Daily Bread
Daily Bread with Dr. Jerrell & Angela Stokley offers inspiring biblical content designed to educate, empower, and engage everyone to seek God's Word as daily bread for the soul and live a life of purpose in Jesus Christ.
Daily Bread
Navigating Uncertainty - PT 2
Ever find yourself adrift in the vast ocean of life's uncertainties? Fear not, for Pastor Angela Stokely and I, Dr. Jarrell Stokely Jr., are here to guide you toward the lighthouse of faith and active participation in your own story. As we traverse through the unpredictable paths of new ventures and unforeseen events, we'll share with you how the fog of fear and doubt can actually herald the dawn of personal growth and the revelation of God's grand designs, all through the wisdom of 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Life is an expedition across three daunting frontiers: the unknown, the uncontrollable, and the unavoidable. In this episode, we illuminate the profound significance of embracing these elements with an open heart and unwavering faith. Our conversation delves into the liberating act of acknowledging our human limitations and the strategy of leaning on divine guidance for forward momentum. We'll inspire you to discover the serenity in releasing your tight grip on the uncontrollable and celebrate the growth that sprouts from the seeds of uncertainty.
Anxiety and stress may be familiar travelers on this journey, but they need not determine our route. Together with Pastor Angela's insights, we tackle how to cultivate a spiritual fortitude that counters these emotional storms, with Proverbs 12:25 and Philippians 4:6-7 as our anchors. We stress the importance of setting boundaries, fostering positive emotions, and entrusting our trials to God's care. As we dock at the end of our initial voyage into the mysteries of uncertainty, we hope you're now equipped with reflective tools to strengthen your faith and curiosity for the episodes ahead. Join us next time on Daily Bread, as we continue to fortify our collective resolve to navigate life's unpredictables, anchored in purpose and faith.
Please sponsor the Daily Bread Podcast by clicking the link above. You can also connect with Dr. Jerrell & Angela Stokely at www.JerrellStokley.com or www.CovenantGraceChurch.org. Visit our online apparel store at www.OfficialGloryGear.com for all of your faith-based outdoor, casual, and athletic gear with a message of faith and belief in Jesus Christ.
Welcome, welcome everyone. It is good, good, good, good good to be with you on the day. Welcome to Daily Bread. This is your host, host and co-host. Host and co-host, Dr Jarrell Stokely Jr and my wife, Pastor Angela Stokely. And welcome to this second edition of Daily Bread. Daily Bread is your podcast, designed for you, to empower you, to encourage you and to feed you the relevant word of God and practical principles for everyday life, for you to walk in the life and power that God has in store for your life. So let me introduce my co-host to you, Pastor Angela Stokely. Greetings everybody.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, so good to be here, so glad you guys have tuned in. We look forward to sharing a powerful topic today and breaking off some things that we feel are great nuggets that can help you, not only in this season of life, I feel like in any season, because I think our topic today kind of covers life Right, so welcome. Thank you all for tuning in. We look forward to sharing with you and hearing back from you as well.
Speaker 1:Right. So first let me say to our listening audience, to our partners and sponsors, to all of you who are helping to make this possible and who are being patient with us and loving us back by giving us your time and attention we're grateful for you, we appreciate you and we thank you for tuning in to each episode of Daily Bread. You can download our episodes. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel at Covenant Grace TV. You can find us on the website CovenantGraceChurchorg and on our social media platforms. But we are thankful for you, we're grateful for you, and we could not do this without you listening and participating. So thank you so much, and hopefully you're growing and applying what you're learning Today. We are going on an amazing, amazing journey. I love this topic that we're talking about today and will you invite the audience to go on a journey with us?
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely, because we've realized that that's really what life is. Life is, in fact, a journey, and none of us are ever exempt from this topic that we're getting ready to talk about, and so we want you to feel as though you are coming along with us. We wanna be able to share some of the things that we've learned along the way. We wanna be able to give you nuggets and things that you can apply to your life, that we applied to our life from the word of God practical things as well, to help get you through what we're gonna talk about today.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:So we wanna invite you to take this journey with us, because it is in fact a journey. It is a step by step by step by step, by step by step, and so that is real and that's life right. That's what life is and it's a journey and that's how you all to see this as something that you are being asked to participate in You're asked to. There's a part that you play. There's a part that God plays, amen. And that's how life is.
Speaker 2:There's a part that we play, and there's a part that God plays, and we have to be mindful not to always put the burden of all things on God, because God has equipped us, he's made us as certain types of creatures, right, unique, peculiar all of the things that enabled us to be able to journey the life that he predestined for us anyway. So he's equipped us to do some things. We just have to be mindful that we're participating and not just thinking God's gonna do everything.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right, amen. So, and what I want you to know is that you have a purposed life ahead of you. I would say you have a great life, you have a success life, and you do, but sometimes those things don't ring richly down in our soul as true, based on what we're going through, what we're facing. But regardless of who we are, we have a purposed life ahead of us, and that life is a journey of mountains, valleys. It is a broad, wide, open sea to travel and to learn and to articulate who you are on the waves and the winds of the seas of life. And so we wanna invite you to this topic on today, and our topic is navigating uncertainty that's what we're about to talk about. And life. This topic is relevant because life is filled with uncertainty. Absolutely. I could go down the list and maybe I should A new job you have. Uncertainty.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:A new relationship you have uncertainty. When you get married you have uncertainty. Get pregnant you have uncertainty. Move into a new community you have uncertainty. Join a new church you have uncertainty. Take on a new role you have uncertainty. A problem shows up, a tragic happens you have uncertainty. Meet a new person you have uncertainty. I mean, you know. Start becoming investor for the first time, become an entrepreneur. We're all facing. You could turn on a new. Information creates uncertainty and the reality is because we don't know what tomorrow holds, we have uncertainty about tomorrow.
Speaker 2:And can I share the scripture that I have been echoing so much? Yes for the last. I feel like two years. And I feel like we are definitely living out that season right now, and that is 1 Corinthians, chapter two, verse nine, and it says I hath not seen nor ear heard this KJV, neither have entered into the heart of man. Now, that in and of itself talks about uncertainty yes.
Speaker 2:We hadn't seen it, we hadn't heard it. It hasn't entered into our hearts the things which God has prepared for them that love him. And the reality is is that life is filled with uncertainty. No one escapes it. No one escapes it. God says there are some things I have for you. You haven't even seen it yet, you know. So. It's on both sides of the coin. They're the uncertainties that are concerned, but there are also the uncertainties as it relates to our walk with God.
Speaker 1:What is good? What is perfect? What is the acceptable will of God for my life?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. What is this? What is the journey that God has me on? Yes, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:I know right.
Speaker 2:And so it truly is, a step by step, a step by step, you know, and going back to the scripture that says that the word of God is a lamp unto our feet. We're talking about daily bread right. For every step we need this word.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then it's a light unto our path to help us to see further down. But even when we see in that dimension, we still don't see everything because we don't see around the corner.
Speaker 1:Yeah right.
Speaker 2:And so this is a journey, and a journey with the word of God being our anchor and being our foundation.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is so good.
Speaker 1:That's so good. Well, I hope you all are ready to take this journey with us. As we talk about navigating uncertainty, and anytime you go on a journey, you gotta have your curiosity, you gotta have your excitement in your backpack. I like that. You gotta have some things in your backpack with you. You gotta have your thirst with you. You gotta have a mind for discovery with you. What about expectation, expectation with you on this journey. And you gotta take a journal. You go on a new journey. You're either journaling through pictures and video recording, or you're journaling through writing things down, or you're journaling through charging them to memory. So that's what we want you to do some of that stuff. As we take this journey today, navigating uncertainty, I wanna ask our audience a question. Are you facing any uncertainty in your life and if you are, how are you handling it? Think about that. What are you uncertain about right now? Are you unsure about who you are? Are you uncertain of who your?
Speaker 1:real friends are? Are you uncertain about a doctor's report? Are you uncertain about how you're gonna pay all these bills? Are you uncertain about your influence? Maybe you thought you had a certain influence with your team. You're realizing something is not as you thought. What are you uncertain about right now? Is it what you see on the global scale? Is it what you see in business and entrepreneurship? Is it what you see in a business merger? Is it what you see with the stock market? What's your uncertainty? I want you to think about that as we go in this journey and learn how to deal with uncertainty. Now, life is one big question mark. I don't care what anybody says. One second things can be one way. A text message can change your life. A phone call can change your life. Try five minutes down the road. It can change your life completely. You can walk into the store and meet the most amazing person. Change your life completely, you can. So life is one big question mark, right? So we know that there's uncertainty in life. There are three particular areas.
Speaker 1:Okay, so y'all, I call sweetheart, I have a lot of terms of endurance for my wife and sweetheart, baby darling, all of those. So it's gonna slip out. I'm trying to be as professional as possible, but it's gonna slip out. So I was thinking these three particular areas of uncertainty that always get me, and I will say I'm a person who's always dealing with uncertainty. My life just goes that way. God's always doing something new and different. I'm in leadership, I'm an entrepreneur, I have all these dreams and hopes. The enemy is always in a battle with me. So I'm always dealing with some uncertainty. Matter of fact, we're dealing with a big uncertainty right now in our life, but the things that we have going on. And so I thought about these three areas of uncertainty.
Speaker 1:The unknown this is what drives uncertainty. The unknown drives uncertainty. The uncontrollable when it's something that I want to change so bad, but I can't. When it's a road I don't wanna go down, but I can't control that. And the unavoidable, the unknown think about that with us y'all. The uncontrollable and the unavoidable how do you deal with those things? What about you? Any area when you think about uncertainty, any area you think about, that comes to you.
Speaker 2:Well, I think most importantly to me is the reality is that uncertainty is not odd Right, but it is actually very normal.
Speaker 1:Right. So if you're dealing with uncertainty right now, don't think it's odd, exactly and that's the point.
Speaker 2:And I think that when we can be transparent and say I'm not certain about certain things and not feel less than and not feel condemned and not feel ignorant or any negative connotation, I think it helps and we said this before it helps the next man, it helps the next woman, because sometimes the pictures that are constantly sent out or the messages that are implied is that we have to have everything together all the time which is what made me read that scripture, because the reality is there are things we don't know.
Speaker 2:There's things we've not seen, we've not heard, they hadn't entered into ours. There are things we do not know and I think the sooner we can become comfortable with that being a reality, the unknown Exactly, the less stress it can cause.
Speaker 1:Absolutely right.
Speaker 2:And so I just wanted to share that, because I think it is so important for people who are dealing with uncertainty not to feel like something's wrong with them.
Speaker 1:We all have uncertainty, and so the unknown can be very scary. It can.
Speaker 2:It can be very scary, and which is why it is so important for us to be locked in with the one who knows all things. That's right.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean, right.
Speaker 2:And so what better way to walk out this thing called life and to have this journey, than to do it with the one who is all knowing? Oh my God.
Speaker 1:That is amazing.
Speaker 2:So for everything I don't know, he's omniscient, he knows all things. For everything I don't know, I rest in the fact that my God does know Right, and so, even though I don't know, I lean to him. That's me. I lean to him for the knowing Right. And what I've learned in this life, honey, is that there are things I just don't need to know.
Speaker 1:Right, I need to stay uncertain about certain things.
Speaker 2:Yes, there are certain things I need to stay uncertain about.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think one of the biggest hurdles is being able to accept that reality. I know people who want to know everything and, oh my God, they stress themselves out, they create great anxiety because they want to know everything and I get it. However, you've got to get to that point where you grow enough to say if God doesn't reveal it, if God doesn't show me, if he doesn't order my steps to get me to the place where I receive the information, then I just won't know and it's OK to not know.
Speaker 1:I love that you hit on the word growth. That really stuck out to me. So what you're saying is and I want you to get this is that one key principle to overcoming uncertainty is to trust and believe and go to God about the things you're uncertain about.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You think about it. Our walk is a faith walk.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Everything about Christianity is a lot of it is not been seen, right, right, it's not known.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:It has to be revealed, right. And so what if we translated that to life?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And say you know what? There are some things I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:And I'm going to lean on God to find out.
Speaker 1:And there are some things I can't control, oh, and there are some things I can't avoid, exactly. So I'm going to lean on God, exactly.
Speaker 2:And the truth is, when you say that about control, I was generated to say what can we control? Realistically, the one thing we control we can control is what we do.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Right. Oftentimes, the control that we want is outside of us.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And the reality is that we can't control things.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We can control. I can control what I say, I can control what I do, what?
Speaker 1:I think Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I can't control what my neighbor says. I can't control what they do? I can't control those things. So how then do I get to the point where the uncontrollable, the idea of the uncontrollable controlling me?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. Right, I've got to get to a place where not being in control that's not controlling.
Speaker 1:Right, right, which requires navigation. Yes, it's about navigating the uncontrollable, navigating the unavoidable and navigating the unknown in a healthy way, whereby you come out of it unscathed and you go through it unscathed and you don't develop anxiety, weary fear, negative emotions, negative perspective and all of those things. We've been researching this item. I mean we really dug through to get you some really good information, and here's one item of one piece of information that I like. It said uncertainty is a part of life that everyone faces, but the Bible teaches us how to respond to it. Watch this with faith, hope, love and trust in God, which goes back to your original statement. So here are some tools for this journey we're going to take in navigating uncertainty, and they are faith, hope, love and trust in God. So what are some signs for you to look for, telltale signs that you're wrestling with uncertainty? I've got some of them here. I can mention some of them. Would you like me to do that? So some of the signs that you're being uncertain. Number one you may hesitate at doing something that you know you need to do. You may hesitate at saying something to someone that you need to hesitate or stutter at doing it because you're uncertain about it. You're not clear about it. Number two you may avoid it. Practice avoidance, not just eye contact with people being uncertain. Just think about it. When you're uncertain talking to somebody, you avoid eye contact. But think about how we avoid other things in life. When we're uncertain, we avoid it, we avoid it altogether. The third one is we seek reassurance. When we're uncertain about things, we ask others, we ask for opinion, we ask for feedback. Why? That's because you're uncertain about it, and so you're trying to build up your information. You're trying to build up your confidence and your focus so that you can make a decision or step out or do whatever it is that you need to do. Another one is you're uncertain when you start expressing doubt or worry about your choices, about your abilities, about outcomes, and you start using words like maybe probably something like that, or I think. So you're uncertain and you don't know, and so if you have a lot of these telltale signs, the other one is and I like this one the most because it really starts exposing where we become unhealthy with navigating uncertainty. It says you start showing anxiety, you have stress symptoms, you can start, your body starts responding. Your body starts responding in a certain way. When you have anxiety, that's that stress, depression. You begin to isolate because you've gotten uncertain and you've allowed it to get to a point where you have anxiety. Some of the signs of uncertainty can be mood swings when you begin to become overly personal. Right, those are some of the. You have abnormal emotions and things like that. So if you're struggling with uncertainty, there's some strategies you got to look at and we want to go into the word of God and start looking at that. So those are some of the things you want to look for.
Speaker 1:So the first thing I want to deal with, pastor, is anxiety, how anxiety forms when we're dealing with uncertainty. And I want to go here in Proverbs Let me pull this up for you here, proverbs, and if you get it before I get it that, that would be great. But I want to pull up Proverbs and Look at this passage of Scripture Okay, proverbs, chapter 12, and let's go to verse 24, 25, okay, mm-hmm. So it says here, verse 25, it says anxiety, which is distress, being overly concerned, to the point where you've become emotionally unbalanced. It says anxiety in the heart of a man Causes depression, and I think it's important for people to know where anxiety Lives.
Speaker 1:We often think the anxiety is in our heads.
Speaker 1:No, that's not where that anxiety. It starts in your head. But anxiety has the ability to move its way down into your heart and when, when you find yourself depressed, sadden, sorrelful, your countness has dropped. David talked about that at one point. Why is my countenance dropped? I would lift my head to the Lord, my God. So when that's what's happening, that's because that anxiety has gotten down into your heart. It's got any heart and it says but a good word Makes it glad. Yeah, and that's the purpose of daily bread, because you may be having anxiety in your heart right now from Uncertainty and we want to bring you a good word from God that you can navigate that uncertainty that you're dealing with in your life. The word of God, your relationship with God, spending time of God, trusting God, hoping in God and Loving the life that God has given you and loving yourself, who God has created you to be, is how you start reading of that anxiety that is in your heart and Put you in a place of growth where you can come out of that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I think so. What's so important? Because immediately I started thinking about the scripture and Philippians, which we can go to Philippians for yeah because I not only do often quote that myself and I strive to live that out, because when you want something bad enough, you will do what you need to do to get it right and so, if you remember, we talked about in the beginning that we have to be sure to Participate, and this is where that participation comes in, so in Philippians, chapter 4.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I believe I'm going to begin at verse 6. Let's see Philippians, chapter 4.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Philippians 4, verse 6, right, and I'm reading King James this is be careful for nothing which is anxious. Be anxious for nothing there you go, but in everything right there, that right there, in everything, by prayer and supplication. See, there's something for us to do now. Look at how God did his part and you just read over in proverbs. But a good word a good word, but a good word make will make you glad, right, and that's, that's true. So here God is giving us a good word.
Speaker 2:Oh, right, yeah there's a good word for that anxiety. But watch what, watch how we have to participate in, in everything by prayer and supplication. That's our part. Amen, amen, with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known unto God. This is oftentimes what we don't do. Instead of Bringing those requests to God of what we want to see right when we have the anxiety, we complain about the anxiety. We complain about the situation. We're moaning and groaning, not realizing God has already given us this good word.
Speaker 2:Right and all you have to do is do the word and watch God word work in your life. So let's go on and look at the next part of that, because I love this particular scripture, and then I'm gonna, I'm gonna jump out the way and the peace of God. Once you do these things, the peace of God which passes all, all Understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So when I have anxiety, my desire is to have peace and get rid of the anxiety. Right, god has given me his word and it's basically in essence saying if you do this, right.
Speaker 2:The anxiety will leave right, but I have to do it right. I have to do it. So it doesn't mean no good to know the word and not use the word right and this is that part where I Keep talking about.
Speaker 2:We have to participate because in order to see the manifestation of what God word says, we have to make it practical, practice it and utilize it right and man. So this is how we get rid of the anxiety. I love Philippians, for I'm. The moment that anxiety starts creeping up on me, that it's like the the scripture echoes in my head. You know what to do. It's like you know what to do, so you have to make a decision. Do you want to keep bemoaning about what's got you anxious or do you want to use the word of the Lord?
Speaker 1:I'll stay in silence about it. Yeah, not even say anything, just keep it all in. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And when you want. That's why I said when you want something bad enough. Because, for me, I don't like anxiety, though I I become anxious, I don't like it, and so my goal is always to get rid of it. Right, I want to hurry up and get rid of it. Right and we've got to know that God has given us his word for these types of situations.
Speaker 1:Right. Watch this. Watch this now. Proverbs said that anxiety gets into your heart. It said anxiety in a heart of a man Leads to depression. Philippians turns around and says in everything, if you pray and give supplication, the peace of God is going to guard your heart.
Speaker 2:Yes, so in your mind.
Speaker 1:So the anxiety can't get into your heart If prayer or supplication and thanksgiving is a guard around your heart. So when anxiety when you, when you are worried or concerned about something uncertain, concern that turns into worry, that tries to go into Anxiety, if you're praying and you're having thanksgiving is the key point you don't just pray oh God, get this out my life. You got to give a hallelujah. No, I think you do. I think you in it, I think you out of it. Yeah, I think you're under it and around it. I give your name glory in the midst of it.
Speaker 2:Hallelujah.
Speaker 1:I should buck you got, even though I'm in this pain, even though I'm going through this surgery, even though I got this cancer, even though. I got this debt. Yeah, you got to up some things.
Speaker 2:You got any on your thanksgiving, you do come on somebody you do.
Speaker 1:If you up the any on your thanksgiving, that whole Philippians 6 and 7 thing will work Right. Oh my god, we can. We can think it all day. We can. We can call ourselves practicing it, we can practice it all day, but it is the thanksgiving, that is the part of the three-part ingredient, that shifts you, shifts you into that mode of peace, because you are practicing rejoicing Rather than where are you?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, because it's not just about letting your request be made known unto God, because that's not all it says Right, it is the supplicating, it is the thanksgiving, it is giving up the praise and it puts a guard around your heart it does Like blocks the anxiety from trying to come in. What's beautiful is that you can't. You cannot have Thanksgiving and anxiety at the same party.
Speaker 1:I like that you can't.
Speaker 2:One has to leave one has to leave what has to leave, and Thanksgiving will trumpet every time every time, every time, and I love that.
Speaker 1:So if anxiety is in your heart, I go through.
Speaker 2:You right now go through anxiety.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I go through anxiety, but I know how to replace that I. Sometimes anxiety can take you so low. You can beat yourself up and I'm talking to somebody on this journey right now I feel it in the Holy Ghost somebody right now. You beat yourself up. We all we do it. Yes, we do. Fail a test, don't achieve something, go through rejection from Wanting to be in a group, a crowd or something like that, feeling unbalanced in your life and in your achievements, and we can beat ourselves up, mm-hmm, and we become anxious, anxious. But the Bible says listen, there is nothing worth being anxious about, because it says be anxious for nothing.
Speaker 1:Nothing, and so we have to train ourselves to know how to guard our hearts with prayer and Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, See, I believe, I believe, apostle, that you know a big part and I'm gonna say, at least it is for me. Yeah is that there are. There are things that I have decided that I want. Yeah and there are things that I have decided that I don't come on. And so when the thing that I don't want shows up, yeah, then I work very diligently To get rid of it.
Speaker 1:I know that's right.
Speaker 2:I am diligent, I am, I am diligent, I don't. I. I'm not a Debbie Downer. Come on, I love a good time. All the time. I like to be up, I like to be high, I like to give God praise because when, when, I mean all the way up.
Speaker 2:When I think about the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done, but when I think about this, this, this amazing God, right that we serve the Creator, and how he created us and created things and right all of that, when I think about that and I, I realized I'm still breathing, I still have life.
Speaker 2:I've made lots of mistakes, I've done crazy things. Oh, my god and the God of Creation, yeah, oh, glory, almost, lord, have mercy, he has been Keeping me. Oh, I dare not allow certain things to stay with me long. And so I think that, for because, like like I said a minute ago, yeah, anxiety, a show up, but immediately I'm working to get rid of it, because I'm not interested in having that as a part of my life, because it absolutely will pull you down, it Absolutely will cause you to be in the wrong mind, space and all of those things, and that's why it's so, it's so important for us to get to the, to the point where the Trigger in us has to be what is the word? The trigger to the response of unknown, not knowing and anxiety and worry has to be what does God's word say about this? Because this is something he does not have Intended for my life, that's absolutely right, you know yeah.
Speaker 2:And, and, and. I think that if we can start drawing a line in the sand, as they say, right and say these are the things that I want. What's so ever lovely. What's so ever, it's pure. What's so is love a good report. You know the joy. Lord is my strength. You know what I'm saying these are. There's some things that I know, that I want, but I also have to be mindful of the things that I don't want, and so when those things creep in, I have to. I have to become Adam yeah.
Speaker 2:To get those things out? Yeah, because I know where they could take me right right. You know what I mean and I think it's important for us to make that line, draw that line in the sand, so that we will be Intentional about the work that's required.
Speaker 2:Oh my god Intentional, because I feel like and I'm just gonna throw this out here I Just feel like sometimes we become lazy Christians. We want the preacher to do it, we want the. You know we won't Stop it, you okay. You said come on, give me a word. Give me a word, and God is like there's a whole.
Speaker 1:Bible full of word. There's a word in you, you, I'm a word lives in Christ the word made flesh.
Speaker 1:The word of God lives on the inside of me. In the beginning was the word and the word was God and the world was with God. Absolute word became flesh and among Jesus is the word and he abides on the inside. So you have you. That's what David said, and I will hide your word in my heart that I will not sin against you absolutely. So we're talking about navigating the uncertainties of life and how to guard your heart from anxiety, and that remedy is, and that recipe is, to Be anxious for it. Don't let anything make you anxious, but take everything, everything to God in prayer. Don't hold it in. That's the part right there. We don't make it to prayer because we hold it in. Take everything to God, and then, of course, we do like you say. We may complain or either will share it with other people, but people can't do what God can do. Come on somebody.
Speaker 2:Oh, my god you just said. Oh, what you said, is that so powerful? Is that Oftentimes and I know, for this has been the attack against me probably my whole life and that is the enemy wants to keep your mouth closed. So see, when I think about Telling, like bringing those things to God, like what Philippians 4 tells us to do, yeah, you got to open your mouth. Yeah, but not only in that, but also in the Thanksgiving, right, you got to open your mouth. And so one of the greatest assaults I believe that the enemy brings against us is to keep our mouths closed Because the pain feels so paralyzing that's absolutely right.
Speaker 1:Oh, that is so good.
Speaker 2:And he doesn't want us to oh this field. Yes he doesn't want us to open our mouths. A because we don't feel worthy, or B because we feel like God must not care, because I'm going through this.
Speaker 1:But, what?
Speaker 2:what we've got to realize is that the enemy is aware of the weapon that we have called our mouth Right knows that if we open up our mouths that we can create life, says the word of God. I mean it. The tongue creates death in life, but we have the power to create life. We have the power to prophesy to our own self by the Holy God.
Speaker 1:I was about to say that, my God, you need to hear yourself Proclaiming and decree, so you can, your belief grows, go ahead.
Speaker 2:And even in what we're praying unto the Lord, and I can't help but think about the scripture that says you know, faith comes by hearing, yeah, and hearing by the word of God. What if we are saying the word of God out loud? Yeah our faith grows right, absolutely. But sometimes we want God to just drop it down out of heaven. We've got to do our part. At the end of the day, we've got to do our part, and now I'm gonna jump and go to this, because I love this one too.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:I love this scripture, that's okay. Proverbs 3, and, and this one is just basically concerning how God wants us to trust him and Us now lean to our own understanding. Yeah, see, I think anxiety comes from when we're trying to do it ourselves.
Speaker 1:Oh, that ties into the story I'm just reading. Oh Jesus, yeah.
Speaker 2:When we're trying to do it ourselves in our own strength, the way we think it's supposed to be done, and we've not consulted God at all, we've not listened to the Holy Spirit, we've not gotten a word on the matter. I believe that that sometimes is the place where anxiety Comes in and the it sometime can be life.
Speaker 1:Yes, trying to do life ourselves. Can you say that three times? That's real life, life, life, that's pretty much how to do life ourselves. Sometimes we're trying to do survival.
Speaker 2:Our sales and protection.
Speaker 1:You know, and, and, oh my god, oh, now think about that come on folks who want a journey with us, trying to protect ourselves from pain or more pain, or from unwanted outcomes. Or Sometimes we're trying to protect ourselves from normalcy, from the norm. Let me explain that. See, let's take relationships, for example. You know it is normal for relationships to go bad Mm-hmm. It is normal for relationships not to work out Mm-hmm. It is normal for relationships to be a certain way. And so for us to assume that we do. I don't ever want to go through a bad. I don't ever want to go. You're trying to protect yourself from what is normal. Yeah, you have to trust God For your protection.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the trust God for your life that reminds me of the scripture they talked about Love is long suffering. Yeah and we forget that part of love, right? You think about relationships and you think about we don't think about that people are going to hurt your feelings.
Speaker 1:They're gonna break your heart.
Speaker 2:They're gonna disappoint me, we're gonna disappoint people.
Speaker 1:We're gonna break some people's hearts.
Speaker 2:We're gonna be that as well to other people, and I think that we forget that. The scripture really clues us in on that reality that there is suffering that comes with love right, absolutely. There's suffering that comes with it.
Speaker 1:Absolutely I want to. I want to start closing out on this point right here, because we're out of time for this episode. We're running out of time for this episode, so I'm going to take just bring up this passage of scripture and just a point here. I'm in Proverbs, chapter 16, because because Philippians talked about everything, yeah, you know, in anxiety, don't be anxiety, don't have anxiety for nothing, but in everything, and everything is, is, is, is huge. No one Manages everything well, but God. And then there is no one who is, oh my God, enough, powerful enough To deal with everything in my life. But God can't even handle everything in my life. I need God and you need God.
Speaker 1:Here's what this text says. It says proper, proper 16 and verse 9 I mean, put my seers on, make sure I got it proper 16 and verse 9 says this a man's heart Plans his way now, remember all this that we've been talking about keeps going back to the heart and anxiety tries to get in the heart, but prayer, supplication with thanksgiving guards the heart. So this is where this uncertainty wants to bed and seed and create depression, anxiety, worry, and we're gonna talk about those things. But it says this it says a man's heart plans his ways, but the Lord Directs his steps. Oh my God, yeah. And so when you start talking about everything, be anxious for nothing.
Speaker 1:But in everything, what prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, take everything to God, man, and and I have a note here this says God is sovereign and in control of everything. That's what sovereign means to be in control of everything. There's no area in the world, nothing in your life, that God is not sovereign over. It says nothing happens without his knowledge or his permission. He has a plan and a purpose for everything, even if we don't understand it. He can use uncertainty to test your faith. You may be going through uncertainty because God is testing your faith. Yeah, when the children of Israel were in the wilderness, uncertainty, yeah, god was testing what was in their hearts. Remember he said I took you through the wilderness to show you what was in your heart.
Speaker 1:To purge out of your heart those things that was in your heart. So sometimes you're in an uncertain situation this one, you got to have thanksgiving because you don't even know if God did it, did the devil do it? You got it. You got a way to gotta be patient. You got to practice patience and endure suffering like a good soldier and do hardship like a good soldier, because God could be the very one behind the uncertainty and you're like I know, he's been the one behind mine in a lot of times.
Speaker 1:Watch this. It also says that he could use uncertainty to refine your character. Yep, oh, my god, let's see what. Are you gonna go off? Yep. Are you gonna turn away from me? Yep, are you gonna? Are you gonna stop loving me Absolutely? Are you gonna stop serving me? Yeah. Are you gonna change your mind about me? Yeah, are you gonna change your mind about you? Are you gonna change your character? Are you gonna? Are you gonna go from being loving to mean and angry and spiteful and reason? He's gonna test your character. He's gonna see what you're gonna do. Yeah, oh my god. It says this right here and he uses it and this is the great part goes back to Philippians to draw us us closer to him. This is why God allows uncertainty in your life, because think about it. It said be anxious for nothing, but in all things, through prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known under God, come to God. So he's using it to draw us closer to him.
Speaker 1:You we're not the only ones that's uncertain, or been uncertain. Think about Moses. How in the world, god, you gonna have me Go back to the place where I killed a man? You want me to go back to the house I fled away from yeah, to the king I fled away from, to my stepdad, who is a ruthless Egyptian who wants to kill me, and you'll send me back to him, to the Pharaoh, the most powerful person known on the planet, and and tell him to Let all his citizens and residents, who are Israelites, go free, right, who are the labor force and Changed the narrative of his entire nation and the GDP of his whole nation.
Speaker 2:Am I gonna get?
Speaker 1:killed. The moment I want is a. Hebrew person gonna kill me, are they gonna even listen to me? So he had to navigate that uncertainty. Absolutely. Speak to our audience as we close it out.
Speaker 2:You know we have to, we have to. You know what you just said about Moses.
Speaker 2:It's like a whole movie just flashed before me and the uncertainty that he had to be right, dylan would, day after day after day and Year after year after absolutely, and we have to be able to look into the scripture, at these testimonies, at these others that have gone before us, and Really look at their Situations, although we know the end of the story because we've already read it right, but sometimes it's necessary to go back and really read it and really read it and put yourself in it, and, and, and I think it Will help us to show how important it is that, even when we're in some of the most dire situations yeah, that was dire right for Moses right we have to be mindful right to hold on to God.
Speaker 1:That's it. Hold on to God. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's out of. We're out of time. That's our first episode of this navigate uncertainty. We're gonna have to come back, yeah, so we'll do an episode to navigate uncertainty and that you can download and listen to for yourself. We want to thank you for Going on this journey with us. We pray that your curiosity was peak. We pray that your excitement was filled. We pray that your journal, some things and you thought about where you are with uncertainty and how to overcome it. So come back for our next episode and download that, that episode and listen to it so you can be strengthened about navigating uncertainty. Thank you all again, we're gonna talk with you and be with you next time on daily bread. You.
