Erin: Hey friends. Do you ever long to hear the words? It’s all going to be okay if you feel like you need to hear those words, or if those words make you feel angry,

[00:00:10] Then you’re not gonna want to miss this episode of steps to trusting. Hi, I’m Erin Michelle

[00:00:16] Welcome at steps to trusting. It’s my goal to meet you where you are in your faith journey, and to encourage you to continue to take steps, to trusting the Lord more fully. So

[00:00:26] Do you long to hear these words? Because I know I long for the message to be spoken over my heart yet simultaneously we often reject this reassurance because we know that these words don’t change the outcome of our situation.

[00:00:40] They don’t change the heartache or the brokenness or the fear. So often when these words are spoken, they hurt instead of giving us the peace that they were intended when they were spoken.

[00:00:49] So, yes, I think we often want to hear that it’s gonna be okay, but it’s more than that. It’s something deeper. We’re looking for a purpose and a meaning behind these things that we’ve had to go through. As I sit here on this side of the microphone, knowing that those are words I’ve wanted to hear, I wanted someone to tell me it was going to be okay when I saw things falling apart in front of me.

[00:01:12] but I found that though, I wanted those words spoken over my life. I wasn’t able to receive it in the depth of the hurt. What I really needed was the promise from Romans 8 28.

[00:01:23] And I wanna speak it over you. Now. It says, And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

[00:01:33] I need to know that this is going to work out when often I can’t see the end. I can’t see what’s coming. And it just feels overwhelming friend.

[00:01:44] I’m here to remind you that God will work this for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

[00:01:52] That’s right. Take a deep breath.

[00:01:55] God can use whatever you are going through for your good.

[00:01:59] those words might make you feel relief and they might make you feel angry with questions.

[00:02:06] friends. When we are in the depth of hurt these words. that God will use it for our good, like the words. It will all be okay. May not feel very helpful. They will not take away the grief, the pain or the challenge, but these words offer an unchanging promise of purpose and meaning. Maybe we’re going through something very challenging right now. Maybe your reaction is

[00:02:30] why does she think she can reassure that this will work out for my good,

[00:02:34] She doesn’t know the struggle that I’m going through. She doesn’t know the pain. She doesn’t know the need. And she doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know what I’m capable of or what, the one who opposes me is capable of, or the task that is a huge in front of.

[00:02:53] And to you friend, I want to tell you No, I don’t know your situation. I don’t know how huge it seems looming in front of you. I don’t know if it’s just a task that you need to accomplish, or if it’s a chronic struggle, you will face daily. I don’t know if it started today or 10 years ago or 20 more.

[00:03:17] And I don’t know if it’s going to say. But I do know,

[00:03:21] the one who knows you, who knows your situation and it was the pain that you’re going through, even if you hide it so that no one else can see. God knows what you’re facing. He knows the struggle you’re feeling. He knows the emotions that are running through your body.

[00:03:41] I know him as creator. I know him is the giver of every good gift. I know him through the promise of Romans 8, 28,

[00:03:51] the God who works, all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

[00:04:00] If those words just can’t cut through the pain, if it doesn’t bring you reassurance

[00:04:06] of meaning or purpose, because you can’t see anything, but the pain you’re walking through.

[00:04:12] I wanna pray for you now,

[00:04:14] God, we can’t see how, what we are walking through could be used for our good, we only feel the pain and see this struggle and the heartache and God, we want to see how this could be used for our good, but we are stuck in the pain. Lord, help us remember that you are with us.

[00:04:35] You are with us here. You are walking us through.

[00:04:39] God, help us to feel your presence in these moments, help us to heal when we can’t understand how this could be good for us.

[00:04:46] When we long for circumstances to be different,

[00:04:50] remind us, you are with us. Remind us how you could work this, even this for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose, help us to have eyes to see. it’s in Jesus name. I pray. Amen. Friends that promise those words.

[00:05:07] Bring me

[00:05:07] to this question. Do you know him? Do you love him? It’s a big question. This is not some far off love. Like you see a band or hear them on the radio and you say yes, I love that band. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about relationship. Do you love him? recently We talked about Nicodemus in John three,

[00:05:33] and Jesus looks him in the eye and tells him whoever believes in him will have eternal. And then he says in this very familiar verse to many for God, so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

[00:05:55] All who believe in. Jesus said all who believe in him. He loves us too. We love him. Did we look to him? Do we trust him? Do we believe him? Do we take him at his word Do we understand this love? Do we understand how this love impacts our lives?

[00:06:16] for those of you who are still trying to figure this out, trying to figure out if you love him, then I want to go ahead. and say a prayer for you all now.

[00:06:28] Dear Jesus. Thank you so much that you love us. Thank you, God, that you loved us so much that you sent your son Jesus to die for us. And Jesus that you were willing to die to are willing to give your life for ours, or it help us to love you, help us to learn your character, to see how you have loved us.

[00:06:55] And Lord change that in our hearts. Make us people who love you because you first loved us. And God, you already have poured out your love for the world by sending your son. Remind us that we don’t have to do enough to earn our way towards you, but God, you freely gave this gift.

[00:07:17] You made the sacrifice because you loved us.

[00:07:21] Thank you, Lord. Jesus, help us to understand this love. It’s in Jesus name. I pray amen friends.

[00:07:28] I know that some of you are struggling with that question right now of love. And I know that for some of you, you do love him. To those of you at love him. God is somehow working this for your good.

[00:07:44] Again I get it. That the first emotion you might feel to that is anger. And I want you to hear this and know that it’s coming from a person who has walked through pain.

[00:07:58] In the last couple of years, I’ve been through some hard things where I had to grieve. I had to face loss and pain and rejection and judgment and brokenness.

[00:08:10] I’ve had to hold all that emotion that, that brings.

[00:08:15] And it’s hard during that walk to look at this far off hope, but friend,

[00:08:21] as someone who has stood in your place,

[00:08:24] not because the situation will get smaller or better, but because God is bigger,

[00:08:30] I want to tell you, God is going to work this out for the good of those who love him.

[00:08:36] sometimes when people tell you God is going to use this for your good, it’s hard to hear. Because the challenge in front of us or the pain behind us,

[00:08:47] doesn’t change through those words.

[00:08:50] But To those of you that love him, God is somehow working the situation that you’re in or have been in or will be in for your good. If you love him, you can trust him that he will somehow work out the situation that you are in for your good, this is beyond our comprehension sometimes. And sometimes it feels callused and hard as you look at the overwhelming situation in front of you or behind you.

[00:09:21] And you. Wrap your head around how it could be for your good When we’re sitting in such pain, it doesn’t always bring us peace. And I understand.

[00:09:33] I’ve been in that place. I’ve walked through loss and pain. I’ve had brokenness rejection.

[00:09:42] I get it.

[00:09:43] these words don’t always bring peace.

[00:09:46] I remember sitting across from a friend who was facing a diagnosis.

[00:09:51] That was challenging and saying right now, knowing that God is going to work this out for my good does not make this easier.

[00:10:01] And years later, I sat across from the very same friend

[00:10:05] and listen to how God had changed things in their life. Listen to what, to what God was doing. They let me in to their life, in both the heartache and in the joy,

[00:10:19] it doesn’t take away the pain, my friend. And I know that I still look back on brokenness in my life,

[00:10:28] but God is showing me what he was doing all along. It didn’t stop the pain.

[00:10:35] friends, when I look at what happened in my life, I I can see how God used these hard situations in my life. I can see how it took this severe situation, but it was actually a severe mercy that God used to change me. He used it to open my eyes, to see the places where I was trusting myself instead of trusting Him. Friends to those of you struggling to see how God could use this situation you’re walking through or have walked through or will walk through for your good.

[00:11:11] I want to pray for you now, dear God.

[00:11:14] It’s a struggle to think that the hard situations in life are good for us.

[00:11:21] It’s a hard truth to look at the places where we struggle and feel pain, how that could bring good Lord, help us to trust you. Help us to remember that your kingdom is eternal. It is not of this world.

[00:11:40] Help us to remember,

[00:11:42] that you want us to see the need we have for you. You want us to call out to you. You want us to turn to you, Lord, help us to do that. Help us to let our need. Drive us to you. Are there please. Don’t let this pain drive us away. Draws near, use it for our good where’d. We love you.

[00:12:07] And we want to love you. Please grow that love in our hearts and teach us. Who you are, it’s in Jesus name that I pray. Amen. when we say God is going to use this for your good it doesn’t take away the, the hard thing in our lives, but it does point us to focus on something different. It points us to trust that God is bigger than any challenge of this world.

[00:12:35] So friends, I want to leave you with some practical things to help you through this struggle. Some practical things we can hold on to when it doesn’t feel like it’s all going to be okay. When it feels like it’s all too much to handle. I want to leave you with three practical things to think about.

[00:12:56] And they’re all characteristics of our God that we see in the Bible. The first one is that God knows what we’re going through. the first passage I want to lead you to is Psalm 1 42. The verse that I’ve clung to over the years is verse three, but let’s read it in context with my voice. I cry out to the Lord with my voice. I plead for mercy to the Lord. I pour out my complaint before him. I tell my trouble before him, when my spirit faints within me, you know, my way So when we look at this verse, it talks about who God is. He’s a God who’s willing to listen to us. That’s found in verse. And he is a God who knows us. He knows the plans he has for us.

[00:13:49] He knows us. He knows our way, even when we feel faint, even when what’s in front of us feels very challenging. This makes me think of another verse that does fit in this same category of God, knowing us. And that’s Jeremiah 29, 11, Jeremiah 29 11 says 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 a hope and a future, then you will call upon me and you will pray to me. And I will hear you friends. the next time you are feeling the reminder that you need God to know your way, go and read this in context, go and look that this is not just in a time of plenty and blessing and perfect situation.

[00:14:41] we’ll leave it as a cliffhanger, go and check it out. Go see the context of God’s love for people. And I did read it with verse 12. It says, then you will call upon me and come and pray to me. And I will hear you the promise he has for us, the hope that he has for us leads to that, that they will turn to him.

[00:15:04] We’ll leave the rest of it. A cliffhanger, go and check it out in context. and friends.

[00:15:09] remember the theme verse for the show? Ephesians two 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

[00:15:21] He prepares our steps for us to walk in them. He knows our way.

[00:15:27] We don’t have time to cover all the passages that talk about being known by God and him knowing the plans for us. But I highly encourage you to check out Psalm 1 39, if you need to be reminded that God sees you and he knows what you’re going through, and he knows the plan that he has for you.

[00:15:47] Check that out. So the first characteristic of God that’s that he knows the plans he has for us. He knows our path. That is the character of our God Characteristic number two. He is our defender friends. I was trying to pick just one or two verses to give you for this. And I am going to do that, but so many verses in the Bible to point to God as our defender, this is a characteristic of God that I clung to, more recently

[00:16:18] in a struggle where I felt rejected and misunderstood.

[00:16:22] Again, there’s lots of verses that point to this characteristic of God, but I want to lead you guys to some three, three. It says, but you are, Lord are a shield about me, my glory, the lifter of my head.

[00:16:36] If you need a defense, if you need a defender, I encourage you to read through the songs.

[00:16:43] I’m just going to read to you a couple verses where as I’m flipping through, I see in the margins that have written defender.

[00:16:50] So I want to share those with you, and I want you to take away and remember that God is your defender. No matter what situation you are in The first one that I see is in Psalm three, verse eight from the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing beyond your people

[00:17:08] Psalm 18: 14. It says he shot his arrows and scattered the enemies for 17. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who are too strong for me Psalm 27. Let’s read this one in context. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Who of whom shall I be afraid?

[00:17:34] Psalm 33 verse seven, the angel of the Lord and camps around those who fear him. He delivers them verse 8, taste and see that the Lord is good. Bless it is the man who takes refuge in him.

[00:17:50] Oh, God being my defender is something that I really had to learn that I had to lean on. And in that time where I felt rejected and misunderstood and feeling like I needed to defend myself, I was reading through the songs and over and over, I found in there, God is my defender. The third characteristic of God that I want to point you to is that God is trustworthy.

[00:18:15] There’s lots of places in the Bible where we can look to the promises of God. We could look at the old Testament and we could see that God promised a Messiah and that Jesus came. We can look at, at the promise that Jesus said he would raise from the dead and he did, and we can look forward. To the promise that those who believe in him will be with him someday.

[00:18:43] And that just as he is raised to life, we will be raised to life with him. We can listen to the promise

[00:18:52] that he says my kingdom is not of this world.

[00:18:56] Friends, when you look at your challenge in front of you, when you look at the situation that makes you feel like it’s not going to be okay,

[00:19:07] When you question, how could God use this for my good,

[00:19:11] I encourage you to trust in the Lord with all your. To lean, not on your own understanding, but in all your ways, acknowledge him. And he will direct your path.

[00:19:23] That’s from Proverbs three, five, and six.

[00:19:26] for those of you that are like me, and you struggle in that trust. I want to say a prayer for you now, dear God, help us to trust you. Lord help us in the places that seem so overwhelming, help us to be reminded

[00:19:43] that you know, the path you have for him. That you are a defender and that you are trustworthy. God, you are trustworthy to work it all for our good, it’s another promise that you’ve given to us. Lord, help us.

[00:20:00] When we struggle with trusting you, Lord lead us to places where we can see your trustworthiness or that we can be reminded that you are faithful. You are trustworthy. We can have faith because you are faithful. Remind us to there. Our hearts show us the places where we can find this in your word. Show us the places in our lives, where we have seen you show up and where you have been faithful to us.

[00:20:27] Give us eyes to see since Jesus name I pray. Friends, as I said, if you are like me and you struggle with trust, then you’re in the right place. Cause that’s why I’m here. It’s my desire to meet you where you are in your faith journey and to encourage you to continue to take steps, to trusting the Lord more fully.

[00:20:47] Thanks for joining me. I’m glad you’re here on this journey, whether you’ve been with us to this point, or you’re just coming in now. Welcome. This is the last episode of season two. And so I’ll be taking a break here at steps to trusting if you’re just joining us now, I would recommend you jump back to the beginning of season two.

[00:21:11] And come on this journey with us I hope that is an encouragement to you. If it is, please share it with a friend, Please invite them to walk alongside you, to grow in your trust. That’s what we want. That’s what my prayer is for you. and I would hope that that is our prayer for our friends around us too.

[00:21:35] For those of you who want to process this message more, don’t forget. There are journaling questions in the show notes.

[00:21:41] If you aren’t a subscriber, I recommend you go ahead and subscribe to this podcast so that when season three, starts up, you won’t miss it. You can also connect with me at erinmichele.net. There’s a place there where you can sign up for my newsletter. So you’ll be receiving updates about the podcast and other great things that are happening with the steps distrusting ministry.

[00:22:05] When you do that, you’ll also receive my five day Bible study that helps you look at scripture and put that alongside journaling. What’s going on in your life to help you take steps to trusting God more fully. I hope that that is an encouragement to you, and I hope to see you back here next time. But until then, I wanted to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians two 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them, friends and praying for you.

[00:22:40] As you keep on stepping.