Trust God Through The Hard Parts

When everything in life feels upside down, the hardest question is also the most important one: can you still trust God when you do not understand what He is doing? We talk openly about faith under pressure, the healing journey after trauma, and the moments when you are doing your best just to make it through the day. This is a raw, Scripture-rooted conversation for veterans, families, and anyone battling anxiety, depression, grief, or burnout while trying to keep hope alive.

We anchor the message in Proverbs 3:5-6, unpacking what it means to trust the Lord with all your heart and stop leaning on your own understanding. We also reflect on how “transactional” thinking can creep into faith, and why God calls us to be all in. From there, we move into testimony about dark seasons that people often hide behind a smile, and why compassion and honest listening matter for mental health and suicide prevention.

Then we turn to Isaiah 40:31 and Psalm 46:1 for strength and stability: soaring like eagles, enduring the long walk, and finding refuge when life turns chaotic. We also challenge the habit of judging others and call for a return to practical love, prayer, and community support that builds people up instead of tearing them down.

If you need Christian encouragement, resilience tools, and a reminder that trouble does not last always, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs hope today, and leave a review with the Scripture or line that hit you the hardest.

Transcript

Praise, Welcome, And Opening Prayer

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Don't let me double cap on me, play on me, double side, but you can't take from me, take from me, and to cut. You can't let me come here.

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Hallelujah. I am free. And the broken victory is mine. Amen. Amen. Happy Thursday, beloved. Happy Thursday. Can y'all believe it's already Thursday? Oh God, these days are just flying by. But anywho, welcome back to the Wounded Warrior Podcast. So in today's segment, we're gonna actually have like three to four segments, but we're gonna be diving into from the theme of trusting God through life challenges. Whether you're a veteran navigating the journey of healing, or anyone facing hurdles, we're here to share my stories, my resilience, my hope, and faith. Because Lord, baby, it ain't easy, y'all. It ain't easy. But God is good. Amen. Amen. All right, y'all know how we do it. We gotta give God some praise. We ain't gonna get started till we give our father thanks. So if you're driving, please keep your eyes open, focus on the road. Everybody else, please take a moment, bow your head, close your eyes, and let's pray. Dear Heavenly and Most Gracious Father, we come to you, Lord, on this day, Thursday, the 18th of June, thanking you for another day's journey. Thanking you for allowing us to have a new day on this side of the rim, Father. I just give y'all the glory, I give y'all the praise for Father. When we truly understand, when you bless us to see a new day on this side, to get it right, to get it right with you, God, because it's not easy walking this life, it's not easy taking this journey because Father, we just appear when walking through. This ain't our final destination, this is not our home. Hallelujah. Oh, praise be to your name. We just thank you for your guiding light that help us when so many of us are triggered, so many of us fall short of your glory, and then, Lord, there's so many of us that just get tired of going through because you never promised us life would be easy down here, Father. But you say, Cast everything on you. For we supposed to ask for your strength. We look up to the heel, everything should be done in the supernatural. We can't do it in our own strength down here. It's too much principalities and power. You forewarn us in the word. So, Father, on this day, let my message that you send through me exude where it blesses someone, help us so give people hope again. For so many of them are just falling by the wayside. So, as your daughter, under my weak voice, I stand in the gap, I stand in the gap, praying for those that know you and those that don't know you, Father. I pray that they get to know you and the pardon of their sins. I pray that they get to know you as their father. Understand this is not our home. We're just passing through. It's just like a vacation. We take a destination, we go, we visit, we have a good time, and we come on back home. It's not the final destination, it's only a stop till we come back home to you, Father, till we go back to glory. So, Lord, I thank you. I love you, and I praise your holy name, and the only name that has power in heaven and earth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen.

Proverbs 3 Trust With Your Whole Heart

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All right, so it's about to get good, y'all. So I'm coming from Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, NIV, New International Version. Say, trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he will make your path straight. See, this passage emphasized complete trust in God rather than relying solely on human reasoning or personal insight. It encouraged believers to acknowledge God in every aspect of life, not some in every aspect of life, submitting to his guidance in decisions, actions, and plans, the promise attached to this, God will direct and strengthen the path of those who rely on him, providing clarity, guidance, and a sense of purpose. Some key insights, trust with all your heart this call for wholehearted faith, not partial or conditional belief. See, a lot of people in this day and time, everything is about transactional. See, God wants us to be wholeheartedly in the game and not in the game at all. He don't do cold, hot, lukewarm. He wants you to be all in. That's why he tells you, choose today who you will serve. Because either you're gonna be cold, mean you're light, you're gonna be hot, you're in darkness. No lukewarm. Most of us been there. I've been there. No judge, no shade. This ain't about judging because nobody can talk about nobody, because we all fall short of God's glory, not one man on this green earth, but God Himself, when Jesus Christ walked this earth, was the only one perfect. There's not another, and will never be beloved. So human wisdom is limited. See there, God's perspective is perfect and all encompassing. What God is saying there, do not lean on your own understanding. The reason why He tells us don't lean on our own understanding, because what when we on this earth, a lot of things don't make sense, right? Those of us that's on this healing journey, we can relate with this. A lot of things don't make no sense what's going on today, right? Right, so we got more people, and it's sad committing suicide because they lost hope. But when you lose hope, you're not just giving up on life, you're giving up on God and the power of God. Because God don't want us to see things in this eye, the natural eye, the corner eye. He wants us to see it in the spiritual eye. That's trusting him. This is why the word says we walk by faith and not by sight, because at the end of the day, we don't see God, but we know he exists, and we know we need him like we need oxygen, right? Without oxygen, what happens? We're gonna eventually expire. That's why you have doctors now with some people with their health, they're breathing. You know, it's very common in people with COPD, and some people, when they had COVID, they got that uh uh I can't remember the name of it. Don't get me the line, God knows my heart, and some of y'all know what are where I'm going, but it's uh uh a sickness on the lung that they gotta suffer with for the rest of their life, they own oxygen to breathe because their lungs was damaged due to COVID. So God is just like oxygen, we gotta have it, we gotta have him, baby. I promise you down here, because without him, I'ma I'm gonna go ahead, I'm gonna finish, but I want to just share this because it's good to share stories because somebody here tonight gonna be able to relate to where I'm coming

Depression, Loss, And Holding On

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from. There was a time in my life I seen nothing but darkness, and when I'm saying darkness, I mean depression weighed me down. I was just holding on to the hem of Jesus Garment, just like I'm doing now. I promise you, I was just rocking back and forth because I'm I hear my God talking to me, and then saying, like, you won't go through all that. Aren't you tired yet? Don't you think that's enough? And I'm rocking, I'm telling y'all, just how I was, I was tired, but I look at my kids, they was my inspiration, they was my lifeline, but my prayer to God was just hold me on, Lord, just a little while longer. I can't leave my babies, but I'm tired, pain to do that to you, taking care of everything on your own to do that to you, because I didn't have nobody I could depend on. My earthly father, the one that I know as my dad, he wasn't my biological dad. That's why nobody could tell me a man that didn't burn kids couldn't be a good father, because John Edward Fernandez senior. Oh, that man was a father, but I didn't have him after 2008. God called him on home, he transitioned from this side, and that took a damper to me because that's all I had him and my baby sister. But my dad, when I say I could call him for anything, I could call him for anything. Now he might not like it, he might not agree with it, but he was there for me. So I know what it's like when you have no one you can call on, and you're scared to talk to others because everybody wants to judge you. And I know somebody's gonna say the church folks judge you the most. That's right, but you can't blame God. I've been there experienced everything you experience, and some people a little more, but see, God wants us to share because our stories can help somebody, because a beautiful queen just took her life here recently because she was tired, she was tired. You don't know what people going through behind closed doors just because they smile. I used to smile all the time and it wasn't genuine, but I mastered the skill of smiling when nobody didn't know that my world was so dark, I couldn't see nothing. It was like a blind man, nothing but blackness. That's a depression you don't never wanna be in because you don't get up to work, you don't get up to do nothing, and you just smile when you're out and about, or family come around, but it ain't genuine, and they don't know you because you don't have the spirit of discernment, the soul connects and let another know when it's a soul connection when they had that discerned. So I was able to fool a lot of people, but I couldn't fool God, but God kept me, He wouldn't let the devil get me out of here, He wouldn't let the devil take me. He kept me. So the promise of guidance, God will make your path straight, meaning He will provide direction, remove obstacles, and lead toward the right outcome. This verse is often cited for encouragement and decision making, spiritual growth, and reliance on God during uncertain time, reminding believers that faith and obedience bring divine guidance and peace. See, if we understand, if we just trust God in everything, we're gonna be all right.

Isaiah 40 Strength Like Eagles

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Isaiah 40, 31, it teaches that those who place their hope and trust in the Lord will receive renewed strength, enabling them to rise above challenges, preserve and endure without growing weary. See this verse right here. See, I'm a I'm a person that loves eagles. I love I can relate to many of God's beautiful creatures now, but an eagle. Oh, you want to soar high with the eagle. You know how high an eagle can go. Oh, baby, that's why a snake comes messing with them. Oh, you gonna see them take them, rise up, and then they just keep going. That snake ain't got no power, it cannot win. See if we understand that concept with God's strength, we can endure and move mountains, not in our own strength, not in Sean's strength, not in Jacqueline's strength, not in your strength, but in God Yahweh, the great I am, the divine, and God, the divine, will dwell in us and exude through us when we allow him. God don't force himself. Remember, beautiful, God is a true gentleman. When you see real men out here, that's real men opening doors, just polite, won't take on, won't do their order before a woman. Remind you of God, because he don't force himself on you. That's the opposite, his his opponent, but we don't understand that until we have that relationship with God and we heal, beloved. So this verse it stays, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will sow on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. See, the central theme is hope in God, which is not passive, wishing, but a confident expectation that God will act faithfully in one's life. This hope produces renewed strength, both spiritually and emotionally, allowing believers to face trials with resilience. Illustrates divine empowerment. Eagle rises effortly above storms by using air currents, symbolizing how God enables his people to overcome difficulties and gain perspective beyond immediate struggles. This imagery conveys freedom, strength, and elevation, showing that reliance on God lifts believers above life pressure. See, God speaking the word, well, have the word, let me correct myself because he had it, it was inspired by God, but written by man. God spoke a lot in metaphor, just like even when you see the egos and the different things, it's all there in the word. God wanted us because if you think about just like metaphor and stories, it can not only relate, but you remember it, stay with you. It doesn't leave your mind. You ain't gotta worry about remembering it later because it's gonna be there forever. Okay, running and walking, the verse also emphasized endurance, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. This suggests that God's strength sustains believers in both intense challenges, running and daily responsibilities, walking, daily responsibilities. Those of us as women, we used to doing it all. We're most of the time, wives, mothers, you gotta cook, you gotta work, you're doing it all. It's overwhelming when you sit, you still taking care of the household, but guess what? You don't supposed to do it in your strength, beloved. You do it in God's strength. This is where we have to learn to lean on God, lean on his strength, lean on him when we don't understand what's going on. It's gonna be some down moments, it's gonna be some trying times, and then as you heal, oh you're gonna be triggered because the enemy, and sometimes God himself attest you. See if you really, really heal from just doing it your way, as I call it, because sometimes we do things our way versus doing it God's way. But how many of us can admit, truly admit doing it our way gets it done or gets it right every time? It doesn't. See, I've been there every time I did it Sean Way, you might have a temporary, got it going on moment, but it ain't gonna last. But if you do it God way, because now it's God ordained, and not God allowed, it's gonna last, it's gonna work, it's a difference because nothing under the sun can happen without God. That's why it's either God ordained, mean he put this together, or it's God allowed, he just allowed it to happen because you want to be stubborn like Sean and do it your way. So sometimes, just like we do with our children, we have to get out the way. How will they learn if we always go? Oh, let me get the boo-boo baby. Oh no, sometimes it got to teach itself love, just like we have to do. Okay, so waiting and trusting, the Hebrew word translated as wait or hope, it implies patient expectation. Waiting on the Lord involves trusting his timing and faithfulness. Lord, patience was not my thing, but now I learned patience. Woo! Was it easy? Look at me, absolutely not. I will be lying through my teeth if I say it was easy, so that's something we must learn, and sometimes we go through things to teach us patience, to teach us to trust on God, to because think about it this way. Here's an analogy to think about if we didn't have no troubles in this world, no sorrows, no grief, no pain, how many of us would truly call on God? Now be honest, think about that for a minute. Don't raise your hand, don't say nothing, just think about it, be honest, more than likely you wouldn't, because you're gonna feel like you macho, you got it going on, and God won't get no credit, no glory, but yet He's the one behind the scene making sure everything happens. So sometimes you gotta go through tests of your faith to be reminded who our God is, to be reminded. We serve a big God, not a little God. We serve the big G, not the little G. So, by placing hope in God, believers can find energy and courage to face challenges. Perseverance, trusting God enables endurance in both extraordinary and in ordinary circumstances, fate in action, waiting on God encouraged reliance on his promise rather than human strategies, fostering spiritual growth and resilience in essence. So Isaiah 40, 31 reassures us believers, that God's power is inexhaustible, and those who trust him will be empowered to arise above difficulty, sustain their efforts, and experience divine renewal in every aspect of life. Okay?

Psalm 46 Refuge In Chaos

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So God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in trouble. It tells us that in 46 and 1 in Psalm, God provides protection and strength to believers. And God, as a refuge, is a safe place, He's our security. See, a woman can submit to a man, which would God call, this ain't nothing, you know. I'm just telling you, this is what God called when she feels safe. When she feels that security, because God called them to be protectors and providers. Okay. So in Psalms 46 as a whole, is encouraged trusting God even in chaos such as natural disasters or societal upheaval. The psalm reassures believers that they need not fear because God's presence ensures stability and protection. This verse says the Torah for the security in times of trouble. God provides both spiritual and emotional support. It is often cited for encouragement, meditation, and prayer during stressful or uncertain situations. I remember coming up, the elders prayed like I ain't never seen it being done before. God was in the mist. Even I remember um like Bishop Patterson preaches on fire for God. It's just something about going back to the basic of what the elders did back in the day. The old-time way, as I call them. The right way, the godly way. See, let me give you the definition: resilience and hope can both play a huge role in recovery because they really help keep you going even when things feel tough. Resilience is what helps you bounce back from challenges, and hope gives you a sense of something to look forward to as you recover. Now, what does recover mean? Recovery is really about the process of healing and getting back on your feet, whether that's physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually, it's about regaining strength and finding your way back to a place of greater well-being, to a place of being back with God. So that's what we have to learn, beloved, in this day and time, because things are getting out of control. We know that. Look at storms. Storms come, do a massive destruction. It can tear down your neighbor's house right across the streets and bypass yours. That's the power of God showing us He's still in the miracle build business. He's still in the miracle business. Because at the end of the day, what God says? He's gonna protect his. Do you think God gave us Psalm 91 just because you will see people all around you that's out of the will of God, that's trying to figure out why things are going on. Now, don't get it twisted because those of us that's children of God will have things happen to us as well. But God's protection covers us. Amen. Amen. That's right, listen, Linda. So at the end of the day, God's protection, no matter what bad God's children go through, He's gonna do an 8 and 28 rounds, he gonna turn it around for our good. But when you going outside of his will, just wanna do your own thing, and pretty much telling him, I don't need you. Do you, boo? You know how we did it. Don't get so holy and forget how your response was yesterday. Use your yesterday and where you at today to show somebody how far God brought you today, but still be transparent because it's not easy down here.

Triggers, Relationships, And Godly Support

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I told y'all I was just trying up Friday. I wanted to bring the bat out. I had to sit the new chick down, and now I love the new chick, but I'm not gonna sit there and lie and say I had to go back, okay. God, okay, now of course, my king today, just like God, can calm that storm, can get me to think logically and rationally, and I'll be patient sometime, but that particular incident that occurred, because good people don't like keep getting hurt, come on now, but at the same time, you go be tried, you gonna be re-triggered. It's on us to look up to the hill. Where come our strength? And if your people are not breeding back life into you, building you up, they're not your people. They just like the people that's trying to cause all the confusion, all the chaos. God is a good guy, God is a loving God, God is an unconditional loving God. He don't do nothing transactional, he don't do nothing to gain nothing. When you have people around you that's doing all that, that's not your people. They in it for what's in it for them. And see, that's not the God we serve. God wants that love to be reciprocal, God wants the business partnership to be reciprocal. Everything we do should be equally yoked. Everything, not some things, beloved, and one thing we gotta stop doing as a people, judging people. God don't judge, but he gonna be the final judge when we leave this earth. And why I say God don't judge, because when you go to God and you ask for forgiveness, what happens to it? He forgives you and he let it go, right? So, why do men feel like on this green earth we gotta judge everything somebody do? This is why before healing, I was like, God, not me. I don't I don't want to talk to the people, I don't want to share my story. These folks don't talk about me. God, like I didn't call you to be ordinary. It's not about me, it's about kingdom building, it's about drawing man, boy, girl, woman back to me. So I had to step back and be obedient because it wasn't about Sean, and why was Sean worrying about what others thought about her when they wasn't the one meeting my needs? But see, we get caught up in that because that's how society conditioned us, beloved. We gotta focus on what thus says the Lord, what God called us to do. How are we helping our fellow man? How are we making a difference to society? I don't care how much they tear this country up, I'm still gonna do my share in spreading the truth, the gospel, bringing light, and do what needs to be done. Because when God gets tired of them playing down here, he's gonna tear it up from the top to the bottom. And as the elders would say, from the tootie to the fruity. So at the end of the day, we gotta do what we know is right to do. We gotta be there, be that support system again, like the big moms and then what big mama, mine was called mommy. That was my heart, baby. Oh, that was my heart. We don't have that like we used to no more. But we need to be the big mamas, the mommy. Bring it back, bring it back. Because this is what the world needs now. We're living in a world where people care less about humanity. It's all about the mighty dollar to them. What they fail to realize, that dollar ain't going with you when you leave this green earth. You can set up a trust, you can give it all away. But what is it can gain a whole wild world to lose your eternal soul? It ain't even worth it. Ain't no much money in the world, and I just heard recently, I don't know if it's true or not, but it's all over social media. Elon Musk just made became the first trillionaire. It's a lot of money, but when he's gone, not one dollar can depart with him, not one dollar. So when we get the big head, we forget where we come from because whether you believe it or not, when you have opportunities that God opened doors for you where you make a significant income, what are you doing to help humanity? What are you doing to help the people? Now, don't get me wrong, it's a lot of people out here helping people that you don't hear about it, and you shouldn't hear about it, but it's a lot of people out here not doing nothing but judging folks and talking about where I'm going with this. We gotta stop talking about it and be about it. Pray for people because God said when two or more come gathering in his name, he's in the midst, beloved. When two or more, so you see your brother or sister struggling, even if they don't tell you what's going on, pray for them, help them if you can. Sometimes just talking to a person helps them, sometimes just listening to a person when they hurting inside helps them. That's loving your brother, your sister. Do you know how many people we can bring back to God with just showing love, we're just showing compassion? That's all it don't always take money, but it takes love because love will make the world go round, love what sets the captain free. So without love, that's nothing, beloved. That's nothing. So

Compassion Over Judgment In Real Life

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before we close, I ask y'all to meditate on your own journey in life and consider how you trust God and how you can inspire others on this walk. Because remember, we're just passing through. None of us are here forever. None of us. This is not our home. We're just passing through, beloved. We're just on vacation until God says, Vacation's over. The trumpet sign and we transition from this side of the earth with our loved ones. And we go to God for judgment for all deeds, for how we treated man. What did we do to serve Jesus walked this earth? He was the blueprint, God Himself in human form to show us as an example. He always went in seclusion, and he always prayed to the Father. He didn't go to Tom, he didn't go to Sarah, he went to our heavenly father. He showed us by example and he showed us by love. He knew Judas was gonna betray him. He knew everything about every disciple, but he didn't judge. He called uncall because he don't need you to have certification, he doesn't need you to have a bachelor degree, he don't need you to even have a PhD. Matter of fact, he don't even need you to have an associate degree. He calls the chosen to take a stand and not be afraid to walk this walk. We are to pick up our cross and walk this walk like Jesus walked, loving everybody. He didn't judge the prostitute, he didn't judge the murderers, he didn't judge the alcoholic, the drug addict. So why do men feel they should? He showed compassion, he showed love, and the thing about God, when Jesus washed feet, that was symbolic to say, I'm not above you, I'm not beneath you, I am with you, I'm with you, beloved. We are one, we're stuck like glue. Remember, it's God the Son and the Holy Spirit is flesh and spirit also in the Holy Spirit that's God dwelling in us, God is within us if you allow him. How long you want God to walk with you instead of within you? That's a big difference because everything can go on around in the world, but God says in the prayer, as it is in heaven, it shall be bound on earth, as it is in heaven, it shall be bound on earth. So stand fast, be unmovable, stand for something or fall for it all, and when I say stand for something, I mean stand for God on his word that everything that's going on, this too shall pass. Weeping may come for a night, but baby joy coming in the morning, just like that storm, it can't last forever. Trouble don't last always. So, whatever you're going through, beautiful, I don't care what you're going through. Marital problem, relationship problem, kids problem, job problem, business problem. Put it in the master hand, the one and only, the great I am, the divine, the beginning, the end. Yahweh, baby, the only one that can change your situation, change your circumstance if you are not to be in that fire, he will take you out the fire. But when he takes you out the fire, please don't return back to the fire. Because I always was told, when you play with fire, you will get burned. So don't get burned if that's not what God wants you to do. And in that, we'll close.

Final Encouragement And Next Week Preview

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I hope that my tone for the podcast tonight help you as we wrap this up. This hour, well, we got one more season finale next week, y'all. So God be the glory. Y'all wanna see me for the month of July? That's my birthday. My woo-hoo! Oh, yeah, I'm gonna work a little bit, but I'm gonna celebrate me. God bless me to see another year around the sun. I'm gonna celebrate because it's a blessing that I no longer take lightly. Because so many people go to sleep, thinking they're gonna wake up the next day and they don't have that opportunity. And some people give up because they're tired and they're weary. So, thank you for tuning into this week's Wounded Warrior Podcast. I hope you got something meaningful out of your time with me together on today, and that you take this moment and reflect on trusting God. Keep trusting him if you are trusting in him, keep the faith. After all, we walk by faith and not by sight. So, until next week, beloved. I gotta hold my Bible and let me do my prayer because I almost got ahead of myself, but God slowed my tail down. All

Closing Prayer And Sending Forth

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right, let's close our eyes. Dear Heavenly Most Gracious Father, Father, I come to you again, Lord, thanking you. Thank you for you for this service tonight. Thank you for the word, thank you for even speaking to me, Lord. I just thank you for using me as your vessel, everyone, Lord, under the sound of my weak voice, wherever they need you, please meet them at their need. I just ask that we as the children of God start trusting you more, allowing you to dwell in us, exude through us to make this world a better place. Because in order for it to be a better place, it starts with you first, then me and everyone else. So I ask, Lord, on tonight that everybody meditate and think about how they can be a service to you and make a difference to their fellow man. I give you all the praise, all the glory, all the honor, it all belongs to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen and amen.

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Until next week, you can't do it.