Welcome Back!  I’m so glad to be entering season two with you.  I hope you join me on this journey of learning to trust God more fully.  In this episode, I am discussing what to expect from season 2 of Steps to Trusting.  The season officially launches on January 5^th.  I can’t wait to see you back here next time. 

Journaling Questions to help process the episode:

• What is your next step of trusting God more fully?
• Have you allowed something other than God to sneak into the place of first importance?
• How do we trust God with the good things that we have been given without moving our focus to seek the good things?
• Have you let your focus shift from God to seeking the good thing instead of the giver?
• Are you trusting God as the giver of all good things in your life?
• Where can you see God’s faithfulness in your life?
• Do you see any next steps that God is putting in front of you?
• Will you walk in them?

Looking for a tool to help you engage more in God’s word? Sign up here to receive free Bible study and journaling tool to help explore your next step to trusting God more fully.

See below for a full transcript of the show.

[00:00:00] Erin: Hi friends, it’s Erin Michele. Welcome to steps to trusting at steps to trusting. It’s my goal to meet you where you are in your faith journey and encourage you to continue to take steps to trusting the Lord more fully. Yay. Welcome back. I’m so glad to be with you.

[00:00:20] I’m late. I know but sometimes we have to take our eyes off of the way. We want things to look and set our eyes on what God has for us. And friends, there is so much I have learned before sitting in the seat and being in the season with you.

[00:00:40] And I am so grateful for it. I hope that you will come along on this journey of some of the things that I have been learning as I share them with you.

[00:00:49] Some of the things you’re going to see running through the season. We’re going to start with trust. You guys know this show is called steps to trusting and here at steps to trusting, we are going to ask the question over and over. What’s your next step of trust. I’m going to ask that of the people that come on the show as guests, but I’m going to ask that to you as listeners.

[00:01:11] What is your next step of trust? What is God calling you to, to trust him more? I hope that hearing the stories and the verses that we share on this podcast will help you to look at God’s truth and see, what is he calling you to? How can you trust him more? there’s also going to be this question of what have I been trusting if I’m not walking out my trust in him, what instead am I placing my trust in?

[00:01:44] This is a hard question to ask because it cuts to our hearts, but friends, when we’re willing to ask it, I find often that the answer jumps out at us . In several of the conversations I’ve had through the season I have seen,

[00:02:01] that the topic of idols has come to the surface. The topic of where we place our trust when it is not the Lord, it is a place that we have allowed to risen in our heart as an idol.

[00:02:16] The theme verse for the show remains Ephesians two 10 “for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” But you’re going to see other themes running through the show. For instance, like from James one verse 17, ” Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

[00:02:48] We’re going to be looking at how every good thing that we have is from the Lord. We’re going to be teasing out. How do we trust him with these good things that he’s given us. But we’re also going to look at how have we shifted our hearts and began to trust the good thing instead of the giver of good things?

[00:03:14] Friends. I want to take you guys deep. I want to I take you guys to a place where each time you listen to steps to trusting, you are asking God to search your heart. You’re asking him, what’s my next to trusting you more to walk in closer with you. I hope you’re up for this journey.

[00:03:35] Invite a friend, share the podcast. I would be honored. I wanted to start you guys off with just a story of my own, of what I’ve been learning.

[00:03:44] I’ve been learning the truth of this verse from James, every good and perfect gift is from above. Friends, I have spent a lot of time looking at the good gifts that God has given me, but thinking that they’re of myself. Yeah, I know that verse. I’ve heard it so many times I’ve grown up in the church.

[00:04:06] So I’ve heard that every good thing is from God. And while I know that in my head, my heart still wanted to believe that the good things that I had were from me. My heart, still wanting to grab on with pride and say, look what I’ve done. Look what I’ve built. Look at the great things that I have accomplished.

[00:04:27] And God has been stripping that off my heart and reminding me the truth that every good gift is from him. And I think this ties strongly to our theme verse from Ephesians, because “we are his workmanship.” He’s the one doing the work in us.

[00:04:46] He’s the one who’s laid out, the good works for us to do. And yet often we look back. And we go, well, look at all those great things I did. That is terrific, but we forgotten the first part of the verse and the second part. We’ve easily forgotten that we are his handiwork, that those good works are his handiwork.

[00:05:10] And when I’m reminded the good things I have the good things in me are gifts from above. Then my heart does a 180. My heart turns from seeking myself to seeking my God. My heart draws me to the feet of Jesus, the giver of good gifts, the creator of life.

[00:05:36] And I’m drawn into trust. Even all those times. I haven’t trusted him even all those times. I’ve looked at the good things that I’ve done and trusting myself. He still gave, he still loves. And I’m so challenged. I’m so challenged as I look back and I remember what God has done in and through me and I can, instead of being lifted up in pride, I can praise him and have a thankful heart for where God is working in me, even when I wasn’t looking for him.

[00:06:11] But. Something needs to change. I can’t stay where I was when I was looking at myself and trusting myself for those good gifts. I need to change and trust that God will continue to work those things in. And I need to ask him to continue to give me eyes, to see where he’s working, because there are times where we are blind to his working in our lives, but that does not stop him from working.

[00:06:39] Go back to James one verse 17, where it says there is no variation or shadow due to change.

[00:06:48] He’s the same.

[00:06:50] We can look at that verse and see that this is the same God. There is no shadow due to change in his life. There’s no shadow to, to change and how he will treat us. He’s been faithful all along. How much more will we see when we have our eyes open and looking for it?

[00:07:11] So welcome to season two of steps to trusting. Welcome to a place where together we want to set our eyes on God and seek out, trusting him better. Welcome to a place where we will constantly ask each other.

[00:07:27] What’s your next step and trusting God more? Where do you need to change? Where do you need to repent? Where do you need to turn? What do you need to turn from?

[00:07:37] Welcome to a community where we desire to do this together. We want to go on this journey, the journey that God has prepared for us.

[00:07:48] This is not the journey, a steps to trusting. Steps to trusting is looking at the journey that God created for us. Looking at how are we his handiwork? What are the good works that he has prepared for me and asking the question. Will I walk in them?

[00:08:07] Dear God, I thank you. And I praise you that you call us children of God, your handiwork. And Lord, even more so that each of us are invited to be children of God. We are invited to be your handiwork. And so Lord, I pray. For the hearts of those who don’t know you, that we would gain understanding of what it means to be your handiwork. And Lord, for those that seek after you as Christ followers that we will know in our hearts, what it means for you to be working in us for us to be your handiwork for us to be the beauty that you are creating. Lord give us eyes to see the good works that you have prepared for us. Give us eyes to see how those works are part of the beauty that you are creating in us and give us the willingness and the ability to walk in those good works. Lord God, we can only do it with you.

[00:09:14] It’s in Jesus name. Amen

[00:09:16] friends. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited.

[00:09:21] I can’t wait to continue this journey with you. Thank you for coming along. If you are new here, you can find show notes and transcripts @erinmichele.net. You can also sign up there for my newsletter, where you will hear the latest things that’s happening with the podcast, as well as receive my free journaling resource, which is so tied to the mission of this podcast.

[00:09:45] It’s set up to be looking at scriptures and asking questions for you to discover according to God’s word, what are some of the next steps of trust that he is calling you to. Friends this is not things that I am making up for you. This is looking at God’s word. What does God call us to in trust? And it’s just a taste of the things that he calls us to.

[00:10:10] If we’re going to trust. So you can find that stuff there, sign up for the newsletter, get that resource. I also would encourage you to connect with me on Instagram or Facebook at steps to trusting.

[00:10:24] Friends as I kick off this new season. As we start out on this journey, I want as many of you that want to come to join along. And so if you have friends that you want to have these types of conversations with,

[00:10:43] would you share the podcast with them? Would you consider leaving me a comment on the app that you listened to your podcasts with? Because it helps other people find the conversation, friends?

[00:10:55] I ask you to do that because I want to reach as many people as we can with this message that God is trustworthy and true, and that we are called to trust.

[00:11:09] Season two, officially launches January 5th. So meet me back right here. Next time.

[00:11:16] Don’t forget to like subscribe and share with a friend so we can all be back here on January 5th. Ready to take this next step of the journey together. What’s your next step to trusting God more fully?

[00:11:31] I can’t wait to see you next time. Until then I want to leave you with this reminder from Ephesians two 10 for we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he prepared beforehand.

[00:11:47] That we should walk in them. Friends, I am praying for you as you keep on stepping.

[00:11:55]