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Journal Your Feelings | Manage Your Emotions, Reduce Stress, Self-Care for HSPs, Journaling Tips
**TOP 2.5% GLOBALLY RANKED PODCAST FOR HSPs AND INTROVERTS**
☑️Do you feel like you’re drowning in your emotions?
☑️Walk around feeling emotionally numb- stuffing all your feelings or so overwhelmed you’re like a volcano about to explode?
☑️Ever wonder if you’re just too sensitive or too emotional?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, take a deep breath. I got you! This podcast is full of resources just for you!
First, I want you to know that there’s nothing wrong with you. Your sensitivity is a gift and strength NOT a defect! I’m here to help you learn how to handle your emotions and stop overthinking so you can stop running from your feelings long enough to deal with them.
As a highly sensitive introvert and certified life coach, I understand the unique challenges of dealing with overwhelming emotions, sensitivity and extreme introversion.
I’ve helped hundreds of women embrace their innate sensitivity and learn how to feel their feelings in a healthy way.
That’s why I created this podcast, to share my journey and all the tips, tools, and journaling techniques that have helped me learn how to identify, process, and manage my emotions.
That’s also why I’m passionate about helping other introverted and highly sensitive women to do the same.
Through this podcast, you’ll learn how to:
💜 Build emotional resilience so you can stop avoiding or suppressing your feelings.
💜 Stop overthinking and overanalyzing so you let go of painful emotions and move forward
💜 Cope with stress so you can reduce overwhelm and enjoy your life
💜 Understand how being an HSP or introvert affects the way you deal with stress and emotions, and anything else that I can think of that would help you.
You don’t have to stay feeling stuck and alone! Let me show you how to journal your feelings.
🎁Free gift: Journal Your Feelings Roadmap: 5 Steps to Process Your Emotions as an HSP or Introvert https://latoyaedwards.net/guide
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Journal Your Feelings | Manage Your Emotions, Reduce Stress, Self-Care for HSPs, Journaling Tips
36 | How to Cope When God isn't Doing What You Think He Should
In this heartfelt episode, I address a common struggle - how to trust God when life isn't going as planned. Inspired by a listener's story about dealing with injury and delayed healing, I explore the challenging disconnect between our expectations and God's promises.
Drawing from personal experience and biblical examples like Job and David, I share practical ways to maintain faith during seasons of uncertainty, pain, and what feels like divine silence.
I offer encouragement for those wrestling with disappointment in God, explaining why hardships aren't always prevented but can become opportunities for growth. If you're feeling confused or frustrated with God's timing or apparent lack of response to your prayers, this episode will help you find peace in the waiting.
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🎁Free gift: Journal Your Feelings Roadmap: https://latoyaedwards.net/guide
⭐️Join the FB community: https://latoyaedwards.net/community
☕️Work with LaToya:
Schedule an Emotional Check-In session: https://latoyaedwards.net/coaching
Ready to stop running away from your feelings or pushing them down because you don't know what to do with them? Break free from emotional overwhelm with step-by-step support to process your feelings in a way that actually works for you as an introverted HSP. Join the Journal Your Feelings small group program. ⤵️
And recently a member of our email community sent me this note. She said that she was struggling to trust God because he isn't doing what she thinks he should. For example, she says I trusted him to protect me and I fell and got hurt and now it's taking a long time to heal. And my heart just went out to her because, oh my goodness, right, I have been there. Right, I have been. Oh my goodness, right, I have been there. Right, I have been sitting there being like Lord, what are you doing? Right? All of these things are going wrong. I'm having this struggle. I'm having that struggle, right? This is a problem. That is a problem. And like why aren't you helping me? Why aren't you doing something?
Speaker 1:I bet that there's many of you that have either gone through a similar experience or are currently going through a similar experience. So this is common. It's common to feel confused, lost, frustrated, angry or betrayed when God's actions right, or his lack of actions, don't line up with what you're hoping and what you're expecting. So today I wanted to take a couple minutes to just look at how we can hold on to our faith, how we can build trust even through this messy middle of uncertainty and pain and what can often seem like God's silence. Are you looking to manage your emotions and calm your mind so that you don't feel overwhelmed by all the hard times going on right now? Would you like to find true rest and peace in God and a little joy in your weariness? What about understanding why you feel things so deeply, especially when you're stressed? If so, you're in the right place.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the Peace-Filled Mind podcast, your go-to resource for practical tips, real talk and encouragement. I'm your host, latoya Edwards, life and mindset coach and, most of all, a woman who's walked through pain and suffering just like you. No matter what you're currently facing in life or how you've dealt with things in the past, I'm here to help you find peace, joy and hope again. Pop in those earbuds and let's get to it. So I know that this is like a big, maybe a sensitive topic, so I want you to know, as always, if you're listening to this episode and you get to the end or you get stuck somewhere along the way, I'm here to help you, right? I have coaching spots available and I am happy to like sit down with you for an hour and like let's talk through these things, let's process these things. Let's help you figure out, like, what you're really feeling and how to deal with it and how to cope and how to move forward. Okay, so, if you've got all kinds of feelings popping up, that's what coaching is for I've got thoughts available. Just go over to latoyedwardsnet slash coaching right Links also in the show notes always and I would love to sit down with you for an hour and help you process and walk through these things.
Speaker 1:All right, so how can we trust God when life is lifing, right? That's what we're going to talk about today. So I think it's important, as we're getting started trying to understand some truth here is to make a distinction between our expectations and God's promises. Okay, so, we have, when we pray, when we are asking God to do something, and we have faith, we naturally have in our minds what we'd like to see. Right, we already have a solution in mind, or solutions in mind for what we want to see, what we hope will happen, and so what happens is is that we begin to look for our answers. Right, we begin to look for God to do what we think he should do. And listen I'm not judging you, because I am totally guilty of this all of the time, right. And so when that doesn't happen, we think, oh well, he doesn't care, he wasn't listening, he didn't answer my prayers. Happen, we think, oh well, he doesn't care, he wasn't listening, he didn't answer my prayers. And then we have to somehow reconcile that with scripture that says that we should go to God with our cares, that he cares about us, that we should, you know, give him our petitions, give him our requests, right? And then he's going to answer and he's going to show up and he's going to provide and he's a healer and he's all of these things, right.
Speaker 1:The lady that shared that I shared in the intro right, she knows that God is, you know, a protector, knows that God is healing, right. But she's like, but I fell, like I got hurt, like what gives? Okay, so there's not I don't want to say never, but I kind of want to say never, okay, there's like really never a correlation between our expectations and God's promises. There's like really never a correlation between our expectations and God's promises. Right, god's promises are true. And like, he doesn't lie, whatever he promises to do, he will do. And, as I have learned, like we see, we have so many names of God in scripture and every name has a promise attached to it. Okay, so when we hear Jehovah Jireh, the Lord, will provide right, it's a name, he provides. What's the promise he's going to provide away? Right, for whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1:But it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be what you expected, what you hope, what you wanted, and that's been my testimony time and time and time and time and time and time and time again. Okay, because here's one God always is not usually about preventing hardship. Okay, it's about walking with you and supporting you and being with you through it. Okay, my favorite Psalm, psalm 23,. Right, it is not about God picking us up and carrying us over the hard things, right, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death right, you're in it, but you're with me. Right, I have no fear because you're with me, your rod and your staff right, they protect me.
Speaker 1:We look at one of my favorite scriptures, in Isaiah. Right, isaiah is so good when you're going through hard stuff, right, but it says like, when you go through the waters right, when you walk through the fires right, you're going to come out on the other side. It doesn't say like, when I hop you over the fire when I hop you over the water. No, it says when you go, when you go, right. The children of Israel had to go through the Red Sea. Shadrach, meshach and Abednego had to go into the fire.
Speaker 1:Right, god did not keep them from hard things Like can he? Absolutely? He's God. He can do whatever he wants, does he Not? Usually? Okay.
Speaker 1:So it's not about preventing or keeping hard things from happening. It's about being there with you through it, because that helps you to strengthen your faith, right, build more trust and rely on him. Right. So keep in mind that when we talk about trusting God, right. So keep in mind that when we talk about trusting God, like, it does not mean that we are not going to face challenges. Okay, in this world, you will have trials and troubles. This is what Jesus said, right, he said, but take heart because I have overcome them all. So we're going to face challenges, but he's going to be there with us through it. Okay. And again, right. Our expectation of what it looks like for God to be with us through something is not always going to be what we get. Right, because he's God, he knows better, he knows what we need and he works in mysterious ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways, right, all right.
Speaker 1:So this brings me to the second part is like, how do you know if God is listening to your prayers? Because you know, our reader shared like she feels like God isn't listening, right, she's like I ask you to protect me, I'm hurt, I ask you to heal me Right, I'm still not healed. What gives? So God communicates in so many ways, and I know that this can be kind of a touchy subject depending on your church and what your belief in, your theology and all that stuff, but we're not going to get into that, okay, so God speaks through his word. He speaks to people, inner peace, right, nudges. I get a lot of little Jesus jabs and just nudges from the Holy Spirit to go and do things.
Speaker 1:There's all kinds of ways that God speaks to us and sometimes we miss what he is trying to say to us because we are looking for him to communicate in a different way, right, so I might be looking for God to send me somebody with, like an answer God wants you to do blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, but he doesn't do that, right, he does not do that. But, like my sermons on this passage of scripture on Sunday, and then Wednesday service is about something else that relates to that same passage of scripture. That was on Sunday, and in my quiet time I might be studying that same passage of scripture or some cross references that keep mentioning that passage of scripture. Right, what happened? I was looking for a person to come to me with God's answer and instead he's like hey, I'm beating you over the head with this scripture. Pay attention, right?
Speaker 1:It's kind of like that story of the person that's drowning, I think, right, and it's like praying for God to save them and like a boat comes and this comes and that comes and he gets to heaven. And he's like God, what gives? I asked you to help me. He's like dude, I sent you this, I sent you that, I sent you that, I sent you that. Right, we don't want to be that. So what can you do? You can be persistent in your prayers number one, right, even when you feel like you don't have an answer. Be persistent, okay. Remember the story of the persistent widow. Be persistent, okay. Don't give up. But I also want to encourage you to journal, right. Keep a prayer journal, keep just a regular journal. That's why I talk a lot about.
Speaker 1:That's practice, of like exam, and of sitting down at the end of your day and saying where did I sense God's presence? Where did I sense God's peace? Where did I sense God's presence? Where did I sense God's peace? Where did I sense God's pleasure? How did God show up for me today? Right, of paying attention to that, it's going to do a couple of things You're going to be able to see, like patterns and how God speaks to you and speaks to each of us differently, like we're all unique and he has a specific way that he connects to each one of us. You're gonna be able to see that over time, right, and also you'll have that as a reminder.
Speaker 1:God's not speaking to me, god's not here. Wait, go look at what you've been writing down, like for the past couple days or weeks or months. Now, sometimes God is silent, okay. Sometimes we ask God for something and he's like, yeah, I got nothing for you, right? So what happens? Well, remember that sometimes not sometimes God's silence is still an answer, okay, sometimes God will say yes, sometimes he'll say no, sometimes he'll say not. Yet, sometimes you just get silence. It's still an answer. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you. It doesn't mean that he's not listening. It doesn't mean that he doesn't care. It doesn't mean that he's not working on your behalf. Okay, but it is disappointing. It's very, very disappointing when you pour out your heart and you get bupkis. So here's what I have for you for this it's normal to be disappointed. Okay, it's so normal to be disappointed.
Speaker 1:Disappointment, feeling disappointed with God or angry with God or frustrated with God. Feeling disappointed with God or angry with God or frustrated with God, it's not a sin, there's nothing wrong with it. It's normal. When you are begging somebody to help you and you get no answer, you're gonna feel some type of way about it. God knows that. And you're not alone. Okay, job.
Speaker 1:Job's like Lord what gives? I'm faithful, I'm following you and I have literally lost everything. My friends have turned on me, my wife has turned on me. What the what? Does Job get an answer from God? I mean, yeah, but it has nothing to do with his situation. God shows up and is like well, where were you when I created everything? Right? Job never gets an answer to why he had to lose everything when I created everything. Job never gets an answer to why he had to lose everything.
Speaker 1:David praying, and praying, and praying, and praying, and praying and praying for his first child with Bathsheba, and the child dies. Was that the answer that he was hoping for? Nope, it's the answer that he got, though. Right, jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Lord, if it is possible, take this cup from me. I mean blood, like begging, and God is silent. Okay, it happens. So what can you do in this time? Number one lean on your community. I know I've been talking a lot about community lately. It's important. Lean on your community, right.
Speaker 1:Find encouragement from people who have gone through similar situations. I guarantee you, if you throw a hymnal somewhere in your church, you're gonna hit somebody that has gone through a time when they felt like God is silent and wasn't listening to them. Okay, it's not just you, it's not just me. Okay. Reflect on God's past faithfulness, right. Look at God's track record. Look at times when God showed up, like very clearly showed up for you, when he answered your prayers, and let that encourage you that he's going to do the same. And if you're like, yeah, I got nothing, okay, go to your Bible and look at all the times that he showed up for all those people in the Bible, okay.
Speaker 1:And then I want to encourage you to just be honest in your prayers. Listen, tell God how you feel. God, you suck right. I am praying, I am praying, I am praying, you're saying nothing. I don't feel like you care, I don't feel like you're listening, I don't feel like you're paying me any attention. Like I don't like it. It doesn't feel good. Share that with him. Be open, be honest, be vulnerable, cause remember, he already knows anyway he's God. Share that with him. Don't hold that in, all right. So then we want to look at we talked about just kind of like what does trusting God look? Like you know what is he actually promising? Like what are we doing with our prayers? And I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about what to do when you're waiting. Couple of minutes to talk about what to do when you're waiting.
Speaker 1:I don't like to wait. I especially don't like to wait when I'm in pain. Waiting and being in pain is not fun, okay. The only time that I'm okay with waiting and being in pain is labor, because I know that I'm gonna have a sweet baby at the end and I'm going to like forget about all that hard work as soon as I have that baby in my hands, right to smell and love and cherish and hold on to.
Speaker 1:It's hard to wait. It's hard to wait for healing, like I don't know what kind of injury this sweet sister was having, but I bet that she was really struggling, right, she's really hurting. It's hard to wait when life is hard Y'all. I've been waiting for decades for some stuff. Decades, decades, decades, decades.
Speaker 1:It's not fun. I don't like it. I get angry, I get upset, I yell at God, I want to quit, right? I'm like, why am I doing all of the nice things and all the right things and this person is just acting completely buckwild and getting all the things that they want? Like that's not fair. Like I struggle, it's not fun, all right, but I want you to know that this waiting is not just like punishment. It's a time for growth, right? So another thing we've I've been batch recording episodes today and I'm I don't know if you've heard it yet, but there is, if not, there's one coming on viewing hardships as opportunities for growth. Right, this waiting time is a time for growth. It's a time for reflection and guess what? You're highly sensitive, you're introverted. We rock at reflection.
Speaker 1:Sit down with your pen and your paper and reflect on who you are, on what you know, the lessons you've learned right, on how you've grown. Right, what are you learning? I guarantee you that you are learning something. You might be learning that you don't like to wait, right, but you're learning something. What are you learning? How are you changing right? Where are you finding little moments of peace, even though life is hard? Right, maybe it was five minutes here or five minutes there, but where are you finding it All? Right? What kind of healing are you seeing? Right, if you've been praying for physical healing but that's not happening, are you seeing relational healing? Are you seeing people, like relationships be fixed and restored because, like, they're coming to help you and you're having more contact with them? Like, what is actually going on? Have a different perspective, right, try your best to look up. Right, even if just for a second, from your hurt and your pain, to see what's really going on around you. Okay, so just know.
Speaker 1:Number one it is okay to feel hurt and disappointed. It's okay, it happens. We've all been there. I've been there for a while. Right, god sees you. He sees you and he is using right, he is extending an invitation to come closer to him. He's saying come, bring me all your burdens, bring me all of your pain, bring me all of your fears, bring me all your frustrations, right? He's inviting you to bring that to him so that you can be closer, so that he can help you heal from it. He can help you process it. He can help you deal with it right. He can show you some of the things that we talked about, like what are you learning? How are you growing Right? He's like hey, bring that to me. I know what to do with it, I can handle it, I can take it All right. So remember that.
Speaker 1:Yes, I know it is really hard when it feels like God is silent, when it feels like you can't trust him because he's not doing anything or nothing's getting better. But remember the truth he loves you, he cares for you. He's promised to never leave you or forsake you. He's always there and you're a messiest of messy situations. He's there right when you don't understand it, he's there. When you're ready to call it quits, he's there. So hold on to that. Keep persevering right. Keep praying and if you need help or need support, I'm here for you as well. Keep praying and if you need help or need support, I'm here for you as well. I hope you were blessed and encouraged by today's episode. I would love to hear from you. The best way to do that is to leave a five-star rating and review on your podcast player, sharing what you loved or found helpful about today's episode. This helps other women find the show and it's a huge blessing to me. Thank you so much for joining me today.
