Sips from the Fountain
Learning to drink from Jesus, the Fountain of Living Water, isn’t as hard as I thought, especially when you just start with sips, and those will change everything.
Sips from the Fountain
Life Wasn’t Supposed to Be Like This
Discover the transformative power of faith in our latest episode, where unexpected challenges reveal God's purpose in moments of turmoil. Join Martha as she shares a personal story that begins with a simple plan for relaxation at a plant outlet spa, only to lead to a flat tire that changes the course of her day—and her perspective on life.
As she navigates through overwhelming doubts and fears, Martha invites listeners to reflect on the lies that often cloud our judgment during tough times. The episode takes a rich turn when a kind stranger enters the scene, sharing his heartbreaking story, and reminding us how divine appointments can emerge in the most unexpected ways. This gentle interaction becomes a lesson in compassion and connection, highlighting how our struggles can open doors to healing for ourselves and others.
Through heartfelt conversation, Martha emphasizes the significance of trust in God amidst life's chaos, encouraging listeners to embrace vulnerability and ask for help. With her authentic insights, she explores the journey of moving from victimhood to victory, underscoring that faith can guide us through the most challenging circumstances.
Join us as we learn that despite the ups and downs, we can find hope, community, and purpose in our trials. Are you ready to uncover the miracles in your story? Don’t forget to subscribe and connect with us on social media for more inspiring content.
Do you ever feel like life can get too complicated and maybe even overwhelming? Yeah, me too, and it's okay. My name's Martha Gannot, and in this podcast we're going to talk about life, love, faith, family, relationships, all kinds of things, and we're going to drink from what God wants to pour into us, one small sip at a time, because when it's the fountain of living water, small sips make all the difference. Sometimes it'll be just you and me, sometimes we'll have a friend join us. If we could have lunch together today, this is what I'd want to talk about. Hey, hey, hey everybody. I'm so excited to be kicking off a new series today. We're going to be having some amazing guests. We're going to hear some incredible stories, all centered around the idea of finding victory when life has turned out really differently than we expected, and by that I mean in a profoundly disappointing and painful way. You know we all have different challenges and different stories, and my hope is that during this series you'll hear at least one story that you can resonate with and have an increased measure of victory in your own life. So first of all, I just want to kind of frame the series I think we all pretty much get. The life wasn't supposed to be this way. Part if we've lived a few years, I guess, but the victim to victor part. That may be an idea that we're not as familiar with. So let's start with the story. Recently, my sister and I were on the way to our version of a spa, a plant outlet. Now I realize the chances are good that you didn't even know that was a thing, but it is and it's amazing. And I know I sound really weird right now you can go ahead and laugh, but you know you have your thing, we have our thing, everybody has their things, and this is ours, which shout out to the growers outlet in Loganville, georgia. If you love plants and you're local, you gotta go. Anyway, we do love plants and we had squeezed in a space into really busy lives to treat ourselves and we were excited Right before we arrived at the plant outlet spa oh, that's a, that's even a newer term, a plant outlet spa One of my tires started going flat dangerously quickly.
Speaker 1:Now, moments like these, this is where I started having to do some serious mental and spiritual battle, and I'll explain why. See, I'm single. The last number of years of my four children's lives, I was a single mom, and so this particular battle wasn't new to me. The lies started coming, and they started coming fast. Now I know that there are lies that the enemy regularly whispers into your ear too, but my particular ones go something like this Look see, you're all alone. There's no one to help you. If you'd figured out your mess, you probably wouldn't be in this situation right now. What are you going to do? You think you can change a tire, but can you? This is too big for you. This is overwhelming. This was supposed to be a super fun day, and look at it now. Plus, you're ruining your sister's day too. And it went on from there. You can just imagine.
Speaker 1:I have to be honest. It's been a long, hard journey for me to get to the place where I know what to do in this battle. This journey has taken me from being a slave to God in my own mind to realizing that I'm his daughter and that he doesn't just take care of me, but he loves doing it. That he doesn't just show up when I've been good, loves doing it. That he doesn't just show up when I've been good. He shows up all the time, because how he treats me is based on what he's done, not on what I've done and on who he is, not on who I am. It's been difficult and it's often been ugly too, because I've had to acknowledge that I do a really terrible job of being God in my own life and I've had to lay so much down. But you guys, that is when I started seeing him show up time and time again as my provider and my protector and my deliverer and my rescuer and my healer which just a little note to the side here I think often, because we live in a microwave, instant gratification culture, we can be tempted to think that because we have a struggle and it's not instantly resolved or fixed or healed, that we're doomed.
Speaker 1:Or we may think that when we take one step forward and two steps back, even over and over again, that that means that we'll never experience victory. Well, I am here to tell you, to say out loud to you this is normal, this is actually the normal human condition. You're not doomed, you're going to make it. This is regular life. Keep going, keep growing, dig in, don't give up, reach out for help, don't let yourself get isolated, don't believe the lies. You are not alone. This is how it is for all of us. It's normal, and there's victory. But to have victory you're going to have to make a choice and you're going to have to learn how to make those choices as a practice of your life. Anyway, okay, back to our story.
Speaker 1:So, when my tires started going flat really quickly, dangerously, on the road, instead of pitching an internal temper tantrum which, wherever you are, unless you're driving, you're, raise your hand, if you know what I mean An internal temper tantrum where you look like you're all cool as a cucumber on the outside, but inside you're pitching a fit right. Well, that had been my normal. But instead of doing that, and instead of melting under the lies that were coming at me, instead of giving into fear, which is really just faith in the enemy's plan for me in my life, my internal response was a new one that had come after years of letting the Lord do heart surgery. Basically, I call it the hmm, and I've decided that's actually a place all on its own, it's a state, a condition, hmm. So, as the tire completely emptied of air, we rolled into the gas station next to the plant outlet spa we could literally see it from the parking lot and then commenced a couple of hours of failed attempts at getting the problem fixed. First the air pump at the gas station didn't work, and then my portable pump, which I so responsibly had in the trunk. It wasn't strong enough either.
Speaker 1:As nothing seemed to be working, a very nice man pulled up and, seeing our situation, offered to help Bless him. It was one thing after another for him too, and he probably ended up spending gosh. It was probably a couple of hours before the whole incident was over. During all that time, though, as he was trying to fix the problem and find a solution, he started sharing with us, and eventually he poured out his recent, very difficult and tragic life story. When that started, my sister and I made eye contact, and both of our eyes lit up. You see, we could tell that we were both in the hmm, and we knew that we were both thinking the same thing. Oh, okay, god's moving here. This man is why we're actually here today. This man is why we're not going to the plant outlet spa Not today. This man is why God detoured our plans for our lives today. Okay, lord, what are you doing?
Speaker 1:And we started asking the man deeper questions, looking for where God was working, when the kind man shared that one particularly tragic event had happened literally one year before to the day we got it Both of us it clicked. We immediately began to pour words of life over him. We let him know that we had seen people radically healed mind, body, heart and spirit and that his best days were ahead of him, that his past did not have to define his future and that there was healing available for him, that God has a purpose and a plan for him and that it was no mistake that he had met us that day, we who had seen and experienced so much healing. He was open to it, he was willing to receive what we were saying and we connected him to another man, a friend of ours, who knows and walks with the Lord. It was amazing, and he felt it too. We all three knew that we watched God work a miracle that day. Now for us, for me and my sister, it cost us our plans, our plants, our time together and me a new set of tires, and you know what. We both would have given so much more to be a part of watching God offer rescue to a broken man in deep pain. It was awesome.
Speaker 1:Now, that was just one morning's responses, but I'm here to tell you I did really badly for many years. I'm here to tell you I did really badly for many years, and it took the Lord. What I feel like had to be longer than normal. Is there a normal when it comes to these things? I don't know, but I feel like, if there is normal, I took longer than normal to allow the Lord to write this on my heart.
Speaker 1:When I became a single mom, this attack from the enemy got really intense. I know that his design for my life was to get me to decide that I was a victim, that I would always be a victim, that the world and a big old list of people, including God, owed me better, and to consume all of my energy in that angsty swirl, hopefully for the rest of my life, with the goal of shutting down the destiny that my father has for me as a daughter of the king. It started in places that you'd never think were a big deal or were all that momentous in time, places like the back room of the garage when the water heater went out. Now, if you're a guy listening to this, you're like what's the big deal? But something like that is kind of the chick's equivalent of handing you a photo of a gourmet meal and telling you to go make it happen on your own. So it's not surprising then, hopefully, that I felt overwhelmed and capable of handling the situation and in my mind, the worst quickly became the most likely.
Speaker 1:And the lies started coming that I was alone, that I couldn't afford what was happening with this water heater, and what if the HVAC broke? And what if the roof started leaking? How was I going to afford that? And what about the cars and the kids and their college and their weddings, which they were nowhere close to their college and weddings? I just felt so alone, even though I knew in my mind that that was a lie. It seemed like there was no one to help and there was no way out. But I took the first step and I actually ended up getting the issue resolved. It turns out there were people who were willing to help and there was enough money.
Speaker 1:But then came the biggest choice. You'd think it would be easy by that point Problem solved, right, move on forward. But that is not how our enemy works. I could almost hear the whispers out loud yeah, this problem ended up working out okay. But what about all of the possibilities, of the things that could go wrong. When those things like this happen, you'll still be all alone, with no one to help and no one to handle crises and difficult things in your life.
Speaker 1:The lies, fear is a strong pull. It almost feels like if we don't let all the terrible possibilities roll over us, that we're not being responsible about them, that we're not preparing for them with an adequately panicked response or should we say pre-response because they haven't happened. They haven't actually happened. But I could also feel the voice and hear the voice of the Father over those frenzied thoughts. I've got you. I'm your helper, your provider, your rescuer. You're still going to be living on a broken planet, but I'll be with you every step of the way. I bring solution and I'm watching your life down to the smallest detail. Don't miss the solutions just because they're not the exact ones that you wanted. Miss the solutions just because they're not the exact ones that you wanted. You're my precious daughter and I love being a good father to you. You can trust me, even in the hard places. This is what I do and who I am.
Speaker 1:So here's my question for us, for you what stories does the enemy whisper in your ear to get you to believe the lie, the one that says you're alone and you need to be your own God. It's the original whisper he poured like poison into Eve's ear in the garden You're on your own. If it's going to be, it's up to you. It's the lie that says you're not completely provided for, cared for, protected and healed and that your father is defined by your circumstances, not who he says he is or who he actually is. It's the lie that says he is not enough and that you should scoot him off the throne of your life and take it from here, and that you should scoot him off the throne of your life and take it from here. Now let me say this this is not me. Nor am I trying at all to imply that hard things aren't going to come. Hear what I'm saying, not what I'm not saying. It means that he's always there and that when I do get broken by this life, even crushed, he's there to take me from being broken into healing and into healthy and into whole.
Speaker 1:Over and over again, I heard a friend of mine say recently when you give every part of yourself to God, he takes full responsibility for your life. I've been struggling with something that got knocked loose when she said that, with trying to figure out all the pieces instead of getting quiet, laying it all before him one area at a time, and saying what do you want me to know about this, what do you have to say to me about this and what do you want me to do? Which we call that the Jamie Winship around here, and if you haven't listened to Jamie Winship yet, you gotta go listen to him. My friend was talking about what we find in Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. And I love it. In the Passion Translation it says this trust in the Lord completely and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart, rely on Him to guide you and he will lead you in every decision that you make. Become intimate with Him in whatever you do and he will lead you wherever you go. He's just waiting for us to see Him in the room and just to be transparent y'all. There are times that I have literally almost shouted that scripture over and over until it began to sink into my heart and my spirit calmed and I began believing again that God is who he says he is, instead of who my circumstances and who the enemy were saying that he is, because when that shift happens, everything changes.
Speaker 1:With a challenging situation, our questions change from what about me? Why me? This is hard and miserable and I'm not happy, and where is God to fix this? Instead, we ask questions like okay, god, I know you've got me and I trust you. Now show me what you're doing, what's going on and what do you want me to know? Where are you working and what part do you want me to play? Let's go, give me ears to hear and eyes to see what you're doing and the courage to walk in that instead of my own self-protection and fear.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you'll say that with even excitement, during a minor inconvenience like a flat tire, and sometimes you'll say it through tears and maybe even screaming, during the addiction of a loved one or a divorce or infertility or cancer. As my uncle Alan says, you hit your thumb with a hammer and I'll hit mine, and then we'll talk about which hurts the most. Pain is pain, and when you can say those things to God when you're in pain or when the deep hard work that he's doing is in your own heart, I'm telling you that'll make a man or a BMW out of you in the spirit, bmw meaning beastly mountain woman, because when we know that we're fully taken care of, life changes from a series of personal inconveniences and tragedies to adventures where we're looking for the miracle that God intends to work in the situation. We're not worried about ourselves, we're handled and our fulfillment is not based on our circumstances or even on our personal happiness. This also takes a willingness on our part to make our lives not about our own comfort. And that very simple example my sister and I had to be willing to give up our plans for the day, to stand in the freezing cold, to allow one challenge and frustration after another, so that we got to spend more and more time with a man who God had clearly set up to receive life from us, on a day that the enemy wanted to remind him of pain and loss and disappointment. We have to be willing to follow the example of Jesus and lay our lives down.
Speaker 1:I have a funky kind of weird journal type thing that I use during my secret place with God and in it is a prayer I say to the Lord regularly at the start of the day I am a coin in your pocket. Spend me, however you will, you see, to get there over and over. With each challenge, I had to take the lies that Satan whispered and deal with them, one at a time. I have to choose faith that God is taking care of me and that he's working, that he's always working, and turn my heart and my eyes to hear him over and over. I have to say no to fear, which is always just faith in what the enemy's plan is and it empowers it, and I will not do it. That was an aha moment for me the day I learned that when I partner with fear, I'm actually actively partnering with the enemy's plan for my life. Oof, hear that Fear is faith, that the enemy's plan for my life is greater than God's plan for my life, and it will suck you down the proverbial rabbit hole, and that is a dark place. I've been there and I have no desire to live there ever again or anymore. I refuse. Live there ever again or anymore, I refuse.
Speaker 1:And as to that sense of indulging in all the possible terrible things that could happen, that we're just trying to be prepared for them, that it's responsible. I just want to free you from that, because the truth is faith, trust and depending on God for my life, laying it all down and listening for his voice, instead of trying to figure it all out on my own. That's actually the responsible thing to do, you guys, and it's way smarter than my strategy. Oh, can you feel yourself relaxing into that? You don't have to figure it all out. You don't have to fix it. You actually can't do either. He's already got everything that's headed your way and he is the solution to every challenge, every issue and problem that you've ever had or will have. You can take a deep breath, you can quiet your heart and you can lean back into your Papa's arms. He'll let you know everything you need to know and he'll guide every step that you take. And when you begin to really know how much he loves you and how much you can trust him, the scripture that says though he slay me, yet will, I trust in him starts to actually make sense. Who knew that surrender was the way to go from being a victim to being a victor?
Speaker 1:Next episode, we'll feature our first guest who did just that, and I'm so excited for you to hear the story and about the whole series. So stay tuned. We'll see you next time. Hey, you guys. Thanks for hanging out with us today. I hope you got some refreshment from this Sip from the Fountain. If you're curious to hear more or if you like what you've heard, you can go ahead and subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to yours, or follow our Instagram account Sips from the Fountain or our Facebook page by the same name. Special thanks for Cover Art Photography to the Sarah D Harper, and I can't wait to hang out with you guys next time. Thanks so much, love y'all, thank you.