Pastor Nick Connolly is joining us to chat about choosing persistence in a world of overwhelming resistance. With each wave of resistance in life, it can be so tempting
to simply give up. If this is where you find yourself, take heart. Nick Connolly has also been there, and he wants to help others find the motivation and encouragement to keep going. In this episode, we also discuss strengthening our faith during a struggle and spiritual warfare. This is an enlightening episode filled with practical wisdom. I hope you’ll listen in.
https://www.nickconnolly.co/
https://www.instagram.com/nconnolly/
https://www.nickconnolly.co/book
We would love to connect with you!!!
https://www.instagram.com/lanastenner/
https://www.tiktok.com/@lanastennerandgoatgang
https://lanastenner.com/newsletter/
Email us at info@lanastenner.com
Pastor Nick Connolly is joining us to chat about choosing persistence in a world of overwhelming resistance. With each wave of resistance in life, it can be so tempting
to simply give up. If this is where you find yourself, take heart. Nick Connolly has also been there, and he wants to help others find the motivation and encouragement to keep going. In this episode, we also discuss strengthening our faith during a struggle and spiritual warfare. This is an enlightening episode filled with practical wisdom. I hope you’ll listen in.
https://www.nickconnolly.co/
https://www.instagram.com/nconnolly/
https://www.nickconnolly.co/book
We would love to connect with you!!!
https://www.instagram.com/lanastenner/
https://www.tiktok.com/@lanastennerandgoatgang
https://lanastenner.com/newsletter/
Email us at info@lanastenner.com
Welcome to Gracefield Grit. I'm your host, lana Stinner, and we are chatting all about growing your faith, family and the backyard farm. Here at the Gracefield Homestead, we are having honest, hard and authentic conversations with some amazing guests about getting back to the basics and what's important in life. We are not for everyone and we don't clean up our conversations, so you will get the unedited chat Each episode. You can expect practical tips and encouragement. I am so honored to have you join us today, so grab a cup of coffee and let's do this thing. Hey, friends, welcome back to the Gracefield Grit podcast. Today, pastor Nick Connolly is joining us. Nick is the pastor at Bright City Church and the author of his new book. Don't Give Up Just Yet. Welcome, nick. We are so glad to have you join us today.
Speaker 2:It's so great to be here. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would love for our friends here online to get to know you a little bit better. Do you mind sharing a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2:Absolutely not. My name is Nick and I live in the wonderful city of Charleston, south Carolina, and I have four kids. They're 17, 16, 15, and 11. We lead a church in Charleston, south Carolina my wife and I call Bright City Church, and it's about 10 years old. Usually most of that keeps us busy, but then we added other stuff to that. My wife leads a wonderful company called Go and Tell Gals and we've had several entrepreneurial businesses along the way. We keep a full plate here in the Connolly household.
Speaker 1:I love it. Four kids, God bless you. I have four kids. That's enough in itself. I am 17. Is that high school? Are you going into the graduating season or are you going to have another year left?
Speaker 2:We're getting there. We actually just got back for some college visits and so this is a whole new world. A whole new world the teens. I feel like you and I need to have a separate podcast therapy session to talk through that. Maybe not right on this one, but I'm learning a lot.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is Me and kids. There's nothing better. While it was so hard and tough when they're little toddlers, mine, I only have one left at home. I have three boys and a girl, and my boys are all out into the world and live nearby and married and grandkids. And then I have my daughter is just finishing her last year college. I tell you what this is a beautiful season where you can see yeah, just hang in there.
Speaker 1:It'll get there because it's neat to have the friendships and the dinners. And the daughter that used to just think I was the stupidest thing on earth and now she's like hey, do you want to go shopping? She has her own money because she has a lot of money. So it's a good season, so hang in there. Goodness is coming to you.
Speaker 2:Tell me more. Oh my gosh, it's bomb for the soul.
Speaker 1:Yes, so we will have to chat. We'll have to chat another time about that, because it is, it's good stuff. So we'll bless you for having four kids. That's pretty neat. That's a job in itself.
Speaker 1:So, on to our topic for today. So many people are struggling right now and I don't know if it's just who I'm chatting with or my friend group, or what it is. Even the Christians that have a super strong faith. We get so frustrated and discouraged when God is not answering our prayers and I'm super impatient. I am not a fan of waiting on God, so speak to those that have been praying over a difficult situation and they feel like God is just silent.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a good question. I battle the silence of God all the time. I feel like sometimes I hear him so loud and clear to get me into something. So, for example, maybe starting a church, it was like, oh gosh, like I hear this loud and clear and then I jump in and I'm like God, what, where are? Like you said jump, and I jumped and now you're not here anymore and I don't, I don't sense it and feel it like I did before, and so sometimes those moments can cause like, and sometimes stress and anxiety for people because they're like, oh no, I'm alone. I'm alone, but in the waiting and in the silence it's just so beautiful.
Speaker 2:When I look back on my life and just see that all that God's doing. I think a lot of times we want God to be this like microwave and you know even the Instapot I'm sure you're familiar with that, listeners are familiar with that Like it was our way to bypass the slow cooker. Like, if we can we can't have the microwave all the time and the Crockpot isn't fast enough let's make the Instapot.
Speaker 2:And you know, god really is a slow cooker, like he's the slow cooker of our soul. And one of the things that I have loved about looking at God's grace and goodness in my own life is that usually I'm so focused on the outcome, like I'm so focused on the purpose, I'm so focused on the destination, I usually forget about the process. And God, he's so focused on the process so even when I feel like he's not working on my behalf for the thing that I'm waiting on, he's actually working in me so that I can be ready for the thing that I'm waiting on.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I don't like that. That's the answer. I don't like that answer, but it is the answer is that even when we're waiting, he is working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and that is so true. And you know, it is where you can look back on times like that, like probably when you were starting your church and I have a handful of those kind of situations and it was painful and I mean, I'll be honest, I was mad at God in the moment. And now I look back and I would have it no other way, like His plan was perfect, his timing was perfect. I was fighting it tooth and nail and I wanted what I wanted. You know my way. But my goodness. So it is nice. You know, when you get on the backside of those things, you have these.
Speaker 1:It's like a timeline or a history of God showing up when you wanted it a different way, but he did something more miraculous than you could dream of. So I love, I love how you phrase that, definitely so. You talk about resistance and perseverance a lot in your new book and I love that. What do you suggest for those that feel like they're up against a brick wall literally every day, like they're? They feel like they heard from God, they're supposed to be doing this thing and they are just getting a roadblock every other minute.
Speaker 2:What would you say to them? That's a great question. You know, when I was, when I was first processing this in my own life, every ounce of persistence I would press pause and I would just be like, okay, god, like I'm, I'm in the wrong direction here. I'm not heading in the right direction, let me just find the other direction.
Speaker 2:And I actually did this a lot in my jobs early on. Like I knew God was calling me in the ministry, but I had every job under the sun before I got there. Like I've worked at a Christmas tree farm, I've even been staying glass. Like I have every odd job there is. And you know, a lot of times I would get to this place where I was like I just hate the job, I hate the job, this is it, I've hit a ceiling and it's time to move on. And what I noticed is the thing that was the issue, or the pressure point would follow me where I went, and so I would just move again. And then finally, after a while, I felt like God was saying to me. It was like hey, I'm actually, this is something that's in you that I'm trying to work out and deal with. And so if you go to the next place. It's going to follow you there and I think a lot of times when we experience resistance, I feel like the enemy of our souls tries to trick us and make us believe that we're heading in the wrong direction.
Speaker 2:So if it's hard, this is not God's will, and what I've realized is that if it's hard, it's probably something that God wants me to do. I mean, think about all of the hard habits you've tried to start in your life, like a one that I always talk about all the time is when we make commitments to read our Bible in the morning, and so we're like I'm going to get up early, I'm going to set this time aside. I've got the special coffee cup, I've got the like mug that I love and the journal that I love and it's crisp, and it's new and new pens and you know, start in January. So let's start in Genesis. And you know, every time I start those adventures in my life, I've become more tired. I feel like my kids sleep the worst.
Speaker 2:And I feel like everything is happening so that I can't do the thing that I believe God's asking me to do, and so, just stepping back, I just got to the place where I was like I'm going to choose to see resistance as confirmation rather than resistance. Like I'm going to choose to see this resistance as the affirmation that I'm heading in the right direction, and it's been crucial for my walk.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good, that's very powerful so for those of us. So I'm kind of a like a finish strong, like back. I don't run marathons anymore, but I used to. Now I barely walk, but so for those that have that mentality like finish strong, it doesn't matter if your feet are bleeding, you're going to finish this thing, and a push, push through, stop whining, suck it up kind of person.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And as that type of person, I found sometimes it's an unhealthy thing because I have that. Know I started this and I'm going to finish it. Is there a point? And how do you know if you have that? I don't want to say it's a character flaw, but that kind of towards. You know I'm going to finish this, no matter what. If it hurts what happens, yeah, what would you say to those people on finding when it is a healthy time to stop or to walk away from? You know, maybe it's a business or a product or a job or something like that. How do, how do you? What are your tips for finding out if you're making, you know that right, tough choice?
Speaker 2:Well, first of all, I just want to address what I feel like you were saying is holy stubbornness.
Speaker 1:That's my new title.
Speaker 2:Here it is.
Speaker 1:Don't tell my husband, he'll start calling me that sanctified stubbornness, that's what we're calling it.
Speaker 2:And and and you know, like that that is I mean when you read the book of Hebrews like it is a bunch of people who are sanctified and stubborn to see in faith, god's will be done. But then, like you were saying, there are times where you're in a job or you're in a position, or you're in a place and you're like I actually don't know if I'm supposed to continue on. And one of the things I've noticed in my own life is that if it's usually the right thing at the wrong time, it's usually the wrong time Like it's just it's not the right timing for it. And so sometimes there are these things that we desire or long for and it might be the right thing, but it might be the wrong time. And when we started our church plan, we actually wanted to start it in Boston, massachusetts, like we were going to go to the Northeast. I mean, god knew me better than I did, because I wouldn't have lasted the winters there.
Speaker 2:I'm people, people, person when it comes to the cold. But we tried three times and it didn't work out, and so we stepped away. When we step back, we were like this might be the right thing, but this might not be the right place and it might not be the right time, and it wasn't, and so we paused and then eventually God opened up the doors at the right time, right place. And so you know, sometimes patience is key. And then the other thing I would say is a lot of times we use religion and, let's say, grace, to guilt people in to perseverance, and sometimes there are very harmful situations. They're very like trauma producing situations, and sometimes people will say, and they're meaning well, but it's almost like I've been the middle of reading Job and you just listen to Job's friends and you're like man. I think they mean well, but I don't think they're helping the situation.
Speaker 2:And so sometimes you get into these places where it's actually detrimental to the holistic picture of your life. If you stay in this one situation or position, if it's toxic, if it's harmful, if it's not good for who you are becoming in Christ, like it's keeping you from achieving your God given identity and it is harmful to you, then sometimes a pause and a pivot is exactly what you need, like some like, because I think sometimes we're so focused on the one isolated situation but we fail to realize like hey, what if this situation like causes you to spiral and just kind of flutter out for God for a season? Like what if staying five more days costs you five more years of your life? And so sometimes when you're thinking about the holistic picture, it's like man, I believe God's called me to something, I believe he has something for me, and in order to get to the 26.2 mile, mark.
Speaker 2:I need to make a change here, and so you know, I start off the book. I actually quote Kenny Rogers and I say you gotta know when to hold them, you gotta know when to fold them and you gotta know when to walk away, because sometimes, if you don't, that'll get you in more trouble.
Speaker 1:That's so good. Yeah, I totally agree, totally agree. Okay, so let's go there. Spiritual warfare you said it's real and you said it's going, we're going we're going. I mean, we don't hold back on this show. So you have said Satan has a target on your back. So first of all, thank you for tackling this very tough topic, because I think so many American pastors just don't wanna go there. We wanna focus on the joy and the happiness that comes with being a Christian, and it's not all rainbows and sun shines.
Speaker 1:And you know, I will even say here in my platform, I mean mine is baby goats and sunshine and flowers, and you know, and so we all, we like that, we want, you know, the joy of Christ and all of that. That's wonderful. But there is this spiritual warfare and you know, I will say, like our family, we're, you know, we've been married over 30 years now. We've gone through it all. You know parents' death and kids in the hospital, and surgeries, and you know, sitting in a principal's office, you know all the things, all the things we've been there, and it seems like this last few months has been like unimaginable stuff every single day.
Speaker 1:And we just said, you know, on Monday morning, before my husband left for the fire station, you think this is the week that you know it's gonna, we're gonna get a breakthrough and it's gonna be normal, like just normal drama. You know, and sure enough, we get the phone call my mom's in the hospital and you know, spiraling again and so it's just, and I know that there's so many families that just feel like, wow, it's kind of amped up all of a sudden to you know, all the attacks are constant. And so you mentioned and I'll quote you because I love this quote. You mentioned that if we can learn to see our circumstances with our spiritual eyes instead of just our physical ones, we have a fighting chance. So explain a little bit more about that. I love that quote.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, thank you first of all and second of all, you know, in that chapter I'm writing about the situation that we had with our daughter and I think sometimes, sometimes it is the, I think it's this is happening and it's a casualty of living in this world, like when you think back to the effects of the garden and sin and how it affects so many things that we don't even think about. Like I was reading something recently and I was talking about how wild creation is and I was just thinking of and I was kind of connecting that with Romans 8, how Paul says that creation groans, and I was like I, you know, I wonder if creation was actually this like beautiful, perfect place where animals didn't get mad and weather didn't rage. But now that we're living on the effects of the fall, we don't know how much of this is actually affecting it. And so you know, part of what we're living in is the effects of the enemy thousands of years ago. And then there's the other parts where, like, god has good, purposeful things for his children, like when I think about the death of Jesus, especially in this season of Lent that we're currently in right now as we record this is like I'm thinking about Jesus actually purchasing my life so that I can live in the freedom and the salvation that he has for me, and one of the things I just keep thinking about is God doesn't purchase what he hasn't purposed. And so if you've got a purpose for your life and it involves the kingdom, then we have to know that there is going to be some force out there that does not like that. Like he's not gonna like Lanna being able to bring this incredible message. Like he's not gonna like any of that. Like he's not gonna like any of the things that you have going on for God and your listeners too, like the things that we try to do for our families, for our faith, like all of that. Like he hates all of it. He hates when marriages work oh gosh, he hates when marriages works. He hates when kids are raised in the joy of the like. He hates it. And so all that to say is okay. So that's the site. That's kind of how we have to see things.
Speaker 2:But then the second part of that is you know, a lot of times when we have things going on that are good in the Connolly household, I know that attacks are imminent, and so even in November I it was the on the cusp of us going to an extra service at our church. We were about to celebrate the holidays with the family. It was about to be the release of my book and all the sudden, out of nowhere, having never experienced this, I had panic attacks out of nowhere, like I'd never had anxiety. I'd never had any of it. I thought I was having hard issues.
Speaker 2:So I was rushed to the hospital twice and then finally got back from the hospital the second time and it started again and I was like this is, this is not a medical thing, this is a spiritual thing. And that spiritual thing led to 10 nights of not being able to sleep, like I did not sleep at night for 10 day straight. And I just remember in those nights like I would be reading scripture, I was journaling, I was praying. I remember that if I had a friend who wakes up at four and I was like I could text them at 4am, tell them to pray for me, and then I remember who woke up at five and I was like I could text them. And so all that to say is I think so many things that happen in this world, we just we see what's happening, but we don't see the why behind what's happening.
Speaker 2:And I think, if we open our eyes just a little bit more, even though we don't want to right, because we don't want to see the hard parts of the kingdom, like we don't want to see the dark secrets of the kingdom but I think, at least in my own life, the more I've opened my eyes to those parts, I've actually seen the goodness of God better, like I've actually seen his protection, I've actually seen his faithfulness, I've actually seen just even motivation to press on and press through, because I'm like, well, whatever happened, whatever's happened on the other side of this hard trouble, must be great, because the enemy does not want it to happen and I don't know. I just feel like it's honestly freed me up a little bit to say, man, this is God's about to do something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and I love that God's up to something.
Speaker 2:Makes zero sense to me right now Exactly.
Speaker 1:But either Satan's trying to stop something or, you know, we've said we are in a boxing ring. I mean, that was our mom family.
Speaker 2:That's what it feels like.
Speaker 1:That's what it feels like my boys are wrestlers and we've said that Like we are in the ring, you know, with Satan, and we feel every single day it's okay, I got a new black guy from that one, or whatever, but we're gonna get back up again.
Speaker 1:But yeah, that's, that's such a good insight to that, because I think so many times God's in it and he's using it, and definitely we're in a battle and we need to arm up and press into him, which is hard to not go. You know, numb with whatever, you know a bowl of ice cream or Netflix or whatever, just to turn your brain off and really, you know, turn to him during that, but it's hard, that's hard to do.
Speaker 2:I love how you said that, because I think that's the other part too is. I think maybe some of your listeners might feel this way and it's like, well, I don't have anything like that going on, like I've never had anything like that going on. And you know, one of the things I've noticed about the enemy is he will use comfort and convenience just as much as he'll use conflict and strife, like he does not care, like he'll use whatever, and so sometimes he actually loves us to sleep and we become apathetic, we become comfortable and we're fixed on what's convenient rather than what's for the kingdom. And there are those sort of times in my life where I'm more scared. I'm like, oh gosh, I just fell asleep for a second. I'm so glad you said that. That's so. That's such a good point.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's good. So how do we make these difficult times strengthen our faith instead of us? I'll be honest, I've had seasons in my life where I was literally so mad at God. How do we, how do we get out of that and get to where? Right when we're starting into the struggle, or wow, this is a big one, this is more than I can handle. Instead of getting that mad at God type of saying I pray shouldn't say that how do we make it strengthen our faith and turn to.
Speaker 1:Him. Because it's such a common concept, it makes sense logically. But of course you know this is going to strengthen our faith and we know we're in the struggle and God's with us and he'll use it for good. All the scriptures, whatever, but like the reality of my brain and my heart Don't say the same signal here. You really get like can you just make that? Can we push the easy button and make this easier? And so how do you do that? How do you get to where it strengthens your faith instead of softens it?
Speaker 2:Well, I actually want to go back to one of the first things you said. I think what you said about being angry and again, angry at God and angry with God, those are things that happen in our lives. But I think what you said is so powerful because I think sometimes we get to this place where we don't think that we can tell God exactly how we feel and we're kind of bottling up our emotions towards God and we don't want to talk to Him and we don't want to think about Him. And when I read the Psalms the Psalms are just such a beautiful place of emotion I'm like me too, david, me too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wanted to say that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, where are you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm glad you said something, because I wanted to say something, but I didn't want to step on anybody's toes. So I just feel like the first thing I would say is you have absolutely 100% have to tell God how you feel. Like tell Him exactly how you feel, and the beautiful thing about that is it's getting at the crux of what God's already at after anyway, and that's the relationship. Like we're so caught up in the details and he's caught up in the relationship. The way we get stronger is when we get softer with Him.
Speaker 2:And so I think, telling God exactly how you feel, and then the second thing I would say is I would really and this is I'm stealing James' word from, I think it's James one where he would say let that perseverance finish its task so that we become mature, as I think sometimes we tap out too early and we don't let the maturation process happen internally in us. And so, like I was saying earlier with my jobs, is I would tap out and then I'd go to the next place and then I'd be like, oh wait, that's here again. And God gently said like hey, I want to do this thing in you. And so I think sometimes, when we experience hard seasons. We don't allow the work to finish its course, and so it's hard. It's so hard. I'm not saying any of this is easy. I'm just saying it's easier when you allow the maturation process to take its complete work so that you can be finished in the thing that God's developing in you. And I think if you can do those two things, the rest will take care of itself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good, that's good. So, as a pastor, how do you balance your ministry and your family and your personal life? Speaking from as someone kind of behind the scenes, I'm a preacher's kid. My dad was a pastor, my grandpa was a pastor, and a little kind of different growing up because my dad was a pilot and then retired early to become a pastor. So I got it closer to the high school age so didn't grow up as a youngster as my dad is pastor but my grandfather was, and so how do you? I got to see the congregation last minute. There's an emergency. You're pulled away from dinner. There's just constant phone calls. You know you might be sick in or having you know your own stuff that you're dealing with, but you have to go preach and be on. How do you balance it all?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. My wife, she has this. She has a better quote than I'm going to say it. But you know, I think a lot of times we buy into a gospel of balance and it's actually not that I feel like a life is a lot like whack-a-mole. Do you remember that game? Yes, I do. It's like you're hitting. You're just hitting the next thing that pops up. And I think, honestly, that's a great picture for life is, I think sometimes the church is good and the family's hard. And I think sometimes the family's incredible and the church is hard.
Speaker 2:And I think one of the things that has helped me is I've always tried to, in every circumstance and situation, just say hey, listen, god is in control and I just need to let God be God. And if God can be God, then it's going to work out so much better than if I like meddle in or try to like fix it. And I'll give you a great example of this is we were at a church in Indiana and I had a dear friend who I was getting to know. He called me one night and it was like 11pm and I just need you to know that I am in bed before that. I'm heading towards bed and this guy, he was younger, and so he was like hey, I need to meet right now. And I was like are you, are you physically hurt? Is everything okay? And he was like yeah, yeah, I'm physically okay. And I was like okay, I tell you what? Everything that you want to tell me, you tell God tonight. And then come over to the house for breakfast tomorrow.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 2:I hung up the phone and my mom I mean my wife was like what are you doing? Like what did you just tell him? Like do you need to go? Like you need to go right now? Like wow, why did you just tell him? To tell God, and then everything's gonna be like. She was like what are you doing? And I was like it's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be okay. Well, the guy comes over the next day and he looks like he's seen a ghost and I was like hey, are you okay? Like what's going on? He was like well, I gotta be honest, like I thought I was a believer, but I was not. I talked to God and I'm telling you this is the first time that I've ever expressed salvation in Jesus being my Lord.
Speaker 1:And so in that moment, that situation Wow, you're giving me goosebumps.
Speaker 2:That situation taught me that it is I mean cause we always say it like it's just given to God. And I'm telling you, when we do that, it always works out better than if I jumped in. If I jumped in, I probably would have like said like, oh man, you're great, you're doing fine, like everything's fine, like it's gonna be great, and you know, he just needed to talk to God for the first time. And so I think about that with life, I think about that with ministry, I think about that with my family. Like we cannot do it all. Balance is not achievable. And so we're playing a game of whack-a-mole and then we've gotta decide that every mold that jumps up, we've gotta give it to God, and that's the balance.
Speaker 2:And it never, man, like even think about the concept of date night. You know like that's such a great topic for marriages is date night. But when you think about the proportion of your week that you spend working or doing other things and then you have this date night, like it's not proportional to my love for my wife. Right, Like two hours is not how much I love my life and so it's not the balance. But I tell you what, in that two hours or three hours, I'm gonna make the best of it that I can, and I really think that that's what we're all out here doing. We're all just trying to make the best of those moments that we can.
Speaker 2:And I think sometimes balance is a false gospel that the world teaches and culture teaches and it's like I don't. I can't die trying to achieve that because it's not obtainable.
Speaker 1:Right, right and prioritizing. I mean you obviously, like you prioritize that date night, like somebody better be dying. If I'm canceling this Exactly Because I really need it with four, kids.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna need to know your medical statistics right now, before I come to your house. Like what's your heartbeat at.
Speaker 1:Right, there you go, there you go. I love it, I love it. Okay, well, tell us about your book. You have this wonderful book that's don't give up choosing persistence in a world of overwhelming resistance. And boy, that's a timely message. So tell us a little bit about it and where we can find it. All the things.
Speaker 2:Everyone I talk to usually has this grand desire dream in their life. They're like man, I really wanna see this happen. I really wanna see that happen. I have this dream to do this thing. I had this dream for my family. I had this dream to move out to this piece of land and do all these things.
Speaker 2:And you know, so many people think about the dream and so little people think about the resistance that's going to happen on the way to the dream. And so, really, when I wrote, don't give up just yet. As I said, you know, if Galatians 6-9 is true, let us not grow weary in doing good, for we will reap a harvest at the proper time if we do not give up, I feel like there's so many people in this world missing out on the harvest that God has for them because they gave up. And so I was like I can't go to coffee with everyone, like I can't just sit down over a cup of coffee with everyone. So how do I write a letter to people selling them to keep going? Because I really do want people to see the promises that God has for them. And so that's essentially the book. I talk about how we can befriend resistance. I talk about how we can outlast the onslaught of life because, as you mentioned earlier, like things happen.
Speaker 2:And then I talk about how we can choose persistence in the midst of resistance, and so really, ultimately, I just wanna see people walk in the purposes and the plans that God has for them, and I just feel like so many people give up before they get there and then they say God's not good or God didn't love me, and I just I'm asking the question of what? What if he does love you? But what if you gave up too soon? And so I just wanna help people make it to the finish line.
Speaker 1:It's good, it's good. So where can they find your book?
Speaker 2:You can find it anywhere Barnes, noble, amazon, all over the place and it's out there where you would normally buy your books. And then my Instagram is in Connolly and then my website is nickconnollyco, and I've actually got a few little pieces of merch there. If people love, people love the merch, the kids love the merch.
Speaker 1:Yes, they do, they do, and we will link all of that in our show notes. So, in case you're looking for some merch and the book, we'll link the book in there as well too. So well, nick, thanks for coming on. I appreciate this message. I think you're a voice that just speaks truth into it.
Speaker 1:You hit some topics that a lot of pastors kind of fluff over a little bit, and so I love that you are not afraid to tell it how it is and deal with the hard stuff, and it's a good book. I highly recommend it. So thanks for coming on. Thank you for joining us today in this episode of Gracefield Grit. I know that your time is valuable and I truly appreciate you being here. I hope it was helpful and that you'll share it with a friend. In order to schedule amazing guests on our show, we could use some good reviews. So if you've enjoyed this episode, I'd be honored if you could head over to the podcast app on your phone, tap the album art for the Gracefield Grit podcast, scroll down to the bottom of the page and write a review. I'm looking forward to our next episode and I hope you'll join us again. Blessings to you today, friend, as you live out your own Gracefield Grit.