Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, friend. Welcome to Perspectives into Practice, a place where life's stories meet practical wisdom. Together, we'll explore how faith filled perspectives can transform the way we live, love, and grow.
So grab a seat, settle in, and join us on this journey to turn inspiration into action.
Let's dive in foreign
[00:00:29] Speaker B: hey, friend.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: Welcome back to Perspectives into Practice. I'm really looking forward to today's conversation because we're diving into something that can really feel challenging, and that's learning how to trust God when life doesn't always go the way that we expected.
Because if we're honest, we all have those moments when we think we know how things are going to unfold, and then God takes it in a completely different direction.
Today I'm sitting down with my new friend, Kate. She's someone who has really been walking through what it looks like to surrender every part of her life to the Lord. And today we're going to talk about this season where God has really been teaching her what it looks like to fully surrender not just parts of her life, but all of it. If you're someone who likes to plan or have things figured out, you're going to relate to this conversation because we're talking about trusting God, being obedient even when it's hard, and learning to believe that he really will provide in every season. Welcome, Kate. I'm so glad that you're here.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:01:29] Speaker A: Yes. Oh, man. So before we dive in, y' all know I love a good, fun fact, and Kate loves baking. She actually uses it as a way to reset her mind, which I just think is something. It's just so wonderful. So I have to ask you, Kate, when. What is your go to thing to bake when you need that reset?
[00:01:49] Speaker B: Ooh. There are so many.
I would say the go to is my sour cream pound cake. That's my go to.
[00:02:00] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: And why.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Why do you think that those moments when you're in there cooking and baking and preparing, why do you think that helps you to slow down and reconnect even when things are going crazy on the outside?
[00:02:18] Speaker B: So for me, baking has always been a part of my life. When I was younger, my grandmother really instilled that in me. And so it kind of reminds me of those moments when I was younger and I didn't have to think about everything that was going on in the world around me.
But it also, yeah, like, with my job, I'm a counselor, and so it can be a lot of heavy things.
And there's a lot of unknowns, but when it comes to baking, you have the known factors, and when you put them together, you know how it's going to turn out. And to me, that helps kind of reset things. Of, okay, there are things that have order and God has placed order in this world.
And so it's that one thing that I can reach out and be like, that's an example of where his order is for me.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. And you get a very tasty reward on the end.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, that definitely helps.
[00:03:14] Speaker A: It's a. It's a. It's a beautiful reward. I. I love that. I mean, honestly, that idea of slowing down and resetting feels like such a perfect way to lead in to what we are going to be talking about today, which is learning to trust God and surrender control when life doesn't go the way that we've planned. So, Kate, I'd love for you to take us back for a minute. When did you first start. Start feeling like God was asking you to surrender more than you were comfortable with?
[00:03:43] Speaker B: I would actually say it's kind of been a slow process, but I think God has done that because he knows I can be stubborn. And so he's like, okay, if I give her advance notice that we're going to have to change this, it gives her time to warm up to the idea that we're going to be going this direction.
And also just, like, listening to him, I would say things really shifted.
Two years ago, God was asking me to do some really one thing that was really hard for me, and it had to do with vulnerability and opening up. And I was like, okay, God, you're asking me to do this. And I am someone. I am transparent. But being truly vulnerable with someone is so challenging. And so I was like, oh, what? You're asking me to do it? Like, it is so outside of my comfort zone. And he was like, no, I need you to. And I was like, oh, okay, okay. And then it's like, in the last few years, he just keeps asking me to do these things. And I'm like, are we sure about that? That's not what I had planned. That's. We could not do that.
I think it would be just fine. But he continues to push me. And it's interesting because, like, in the things that I've been facing, I followed through with the things he's asked me to do. But things will start to move very quickly. But then the enemy comes against it, and it makes you question, okay, did I hear you right? I feel like, this is what you told me to do, but maybe not.
And so we start to get that doubt in our head of like, okay, yeah, maybe this. Maybe I heard wrong, maybe this wasn't what he had for me.
But, yeah, he has provided an excellent. Every aspect of the way. And looking at different situations in my life, different areas of my life, I can see, okay, this is where God has provided. This is another area where God has provided. And some of it is, you know, the small daily things, but some of them are pretty big things that he's been providing. And it's when you trust him, even when you don't understand, even when you can't see what's going on around you.
Like, our world is deceptive, and so it's going to try and deceive us and get us out of alignment with what God wants us to do. And so if we can just hold on to his promises and sticking to his word and knowing that if he gave you a promise.
One of the verses that God's really spoken to me through is numbers 23, 19, 20. And it's, God is not man that he should change his mind or son of man, that he would change his word. Like, and that's paraphrase, that's not word for word. But if we really hold on to those things and the world is coming at us, he's not changing his mind. And if he said it, it's going to happen.
And I can trust that because he has been that way since the beginning of the world.
So why do I think it would change in my situation?
[00:06:44] Speaker A: Right? That's. That's so real. And I think that a lot of us don't realize how tightly we're holding on until God starts to ask us to loosen our grip. And we're like, oh, wow, that was like white knuckling.
That was a. That was not coming easy. But you're right. I mean, he has been the same since the beginning. So why would we think that he would change for our situation?
We're the ones that have to change. And having that realization, I think does change your whole life and your perspective and everything that's going on, because it turns your eyes toward him, which is just exactly what he wants from us. So what did that look like for you? Especially as someone who does like to plan things and have things figured out.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: So it's still a journey. I'm still on that journey.
But it's really just.
And I know this sounds. This probably doesn't give you the answer, but it's Listening to him and following in the things that we think are mundane, but following through with it. And if he's asking me to do something, okay, I might not understand why, but if you're asking me to do it, I'm gonna do it.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: It might get me out of my comfort zone. It might be something I would never want to do, but I trust that there's a reason in that.
And for some of it, I mean, one thing for me was God asked me to be on our church's worship team.
And the thought of having everyone staring at me on stage, I would rather do anything else. I would rather chop off my right arm than go stand on stage. And God was like, that's cute. But what I said was, this is what you need to do.
And I was like, okay. And so that was like, maybe three or four years ago he asked me to do that.
And what's interesting is, since then, last year, he told me that the next step is me going and speaking, like, on podcast or different areas, and me having been obedient and going on stage for worship team, even though I still, to this day, I have to, like, psych myself up to get up there, right? Like, I'm like, I. I don't want to go up there. There's nothing that makes me want to go up there.
But, yeah, because I've been able to do that. God's like, you can do this. Remember when you didn't think you could do that, you can do this? And just trusting that he is not leading me in the right direction.
[00:09:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I goodness, I relate to that so much. We were just talking about this whole podcast situation, and, yeah, there's a lot of things that when we plan, we think that it feels safe and comfortable, even when it's not what God's asking us to do. And so when he does ask us to take that leap and to do something that wasn't necessarily in our plan, and we think, lord, you got somebody else in mind. I think our signals got crossed. Right. That he does.
He does take care of us in our needs, and he does stretch us and bring us to places that really that cause us to rely on him more, which is what we need to be doing in the first place, but we want to control that. So was there a moment when you realized that you needed to stop trying to control the outcome and just trust him instead?
[00:10:09] Speaker B: I think there have been a lot of moments like that, and I can't really, again, pinpoint, like, one specific one, but I think one thing that God has really done this year is made it to where there isn't a way for me to have a hand in it. Right. Like, he has taken things completely out of my hands.
So he has shown me you can't do this.
And so there's no way that I can sit there and be like, oh, well, I could do this, this and this.
No, I have to lean on him. And so it's interesting. Like I've been really listening to the song the Lord will provide by passion recently and the way that God has like been just showing me like there was like a two month period where I was hearing that song in my head constantly. I mean, morning, noon and night, all the time. And it just would not leave.
And God was like, but do you really believe the words that you're singing? I said, yes. That's yeah.
[00:11:12] Speaker A: Hard.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: But I really do feel like sometimes the situations that we are put in that are so challenging.
This past year there have been some really great things, but there have been some really challenging things for me.
And in those situations it is trusting him and leaning on him and knowing that he is going to take care of all of it. Like I said, it's situations where I can't. I don't have the ability to change that situation.
There's nothing I can do to affect that situation.
[00:11:44] Speaker A: Yeah, right, Right.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: So he's literally put me in positions where all I have the option to do is sit back and trust that he will make the way.
[00:11:52] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those, those moments can be so defining because they're not always loud. Sometimes they really are just these quiet moments. But they shift everything when we allow ourselves to see that. And so I just, I love how God meets us in the middle of every single one of those moments. And I love. So you mentioned that God was speaking through, through that song. So how. How did that start? And what, what has that meant to you through that season? I love that you said that he asked you what. Do you actually believe that? So what, what is that that really meant for you through this season?
[00:12:30] Speaker B: So for me, God has asked me to do some different things like business wise and things like that. And with those different changes that he's asked me to do, they have put a financial strain on things.
And there was a point where I was like, God, are we going to be able to do this part? You know, I know you're telling me that I need to do this, but financially the math isn't mathing.
But you know, God has God math and the way that he has come in and affected those situations of just the miracles that he puts into our daily life that we just don't even necessarily see or recognize.
And it's interesting. One of the things was, I was sitting there going, okay, God, how am I going to pay? I'm still paying student loans. I said, how am I going to pay these student loans? And I know this is not everybody's story, but God gave me the money to pay off my student loans.
All of them. Not that month's check, but all of them. And I was like, okay, God. Like, you know, and it wouldn't have been that way if I didn't sit back and say, okay, God, show me.
Right. There's no way I. I could have done that.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: In that month.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: And so, like, when we lean on him and we trust him for these different things, it's like, okay, God, this is something that was a concern for me. But you already knew that it was going to be a concern for me.
And because you care for me so much, you said, let me take care of that. Not just this month, but the rest of it. I'm gonna take care of that. And it's just. I mean, seeing him work that way. And it's interesting because it. I was really not, like, in a bad, bad place financially, but I was like, okay, we're gonna be on a tight budget, right? And I feel like so many people can relate to that right now of, where are things coming from? And we sit there and we're like, okay, God, I don't know where this is coming from, you know, but do we really trust him?
Or are we still trying to figure out how we're going to make the way? Or are we listening to him and saying, okay, what is it that you want me to do? Because he'll show you how to make the money or how to do whatever it is he'll show you.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:14:47] Speaker B: If you just allow yourself to sit there and listen to him.
But so many times we're so quick to give him our list that we don't sit there and listen to what he wants to tell us.
[00:14:58] Speaker A: Yeah. And when he has so much goodness for us, so much goodness for us. And if you think about it, had you not asked specifically, hey, Lord, I would like help with this. I'm surrendering this to you. I'm giving this to you. I'm trusting you fully.
We don't know whether he would have given that to you or not. But in your trust, in your surrender, in that obedience to just give it to him, he Said, I'm not only going to bless you with this one thing, I'm going to make it all go away.
And I just, I love how God uses, like in this right here, uses that song to speak so clearly. And it's like he just keeps putting it in front of you until it sinks in. And then when it does, and we, we're aware of that, then we have to actually be obedient and act on what we, what we've done. Right. We have to put that into practice and, and do, do the hard things, do the things that don't feel right. So when things did feel uncertain and hard, how did that truth of that surrender and that he will provide help you to shift your focus back onto him?
[00:16:06] Speaker B: I think the biggest thing was when God, this is something I've learned in my life, throughout my life, is when God places a song like that on my heart or he puts something in my heart, I really meditate on it. And when I meditated on it, this go around, what God said was, if you listen to that song, sing it as though I have already fulfilled it. And so I would, multiple times a day, I would at the top of my lungs, basically scream that song.
And I was like, you know what? I don't see how you're gonna provide, but I trust that you will and that you are gonna carry it through.
And in that, I think a lot of times, and sorry, I'm a counselor here, that's gonna come out a little bit. But the power of our words, I talk to my clients about that all the time and it's like, oh, yeah, we don't realize the power of our words. And when we understand the power of our words, even if I didn't believe at that moment that God was going to provide, being willing to sit there and scream that song at the top of my lungs, the words were still coming out of my mouth. And so in that I was prophesying over myself that I was going to believe the words that I was saying. And so many times we don't think about it that way. And so for me, like it, that was how I was surrendering to him, is just saying, okay, I might not fully believe this right now, but if I say it enough times, I will. And just recognizing, you know, the power of not even just that, but, you know, there were different, like affirmations that God would show me. And not just, you know, your average affirmations, but biblically based scripture, evidence based affirmations.
[00:18:06] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: To speak over myself in the situations that I was going through and saying, okay, I might not see it, I might not feel it right now, but this is what God's word says. And that's what I'm going to hold on to. That's what I'm going to preach to myself. And until I believe it.
[00:18:22] Speaker A: Yeah, and I think that's. That's the hard part is that we hear these things, but we don't know how they apply to our lives. And we don't know how to believe it and take it in as ours. And so it's not just. It's not just hearing the truth, but it's really choosing to come back to it over and over and over again until it really does seep into our minds, and then we can act on that and truly believe it. And I want to go back to. You mentioned that verse in numbers, in numbers 23. What did that scripture reveal to you about who God was or who God is in. In your situation?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: He's unwavering.
And to me, it was. There were things that. And there are promises that he still hasn't fulfilled yet that he has made to me. But it's trusting that no matter what the enemy or the world around me tries to say, if my God said it was going to happen, it's going to happen.
And think about, like, Noah, right? When he was building the ark, they didn't know what rain was.
So the world and the society around him was probably like, what are you talking about? Right? Like, we don't even know what you're talking. There's no way that they could even understand
[00:19:40] Speaker A: what.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Why are you building this thing? That makes no sense.
Okay. How many people thought he was crazy because he was following what God asked him to do? But it's like in those moments, if we hold on to that, that over years. Yes.
And if we hold on to, okay, you said this.
And you are not going to change your mind.
You're not.
You're not going to change your mind. You're not going to take back what you've promised. If you have said something, you are going to fulfill it.
And it's interesting. Like, and I don't have the other verses off the top of my head, but that's not the only verse in scripture that says that. So not only do we have this one evidence, but we have multiple pieces of evidence that support that my God said it and he's going to follow through. And it doesn't matter if I get in his way. If you try to get in his way, we can't we can't stop something that God has placed in motion or something that God has promised.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Right. Oh, that's. It really is just such a powerful reminder of how much God doesn't change based on our circumstances. He is forever and ever and ever and ever. And he is steady even.
Even when everything feels uncertain, even when you don't know what it's going to look like. Even though it's been years of waiting and trusting, he knows at the perfect time when it's supposed to happen. And it really. It becomes part of your everyday life. When you believe this about him, when you trust God's character is true, then you begin seeing your life through that lens, which I think is so, so important and needed. So, speaking of everyday life, what. What does surrender actually look like for you in everyday life right now?
[00:21:31] Speaker B: So for me, it is definitely those affirmations that I talked about and writing those down. And like I said, with each different affirmation I have in parentheses there are the scriptures that go with it. And so every day I say those over myself at least once. If I'm starting to doubt one of those things, I go to the evidence that God's given me that proves the truth of the situation, because he is the truth. We might feel like, based on our situations, that we have our own truth, but it's not actual truth unless it is something that God has said. It is not truth.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: It's a little T. Yep.
[00:22:11] Speaker B: And so understanding that difference and saying, you know what? I might not understand it, but I'm going to hold on to the truth because that's all I can do.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: Is trust. And as you speak those things over yourself, there's power in that. And I think, again, going back to the power of our words, we just don't understand.
One thing I love to talk about with people is when we look at Genesis, right.
God created our world with his words, and we are created in his image. Yeah. So why don't we think that our words have power?
[00:22:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:50] Speaker B: If we sit there and allow ourselves to think about.
Really makes you think differently about how you speak about your situation, about yourself, about the world around you. And recognizing.
Okay, like, in my situation, I might not understand it, but are the words that I'm speaking keeping me in this desert longer? Just like with the Israelites, the words that they spoke kept them in the desert longer. And sometimes we do that and we don't even realize it. And we're sitting there and we get angry with God that, oh, this hasn't happened. You promised me this and all these different things. But are your words keeping you there? Because a lot of times if we reflect, they play a role.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: They do, yeah. Yeah. It's easy to say, I trust God. The hard part is the actually living it out. It's easy to say things that come out easily.
You can, you can talk about all of these things that are going on in your life, whether good or bad. But if you continually lean on the negative, if you continually lean on these, these words that are not uplifting and not life giving, you steer where you stare and so, so that, that's where your, your mind is going to go. So if you continually redirect your mind and your thoughts, the, the Bible says take every thought captive. If we do that, if we truly do that, every thought, every word that comes out of our mouth, it will be more directed to the Lord and what he wants for us. And we'll see that reflected in what we do and how things work out, which is just so beautiful. But it's an intentional time that you have to do those things. How have worship and time in the Word actually helped you stay grounded in that trust? I know you talk about focusing on this, this song and you know this, this one word, but like, what does that look like in an everyday practicality way?
[00:24:51] Speaker B: For me, it's speaking it over myself.
That is one of the things that has just been like, God has really been speaking to me on that because a lot of times we don't allow ourselves to think about how we speak over ourselves in our situations. And that is. It's so challenging of when you feel like the world is crumbling down around you.
Our flesh doesn't want to be like, God's got this right. We want to go kick some rocks or whatever it is. Right. Like, we are so frustrated.
[00:25:24] Speaker A: I can fix it.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Right?
Okay, God, this is your plan. I've got a better plan than this. Why don't you let me have my plan?
One of the things that God showed me is I was really reflecting on, like, different stories in the Bible that God has shown me of.
Okay, how does this relate to me? Like, how do I apply this to my life?
And one of them was Abraham and Sarah, right when they had Ishmael before Isaac. Our world is still affected greatly by that decision thousands of years ago.
Do I want to force the promise that God gave me and have that be the outcome? Because I don't know what the outcome could be of me trying to force God's promise or whatever it may be.
And I can firmly say that God has shown me that I don't want to do that. It might suck that I don't have that promise now.
[00:26:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: But at the same time, how could my forcing that affect other people? Because it's not necessarily that. It's just going to affect me.
[00:26:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:26:36] Speaker B: And am I, well, willing to put other people in that position?
No, not at all.
[00:26:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah.
It. That's a hard one. Because if we, if we actually read the Word and understand what it says, even going back to the Old Testament before, we just sit in the New Testament and learn from all of the stories and listen to them about how they were obedient in times and how they were absolutely completely disobedient in times and how they trusted God in times and how they tried to take it all upon themselves and say they knew better than God. If we look at those stories, hopefully it will help us to see we're not alone in this. We're not the only person who's going through this. But. But also we can see, what did that do for them? Did that help them or did that hurt them? What did that look like for the next generation and the next and the next. And now for us, we're here. And so I. That is. I love that. I love that you mentioned that. Because I think we really do need to.
To focus on that because we just want to hold on to everything. We want to hold on to everything. We want to do it ourselves because it seems easier and more comfortable because we think we know what's going on. But the reality is that it's comfortable because we think we know what's going on. It's uncomfortable to let it go and to trust someone that we can't physically see, to know that he will take those steps for us and give us exactly what we're supposed to do. So for that woman listening who is struggling to let go of control, what's one small step that they can take today to start trusting God more?
[00:28:18] Speaker B: Write down what you feel like God has promised you. Pray about it, and give him the opportunity. Sometimes we mishear God. Not that God is wrong, sometimes we mishear God. And that can be because of things that. Decisions that we're making, things like that. But going to him and saying, is this a promise from you?
Once you get that confirmation, declare it over yourself. Declare what he speaks over you.
Whether it be, you know, and it. There are so many things that this can help with, whether it be insecurity or different areas like that. Like there's scripture that backs up the truth of who you are.
You know, God's word says that we're more precious than rubies. Yeah. What would happen if you spoke that over yourself and also not just speaking it over yourself? For a lot of times, people will be like, oh, I did that for like a week and I didn't see a difference. 21 days make a habit.
[00:29:21] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: So if we were to do that for 21 days, see then how you feel about the situation. But even then, a lot of times it takes a lot longer to rewire our brains than we think.
So even waiting, give yourself like two months.
Can you say that over yourself for two months and then see where you stand? Because I guarantee you you'll be in a different place.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Oh, I love that. I love when we could walk away with something simple and practical to hold onto. And we're not done yet because I do have a one final question for you. But Kate, this has been such a sweet, encouraging conversation, and I'm thankful for your heart and for your willingness to share what God has been walking you through and to help us to walk with him even closer and to speak over ourselves. I'm so, so thankful for you.
[00:30:19] Speaker B: Thank you so much. I've really enjoyed being here.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Yes.
So before we wrap up, I want to ask you the question that I ask everyone that comes on the podcast, and that is, what is one perspective that you would encourage listeners to apply
[00:30:32] Speaker B: today that God is not going to change his mind and to really dig into the scriptures for what is the truth of your situation, no matter what it is, whether it's beliefs about yourself, promises that you're waiting on. There are answers to everything in scripture if we open our eyes and see it.
And allowing yourself the time to allow that to seep into your soul. Because there's a difference in having the head knowledge and having the heart knowledge and speaking it over yourself allows it to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge.
[00:31:14] Speaker A: So good. So good. Thank you so much for sharing that, friend. If you are listening and you're in a season where things don't look the way that you expected, where you're trying to hold it all together or figure it all out, you don't have to. God is not confused. He's not late. He's not unsure about what comes next. He is with you and in control, and he will provide.
Take that next step of trust, even when it feels uncomfortable and even when it doesn't make sense.
And if you've ever felt that little nudge to share your story this is your invitation, maybe even your sign. I would truly love to have you as a guest and walk through your perspective together.
Head over to perspectivesintopractice.com and reach out to me there. I would love to connect with you. And remember, even small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice. Talk to you next time.
