it to you from Matthew 13, 31, and 32. And it talks about.
Speaker 2:So he is in the middle of telling the crowd multiple different parables. So he had talked about just to put it into context, he had talked about the parable of the sower. Before this he talked about the parable of the weed. Then he starts talking about the mustard seed and the yeast. Then he goes on and he explains the parable of the weeds to the people. Then he talks about the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl, and so that's kind of the context around the mustard seed parable. And so he says he told them another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and planted in his field.
Speaker 2:So basically what he's talking about with the parable of the mustard seed is he's saying that the kingdom of God, so the believers, the Christians, the early church Christ followers, as I like to call myself I don't like to call myself a Christian, I like to call myself a Christ follower, because in my opinion the word Christian is thrown around a lot in today's world but a Christ follower.
Speaker 2:You kind of sort of know what I'm talking about because I'm a follower of Christ and not just a Christian. So what he's talking about is that the kingdom of God, so the believers, especially. In the beginning they had small beginnings but they would grow and produce great results. So, as we could see Jesus when he came to earth as a baby, which is this is a perfect time to review this, because it's Christmas time and we were just talking about the birth of Christ, and in the next couple of weeks we're going to be talking specifically about the birth of Christ, but next week we're going to be talking about how John the Baptist, elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her womb. Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her room and John the Baptist he was a follower of Christ. He was also his cousin or second cousin.
Speaker 2:I always forget how that stuff goes. Well, Mary and Elizabeth were cousins, so that would make them second cousins, right?
Speaker 1:John and Jesus? I would think so, but let's just say cousins, because when it comes to genealogy, I get it all.
Speaker 2:It's like second, third, fourth, one, once removed I don't know, 12 disciples. He had the multitude that listened to him and followed him and the multitude is actually who's listening to these parables right now but he had 12 disciples and then he had the three of his in his inner circle. So he had 12 disciples that followed him for three and a half years and studied under him for three and a half years, but then he had the select three under that, and I say that to say that is a very small beginning. Well then, after he died and rose again, then he said I will give you a helper, and that was the Holy Spirit and the people, the disciples were supposed to wait in a room until the Holy Spirit appeared. Well, they did that, and then, once they were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, then they went out and they started preaching.
Speaker 2:So the parable of the mustard seed, talking about those small beginnings, but that they would then become great. And that is exactly what has happened. Christianity has reached, I don't want to say, every single country and every single tribe and every single city, but it is being spread throughout the entire world, and we can say that it is throughout the entire world. Like I said, maybe not every single spot, but it is definitely well spread. So that's what the parable of the mustard seed is talking about, but I really want to focus today on faith like a mustard seed, and that's found in Matthew 17, 20, and also in Luke 17, 5 and 6. So in Matthew 17, 20, we read and they're very, you know, that's.
Speaker 2:The other thing that I love is that sometimes God can give a powerful punch in the Bible with just one or two sentences. He doesn't have to have long chapters or multiple chapters in order to get his point across. You know, I talk a lot. God does not like when God has something, he says it and he's done, and he's like I don't need to repeat myself, like you heard me the first time. You're either going to do it or you're not going to do it me. I'm like no wonder my kids ignore me, or because they're like oh, she hasn't reached that level yet where she's even remotely mad, or oh, she'll keep telling us oh, it's not my kids have been.
Speaker 2:Don't get me wrong, I'm not kissing my children.
Speaker 1:They're just being teenagers or young adults, because that's what they do. Right, go ahead.
Speaker 2:I need to be more like Jesus, do it and then walk away. Did you not hear me the?
Speaker 1:first time.
Speaker 2:But I didn't think Jesus would say that he would just say I said do it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, anyway, sorry I'm on a tangent so Matthew 1720. But I just love how he. He just says what he means and he means what he says and he doesn't need to repeat himself. So Matthew 1720, it says so he's talking to the disciples, and the disciples Again, to give you the context, well, I'll just read it because it's really really short.
Speaker 2:So when they came to the crowd so this was the disciples a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. Lord, have mercy on my son. He said. He had seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him. Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation. Jesus replied how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me. And when Jesus says that, I don't think that he's got like the sarcasm that we do I think he really truly just has a tender heart towards this child and towards the father who is being tormented because his boy is tormented. Jesus rebuked the demon and it came out of the boy and he was healed from that moment.
Speaker 2:Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked why couldn't we drive it out? He replied because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. And then they came together in galilee. He said to them and then he he was then predicting his death, um on the cross. And the disciples were filled with grief.
Speaker 2:And then in luke 17, 5 through 6, it says oh, this is when they were talking about forgiving people of their sins. And so the apostle said to the Lord increase our faith, meaning, help us learn how to forgive more. Learn how to forgive more. Because he said, if a man sins against you seven times in a day and seven times comes back to you and says I repent, you need to forgive him. You need to forgive people 70 times seven. And the apostle said increase our faith. And Jesus replied if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, be uprooted and plant in the sea and it will obey you. So, as I was reading through that, I have a study Bible and the notes in the study Bible I wanted to read today because I thought that it explained it so well and it did a much better job and it would be a great starting point for our discussion today. So this is the study notes for the Luke 17, 5 through 6 passage that I just read.
Speaker 2:It says the disciples' request was genuine. They wanted the faith necessary for such radical forgiveness, but Jesus didn't directly answer their question, because the amount of faith is not as important as its genuineness. What is faith? It is total dependence on God and a willingness to do his will. Faith is not something we use to put on a show for others. It is complete and humble obedience to God's will, readiness to do whatever he calls us to do.
Speaker 2:The amount of faith isn't as important as the right time to faith faith in our all-powerful God. A mustard seed is small, but it is alive and growing. Like a tiny seed, a small amount of genuine faith in God will take root and grow. Almost invisible at first, the seed will begin to spread, first underground and then visibly. Although each change will be gradual and imperceptible, soon this faith will have produced major results that will uproot and destroy competing loyalties. We don't need more faith. A tiny seed of faith is enough if it's alive and growing and I'm going to add to that and if it's genuine. It kind of goes back to what we were talking about earlier this year, tara, when we were talking about that book and I was telling you I wanted to be like Sarah in that Robert Whitlow book where she was saying that knowledge from God, like things that God downloads to us, or teaches us the lessons that he teaches us.
Speaker 2:They need to germinate like a seed before we share them with others to make sure that we are understanding completely the lesson that God wants us to learn from it, because until we understand it we can't really explain it to others. And so it's kind of like the genuine faith, like I love how God used well, I love how he uses nature to explain what he's talking about number one because nature just speaks to me Like if I am a country girl through and through.
Speaker 2:I am not a city person. No offense to the city, there are beautiful things about cities, but I am a country girl at heart and so I love that. He uses farming and seeds and plants and trees and all kinds of things like that and animals.
Speaker 1:Look at the ants, he says, Look at the eagle. You know he mentions the birds, I mean it goes on and on and on, yeah, and the flowers, oh, yes, right, right, look at the lilies of the field.
Speaker 2:Yes, right, I love how he uses all of nature to describe what he's talking about, but it's so, very true. So faith, if it's genuine, doesn't need to be big at first. All God cares about and I think we have talked about this over and over and over again but we can never talk about it enough.
Speaker 2:All God cares about is our heart. When we have a pure heart and by pure I mean a genuine heart coming to Him, like we're not trying to impress anybody or we're not trying to, you know, be popular or whatever, we're not trying to just say stuff, that's what honors God, that's what pleases God. We don't have to have it all together. In fact, one of my bosses, who I respect so highly I love how he says God is a God of prayer.
Speaker 2:He loves when we pray. He loves to hear us pray and we don't have to do it. Perfect, we don't. It's not the word, it's our heart behind the prayer. So when we, he just wants to talk to us. He just wants us to talk to him. And so faith is the same thing. Like God doesn't expect us I am so glad to, but God doesn't expect us to have the faith of a 70 year old who's been walking with God since he was six. When we're 20 and we just prayed the prayer yesterday but God's not asking us to have it all together. God's not asking us. I mean, I know I keep interrupting myself, but like there's so like that.
Speaker 2:There's just so many things I love about having a relationship with him. Is it easy? No, is he going to stretch us? Yes, but he stretches us because he wants us to depend on him. He wants us to come to him. He doesn't want us to have the. It's all on me, it's all on my shoulders.
Speaker 2:And that goes back to what we were talking about earlier this morning about the. We won't get everything done for Christmas. Like God doesn't expect us to do it in our own strength. God doesn't want us to do it in our own strength. He wants us to depend on him, and it starts with faith. Do we trust that God will come through? Do we trust that he cares about the big things and the little things and the everything in between? And if we don't trust, why not? There are so many times in the Christian life where God is like test me on this. Like this is my promise in the Bible I will never leave you or forsake you. You don't have to worry or wonder. It's in there. If I said it, I knew it, just like we talked about a couple of minutes earlier.
Speaker 2:He, he doesn't. He doesn't just keep talking for the sake of talking. He talks when he needs to talk and he doesn't repeat himself. If he doesn't have to Like, if he said it, it's going to happen. Like we don't have to convince him, we don't have to beg him. If he said it, he'll do it. That's how thankful our God is. If he says he's going to be with us, he's going to be with us. If he says that you know, when we walk through the valley he'll be there. When we walk through the river, we won't drown. When we walk through the fire, we won't be burned. If God's said it, then he means it. So what is faith to you, tara?
Speaker 1:Like, what does that passage say to you? Several, several things, actually, and I love the study Bible, your study Bible commentary on it. It talks about genuineness and how it grows underground Excuse me, the roots develop first, right, and almost anything and everything that grows from your houseplants to you know, as far as it goes, with things like that, with nature, trees in your backyard, whatever, they all have roots. Some of those roots go deeper than others. Right, some things you can pull out really quickly and easy. Other ones you have to dig out, you know, because the roots go so deep.
Speaker 1:And as you were reading that passage about faith, and it says as it grows and I love how he talked about the genuineness of it and I think that's important is that once you plant it, once the seed is planted, how it grows. You were talking about how we may not someone who just received Christ yesterday may not have the same faith as someone you know who's been doing it 70 years. But I think we also have to remember that you could be 20 years old and you just found Christ. Right, you may meet someone else who's the same age as you and they may have just met Christ too, but your life compared to that, 20-year-old's life could be completely different, right, because from the day they were born they were fighting adversity, they were fighting trials, they had to survive for their life. They may have went from foster home to foster home, may have dealt with addiction, and all of this before 20. And so they're looking back and like, wow, god just really saw me through all of that. You know, I was suicidal, I was depressed and everything else. And so their faith may be just a little bit deeper, even though you're the same age, because of everything their life experience, their Christian journey has just been so harrowing that they had to cling on to Jesus for such a very, at a very early age. Right, and even, or even if they didn't acknowledge it back then, when they do, you know, hear that faith, hear about God, they're like God was there the whole time. That's how I was able to escape that massacre, that's how, you know, I was, you know, able to wake up after I took all those pills, you know.
Speaker 1:And so sometimes our life experiences and our Christian journey helps our growth, and sometimes we're not even aware of it, and because sometimes we go through these trials, these fiery trials and these fiery darts are just being shot at us and we're like, you know, oh, woe is me. But in reality, you know, it's not for us, it's for what we can do to other people. The things we go through sometimes are not about us. It's about how God's going to use it to help other people. And so many people have awesome testimonies and when you sit there and you listen to them and you're 30 years old and they're 30 years old and they're telling you everything that they have been through, right, and the things that they have seen and witnessed and heard and had to been through, and you're just like, oh, my word, you know, it's just such a difference. So I think our life experiences and the things that we go through in life has a lot to do with the roots of our faith at a particular certain age. Right, same age, different life experiences, different encounters with God and things like this.
Speaker 1:I believe a lot of times our life experiences and I really want to say Christian journeys just have a lot to do with how deep our faith is at a certain age. But that's not always the case, because then there are those you have like five, six, seven, eight-year-olds, and they have just the most sweetest, the most loveliest faith. It's like you can't tell them God can't do anything. You tell them to pray for their friend. They expect for their friend to be healed, and it's that childlike faith that's also mentioned in those scriptures, right, sherry? Not in most of the scriptures, but in the scriptures surrounding it.
Speaker 1:Right, right, right, yeah, you know in the scriptures the gosp, right, right, yeah, you know in the scriptures, the gospels, I should say, and yeah, it's like you know, as, like a child, just come. And it's like you can't tell them there is just so sweet and so lovely. And you're just looking at them because life has painted our faith a little bit Like, well, sweetheart, it's just not that easy. And they're just like no, fluffy, like if you're praying for an animal, and they're like, oh, no, fluffy's going to be fine, they're going to walk again. You just wait and see, mom, we prayed about it. And to them, it's that simple, exactly To them, it's that simple. There is no questioning, right.
Speaker 2:And everything else. As you get a little bit older, you realize, okay, it may not be?
Speaker 1:um, it seems like it's not that simple, but in reality isn't it? You're right. You're right, isn't it? You know because and it's like that mustard seed right. It's like in our mind, where the child doesn't know that bones don't necessarily heal overnight. Let's just say the dog broke his leg or something that you know.
Speaker 1:Bones don't necessarily heal overnight. There's just going to, he's going to have multiple doctor visits, there's the possibility of a surgery needed, you know, and you know the muscles around it, you know, are inflamed and they've been, you know, messed up too. So we see all of that. But the kids don't see that right, they don't know all that because they don't know that stuff even exists, that those possibilities even exist. And sometimes I'm like, well, maybe they shouldn't exist with us either. Maybe it is just that simple. You know, there's a reality of there's a lot that goes into a healing of someone's leg before they could walk right. There's a lot that goes into there. But maybe we shouldn't worry about all of that. Maybe we should just pray and leave it in God's hand and trust, just like a child does. Just like a child does.
Speaker 2:And that goes back again to my example, and it's a silly example compared to somebody walking or somebody living. But that goes back to my example with my schedule, when I throw not throw my hands up, when I trust God and I say okay.
Speaker 1:Surrender in a way, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I surrender and I say, god, this is what it looks like my schedule needs to be, but you know what I ultimately need and what I don't need, and then put my hands up and say, okay, so it. What throws the wrench in our faith as older people, not as children, not with that innocence of childhood.
Speaker 2:But we're like, okay, but it's whatever ends up being God's will. Well, I think kids say that too, but I think they say it differently. I think kids are like, yeah, whatever my daddy meaning God, whatever my daddy wants, that's what's going to happen, and they're okay with that. And we put the pious stuff on there. We're like, if it's God's will, then he will heal, so-and-so, instead of just saying you know what God, I trust you. I trust you, whatever you want done, if you want to heal him here or if you want to heal them in heaven, or yeah, in heaven. You know it's going to hurt and it's going to sting bad, but I also know that you're going to be right there with us. So, god, your will like what you want. I trust you. I trust you and and it's god's ultimate decision if he's going to have a miracle and like a miracle healing or a miracle testimony here on earth, or if he's going to have the miracle, be that the person went to heaven.
Speaker 2:I had. I had a very wise young adult tell me just this week God is going to use whatever outcome he chooses for his glory, and my faith has grown stronger, and this is the young person talking. I just don't worry about things like that, because with everything that I've been through and everything that God has brought me through, then if he has an untimely death for me, or if he has, you know, if it's part of his plan that I have to go through a horrific death or a horrific challenge or a horrific whatever, all I know is that he will use it for his good and his glory. It will be used for him and I'm like, wow, like praise the Lord, isn't that the truth? Yeah, I mean that's humbling, isn't that the truth? Yeah, I mean that's humbling.
Speaker 2:I, for someone who wants to have that kind of faith and someone who who wants to to live her life that way, I struggle, and I struggle because I'm a parent. Someday I'll be a grandparent, hopefully, god willing, you know I. I struggle with that because I'm like but God, like that would really hurt. Like God, I don't want to lose somebody tragically that way.
Speaker 2:But, yet if that is his plan, then ultimately his glory will be will be used, used his it will be used for that incident, not that, not that the incident itself is praiseworthy, but he will use it for his glory, that much I will.
Speaker 1:That much I have. And God is so good because I think when you're a young person and you realize that because of that type of faith, then you're just realizing because, see, what the enemy, the biggest thing that the enemy can hold over Christians and non-Christians, believers and non-believers, is death, is death, it's that big, black, ugly shadow that's, you know, just threatening at every corner, every turn, you know, and everything else. But, as Christians, if we have that young person's wisdom and be like you know, whatever, as in God, if this is the way, if this is the way it meant to be, if this is the way you have it designed, if this is the way you have it all planned out, so be it, because we're trusting in God, our Father, and besides, we already know those of us who are Christians, christ followers and believers, like you were mentioning. We already know death has no sting anymore. Right, jesus took care of that on the cross. We don't have to fear it, but the enemy still uses it like this big hovering thing always around us, you know, and everything else, but it has no sting. We already have the victory.
Speaker 1:We may suffer a physical death, but not an eternal one, and that is the one that's important and that is why, as Christians and we just don't need to fear it the way the enemy makes it, fearing it right, like, ah, you know, and everything else Are we supposed to be wise? Yes, are we supposed to go running towards death? Absolutely not, okay, you know. We don't have to go running off a cliff and fall 600 feet, you know. But it's like, and God can use that 600 feet, you know. But it's like, and God can use that. He will use it, you know, and his he will be glorified in it, you know, and it's just like he can use anything. And that's what I'm saying. It's like sometimes, you know, once you realize that it has been defeated, that, yes, we may suffer physical death, it may even be a one that we would prefer not to have been involved in, but God is God, he knows our end from the beginning, and all we could do is just, like that young person say is you know what, god? If this is the way it's supposed to be, then I know it's for a reason, and I think a lot of times we just have to take that and just use it. That's faith, that's faith in a God that you know, that has never let you down. That has seen you through anything and everything that you thought there was no way out right Mentally, physically, spiritually, you know, and everything else.
Speaker 1:And I think I just heard someone tell me, I think the other day or something, about how there was like a car accident or something. It was like on a busy highway, they were involved in a car accident and it was like on a busy highway and everything else. But then if they had to immediately to avoid crashing into like a semi-truck or something like that, they immediately, without even really having to check behind them, veer over, I think, into the right lane and they're just like when that happened, it was like no cars were around, like where'd the traffic go? Right, you know, god is so good, you know and everything else, so he will make a way. He knows our timing. So and there's a lot of things that sometimes we just need to leave up to God None of us know our expiration date, you know, or, as Christ followers, as believers, none of us know our graduation date. I should say.
Speaker 2:Amen, I love that.
Speaker 1:No one knows. We don't know our graduation date, when he's going to promote us, when we go from just this physical life to the eternal one, you know. But that's okay, he knows, and all we have to do is just keep our faith in Him. That's all I wanted to add, sherri.
Speaker 2:Oh, I think that that's the perfect way to end it today is that God wants our hearts. God wants our. He just he wants us to come to him genuinely. He wants us to come to him with no pretense. He wants us to come to him honestly started my genuine journey with Christ, or my deep, deepened journey with Christ. I don't want to say genuine, because I truly, when I was six years old, I came to God with a genuine heart and I asked him into my life back at six, but I didn't know exactly what I was doing Like, I didn't know what it meant to be a Christ follower. I just knew that I wanted Jesus to be in charge of my life.
Speaker 2:Back then, and I remember, in 2007, I was at a Bible study and I've shared this before, so I'm not going to share the whole thing, but I remember the Bible study was talking about trusting God and I said to him I'm like God, I just don't think I trust you. And then I flinched because I'm like he's going to strike me with a thunderbolt, like he's going to be so angry with me. I grew up believing with a false belief that God was waiting to get me, like he was this judgmental judge, this angry judge up in heaven. Judgmental judge, this angry judge up in heaven, just waiting to blast me, just waiting until I did something wrong so he could punish me. And I don't know how that came about. I don't know why that came about, but I'm so grateful that for that Bible study and he would have used something else instead of the Bible study. I know because God loves us so much and he didn't want me believing that about him my whole entire life. But it started the journey because I said to God, just honestly and with a sincere heart. I said God, I don't trust you and I'm scared to trust you, but I want to trust you. So help me to trust you. And it started a long, long, long journey with him and that's what he wants from us. The reason I bring that up is because I just want to encourage you today. God just wants our honesty. He wants us to. He already knows what we're feeling and what we're thinking inside, so it's not like it's a surprise to him, but he wants us to be honest with him. Are you angry with God? Has something happened in your life that you think that God caused it? Ask him about it. He will answer you and he will tell you the truth. He will show you what the truth is from the lies, but you have to ask him, you have to start that conversation.
Speaker 2:I used to be scared to death of winter driving, and I finally got up the courage to say, god, am I believing some lie in my life, like why am I so petrified of winter driving? And he showed me the lie that I was believing, and it changed my whole perspective. It changed everything, and I'm not petrified of winter driving anymore. Do I like driving in blizzards? No, but I don't know too many people that do. Maybe Tom Cruise, because he's like one of those people who loves action and adventure, but nobody that I know of says, oh, can I drive in a blizzard today? But, but I'm not scared to death anymore.
Speaker 2:Like, god just wants our hearts, and he wants us to. He just wants us to be honest with him. He wants us to come to him where we are, and then he will help take us where he wants us to be. One of the first steps to that, though, is knowing if our hearts are right with God. Do you know, if you were to die today, where you would go? Do you know for sure that you would go to heaven and spend eternity with jesus, or do you know, or, or do you have questions?
Speaker 2:would I go to heaven or would I go to hell? I don't really know. I'm not Well today. You can know for sure. Romans 10, 9 tells us that if we believe in our hearts, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, god says we will be saved. That is a promise, that is a certainty. But we have to actually confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts. But we have to actually confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts.
Speaker 2:And if that is something that you want to do, then I want to give you that opportunity or care, and I want to give you that opportunity this morning. So if that is you and you want to be sure of where you're going to go when you die, then you can repeat this prayer with me oh Heavenly Father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I believe you died on the cross and that you rose again and you're seated on the throne. Jesus, forgive me for all that I have done wrong and I choose to forgive all others. Come into my life today and forever. I am yours In Jesus' name, amen. If you prayed that prayer with us right now, then I just want to say welcome to the family, and that is the first step. God wants you to be honest with him. God wants you to be genuine. So start that conversation with him. Say God, this is where I'm at God, this is where my faith level is at. These are my fears. This is where I'm at God, this is where my faith level is at. These are my fears, this is what I'm afraid of. This is what the enemy is telling me. And I want to change. I want to have more faith. I want to have, just like the disciples said to Jesus increase my faith, increase our faith. God will do that. He hears those prayers, those genuine prayers, and he answers them. Do that. He hears those prayers, those genuine prayers, and he answers them. And I am so excited because I know that when I pray those prayers, god works and he moves and things change in my life for the better. And I want that, kara and I both want that for you.
Speaker 2:Our verse for the podcast is John 16, 33. Jesus says these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace In the world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. We can have that faith and as we grow in that faith, it gives us peace and as we grow in that peace, it gives us joy, that abundant joy that God gives us and he tells us about in the Bible. If you want to know more about care, well, actually, first, if you prayed that prayer, we would love it. If you would let us know so you can email us at cheeruppodcast at gmailcom, or you can let everyone know in the community on Facebook, in the Cheer Up Podcast community group, we would love to celebrate with you and we can't do that unless you tell us. So we look forward to hearing from you. If you also need prayer or encouragement, feel free to reach out and email us again at cheeruppodcast at gmailcom. We love talking to our listeners, we love interacting with you.
Speaker 2:Um, and it's just one more way that that we can, um, if you want to check out all the things that Kara has going on on her website, um, head on over to KaraRHuntcom and you can talk, or you can see the um Habakkuk series that she has. It starts with paper dolls. That's the first one. Then there's Tite, priscilla, lydia and Eve, and then Mary and Jan is coming out as well. So those are. They're not quite out yet, but they will be.
Speaker 2:And um, if you want to check out my fiction series, you can head over to sherryplowellcom uh, it's a redemption of green pine. And um, I also have some non-fiction devotionals and bible studies, if you want to check out those. Um. And I also have a membership, a monthly membership, to help you grow your relationship with God, and we are building a community over there as well as individually growing our relationship with Jesus Christ. So that is Jesus in the everyday, and you can find that information about that on my website as well.
Speaker 2:I am just. I have really really enjoyed today's topic about faith and about increasing our faith and about just. You know, the one thing that we forgot to talk about when we were talking about faith, kara, was that God is the God of miracles, and not just in the Bible, but everyday miracles in our lives as well. And when we have faith and we come to him and we say God, work a miracle in our life, he does, and we get to be a part of that and it is just so incredible. So if you have a miracle in your life that God has done, share that with us as well, and every time, people share their miracles or share their experiences with God. It increases other people's faith also their testimony.
Speaker 1:It's a testimony.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly so. It goes back to exactly what you were saying that God will use whatever circumstances for his good and for his glory, and there's nothing that I love more than him doing exactly that is his glory being shown, his glory being spread to others, and we just get to either be front and center, because he's doing it in our lives as a testimony for others, or we get to be in the sidelines watching, praising and thanking God while he's doing it in other people's lives, because when you're a part, when you're a believer, you're part of a big community, and when one rejoices, the others rejoice. When one is sad, the other is sad and just I don't know. There's just so much I could keep talking about, but I'm going to. I'm going to wrap it up, because next week we're going to talk about Mary and Elizabeth and John the Baptist and Elizabeth's husband, who I am not thinking of his name right now.
Speaker 2:All I can think of is Jeremiah, and I know that's wrong, but we'll have it right next week. I'm drawing a blank, like I know that's Zach. Wait, is it Zachariah? I believe it is. I believe it is. So thank you, god for reminding me that it's Zachariah and not Jeremiah. I don't know where I connected that, but I knew that was wrong, so have a great rest of your week. I will stop talking before I just keep mumbling, and we are excited for another episode next week for you to join us, so have a great day.
