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, gang. Welcome to find your fear so glad you are here. Today's chat. We are continuing the series, the wilderness, and we're diving in to the promises of God and how to get through the middle of the journeys we are on. And the really hard part of being in the wilderness, which is our obedience and the everyday courage it takes and having complete faith in his plan. But before we dive in, I pray that you will join our set free book club. That is actually currently going on. I know so many of you have snagged your copy and read the message of set free, but we are doing a little bit of the work and digging a little bit deeper in this book club. And it's open for six weeks of coaching and gathering and all you need is the book. So be sure to join us in the set free book club and it's on Facebook.
(01:18): And if this is your first time popping in, we were talking about how so often doors open up and opportunities pop up and 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 that God has planned for us and things get postponed. And it's usually because of a result of our beliefs and our mindsets and the actions. And we all know, and we understand the power in God's perfect timing, and we get that, but sometimes we need to move aside to allow things to work. So we're wrapping up this series today and we're being very intentional and carving out this time in our day so that we can gain some clarity, how we can get out of our own way and discover how we can live a life with freedom.
(02:08): And so a few things on my heart as we wrap up the series, one of them being our priorities, something we all have, right? So let me ask you could the struggles in your life be the result of a priority issue when we elevate or lift certain things up and people to a level of importance above God, we actually may subject them to removal from our lives. Are the struggles directly related to our priorities or our focus or our idols do good things come under attack because our priorities are wrong. It's something to think about, you know, am I even making any sense here? Okay, just stick with me, but I wonder how many good things we will lose as a result of a priority issue. I, how long God has been trying to get our attention and our trust, you know, as we cling on to all the things that are falling apart, instead of the one who holds everything together and we usually don't, or we won't fall to our knees without first being knocked down without being knocked there.
(03:18): And I believe God knows this. So let's just pause for a moment here and shoot it to us straight. We want to wake us up to anything or anyone that we have put in God's place that we've put above him, wake us up to, you know, have our priorities that are out of alignment. Wake us up before all the trouble comes our way, or at least give us the strength and the courage to make those changes. When the trouble comes knocking on our door, think of the challenges or the roadblocks or the troubles that you're having, or maybe you've had, hopefully we can see each time God has given us an opportunity to turn to him. It's like an invitation. Each time, God waits for us to change. We have moments where we may surrender and seek God first. But then we oftentimes go back to our old ways with, you know, what is comfortable with what is safe with what just feels good.
(04:09): It might seem easier at the time. Do you agree with that? Can you recall a time in your life where you've, you've done that? It's like when we get sick or our number one focus is our health. Have you ever been so sick that you would do anything just to feel better again, or maybe diagnosed with an illness or we make a deal that if God heals us, that I'm going to eat healthy, then I'll get up and move. I'll get up and exercise. I'll do what's right this time. God, if you can just give me another chance, just give me my health back. You know, we see it all the time, diabetics, they have a health scare or a heart attack survivor, or, you know, there's just a basic rundown immune system that we get hit with the flu. And all we want at that given moment is our health.
(04:52): And we make these huge commitments and promises in exchange for another chance to have our health back. And how long does it last? Right? We're three days in, you know, the aches and pains, you know, they've, they're gone, they've subsided. And we go back to eating donuts and chips and the Oreos driving through the McDonald's drive through we're eating big old steak. We're going back to the old ways of doing things. We're not moving we're on the couch. What do you think is going on? If you save me, I'm going to change, right? That's what you said. If you heal me, I will change. And then he does his part. And then how quickly we fall back. What about how we use our time, how we spend our time, you know, a loss of a loved one, or, you know, the kids are growing up, they turn 18, they graduate, they spread their wings.
(05:37): If we could have just some more time, if we could get one more chance to be with them, one more hug, one more kiss, one more year, a few more moments with a special loved one. We would spend our time better Lord. Right? I'm going to make that promise to you. We'll focus on how we spend our time. We would spend our time on what matters. Just give me one more chance. Afghanistan, man. It has been on my heart lately and I, and I can't shake it. I think about it often. I pray for all involved daily, you know, think about all the us citizens, our troops, the Afghans, you know, fighting for their lives, protecting freedoms, fighting for our freedoms. And it puts me in a place of gratitude. And I can't even imagine what they're, you know, feeling deep down. I don't, I, I don't even know what they're experiencing or going through as I have never experienced anything close to it, you know?
(06:29): And as we pray, it's like, we will never take our freedom for granted anymore. I will never ever complain or whine again. I will never speak death. I will never, never talk that way again. And yet we hop on social media for five minutes and here we are as a whole complaining over things that just seem so trivial. Or I catch myself complaining about how the toilets need cleaned or the floor needs swept, forgetting what is going on on the other side of the world, the struggles that so many are facing our priorities out of line. Is there a mess in your life because of the priorities we have chosen, God, let me tell you, God will stop at nothing to get our attention. I always have this conversation with myself. What does God allow? What is he permitting? What part is from our freewill, our choices?
(07:21): How can we even decipher all our pain? The takedowns the struggles, all our darkness. It's not because he doesn't love you, but it's because he loves you and me relentlessly. I have this t-shirt and I absolutely love it. It says relentless on it. And I designed a, created it with in mind. I was relentless and you know, I actually have it on talking to you right now. It's just, what's reminded me of it so clearly, but I'm actually going to flip the script and wear it now because of his relentless love the love. That's going to stop at nothing to reach you and me. I mean, he is going to work through the chaos and the crazy, the disaster, the diagnosis, the battles, the war, the setbacks, the site, you know, all the sidetracks, all the distractions, all the hurt, the heartbreak, all the delays and the detours just to get to our heart.
(08:11): He wants you. He wants me. He wants what's best for both of us. Do we truly realize that he is in control, that he has the final say that his plans and his ways are so far above yours and mine, that we can't even imagine. We can't even fathom what he has available for us. And we have to trust that he has his, his, his ways, what he has is better than what you and I have. When will we get to a place in our lives? When we say with so much courage, with so much confidence that God, it, if it isn't from you, then I don't want it. When will we fully trust that if God closes the door it's to get us to keep moving forward. I feel that God knows that without allowing the struggles to enter our life, that we will never turn to him without the pain.
(09:00): If we don't get knocked down, there's a slim chance for us to turn to him. And God knows that we would never step into that life that he created for us. If all the doors that he gives us, we're always open. And we wonder, we get sidetracked. We start knocking on the doors that we were never really meant to knock on. We stumble around in the darkness, wondering why life is so hard. And as a result of going down a hallway, that we were never really meant to be in that we feel stuck. So God closes doors. He redirects. Realigns not because he doesn't care, but because he cares so much that he can't stand to see you. And I settling for less and our lives, not when he has something so much better for us is your heart. Do you have a hardened heart towards God?
(09:46): Are you refusing? God's work in your life? And as a result, are you carrying out destruction on everyone and everything around you? Let's soften our hearts today that our hearts not be hardened towards God. Let our eyes be open to what God is trying to do in our lives. Let's not be so closed off. Let us fully surrender to his great plans for our lives. Let us put him first and keep him first. Let, let us make him a priority. Number one priority in our life. Let us see where he has closed those doors so that we can keep moving. Let us see where he has opened those doors so that we can go in the right direction. Let us not be complacent and comfortable in a place that we're never really meant to be stuck. Let us see what God is doing and let us follow his lead. But here's the thing.
(10:33): Here's something that we need to get it aligned in with. He needs our cooperation. He's trying to work in our life. He's trying to pave the way he's trying to guide us into this ultimate invest plan that he has, but he needs our cooperation. He needs us to cooperate. There's one thing that we can keep doing that hinders his work and it allows the enemy to gain this foothold or, you know, just have a hold it's like that. Achilles heel is like just hanging on to us. This one thing that is something that we, I think all of us really struggle with without even realizing the danger, or maybe not even realizing that we even do it any guesses as to what that might be. What is it? What are we doing? That's hindering God's work in our own lives guys. It's the way we talk.
(11:22): The way we speak the way we keep running our mouth. We are in the wilderness series here. So let's look in Exodus. Chapter 14, right? Is the Israelites were being chased by the Egyptians. They have every reason to be scared. Every reason to want to turn around and go back. They're mumbling. They're grumbling, they're whining, but their instructions are so very clear. Exodus, 14, 14 in the message translation. It says, God will fight the battle for you. And you, you keep your mouth shut. If you're facing a battle right now, guys, I don't even know how much more clear that can be. Keep your mouth shut. If you're facing a battle right now, or begging or pleading making deals with God, understand that God wants to fight for you. He wants to fight it for you. He wants to defend you. He's able to bring you a win.
(12:11): He's able to bring you a victory, but you have a job to do. And that job is as if your lips, let God fight this for you. Hop in the backseat and be silent. Now I know we always talk about how our voice is so powerful and we want to use that voice and stand strong and stand on that strong foundation, speak up, speak life. Okay? But there's a time where we need to be silent. There's a time that we need to step back and just be quiet. When I'm under attack. I have this natural defense, you know, I call it a habit. It's not a good habit at all. I lash out. I, you know, I call it vomiting all over. We vomit, okay? Our words just explode out of, out of my mouth. And then after I lash out, I like to retell the story to anyone who's going to listen.
(12:58): Are you the same? Or do you, are you anything like that? Right? We build our defense by talking about it. And did you know when we do that, we stop or we hinder the victory that God has planned for us. He doesn't need us to lash out. He doesn't need us to tell everyone our side of the story, what he needs is our cooperation. But here's the problem. If we're busy, complaining, and grumbling and telling our side of the story to anyone that's willing to listen, we're not praying. The answer is always pray about it. Not complain about it. We can't do both at the same time. How often do we seek the opinion of others without first seeking the direction of God is telling our side of the story. A priority that we focus on first, did you know that your words have the power to steal your peace and your sanity and your victory?
(13:54): God has a plan to redeem us fully. Every hardship or wrongdoing that's against us has already been seen. He, God already knows. He's fully aware. He's not blind to the situation. He's going to turn it. It will be used for your good, but you've got to get out of the way. When we lash out in anger or speak out of turn, or we, you know, interject with our complaints, our side isn't being bill. Understand that we're only getting the enemy ammunition. We're getting the enemy fuel. Satan wants you to be busy, fighting, running your mouth so that you are so distracted from your mission. Every time you retell a story, every time you engage in the argument, every time you complain about a situation, you're loading bullets and the weapon that is pointed directly at you, do you believe that it is possible to be under attack and still have peace?
(14:48): I believe that I didn't use to. I don't think really understood or even under stood or even knew that that could exist. But I'm here to tell you it is possible to be in that battle, to be in that storm and still retain your joy, to still retain your rest, to still retain your peace. And the fun part about it is that you're not alone. If you could only see God leaning in over you hugging you, wrapping his arms around you, he's protecting you. If you could see that you could see behind the scenes. If you could see it, you'd easily. Keep that mouth shut. There'd be no lashing out. You'd be silent. Even though you can't see it, will you trust it? Do you trust that God is for you and not against you? We've all heard that verse. We've all spoken that verse.
(15:35): If you do, then you know that whatever's going on around you, whatever anyone is saying about you, whatever storm that you were in, whatever is like floating around the crazy, the chaotic mess that you are in. It has zero impact who can be against you. No one, let them talk. We just got to let him fight our battles. We be quiet. We are patient. We pray. And then we focus on him as our number one priority. I know it's harder. It's harder to do. It's easier said than done, right? But we just got to know that God wants to fight for you. There's no complaining, no building up your side of the story. No fighting and arguing. No lashing out, no vomiting. No. Deal-making just cooperate with God and let him do the fighting. I remember a time when there was a personal attack, it hurts.
(16:23): And I'm not saying that this stuff doesn't hurt. You know, people talking, you know, you're the topic of conversation. It's not too nice. It never really is. It's untrue. It's unfair. You know? Do you ever, this is, do you ever practice what you're going to say to someone like, do you practice your battle plan? I remember typing up this email, right? There were some words and some things going around and I was like, oh, I'm going to get it. I'm going to, I'm going to send this nasty email to somebody, right? I'm going to make my point. I'm going to make it known. My husband walked in. He's like, you re it's like midnight one night. Like this was years ago before, before I probably knew Jesus. And my husband's like, do you really want to send that? You really want to hit send my let's just step back.
(17:03): Let's let's sleep on this. Let's step away from it for just a second. Okay. Because here's the thing. When we're trying to set the story straight to defend ourselves, and then we remember that we need to just let it go and let God do the fighting. It's usually not something that you want to do. I wanted to hit send that at that very moment. I wanted to hit submit. I wanted to prove myself to defend myself, but God makes it pretty clear. Just cooperate. Keep him your priority. Keep your mouth shut. Oftentimes our silence silences our enemies, that true enemy, that Satan, whatever you want to call them, knows what God is doing in our life. And he wants any works. He wants to shut us down. He works through the distractions. He works through the relationships, through our health, our careers. It makes us second guess everything or doubt beg for more time, the time that we've been giving, he wastes it through twisting stories.
(17:58): The truth to keep us down, to hold us back, to shift our priorities, to take our focus off of God, to move him down on our list of what's important. That's what the enemy does. And whether you can fully grasp that or not. It took me years to be able to grasp that to fully understand there is a spiritual battle that we can not see yet. It's all around us. And it's one that we are fighting as the enemy knows our potential, but the only way to fight this is to keep our mouth shut. Watch our tongue to shut down any talk of death, negativity, and then we need to speak life. And to pray every time we complain, every time we mumble grumble, you know, wine, we build the enemies case against us. Every time we speak in bitterness or anger, we stop the flow of God's love.
(18:44): Every time we build our story, we build walls brick by brick walls that closest in and keep us from our true potential. We need to control our mouth. Our words need to be convicted. We need the strength to fight this battle with our prayers and to make sure that the Lord is our number one priority. Here are some questions I want us to reflect on this week. What doors did the Lord shut for you then? What doors has he opened for you? What doors are you still trying to bust down after they've already been shut? And are you willing to flip directions? Are you willing to change paths? Go down a different hallway? What are you speaking? Are you speaking life? Are you speaking death? Will you relinquish control and allow the Lord to fight for you? What do you need? Do zip your lips on something to think about this week. I've so loved this wilderness series. I hope you did too. If you did, please leave some feedback and a review today, share it with someone that you care about as well. And then also join the set free book club. It's, you know, grab the book it's on Amazon. Check that out and then also save the date September 18th, which is our next gathering. We are camping and I don't want you to miss it. It's going to be exactly what you were needing in your life at
(19:56): This exact perfect time to get you unstuck and out of the wilderness heads. Up on the next episode, we are kicking off a new series. I'm still praying on what it should be. The focus should be on. So either way, it's going to be good. Just be sure to come back and check that out. Thanks so much for joining us today. Talk with you next time. Beat, beat there. Be unstoppable.
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