Living the Reclaimed Life

Living Without Worry ~ Valerie L. McMahon Ep. 89

January 16, 2023 Season 2 Episode 89
Living the Reclaimed Life
Living Without Worry ~ Valerie L. McMahon Ep. 89
Show Notes Transcript

When facing something you don't understand, it is easy to let doubt and worry creep in. Consider this, what we worry about the most often reveals where we trust God the least. How can we genuinely trust God when things get tough?

When we are fearful and worried, we can remember that God is trustworthy. How do we do this? We'll talk about that in this episode with Valerie McMahon. How do we live without worry and know that God is trustworthy?


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Transcript is auto-generated

[00:00:00] Denisha: When you are facing something you don't understand, it is easy to let doubt and worry creep in. But friends consider this, what we worry about the most often reveals where we trust God the least, but how can we truly trust God when things get tough? When we are fearful and worried, we can remember that God is trustworthy and that sounds easy, right?

[00:00:27] Denisha: But how do we do? Well, we're gonna talk about that in this episode with Valerie McMahon. How do we live without worry and how do we know that God is trustworthy? Let's dive in. Welcome to Living the Reclaimed Life Podcast. I'm Danisha. We're glad you're here for conversations that revive hope, inspire healing, and encourage you to live a vibrant life with Christ.

[00:00:53] Denisha: So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] Denisha: today we have back with us. Valerie McMahon. Hello. Hello. And for those of you who don't know, Valerie is our ministry and content coordinator for reclaim stories. So she has a lot of hats in this ministry. Fun 

[00:01:13] Valerie: hats. Yes. Always fun . 

[00:01:16] Denisha: And this week we as a team, we are celebrating our fourth year anniversary.

[00:01:20] Denisha: Da. Yes. Yay. We had one of those little like buttons, you know, that they pushed like crowds Cheer. Yeah. . . But we have, we've. Four years in this ministry. So what started as a blog, you guys has just developed into workshops, into online trainings? Into conferences, yes. Into a podcast. So many jewelry. Jewelry line.

[00:01:44] Denisha: Jewelry line. Yes. And we have some really fun things coming out this year. So going into year five, you guys, it's gonna be pretty exciting. We have even more to offer and to serve you with, so we're very excited about that. Yes, so today's [00:02:00] conversation is on worry. And you know, over the last four years, I have not spent one moment worrying about this ministry.

[00:02:07] Denisha: I'm just kidding. I'm so lying right now. I have laid up, awake at night. Mm-hmm. worrying about, okay, God, how do we pay the bills? Okay Lord, how do we take this next step you've put on our heart And really it's all his. So he gets to run that, right? Yeah. He gets to be in charge. He will lead us and direct us, and I do trust that, but it doesn't always stop me from worrying.

[00:02:30] Valerie: So that keeps you 

[00:02:30] Denisha: up at night? It does. It does. What keeps you up at night? 

[00:02:34] Valerie: Besides my whiny dog, , maybe that's more of the morning. You know, I, uh, well, we're both moms, right? So we have. Children that, you know, as soon as we wake up, need us. Right? . So I would say, honestly, I, I do worry about like the next day, like, what's gonna happen?

[00:02:53] Valerie: What's gonna be needed? You know, is there gonna be a conflict about this? Is there gonna be, this is, you know, it's [00:03:00] just that like going, going to bed and thinking like, yeah, am I going to be able to handle the next. , which as we're gonna talk about, is not really my job fully to handle the next day , 

[00:03:13] Denisha: but it feels like it at 11 o'clock at night when I'm mulling over what's gonna happen the next day.

[00:03:18] Denisha: It does. I can so relate to that. I think one of the things that I worry about at night, particularly is I'm going to sleep, is I worry that I can't get everything done the next day. Hmm. Between home, between kids, between. Work like I have a perpetual, it's just my personality, how I'm wired. But I have a perpetual to-do list in my head and like this highlighter that I get to highlight things off and it's so satisfying to me to highlight things and to mark them off that they are done.

[00:03:45] Denisha: Yeah. So I do, I lay up at night, I worry about all the what ifs. And I worry about not getting all the things done because what will that happen? I, it's all the what ifs for me, I think. Yeah. 

[00:03:55] Valerie: Yeah. Well, and there are pretty big things, right? That people do worry about. I [00:04:00] mean, there are, you know, things going on in this world that it's hard not to worry.

[00:04:04] Valerie: But I think that's what we're gonna try to talk about today is, is it possible? Can we live without worry? And I know that you have a story about this Danisha. Pretty, a pretty touching story. Pretty. real story about your own struggles with that. Do you wanna share that with us? 

[00:04:24] Denisha: Yeah. So back when I was 23, um, many, many years ago, uh, we, my mom had heart surgery and you know, this is kind of hitting that fears and worries thing.

[00:04:39] Denisha: You know, when my mom began to have heart problems, one of the things that I worried about was losing her, obviously. And I remember getting a call on during a week I was at work and it was right around Mother's Day and I was in jewelry, so it was really busy, and my mom said, I need you to come down and be with me because I'm gonna have heart surgery on [00:05:00]Monday.

[00:05:00] Denisha: And I remember thinking, oh no, is this, is this that? is this, that worry that I've been carrying since, you know, ever since she began to have heart problems, is this when I'm gonna lose her? Like, and it, it really was such a fear, it gripped me to be honest. Mm-hmm. . And I know, I, I think many people can relate to that of just having something before you and you wonder about the what ifs, what if this is it, what if this is, you know, when I lose her and she was only 59 years.

[00:05:27] Denisha: And I was 23, so it didn't seem probable, but it was a fear that I had at the time. And I remember going up to be with her and she went in for this really long surgery. It was, I think we were about four hours into the surgery and the doctor came out and he said, we need her heart to strengthen. He said we're trying to do, um, you know, we're trying to do this bypass.

[00:05:50] Denisha: He said, but she needs, um, we need a new valve. There were all these things she had to have done. He said, we need her heart to strengthen for just to finish this procedure [00:06:00]because we're gonna have to go back in in another six months and do more. , and I remember I was a pretty, pretty new believer at the time.

[00:06:07] Denisha: I was like three years into my relationship with God. Those are the times that you're on fire telling people in target about God. Like Yeah. And you're just so excited about Christ that you're like, let me tell you about my Jesus. You know, 

[00:06:17] Valerie: and God can 

[00:06:18] Denisha: do anything. Yes. Right? Yes. God can do anything.

[00:06:20] Denisha: Exactly. I just, I had so much faith and I was so just on fire for the Lord, and I remember. I was in the room and my family at the time were not believers. And I remember I said, well, I'm gonna go pray about this. And I went to the chapel and here, you know, we need her heart to strengthen. And so I went to the chapel and, okay, let me just say I was a newbie because Bible reading met that time in my life might have consisted of like open and.

[00:06:46] Denisha: Have you guys ever done that? Come on, right? Yeah. Where you've like, flew open the Bible, just put your finger wherever your finger went and just opened it up. And that was the word of the Lord for the day. . Like that's kind of what I did at this season in my life. [00:07:00] And I remember the verse that my finger touched, and it was Psalm 27, and I'll never forget this.

[00:07:07] Denisha: I read it once that night and it was just ingrained in my heart. And that verse, it was a King James version Bible I remember in the chapel. and it said, wait, on the Lord, be of good courage and he shall strengthen th heart. Wait, I say on the Lord? Mm-hmm. . Well, we'd been waiting for four hours during this surgery and we were like on hour five at this point.

[00:07:28] Denisha: And what did the doctor say? We need her heart to be stronger. We need her heart to strengthen in order to finish this procedure. And then we have another one down the road. And so when I saw that wait on the Lord be of good courage for he shall strengthen thy heart. Wait, I say on the. . I thought he's gonna heal my mom.

[00:07:47] Denisha: Yeah. So I grabbed onto that word with every bit of faith and just fire that I had, and I went back into that waiting room and I sat down, my arms crossed like, yep, we got this. And I told my whole family. [00:08:00] And at the time I was the believer in the room and I said, God just told me that he's gonna heal mom.

[00:08:06] Denisha: He's gonna strengthen her heart. We just need to wait. I'm gonna sit here and just wait. Like guys we're good. And there was sort of a look of, you are so weird from my family, but also this sigh of relief that maybe I knew something they. . Mm. And I remember holding onto that moment. I remember how the waiting room smelled.

[00:08:24] Denisha: I remember the pictures on the wall. And so we, the doctor got done, it was maybe another hour, this was like pushing one o'clock in the morning, and doctor came in and said, okay, she's in recovery. You guys go home, get some rest. Mm-hmm. , and you know, we'll, we'll see you tomorrow. And so we went home and about six o'clock, six 30 in the morning, the phone rang and it was one of the, And they said, you need to get here right now.

[00:08:49] Denisha: And they said she's crashing. Hmm. And I thought, she's not gonna crash. We're not in the what ifs anymore. This is not that time. My fears, my worries were put to rest because of that verse. Hmm. [00:09:00] And we got to the hospital and they lost her. . And so I did indeed my worst fears, my worst worry, the things that kept me up at night since she was diagnosed with heart issues was losing my mom and I was facing that reality at 23 years old.

[00:09:17] Denisha: Yeah. 

[00:09:18] Valerie: Well, and like you just said, what, what do we do? With those what ifs and what do we do when the thing that we fear and worry about the most actually happens? How can we believe that God is trustworthy? And you know, God's trustworthiness really has to do with how confident we are in him in his nature.

[00:09:42] Valerie: We've been talking about God's nature through the month of January, and here's the thing. You've heard Danesha and I talk about this passage a lot because it's so foundational. Adam and Eve, right? That's when God's trustworthiness first was the first thing that [00:10:00] Satan used called into question in the garden with this phrase, did God really say He?

[00:10:08] Valerie: He knew that trusting in God was the most foundational thing. We could ever do. And that was the one thing that he chose to attack did God really say? And what happened was even Adam trusted in what they could see, right? Isn't that why we or he is like, I can't see this. I have to touch it. I have to see it.

[00:10:32] Valerie: I have to feel it. If, if I can do all those things, then I can trust it. But here's what we have to remember. is that we are called to remember. And if God has been faithful before Danisha, we can trust that he will be faithful again. And here we're gonna dive in a little bit into, again, one of my favorite parts of scripture, which is actually in the Old Testament.[00:11:00]

[00:11:00] Valerie: And. . It's when, you know, many of you may know growing up in Sunday school, right, the 10 plagues, right? We've heard about the 10 plagues, but the 10 plagues were sent to Egypt so that God's people could be freed from slavery. And so this is the incredible thing. God was faithful, right? He, he sent these plagues.

[00:11:21] Valerie: Pharaoh finally said, okay, Moses, you can take your people and go. He part. A sea people, God parted a sea and his people walked on dry land. But then what happened? , they end up in a desert. right as two sons. can relate to the desert. I mean, Danisha, my family, we grew up in San Diego and when I was 16, my family said we're moving to Tucson.

[00:11:49] Valerie: Quite the difference. So I landscape, I, I can, I can, you know, identify with the Israelites right now. I'm going from what? From the land of oceans and green and the [00:12:00] land of plenty, let's just say. Right? Um, I mean they had everything they needed, but they were enslave. , right? They, they had meat, they had this wonderful food, but they were still forced to do things, um, that they were, you know, did not wanna do.

[00:12:14] Valerie: They were enslaved. And so they find theirselves in this desert. And what happens? What happens? They, they say, God, God, you've. You've led us to this, like how can we trust you now? Like we're hungry, we're thirsty, we're in a desert. Like how can we trust you? But Moses, in Exodus 13, three says this, that we need to commemorate this day, the day that you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery because the Lord has brought you out of it with his mighty hand.

[00:12:46] Valerie: We are a people that are called to remember that if God has been faithful. Before that we can trust. He has been faithful. He will be faithful again. We can trust that if God [00:13:00]has done it before, he can do it again. But why do we forget Danisha ? Why do we forget? 

[00:13:07] Denisha: I don't know. But I love this because I'm. I feel very normal in my faith journey when I read this.

[00:13:13] Denisha: Yes. Right. Like God parted the Red Sea like a sea. You guys, like they stood at the edge of an ocean as Essent, you know, a sea. And God said you're gonna go through on dry land. And I would've sat there and gone. How? Yeah. But God had them. I remember he took, had the priest take the first step. Yes. And then the land was dry.

[00:13:35] Denisha: Yeah. So they just saw this crazy miracle. and then not further down. They're like, where are you? Are you even gonna take care of us? And I feel very normal because I think there's a lot of times in my life where I've gone, I, you know, look what God just did. And then a day later I'm like, where are you? Are you even hearing?

[00:13:52] Denisha: Do you even know what I'm going through? Yeah. And isn't that like, it's so scriptural we see it Yes. All throughout the Bible, so we're not alone 

[00:13:59] Valerie: [00:14:00] in. No, no, but I love, um, I love what Jesus calls us to in Matthew 6 25 through 27. He says, do not worry about your life. I gotta tell you something. So sweet. So this is a verse that my, my young ones are memorizing.

[00:14:16] Valerie: They go to a Christian school. My six year old was quoting this. He goes, do not worry about your life and like singing. I'm like, yes, yes. I'm like, I'm talking on a podcast about this. Thank you, thank you. But God says, do not worry about your. What you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear is not life more than food and the body more than clothes.

[00:14:40] Valerie: Look at the Perth of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in Barnes, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. And I love this part. Danisha, are you not much more valuable than they? And here's the clincher. Can. Can anyone of you [00:15:00] by worrying add a single hour to your life? , is that what you're thinking at night when you're worried about not getting everything done?

[00:15:08] Valerie: I'm gonna just add like I, yeah. Tomorrow we'll have 25 hours in it. Like, 

[00:15:13] Denisha: like that would be kind of awesome when you're worried about getting things done. 

[00:15:16] Valerie: I know, but God says we can't even add an hour. That true? There's this beautiful quote by Corey 10. Boom. I love this. Worrying. Doesn't empty tomorrow.

[00:15:28] Valerie: Of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. I don't know about you Danisha, but I don't get energized by worrying , do you? No. Like I usually am drained. That's why we fall into bed at night. Right. As worry your mom's like, cuz we're exhausted from worrying and, and I think the thing that worry also does it depletes of our joy.

[00:15:52] Valerie: Yeah. Right. When we worry, we're not just wearing ourselves out. Taking on responsibility that really is not [00:16:00] ours, right? God has our needs in his hand, but it depletes us of our joy. Um, a long time ago, God spoke this to me very, very clearly when I was a young mom. Worry keeps us from being present in what is now.

[00:16:16] Valerie: Instead, we are distracted by what is next. And I just remember, yeah, God speaking that so clearly. He's like, Valerie. Stop being distracted by what is next, be present in what is now. And I think, you know, Tanisha, I, I wonder too, in our culture, and I know we have, um, international audience as well, but maybe it's like this where you are too, but I think as believers, especially in our convenience type culture, it's so easy, right?

[00:16:44] Valerie: We have insta this. Fast food this do it yourself. I mean, there's nothing wrong with do it yourself projects, but it's kinda like, Hey, you can do it. You know, the American way we can do it. And I think that really hinders us, even as Christians, from truly [00:17:00] trusting that God is the provider and giver. Of all of our needs, and I think about the scripture in Matthew, like, we need to not lose sight of our value, our value to God.

[00:17:13] Valerie: You know, we just talked about this in our podcast last week about not viewing God. Through the lens of our circumstances. And I think that's the same thing, like when we're worrying about are we gonna get this done? I is, is this, are we gonna be able to parent this child the way they need it? Is this gonna work out?

[00:17:31] Valerie: Is that gonna work out? Am I gonna have what I need for this or that? That we're forgetting our value. that, that we can't even determine our value to God based on our circumstances. Right. It's like, okay, you know, we're waiting. We're waiting. Why isn't God providing? He must not care about me. I must not matter that much to him.

[00:17:50] Valerie: No. No. We, we, if we start to doubt God's love and care for us, when life is hard, then that's when we have to, we have to question as [00:18:00] our view of God skewed because he loves us, he cares for. Look at he provides for the birds. You know, we see them hopping around getting exactly what they need and we are more valuable.

[00:18:12] Valerie: And I know that that hits me danesha, is that when I recognize that God knows me, he knows my needs. Why? Why do I have to worry? And as you said in kind of the beginning, what we worry about the most often, ugh. This is hard reveals where we trust. The least. Yeah. How has that been for you? 

[00:18:39] Denisha: Well, it is, I can definitely relate to that.

[00:18:42] Denisha: Um, because I do, I am a worrier to be honest, and I work on that. But that is, I am a worrier and I tend to worry about our kids. I tend to worry about the future. And exactly what you said that in, if you heard the podcast, the Gift of Now mm-hmm. , that is [00:19:00] ex exactly what you said about being present versus worrying about what's next.

[00:19:03] Denisha: That is something that God has been working on with me for a few years now. Mm-hmm. . And so I think, yeah, that is definitely true. And you know, when. When I look back, um, what we worry about the most, right? That worry for me was worried about losing my mom. And I did, I, I did trust, I did trust God in it, but I trusted that he would do what I needed him to do, if that makes sense.

[00:19:31] Denisha: Mm-hmm. , I needed him to heal her on earth. Yeah. And so I think that was a, a big. Deal for me that I did realize. Um, I'll share with you, the end of that story is about six months went by and I did walk away from God. I was, like I said, I was a fairly new believer about three years in, and I walked away from the Lord.

[00:19:52] Denisha: I stopped reading my Bible. I stopped going to church, and I felt like God had tricked. In a way, like, why would you [00:20:00] give me that verse? Now I, in hindsight, I know I opened up the Bible and pointed, but I thought, why? Why would, why would you make that promise that was so perfect to that moment and then take her anyway?

[00:20:12] Denisha: So I was really angry, I was upset, and I didn't feel like he was trustworthy in that moment. But then about six months went by and one of my friends came to me and she said, Danisha, I just wonder, did you read the rest of that p. and I looked at her like, ah, and, and she worked for me at the time and I was like, what?

[00:20:34] Denisha: How dare you? Like, no, I'm not touching my Bible. I'm not doing this anymore. And she just really lovingly said, I wanna encourage you to read the rest of that psalm. and just walked away. So that night I go back to my apartment and my Bible's sitting on my entertainment center and it was starting to collect a little bit of dust.

[00:20:51] Denisha: Okay. It'd been six months. And I remember looking at it and walking away, cooking food, doing whatever. Looking back, it was like, it was [00:21:00] stalking me. It was weird. It was like this like impression to like open the Bible. Do what she said, and I thought, I'm not doing this. And I, I like fought it for a little bit there.

[00:21:08] Denisha: Mm-hmm. , I finally opened it up, turned back to Psalm 27 and on verse 14 is what I pointed to in the hospital. Verse nine and 10, say, hide not thy face far from me. But not th serve in way in anger. Thou, thou has been my help. Leave me not neither forsake me, oh God, of my salvation. Get this guys. When my mother and father forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.

[00:21:35] Denisha: And when I read the rest of that psalm, I realized that it was not my mom's heart that he was gonna strengthen. It was mine. And I remember that night just coming back. Tears and just crying back to God and going, you've been there with me all along. I just didn't know it. My heart was, I'll trust you if you heal her.

[00:21:59] Denisha: His [00:22:00] heart was lean into me, I will be with you. This is gonna be a rough season. I will be with you. And it lean into me. And I pulled away. I was just like the Israel lights. Like, okay, you parted the Red Sea yesterday, but what are you doing today? Right? Yeah. But what he was really saying is, don't run away.

[00:22:17] Denisha: Lean into me. And so I do feel like there was purpose in me running across that Psalm. Maybe I opened and pointed and then God. For his good, right? Mm-hmm. , but that was such a moment for me. So yeah. What we worry about the most often reveals where we trust God the least. I trusted in my plan. Yeah. But once I let him, allowed myself to trust in his plan is when I found healing.

[00:22:41] Denisha: Yeah. 

[00:22:41] Valerie: Yeah. That's such a powerful story and I, I feel that way too at times. Like I shared about what keeps me up at night is like the next day thinking like, am I gonna be a good mom? Am I gonna be a good wife? Are my kids gonna be okay? And I often worry about how my mistakes [00:23:00] and my sins. What they've done to my kids.

[00:23:03] Valerie: you know, I mean, my husband and I were just talking about this like, sometimes I think we, you know, the problems we see have more to do with us, and that may be true, but what I'm not trusting, just like you, were not trusting in that moment for God to be with you. You know that when, when things don't go the way we think they should, God is still trustworthy because he's saying, trust me, my ways are higher, my ways are better.

[00:23:27] Valerie: but I am not trusting God to redeem and restore. You know, if I believe the God of the Bible that has forgiven me and who also like gave me these children. I mean these children are really his. He gave them to me to to raise, but that can, I really trust that God is going to redeem my mistakes. He's going to restore.

[00:23:49] Valerie: Maybe relationship that's been, um, strained. And I have to, I have to trust that. And by not trusting God to be their God, right? I mean, I'm not [00:24:00] trusting God to be their God, to be their hope, to be their peace, to be their savior. And I came across this verse when, when I was studying for this podcast, and it's Isaiah 46, 4, and I'm thinking this is gonna become my new life verse for my.

[00:24:17] Valerie: Parenting my children. Isaiah 46, 4 says even to your old age and gray hair. I am he. I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you, and I will rescue you. Like that is a promise to my children that he is always going to be their God That. , I am not their God . I can lead them to God.

[00:24:43] Valerie: And I can be an example of, yeah, mommy messes up and I am so thankful I have a savior and I want you to have him as your savior too. But I, I can't worry about that. I have to trust the God that I know has been faithful [00:25:00] before and he will be faithful. . 

[00:25:02] Denisha: That's so good. That's such a great verse for all moms out there,

[00:25:06] Denisha: Isaiah 46 4. I just wanna reiterate that. Yeah, because I. love that. That he will sustain you. He will rescue you. That's our prayer for us and our 

[00:25:15] Valerie: kids. Yeah. Yeah. And I wonder, you know, talking back again about Matthew, where God clearly, Jesus clearly tells us it is not God's will to worry. You know, again, I think sometimes worry is one of that cultural things like, oh, everybody worries, right?

[00:25:32] Valerie: it's like, it's okay. But I kind of wonder, Danisha if that, what if we were to take worry. Seriously, God clearly says, do not worry. In Philippians four, six through seven, he says, do not worry about some things. No . He says, do not worry about anything and by prayer Petition with Thanksgiving. , give your worries, give your needs, give your request to God.

[00:25:59] Valerie: [00:26:00] And it doesn't say, that verse doesn't say God will necessarily answer right the way you want it. He goes, I'm gonna give you my peace. Mm-hmm. , right? Yes. And that's what you realized when you read the rest of those verses with your mom. It's that he gave you his peace. He did. That is going to transcend.

[00:26:16] Valerie: You're not gonna underst. , why he chose to take your mom home at that time. You may, you're not gonna understand that this side of eternity, but he gave you his peace. And that's what he promises us when we choose not to worry that he will give us his peace. And, and when we give us, when we give God. Our worries, and he gives us his peace.

[00:26:38] Valerie: It's going to strengthen our worship, right? It's going to strengthen our worship when we trust God, and it's going to weaken our worry. And, and that's kind of the second thing that we're gonna look at, is that we, we can trust God because he's been faithful before. He will be faithful again, but he is also faithful today.

[00:26:57] Valerie: Mm-hmm. . And why, why, why can we [00:27:00] trust that he is faithful today? Danisha. 

[00:27:03] Denisha: Well, I think of Matthew, right when he says, behold I am with you. Even until the end of the age never leave us. He'll never leave us or forsake us. Yeah. And he is with us. Yeah, and I wish I knew then what I know now. About him being with us, about him being with me in those moments of when it was devastating news or when, you know, we didn't have our, our needs met in the way we had hoped, or I'm worried about my kids.

[00:27:34] Denisha: There are times when I have to remind myself that he is with me. Mm-hmm. and I'll, I'll tell you a secret. I have a tattoo on my wrist that says the word with, and that's to remind me that he is always with me because I forget. Just like the Israelites. Just like the disciples, I forget. 

[00:27:53] Valerie: Well, and that's why it's so powerful to to remind ourselves that.

[00:27:58] Valerie: not only right, a few months ago, [00:28:00] we celebrated Jesus Emmanuel with us, but that he gave us the gift of his spirit. Right? You know, we, we know Jesus is gonna return someday. He's promised that, but he gave us this awesome, wonderful traveling companion , right through the smooth and rocky roads of life. We have the Holy Spirit in John 1415 through 17.

[00:28:22] Valerie: It says this, and I will ask the father and he will give you. Another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him, right? Kind of going back to the garden, right? We wanna be able to see and touch nor knows him, but you know him.

[00:28:43] Valerie: Jesus is saying, you, my children, my followers, you know him for, he lives with you and he will be with you. And that, you know, I, I think, you know, I can confess to Danisha, I'm, I'm a forgetful, person. A lot of that, you know, it's like, I'm like, [00:29:00] yeah, I know I have the Holy Spirit, but it's like, do I recognize that he is with me.

[00:29:06] Valerie: It's not just calling upon him when I'm in trouble, but that he is. He is, like you said, he is inside me. With me ever present, why do I worry for me, I don't know about you, Danisha, but I think when I ask myself like, why do I begin my day? And worry instead of surrendered in worship, and I have to ask myself, I have to say, okay, again, going back to that, how I view my circumstances.

[00:29:33] Valerie: Do I believe that God is trustworthy today? Not because I'm going to have no problems, right? Not because of the absence of problems, but because of the presence of God. That's what we're talking about, right? When I wake up, am I going to begin my day in? or in worship. And if we begin in worship, then that's right.

[00:29:55] Valerie: That's remembering, right. We wor, we, one of my, one of [00:30:00] my children is named Seila, you know, and that, that's from Psalms. It, it tells us to remember what God has done, that he's been faithful before, he'll be faithful again. And that's that Holy Spirit gift is that no matter what I'm facing, when I wake up in the morning, I know he's with me and that he's trustworthy because of his present.

[00:30:21] Valerie: Not because of the absence of our problems. When we remember, again, like we've gone through during this podcast, of knowing that if God's done it before, God will do it again, and that God is trustworthy because He is faithful every day, in every moment because he's with us, then we can trust that God is going to be faithful.

[00:30:44] Valerie: Tomorrow in Revelation it says, I heard a loud voice from the Thrones saying, look, God's dwelling places now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be them and their God, and this is what we have to look [00:31:00]forward to. He will wipe away. Every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.

[00:31:10] Valerie: He who has seated on the throne, Jesus is saying, I am making everything new. Write this down for these words are, here's our word, trustworthy and true. That is the end of our story, right? We, God knows the ending from the beginning like we talked about, I think last week, that we can trust that God was good from the beginning.

[00:31:31] Valerie: Sin mess things up. God provided a savior, he is going to be good and make all things new so we can trust God because we know the end of our story. We know he is going to be faithful tomorrow, today, depends on God. our tomorrow depends on God that we can stand firm believing that he's our refuge, he's our comfort.

[00:31:54] Valerie: You were talking about, like the story with your mom is that you came to see that the heart that needed to be [00:32:00] strengthened was yours. Yeah. Yeah. God knew that, that she, he needed to take her home. Right. That was going to be her healing, but But he had that promise for you that he was going to strengthen your heart and provide you comfort.

[00:32:14] Valerie: Right. Even to this day, He invites you to pour out your hearts to him. He says, cast all your worries upon him. Cast them, like bring them to him. He knows them. He knows it all, but he wants, this is where he invites us to trust. How do we live without worry? You guys, we trust. We step in, we take that first step, we step into.

[00:32:42] Valerie: to depend on him. That's what he wants. He knows we're gonna worry, but he wants us to trust and depend on him. I love, I'm gonna, um, share this, this last verse here, Psalm 62. I love this. Says it so beautifully. Truly my soul finds [00:33:00] rest in God. My salvation comes from him. He is my rock and my salvation. He is my fortress.

[00:33:08] Valerie: I will never be shaken. Trust in him at. All times you people pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. 

[00:33:20] Denisha: How do we live without worry? Uh, the first way is we remember, yeah, we remember what God has done. You guys, I will never. Forget that story of my mom. Mm-hmm. And I remember feeling hopeless and in despair for six months.

[00:33:34] Denisha: And I remember my friend saying, go read the rest of that song. Yeah. And when I did, I re, it was like, it all came together for me and I realized his faithfulness. So we remember God has been faithful befo before and he will be faithful again. 

[00:33:50] Valerie: And just like we've been talking a lot about scripture, right?

[00:33:53] Valerie: It's January a lot. People wanna read through the Bible in the, in a year and whatever you're doing to [00:34:00] spend time with the Lord in his word, we wanna just encourage and cheer lead you to to do that because that's where we, these stories, right? The stories of God's faithfulness, they're in his word. Yeah.

[00:34:10] Valerie: And when you open up the Bible, you can see that we are not unlike , the Israelites, but we can see that if God has done it before, he will do it again and second. We need to remember, but we need to then recognize his presence is with us like we talked about, that gift of the Holy Spirit, that advocate, that counselor that ever present help when we're in trouble.

[00:34:34] Valerie: We recognize that the Holy Spirit is always with us. Just like your reminder on your wrist. He is always with us and we need not to fear and then, , we step into trust. Maybe it's just one baby step. You guys, we know that God has already written the end of our story so we can trust that. We can trust that he holds our future in his hand.

[00:34:58] Valerie: We can trust [00:35:00] that we have good, we have all things becoming new. We have a place without pain and struggle and worry coming that we will experience. So we. , we recognize his presence and we step into trust. And then what do we do next? . 

[00:35:17] Denisha: The fourth way that we can live without worry is that we do the next thing that God is calling us to do.

[00:35:23] Denisha: Yeah. And I love to reflect back on that Isaiah 46, 4 verse that we do the next thing he's calling us to do. And that verse says, even to your old age in gray hairs, I am he. I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you, and I will rescue you. Yeah. So what is the next thing that God is calling you to do?

[00:35:46] Denisha: Maybe it's trusting him. , maybe it's realizing that he has made us and will carry us and will rescue us. Mm-hmm. , maybe it's taking that risk that we feel like he's leading us into, but it feels [00:36:00] terrifying. What is the next thing that God is calling you to do? Would be step number four? 

[00:36:05] Valerie: Yeah. And then lastly.

[00:36:07] Valerie: You may be saying, Hey, yeah, I want to trust God, but , we may have one hand open and one hand still gripping hold of control, but this is what we need to do. We need to let go of what we're holding onto and take hold of something. Better, and that is trust in a nutshell, is that we have to know that God has something better.

[00:36:31] Valerie: We may not understand it in the moment that this is God's best, but that is faith. That is trust. Knowing that God will work everything out for his, for our good, for his glory. That according to his purpose, Romans 8 28, 1 of my life, verses that he makes all things. work out for our good and his glory, and kind of like your story with your mom, Danisha.

[00:36:56] Valerie: It's such a powerful story that we often, right? [00:37:00] We often say, God, I trust you, but in our minds we're saying, if you do what I want you to do, but you guys, God is saying and he's inviting you along with us, will you face the fears and worries in your life today by simply saying, I trust you, God. 

[00:37:22] Denisha: Because friends, if God has done it before, he can do it again.

[00:37:26] Denisha: We hope today's podcast took you a little step further, a little step closer. Into trusting the Lord with whatever you're facing in your life. We thank you for listening and we will see you same time, same place next week. Thanks for listening. I pray you found hope in today's conversation and maybe even feel a little less alone in your story.

[00:37:50] Denisha: Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed. Wanna learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of [00:38:00] our growing community of Reclaimers? Check out our website@reclaimedstory.com. All of those links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoy this inspirational podcast, be sure to subscribe, rate and review.

[00:38:14] Denisha: Not only will you be the first one to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help in helping us reach more people to live the reclaimed.