The WOFOYO Podcast
The WOFOYO Podcast
WOFOYO SHORT: BUT THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS FROM THE LORD...
What if the problem you’re begging God to remove is the very training ground he chose for you? We dive into Samson’s unsettling line, “she is right in my eyes,” and the surprising note that the Lord was seeking an opportunity through that messy choice. From there, we connect the dots to Acts 27 and Paul’s shipwreck, exploring how discernment doesn’t always prevent storms but can carry us safely through them.
We get honest about seasons when jobs felt shaky, relationships strained, and fear tried to set the agenda. Rather than offering pat answers, we work through a simple, practical shift: pray first, then be quiet and listen. Ask, Lord, is this you? How should I pray? The Holy Spirit still speaks, and scripture holds tension without breaking. We challenge brittle formulas that insist God only works one way, and we let the Bible reset our assumptions with stories that refuse easy categories.
The cross anchors the conversation. If the most horrific injustice became the hinge of salvation, then God can redeem unpleasant means for a greater end without ever endorsing sin. That truth reframes our trials: some storms are rebuked, others are endured with a clear word that steadies our steps. We talk through how to keep your spiritual antenna up, stay rooted in scripture, and build a lived relationship with God that turns anxiety into alertness and reaction into trust.
If you’re navigating confusion, longing for clarity, or wrestling with a plan that doesn’t look like your plan, this conversation offers grounded encouragement and practical discernment tools.
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Hey everybody, welcome to another WoeFo Yo Short. This is C Dub. In our episode that aired Tuesday, Bones and I touched on a verse in the story of Samson, and we really got into the story of Samson, and that's what's going to be in the continuation of this, as well as some things with Paul, is what's going to be coming up in next Tuesday's episode. But the thing that really made this story stand out to me, and I've already mentioned this once, but I'm going to get a little bit more into detail in some things that popped in my spirit while reading this. Samson sees a Philistine woman, and he wants her as a wife. He likes her. And there's all sorts of things that go on with that. But he tells his father, get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. This is Judges 14, 3. So what? You can't find a nice Jewish girl? And Samson says, Go get her for me, for she is right in my eyes. Verse 4, his father and mother did not know that it was from the Lord, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel. So here's the deal. How many times do we object to something? How many times do we pray that something doesn't happen? We pray to be delivered from a situation. We want to get out from it. We we go, Lord, this cannot be you. And we never bother to ask the Lord, Lord, is this you? Talking from experience here. I was having a good conversation with my sister on the way in from work, getting ready to record this. And I go, well, now I know what I'm going to record because it just confirmed some things that have been said, and she's not heard the episode yet. But really, we got to talking, and I love some of these talks with my sister, but we we were talking about how there are circumstances that we went through and situations that we're trying, and they were times of testing, and they were look, well, let's face it, they were some crappy situations. There were some situations where you don't you don't know if you're going to lose your job. There are some situations that you're just having to deal with all this junk that you don't want to deal with. There's situations where you're on edge. There's situations to where you've had to go through trying times and experience loss. But they did not know that it was from the Lord. Because when these other times come, then now you're prepared. The Lord is training you. And we in the body of Christ, especially if we're not prayed up and listening to the Holy Spirit, which is real easy to do, in today's society where everything's being thrown at you all at once, we get it. But if you're not prayed up and you're not listening, we can just automatically assume that something is not of God when it is. Now, there are some things in scripture that it strictly forbids, and we're not trying to say, well, C dub said that you can do this and do that and do that, and it could be from God. Not what C Dub's saying. But when circumstances arise and people start doing things, and you go, God can't possibly use this person, or this situation is not of God, it behooves you to pray about it. If you want to avoid making some really stupid assumptions, which I have done, then pray about it first. Ask, Lord, what are you doing here? I don't get it. Lord, is this of you? And you'll usually get a yes or a no if you're willing to sit back and listen and just pray and then shut your mouth after you pray. If you're willing to listen, you'll find out. There's a lot of situations in the Bible to where people will develop this theology and they'll go, Well, God does this. He doesn't do it this way, he does it this way. And you'll be right most of the time, except for this one time over here where he does it this way. Well, God definitely wouldn't do that, and you're right most of the time, except for this instance or two where he actually did it in the Bible. Why is it important to get in the Word for yourself? Because the Word is going to demonstrate that what your theology is, how you've developed it, and especially if it's how it's been taught to you, and you haven't walked it out in your own experience, you develop the theory, but you've not developed the relationship, it can cause you to come to some wrong conclusions. So the key is develop the relationship. Pray. Learn these things for yourselves. And we're not going to condone sin. That's not the goal of this. But we do want to be scripturally accurate and we do want to be hearing from the Holy Spirit. This is the thing that will help you avoid shipwreck. Except for that one time where you're the Apostle Paul, and the shipwreck was going to happen anyway, but it'll save you through the shipwreck for sure. So before we act, matter of fact, before we start praying for hours and hours on end, just simply ask the Lord, what is he doing? Um, how do you need to pray? Pray in the spirit. You know, Bones said in our episode, though, is that one of the things we don't realize is that everything else that happens in this account, everything that happens as a result of him getting this Philistine wife, and nobody knew it was from the Lord, that's from the Lord too. And all you have to do is look at the cross of Jesus Christ for something that was very unpleasant. And people most people would say, No, you definitely cannot crucify the Messiah, you definitely cannot crucify the Son of God. But if it hadn't happened, then there's no resurrection, then there's no church, there's no Gentiles being grafted in to the covenant. There's none of that. And so a lot of times God will use unpleasant things. He will use things that will violate your theological ideas just to show you that he's God and you're not. So this is going to be a year, you know, mentioned Acts 27. Our buddy Dan Blackshire gave a word concerning Acts 27, and then another guy gave the exact same word named Dutch Sheets, and they hadn't talked about it. That was just the Lord speaking. And guess what? I had just read the previous day was Acts 27. But in that, you know, there were shipwrecks, but hearing from God and knowing what the purpose is will keep you through the shipwreck. Doesn't mean that you won't go through some rough and trying times. But when you know what is of God and that God might have a bigger plan, and he's not revealing it all to you, he's not revealing it all to me, but just knowing that he has a bigger plan, and if he says this is part of my plan, then you can trust it is going to work out for our good. For all things work together for the good of them that of those that love him and that are called according to his purpose. Folks, keep your spiritual antennas up, keep your eyes open, keep your head on a swivel, and pray and ask the Lord what he's doing. It's going to save you a lot of headache and a lot of anxiety in the times coming up. Woe FOYO. Everybody, thanks for listening. We hope this challenges you and causes you to grow and encourage you for the times coming up ahead. You can always check us out at woefoyo.org or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Abbott, or check us out on YouTube. For both of myself, the seed of reminding you if you're going to grow, you got a woefoyo. Get in the word for yourself.