[00:00:01] Jessica: 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.
Welcome back to Perspectives into Practice. Have you ever felt God inviting you into something and immediately started asking questions? Why this? Why now? What am I supposed to do when I get there? What is this going to lead to? And God? Could you give me a little bit more information before I say yes? I think sometimes we assume that if God is leading us somewhere, eventually he'll hand us just enough detail to make the whole thing make sense.
But what if he doesn't? My new friend Lori has always seen following Jesus as an adventure. But lately he's been changing the way that she thinks about the invitation itself. She's learning that she doesn't always need to understand what God plans to do with her. Yes. Before she gives it. Sometimes the invitation is simply, come with me. So today we're talking about following Jesus when the invitation comes before the explanation, becoming more comfortable with what Lori calls holy mystery and discovering what happens when knowing the one who's asking becomes enough reason to say yes. Welcome, Lori. I'm so glad that you're here.
[00:01:32] Lori: Yes. Thank you for having me, Jessica. This is going to be a fun conversation. I can tell.
[00:01:36] Jessica: It is. It is. And we have already. We've already. Y' all don't know this, but we just had a really long conversation before this. So we are just continuing in our. Our new friendship.
[00:01:46] Lori: Yes. Yeah. Like, what topic should we talk about? Because we just hit about five or six, but
[00:01:51] Jessica: it'll be great.
[00:01:52] Lori: We'll probably do another episode. Y. I've got ideas to interview you. I had to stop myself. I was like, okay, hold on.
[00:01:59] Jessica: Oh,
[00:01:59] Lori: it's
[00:02:00] Jessica: so exciting. I love it. I love it. Well, before we dive in, y' all know I love a good fun fact. And Lori, you said that you grew up in Niagara Falls, which is amazing. We've been there. Gorgeous. You told me that adventure has just been a huge part of who you are and that you love walking and connecting that to your spiritual life. So when you go for a walk, I always love to ask a question. When you go for a walk, do you ever have, like, a destination or route or do you just, like, walk and figure out where you're gonna go?
[00:02:29] Lori: Yeah, I. I'm. I'm a daily walker, so every morning I go between seven and Eight o' clock in the morning. I live out in the country and it's a really boring road. It's only one. It's like one mile from our house to the road and back, but it doesn't matter. That route, that rhythm with God, that first thing in the morning.
So I walk. I walk that every day. And I've been known to when we go to the beach. We live in Michigan on the lakeshore, and I love to beach walk. And so every time the family goes to the beach, I'm like, okay, I need to go on a walk. And so I take my walk on the beach. And one time we were hosting my daughter's birthday party. She was probably 12 or 13. She really didn't want me around. She really didn't need me around for her friends. So I was like, okay, Autumn, I'm going for a walk. Well, it turned out I was gone so long that the girls alerted the lifeguard. My mom
[00:03:22] Jessica: is
[00:03:23] Lori: missing. I'm concerned. And when I realized how long I'd been gone, I turned around and I started running back because I was like, oh, shoot, you know,
[00:03:31] Jessica: And I got
[00:03:31] Lori: back. It was so cute. I was fine. I just had gotten. I just had gotten absorbed in prayer and in the beauty and there's nothing like it. There's just nothing like it. I mean, yeah, Eugene Peterson has a quote, he wrote the message, and he has
[00:03:45] Jessica: a
[00:03:46] Lori: quote that walking might be one of the. The most spiritual things we do.
[00:03:51] Jessica: He
[00:03:52] Lori: wrote. He wrote the message Bible. He's experienced in all kinds of way of connecting with God. And he said that about walking. So interesting.
[00:04:00] Jessica: I love
[00:04:01] Lori: that
[00:04:01] Jessica: we just spent almost the whole summer on the Oregon coast, California coast, and the Oregon coast has my heart, like all of it. And I, I would often get lost on. Well, not lost because it's one way there and one way back. But
[00:04:16] Lori: yes,
[00:04:16] Jessica: just like that is be gone for so long just enjoying and looking and talking and then being silent for absolutely no reason except that I could and that there was no. When you're on those walks, it's like there's nothing's needed of you just to be. And that is such a freeing thing. And so I, I love doing my Jesus walks. I usually have a bag that I've talked about often that has my Bible and pencils and journal, because you just never know when you're on those walks what downloads are going to come. And some of the best things in my life have come out of those walks and those downloads. And so,
[00:04:53] Lori: yes, yes, friend,
[00:04:54] Jessica: if you're not a walker, definitely. Go, go start, go be a walker and go get out there
[00:05:00] Lori: and
[00:05:00] Jessica: enjoy God's creation. It's a free thing to do.
[00:05:03] Lori: Yes, it's easy. You don't. It's not like running.
You can walk and you can pray at the same time if you run. I used to be a runner.
All I could do was focus on breathing. You know,
[00:05:15] Jessica: like step, step, breathe in, step, step, breathe out.
[00:05:17] Lori: It's like, can I pray? No, no, I can't pray. I'm just hoping I can breathe. But then I
[00:05:22] Jessica: stopped
[00:05:22] Lori: running and I was like, now I can pray when I, when I'm actually out there and accessible to everyone. So
[00:05:29] Jessica: yeah,
[00:05:29] Lori: you know, it's great.
[00:05:30] Jessica: I love it. I love that. Well, it's been, I, I think it's been such an interesting adventure that nature has been part of your life and that God is now teaching you that there's something else about adventure which is walking with him. You said that you used to assume that when God called you to something you would understand the whys, the what fors and the hows. But lately that has been changing. So what do you think that expectation came from that if God was asking you to do something that you had to understand why?
[00:06:01] Lori: Yeah, I think God is good to us. You know, in our early years of knowing him, sometimes you do get more of a preview of, okay, I'm calling you to do this because this result will come from it and as we grow more in the Lord.
Now I've been a Christian for over 40 years, so I mean he's been very gracious to me over the years, but, and I think as we get older we tend to get more like a controlling or we feel like we need more of the details. When we're younger, we're more free spirited. But as we get older we can get all nerved up about not having the details.
So recently he's been taking me on this journey where he won't tell me many of the results or the whys.
I just know he's called me to do it and I have to just say yes and then take it step by step.
[00:06:55] Jessica: Yeah, I mean it's a beautiful invitation that he even once us in the process because he definitely doesn't need us in the process. But there's, there's definitely a difference between saying that we trust God and then actually being handed the invitation. That doesn't make a lot of sense to us without knowing all of the pieces after that. And Scotland actually became really tangible example of that for You. So take us into that story. And what. What made you believe that God was asking you to go when on paper? It absolutely did not make sense.
[00:07:28] Lori: Yeah. Yeah. So I'm a writer, and a few years ago, I was working on a book, and we have a little retreat center in Michigan where people. We have a prayer cabin, and people come out to spend time in the prayer cabin. And this gal was coming with her husband for the weekend, and she was a writer, and she also was the facilitator of a writer's workshop in the summer in Grand Rapids, near where I live.
So I knew her, and I was like, hey, when you come to the cabin after you have your prayer time, you and your husband, we'd love to have you over for dinner, get to know you better. And she's like, sure. So when they came over for dinner, her husband and my husband were in the house, and they were talking and getting to know each other. And she was in the entryway with me.
We were talking about writing, and she was asking me what I was working on. I told her what I was working on, and she said, oh, my goodness, you need to come to this workshop this summer, and that will help you with what you're working on. And I thought, oh, no, I'm not ready for that. And she explained it to me, no, you are ready for it. We created this for people just like you.
And then she said, right after that, she said, and then some in a few years, when we have this workshop in Scotland, you need to come to that. And in that moment, in that right. In that moment when she said that, I knew, if that ever happens, I know I'm supposed to go,
[00:08:48] Jessica: wow.
[00:08:49] Lori: So I went. So that year, that was 2022. So I went that year to the workshop in Grand Rapids. I went two or three years after that to that same one. Well, this gal ended up moving to Scotland with her husband to be a writer in residence at a church in Dundee over there.
And she didn't know any of this was coming. Talk about saying yes to the Lord. Talk about not knowing what's ahead for you. She didn't know that. She. Anyway, I won't go into her details, but she had
[00:09:18] Jessica: no idea.
[00:09:18] Lori: But she got over there, and this workshop she'd been leading over here was three or four years old. And all of a sudden, the Lord put on her heart to hold the workshop in Scotland.
So she created it there. She announced it, you know, last year. It was probably last summer, fall, that she announced, guess what, alumni? We're going to have it in Scotland next year. And I just went, oh, my goodness. I know, Laura. You called me to this in that entryway of our house in 2022.
The problem was to go to this workshop. Everybody who goes to the workshop submits 15 pages of their writing.
And you get put into a workshop group with people that are writing in the same genre as you. So nonfiction writers get put with nonfiction, fiction with fiction, you know, this type of thing, poetry with poetry. So you're in a group with about 10 other people, and your work gets critiqued. And you go away having improved yourself as a writer and that piece probably for publication.
So people, you know, they go to this workshop. Cause they're working on something that they're preparing to publish.
And the problem was, when the Scotland Workshop Shop came up, I had just published. My book had just been published. I didn't have anything that I was working on. So I was like, okay, Lord, here I am.
So I contacted her, and I was like, hey, I could be a volunteer. And she didn't need any volunteers. And I just told her, well, you know, Cynthia, I know I'm supposed to come to this workshop. I've known it since that day in the entryway. But there's one problem. I don't have a submission. And she said, that's okay. You will. And I was like, easy for you to say. You know,
[00:10:59] Jessica: thank you for your trust in me.
[00:11:01] Lori: Yeah, easy for you to say.
And that was last November. And time went on. And your submissions are due by June. June 1st. I didn't have anything. It was March, April, and. And all of a sudden, it got to be that time. Like, lord, I have to have something. And I was on retreat. I take retreats where I go away for just 24 hours to a retreat center near me, alone. And I was just spending time with God out walking. I was out on a walk, and I was saying to him, lord, I know you called me to this. We're getting to the deadline.
What in the world would you have me to write about? And right on that walk, he started asking me. I heard the question, well, what are you most excited about in your world? What God's doing in your heart lately.
And when I answered that question, then all of a sudden, this idea for a new work that he was calling to me started developing. And I had my little notebook, like you do on the walk. I had my backpack. I had a journal. And I got out that journal and just started jotting it all down. And that turned into what I submitted. I mean, I still didn't go thinking, oh, yeah, this is something that I fully need to develop. And that was kind of, that continued to be like a, why God, are you, why am I going to Scotland? This is a huge expense endeavor. I don't need another project. I don't need. I don't. But the Lord just kept putting on my heart.
This is a holy mystery. This doesn't have to be for some big output. This just needs to be like, just enjoy this little piece. I just gave you this little piece. You're going to enjoy. Whatever I is, whatever gifts I have wrapped up for you when you arrive, day by day is what you're going to receive. Go to give blessings and to receive them, and don't put a label on what those need to be. Just go with that. And so I was like, oh, God, that's not how I like to do things. I like to do things like, I'm going, okay, it's worth the investment because I'm developing this piece. I'm going to come home with clear, concrete improvements. I'm going to make connections, I'm going to pitch.
No, none of that. You just go in obedience to me and you, you go to receive blessings and give blessings. That's it.
[00:13:19] Jessica: I, I, I find it so interesting that you being one that needs those things that you decided that you were going even before you knew if the trip would be worth it. Right. If it would be worth your. Yes. And, and all of that. So to make that decision, what did you have to release in yourself in order to show up without needing a specific outcome from the Lord? Because
[00:13:42] Lori: yes,
[00:13:43] Jessica: sometimes we, we say yes, but then we're like, oh, but only if, like, you know, sometimes we keep things in our own mind.
We're like, well, I mean, the Lord knows it, but if I don't say it out loud, then maybe it won't actually. Right?
[00:13:56] Lori: Yes, yes, yes.
[00:13:57] Jessica: What did you have to release to show up without needing that?
[00:14:01] Lori: Yeah, I think, you know, there's some childlikeness that we that was called back forward to me, like, let go.
You know, there is a lightness to not requiring an outcome. You know,
[00:14:16] Jessica: like,
[00:14:16] Lori: you know, how many weights left my shoulders when I was like, I don't need to get any specific outcome. I'm just going to give blessings and receive blessings.
[00:14:25] Jessica: That
[00:14:25] Lori: was so much lighter than requiring an outcome. And I felt like it was an invitation from God to become more childlike. Just take every day as it comes.
Let that be enough. I mean, I was even on the plane and I. I'm a. I'm a voracious note taker. So I. And I bought this little Scotland notebook, was so cute. It's so. It's a journal. It's got writers all over it from all the Scotland writers. There are little caricatures all over it.
So I filled about half of that journal while I was there on the plane home, you know, on every trip, I will then read through my notes and I make a document that's like, okay, takeaways. And when I get home to do is from this, you know what experience.
And I still, you know, jotted the pot, the gifts down from that experience.
But God said to me, I want you to go home the same way that you came with embracing the holy mystery of you don't need to know what concrete takeaways, productions, assets, none of that.
[00:15:31] Jessica: Wow.
[00:15:31] Lori: You enjoyed the experience and that is enough for today. That's enough.
[00:15:36] Jessica: Yeah. It. I love, I love that you say that because I do believe that when we go in without expectations, it is a lot more freeing. However, a lot of us, type A people, it is hard for us to go in without expectations because we do want to know what is next and what. What is it there for? And am I wasting my time here? And what if I don't come with a journal full of this is what you can do. And, and just hearing that, I can imagine even myself going into something like that when I don't have to be on and I put like in. In. In. In quotations when I don't have to be on in a situation.
It is so much more relaxing that when I go expecting something to happen or, or looking for a conversation to be had or a connection or, you know, whatever it is, when I can just show up and allow the Lord to do what he was already going to do with or without my checklist of what I think should happen. Right. That it is so much more freeing and I think fruitful. When I just go, all right, or whatever you're going to do, I'm here for
[00:16:48] Lori: it.
Which
[00:16:49] Jessica: sounds so simple. But I get all up in my brain, maybe you too,
[00:16:54] Lori: about
[00:16:55] Jessica: all of the what fors and where. How
[00:16:59] Lori: so
[00:16:59] Jessica: this phrase, this holy mystery, which is exactly what that is on that side, I really love. Because it can be exciting when we're taking an adventure and when we feel like things are going to be different and we're. And we're. It can feel different than when we live our real lives when we. When we're taking an adventure and we're Just like you do what you do, Lord. And then when we talk about our real lives, we're like, actually on this side of the plan, though I would like to know it all. So. Yeah. What for you. What does becoming more comfortable with that holy mystery look like in real life?
[00:17:33] Lori: Yeah, I mean, I think just that experience was such a teaching moment. And then. And continuing that since I got home, he's. He's given me another thing that's come across my path that I knew when I heard about it. When I heard about it, I about jumped out of my skin. I wanted to run around the neighborhood. I wanted to do somersaults because I thought, this is such a beautiful, incredible group. And there was a application process that was pretty extensive, and I didn't know if it was the right time for me to be a part of this with our family. We have eight grandchildren. We have the retreat center. So it was like, lord, if this isn't the right time, close the door. I'm totally okay with.
Came back that I was accepted into the program for 2027.
And when that happened, I went to our cabin. Yeah, I just went to the cabin because I was so thankful because of what he does. Little. Little ways, small ways of always just coming with these blessings for our life.
I was just overwhelmed with gratitude. And I was also very sobered in that moment that, lord, this is a big thing, and I need you to confirm it for me. And what I did was I got out to the cabin and I prayed and I called a friend. I actually texted two really close soul friends of mine, people that walk side by side with me on our spiritual journeys.
And I just said, pray with me. Pray with me about this. And I explained what was happening, and this gal gave me such great input, and we prayed together. And she said, I just talked to this other friend this morning, and I shared this scripture with her. She was just sharing this experience with this other woman that morning.
And I. I just. I said, can you. Can you read that chapter out loud for me? And she read it out loud. And there was so. God spoke so powerfully through her words. I had. I still had three days to consider and to pray. So I kept considering. I kept praying. And God, through those three days, through what I. My devotional time with him and another friend that I talked to and who said, well, Lori, didn't you. This is what we pray for our life. You know, there's Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him and he will direct your path. He is directing our path. So when things come to us and they look like, I think this is you, Lord, but I'm so afraid. We can trust that he is directing our path, and then he confirms it through the other people in our life and through the Word, through friendships and through the Word and through our husbands.
And then we can just say yes. We can say yes. Like a child still not knowing. Like, with this group, there's a lot of question marks. I go into it the same way as I go to that workshop. This, this, this past summer. I don't know what I'm working on. I don't. I don't know what it's for, but here's where he brought me. So buckle up. It's going to be fun. Like a little kid that you're taking. You know, when you. When your kids are little and you take them somewhere, they don't ask a lot of questions. They just wake up in the morning and you go like, hey, today we're going here. And they put their little hand up and that you take their hand, and they enjoy every minute. They don't worry about it. They just enjoy it. And I think that's what God wants us to. I think we forget. I think we wonder if he's really paying attention or, you know, he will never forget us. There's a scripture that says, even if a nursing mother could forget her child, I will never forget you. I have written you on the palm of my hand. I know where you're at. I am answering, and I delight. You know, the Father delights when we bear the fruit that he gives us to bear. So he's up there smiling. Don't be afraid. It's not up to you. None of this is up to us. Everything that we need, he's already put within us. And it will just come over time. We don't have to stress.
[00:21:43] Jessica: Right. You even described this last. Yes, with joy and anticipation, but also with fear and trembling. And that's exactly what I'm hearing as you're, as you're describing this. And I just. I love the honesty of that because sometimes I think that we. We think that courage means that the fear has to disappear before we move. That. That we don't have to be. You know, we have to be strong and courageous before we can even take that next step. So in that, from what you're noticing and learning from yourself, how are you learning to tell the difference between the fear that makes you want to Pull back and God actually telling you not to move forward. Which
[00:22:24] Lori: I
[00:22:24] Jessica: think sometimes we get. We get that confused.
[00:22:28] Lori: Yes, yes. And I think that comes too, in our confirmations.
You know, when you get a sense of fear and then God puts in your heart how to work out figuring, getting the clarity on that. When I went to the cabin, I knew I had to get to the cabin to just get quiet. And then I had the impression to call these. These soul friends.
So that's how I continue to decipher is this fear that I'm feeling of the seriousness I need to take this serious. We have this beautiful family. I don't want to do anything that would take away from what you've called us to here. And so the confirmation came that way. If the confirmations in his word and from those people. And when I went to my husband afterwards and said, hey, this is the opportunity, what do you think? With everything we have going on, if those doors had been more leaning in a. This isn't the right time, then we need to be obedient to say, it's not the right time. And I trust you, God, it's going to be just as good. No matter which, we can't lose if we just continue to follow his directions. For us, you know, it's going to take courage to do what he calls us, even.
Even going on retreat. We're in the process of planning a retreat where we're taking women away. And it's a scary thing.
Even as having gone on retreat a number of times myself so many times. I mean, I still get to before the retreat and I wonder, like, what if it gets awkward? What if he doesn't show up? What if I get lonely?
What if I start, like sometimes I get. I bottom out a little bit when I'm away with a big group of people. What if that happens? But part of our obedience to Christ and our faithfulness is to be courageous in what he calls us to do, to discern and then to say, okay, I'm going to take this step. And if I'm on the wrong path, he will correct. He will bring me to correction. And I may have to make some phone calls and move some things around and maybe go through some pain that way.
But he's faithful. He will do it.
[00:24:31] Jessica: Yeah, absolutely. And I love that underneath everything you're saying is this intimacy with the Lord, this wanting to go back to him regardless of circumstance, staying close enough that you can recognize his invitation in the first place, but also know that it is what he's calling you. To do, even when you don't have all the answers and even when you have absolutely no idea why you're being called there. And I love. I love the connection to that. And then you're walking because you said that your daily walks are how you connect with, you know, in your spiritual life. And so what happens between you and God when you're walking, that's harder for you to hear or maybe even notice when you're rushing through the rest of your day.
[00:25:16] Lori: Yes.
One of the things I do on my walks is I'm. I love podcasts.
That's why I'm here today, because I love podcasts. I love learning, I love input, and God speaks to me through those. But at least half of my walk, I won't listen to anything.
And I'll ask him, how can I be obedient to you today? What are you calling me to today?
And then just walk and listen and let impressions come to me that I wouldn't have otherwise. And sometimes when I'm in the house and I'm working on things, say I'm working on a written piece of.
And I get stuck, I go outside and I do a loop or two on. In the neighborhood or on the property or something like that. And that just renews and refreshes us in such powerful ways.
[00:26:05] Jessica: Yeah, I've definitely found that. Especially when I am in a question season where I have more questions than answers. And sometimes just walking frees my mind up so that I can hear from him, because it's just different. I. There's got to be some science between moving your feet and being able to have these. These type of downloads, because God is.
[00:26:29] Lori: Yeah,
[00:26:29] Jessica: he's. He's wonderful, and he's made all of these things work within our bodies. But I definitely agree with that and that,
[00:26:35] Lori: yes,
[00:26:35] Jessica: walking is y'. All. I'm telling you.
[00:26:38] Lori: Yeah, well, he's
[00:26:39] Jessica: listening. Go walk.
[00:26:40] Lori: Yeah. Yeah. Creation testifies to the glory of God.
So if it's in the morning, I'm seeing the sun rise. If it's like before we got on our recording, I walk down the driveway. It's sunny.
I'm in the middle of the fall, summer sunshine. I'm breathing deep. I'm breathing in the oxygen. And we are receiving from God because he reveals himself through creation at any part of the day. And if you go out in the rain, you're going to be His. Rain is going to minister to us.
We went on a pilgrimage walk a couple years ago, my husband and I. Where you. It's a prayer walk. And a lot of our walk was in the rain. And that was never talked about ahead of time there. You know, they talk about a lot of adverse conditions, but it was like, where is the writing on the rain? You know,
[00:27:32] Jessica: oh, my goodness.
[00:27:34] Lori: But there's such beauty and even being outside in the rain and the quietness and watering the whole earth.
So there's just a lot of. In walking that God can bless us through.
[00:27:48] Jessica: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So we. We're wrapping up a little bit, but I want to bring our friend listening into this because maybe there's. Maybe there's something that that's been tugging at her or something that she keeps coming back to where she's prayed about, or she wonders if God might be inviting her to something, or she's waiting for enough information to make a decision that feels safe. So from what you're learning right now, how can she begin discerning whether God is asking her for a yes even before he actually gives her any explanation?
[00:28:23] Lori: Yeah, I think I would go back to, you know, if you're feeling apprehension, is that coming from fear?
Is that coming from a sense that God is not watching over me? I could make a wrong decision.
Or. Or is that coming from a soberness, you know, like, God, I know you have a lot of things happening in my life, and I want to make sure this doesn't thwart your plan.
Take me to your word. Show me, like, trust the impressions that you're getting as you bring that to the Lord in prayer.
Whatever impressions I need to get into the word, I need to call this person. It's amazing when you just think you're randomly calling someone, that that person will be the exact person who has the context for God speaking to you.
So I would say just follow your impressions of how do I find out? Lord, I want to make your decision here.
What does that look like? And then as the impressions come to be, like a child, I'm going to trust, even though I'm still scared, but I'm going to trust in your faithfulness. And I'm going to look back at all the years of my life and how you've directed me even before I knew you. Like, why do we think we need to take the reins when before he knew us, he was lining up all the circumstances of our life perfectly?
And then we get. We come to him, we give our lives to him. We go, like, okay, I'll take that now. I better take that now. You know, like, he was doing great at it. We don't need to take it he wants us. He wants to free us from carrying the weight. He wants us to free us to just, just receive, just come like a child. Don't. Don't worry about the big details. Okay? You know, it's okay to be afraid. That's part of being human. And then just knowing, like, he's put the tools here for us, His Holy Spirit within us, other people, His Word going out in creation practices like going walking or finding a place where you can get away in the quiet for a couple hours. Trust those impressions from the Holy Spirit, follow them, and then just take joy. Just have joy in the journey. Like, woohoo. Let's see what happens from this. This is going to be
[00:30:31] Jessica: fun,
[00:30:32] Lori: you know, and anytime that dread starts coming on, you just kind of go like, okay, I feel that. No, this is not. This is not scary. This is fun.
[00:30:41] Jessica: Yeah. Yeah, love that. Lori, thank you so much for being here. I love this idea of that following Jesus doesn't always mean an itinerary, because I feel like this is a common theme that keeps coming up in so many conversations that we're having. You know, sometimes he tells us where we're going, sometimes he tells us why.
Sometimes we get to look back and we get to understand everything. But then sometimes maybe the gift is just simply knowing that he has invited us to come with him and that he did, because I think that's such a different way of looking at obedience than what we might think it is. So maybe instead of asking God, tell me enough so that I can decide whether this makes sense, maybe the question is, Jesus, do I know you well enough to follow when it doesn't? Because maybe an abundant life isn't found in finally understanding every detail. Maybe part of the adventure is discovering what happens when the One inviting us is enough.
So before we wrap up, Lori, I want to ask you one last question that I ask every guest on the podcast. And that is, what is one perspective that you would encourage listeners to apply today?
[00:31:55] Lori: I would say to go Back to Psalm 27, that this one thing I ask of the Lord, this only shall I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord in your presence, gazing upon your beauty all the days of my life. And if we focus on that, everything else is going to fall into place.
[00:32:15] Jessica: Yes. Well said, friend. Maybe there's an invitation that you have been asking God to explain before you'll say yes. And I'm not telling you to run off ahead of him and call every idea an assignment from God. But what I am saying is that maybe There's a different question that's worth asking. Do I need more information, or has God already given me enough to follow? Friends, stay close, listen, discern. And if he's saying, come with me, maybe you don't have to know exactly where the adventure leads before you'll take his hand. And if you're looking for a place to grow in your faith, walk alongside other women who are doing the same. I'd love to invite you into the story. Haven't It's a free Christian community where we're learning more about God, spending time in His Word, praying with one another, sharing what he's doing in our lives, meeting new people and building real relationships along the way. You can join
[email protected] or download the app and take it wherever you go. And if you have a story of what God is doing in your life, I'd love to hear it. Reach out to
[email protected] and remember, even small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice. Talk to you next time.
