"Just Enough Strength For The Next Thing"

This episode is for the ones who aren't trying to figure out the next year...just the next breath. Through truth, faith, and surrender, we talk about what it really means to ask God-not for everything at once-but for just enough strength for the next thing.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome back, welcome back, you guys, to Honestly Speaking, Alone Together, a place where real conversations happen. Life isn't always neat, polished, or easy, and here we're not pretending that it is. This podcast is about faith, belief, feeling, truth, and the moments that shape us. It's about speaking honestly about the struggles we face, the lessons we learn, and the hope we find along the way. Some conversations may challenge you, some may encourage you, and some may simply remind you that you are not alone. So take a breath, settle in, and let's talk about the things that matter most. Hi, I'm Harry Spark, and this is Honestly Speaking Alone Together. Well, hello, hello, hello everybody, and welcome back. Welcome back. We are going to be talking today about just enough strength for the next thing. Yeah, that's right. Just enough strength for the next thing. So let's be honest. Sometimes doesn't hit in waves, it crashes all at once. And people will tell you, be strong, keep going. Trust God. But what do you do when you don't have strength for all that? Today we're talking about something different. Not strength for tomorrow, not strength for next year, just strength for the next thing. There have been moments in my life where I couldn't even think past the next five minutes. Through grief, addiction, loss, shame, embarrassment, guilt, anxiety, depression. Not how do I rebuild my life, but God, how do I get through this moment? Have you ever asked God that? You know, we've been taught to ask God for big things, big strength, mountain moving strength, miracle level strength. But what if real faith, friends, sometimes sounds like, God, help me get out of this bed? Father, help me not to go back. God, help me breathe through this feeling. You see, God never said, I'll give you strength for your whole life at once, but He did say in His Word, give us this day our daily bread. Daily, friend, not yearly, not a lifetime supply, daily strength. We think if we can't handle everything, that sometimes we're failing. And that's that's far from the truth. You're not failing, friend. You're human. And sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is say, God, I can't carry all this, but I trust you with the next step. One of my favorite verses is 1 Peter 5 and 7. Cast all your anxieties on him. Why? Because he cares for you. So when I look back at my story, you know, I've talked about addiction to meth and crack cocaine, my promiscuity, people pleasing, grief, deep grief, because I've walked through grief before, but losing my son is a it's a deep grief. I remember a time where I wasn't asking God to fix my life. I was asking him to keep me from destroying it more. I didn't need a 10-step plan. I needed strength to say, no more.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

No more. No more.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

To some things, because I've walked through a lot in my life. Faith doesn't always look like confidence. And I can attest and tell you that is the truth. Sometimes it just looks like not giving up today, not answering that call, not even thinking about going back to that place, getting up when everything in you is saying stay down. That's faith, friend. You know what? And God meets us in the small ask. When we ask those small things, God is there as well. God is not overwhelmed by your small prayers. In fact, the truth, sometimes the smallest prayers are the most honest ones. Help me not text them, help me not relapse, help me not lose my mind right now, if we can be honest. And heaven responds to that. We're breaking shame. Let's talk about breaking shame. You needing moment by moment strength is not weakness, it's dependence. And dependence is where intimacy with God is built, friend. What do you do when your mind starts to spiral? Because there can be moments in our life that that takes place and that happens, or it tries to. Your mind will try to drag you into what if tomorrow is worse? How will I survive this? This will never get any better.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

But let's go back, friend. God, just help me with this moment. When anxiety hits, ask God to help you breathe through this wave.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

When temptation hits, ask God to give you the strength for the next 10 minutes or however long you need it to need him to help you. When grief hits, God, please just sit with me in this moment. And here's the truth that we rarely talk about. You don't win battles all at once, you win them moment by moment. And that's a model of mine that especially since my son passed away. I can't think on into next week where I'm having to, you know, really, really just kind of plan things out. You know, the the big things, yes, of course. But my model has become moment by moment, one moment at a time. And those moments, friend, they build a life. We want God sometimes to even deliver us instantly. But we have to remember that God is in the process, not just the outcome. He walks us through it step by step so we know Him in every stage, not just a Savior, not just as a keeper, but as a sustainer. There's so many times in my life, even up to now, that God is sustaining me, and I thank him for that. So when you speak life over yourself, it's so powerful. In the Bible, David encouraged himself in the Lord. But in this moment, if you're listening right now and all you have in you is enough strength for the next thing, whatever that thing is that you are walking through or you will walk through, that's enough. If you just have the strength for the next thing, friend, that is enough. You are not behind, you are not weak, you are not failing, you are still here, and that matters more than you know. More than you know, friend. So I want to talk to you now about something that God shared with me, and I just want to give you some encouragement in this moment. Sometimes it feels like everything has already been written, that the mistakes, the pain, the loss, the detours, you know, somehow become the final chapter. But that's not how God writes. It's not how our daddy rose, y'all. It's not how he rose. God doesn't end stories in the middle of the mess. So if you're still here, still breathing, still waking up with even the smallest ounce of hope, or even just the strength to try again, that alone is proof that God is not finished with you yet. The same God who began a work in you, friend, didn't lose track of your life when things got hard or are hard right now. He didn't walk away when you fail. He didn't change his mind because of your past. What he started, he is still committed to completing, let me tell you. So right now might feel like a pause in your life or even a breaking point. But in God's hands, it's actually a building place. What feels like delay to you is often preparation. What feels like silence is often shaping. What feels like an ending is often a setup for something greater. So let me make this clear. Nothing, nothing, nothing you've been through is wasted. Not the addiction, not the grief, not the nights you cried when nobody saw. God knows how to take all those broken pieces and turn them into a testimony that brings life to others. Talk about beauty for ashes. You are not disqualified. You, friend, are being developed. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. Philippians 1 and 6. So don't give up in a chapter, friend, that God never intended to be the conclusion. Your story still has purpose, your life still has impact, and your future is still being written by a father who specializes in redemption. You're not behind, you're becoming, friend. You're becoming we ask God for the strength to keep going, to keep moving, to keep living, keep showing up. And I think about the times that there was just little faith, faith as a mustard seed. And sometimes that's all it takes. There have been so many times that I have walked through these last few days, this last year, where my faith literally was the size of a mustard seed. But I did not give up, I did not give in. And there are times that I just had to sit, sit in the presence of God and let Him, let Him be the one to hold me in the midst. There were times that I couldn't worship, and I had to just sit there and let God hold me. There were times that I couldn't pray and all I could do was cry. And I had to sit there and I let God hold me. I let Him minister to my very soul. Because to be honest, when you walk through deep grief like that, loss, sometimes there can be, you know, a trick of the enemy that's like your life is over with. What else do I have to live for? This is not gonna get any better. This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. But God is not done with your story, He's not gonna leave you in the middle of a mess. I look back at the three Hebrew boys and their faith not to bow down to the golden image, but to trust God regardless. And they even ended up saying, even if he doesn't, we're still not gonna worship this golden image.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

We're gonna worship our God.

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He said in his word, there'll be no other gods before me. And I look at their faith to stand in that and to be thrown into a furnace where it was upped way hotter, and they were willing to go. They trusted God. God, I trust you right now, and friend, I pray that you trust God in the midst of your situation because here's the here's the turning point.

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Because of their faith, even if it's small as a mustard seed, God didn't bring them and pull them out of it, He got in it with them.

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The people were looking and they were wondering, who's this, who's this fourth person? Didn't we just throw three in here? Who's this fourth person that we see? And I want to let you know that even though God is not pulling you out and it feels like a mess, your life feels like it's in shambles, your world seems like it's crashing. I want to let you know that God is in the midst with you. He's in the storm, he's gonna give you peace in the midst of your storm.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

So let me pray for you, friend, for right now, and take this prayer in and listen with your spirit.

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Because I feel right now that somebody needs some strength, somebody needs some encouragement, somebody has a heavy and broken heart right now, and you think that your life and your world is over because it's been flipped upside down. But I want to let you know right now that God is not through with you just yet. So, Father God, right now we come to you exactly as we are. Not strong, not put together, not pretending, Father, but just honest. You see the weight, you see the grief, you see the battles that no one else knows about. And Father God, we're not asking for strength for everything all at once, but we're asking for strength for just the next thing, the next breath, the next decision, the next moment when our minds start to spiral, steady us, Father. When temptation calls, anchor us. When grief overwhelms, hold us. Remind us that we don't have to carry tomorrow today. Give my friend, Father God, daily strength, moment by moment grace and peace that meets us right where we are. And Father, for the one listening who feels like they're barely holding on, be their strength right now. Not later, not eventually, but right now, God. We trust you with the next thing. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. So I thank you for tuning in. I thank you for taking the time out to come visit the channel. And I just want to remind you it's okay to ask God for strength. Let him be your strength and know that he's not done writing your story. I don't care how it looks right now, he's not done writing your story. There will be beauty for those ashes, dear friend. You're still here, and that matters more. More, more, more than you know. Hang on, hold on, don't give up. Push. Pray until something happens. Get to know God in this moment, in these moments, and let him minister to your heart and to your soul.

SPEAKER_01 16:57

My favorite verse.

SPEAKER_00 16:59

He's near to the brokenhearted. And if you're sitting in a place where your spirit is contrite, he's there. He's there, friend. And he said that he would never ever leave you nor forsake you. And that's a promise. So until next time, honestly speaking, alone together, I pray that you are blessed and kept according to Numbers 6, 24 through 26. In the mighty name of Jesus. Remember, friend, God loves you, and so do I.