Hey guys, welcome to the salt not sweetener podcast.
I'm your host Danielle Townsend and today we're
going in on episode 21 and I wanted to start
This podcast with reading you some scripture
and I'm going to read to you the end of chapter
23 in the book of Luke starting in verse 50 It
says here now there was a man named Joseph from
the Jewish town of Arimathea and he was a member
of the council a good and righteous man who had
not consented to their decision and action and
he was looking for the kingdom of God this man
went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus
and then he took it down and wrapped it in a
linen shrewd and laid him in a tomb cut in stone
where no one had ever been laid and it was the
day of preparation and the Sabbath was beginning
The women who had come with him from Galilee
followed and saw the tomb and how his body was
laid. And they returned and prepared spices and
ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according
to the commandment." Now, the Lord had me read
the scripture a couple days ago. And y 'all,
this was very powerful for me at the time. Because
at the time when I was reading this scripture,
There was something different I took out of it
then versus what I'm taking out of it now. And
what I had really taken out of it then was something
that I felt the Lord was trying to remind me
of and have been trying to remind me of for some
time now. And that was that I needed to trust
in His ability to raise up other people and move
on other people's hearts. Y 'all, you know, if
you have listened to this podcast, I have a history
growing up. I was hyper independent. I wanted
to handle everything on my own. I wanted control.
And that was one of the really hard things when
giving my life to Christ was releasing the control
that I thought I had over my life. There was
a time in my life when Jesus Christ literally
told me to rely on Him for provision, to rely
on Him for the provision to eat. to drink the
provision to relocate across the country like
when God gave me all of these visions and said
these are all the things that I plan to give
you and these are the things I plan to do in
your life these are promises I'm making to you
but these are things that I'm going to bring
to you these are not things you are going to
bring up to yourself now did the Lord call me
to acts of obedience of course And I've shared
testimonies to that to where God called me to
do something and he blessed my act of obedience
But in the grand scheme of things I didn't try
to create any of those for myself The Lord was
cooking and the Lord worked in people's hearts
and stirred people's hearts because y 'all when
I received the provision I received it was like
off of the kindness and the good -heartedness
of other people God didn't make me get a nine
to five and like do all this extra work and do
all these things to earn the provision to get
the money I needed to move from California to
Indiana. No, he had just called me to do an act
of kindness and show the love and spread the
gospel with a person and then moved on that person's
heart who ended up blessing me and moving me.
And God reminded me of that miracle that he worked
when there appeared to be no way. And when I
was reading that scripture, You know that that
is what I took from that when I was reading about
this man Joseph who this man Joseph was Seeking
the kingdom of heaven There's a reason why scripture
tells us to seek first the kingdom of heaven
and all these things will be added on to you
Right when God gives you promises when he gives
you visions when he gives you dreams when he
says like hey I intend to do this in your life
one day He's not saying I intend to do all these
things now. I want you to do everything you can
to try to create it No way he what he wants you
to do is he wants you to focus on your relationship
with him He wants you to focus on growing and
cultivating your relationship with the Heavenly
Father he wants you to focus on being more Christlike
seeking first the kingdom of heaven and trusting
that these things will be added on to you as
you are pursuing the Lord. Because when you're
pursuing a relationship with Christ and you're
pursuing to be more Christ -like and pursuing
to live a life pleasing to the Lord, naturally
God is going to call you to do things. You're
going to have acts of obedience and he's going
to move through those acts of obedience. Right?
And we see that with this man Joseph. This man
Joseph did not agree With Jesus Christ going
to the cross. He did not agree with that decision
to crucify him We see that pointed out that like
he was not in agreement with Pilate. He was not
in agreement with these elder priests He was
not in agreement with this crowd that condemned
Jesus But we also see that he was seeking first
the kingdom of heaven and when he was seeking
first the kingdom of heaven He was led to do
this act of kindness Towards Jesus which was
to ask for his body once he received his body,
to care for his body, to lay his body in a tomb,
to cover it in that linen cloth. So when you
are seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven, God
is going to call you to acts of obedience. There
are going to be things that the Lord places on
your heart, there are going to be things that
he serves within you, and it is your responsibility
to obey the Lord. Get your strength from him
get your your courage from him get your boldness
from him I can imagine that this Joseph guy may
have been a little anxious in the situation At
least I feel like I would have been right he's
literally going up to pilot the man who just
Condoned crucifying Jesus and saying hey, can
I have his body? Can I care for his body? Like,
I feel like that would be a little intimidating,
right? But we also see God must have softened
Pilate's heart in that time, because Pilate could
have easily said no. Pilate could have easily
been like, no, I'm gonna keep the body. No, I
want to do this with it. We know that Jesus,
you know, said that he was gonna rise again on
the third day. I would imagine... Pilot would
have wanted to keep Jesus's body like really
close by right like God really had to have in
that moment softened pilots heart in that way
Worked in his heart did something I believe that
God made a way whatever that looked like Because
that's another thing that I took from this when
I was reading that scripture the other day was
trust that God has already gone ahead of you
Right this Joseph man had to trust That God had
already gone ahead of him in my pilot situation
that when he went to pilot God had already gone
ahead And we see Jesus didn't plan his own burial
he he didn't go and pick out the tomb He didn't
set aside the cloth ahead of time. He didn't
give all these game plans. He knew his funeral
was coming. He knew his death was coming. He
knew his resurrection was coming. And he gave
us a lot of prophecies for the future. And he
gave us a lot of things to prepare for. He gave
us a lot of warnings. He gave us a lot of clarity,
right? But notice how this was the one thing
he this was something that he didn't plan ahead
for And I believe that Jesus was entrusting this
process and already knew That way would be made
and That was really what I took out that scripture
the first time when I was rereading that a couple
days ago and I was led to that was trust in God's
ability to go ahead of myself. And you listening
to this too, you need to hear that too. Trust
in God's ability to go ahead of you. Maybe God
is calling you to do something right now. Maybe
he's calling you to reach out to a person. Maybe
he's calling you to move to a place. Maybe he's
calling you to start a new thing, start a new
business, start a new relationship, start a new
connection. Maybe he's calling you to leave something
behind. Maybe he's calling you to have a hard
conversation. there is something that you feel
God is calling you to do right now and maybe
you're fearful maybe you're anxious maybe you're
worried maybe you feel like just extra drama
is that extra conflict I don't need is that extra
here today that you need to trust that God has
already gone ahead of you in the situation I
can't tell y 'all how many times I felt God place
it on my heart to go and say something to a person
to have a conversation to do something and then
like once I do that thing and I'm talking to
them they're like oh my gosh I was just praying
about this or you know what I actually feel like
God has been speaking me about this like when
their response actually reveals to me that God
has been working way ahead where they're like
oh God has actually been I feel like I've been
seeing a lot of scriptures about this and I actually
just read this in scripture last night or I just
have this situation happen and I have that moment
where it's kind of like I want to look up at
the sky and be like God you really know what
you're doing you know it's up to us to trust
in those nudges from the Lord trust in those
nudges that we are receiving from the Lord Trust
that He has already gone ahead. Trust that He
has already made a way. So someone needs to hear
that today. Pray for the strength from Him. Pray
for the boldness from Him. Okay? If God is guiding
you to it, He has already planned for whatever
has happened. This leads me to think about the
story of Saul turned Paul, right? And when Saul
had that encounter, With the Heavenly Father
and receive the truth of Jesus Christ at the
same time. He was struck blind and For was it
three days? I believe he was fasting. He wasn't
eating and he was praying to God for healing
and While he was praying to God for healing He
was working on another man's heart And an angel
of the Lord came and spoke to that man and told
that man you need to go to Saul who would become
Paul and pray for him, put hands on him so that
he may be healed. And this man even got reassurance
that like Saul already knows you're coming. He's
already expecting you. Someone needs to hear
this today listening to this podcast. Someone
needed to hear that. That what if they're already
expecting you? Whatever God has been guiding
you to do, prepping you to do, leading you to
do, what if God has already been speaking to
that person too? What if God has already been
speaking life into that situation? What if he
has already been given clarity where clarity
is needed? What if he has already been moving
things around where it is needed y 'all? I will
tell you about the most fine timing situation
There's a time when the Lord was leading me to
a job Okay, the Lord I was really needing a job
really bad and I was this was after the Lord
had relocated me moved me back to India and I
got the provision and I had finally gotten a
little bit of stability but spring to Lord was
like word I'm ready for Consistent provision
and the situation I'm in there's a lot of things
going on a lot of walls pressing in and Like
I'm ready to go back to work And I was praying
day in and day out for a job and i did believe
that the lord intended for me to be placed somewhere
but i felt god answer me repeatedly the answer
is yes but not yet you will have an income you
will have a job but it's not ready yet and i
wasn't ready yet and in the waiting period god
was doing the work in me god was really cultivating
fruits of the spirit, god was making me a person
that would be good in the position i was in.
because honestly, if god had given me that position
like a year or two, three years before, i would
not have been a good steward over it compared
to what i actually was. you know, if god had
given it to me earlier than he did, I would not
have handled it correctly. I would have fumbled
the bag. Honestly, I feel like I would have fumbled
the bowl. It's a glory be to God that he's never
early and he's never late. But when I tell y
'all that the way he aligned it so perfectly
because By the time I, it was honestly a position
that on paper wise I didn't have the qualifications
for and there probably would have been a lot
of candidates hired before me. Honestly, the
position I was going for, like I had no educational
background in it. I had very little volunteer
experience that could translate over or relate
over. I didn't have the recommendations. I would
have needed like on paper. This was something
that I was not at all qualified for and something
that like I probably shouldn't even get Like
a call back from but God and his timing aligned
it so perfectly he aligned he Number one for
me even finding that job. I didn't find it But
that job was revealed to me. I had felt the Lord
speak to me much earlier that this was the next
step the path -wise. And I didn't believe him
because, again, I didn't have an educational
background in it. You know, I was like, are you
really sure that this is the general area you're
calling me into next, Lord? Because I've never
had a desire to go into that field. But if it's
your will, make it happen. I had been praying
for weeks before, like, God, if this is where
you want me, if that's what you want me to do,
open a door for it. And there was one day...
when there was a person I was speaking to at
church and I felt the Lord called me just to
introduce myself to that person and talk to that
person a little bit and I did and they asked
me to schedule a meeting just to talk with them
more and get to know them a little bit and I
did and in that meeting that person found out
that I was looking for work and they were like
hey there's a position at this place. I'm trying
to be very vague with it because I try to keep
things very private. It said there's a position
at this place. Why don't you interview for it?
Like why don't you fill out an application and
maybe you'll get an interview. Just fill out
an application. I'll take you over there next
door. I'll introduce you. And I was like, oh
wow, okay. And I really see this now looking
back as like God. God really bringing the opportunity
to me, God really opening up the door because
I wouldn't have been able to open up that door
because that person was the best recommendation
I could have honestly had. And I go in and I
get an application and I interview and I feel
like I fumbled so bad in that interview. I had
the worst anxiety ever, like I just, it wasn't
good. I didn't do good in that interview. and
I had to wait weeks to really get like confirmation
if I was hired or not because I guess the references
I put down weren't more calling back like everything
seemed to be going awry or going astray I'll
tell you I ended up getting that job and that
job was an absolute blessing it was a wonderful
it was a gift from God and later on you know
I find out that God had really been working ahead
in that situation at the time. God had been softening
hearts God had been working that situation I
guess they had been waiting to hire someone in
that position for a while and You know, I truly
believe that them looking for a long time for
a person to in that position, did open them up
to new candidates that may not have all the qualifications.
I believe if God would have brought me along
earlier, I could have been rejected, you know?
They could have been waiting for someone with
better qualifications. And I truly believe, looking
back, that God placed me in at the right timing,
the right people were put in that interview,
the right people were put in my path. The right
hearts were softened, and God just worked miraculously
in that situation. And when I look back, that
was nothing that I had to bring up for myself.
Did God call me to take actions? Yes. He called
me to be patient, number one, not to rush the
process. He called me to wait on Him to open
the door, and He did open that door. But He opened
it through. There was an act of obedience. He
called me to... He gave me a nudge to go and
talk to that person. Start an open line of communication.
Just saying hey, my name is Daniel Nice to meet
you and That was the act of obedience that God
used to open up that door. He called me to fill
out that application I had to fill out that application
there were steps that the Lord called me to take
that as I took those steps He blessed those acts
of obedience Y 'all know that testimony I shared
with you when God brought provision for me God
had moved to move from California to Indiana
God had called me. I felt him put on my heart.
It's better to give than is to receive and I
felt called to give the last like $10 I had to
this person I believed to be homeless on the
side of the street and I gave it to him and That
person ends up blessing me financially Whoever
you are listening to this podcast say you need
to hear this say listen to those nudges and trust
that God is going to bless your obedience and
Trust that he has already gone ahead of you and
the situations that you're in I've seen firsthand
what it looks like when God has already gone
ahead of you y 'all when I got hired in at that
job even though I didn't have any of the qualifications
and I felt like I was literally learning on the
job I was told by multiple people we feel so
blessed to have you here like you are literally
an answered prayer being here right now like
this is literally a blessing like God will go
ahead of you because when I tell y 'all that
job was everything I've been praying for I've
been praying cannot feel like a number I've been
praying to be useful. I had been praying to serve.
I had been praying to be able to do all these
things, and God really opened up the doors. Glory
be to God. But I had to be willing to obey. And
honestly, like I said, that wasn't a path I would
have at first picked for myself. But when I was
trusting God and listening to God and stepped
in, oh my gosh. i can see now that it was a lot
better than a lot of directions i would have
picked for myself. it helped cultivate my relationship
with the lord. it helped me step into purpose.
it helped cultivate even more fruits of the spirit.
it helped reveal things like god used this yes
in so many different ways and when i tell you
all that again i can't stress enough that this
wasn't the direction um when i When I went to
school, when I went to college, this was not
my degree major. This was not my volunteer field.
This was not pay wise, financially too. This
wasn't one that I, my first thing I would go
to, but God knew better than I did. And when
I trusted him and obeyed him, he opened doors
I could have never opened up for myself. He revealed
to me things that I would have never seen. He
did things in my life that I could have never.
done. So I'm telling you all today to trust in
the Lord's ability to go ahead of you and trust
in what He has called you to do. And someone
needs to hear this today too. You need to be
preparing in the waiting period because the waiting
period is what God uses. He will still use that
time. No minute is wasted with the Heavenly Father,
but you have to be prepared to lock in, okay?
when I was when I was still living in the middle
of the desert in California and I remember the
night when it all clicked for me when I was like
laying down to go to sleep and it had fully clicked
for me where that was a day when I realized oh
my gosh the Lord is calling me to leave my entire
life of sin behind it was the night when I felt
the conviction to throw away every tarot card
I had and to throw away like It was the night
where I felt the 100 % conviction of God is calling
me to throw these things out and to not go back
and trust in whatever his provision is. And like
the next week after that, God was dropping heavy
words on me. He was telling me that he was going
to restore me. He told me that the things that
I lost were going to be restored. He told me
that he was going to relocate me. He told me
that there was going to be a redemption in my
life. And he made some pretty awesome, awesome
promises to me. Okay? He gave me some big goals.
And I want to pause here. Someone needs to hear
that I was listening to this podcast right now
that God didn't bring you this far to leave you
where you are. Okay? If he's gotten you this
far, he's going to keep moving you forward So
you need to continue to put your faith in your
trust in him because that was something that
I That first showed me the mercy and the grace
of the Heavenly Father was I at that point had
been so Disobedient and have been doing everything
my own way, but God was still protecting me.
That was the first time my life I looked around
and realized Wow Like I was in serious danger
and like my life was It was the first time I
looked around and it was like a fog had gone
down where I realized like how Much even worse
my situation could have been. I was so blessed
the Lord didn't let it get even worse than what
it was You know, so like I felt an overwhelming
Appreciation for his grace and his mercy that
he had kept me alive honestly and Just had taken
care of me through what he had taken care of
me through obviously he didn't have to and I
was living a life so sinful and so displeasing
him that like honestly he should have struck
me down a long time ago beforehand so the fact
that every day he was still waking up and allowing
me to move forward and allowing me to have another
day was a blessing in itself but I remember that
when he had made those promises to me I was like
looking around like okay let's go let's go I'm
gonna be real with y 'all He made me wait a little
while He didn't make me wait too long in that
time period But he made me wait a while Okay,
he made me I went through at this point I had
already been doing fasting Intermittent fasting
for a couple weeks and now this was the point
where I had completely locked in And for a couple
weeks Every day I was just reading scripture
I was reading scripture like 12 hours a day all
because I wasn't scrolling on my phone I wasn't
doing anything like that. I was just focusing
in on reading scripture Journaling reflecting
on it and praying to the Lord and he used that
waiting time period to cultivate new things in
me You know, when God gives you a promise or
gives you the things to look forward to, oftentimes
our first reaction is, we want to immediately
jump into them. I know that was my reaction.
I was like, okay, God, bring, bring, you say
you're going to move me back from California
to Indiana? Okay, bring the money, bring the
provision. Let's go. Let's do it right now. As
much as I'm sure God probably loved the enthusiasm,
I wasn't ready yet because That journey back,
I was going to later on see, required me to take
leaps of faith and trust in the Lord's ability
to make a way. And it was really a Jesus feeding
the 5 ,000 moment, where the provision I had
didn't appear to be enough to get me everything
I needed and to get me across like 2 ,500 miles
like that. And God multiplied what I had, like
I don't know how to explain it other than like
the gas in my car just didn't run out. It was
crazy, but I wouldn't have had that faith if
in the weeks leading up to that I was facing
trials and I was facing tribulations. I was facing
testing moments and those tests produced things
in me. Produced faith, right? It produced...
Patience it produced self -control. There were
things that needed to be produced before I could
be led into that next situation So while I was
in that waiting period, I was faced with intrusive
thoughts I was faced with ideas and temptations
to just go do it my own way. I Was I was faced
with times where it's something appear to be
presented and God told me to wait Don't go for
it yet. Don't grab it yet. Don't say anything
yet. Be patient wait Times when the Lord called
me to place my faith and sow seeds and trust
That he would do things with their seeds trust
in his ability to bring things up So if you're
in a waiting period right now, God has given
you visions He's giving you promises and you're
waiting wait. Well, and the best way that you
can wait is to This was the prayer. I remember
praying to him. I was praying him saying like
Lord I don't want anything in my life that is
going to lead me away from you So in this time
period reveal to me and remove anything that
is not of you and is not bringing me closer to
you and only bring things into my life that are
going to bring me closer to you. Strengthen my
discernment. I started praying that God changed
my heart to where I desired what he had planned
for me. To hate what he hates and to love what
he loves. Like that was that was it. I was praying
that every day of like what do you need to shift
in me today? What do you need to change in me
today? And for a while I actually adopted a mindset
of understanding that if it wasn't here yet,
it was because it wasn't God's timing. So if
it hadn't happened yet, it was either I wasn't
ready or that thing wasn't ready. and understanding
and humbling myself knowing that there is always
a work that God can do in me there is always
an improvement he can make there is always something
that he can reveal to me I was able to start
sitting down and being a student consistently
I was at the Lord's feet just trying to be a
student saying Lord reveal to me what I need
to see today what is it in me you need to cultivate
what is it in me that you need to grow and when
the time came and that provision came In just
like a two -week difference, I was completely
different. So if you are in a waiting period,
wait well. And that is, in my opinion, the best
way you can wait is to be open and receptive,
being in a humble state, recognizing that if
it was God's timing for you to have it right
now, God would make sure, okay? He is not late.
He is not early. But there is something that
can be grown in you in this waiting period. Okay,
there's nothing, and this is from experience,
I'm telling you, the worst that you can do in
the waiting period than just trying to distract
yourself with worldly things and just... Busyness.
That's it. That's the thing I know a lot of people
do to distract their mind is keep themselves
busy and we like to think of like healthy distractions
where it's like, okay Well, I'll just keep my
mind busy with working all the time and volunteering
all the time or maybe like content creation if
you're a content creator or cleaning or doing
all these things and like That's good but we're
supposed to be resting in Christ Jesus and you
know the the way to grow and the way to Growth
takes uncomfortability right? in order to know
you need to grow an area you need to be able
to identify that that area needs growth that
that area needs work and that happens through
prayer to the Lord through scripture reading
and meditating and reflecting okay if you're
if you don't journal now i'm gonna tell you pick
up a journal start working on journaling start
working on you know when you read scripture write
down your thoughts write down your reflection
if you feel like you've heard a word from the
Lord write that down okay if just write down
what's happened throughout your daily life and
see how that compares to things that god has
been calling you to read or maybe things that
god has been speaking of your life it's crazy
y 'all how many times like i'm just writing down
what happened today in my journal and i start
thinking oh my gosh god god said something about
something like this two weeks ago or two months
ago and i flip back and i'm like oh wow god god
god was prepping me for this moment or this is
actually an answered prayer I'm telling y 'all
right now to use the waiting period wisely. But
I also want to share with y 'all that when God
tells you it's time to go, when God tells you
it's time to make a move, it's time to make a
move. And I want to share with y 'all a moment
of hesitation that I had. Okay? This was after
the provision had came in. So it was a Wednesday
that the provision that God had called me to
plant that seed where I had given that person
ten dollars and um at the end of that night I
ended up having like a hundred dollars because
that person a couple hours later shared this
testimony on here before I believe came up to
me with an old lottery ticket that they found
on the ground dusty lottery ticket scratch off
that hadn't been scratched yet and you know they
gave it to me and called me a lucky lady and
I scratched it off and it won a hundred dollars
So I take it inside the there's a gas station
or a truck stop and I take it inside and Cash
it out and I come outside looking for that person
just wanting to buy them a meal feeling like
it's the least I could do I can't find them anywhere
So I finally go in the restaurant across the
street the fast food place and I see that person
on there So I saw another seed where I just I
buy them whatever meal they want and it's like
a five dollar meal We both eat and they ask me
what I'm doing. I tell them I'm, you know, waiting
on provision to get back to Indiana. I wasn't
expecting anything from them. And come back out
to my car and there's some random person that
walks up to me and just hands me five dollars.
Basically says, like, God bless you and walks
away. And I'm like, okay, God just gave me back
the five dollars I just spent on this person.
That's wild. And... Then this person comes out
and talks to me and for a couple hours They tell
me about all their hardships and what they're
going through and I just preached to them the
word of the Lord and you know I just share with
them the gospel and share with them what the
Lord has done in my life thus far and the dramatic
changes that he's done in my life and The next
morning this person comes to me with another
two hundred dollars So like I have like they
and says I want you to go back to Indiana like
go go now like go So it's Thursday morning And
I now have like $300 I didn't have before and
honestly when that $300 for buying all the gas
I need buying all the food I need Everything
for 2 ,500 miles that's really cutting it tight
and like when I was doing the math I didn't feel
like that math was nothing and I started hesitating
and I started spending all day Thursday planning
out like Okay, when I felt like the Lord was
telling me you need to go you need to go just
go just go but I was frozen. I started thinking,
well, what route should I take? Last time I went
through Colorado and through those mountains
and everything. Should I go through Texas this
time? Should I go through this time? And I felt
the Lord telling me, just go the way you came.
Just go. And I started trying to do all the math.
And I started talking myself out of it. It was
like, every time I'd feel like, OK, it's time
to go. I'd start talking myself out of it. And
I'd start saying, well, what if God's doing more?
I'd say, well, yeah, he gave me this provision,
but like, what if he's waiting to bless me even
more? And if I go now, what if I'm missing out
on something bigger? Like, I all of a sudden
lost appreciation for this miracle he did and
the surety I'd had. I remember praying myself
just days before where I was like, Lord, if you
give me the provision to go, I'll go. And I started
thinking about that where I was like, dang, I
told the Lord if he gave me the provision to
go, I'll go. And I know this is the provision.
but there's a little part of me saying it could
be better there could be more let's wait on the
better let's wait on the more let's wait let's
wait and when i tell you all that the longer
i waited the more the temptation started coming
in that were crazy like so many people started
popping out of woodworks randomly coming up to
my car and coming up to me and like trying to
talk to me and trying to everything and these
people weren't actually offering me anything
but they were like counterfeit offers i don't
know how to explain it where each thing was like
it didn't sit right it was sinful it was it was
like an attention I did not like having and it
made me more and more uncomfortable and then
there was an old man that came up to me I was
like I've seen you over here a lot like I'm telling
you right now you need to leave because it turns
out he knows the man that gave me money and he's
like get out like go go girl go and that he was
saying that to me Friday morning late morning
and it was Friday at like noon that I left and
hit the road and a couple hours later I was driving
through Vegas and heading back to Indiana, entrusting
that God would make a way and he did make a way.
But I remember Friday morning I had woken up
and I had been woken up at like 3 o 'clock in
the morning, right? Because I was sleeping in
my car at a truck stop. And I look out my back
window and there's this big semi just parked
behind me that says heaven or hell, it's up to
you. And I felt like the utmost conviction where
it was like, am I gonna trust in God? Am I gonna
trust in his provision? Am I going to make this
move by faith? Or am I gonna stay frozen out
of fear and let the devil win this one? That
was my heaven or hell it was like am I going
to succumb to the fear to the intrusive thoughts?
To the there's a part of me that was still greedy
right of well. I want it to be better I want
it to be more. I don't want to take a leap of
faith. I don't want to have to I want to know
everything You know I was part of me was waiting
on God to give me all the hotels to stay at and
all these things went no and dang well. I was
just sleeping at like rest, I was pulling over
at rest areas, crashing there or stopping at
a rest stop on the way home. I left on Friday,
got back Sunday night, you know, so slept in
my car Friday night, Saturday night, just driving
through. But I was telling myself, trying to
convince myself that if I weighed on God it would
be even better and that it's like these leaps
of faith were actually like not from God. Like
my brain was working really weird. Like, I was
like, well, if it was really from God, it would
be like, chef's kiss, everything would be perfect.
And I got like a real humbling where it was like,
no, this is a take a leap of faith moment and
trust that the Lord is going to bless us. And
this is actually a testimony in the works that
you're going to share with people later. And
it really did become a testimony to share with
people later. I'm sharing it today with y 'all.
But yeah, I left Friday. and there was a lot
of temptations and a lot of things. What's crazy
is when I tried to leave that day, I don't know
how it was like, I went to fill up my car with
gas at like, I think it was like 11 and for some
reason that truck stop was more busy than it
had ever been before and I was waiting like 25
minutes in line just to pay for my gas. and then
I realized that I didn't put enough in I like
didn't do the math right so then I'm waiting
like another 20 minutes to pay for my gas and
then when I'm getting ready to go all of a sudden
I have to pee so bad so then I go back in and
there's like this big tour bus that just stops
and I'm waiting like another 20 minutes to go
and it's like all these delays keep being created
which I now view as like kind of spiritual warfare
and like trying to create fear and trying to
create doubt just that situation at that time
was creating fear and doubt But I'm open to tell
y 'all today that I hesitated I hesitated out
of fear and out of anxiety and out of worry and
believing lies from the enemy And believing him
when he was telling me. Oh, it should be better
than this. It should look better Since it's a
leap of faith. It's not from God When if I read
in my journal back God had been prepping me like
every single day He was reminding me it is going
to be a leap of faith You have to walk by faith
not by sight. You have to trust I've been giving
you these tests and tribulations and all these
things to get you in a space where you will trust.
Where you can see how I'll move in your life.
You know, it makes me think of David. David didn't
just show up to Goliath that day and that being
his first time he placed faith in the Lord. We
see that before David fought Goliath, he fought
bears and he fought lions. And David wasn't ripped
like Solomon. He was a shepherd boy. It was God
giving him the strength. It was God helping him.
God helped him take down that bear. God helped
him take down that lion. So that way when it
came time to face the life, David could say,
God is with me and I've seen God help me take
down a bear and I've seen God help me take down
a lion. So I know if God is calling me, I've
seen, you know, David was able and I'm, this
isn't word for word from scripture. This is me
paraphrasing right now, okay? David was able
to look back and say, you know what, God helped
me take down the lion. God helped me take down
the bear. If God is calling me to Goliath, he's
gonna help me take down Goliath too. He was able
to confidently walk in, being able to pawn the
armor of God, leaving King Saul's armor behind
and walking in with that slingshot. And even
though Goliath was laughing or talking his mess,
David didn't allow that to create fear and doubt
because he's seen already what God can do. Since
he's seen what God can do, God had to report
with him. He put his faith in God, not what the
enemy was trying to make him see. him he walked
by faith not by sight in that moment and y 'all
I'm telling you God will do that in your life
that waiting period is that prepping you that
waiting period is your bear is your lion so that
way when you face the life you can say I have
seen God take this on I've seen God work miracles
I've seen God make a way I've seen God radically
change things I've seen God move mountains so
I know that he's gonna do it in this situation
too I've seen God go ahead in these past situations
so I know he's gonna go ahead in this situation
And I pray that this testimony is blessing y
'all. You know, I don't think I have publicly
shared that testimony of the hesitation that
I had. Because sometimes, honestly, we don't
want to talk about the hesitation. We want to
share, yeah, God called me to make this mirror
when I made it. And like, it all panned out.
But I'm telling y 'all, there was that day in
between. And God had to really remind me. He's
like, I felt such a heavy conviction. Feel called
to go back to so I felt a heavy conviction where
God reminded me. He's like hey you you told me
in prayer Like you you told me if I gave you
the provision you would move by faith So move
by faith and whoever you are listening to this
thing. Did you say a prayer like that to God?
Did you say God if you reveal this thing to me?
God if you move this mountain God if you bring
in this provision God if you do this thing I
will make this move. I will do this thing We
need to be very careful with the promises and
the oaths that we take. Someone needs to hear
that right now, okay? Scripture tells us to be,
not to take oaths, like, tells us to be very
thoughtful. Let your yes be yes, let your no
be no, but I'm telling y 'all right now, when
you make a covenant with the Lord, when you make
an agreement with the Lord, you better stand
by that covenant. You better stand by that agreement.
God is graceful. God is merciful. Yes, but you
better stand on that covenant You better stand
on that agreement and that was an agreement I
came into with the Lord that was a promise I
made to him I said Lord if you bring me this
provision, I will move by faith and God showed
me grace You know, I didn't go that very moment.
I didn't go that very night. I didn't even go
the next day It took me like 48 hours Math like
36 hours to go He showed me grace and mercy during
that time. He didn't let me stay comfortable
in my disobedience. It was a very uncomfortable
36 hours where I was sitting on that provision
and not doing anything with it. So y 'all...
Honestly, I had no idea the direction this podcast
was really gonna go in when I started this episode.
I just knew that I was called to record an episode
today to read that scripture and to trust that
the Holy Spirit was gonna guide me. And I was
about to close out the podcast and I had to pause
for a minute because there is a warning that
I feel being placed on my heart and this was
a warning that actually had to be spoken to me.
during this time period too. I had received this
warning multiple times, and Heavenly Father,
Holy Spirit, please guide my words with this.
I started, in this pause, when I paused this
podcast, I started reading a little bit of scripture
from the book of Hosea in chapter 11. And just
to give you a little bit of background with the
book of Hosea, Here in my English standard version
Bible, they actually give you just little summaries
of each book and I want to read to you real quick
the summary of the book of Hosea. It says here,
Hosea has been called the deathbed prophet of
Israel because he was the last to prophesy before
the northern kingdom fell to Assyria. His ministry
followed a golden age in the northern kingdom
with peace and prosperity not seen since the
days of Solomon. Unfortunately with this prosperity
came moral decay and Israel Now, I do believe
that the Heavenly Father is guiding me to read
this to you. and tie this in with how just a
moment ago I was talking about the covenants
and the promises that we make to the Lord, okay?
And that we are supposed to take them seriously.
And I do want to be thoughtful with the way that
I word this because these were warnings that
I was... receiving a lot especially last year
when God was really telling me that he's like
when you receive this breakthrough and my breakthrough
was me getting out of the living situation I
was in receiving the provision to move back from
California to Indiana when I tell you that God
did drastically change my life like my life was
drastically changed but the Lord had me spend
those weeks just reading scripture and just being
at his feet and every time I was tempted to go
away from him I was picking to go to him and
the Lord had warned me time and time again that
when you are blessed when you receive this thing
do not go away from me do not go astray there
are gonna be so many temptations to fall away
to go astray to go in opposite directions but
you need to stay rooted in me you need to keep
going back to me and boy was the Lord right because
when I moved out although my living situation
drastically improved when I got back to Indiana
I was actually put in an environment that was
not God -centered. I actually started having
voices in my ears that were telling me not to
pursue my relationship with God, that were making
me feel guilty for pursuing my relationship with
the Lord. I had voices telling me like, but God
would ask you to deny yourself. Like really like
outwardly questioning God. I had a lot of past
people coming in and past things popping up.
you know, finally having provision and having
the financial, if I wanted to, I could have started
putting my money in things that were ungodly
again. I could have easily gone back to the lifestyle
I had before. There were so many temptations
and the Lord spent a long time really making
sure before he gave me that blessing or gave
me that thing, he was making sure that I was
in a space where I wasn't just going to immediately
fall away or fall astray. Because God loves me
so much that He would rather keep me in that
needing position I was in because it kept me
going to Him than allowing me to have everything
I needed and my heart to grow cold and fall away
from Him again. And we see that in that book
of Hosea, right? I was led to start reading in
chapter 11 when I paused this podcast for a moment
while I paused recording. And chapter 11 starts
off with God saying His love for Israel, His
love for His chosen people. You know that He
loved them and that they loved Him, that as they
grew older, they started turning away from him
and they started turning to the world and, you
know, they started worshipping these false idols
and all of these things and they became like
an unfaithful wife. And that's how we should
look at our relationship with the Lord. Honestly,
we're in covenant with the Lord. No matter if
you're a male or female, I'm just sad. I'll say
this way, like, you look at the Lord as your
spouse, where that's who you're married to. So
we can't be entertaining the devil even part
-time. You can't make these promises to the Lord
and then go do something else because he's graceful
merciful. That's breaking that covenant And that
was a heavy one for me to really take, you know
like My brain sometimes still grasping out of
like oh wow But like you need to take your covenants
as seriously as and people don't even take marriage
covenants seriously nowadays when they should
be Like that is God the heavenly father like
we are the bride, okay Christ the Bridegroom,
the Heavenly Father the Bridegroom, like someone
just someone needs to hear this today of take
these covenants that you're making with the word
seriously okay and do not fall away when he when
you step into that promise when you step into
that blessing and if you have found yourself
falling away it's time now to get back on track
what were the covenants you made with the Lord
and I'll tell you that the first step is to seek
first the kingdom of heaven seek first your relationship
with Christ start working on your relationship
with Christ start working on pursuing first the
kingdom of heaven and Trust that he will get
you back on the path that you need to be on As
I'm telling y 'all right now there's We're sharing
another testimony, okay? Okay. I didn't think
I was going to share this testimony. I'm the
perfect example of what happens when you break
covenants, guys. Because I broke covenants. I
grew up just kind of like Israel here in chapter
11 where it says when they, you know, they were
young, they loved the Lord. You know, I grew
up going to church. I grew up singing really
loud in the church. I grew up answering all the
questions in my catechism glasses. I've said
before, I didn't have a serious relationship
with Jesus. Especially when I was getting older,
I wasn't listening to the convictions, I wasn't
feeling those convictions, I was not living life
pleasing to the Lord. I've talked about on here
before, it was a really weird thing where I would
talk about God, and I loved to learn about God,
and I saw God as a heavenly... I believed in
Him, but... I saw him and Jesus as very separate
and I never really had a relationship with Jesus
and I never really tried to build a relationship
with Jesus but when I was young I took the covenants
you know when I was eight I was baptized and
I said I would try to live a life pleasing to
the Lord and I made all these promises I was
taking the sacraments every Sunday when I was
I believe I was 17 years old when I got confirmed
in the Catholic Church. Again, you make these
agreements saying that you're going to pursue
a relationship with Christ. I've made these agreements
saying, oh yeah, I'm going to pursue a relationship
with the Lord. I'm going to try to live a life
pleasing to the Lord. I'm going to set my mind
on things above. And I did not do that, y 'all.
I went right back to... sinful behaviors. I went
right back to fornicating. I went right back
to turning up. I went right back to gossiping.
I went right back to being quick to anger. I
went right back to all these things that were
not, and I actually immediately stopped going
to church. Like I didn't end up going for like
seven years. I didn't open up my Bible again.
and I actually turned to New Age spirituality.
I turned to tarot card reading. I turned to all
those things. I did not keep my covenants with
the Lord. There are multiple times I'd be praying
to the Lord and being like, Lord, if you help
me with this, if you help me through this, I'll
start going to church again. I'll do this. And
I didn't. I didn't. I can't say, you know, I'm
not saying those prayers were answered immediately,
but I do believe God was working. And God one
day allowed me to be turned over to the consequences
of my own actions, just like we see how he did
with the people in the Book of Jeremiah. Okay?
I had to be turned over to the very things I
turned away from God to please, you know? So
the tarot reading started biting me in the butt.
The New Age spirituality started biting me in
the butt. The things I once found comfort in.
I used to find anxiety relief and stress relief
in 420, and all of a sudden I started getting
panic attacks every time I smoked. Like literally
the things that I used to find comfort in I could
no longer find comfort in the things I used to
It was kind of like that Jonah moment. You know
Jonah got on the boat and these people were helping
him get away from God's calling and then eventually
when the storm finally got too bad They had already
known Jonah was the source of the problem. Then
they finally tossed him overboard That was what
those things were for me new age spirituality
tarot card reading Substances like all these
things were my escape They were my control. They
were my getaway car until they turned on me.
God allowed those things to start spoiling to
where I could finally look around and be like,
okay, where's the good? What's the source of
goodness? And I was able to see Jesus Christ
as the source of goodness. He is the good. He
is the answer. He's the way. He's the truth.
He's the life. So I'm sharing that testimony
with y 'all today too that like I can firsthand
say I broke covenants with the Lord and I he
gave me years years before I was turned over
but even when I was turned over he didn't leave
me and he was open to me coming back to him and
He turned all of that into a testimony all of
it was turned into a testimony. Because now I
am able to talk to people and understand people
who are in new age. You know, I can understand
people who are participating in witchcraft and
divination and all of these things. I can understand
how the devil is working. I understand the lies
that they believe, like I can empathize with.
There are things that I wouldn't have believed
if I hadn't seen them firsthand You know, I'm
more It was like the scales have fallen off my
eyes to a lot of the ways that the devil moves
in occultism and New Age spirituality That I
wouldn't have seen before You know, I had no
clue what angel numbers and putting your faith
in angel numbers and manifesting or any of that
what I thought was all fun silly stuff in middle
school and high school And now I look at it and
I'm like, oh There are things that you know when
people say to me now like my discernment I'm
able to clock it when I wouldn't been able to
clock it in the past God use these things to
strengthen my discernment. God use these things
To strengthen me But I had to be willing to allow
these things to be a lesson I could have just
like sulked and said like oh boohoo I You know
went against God and I did all these sinful things
like I'm just gonna act like it never happened
and try burying it I could have done that but
that wouldn't been helpful and God how's God
gonna use that how's God gonna use shame and
Embarrassment and upset those things aren't from
God. God is the Redeemer Jesus Christ was the
Redeemer. So he took all these sinful things.
He took these breaking covenants in the past,
these breaking promises in the past, allowed
me to experience consequence, learn from them,
and has redeemed them. And now, instead of some
embarrassing, awkward, shameful past situation,
it's a testimony of how forgiving God is, how
graceful He is, and how He can pick you up out
of whatever pit you're in. And how repentance
is key. And that Jesus Christ can do a lot with
a repentant, humble heart. I'm talking to y 'all
today as someone who I've experienced God's anger.
I've experienced the wrath. I have experienced
Him turning me over to the consequences of my
own sin. I have experienced the mocking. I have
experienced in that time period, there were people...
who were doing wicked things at me, who were
rejoicing seeing I was suffering. So not only
was I facing the consequences of my own actions,
there were a lot of people watching me and laughing
at me. There were a lot of people making up things
about me. There were a lot of people seeing the
knife already in me and twisting it harder. There
were a lot of people already kicking me when
I was down. There were people just mocking me.
Like mocking me. You know it It's nowhere to
compare to what Jesus Christ went through by
any means, but the Lord did reveal to me I Remember
at a time of journaling and just prayer that
often times before the breakthrough There's a
mocking that happens and we see that happen with
Jesus Christ when he was going to the cross They
were saying hail king of the Jews and spitting
on him and taking his clothes and putting that
crown of thorns on him and in that moment the
devil appeared to be winning the enemy appeared
to be winning his opposition appeared to be winning
because they were allowed to hurt him and gloat
over him and mock him and laugh at him and spit
on him and do all these hurtful things to him
and he took it in that moment but then he was
resurrected and in his resurrection that conquered
the devil. Okay, that secured victory for us
as Christians who put our faith in Christ. And
in that moment when he was lifted up, when he
was resurrected, those mockers fell. Those mocking
voices. We could see that they were not the victors.
They were not the winners. They were the wicked.
So the redemption, right, the resurrection, when
Jesus Christ was lifted up, that shed a light
on a lot of things. That shed a light on these
people who were laughing, who were mocking, who
were rejoicing in the suffering, and they were
no longer seen as the people who had victory
over Jesus. They were seen as the wicked people
who tried to kill the Son of God. So whoever
you are listening to said you were going through
a stage where you were being mocked understand
that Mocking and like humiliation rituals embarrassment
like that from the enemy often comes before the
breakthrough Because I was being heavily mocked
y 'all like but before God came through with
the provision and all of a sudden my life was
changed and all of a sudden even my appearance
changed because my life situation changed and
the people who said I was never going to get
out of the situation and the people who believed
I'd never be anything and the people who were
making up lies about how I got into the situation
I was in no longer could answer for these things
because when Jesus Christ decided to when the
Heavenly Father decided it was my redemption
time when he decided to clean me up and I was
a new creation in Christ a lot of the lies and
the dissections started falling off. A lot of
the mocking words fell flat because they were
disproven. But y 'all, I was allowed to experience
that too, and that was a learning time for me.
And oftentimes, like, and I know we don't have
too much time to get into this today, but people
who do not read scripture and who do not have
a relationship with the Lord, um are easily deceived
and when they see things like that when they
see people being allowed to attack being allowed
to mock being allowed to do these things they
immediately assume that that means that the person
being attacked or mocked jesus isn't with them
or god isn't with them and that is not always
true that isn't true god is with every single
one of us god loves every single one of us but
god allows these things for a reason and i know
in my situation God allowed these things to happen
because number one, it was a wake up call for
me. It caught my attention. It got me back in
touch with my empathy. It got me back in touch
with honestly like a humility I needed. It allowed
me to have testimony, right? It stirred a lot
of things within me, but it was a strengthening
for me too. Because it taught me how to react
and how not to react to taught me how to tune
out things and Listen to what the Lord has to
say how to take these intrusive thoughts captive
and make them obedient to Christ how to take
these words from the enemy and Make them obedient
to Christ the Lord The Lord allows these things
because they're gonna be training ground for
you. They're gonna be learning situations for
you Speaking from experience And I have experienced
God's great abounding love and mercy and grace.
Because even after doing all of these things,
after straying far from Him, y 'all, I remember,
and this was when I was in New Age, and it was
the craziest thing, and this sticks with me so
heavily. When I was in New Age, I was meditating.
all the time and when you're a new age and you're
meditating you're like trying to connect with
spirit guides and you're trying to get like reach
a higher level of consciousness and everything
like that and i will never forget it was one
night that i was meditating um i i had a friend
next to me who was also meditating and i believe
in this meditation i had seen a biblically accurate
angel um meaning like it was like an eye with
like a lot of big eyes and I had ran away right
like I started running away from this thing I
was scared I feared it I started running away
from it and ran to the top of a mountain and
when I got to the top of the mountain that thing
was there waiting on me and I just remember it
saying back to me what are you doing and at this
time I was in new age spirituality full -on tarot
card reader full on and I had been learning all
about Greek deities and Roman deities and I had
been wanting to learn about just you know other
gods and like other spiritualities and everything
and I remember it saying to me this angel saying
to me what are you doing and I said I actually
can't believe I'm sharing this right now And
I remember saying back, very honestly, I'm wanting
to learn about other gods. I'm wanting to learn
about other deities. I'm opening my mind to them.
And I just remember the angels saying, okay.
And right after that happened, I remember shooting
up, like sitting up in that meditation, my friend
at that time looking at me like, you know. because
I felt panicked he was like what's going on what's
going on I explained what happened to him to
me and in that meditation and um you know that
that appeared to be that and I went on I started
learning more about other deities and other religions
but it's crazy how after that day when I look
back a lot of Things started to that used to
just naturally work out fell off and it was almost
as if I saw the favor of God out of my life It
was as if I saw the favor of God had fallen away
I was so used to just everything works out and
everything pans out Maybe it wasn't beautiful
but like it was just working out and I just all
of a sudden the attacks of the enemy were Prospering
like I'd never seen before the weapons that were
filming appeared to be prospering and things
were falling out And when I look back, I truly
believe that was the moment where I fully turned
away from the Lord. And I felt the Lord bring
me back to that moment before. And it's a hard
moment for me to look back on and think of if
I can't believe I ever turned my back on the
Heavenly Father. I can't believe. And that was
truly the moment where I, because I see like
months, years before how God was just showing
me grace on grace on grace on grace on grace.
Sometimes it's years and years. It's not always
just days, weeks, months, and mornings. Sometimes
it's years. And I believe that happened in like,
I would say that was like January, that was January
or February, and then I ended up giving my life
to the Lord. September so it was less than a
year period but like everything like all the
sudden after doing that it had all started just
crashing down and I can't explain other than
the favor of the Lord felt like it left my life
and that's something that I never planned to
experience again in my life and the Lord really
made sure I was rooted in him before he gave
me any wiggle room again, because at that point
that he had me in, in that September of, this
was 2024, this was only a year ago, well, September
2024, where that was the most that the Lord had
ever had my attention in my entire life, the
most willingly I had been at his feet, just wanting
to follow him and wanting to do his will, and
that was honestly the closest I'd ever been to
the Lord, and the first time I ever felt like
I was actually going to go to heaven in my life.
Like that was the closest I'd ever felt to salvation.
That was the first time I had ever truly experienced
a relationship with Jesus Christ and truly seen
God as a loving Heavenly Father and put my faith
in Him. And I really felt like the Lord was prepared
to keep me in that situation if that was the
only way that I was going to be at His feet because
He would rather have me that way than have me
in the world and apart from Him again. And he
made sure that my faith was in him. He made sure
that I was at his feet. He made sure that there
was a strong foundation that was not going to
be shaken before he allowed me to even move an
inch out of where I was. And believe me, he took
me slowly. The past year has been baby step after
baby step after baby step. Glory be to God because
if he would have give me everything immediately
at once I honestly think I would have gotten
overwhelmed and either would have thrown it away
out of panic Grasped onto the Lord and threw
everything away because I'd be too fearful that
these things would lead me away or you know it
could have grabbed on to those things and Felt
away got caught up not been able to steward over
them while I had no clue what would have happened
but glory be to God he took me step by step so
I wasn't overwhelmed I wasn't consumed I was
able to adapt and I was able to implement God
is so amazing for taking me slower and you know
sometimes I felt like God we're moving too slow
I want it all now but when I look back glory
be to God he didn't give it all to me then because
I would have been so overwhelmed so overloaded
and it just wouldn't have panned out the way
it needed to pan out and he made sure that he
gave me each step he took me i'll tell y 'all
that there were some times when i felt myself
leaning a little bit like too far away from him
where i started really leaning into these new
routines and leaning into these new things and
like he would allow some things to come up that
would cause me to come back to him i remember
last year him telling me that you know the enemy
thinks I remember writing it down in my journal
that the enemy, the devil, thinks that putting
me in hard positions and putting me in situations
where it appears to be no way out are ways to
get me to fold and return back to my own ways.
But those are actually the times of superpower,
the times of miracles, because those are the
times when I lean not into myself or into my
own control, but I choose to lean into the Lord.
I choose to walk by faith. I choose to lean into
hope, because the Lord did reveal to me that
even during that time of when I lost my that
favorite feeling with him that during that time
period i still had like when everything appeared
to be bad i was still finding positivity in each
day like i still adopted a when life gives you
women's mindset and i was still like you know
what god's gonna use these things like these
things are gonna work out like this is happening
for a reason it'll all be over eventually like
i still had that mindset And that's something
that that was definitely very necessary, you
know of Still keeping that gratitude and still
keeping that optimism. I think I would have like
drowned if I didn't have that gratitude I would
have gotten consumed. I would have gotten depressed.
I would have gotten overrun But it's when you're
put in those times that like you cannot handle
them yourself that you have two options and that's
to Try to control and turn to the devil's tactics
or give it to the Lord and surrender it to him
and watch what he can do And over the past year,
yeah, when God would introduce new things to
my life and I would start getting overwhelmed
or I would get focused too much on those other
things, He would allow things to happen, do what
He needed to do to get me to focus on Him again.
Sometimes that looked like I would get sick or
I would just have something come up that would
stress me out. And like, I would find myself
any time, any of these things, I would be running
to the scripture and I would be running to prayer
and everything. I would be at the Lord's feet.
And I truly believe that he was allowing those
things to happen because he knew in those time
periods I was coming back to him. So praise God
for the trials, for the tests, for the hardships,
for the tribulations, because if they're bringing
me back to his feet, they're being used for a
good reason. Turn to the Lord in these times
Okay, someone needs to hear that today the trials
attest to tribulations are meant to make you
weary from the enemy They're meant to wear you
out. They're meant to break you down. They're
meant to discourage you but instead Take this
as a sign to be at the Lord's feet Remember that
this is not your control. This is the Heavenly
Father's control, but to obey him wherever he
is leading and guiding you And I do feel these
are the last of the testimonies to share today
I didn't accept this to be the direction the
podcast is going in, but I'm so happy that this
is the direction that we did go in. And I just
want to pray for you as we close out this episode.
So dear Heavenly Father, I pray. that you i want
to start by thanking you thank you for this platform
heavenly father and thank you for the listeners
thank you for the people who have tuned in thank
you heavenly father for turning every single
one of my tests into testimonies thank you heavenly
father for the trials for the tests for the tribulations
of all of those who are listening to this podcast
because i know heavenly father that it is in
your character that you will use these things
for the good and i pray heavenly father that
you reveal to those listening today what you
are doing in their lives. I pray, Heavenly Father,
that they have eyes to see and ears to hear of
your goodness. I pray that the scabs fall off,
Heavenly Father. I pray that they have a clarity,
but I pray that they also have a peace that surpasses
all understanding, and I pray, Heavenly Father,
that they obey you and that they give you their
yes. I pray, Heavenly Father, that they keep
their covenants with you. I pray that in times
of hardship, in times of tribulation, that they
turn to you and not to themselves, not to their
own understanding, not to their control. I pray,
Heavenly Father, that you bless them. I pray,
Heavenly Father, that they each grow and develop
testimonies of their own that they're going to
share to bring other people closer to you and
to glorify the goodness of God. In Jesus' name,
I pray. Amen. So thank you all so much for tuning
in and listening to This episode this was a salt
not sweetener podcast. I'm your host Danielle
Townsend It has been a blessing talking to you.
I will see you guys soon Please subscribe so
that we don't miss the next episode Share this
with someone anyone share it on Facebook share
it on your social media wherever you share podcasts
share it Get the word out there. I don't advertise
it very much. So you're shared does a lot God
bless.