Hi there. I'm Jill Allen and this is find your fierce, the show designed for women to discover your fierce, unlock and unstoppable mindset. Build unbreakable courage and completely transform how you show up every single day. Each week I will bring ideas, methods and strategies that will inspire you to step into your greatness and live life on purpose. Let's be fit, fierce and unstoppable.
(00:35): Hey, there you find your fear so glad you are here once again, and today's chat. We are continuing a series, the wilderness, and we're going to dive into the promises of God, how to get through the middle of the journeys that we're on. And the really hard part of just being in the wilderness, the in-between, which is going to be all about our obedience and the everyday courage it takes and having complete faith in his plan. But before we dive in, I pray that you're going to join our set free book club. That is actually currently going on. Some of you have actually hopped in and have snagged a copy of your book and read the message of set free. But now we're actually going to be doing the work and digging a little deeper while in the book club. And it's open for six weeks of coaching and gathering and all you need is a book.
(01:16): So just be sure to join us in the set free book club. And it is on Facebook. And if this is your first time popping in or talking about how so often doors open opportunities, pop up promises are made yet we miss them, or we fight them or ignore what God is doing in our life. And we get in the way of things and what God has planned for us. And things get postponed as a result of our beliefs, our mindsets, our actions, or inactions. And I always say with that being said, we all know and understand the power of God's perfect timing, and we get that, but sometimes we need to move aside to allow things to work. So over the next few weeks, we are being intentional and carving out time in our day so that we can gain some clarity on how we can get out of our own way and discover how we can live a life of freedom.
(02:14): So, today I got to ask you, where have you seen God provide in your life? Where have you seen his promises upheld and his goodness shine through and his goodness prevail. And I don't know about you, but if you turn on the news or scroll through social media and, and pay attention to the conversations that we partake in that we have daily and notice how quick so many are to focus on what isn't right. And all we perceive as not good. Meanwhile, God is doing so much for us without our continued gratitude. If he never did another thing for me in my life, I could honestly say, I mean, I should actually still spend all days praising him, even if we didn't have all the high fives. Right. Cause he's done so much. He's done so much for you. He's done so much for me.
(03:07): He's done so much for our family. Do you agree? I mean, think about that for a second. Let's just, just, let's lean into that. He has done so much already. We should be giving him so much praise. So what has he already done for you? How has he healed your heart? How has he come through for you? What did he save you from? What has he given you? How has he already been faithful? And that is not so good in your life right now. And it's popping up and it's kind of like rearing its ugly head. And you're thinking, well, that is certainly not something that he has given me, right. Or something that you're questioning when it comes to his faithfulness. Something that isn't right today. Let's flip that script. Let me tell you, I mean, God, isn't finished there. He's still working. This isn't the end and God's not done yet.
(03:55): His work it's still in motion and its power is still moving. It's just that we can't see the whole thing quite yet. I know it drives us crazy, right? Because we want to plan plan, plan. We want to have it our way. We want to control things, but we just can't see everything yet. And I know in our first chapter of the set free, our first scripture that we actually dive into is Jeremiah 29 11 for, I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future. And with that, he is watching to see that his word is fulfilled, that his promises are true, that it is critical to not just know, but believe that God's promises will give you that firm foundation and all these shaky times that we sometimes are oftentimes or, or, or guaranteed to go through, look around.
(04:47): I mean, we're in shaky times right now. There's something going on in the world. There's something going on in our town, in the, in the four walls of our home and our life. That's a little bit shaky. And a firm foundation of God's promises would be really good right now. So are you standing on the promises of God right now? And here's, here's a few of the promises that I actually love. And I want you to kind of soak these up here. I mean, he promises to give us rest a peace of mind and heart. And we come to him when we're weary and troubled and burdened, he promises to give us strength and the power when we are weak, he promises to give us wisdom. If we ask, he promises to provide a way out of temptation, he promises to never leave us or forsake us.
(05:37): He promises us victory, despite everything he promises to finish the good work he began in us. And he's watching closely everything that is about you and me, that concerns us to ensure his promises are actually upheld every single one of his promises for you to be. Do you believe that? Do you honestly believe that? Do you trust that? I know you're hearing it, but have you grabbed a hold of that concept? Have you grabbed a hold of that belief? Do you have faith in that? And you know, in these past few weeks, it's crazy because you know, we talk about confirmation and these past few weeks, knowledge and wisdom for me, it keeps popping up everywhere. I mean like everywhere. And I was like, okay, do I need to pay attention to that? Right? Cause like, why am I, why am I hearing this? Why am I seeing this?
(06:29): You know, what am I missing? As I heard multiple times, that knowledge and wisdom are not the same. Right? We all have knowledge. We all know that moving daily and eating fruits, veggies and proteins are really good for us. That's knowledge. But do we do it? We all have knowledge that texting and driving usually ends up not so good, but do we still text and drive knowledge is knowing something, but wisdom is what we do with the knowledge. And I'm going to be completely honest with you. I want wisdom, right? I want both actually I'm greedy. I want, but I really want wisdom. God promises to give you an eye wisdom. If we ask he is watching and waiting for us to ask for wisdom and what to do right now, and all we have to do is ask for wisdom. I know it sounds so simple and it's going to actually be given to us.
(07:16): And there's a big difference between God's wisdom and our crazy, amazing ideas. And I know, I know that. I feel like I have a lot of awesome ideas, but which do you want today? You and me perspective with this limited view or God's perspective with knowledge of everything that ever has been and ever will be. I want God's perspective, hands down. And all we have to do is ask and then we need to make sure that we're open to receive. Have you ever been like me? We ask and ask and ask, and then we ignore, ignore and ignore. We need to make sure that we're creating that space to receive what it is that we've asked for. God promises us peace and rest and calm within a storm. When we feel tired, exhausted, or unable to breathe. I mean, he can give us that peace only him, but we need to actually go to him first to loosen the grip on the anxiety or distress or the overwhelm, whatever is fueling that fire.
(08:19): That makes us feel, you know, that makes us feel a little bit crazy. We need to hand it over to God, right? He says, take my yoke upon you and learn from me. You will find rest in your souls. Are you willing to trust him as you were in the middle of the storm? Because with this crazy life, I guarantee you storms will pop up. It's inevitable. Do you have faith that the rainbow will be there? Even if things are looking a bit dark, some days God promises us to provide a way out of temptation temptations come, heck. I mean, you're probably going to be tempted at some point today, tempted to do the very things, you know, you shouldn't do. How often are you falling victim to these temptations that get you off track and leave you feeling disappointed in yourself at the end of the day, right?
(09:01): Did you know with every single temptation God is watching closely to ensure you have a way out of it. He has always given you another way you have choices. It's not a dead end street. Will you start seeking the other way today? God's way out of the temptation, not your way. God's way his power dwells within you. And there's not an ounce of weakness in that power. Do you remember that podcast that we did a couple of weeks ago, right? That we are powerhouses because we actually are housing God's power. You can do this, his power dwells within you. He's made a way for you. And then he also promises to never leave us nor forsake us. And when God says never, I mean like for Rio, he will never leave us, which is crazy to think about that. Unconditional love. There's simply nothing we can do to make God love us.
(09:53): Any less nothing we can do. There's nothing you could do to ever make God not want you back. You're safe. And him, he's not turning away from you. Here's he's here today and he's going to be waiting on you tomorrow. If you're still running, right, God is all in on this relationship with you. I know we always say it's a two-way street, but we have that complete faith that he's all in. He's doing his part. He has held nothing back. He's played all his cards. He's covered everything that we could ever do with the blood of his son in Jesus. Right? If we could just re rest in that, find your confidence in that that puts a whole other spin on chosen. One of our just breathe. Parities has chosen on the front of it, you know? And that was obviously on purpose. I, I love that to think that he chose you then, and he still chooses you today.
(10:49): He will always watch over you and be near. And it's so crazy. Awesome to know that you're just chosen, puts a smile on my face. When I even just speak that I love it. And God promises to finish the good work he started in you. We've talked about this on so many episodes, he's on a mission and working to bring out your greatest potential. He had a destiny in mind for you when he formed you with his own hands, that destiny has not been canceled. It might've been delayed because we've been stuck in our stupid years and the silly decisions and the choices that we make. But the mission is still out there for us. He's not done. He's still working on you in you and through you. And he's going to finish what he started in you. It's another promise that he's made that we got to grab ahold of.
(11:37): Now, this is this wilderness series, right? Maybe if you want to see what's, he's been up to sooner rather than later, and not wandering around fighting and questioning his plan for 40 years. Like the Israelites did a little is probably going to be good. God, I surrender to the good work you started in me. And I'm going to stop fighting you along the way, have your way in me. Take the wheel. God is here today, working in every detail of our life, the one who holds the whole world in the Palm of his hands, he's concerned about you cares for you, loves you believes in you. He's creating new paths to get you back on track for the good life that he has planned for you. Will you begin to take notice of the promises that he has spoken over you. Now I encourage you to stop worrying.
(12:25): Okay? All his promises are going to be fulfilled. I don't want you to doubt any of this. They're going to be fulfilled. Even if what we are seeing and going through right now are not seeming like it. I wonder how much of our journey that we are on is actually a lesson in trusting God with today. Success is trusting God with this day. Is this your journey? Are we flipping that script? Are we, are we focusing on a different thing? Is this your journey? Is this what God is teaching you? Can you see the provision of today? Enjoy the provision of today without worrying what is going to come tomorrow? Or are we going to miss what we have right now, stressed over what may or may not come stressing over. God's timing. Wondering when this promise that he speaks of, or that he spoke over us will ever show up guys.
(13:17): This is the journey of life. The journey of going from where you are to where you want to be and not be miserable along the way. I've got a challenge for you. Can you choose not to be a Debbie downer? And I have nothing against Debbie. Debbie, I have lots of Debbie's as friends, but my point is, will you choose not to be that downer or a worrier or a doubter or an anxiety filled hot mess while your life is still a work in progress, this journey isn't going to be easy. And so will you commit to not giving up? Will you commit to focusing on today this day and resist the temptation to be overwhelmed with all of your tomorrows? What is the, between where you once are and where you want to be? It's the unknown, what will it take to get you there?
(14:02): What will be required of you? How will you keep going? Do you really have what it takes? That's the in between, if these are the questions in your head right now on your journey, and we keep going back to what God did for the Israelites, we got to go back there in Exodus, we read of God, rescuing these people just as God has rescued you. He has saved you. He has set you apart. Generations of your family that have been victim to the same thing over and over again, he is breaking the cycle with you. He's making a way out for you. He's giving you an alternative path. He has something more for you. He's taking you from where you once were setting your feet on this journey and asking you to trust him, to lead you to where you can be to reach your full potential of what it is that you have been created for God was leading.
(14:52): The Israelites journey was from Egypt to the promised land, but to get from where they were to get to where they were going, they had to go through this wilderness. Isn't that the same for us to get from where you are right now to where you are going guys, that's the wilderness. And sometimes it's desolate and it doesn't ever happen overnight. Maybe you're trying to lose weight and you're fired up and you're excited. And it's day one. And you know, I imagine the Israelites the same way day one of their road trip, heading to this promised land. We're finally on our way. This is so exciting and we're doing it for real this time. And then shortly into this journey, we realized that this, oh, this is hard. It's not what I expected. And you know, if you keep going, you will reach the land of the weight loss that maybe it is that you are wanting to get to.
(15:41): Maybe like the Israelites. You hate the journey so much that you almost wish that you could go back to where you were at least back to where you weren't starving. And maybe that's what you've done in the past. You gave up on this journey and you went back to the of being unhealthy and overweight because you hated the wilderness in between. So badly, the Israelites were miserable on their journey. Through the wilderness. They had no food. They wish that they had never left Egypt, although they were slaves back then, can you imagine that? But they were thinking, at least they weren't starving. It's easy to feel that way in the wilderness, the place between where you were and where you're going to place it, the hard, the place of the yuck, where the promises God has given you have been forgotten, or maybe it's the place where spending more than you make and you're living completely debt free, right?
(16:29): That's that middle, you know, maybe you love target and Amazon. And you realize that this journey isn't quite so easy to becoming debt-free you remember the days of walking in the store and buying it because you just wanted it and just charging it. And here you are, you were in back then, but at least you got what you wanted. Now, here, you're in this wilderness and you're growing tired and tired of saying, no, you just want to sh you know, shop, you just want to eat out. You want to go to the movies, but you're here. You are trying to save money and it's, it's not fun. And you want to go back to that because that's, that's like a weird way of being comfortable. Does that make sense? What do you do when the journey from where you are to where you want to be seeing so long?
(17:16): Seems like it's not worth it. Will you give up and go back to where you were? Or will you trust God on this journey and provide in the wilderness? I mean, let's go back back to the question of what I first asked you. How has God come through for you? Look what God did for his people on their journey to the promised land. There was nothing but wilderness. It was dry desolate ground. There was no plentiful gardens along the way. There, there was no food. There was no fruit trees, no meat. There was nothing. And the Israelites had nothing. They were traveling on foot, carry, no food. And so here they were starving trying to get from where they were to where they were going. And the Lord said to Moses, look, I'm, I'm going to rain down some food from heaven for you each day, the people can go out and pick as much food as they need for that day.
(18:03): I will test them in this to see whether or not they will follow my instructions. And so here it was every morning, like this sweet bread called manna fell from the sky onto this ground. I mean, it's hard to even really imagine this, but there was enough for everyone. And so, so I want you to take this visual of the story. I like imagine all these people eating bread that miraculously falls. Can you imagine this they're surprised the bread must've tasted so good. They were starving. Now here's the magic part of the story and the lesson for you today. God said, go out and pick up as much food as you need for them that day, he was testing them. He only gave them what they needed that day. Right? Give us this day, our daily bread, if they weren't worried about tomorrow and focused on what they would need the next day and stored some away, it would be ruined.
(18:58): It would be covered like in yuck. And God gave, gave them exactly what they needed for that day. He promised them that and they had to trust him again for tomorrow's provision. God is going to give you what you need for today. He's going to come through on his promises. He has promised that always now, maybe you're not counting on God for like manna, but maybe you're counting on him for the willpower and the strength today. Maybe you're counting on him for discipline or provision today. Maybe you're counting on him for patients or guidance today. And he's going to give what you need for today, but he's likely not going to give you what you need for tomorrow and the next week and the next month, because he wants us to focus on right now in this moment. So we need to stop worrying. We need to stop doubting any promise that God has made.
(19:45): I just want you to focus on today. Show up today, give praise for today. Just today. God has provided for your journey today. Trust that he will do the same for tomorrow. You don't need to run back to where you were just because it's familiar and comfortable. I encourage you to continue your journey to where you were going and know that God has given you exactly what you need for today. And he's going to do it again tomorrow questions. I want you guys to reflect on this week, where have you seen God provide in your life? Where have you seen his promises upheld and his goodness prevail? Do you believe that God is watching over you to make sure his promises will be upheld? What do you do when the journey from where you are to where you want to be seems too long, too hard, too difficult, not worth it.
(20:34): I want you to be able to identify that journey. Will you give up and go back to where you were or will you trust God on this journey to provide in the wilderness? So glad that you're here. Remember my book set free. It's now available on Amazon. I want you to go check that out. Join us on the set free book club. As we walked through that journey together, save the date for September 18th and 19th. The next, the next gathering is the wilderness and you're not going to want to miss it. It's an overnight. Yes, we are camping. We're going to have a worship service, sunrise service. It's going to be so good. It's going to be exactly what you are needing in your life at that exact perfect time heads up on the next episode, we are continuing the wilderness series. It's it's just, that's, that's just that good. We're going to keep it going. And I believe that we actually have a special guest if I'm recalling from my calendar. So be sure to check that out. Thanks so much for joining us today. Please subscribe, share this episode, link on your social media. If you've felt encouraged or inspired, as we all know, someone that can benefit. And I would love it. If you would give some feedback and a review as well, talk to you the next time, beep it be fierce, be unstoppable.
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