Chosen for the Fire: Finding Purpose in Your Hardest Season with Angie Clayton and Ruth Cowles

"What if the hardest thing you're walking through isn't happening TO you—but FOR you? What if you were actually chosen for this season?"

This isn't your typical "chosen" conversation—it's a paradigm shift about surrender, submission, and the sacred journey of trusting a faithful God even when nothing makes sense.

In this deeply moving episode of Just Talking About Jesus, Jan welcomes Angie Clayton (compiler of the book Chosen: Sacred Journeys with a Faithful God) and Ruth Cowles for an honest conversation about what it really means to be chosen by God—especially in the seasons that break you.

For show notes, scriptures, and updates on the book release, visit https://janjohnsonauthor.substack.com/

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

John 15:16 "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you."

00:00 - Welcome & Introduction 

00:38 - What Does "Chosen" Really Mean? 

00:50 - Introducing the Book: Chosen: Sacred Journeys with a Faithful God 

01:51 - Angie's Story: Chronic Illness & the Refiner's Fire 

03:29 - Changing Your Attitude Changes Everything 

04:34 - Open Hands vs. Clenched Fists 

05:05 - Ruth's Story: Chosen to Submit 

06:23 - When You're Both Right: Navigating Marriage Decisions 

09:24 - The Little Girl Who Found Her Forever Family

 11:06 - Did We Hear God Wrong? 

12:15 - How Submission Strengthened Their Marriage 

13:20 - Jan's Story: Another Adoption Journey 

14:29 - Avoiding Resentment When Plans Change 

17:16 - Jan's Healing: Sexual Trauma & Vindication 

21:45 - The Vision That Changed Everything

 22:37 - Beauty FOR Ashes, Not FROM Ashes 

23:25 - Angie's Foster Care Journey Begins 

24:34 - Trauma, Broken Children & the Call to Adopt 

26:45 - The Heartbreak of Disrupted Adoption 

27:53 - Two Failed Adoptions & God's Perfect Plan 

29:32 - Nothing Is Ever Wasted 

30:19 - Believing You Were Chosen for the Hard Stuff 

32:01 - Other Ways We're Chosen: Estrangement, Death, Blame 

33:23 - When God Chooses, He Enables (Moses at the Burning Bush) 

34:25 - Jesus: The Ultimate "Chosen"

 35:06 - Intimacy with God Through Chosen Seasons 

36:12 - Your Daily Bread: Chosen for the Small Things Too 

37:28 - Closing Thoughts & Book Release Information

Music from #Uppbeat

https://uppbeat.io/t/brock-hewitt-stories-in-sound/a-journey-of-love

License code: I9LVDM16VTE06YFW

Welcome to Just Talkin' About Jesus.

I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who loves relationships and, you know, just talkin' about Jesus.

Here you will find testimonies of those who God has changed through his grace.

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