178. Trust the Path: Praying Loved Ones Back to Truth

Have you ever watched someone you love drift off the path you thought God had for them? It’s painful—but it doesn’t mean their story is over.

In this crossover episode (from Courageous Retirement) of Longing for More, Vona shares insight from Scripture and personal experience about what it means to trust God’s plan when life doesn’t look the way you expected. Discover how to walk in peace, even when others take detours, and how God can use every path—straight or winding—for His glory.

✨ In this episode:
Why detours and delays don’t mean God’s plan has failed
How to release control and rest in His timing

The hope found in Isaiah 15:20—"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way: walk in it'.”

If you’ve ever asked, “Did I miss God’s direction?” or worried that someone you love has, this episode will remind you that His light still leads the way.

🔗 Listen now and be encouraged to Trust the Path.

00:00 Introduction: A Heartfelt Concern
00:34 Facing Life's Detours
01:04 A Personal Anecdote: Navigating Challenges
02:41 The Struggle of Faith and Love
04:05 Encouragement and Hope
04:38 Trusting in God's Guidance
06:25 Conclusion: Keep Praying and Loving

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Have you ever watched someoneyou love, take a wrong turn?

(00:02):
Not on the road, but in life andfelt powerless to bring them
back?

Vona Johnson (00:06):
I recently had lunch with a younger person in
my life who I love very much andwas really disheartened to learn
that they no longer believe thatJesus Christ is their Lord and
Savior.
That they believe in theworldview that being good enough
is enough to be saved and thatthere's a higher power, but it's
not necessarily God.

(00:27):
Believe me, it was reallydiscouraging to hear these words
come from this person I care somuch about.
You too may have someone thatyou love walk away from
Christian biblical truth.
It's something that's very realin our society today, and it's
very difficult, to accept asbelievers.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
Welcome to Longing for More, where Christians come
to strengthen their faith,revive their soul, and learn to
live their lives with a sense offulfillment and peace.
learn how to incorporate yourfaith into your daily
activities.
Stop wandering through life,feeling empty and unfulfilled,
and begin to live your more.
Let's get started.

Vona Johnson (01:09):
It reminded me of a situation recently that
happened to me and how God canhelp use our situations in life
to get us back on track.
Years ago I was in a very largefive car pile up on the freeway
and have a real aversion todriving in the city.
When you drive in.
In Pierre South Dakota wherethere isn't much traffic,

(01:31):
driving on freeways is, is alittle intimidating.
Anyway, we're in the TwinCities.
And a friend wants to go to theMall of America.
I've been there a lot of times.
I'm like, sure, let's go.
It'll be fun.
But I was thinking, we'll justtake the light rail.
Well, the gentleman at the frontdesk was like, Hmm, yeah, I
don't think you wanna do that.
You could take the bus.

(01:51):
But, uh, when I did my research,I discovered that the bus was
gonna take us like 45 minutes toget there.
I could Uber.
But it was gonna cost me about$45 to get there.
One way, it was like, well, thatdoesn't make any sense,
especially since I have avehicle available to me.
So I pulled up my big girlpanties and decided that I was

(02:11):
gonna drive.
We made it.
As you can see, I'm here to talkabout it.
I made a few missed turns and myGPS was able to quickly turn me
around and get me back on track.
But it struck me how much thatexperience in trying to maneuver
my way to the Mall of America incity traffic is very much like
life itself, right?
We all miss turns.

(02:32):
We make wrong decisions, wesometimes lose our direction in
life, don't we?
The difference between stayinglost in life and finding our way
home isn't about how perfectlywe drive.
It's who we trust to guide us.
So getting back to my loved one.
As I'm having this conversationwith this young person and
realizing how far away from thefaith they have gone, my heart

(02:53):
just was crumbling.
It was so devastating, and Irealize how many people I know
that have similar situations ofpeople in their lives.
People have turned away fromChristianity because of the
hypocrisy that they believe theysee, because of the anger and
the, forcefulness that somepeople are using.
And truly the lack of love thatthey see in biblical truth

(03:17):
sometimes.
Because our God is a God oflove, but he is also a God of
justice.
And, and people see that indifferent ways.
And it has divided people andit, and it's heartbreaking to
think that they might be puttingtheir own salvation on the line
in the name of love.
In my book, A Different View, Iwrote about so much of this
topic, and in one of thechapters, the Tolerance Shift I

(03:40):
talked about how there will befalse prophets in the world and
it will pull people away.
And, and truly that's what I seehappening now is that there are
people even in the church thatare telling people that God
didn't really mean what he saidand, and it's, it's truly
heartbreaking.
People truly have a longing formore in their lives and they're

(04:01):
searching for it everywhere, buttruly only God can help us
satisfy that longing in ourheart.
And they try to fill it withanything but God.
So if you know someone who haswandered from the faith, who is
believing the lies of thisworld, I am just here to today
to give you some encouragementtoo.
To trust God's timing, to trustGod.

(04:21):
Don't give up hope and to pray.
Don't ever stop praying for thatperson that even if they aren't
listening to you and yourencouragement to come back to
the faith God works miracles allthe time, and he wants every one
of us to be in heaven with him.
So if we pray and ask.
For that intervention somewhere,it will come.

(04:42):
You know, none of us have thecontrol to fix anyone.
None of us have the ability tochange the course of someone
else's life.
But we can trust in God's graceand we can trust when he will
tell us where to turn and whatto do if we're in His word, and
if we're praying for his wisdomand discernment and how we
behave and how we take action inour day-to-day lives.

(05:04):
I love how Isaiah 30:21 says.
Whether you turn to the right orto the left, you will hear a
voice behind you saying.
This is the way walk in it.
Just remember that the Lord iswaiting for us to return,
whether it's like the prodigalson.
Where the father is waiting withopen arms for that son to
return, or where Jesus goes outand leaves the 99 to find the

(05:26):
one he is searching for everyone of us to bring us back to
the fold.
He wants it more than even wedo.
That drive and that conversationreminded me that when someone we
love takes a wrong turn.
We can't force them back ontothe right road, but we can pray
and we can trust the one who cansee the whole map, the whole
future.
So I just encourage you, if youhave someone in your life who

(05:50):
is.
Wandered away, whethercompletely away or just dipping
into things that are notbiblical.
Pray for them.
You know, I have missed morethan one turn in my life, both
on the road in my journey, butmore so on so many things that I
believed.
Some of the same things that,that my loved one is today.
I, I bought off on some of thoselies and God brought me back and

(06:13):
he will bring our loved onesback if we trust in him.
God never loses sight of wherehis children are and he wants us
all to be with him.
His grace reroutes us.
His mercy pursues us and hislove will always lead us back.
We must believe in that.
This is a short episode today.
But this has been really heavyon my heart and I know that, I

(06:34):
know that the Lord can doanything and I trust him with
this like I do with everythingelse in my life.
And I just wanted to share someencouragement with you because.
We all have someone who isbelieving a lie, who is living
outside of the realm of biblicaltruth.
So keep praying, keep hope,trust in God's mercy, and please

(06:58):
be kind.
Let's not judge those peoplethat have fallen into believing
the lies of this world, butlet's love them where they are
and let's show them thatChrist's love covers all sins
and that we are all welcome backinto the fold.
I wanna thank you so much forstopping by today and I pray
that you will engage your faithand live your more!