In The Middle Of A Storm | Girls Gone Bible
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Get to Smoothie King today and try the new blueberry, raspberry, or watermelon lemonade smoothies. They're all made with real fruit, real juice, and no bad stuff. Just check out the no-no list at SmoothieKing.com. Try the new lemonade smoothies at Smoothie King today. Hi, everyone. I'm Ari. I'm Angela. And this is Girls Gone Bible. This is a faith-based podcast where we talk about Jesus and the Bible and

and how much we love him, and what he's brought us through. Yeah, and how we're learning and growing just with you guys. How are you? What's going on? I'm sorry. The balls on my sweatshirt are, like, making so much noise. We'll see if that's distracting. You just can't put your hands on the table. Um...

Wait, I really wanted to tell this story that I forgot to tell. So last week we went and we volunteered on Skid Row and it was such a beautiful experience. We met with a beautiful and heart-wrenching experience to see the type of living environment and conditions a lot of people are living in. It was a beautiful experience because we left feeling

unbelievably grateful for the privileges that we have in life. And it's really important to do stuff like this to see that a lot of the world doesn't live the way that we do and it really minimizes our problems when you see how much worse it can be. But we went to Skid Row and we met with these kids and there was like 30 kids in a room and we basically brought them gifts. We played with them. We answered

They asked us questions. We did a talent show. It was so beautiful, but it was so funny because we brought all this stuff, right? To give them like nail polish, makeup, bags, like just any stuff that we had. Shoes.

Ari blacks out while we're in there. She's losing her mind because she loves kids. And it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. But she's in there. And all I see, I turn around, Ari's emptying the compartments of her bag. She gives away her purse. So she just has all her credit cards and her stuff, her keys in her hands. And she's like, take it, take everything. She's trying to adopt these kids. And then.

Because Angela brought her a purse. Like, she brought, you brought one purse, right? So there were two little girls in there and there was only one purse and the girl's looking at the other girl with the purse and I'm like, here, just take mine. Just take my purse. She just gives her purse. She's about to give the clothes out of her bag. I literally.

I literally was. And I wanted to take the little girl home. You know, I think about her every day. No, I thought she was going to kidnap this girl from Skid Row. I was like, it was really insane. I loved her so much. I think that might be in my calling in my life is to adopt. I think you would make the best foster parent in the world. I would have taken all 10 kids.

I know you would have taken them that night and blacked out and just been like, well, we'll figure it out from here. The best part was, though, when we were going to volunteer, I said, listen, you need to be up at 430 in the morning because we need to be there by 6 a.m. She's like,

Okay, okay. So I'm there at 5 a.m. She comes out like a little grump. We get there. I'm calling the guy, and he's like, hey, is everything okay? I was like, yeah, I just want to let you know we're here. He goes, it's at 6 p.m. I go...

I do it all the time. I go, okay, so we just woke up at 5 a.m. Now what? And you know what happens? So we have a coffee and I, the good friend that I am, she's like, I'm sorry, Ange. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm like, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay. Don't worry about it. But then I take a sip of my coffee.

And I slurped it because I'm just going to say that, yes, I slurp sometimes when it's a hot beverage. Which is my biggest pet peeve. Right, but when it's a hot beverage, what do you want me to do? I have to slurp. Okay, blow on it. I'm not going to blow on the whole cup of coffee. To cool down a little. She's sitting there and fucking.

in the morning being like I slept it one time I said at one time and listen and then after this girl brings me at six o'clock in the morning and I don't give her a hard time about it I don't say anything she looks at me goes oh wow I just realized the one thing I hate about you you slurp and I go you want me to talk about the things I don't like about you right now I don't know how about the fact that someone tells you to meet at six o'clock and you don't ask a.m. or p.m. true partnership

We love each other so much. Basically, we're talking about how God is in control and what it's like to be in the middle of a storm.

And how to let go of trying to control things coming from two people with OCD. Control freaks. And who want to control everything. So this is a huge part of our journey with Jesus is relinquishing control. Truly. What story are we reading today?

Well, happens to be one of my favorites. I know I say that about everything, but I just love all of it. Okay, so we're going to read out of Mark chapter 4. It's the wind and wave obey Jesus. Happy not Halloween, by the way. We're filming this on a Halloween. What do you mean happy not Halloween? You wanted to be Romy and Michelle, and we couldn't do it. No, we're not, but we're not.

celebrating moment. I actually made a decision. Alright guys, have fun studying the Bible with Daily Trivia and challenge your knowledge of Scripture. Can you guys name the town which Jesus was born in? Or can you name the three kings that visited him when he was born? Or do you know the names of all the apostles he had? Daily Bible Trivia is a beautiful game that respects the Bible.

Test and improve your knowledge of the Bible and of Jesus. Yeah, and you can get a beautiful daily Bible verse that you can share with your friends and save to your phone for inspiration. You guys love improving your biblical knowledge like you know I do. You'll love Daily Bible Trivia. Download Daily Bible Trivia to challenge yourself. Just go to the Apple or Google store and search for Daily Bible Trivia. Download Daily Bible Trivia for free today and get ready to flex your brain muscles. So we're going to read out of Mark chapter 4.

And we'll start. Let me just go and give you a little backstory. At this point, Jesus is with his disciples and it begins at chapter four. It says Jesus began to teach by the sea and a great multitude. A lot of people were gathered to him. So he got into a boat and he sat in it on the sea and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. And then he taught them many things by parables and said to them in his teaching. And then he goes and he teaches all these parables and

And then a little while later, he basically tells the disciples to come in the boat with him. So you can take it off. Wind and wave obey Jesus. On the same day when evening had come, he had said to them, let us cross over to the other side.

Now when they had left the multitude, they took him along in the boat as he was. And the other little boats were also with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Then Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Peace, be still.

This is one of my favorite stories in the whole Bible because I feel like...

There's just so many things to go over in here, but I just feel like this is a reoccurring story in my own life of literally being in the boat with Jesus. He's there with me. He brought me there, and I'm still afraid, and I'm still not trusting. I mean...

In this situation, a lot of the disciples are literally fishermen. So they know what to do when there's a storm. So for them to have been exceedingly fearful like this means that it was bad, like it was a really bad storm. I mean, it says that, where is it?

A great windstorm arose and waves beat into the boat so that it was filling. The boat was filling, but Jesus was in the stern asleep on the pillow, which I think is so cute that Jesus was sleeping. And they woke him up and said, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

And he literally told the wind and the sea with his mouth, with his words. That's why words are so important and powerful. He said, peace, be still. And I always think about how the disciples in this situation, Jesus told them to get into the boat. So they were walking within the will of God and there was still a storm. Hmm.

So in the middle of God's will, there was a storm. So being in God's will, the whole misconception that being one with Jesus and being close to God means that you're not going to have storms, that's not true. You will have storms. But the promise is that Jesus will be with you in the storm. Yeah. Yeah, it's the truth. No. And it just shows us that the apostles are just like us again and again.

They watched Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They saw how many miracles that God was doing, but still they didn't have 100% of faith. And I think, like you said, you know, you relate so much to the story. I do too. We're not always going to have faith all the time. Even if we love Jesus so much and trust him with all our hearts, sometimes we have moments where we're like, God, where are you? Like I...

Like, are you even here? Are you going to help me? Even though we're in constant prayer sometimes, it's really hard when we are in such a big storm. So it just goes to show you that if he can calm this storm, he'll be with us in all of our storms in our own lives. Yes, if he can calm this storm. I love that. You're so right. I always think about...

This was a physical storm that they were in, but we have personal and emotional storms all the time. And if the wind and the sea obey Jesus, then whatever we're going through must also obey Jesus. It's the truth.

And we have to remember, too, we cannot forget the authority and the power that we should walk in through Jesus because even nature has to bow down. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord. Like literally everything has to confess that Jesus is Lord. I think it's so it just gives me so much empowerment. Yeah, I know. You know, and then again, after he calmed the storm, they're just looking at him like.

There's our God. And that's why I think sometimes he really will bring us through these storms. So we will look at him when the storm is over and when we come out of it even better and be like, that's my God. Always, always to give him glory. That's the point. Yeah. That's the point. Because if everything was perfect all the time, we wouldn't need Jesus. Oh, no. You know, it's funny. Me and Angela had a moment the other day where, you know, we were like, I have moments where I'm like,

man, I wish sometimes I had grown up in a Christian family because my life would have been a lot easier. And Angela and I were talking about how we've just been through so many storms in our life. But we're so grateful for them because we have such empathy and we can help people with what we went through. And we can just

I had just such a moment where before I would feel such guilt of how I grew up, and now I'm like, I am so thankful for every trial, for every storm, for every hardship, for growing up the way I did, for not growing up in such a perfect family. Although if you do grow up in a Christian family, it's a beautiful thing. Yeah, absolutely. Thank God for that. But I'm just like,

You know, it's okay, too, if you don't grow up that way. And it's a beautiful thing. God will use both. Yeah. That's the beauty of God is that it doesn't matter. All of our stories are so different, and he's able to uniquely use every single one of them. It's the truth. No matter how different. One could, like, you grow up in a perfect household where you never had, you've been obedient to God your whole life, and you've never been through anything. God will use that because you're, like, a perfect person.

depiction of obedience and what happens when you walk in the will of God. Those people definitely still have problems because you can't escape it. But then if you are someone who grew up in a rough situation and you didn't have God and you made a lot of mistakes and you did that, he definitely can use that because...

He's going to use your testimony to free other people. I always think in the middle of a storm, this is going to help somebody else one day. Wait, say it again. When I'm in the middle of a storm or going through something, I always have a thought of like, God is going to use this so I can help free somebody else. It is so true. That's why you just like rest in the pain and just go through it and keep going because...

So much of what I went through was so painful, but now I'm able to help so many people with what I went through. Yeah. That is the one thing that you have really, I know is your gift, is relatability. Anybody who has a five-minute conversation with you,

I've noticed they will just like open up to you because you wear your heart on your sleeve. You give other people permission to be as vulnerable as you. And so that is your gift. Your gift is your ability to get people to open up and you're so relatable. There's a lot of people that...

tell their story and you still can't really relate to them. I don't know what it is exactly. Maybe it's the lack of, maybe there's a lack of empathy. Maybe you can feel your empathy that it'll just open up the other person's heart, but you have such a special thing with that. Thank you. I think going through such pain bring, do you feel like when you go through pain, you become so much more vulnerable and open to people? Yeah. Yeah. That's why pain is good. Yeah. Tell me a story. I

About a storm that you went through, do you have one that you came out better and you're so thankful for? Yeah, all of them. Literally all of them. Do you have one that sticks out the most? I might need a second to think about it. Do you have one? I just think about my career. Yeah. I probably prayed for years on my career of just being really lost and feeling so purposeless and...

I, I, because I was trying, like, my thing is, is I'm constantly just trying to control everything. And for four or five years, I was trying to control my, my career and nothing was happening. And I'm like, well, why? Well, I got to do it like this and I got to do it like that. And I was so afraid and stuck and just in this constant state of fear. And so it kept me

I believe that when you don't submit and you don't surrender and you keep trying to control things and force things, it's going to delay. It's really it really does delay the process that God has for you. Don't you agree? A hundred percent. When I really couldn't deal with it on my on my own might and I found God, this is when I was in this this part.

particular storm, this is when I found God and I just submitted and I surrendered and I became so infatuated with learning about him and divulging into scripture and learning that he is for me. He is not against me and he cares. That's when I was just like, okay, I submit to you. And I could hear God being like, I need you to heal yourself before I

I need you to get to know me and heal yourself before I can even bring you to your purpose. And now I'm living in my purpose where I get to help other people because I healed myself. And yeah. I have the same exact experiences as you do, where it's hard to pinpoint specific things because that's been our experience in every situation. I mean, I could go down a list of things that I...

I was in the middle of a storm, thought it was such a bad thing. God ends up, I end up being elevated and in a much better situation afterwards. Like you can't have sunshine without rain. That's just how it is, as cheesy as that is. Every situation between relationships, career, family stuff, specifically moving. Like I've had multiple situations where

I would be looking for a place to live, be heartbroken if I didn't get what I wanted, and then having to trust God and hearing him say... Like, I actually was in a situation where I was going to pay... I thought I had found my dream place, and I was going to pay way too much money, be in not a good situation. I was not ready to, like... I was not ready to move into a place like this, and my flesh wanted it so badly. And I remember God being like...

Lay it down. It's not for you. It's not for you. And it was really hard for me to lay it down. And I ended up being obedient, listening. And then God put me in a much better situation looking back. Yeah. Much better. And we still go through it where we're trying to control things. I actually, I started therapy and I actually had a call today with her. I'm working through some things because I still try to, I'm on this journey with you guys. Seriously. I,

I will sit here and preach. But I actually had a moment where I was like, I'm actually on the subject today of giving it to God. And the one thing I never want to do on here is ever be a hypocrite. I never want to come on here and say things when I'm actually suffering. Yeah. So and I always like to be I'm a little too vulnerable and I bleed out really a lot on here. But it's good because I if I can help someone, I don't care. So, yeah, I was like, I'm I

I feel a little bit like a hypocrite because I'm afraid. Like, I am afraid, but it's okay. It's okay. Every time we try to control or we try to, we try or we're afraid, you just get back up and keep going. You get back up and bring it to God again and he'll meet you where you are and you'll start over again. That's how life is. You just got to keep going. You just got to keep talking to him and bringing it to him.

You know? Yeah. I love your vulnerability today. And I love your strength. And you know what's funny is that you...

In your most vulnerable and you're saying you're a little bit afraid and you're this and you're that, this is like the most beautiful that I've seen you. And like you look stronger than ever in my opinion. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think you need to give yourself so much credit. I've been on this journey of the fight of faith really this whole year. I mean, and we get a lot of questions of like...

Well, we won't get we won't go there. But I have been on this journey of a fight of faith. And one thing I can tell you is I really, really do struggle. I struggle with Angela all the time. Angela, we were talking about this today. And I looked at her today. And I said, Angela, I just want to let you know you are I am so proud of you. You are so strong.

The gift that Angela has, and it goes back to when we were kids, she has such a strong mother who really, really showed her right, like really raised her right.

And because of that, I think she can really operate of a place of logic. And it's, I learned so much from you because she doesn't sit in the pain. She does, you know, I won't say that. You do sit in the pain, but you don't live there. And I think I'm just so blessed that you're my best friend.

Because I can just learn from you. You're getting me through it. You're making me stronger by watching how strong you are. It seriously is, like, it's incredible. Yeah, and she doesn't... One thing that Angela does, too, which has taught me a lot is... You said this to me today. It was yesterday. You were like...

I was dwelling in fear and you looked at me and you said, "I haven't seen you pray one time. "Have you been praying?" And I look at her and I go, "Well, no."

And it's like really like these tools are key, are key for us. We have to be in constant prayer with God and talking to him, talking out loud, sitting there. We bring all of our problems to God, you guys. Yeah. And I didn't know that before the storms. A hundred percent. I thank you for bringing a prayer.

We know that it's hardest to pray when you're going through something. Or to even pick up your Bible. A hundred percent. When you, like, when you're down, there's something about it that that's why you need people to pray for you during those times. But you need to, I was actually, I heard it a lot today. I felt like God, I was sitting and reading and I just felt like I kept hearing God say to me, like, you need to tell people to talk to me before they talk to other people.

So good. We have to talk to God first because it's so much easier to talk to people first because we get, because we have a direct response, whereas we feel like maybe we have to wait for God's response. But I really encourage people to pray to God first before doing anything else. I was writing how all Jesus in this story is,

all Jesus had to do was talk to the sea. And, you know, he created the universe and everything, the heavens and the earth, um, by speaking a word saying, let there be light. He literally said, peace, be still. He spoke it. We also must speak to our situations. We have to speak out loud to Jesus, to the situation. And, um,

Be very vocal in prayer through a storm because otherwise you might, when you're in a storm and you feel like you're going under, like these disciples felt like they were going underwater, when you feel like you're drowning, I know what it feels like to just try to keep your head above water. I know what it feels like. It's really scary. It's suffocating when you're drowning, but you got to get your voice out. You have to keep praying. Yeah. Get as vulnerable as you can.

I was someone who really struggled being vulnerable, like on the Internet, just even with people. And when I went through my storm, being vulnerable was the best thing that I could have ever done. Going to therapy, talking, praying, it freed me. It freed me of the storm. Yeah, yeah.

I want to talk a little bit about God's will for our lives, because as we know from this story,

Even the disciples were in the middle of God's will, as we said, when a storm came. But it says in Romans 12 to do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is God's will, his good, pleasing and perfect will. Yeah, his perfect will and perfect.

I really thought a lot about this and how hard it is being a Christian and, um,

It is hard, but it's been so rewarding for you and I, I think. And I think once we really are on this path of really living true and right and obeying God, I really believe the storm is so much easier. You know, when we live righteous and not unrighteous, when we do good and not bad. And God always forgives. But when we go down that, when we go against God and not walk with God,

It it it it strays him for us. Yeah. And it's going to it's going to bring us even deeper in the storm. Yeah. So my my advice to everyone that's in a storm is really submit to him and and go with him, not against him. Obey him. God, I love that you just said that. Yeah. That speaks to my heart so much about that.

work with him and not against him because God works for us. And I feel like I've spent most of my life working against him when he's worked for me. And we could also talk a little bit about storms that are sent to us and then storms that we create in our lives. Because I think it's important to remember that

It's not just the enemy. Stupid, stupid. Sometimes we create the storms by choices that we make, people we let into our lives. And we got a lot of questions like, how do you trust God in the will? Like, how do you determine his will for your life? And I think...

God's will, I think you're going to be presented multiple paths to take in life, multiple different job opportunities, people coming into your life, ways to go. And I think because we do have free will, you need to sit and test everything that comes into your life and

You have to test everything against God and you have to ask, like, does this go with scripture? Does this person go with scripture? Is this person bringing me closer to God? Does this job glorify God? And kind of just and that's how you're going to figure out what God's will is for your life. You know what I mean? Yeah. And.

I know for myself, I've, yeah, like you just said, I've went against God many times in my work. Yeah, yeah. You know, and like I said, it just prolongs the journey he has for you. And so that's why I'm so glad that we can be here and show people scripture and talk about this. Because I didn't know better. You didn't know better. We didn't know we were actually going against God. I know I didn't. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I think the way to trust God's will for your life and not fight against it, because at the end of the day, you're not going to know exactly what God wants from you. You might in some situations, but the truth is like, yes, God is in control, but we also have free will. So live your life. Yeah. You make mistakes. You think something is going to work and then it doesn't. But I think where it really, what it really comes down to is when you're in a situation where God is,

being very direct and clear in what He wants from you, even though it might be a tough decision to go that way. And oftentimes, God's will is perfect, so it's going to be...

It's going to feel right and you're going to have peace about it. But at the same time, sometimes God will will go directly against what we want. And our hearts desires what we think we want and what our flesh wants. Yeah, exactly. Because sometimes I mean, I don't know what people's situations are, but sometimes the money will be really good. Yeah. And we're like, well, what do I do? I need to make that kind of money. Yeah. But it's not what God wants for you. So, yeah, I I've been there. I really have.

Or even that relationship because it feels good. Yeah. 100%. But it's not good. Yeah. Storms come in all different types of positions, all different types. It could be financial. It could be mental health-wise. Relationally, it happens a lot. Sometimes we get into things that we...

that God did not want for us, and that's okay. And you just need to listen to the Holy Spirit. You need to pay attention to the nudges that he's giving you in the way that he's trying to direct you to go. I think the thing that frees me so much, which is such a good reminder, is like this life is not about us. It's about him. We're literally just a vessel. So just to keep saying out loud like,

It's not about me. Whatever you want from my life, you have it. You're in control. I'm not. You have it. All I have to do is obey you. That's all you have to do. As hard as it is to get out of bed, as difficult as it is to put on your makeup or take a shower, just keep going. Just keep going. Keep going and keep your eyes fixated on him and just keep...

keep divulging in scripture and just keep leaning on him. Yeah. I think when you are in the middle of a storm, God, all he wants from us is to trust him. I think that one way to have true victory is

is to praise in the middle of the storm, to worship Jesus in the middle of the storm, to be surrounded by absolute chaos and everything be wrong and nothing be the way that you want it to and still look up and say, I trust you. I know you'll handle this. I know you'll take care of this.

And when we are constantly, I think because scripture says that God doesn't want us to like constantly ask for miracles and wonders and signs. He wants us to trust him without needing any of that. That's what faith is. And when we don't trust him, it's because we want tomorrow's answers today, but that's not trust. He wants us to trust him with our whole heart and lean not on our

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All six mouthwatering flavors. M-O-S-H-L-I-F-E dot com slash G-G-B. You know, I just got this picture in my head that I love. I kept looking at it when I was going through my storm of Jesus with the little boy with the bear and Jesus sitting there with the bigger bear behind his back. Yeah. And...

It really is true. And if I would have known, if I would have known that what he had for me, and I'll never say that nothing's wasted. It's all learning. I'm glad I went through it. But to not have been present the way I was for so long because I'm sitting there trying to control my life, control my career. Well, what if I don't make it? Well, I'm going to be nothing and living in fear.

To seeing where I am right now and what he provided for me, the fact that I get to help you guys, it's like I wish I would have known that. I wish I would have understood that because he really does work everything out for the greater good. You just have to hang on and trust him. And have faith. And have faith. Yes. I was just going to say on the topic of faith, I... So...

One day, one week, we'll do an episode on the gifts of the Spirit. One gift of the Spirit that I truly believe that I have and am able to operate in, like, 24 hours of the day is the gift of faith. I mean, I have—we've said it before, but I have— She does. I have unshakable faith in Jesus. She does. I just, like, truly—

My world could be crashing down around me. The sky could be falling and everything is horrendous and I will literally be like, well, just wait for it. Just wait for what Jesus is gonna do. He's got it. He's gonna take care of it. And some people might call that delusional. I call it the gift of faith.

It's a beautiful thing. I mean, it's just like, but do you know why? It's not just that I have faith. First of all, I pray for faith all the time. And it's something that you can pray for. You ask God to give you faith in the storm. Just keep praying for that. And he will give you that gift. Another thing is I look at my life. I look at every bad thing that's ever happened.

And I take account for what happened afterwards. I take account for how God used it. And I take into account that it's always worked out for my good and his glory. Every single time. These aren't just cute things that we say. Romans 8, 28 is real. He will work all things together for good for those who love him. I think that is why I'm so lucky to have you as my best friend. I love you.

You truly do have such an unshakable faith. And I know it's probably been a long road for you to really understand faith with God. You've really had to work through some things with God, right? Oh, yeah. And I think God has just really shown you, and now you're just at this place. It's like you're this, like, goddess where nothing can get to you. I love that about her. You know, I was thinking about that today, that, like,

Because a lot of people were asking, how do I stop myself from getting hurt? It's funny because we wrote a thing about how to give God control. And everyone was writing, how do I avoid pain? And so it's like they're still trying to control and it's natural to try and control. But I was thinking like, no matter how close we are to Jesus, I just because I'm close to Jesus does not mean that I'm able to bypass Jesus.

pain and going through difficult situations but what I do have is a peace that surpasses understanding what I do have is his strength made perfect in my weakness so that I can overcome every storm I can get through it and it's just like God doesn't want sometimes we know this that like he'll take you through the wilderness because he has a lot to teach you he has stuff to break off of you

Sometimes the only way to get through a storm is to literally go through it. Like it says, yay, I go through, I walk through the valley of the shadow of the death. You have to go through it. You do. And I, when I used to go through my, it's funny because I recently had went through a storm and it's,

Although it hurts and it's painful, to know what I know now... Isn't it so much easier? It's insane. It's insane how much... It hurts. Yeah. I go through things. I still, you know, but...

man, is it so much easier. We, you will experience pain, but with that faith and trust in Jesus, you will never go under. Yeah. That's the point. And, and the, and the, the greatest feeling to know is that you have a father that when you're sitting there in despair and just in crying, you have someone that's literally sitting right next to you. That's with you.

I didn't understand before, God, why can't you just take this pain away from me? Why can't you heal me? Because it's necessary. The pain is necessary. If I didn't feel such a deep pain that I did through my storm, truly, I say this probably on every episode, but I...

I wouldn't have the compassion I do. I wouldn't understand like I do. I wouldn't be able to help others like I do. I wouldn't have a backbone. I truly can. I'm like, I feel like a soldier now. I'm like, go ahead, bring it on. And that's a beautiful thing because the truth of the matter is, is that we are, we do live in a very hard world.

It can be beautiful with Jesus, but it is hard. So we need to be tough. And so these storms really strengthen us. And you will always come out of it so much better. I promise you, even though you can't, you're like, I'm never going to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm never going to get out of this. I can assure you, get out.

Get excited. Get excited because what's coming into your life after the storm is going to be more beautiful than you can ever imagine. So true. It's...

Second Corinthians chapter four, verses eight to nine say, we are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. So God will take you to your breaking point. He will literally get you to your breaking point. That's how diamonds are made. They, by pressure, diamonds are made from pressure. We are also made from pressure. And, um,

You gotta go through the storm. It is what it is. You know what I mean? You have to accept it. Psalms 40 verse 2, I love this. He says...

this is just so much of what I went through. He lifted me out of the pit of despair and out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. And that's what he does. That's how faithful he is. That's how good he is. Through your pain and your struggles, he's literally going to lift you out of the mud, out of the pit of despair. That's what he will do for you. That's how good he is, you guys. He is so good.

Oh, I'm so passionate about this because he...

He brought me through such darkness and I find myself, I used to find myself being like, why? And now I'm like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You've been chasing after me for so long. I've been pushing you away because I'm so busy trying to control my own life. We don't have control over our life. Only he does. And so he's been chasing me, chasing me. I've been pushing him. And then he's like, okay, here you go. And I'm just like, thank you. Thank you.

Because finding you saved my life. Saved. Yeah. Saved. Saved. How do you not be a control freak? Because you and I are both absolute control freaks. And I'll be honest that one way that control comes out in my life is like, for example, like my eating habits. I'll find myself eating.

And it's rooted in OCD, but I'll find myself obsessively... Because when I feel out of control in some areas, I'll control whatever I can control. And sometimes that's only what I'm eating. And I'll eat very specifically. Very, like, at certain times, I'll only eat this much. And I'll... You know what I mean? And it's very... Like, these are just little ways that it comes out for me. But I know for me, I...

lay it down with my mouth and with my actions. That's how you give up control. First, you tell God, I'm giving up control. I give it to you. May your will be done. I give it to you. I lay it at the feet of the cross and it's yours. But then you're, because people ask, how do you let go? How do you let go of control? So one, you say it, you say it, you come into agreement verbally with God.

But then you also have to have your actions coincide with that agreement. You have to then make decisions and behave in a way that is trusting God. Because if you then keep trying to control everything, you're not actually trusting him. You're just doing what you've been doing. So I don't have like a specific situation. But for example, if you're in a situation where...

God wants you to lay something down and you say, sure, God, like I give you control, but you're still in there with your hands and you're trying to control it and do something about it. You're not actually giving it up. Give it up. That's the truth. And as you said that, I thought about, again, my career. God wanted me to give it up. It wasn't working out.

It just wasn't working. And when you're so... And it's always good to really work really hard at someone. I'm sorry. It's always good to work really hard at something. Nothing comes easy, but...

You just know when you know, when it's just not working. And that, I believe, is God saying, let go. Let me take over. Let me handle it. And other thing is, you and I were talking and we were like, man, all day we are just covered in Jesus from the car to the worship to the constant prayer to we were like reading the Bible. We're speaking verses and.

And although to people it might be a little kooky, it's what gets us through and what lets us know that we have a God that is in control. And it just, we're like covered in God all day because we live in LA and it gets really crazy here. It just does when we're on the road and the traffic and this and then that. And God,

I think that's another thing. The Halloween parade that... We were 40 minutes late. We were 40 minutes late because all of Santa Monica is closed. Yeah, I think constant prayer. Constant prayer is going to help. And another thing that comes with control is the thoughts. Yeah. For me, yeah. Thank you. Okay, then let's... Because it says here, somebody asked how to cast out or deal with intrusive thoughts in the name of Jesus and know that He is in control.

that's a big one for me because that's something I've battled with my whole life is the obsessive thoughts truly. And it's something I'm working through with my therapist and we know what the, we know what those bad thoughts are. It's, we don't want to bring up the, no, it is. It's the accuser. Yeah. And, um, and when, when those thoughts come in, you, you literally speak out loud. You say, I stand with Jesus. Mm hmm.

Like Jesus loves me. I am forgiven. I am loved. I am valued. Those thoughts are not allowed in my head. Yes. You speak that out loud. Yes. You guys know that we, if you've been here for a while, we both have

have had OCD in the past, have dealt with intrusive thoughts and obsessive thinking. 2 Corinthians 10, 5, I will stand by it and take it to the grave with me that that is what you speak over yourself. I demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. And I take every thought in my mind captive and make it obedient to Christ. I have the mind of Christ. I have thoughts of Christ. Silence the voice of the enemy and make

Lord, make your voice so loud. The only voice that I can hear, make it louder than any other voice, that that's the only one I can hear. This goes along with how to deal with anxiety that feels so out of control, right?

Well, I think the first thing that you do, because anxiety is all, while it's spiritual, it's also completely in your head. Anxiety is lies. Yeah, it is. It's lying to you. It's thoughts that are lying to you. It's anxiety is trying to control situations.

I think the first thing that you do to combat anxiety is you combat it with the Word of God. Take every thought that is anxious that you're having and see what God says about it. If you're having a thought that says,

God, I have no... What am I going to do? Everything is bad. I have nothing going for me. You replace it with God says that he has plans to prosper me, not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. Like, trust me, there is scripture to combat every negative thought that you have. It's the truth. I struggled so hard with anxiety. I still do. But now that I know I have scripture and I know what the truth is, it is...

It's changed my whole life. I have a peace that surpasses. I truly, truly do. Yeah, you take care of your language. Take care of what is coming out of your mouth. We're so big on this because it...

God doesn't like a complaining spirit. And even though, even if you are having those anxious thoughts, when you keep just, I'm not saying suppress it and don't talk about it, but when that's all that's coming out of your mouth, you're just speaking death. Speak life. Speak life. I'm telling you, it changes your life. Speaking life. Yeah.

- I have a question for you. - For me? - Yeah, or somebody has a question for you. They said, "I'm 35 and thought I'd have been married with children by now. "I deeply want to be a mother and a wife." Someone wants advice. - Is that for me? - Yeah. - I truly, truly feel you and I understand where you're coming from and I understand that you feel like time is ticking and your time clock is running out. It's not.

God is in control. He has a plan. Anyone that is going through a waiting season or is not married or doesn't have kids or doesn't feel good enough, I'm right with you. I desire nothing more in my life than to be a wife and to be a mother. I talk about it a lot. It's something that I really can't wait for. But

I thought I would be married by now, but looking at my life, there truly is a reason for it. Whether he needs you to, whether he's getting your husband ready because he's healing him right now, maybe he's healing you. Maybe it's not your time because God...

Needs you to do something else first I had a moment in Sephora three days ago where I was sitting there being like I had a really weak moment and I was just like God why I just I don't know why I like I want to get married and I heard God being like I'm not I still have work to do on you are and you need to focus on me because I need you right now for me and it's the truth and and

His timing is literally so perfect. It's perfect. And I talk about this a lot with you, but I'm like, I'm sitting there for a year being like, why aren't I married? Why aren't I this? Well, because I had to meet my best friend who I'm doing this with and I had stuff to do. It's not his time. And God desires that. He wants us to be mothers. He wants us to be wives. So just...

Have rest in that and let it go. When we sit there and try to control things and want things so bad, it doesn't come to us. It's really just prolonging what God has for us. So let him work on your husband or let him work on your wife, whatever it is, and just let go. Rest in that, please. Yeah. Give it to him. Lay it at the cross. He'll take care of everything. Trust me, he has a plan. He will.

What about... So somebody asked, what do I do about a family member that needs saving? And this is very... This is a really heavy topic, and it has a lot to do with control because I think you can control so much in life, and then when it comes to other people, you can't really control other people. You can't really control what happens to other people. You can't really...

I always think, like, if the devil can't get to you, he's going to go to the people you love because he can hurt you that way. You know, if he can't hurt you, he'll go and get people who are weaker than you, who don't know Jesus, and get you that way. And I think maybe everybody has somebody in their life that they love dearly that they need to be saved. And the only consolation that I can give you is that it's not up to us to decide when God saves somebody.

All we can do is pray for that person, and you pray fervently, and you pray without ceasing, and you keep trying. You pray for that person. You pray for them to have an encounter with Jesus. You pray for them to see the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You pray that they will receive salvation, and you keep praying, but at the same time, you pray for yourself. You pray for peace for yourself because you getting...

hurt and sick in the process of worrying about this person isn't going to save them. That's just going to hurt you and in turn actually hurt them because they're not going to have you because you're going to be down. It's the truth. And I think you and I really, with us, we never push anything on people. We just encourage. Yeah. And we're open arms. And

And it's funny, my friends who weren't believers and my family, I will never push anything on anyone, but I will do little things like I'll send them a scripture or I'll say, hey, can I read this to you?

And it's beautiful the way they've opened up to God. And yeah, it's just, you just encourage people. You never push anything on anyone. And they'll come to you. They will. When they're ready, they will. Yeah. And if you're in a situation where you're

you have a loved one who desperately needs saving, again, you just, you keep praying. You keep praying for them and peace for yourself. What's a good balance between God being in control versus taking control and making decisions? Do you want to answer that? No, go ahead. I think that

I think that the way to, yes, God is in control. And then, yes, we have free will and we have to make our own decisions. So when we make a decision, what do we do? We say to ourselves, well, what's the healthiest? What would God do? What's the best decision? Like we were talking about, we want to walk with God. We don't want to go against God.

Yeah. And I think that sometimes we'll go the wrong way sometimes, but then we'll fall and we'll get back up and he will lead us back. Yeah. I love that. Exactly. I couldn't have said it better. You do what you can. You do what's good. Yeah.

You certainly work hard and you do as much as you can. And whatever is in control, in your control already, you handle that and you do well with it. Whatever is not in control, that's what you give to God and you pray on it. God loves effort. Yeah. He loves effort. So if you just keep going and you do the best you can and whether you make the wrong decision or not,

when you just, when you keep, when you keep trying your best and you keep going. Thank you for saying that. If, even if you make the wrong decision, we're going to do that sometimes. Oh yeah. We do it all the time. We do it all the time. You are going to, you're not going to, even if you're so close to Jesus and you hear him and you have discernment and you know, you're still going to make mistakes, but that's, that's how you build a relationship with Jesus is you

make a mistake and then you learn together and then you mature and you get stronger and you get wiser. That's life. Yeah. That's life. Yeah. Somebody said, what do you do when you start to feel defeated like your prayers aren't being answered? I have here just a couple of things because there's many different answers if you want to think about it. I have a couple of things here that I was thinking about.

First, I would say when your prayers aren't being answered, first you need to understand that not one prayer goes to God and comes back void. No prayer comes back unheard, unlistened to. He hears absolutely everything. Now, the way that he answers your prayer is up to him, and we have absolutely no control over that. And we need to be mature enough to accept that he doesn't answer our prayers the way we want him to a lot of the time.

You and I, me and Ari have so much experience with prayer. We love Jesus. We talk to him all day. If he wasn't a good God and infinite, I would almost say he'd be sick of us because it's all we do. Jesus, this Jesus, that, but luckily he can handle all of it. Um, he,

We pray so much and so many of our prayers come true right away. So many of our prayers don't. And that's just the way that it is. Another thing you can look at is check your heart for its intention. James 4, 3 says, you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. Be careful why you're asking for things. Be careful why

what the root of your prayer is, if it's selfish, if it's not for... You know, if it doesn't come exactly from good, check your heart's intention. Yeah, I know. Scripture says His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. And that's something I've really had to learn because I'm just...

When I'm praying so hard and he's not answering them, I'm just like, are you even there? But then you look back and you're like, well, thank you, God. So that's another thing where God is in control and you have to trust him. If something's not happening for you that you want so desperately, you just let it go and give it to him. Yeah.

Because really, he sees things we don't. His ways are not our ways, so just let him have it. Isn't that such a wonderful thing that you can just rest in that? We don't have to be in control. I don't want to be in control. I'm tired. We can just relax and know we have a father that is just in control. Exactly, exactly. The other part is I said check your heart for doubt.

Because James chapter 1, 6 to 7 says, Doubt dilutes our prayers. It really does. Doubt.

You have to ask, believe, and you shall... You have to ask as if you already have it, God says, and it will be given to you. You ask as if, not like you're manifesting, but you ask with confidence that what you're asking, as long as it's within the will of God, He will give it to you. That's just the way it is. So check your heart for doubt. I just want to say because I love...

We're just about done here, but Mark chapter 4 is just... I love this story so much, and I think about how...

Jesus was asleep on the pillow. And I think about how it says, like, we have a high priest who can sympathize with us, everything that we're going through. He felt everything that we feel. And it makes Jesus so human to see that he was asleep on the pillow. He was asleep because he was human. He rebuked the wind and the sea because he was God. And so he is... It's called...

A hypostatic union. He's fully God and fully human. So he's so human that he has compassion for everything we're going through, every storm, and he's full of God. So walk in authority, walk in power, walk in boldness. You are good. You will be good out of this situation. You will get through this storm. Yes, yes. We really were here to just tell you. We're here like that.

We're just like, because we found God in this storm, so we're not going to sit here and be like, God's a loving God. He is. He's a loving God, but he's a fierce God. He is a lion. He's not just a lamb. He's a lion. Can I say one more thing? Yes. Actually, I just skimmed through the questions, and I saw multiple questions about...

people that are sick and they're suffering and they have cancer and I have lost the closest people to cancer. I have watched them really suffer and it's this is so hard for me to grasp and understand cancer is truly it's something I it's so hard for me and

I'm sympathizing for everyone who is going through it right now and struggling in this season of disease or struggle with that. And it's funny, and I'm sitting here just thinking, like, I...

I feel ignorant because I'm just like, I don't know what that feels like to have cancer or a disease. I really don't. Can you actually say a really good prayer right now? Yeah. Jesus, anybody dealing with any type of sickness in their body, we take authority against disease, sickness, infirmity, cancer, whatever it may be. God, you are Jehovah Rapha.

the God of healing, and there is nothing too big, nothing too hard. Man might say there is no cure, but you are the God of cure, and I ask Jesus that you cure every single person from anything that they might have in their body. In the name of Jesus, we take authority against these things. In Jesus' name. Jesus' name. But I...

It was really crazy what happened to me today. I didn't even know like the words I could say to someone who's struggling because, you know, whatever. And I'm just like, God, what do you want me to read in the Bible today? And I swear, I turned to Luke 8 verse 28 and it was a girl restored to life and a woman healed. And there was just a couple of things that I took out of it. And it was it.

And he said to her daughter, be of good cheer. Your faith has made you well go in peace. Do not be afraid. Only believe and she will be made well. And I know that it's so difficult this time you're in. And I know that you're just fighting with God right now being like, why did it have to be me? Why am I sick?

This just, this seems so unfair. We are praying for you and have faith and God is with you in this storm and he will be with you. You just keep praying and he's with you. He is with you through this storm that you're in and we love you so much. We love you so much. So much. And we've been seeing these prayer requests and we are going to be in constant prayer for you guys. Exactly. Throughout the week, every...

Every day, just remember that even the wind and the sea obey Jesus. There's nothing you're going through that won't obey him as well. We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding. We love you so much. God bless you.

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