Encouraging You to Rest, Reflect, and Renew Your Faith

Give us five minutes, we’ll give you encouragement!

Transcript

00:03 - Eric (None)
Well, this is it, your Encouraging 5-Minute. 

00:05 - Heather (None)
Podcast Hi, we're Eric and Heather. Thank you so much just for letting us share these next five minutes with you. 

00:10 - Eric (None)
Yeah, just spent a few moments here just trying to encourage you and to let you know if you need more encouragement. When the five minutes is done, you can always listen to Virginia's Home for Encouragement, wper, and if you're not in the listening area, you can download the. 

00:27 - Heather (None)
WPER app Super easy. Wperorg for that. Now, if you're feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, maybe even questioning your faith because life struggles, well then this five minutes is for you. So take a deep breath, find a moment where you can just be still a moment, and then let's chat. 

00:44 - Eric (None)
I might need a deeper breath. That's true, though. Life can be kind of heavy, can't it? The demands of family, work, the relationships we're in just trying to keep it all together. It's exhausting. Maybe you prayed and you feel like there's nothing happening. Nothing is changing. 

01:01 - Heather (None)
Maybe that makes your faith feel a little weak. So you're wondering like God, hello, where are you Now? If that's you, Eric, and I want you to know something. First of all, you're not alone and, more importantly, you're not failing just because you're tired. 

01:14 - Eric (None)
Well, it says in God's word, in Isaiah, isaiah 40, 31,. Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. This is my favorite part of the verse. They will soar on wings like eagles. Don't you want to soar? Yes, every day. 

01:31 - Heather (None)
Every day right. 

01:32 - Eric (None)
They'll run and not grow weary. They'll walk and not be faint. Listen, God never asked you to carry this weight alone. He is your strength when you have none left. 

01:42 - Heather (None)
Yeah, he sees your tears, he hears your prayers. He hears your prayers, he hears them and he walks with you, even when you feel like you are barely holding on. So what do you do when you're exhausted, not just in your body, but in your mind and spirit? 

01:56 - Eric (None)
Okay, make this easy, please. Yeah, this is easy, it's really easy. 

02:00 - Heather (None)
First thing, you got to give yourself permission to just rest. Yeah, because remember, that's biblical Jesus took time away from the disciples, from people. He rested and he recharged. That's the thing it's like. We feel so much pressure to think we've got to push through without pausing, because pausing is weak, right? No, resting is God honoring. I mean, even God took a day of rest after he created everything, right? So, secondly, speak life over yourself. And this is where I am going to admit I have a huge problem, because instead of saying, gosh, I'm weak, which is what I will immediately do to myself oh, why did you? You're so dumb, why did you do that, heather? But if you're like me, then we have to reframe our self-talk. No, we're not too weak. God is our strength. We were never designed to handle it. So, instead of saying I can't handle this, realize and say to yourself no, you can't, but God is handling it for you. 

02:58 - Eric (None)
You know, another thing you can do is surround yourself with encouragement. Use scripture, like you know, even the one we just shared. Memorize that verse out of Isaiah Isaiah 40, 31. 

03:10 - Heather (None)
Yeah, put your name in it. 

03:12 - Eric (None)
Through worship worshiping God A lot of ways to worship God through just singing, right yeah, absolutely. Through friends who will lift you up when you're struggling. If you need more encouragement, you can always listen to great worship music on WPER. You can even tell your smart speaker. 

03:29 - Heather (None)
Oh, I love this. 

03:30 - Eric (None)
This is a cool thing to enable the WPER skill and, as we've mentioned, you can download the app. That way, you have it with you at all times. 

03:38 - Heather (None)
Absolutely, and if you ever need prayer through the app, you're able to actually text us and we can text right back. Hey, listen, sometimes you just text a little tornado and we know things are bad. We're going to pray right then. But speaking of praying, can I pray over you before we go? Father, for every single person listening right now, who feels tired, who feels discouraged, weak, I ask that you would please just renew their strength, wrap them in your love and remind them that they're not alone in this journey, help them see that you are fighting for them and show them that they're stronger than they realize because you are with them. It's these things we ask in your holy name, amen. 

04:24 - Eric (None)
Hey and remember, this season will not last forever. 

04:27 - Heather (None)
That's a nice reminder, huh. 

04:28 - Eric (None)
The truth. You're stronger than you feel and God is holding you up even now. 

04:32 - Heather (None)
And we really hope that this encouraged you, and if it did share it with a friend, you know someone who might need encouragement as well, Maybe somebody that you know is struggling, but they may not have said something, but you know they could use a little encouragement. 

04:46 - Eric (None)
And if you need more encouragement, like we said, you can always download the WPER app. 

04:51 - Heather (None)
Head over to WPERorg for more information.