Episode 9: Maturity Happens When you make the effort to Change

 Hello friends, and welcome to a podcast dedicated to your personal growth journey alongside my personal insights. This episode focuses on how maturity is acquired through change. We explore how to take time to breathe, reflect, and prevent insanity. Offering valuable tips for daily growth. Avoid making the same mistake again and finding out when it is time to stop. If you're looking for motivation and life lessons to change your life, this podcast is for you! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You might ask yourself, how is it that my life isn't changing? What am I doing wrong? Why am I always so busy? Why am I always getting everyone upset? Most of the time we ponder the same questions over and over without a proper understanding of what we're doing wrong, only to keep repeating the same thing until we get it right. Wishing the dream life we long for was already here, hoping we'd be happy today, wondering why we're depressed, angry, torn apart, and hopeless. What if I told you it's not your fault that all of this keeps happening? However, what if I told you that negative repetition, the unwillingness to change, the refusal to make time to reflect, maintaining the same flaws and adapting to the current stress is the definition of insanity. Hello and welcome back to Wisdom Encounters Over Coffee, the show where we talk about the complications of a faith journey and how you can improve today to make your tomorrow a little better. My name is Peter, and today we'll be discussing what prevents growth and how it's not about adapting to the stress. If you like what you hear and feel inspired, don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell. Not listening to the show on YouTube, don't worry, as the show is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you listen to your podcasts. With that being said, get some coffee, grab your nearby Bible, and let's dive in, shall we? To kick things off, let's reflect on the following verses from Proverbs 26, verses 11 through 12. As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly. Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them. Ask yourself, is it worth it? Especially after every attempt at trying to get it right. The verse is showing us how sometimes the flesh and our negligent human mindset wants to convince us that what we're doing is correct, and there is no other way. What makes it more interesting is how this parable of the dog returning to its vomit is like a rotation, a loop that we somehow find ourselves in day by day. If we keep on doing the same thing, what makes us believe that we'll get it right a second time or a third time? Let's say you and your spouse had a fight. Or if you're single, maybe your parents are a best friend. You keep trying to make things better by crying for forgiveness, asking for help, pleaing that you messed up and they're not responding back. Either that or you're trying to claim that you were right and they were wrong, maintaining that pride and not asking for forgiveness. What if you messed up so badly and they don't want to talk to you anymore? Move forward. If you asked for forgiveness and they didn't accept, you did your job asking for forgiveness. Now, if you didn't ask for forgiveness, then you're probably being part of the problem. But this means it's over. Unless you want to keep pushing them further and further away. Maybe they need time to heal. Maybe they need some space. Maybe you're the one who needs time to reflect and make the change. Why keep trying if you're only going to make the problem worse than it already is? Here's another scenario. Let's say you're working at a job, you receive minimum wage, you keep pushing yourself, but the payment rate stays the same. Is this job worth keeping at all if all it'll do is drive you insane? What makes you believe that this job will get better over time? How much do you actually know your own worth? There is a limit as to how much stress one can carry. The sooner you realize your own worth, the sooner you can start searching for a new door or a new opportunity. Don't do this alone. Seek first the kingdom and its righteousness, and all will be given to you. Seek the Lord, pray, ask for guidance, and do not embark on this quest all by yourself. The enemy wants you to be alone. The enemy wants to steal and deceive you, wants you to be torn apart and alone. The sooner you realize how much God loves you and wants the best for you, the sooner you can get out of that ongoing stress. Don't try to solve everything by yourself. We all have limits, and the sooner we know them, the sooner we can seek help. Whether it's a friend, a family member, a church, or a community. There is always a solution for everything. Don't do this alone and don't push yourself into solving this problem by yourself. Don't be insane. Maturing is realizing that life's problems aren't there to bother us, but to shape and mold our character. Such is the case seen in James 1, verses 2 through 6, which says, Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. To every problem, there is always a solution, and to get to that solution, one must identify all the flaws that might be causing this problem. Should we not find the time to stop and reflect on the flaws we have? This will cause us to enter a nonstop loop, keeping us stuck in the position that ultimately drives us insane. If this schedule didn't work out last week, what makes you believe that it'll work out this week? Ask yourself, what am I doing wrong that's preventing me from reaching my promised land? What am I doing right? Am I overspending my monthly budget? Am I spending too much time procrastinating? Is my job worth so much trouble if I'm not getting paid enough? So many questions and so little time. And oftentimes, all this does is create more fear, anxious thoughts, nightmares, and hopelessness. Character development starts to come into play once you stop and realize what your priorities are. Stop and ask yourself questions like if I'm doing this wrong? Or if this problem isn't pushing me forward? Is it worth my time to keep trying? What am I doing right that could be further elevated into a potential income stream? What are my strengths and what are my weaknesses? What will help me reach my goals at a faster and smarter rate? Who is helpful to me and who is wasting my time? Take a moment to breathe. Breathe in and breathe out. Don't do everything at once. I understand that there are so many deadlines and so many people who demand so much from us. The moment we realize, man, I cannot please everyone and I can't do everything. This is a crucial step in beginning to honor yourself. How can you do everything at once if you're burning yourself out? Don't burn yourself out. Love yourself first. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Problems aren't there to kill us. They often happen to give us opportunities to grow and shape our character, shape our identity, and shape our minds as people. If something doesn't work, then stop and think: why is this not working? Don't burn yourself out and drive towards insanity. Lastly, remember you're not alone. Remember, we have a God on our side who is three in one, Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. He loves us so much that he sent his own son to die for our sins on the cross that very day. We can depend and rely on him because man will disappoint in every kind of way. Even the closest ones around us will disappoint. Don't depend on man, depend on God. As it is written in Romans 5, verses 1 through 5. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. What does it mean to glory in our sufferings? Do not mistake this phrase with, oh yeah, I'm suffering! Let's go! What this means is that there is always a light in the middle of the darkness. There is hope, even if you are currently suffering, but do recognize the fact that it is easy to fall into sadness or despair if one isn't careful. It's easy to fall back again and again just because you are suffering. The moment you come across this thought and say, Man, I am growing, I am maturing. This problem may be a problem, but a problem I can overcome. That is where the joy really comes from. That is how we can carry that joy and glorify him. Still, despite our pain and sorrow, we notice the problem and do our very best to grow and learn through this experience. Instead of adapting to the pain, instead of making claims like, yeah, I'm suffering and this is my normal. It doesn't have to be your normal. As there is always a way, God makes the way easier and simpler, as our battle is not by flesh or by might. Once we throw ourselves to God and give Him control of the wheel, life somehow becomes easier, more understandable. Perseverance develops character, and that character develops hope. Don't just repeat the same mistakes over and over and over, expecting a different result. And don't think you'll always live in that loop of madness and despair. Take the time to consider your options, reflect on what's working and what's not. Don't just keep enduring in this madness. It's time to work smarter and not harder. Why? Push your limits, push your buttons, and burn yourself out if there is always a solution to your major problems. Remember to also invite God into every situation. He also shines a way out better than any of us would. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. He will provide.

unknown 13:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 13:44

This is a very heavy topic to talk about, my dear listeners, but one that I'm thankful I got off my chest. So let me take this time to close this in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. Thank you, Jesus, for everything that you provide. The problems, the highlights, the lowlights, everything. And I just pray for the person who is currently listening to this episode. I just pray, Lord, that you can just help solve their problems. Help reveal yourself to them. Make your face shine upon them and give them so much peace, love, and joy. Remove any anxiety, remove any stress, remove any fear, and help, help them shine your light to their promised land. Shine your light to their path. Shine your light towards their goals. Thank you, Jesus. And thank you, God, for providing so much for this podcast, giving me the opportunity to give out these messages that you provide. Thank you, Jesus, for just blessing me and the person behind the screen. Thank you, God. In your name we pray. Amen. Well, thank you very much for listening to this very deep episode of Wisdom Encounters Over Coffee. I hope you enjoyed it. And be sure to like, subscribe, and comment down below if you're watching on YouTube. What are you going to do today that is going to provide a better tomorrow? Thank you so much for your time and thank you so much for listening. I know episodes like these aren't easy to listen to, but sometimes they just bring in an impact, bring in a thought. Thank you so much for your time. God bless and have a wonderful day.