Your Encouraging 5 Minute Podcast
A weekly dose of encouragement to start your week off right! Join your favorite WPER hosts every week for uplifting thoughts to keep your eyes focused on Christ and His promises.
Your Encouraging 5 Minute Podcast
Where's God in the Middle of the Mess
Have you ever felt like your life was falling apart and wondered where God was?
There are moments when God's plan seems unclear or even nonexistent, but that isn't the truth.
There is a very real and practical hope for navigating life's most challenging times.
God can transform our most painful circumstances into purpose. Your current struggles might be preparing you for something greater than you can imagine.
Romans 8:28 promises that God works in ALL things for the good of those who love Him—not just the comfortable or pleasant things.
This doesn't mean God causes our suffering.
He masterfully weaves even our darkest moments into a beautiful tapestry of purpose.
We can ask Him the hard questions while we're confused or frustrated —"Why, Lord? Where are you?"— and we can ask God these questions while still holding onto the truth of His unfailing love.
Remember this truth: just because you're in a messy chapter doesn't mean your entire story is ruined.
God is still writing, still working, still faithful.
Keep showing up. Keep praying. Keep breathing. The God who made you sees you and walks with you through every valley.
Your story isn't over—in fact, the most meaningful chapters may still be ahead.
Thank you so much for listening to your Encouraging 5-Minute Podcast. We're Eric and Heather. We are so excited to share the next five minutes with you and hope that you find some encouragement along the way. If you're looking for more encouragement, you can always tune in to WPER Virginia's home for encouragement and if you're outside the listening area, get a direct link to download the WPER app at WPERorg.
Speaker 2:If life feels a little shaky right now, you know, maybe things aren't going the way you hoped. Maybe you're asking that age-old question God, what are you doing?
Speaker 1:Okay. So we want to remind you of one powerful truth God has a plan for your life, even when it feels like things are falling apart.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're not alone and feeling like the world around you is crumbling.
Speaker 1:No, a lot of people in scripture, like people we look at as heroes, walk through times where everything seemed to go horribly wrong.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I mean think about Joseph. He was betrayed by his own brothers, thrown into a pit, then sold into slavery, falsely accused, imprisoned.
Speaker 1:But but God right yeah but God.
Speaker 2:He went through all that trauma, but years later Joseph was given a position of power and ended up saving millions of people his entire country from famine.
Speaker 1:Okay, think about it. So at any point in his life it would have been so easy for Joseph to think this cannot be God's plan and then just give up on his faith. But it was not part of God's plan to bring those awful things to Joseph's life. But God did use those bad things to do amazing things in Joseph's life and Joseph gave all the glory to God.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I read something the other day about. God is much like Joseph. We're not in prison right now. God has put us in a position right now and we'll see the fruit of that at some point.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2:You know, like Romans 8, 28 tells us, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Speaker 1:Now notice it didn't say some things, not just all the good things, right, it said all things. In all things, God works for the good of those who love him.
Speaker 2:Yeah, god's not wasting the pain of your journey, the heartbreak, maybe, that job loss, anxiety and confusion that you feel. He isn't bringing that to your life. He's not an abusive parent. He's weaving the pain that comes into your life into a far greater story.
Speaker 1:Maybe right now you're in a place where you don't understand what God's doing. Maybe you're thinking God, why is this happening?
Speaker 2:You know and honestly.
Speaker 1:That's okay to ask. Yeah, it is, because God can handle your questions. God can handle all of our questions and some of the most powerful prayers in the Bible are actually questions Like, if you look through the Psalms, the author of a lot, david, who's sometimes called a man after God's own heart, asked a lot why, lord? Where are you Lord?
Speaker 2:David questioned yeah, but he also kept returning to one truth. Lord, I trust your unfailing love.
Speaker 1:And sometimes trusting God means trusting that he is still at work, Even when there's no evidence in front of our face to see it right. It means holding on, not because things are easy, but holding on because God is faithful.
Speaker 2:You know you may not be able to fully see it right now, but one day you'll look back with all at what he does with the hard things that you go through in life.
Speaker 1:Look, if you don't remember anything else we've said today. We hope you remember this. Just because you're in a messy chapter doesn't mean the entire story is ruined or even finished. God is still writing your story. He's still moving in your life. There is a purpose, even if you can't see it just yet.
Speaker 2:Yeah, if you're tired, keep showing up. If you're confused, keep praying. If you're grieving, keep breathing, because the God who made you sees you and his plans for you are not plans to hurt you. They're plans to give you hope, to give you good things in your future chapters, and he's walking with you every step of the way Can.
Speaker 1:I pray for you right now, god, for the one who feels like their life is unraveling. Would you remind them that you are still in control when things feel broken. Remind them that you are the God who rebuilds. Give them strength today, give them peace today maybe peace they don't understand but desperately need. And, god, remind them their story isn't over because you are still writing it. We ask all these things in your son's precious and holy name, amen.
Speaker 2:Thank you for spending these five minutes with us today. We hope you've been encouraged. Remember, god is not done with you yet. If you need more encouragement, hey, feel free to go back and listen again. You may have missed one or two things, and if you do need more encouragement after that, you can always listen to Virginia's Home for Encouragement, wper. If you need the app, download that. Where you find your apps, just search WPER.
