What to Do When the Future Is Foggy

Are you feeling lost, uncertain, or anxious about the future? 

Join the pastors of Allison Park Church as they share biblical wisdom for navigating the "foggy future." 

In this episode, they discuss how to grow in trust, surrender, faith, and obedience when the path ahead is unclear. Discover the power of naming your year, standing on God's promises, and taking the next right steps - even when the big picture is hazy. 

Don't miss this encouraging conversation about walking by faith, not by sight. Learn how you can take important steps to find clarity for your foggy future.

LinkTree:
https://linktr.ee/AllisonParkLeadershipNetwork
Email:
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Instagram:
@Jeffleake11
@Dave.Leake

Episode Transcript

Unknown (00:00):
Today we talk about how to navigate through a foggy

(00:02):
future, whenever it's full ofuneasiness and, you know, a
little bit of fear what's goingto happen, what's happening, you
know, in our country, and how doI navigate personally through
disappointments, throughregrets? Last year didn't go the
way that I wanted to, as much,we're just starting off a brand
new year, and we are going totalk today about how to follow
God through a foggy future, howto get a word for your year, how

(00:26):
to make sure that you arefollowing the path that God's
covering for you. So if you'dlike to hear more, tune in. Hey
everybody. Welcome to theAllison Park leadership podcast,
where we have our culturecreating conversations. My name
is Dave

Jeff Leake (00:39):
and my name is Jeff, and glad you've joined us today.
Hopefully you had a wonderfulholiday season, and we're
kicking off a brand new yeartoday. Come on. Oh, we are
kicking off a brand new seasonsix. Yeah, we're recording this
pre Christmas. So my mind justhad to jump through some hoops.
It's like, Wait a minute. Yeah?
So, you know, Dave and, ofcourse, father and son, that's
part of what makes this podcastwork. We're both pastors on
staff at Allison Park Church. Wetalk about issues, challenges,

(01:02):
doctrines, controversies,anything that you're interested
aliens, dinosaurs, like whateverand and so we try to talk about
stuff that is where people live,and have a conversation around
some of those things. So what dowe what do we kind of address
today in the beginning of season

Unknown (01:22):
six. First we have to address our gratitudes. Oh yeah,
come on. You know, grateful fora great past year, grateful for
our listening and viewingaudience. And you know, one
thing that we would be verygrateful for would be your
assistance in helping us tospread the word. So, you know,
just getting this out of theway, we always talk about a
number of ways that you can helpus to spread the word one would

(01:42):
be leaving a five star review onany of the money the platforms
you're listening on, and if it'son Apple podcast, we would love
to give you a shout out, becausewe can see your name. You can
also like it, subscribe onYouTube or share it in any one
of the ways that you can do it,even if it's just word of mouth.
So thank you for your help ingetting the word out. Yeah,

Jeff Leake (01:57):
and I our producer, Matt, sent us the Spotify
wrapped, and I think what theysaid in some of the stats there
is, I think we gained 25% of ouraudience joined us last year. So
that means that, you know, 1/4of people who are listening are
new to us, and we're really gladabout that. So glad to have you,

Unknown (02:14):
yeah, and if it's your first time listening in 2025,
Happy New Year. Happy New Year.
Welcome, welcome. I should be.
Yeah, I guess I'm not on the Ithink we're released in this
January 2. So you know, welcometo the new year. Today we're
gonna be talking about what todo when the future is foggy. And
we were just having aconversation about this, but

(02:35):
it's like, or, I guess this, weweren't talking about this part
yet. But I think every time anew year starts, you either feel
like, inspired and excited, oryou feel like, oh boy. Like,
here we go again. You know whatI mean, another turn on the
merry go round. And I think I'vebeen in both of those places
before, you know.

Jeff Leake (02:55):
So you said you like, here we go. Like, I'm
excited about this upcoming yearbecause maybe something new is
on the horizon for you. Youstart a new job, a new
relationship, or maybe you'rejust glad to get the last year
over and you're ready to turnthe page. That's That's one side
of things, and the second isyou're going into something
that's intimidating or confusingor difficult, or maybe the

(03:15):
recent times have been astruggle, and you don't expect
that struggle to end. Yeah,there's a lot of there's a lot
of those feelings people have,

Unknown (03:21):
or I'd even just say it's the feeling of, I hoped for
a lot last year that didn'thappen. Yeah, it's like,
because, you know, anytime it'sthe New Year's it's resolutions,
but it's also regrets. Oh man, Ireally wanted to lose that
weight, I really wanted thatpromotion, I really wanted to
start a podcast, or whatever itmight be to meet that person, to

(03:43):
at least be in a relationshipand not be lonely again for
another New Year's, and thenit's like, is it really worth
getting up for this again? Youknow what I mean? I think that's
sort of the feeling. But wedefinitely believe that God has
a plan and a future for you,even if you don't know what that
is. One

Jeff Leake (03:59):
of the things I have to say that I'm really excited
about has to do with the shirtyou're wearing right now, which
is our Chelsea shirt, becausethey're really doing well. And
I'm excited about 2025 Yeah,that's a little distraction. So
yes, we are beginning a brandnew year. Maybe you're listening
to this the first few days ofthe year. And you know, a lot of
people make resolutions, andthen a lot of people don't. A
lot of people don't even want tothink about the fact of what's

(04:21):
coming. And some people arereally excited about it. But the
topic we're getting today is alot of times the future in
general, whether it's a new yearor not, just feels foggy, yeah,

Unknown (04:33):
and there's a lot of change, and there's a lot of
reflection. You know, forexample, one of the things that
we were talking about as atopic, which we'll get in here
at some point is we have a newpresident coming into office not
too far away. That's crazy. Theold president, the new old 45
has become back in he's also old

Jeff Leake (04:54):
physical age. Yeah, we probably will talk about that
at some point in the new year.

Unknown (04:59):
I know that's cost. For either anxiety or excitement for
some people, but yeah, andultimately, I think, I think
that probably a lot of peoplewould say my future feels foggy,
and we've, we've touched on alot of things like this and over
the past years. But you know,how do I get a word from God we
talked about, you know, maybewe'll talk even about this

(05:19):
today, naming your year. What'sGod asking for me? Which
promises from God should I bereally expecting? Or what
happens whenever I what

Jeff Leake (05:26):
goals should I set?
What? Yeah, hope Should I have?
What changes should I make?
Yeah, but you know the so evenwhen the fog, even when the
future seems clear, it mightactually be foggy. So even as
we're coming up with this title,I'm remembering back to the
beginning of 2020 and everyone'severy pastor, was leveraging the
unique 2020 vision, 2020 visionfor 2020 and we all had these

(05:52):
clear pictures of what thefuture. We had no idea they were
getting better, ready to get bya two by four with the pandemic
and all of that who could haveever predicted what happened in
2020 the fact of the matter is,no one knows what the future
holds. And not to scare you todeath, but none of us knows
what's

Unknown (06:10):
coming up 2020 that's just kidding. Maybe

Jeff Leake (06:13):
this is the 2020 that we were hoping for in 2020
right? So, but none of us reallyknows what happens for us,
personally, relationally,financially, politically,
nationally, whatever.
Spiritually, we all are walkinginto the future by faith and for
so for everybody, in a way, it'sfoggy, yeah? And that's part of
the that's part of what's like,I guess normal is that idea.

Unknown (06:36):
Yeah. So we have so many directions we could go with
this, but it's kind of fun. It'sa new to New Year. We can go
wherever we want. So the podcastis foggy, yeah, no, no, I don't
think it will be, but we got alot of options. We could start
with. Why don't we? Why don't westart by addressing fog? We
gotta have a lot wait. I'd saywe have a lot of like solution

(06:57):
oriented, moving forwardoriented, type of tangents we
can go down. But why don't wejust start with with this idea
of of fog? You know,specifically, those who are
dealing with an uncomfortablefeeling of unease, you know,
dealing with disappointment ofwhat didn't happen, or being you

(07:19):
call, you call something likeyou have a whole analogy of the
foggy middle. Yeah.

Jeff Leake (07:22):
So I actually, I think that there is this myth
that we often operate off of,which is that if I'm doing life
right, the future should beclear to me, and if I'm doing it
wrong, it's it's foggy, thatthat, and maybe we almost see it
like this, I am the only one inthe world that doesn't know what
they're doing with their life.
Everybody else has a plan, and Idon't have a plan, and then we
sort of spiritualize that it'sprobably because something's

(07:44):
seriously wrong with me, and I'mnot really where I need to be,
and God doesn't speak to me likehe speaks to other people, and
it's harder for me, and I don'tknow why it's harder for me, it
must be because of somethingthat's broken in my life. Okay,
a lot of people get into thisloop of talking themselves out
of clarity and and and there isthis feeling that fog is the
exception to the rule. But thereality is, if you study the

(08:04):
Scriptures, and the longer thatI walk with God, fog is the
norm. Everybody's foggy.
Everybody's foggy. So if youfeel a fog about the future,
that's normal. You are in.
You're exactly where you'resupposed to be. So here's what I
say. God gets really clear withhe gets crystal clear, like

(08:25):
detailed, crystal clear aboutyour next few steps, and he gets
somewhat clear about your longrange dream. So you get this
target on the wall of what dayone, what one day we will be
okay, that God is I think he'scalling me in this direction one
day, it's it's still foggy, butit's a little clearer the more

(08:48):
that I look up on the horizon,and then I see the immediate
next steps, like I gotta startworking out. I gotta start my
prayer life. I'm gonna start aBible reading plan. I need to
change my attitude on theseparticular things. I probably
need to take this action step togo and apologize some to someone
I've heard like they're thethings that we know we're
supposed to do, the next steps,next right, things that are in
front of us. God is explicitabout those things, and he's

(09:10):
somewhat clear about the futureand everything in between next
steps. And the future is nothingbut a big fog. And I don't think
it ever stops being a fog. Idon't think there's ever a time
in our life when the middlebetween the next step and the
long range dream ever stopsbeing foggy. And if you're
expecting the fog to clear, Ithink you have unreasonable

(09:33):
expectations of how Godoperates,

Unknown (09:37):
okay, but it's the fog, okay. If you're speaking about
the fog in terms of beingclarity that might not clear,
but there's like an uneasinessthat comes with the fog. Yeah,
that, I think, is what peoplemostly want relief from. It's
not that everybody wants to knowtheir exact future, day by day
for the next 30 years,

Jeff Leake (09:56):
but what do they want to

Unknown (09:59):
know? And. Search is going to work out. Am I going to
be all right? You know, am Igoing to get on the right track?
Am I on the right track? Am I AmI doing this right? Is God
leading me the right directionor no? Am I following God the
right direction? That's morelike the question. It's like the
there's unease over, well, if I,if I can't see it, but it's all

(10:19):
going to be fine, great. But howdo I know that that's, I think
the the feeling of fog isunease, the fog might never
clear.

Jeff Leake (10:27):
Okay, so why do you think God allows it to be that
way?

Unknown (10:34):
I think, I mean, there's a lot of reasons.
There's so many reasons, um,think some of it is the tension
of uncertainty forces us totrust God, yeah, and it forces
us to reckon with the realitythat we're not in control of the
world the way that we want it tobe. Yeah, which is awful.

Jeff Leake (10:56):
It's beautifully awful.

Unknown (10:58):
Yeah, it will. It's beautiful in hindsight. Well,
no, it's beautiful

Jeff Leake (11:03):
in the moment.
Because here's the thing, if youreally trust Yeah, you get
intimacy with God, yeah. Andthat's beautiful. Doesn't
necessarily take away thereality that the world's still
out of your control, and youdon't know if you're on the
right track, and you're hopingfor things so, but it's
beautiful in that, in that youget close to him and you feel
His peace in the middle of it.

(11:26):
So that's a beautiful it's likebeautifully awful. It's, it's a
wonderful kind of discomfort.
Yes, it is and that. And so ifyou're foggy, but don't lean in
to God, then you miss the beautyin it, yeah, I also foggy and
just panic. Then there's nothingbeautiful about that, right?
Yeah, I

Unknown (11:47):
also think it sharpens us, you know, like James one,
one, where it talks about, youknow, rejoicing in trials, for
it forms perseverance. You know,that you might be perseverance
builds a cure in every way.
Yeah? Gives us hope, right,right? Yeah, that's Romans

Jeff Leake (12:05):
chapter five.
There's another reason for it,and that is, we're supposed to
walk by faith, not by sight. Sohere's,

Unknown (12:13):
here's what I've been thinking about with walking by
faith recently. Faith is liketrusting God, that God's in
control, and that it's going tobe all right. But the thing that
I think it makes ituncomfortable when it comes to
walking by faith in a foggyseason, because it's always
somewhat foggy, but there's morefog. Like, there's a scale,
right? But I think you know whatI'm saying, like, how dense the

(12:34):
fog is. Like, what am I going todo? Like, that's like, because
it's always like, Well, younever fully know, but you think
you might know. But I think inthe in the the walking by faith,
when it's more important, What'shard is like, even if God is in
control, what if the control anddirection he's taking to you is
different than where you want togo? Because the by faith is also

(12:58):
faith that God has a plan that'sbetter than mine, and I'm okay
with that, like, I accept thatthat's the case. Yeah?

Jeff Leake (13:04):
Well, you're actually talking about several
different words. One is trust.
Trust says I believe in God'scharacter and goodness.
Surrender is I'm gonna let himtake me where he wants me to go,
yeah. And faith is I have aconviction that what he's
promised he's gonna bring topass, and those three, and then
there's a fourth word, which isobedience, which is, now I'm
going to do what he's asking meto do. Yeah, right. And I think

(13:26):
those are the four guiding termsfor us, right? I trust you, God.
I don't understand this rightnow. I surrender to you. You can
lead me however you want to leadme. I believe you, God, what you
promised. I know you're going tobring to pass, and I'll obey
you. God, I'll do what's what'snext. So outline

Unknown (13:43):
the steps that they go in procedural order. Yeah. Where
do you start surrender? Oh,really. Okay, probably because I
think, to me, it's so it's, yousaid, faith, surrender,
obedience was it was a trust,trust, yeah? Well, maybe, maybe
it's trust, maybe it's trust,yeah, God, I trust that, that I

(14:03):
can place my full weight of myfuture, my cares, and your
hands, it takes us from fear toa place

Jeff Leake (14:10):
of decision. You're right. I'm not going to be
afraid. I'm not going to worry.
I trust you with this, yeah. Andthen God says to us, can I lead?
Yeah? And then we have to say,well, maybe in some ways,

Unknown (14:24):
we'll just talk about this stuff. I'd rather feel
uncomfortable right now thanactually have to make a
decision. Yeah, so, so probably,probably trust who God is. Then
it's probably surrender, yeah.

Jeff Leake (14:36):
And then he says, can I lead? Can I take you where
I want you to go? Can I open upsome doors? Can I talk to you
about some things? And so thenwe have to say, Yes, I
surrender. And then I often ask,when I get to that place, what
now? Like, how do I make itthrough this? Like, okay, I
surrendered. Am I just gonnahave to keep coming back to

(14:57):
that? And then often, that'swhen the Holy Spirit gives me a.
Word this is, this is what I'mproud if you'll if you'll trust
me, if you'll surrender this tome, this is what I'm going to do
in your life. And then I receivethat, and I grab it. That's
faith, the conviction of whatGod's promise is to you. And
then with that comes obedience.
Then it becomes like, how do Iwalk this word out in my life.

(15:18):
Yeah,

Unknown (15:21):
obedience is act active. Yeah, that's good.
That's a good framework to tosort of walk through, trust in
God, surrender to whatever he'sasking for you. I feel like some
of that is like dying to the butthis is what the future that I
want. It's like, well, what ifGod doesn't want that? Yeah,
okay, that's all right. And thenit's, well, God, I'm putting my

(15:43):
faith in what your promises are,and now I'm gonna walk wherever
you're leading to step into thatpromise,

Jeff Leake (15:48):
yeah. And then we when, then we hope this. And as
soon as I do that, the fog willlift, right? And then the but
the answer is, no, the fog willstill. It will stay. The fog
will stay. We're gonna get somethings done. We're gonna you're
going to be able to see somethings that are now, you know
benchmarks, or you knowbreakthroughs that will occur in

(16:09):
your life that you'll be able totrace and say, look at that.
That's amazing. And for thatmoment, the fog kind of lifts,
but then it comes back againwhere you have to keep walking
that out that never reallyleaves in the journey that God
has you on. So

Unknown (16:21):
why don't we talk about how to increase in each one of
those four? Okay, as our firststarting point of this topic,
how do you grow in your trust? Idon't think trust you grow in,
you know? I think you do. Ithink you either are trusting or
you're not. I to me. Okay, thenlet me. Let me counter. I think
that sometimes there's lieswe're believing about who God is

(16:41):
or who he might be, and we learnto trust Him as we get to know
the character of God. Okay, soit's, it's some of that is the
truth that we step into God. Iknow you're not an abusive
father, or I know you're notdistant, okay, I believe that
you do care, because it'ssomething that, well, he's able,
but I'm not really sure that hecares or, or it's sort of like,
you know, sacrifice the one forthe good of many God, just like,

(17:03):
you know, I'm just that he'sgotta just let me go, probably
because he's I want more thingsto do, but it's like, no you
matter to God. You're his child.
And trust, I think, isacknowledging the truth of who
he is and his character.

Jeff Leake (17:16):
So the more you learn about the character and
nature of God, the more you arewilling to trust Absolutely.
Okay, that's good, very goodinsight. Okay, then we get
surrender His goodness, Hisfaithfulness. Yeah, you know,
his His love, His mercies,Grace, all of those things that
are His faithfulness

Unknown (17:38):
is, yeah. I think, I think, you know, like, the way
that he designed you on purpose,yeah, that

Jeff Leake (17:46):
he has a plan for you, that you're not the
exception to the rule, thatsomehow he's left out. Like, I
like how you said that, likeyou're the one person he's going
to cast to the side, that he'sconsistent and He's holy, he's
always good. And you can readabout the stories in the
scripture where he was faithfulto somebody else, and then you
can say that, you know, Ibelieve that he's the same God

(18:07):
today,

Unknown (18:07):
yeah? And then you trust Him when, when you say
he's worthy, like, worthymeaning he is above me, and I'm
okay with that. And that needsto be the case, yeah? And that
and that, to follow him like,like that. There are things I'm
going like, it's, it's notsurrendering yet, but it's the
acknowledgement of, I will haveto surrender. But that's worth
doing, because he's trustworthy.
Yeah,

Jeff Leake (18:29):
there's this great word in the Hebrew in Isaiah
chapter 40, where it says,David, wait on the Lord will
renew their strength. Yeah,they'll mount up on wings like
eagles. Just preached on thatpast weekend, yeah. And the word
in the Hebrews qua, which is totie into something, yeah, it's
like, I always use the example.
They have this ride in the localamusement park where you harness

(18:51):
into something and they hoistyou up, yeah. It's almost like a
bungee jump, but you swing outrather than drop. Yeah, yep,
yep. And when they pull thelever, because you are tied into
the harness, you put your weighton the harness, and when you
feel like you're free falling,it catches you. And so waiting
on the Lord, trusting in theLord, is that idea of tying into

(19:13):
his, his character's nature andtrusting Him, putting your whole
weight on him.

Unknown (19:19):
Yeah, that's good. So we learn to grow in our trust.

Jeff Leake (19:23):
Second one surrender and surrender, and you develop
surrender, or is that just aleap off the cliff?

Unknown (19:29):
I think that you can, because there are always more
areas, sort

Jeff Leake (19:35):
of, like, partial like, I'm half surrendered.
Like, Well, I

Unknown (19:39):
think, I think how surrender grows as you become
more aware of the areas youstill haven't surrendered. Okay?
Because some of it's ignorance.
And so it's like, you like, letgo of that thing. Yeah,

Jeff Leake (19:49):
in a way, you're right. It's like, it's like,
there are some things thatyou've been holding on to that
you're tight about, and then theHoly Spirit has to uncover that
so that he says this. Area, and

Unknown (20:00):
you're like, oh no.
He's like, yep. They're like,ah, because I think it's like,
that's part of what it means togrow more and more, like Jesus
is it's like, things getexposed. If you, if you got
everything exposed at once,you'd have to surrender
immediately. I think your headwould explode, like, what I
didn't even know that aboutmyself like to render this thing
because we're not even I thinkthe Holy Spirit brings awareness

(20:22):
and enlightenment into who weneed to be, to be like Jesus.
Yeah, so there's it's, by

Jeff Leake (20:29):
the way, in January, this is a big reason why we take
some time to fast and pray,because fasting has a way of
sensitizing you to some thingsthat you wouldn't be aware of
otherwise. And when you'rehungry and you're not eating and
you're spending extra time inprayer in the word, that's often
when God uncovers things for methat I that I didn't know
before. Yeah, and the and theconstant self denial of a fast

(20:55):
pushes me into that place ofsurrender a little bit more
aggressively, because I'm I'mI'm already not eating. You know
what I mean, am I supposed tosurrender to you? It makes me a
little more ready to yieldeverything over to God, it does.
I'm dying to myself in a verynatural sense,

Unknown (21:12):
yeah. And it also, it clears your head up a little
bit. Yeah? It also, it alsomakes you foggy for normal
mental tasks. It's true, but youget clearer. Mind

Jeff Leake (21:23):
gets foggy, your spirit gets clear. Normally,
it's the other way around. Isn'tit weird, because

Unknown (21:27):
you think way better about some stuff. You're like,
Yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa,connections. I'm like, It's
seeing them all over some stuff.
You're like, I can't, I can'tcalculate what that tip would
be, yeah. I know it's Yeah,exactly. So okay, so that that's
surrender, and thenit's faith. Faith is number
three, yeah, and faith

Jeff Leake (21:50):
is this thing. So I think this is good for us to
talk about. I don't know if weever talked about this on this
podcast before, but Melody and Ihave had this practice that we
learned from somebody years agocalled naming our year, yeah,
whereas you're fasting andpraying and meditating about the
future, you ask God to give youa specific promise based
assignment that you that youlabel for the upcoming year. So

(22:13):
2020, for instance, for me, wasa time where I was began the
year fasting and praying, andGod gave me a word to name my
year. And I didn't like thisword when I first showed up, but
made so much sense when I gotinto 2020, and it was the year
of pruning. Yeah,

Unknown (22:29):
well, boy was that ever Yes, it was. And

Jeff Leake (22:31):
it was based upon the promise John, chapter 15,
verse nine. So it basicallytalks about the idea that the
gardener, the father prunes usso that we can be more fruitful,
like like the gardener prunes ofa vine. Verse nine says, this is
to My Father's glory that youwould bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.
So the thought was, I'm going toprune you so you can be more

(22:54):
fruitful. So in the middle ofall of the loss and trauma of
2020 I kept claiming that I hadnamed my year the year of
pruning, slash fruitfulness. Andso there was comfort that came
with the clarity of the problemsin 2020 Yeah. So God can speak
to you about a whole bunch ofdifferent things that are your

(23:15):
assignment for the year basedupon a promise he's made in your
life. Yeah, that's good. Do youhave one that stands out for
you? They

Unknown (23:23):
have a year? Yeah, yeah, two years ago. I'm just
looking at differenttranslations here, I think. And
New King James is the best forthis. But Psalm 3723 says the
steps of a good man are orderedby the Lord He delights in His
way. And so I had, I think myword was ordered for the year,

(23:44):
you know, in the sense or notlike that. I was ordered around,
but that God was putting thingsin order for you, yeah, and
allowing my life to be, youknow, and that you needed to
keep in step with that, yeah,yeah, yeah. Like, it wasn't just
a promise. It felt like it feltlike God is getting my life in
his order. So submit to this andand allow my life it's, it was

(24:08):
the idea almost of bringingwhat's in chaos into order,
yeah, you know, bringing orderinto disorder. And that was,
that was very healthy year forme. So,

Jeff Leake (24:19):
so this is intimidating for many, many
people, getting a word. So we'vetalked about this many times, I
guess, in the last couple yearshere on the podcast, that
hearing from God, getting apromise from God, clarifying a
word or naming your ears,oftentimes very intimidating for
people, because so I'm alreadyin a fog. I'm trying to address
God with all this, and nowyou're you're telling me, I get

(24:41):
to get a word. And I don't knowhow to do that. I think it's
good to understand that thatcomes in several facets. One, it
comes from, often you're awareof something in your life that
needs addressed anyway. Manytimes it starts there, yep, then
it comes out of. It getsbirthed, often, out of
community. So. So I know, likeyou, Dave, talk a lot to your

(25:02):
mom, my wife, right? So youstart to feel something, and
you'll, you'll call her and say,What, like this is what I'm
sensing. Can you pray for me?
Yeah, sure you hearing anythingfor me. It's better not to let
someone else give you the wordin this kind of an instance, you
almost need your own discernerto get a little sharper. But
yeah, I

Unknown (25:21):
mean, I for me, well, okay, the conversations with my
mom is a little different. We'relike, let's all zoom in on
getting a word. Yeah, I think sowe're talking about four. It's
funny that it became four stepsto dealing with the foggy
future. That was just, that wasnot at all the direction that
just kind of but to me, that'sthat second step surrenders,

(25:41):
where usually a word startsfrom, actually, okay. It's
almost always like, okay. Soit's like, here's how I feel.
Like it goes for me. It's like,it's like, Okay, God, what are
you asking for this year? Ilike, I trust that you are
working it out. And I don't knowwhat it looks like yet. I'm not
sure what you're asking, but Ibelieve you're gonna do it. So
like, what are you asking? Andthen it's like, out of an open

(26:02):
handed heart, you know, whateveryou want, God, whatever you
want, and that sort of,sometimes it's like, real. It
could be like, more aggressive,you know, like, like, something
for me to do, like, I don't, Idon't know, I don't know my
wording for this year'scommitment right now, at this
point we're recording, but it'ssomething like led by love, is

(26:25):
what I feel like you and I'vebeen talking a lot about, you
know, like the gifts the spirit,and how First Corinthians 14
says, follow the way of love andeagerly desire the gifts of the
Spirit, you know, especiallyprophecy. But the middle chapter
between 12 and 14 is all aboutlove. And hey, if you do anyway.
So I sort of feel like God isasking me to, like, work on my

(26:48):
love, which is more of a It'snot that's not a surrender
thing, that's not a pruningthing, that's just like, here's
what he's building in me. Butthat starts out of a surrender
or, like, the ordered is like,what? All right, I'm bringing
order where there's disorder.
The word one of my friends got aword for this year. We're
currently in right now, 2024that was all about pruning as
well. I think pruning was hisword. So it's like, whatever you

(27:10):
want, and then I feel like thefaith comes with you. Feel like
there's an Aries poking at likethis thing. If you don't start
with surrender, it becomesambition, that it's a goal, that
it's like a god, how

Jeff Leake (27:25):
words are different than a goal. It's it's what
God's trying to do in you, andit's what he's asking you to do
with what he's trying to do inyou, and in any what you're
believing for. As a result ofthat,

Unknown (27:35):
it's usually, yeah, it's usually not ambitious.
Yeah, I'm gonna feel like Ikicked butt if I accomplished my
god given word for the year.
That's, that's a goal. Yeah,that's a goal, right?
Resolution. So to me, it startswith surrender, before it
becomes faith. And then I have,I have the, oh, this is the
direction. And then, you know,hey, Psalm, 3723 that's my
that's my promise. Tell

Jeff Leake (27:57):
you one that I that I received a couple years ago
that I didn't do very well onand that was margin.

Unknown (28:05):
What was that your word a couple years ago?

Jeff Leake (28:09):
Don't overwork, don't get too cluttered. I did
good for a couple months, andthen I got off track, and I kept
having to come back to that. AndI was like, I know, I know, I
need to get back. This isprobably my word for 2025, I
just have a sense. You know,pruning was one thing. Margin is
different. Margin is boundaries.
I set, limits I set for myselfthat allow for me to have enough

(28:31):
breathing room in my life to behealthy. You've done better with
that than you. I go up and down,yeah, yeah. But there were
points in your life where youhad no margin. It's true for
like, a decade. Yeah. So

Unknown (28:44):
I think in general, you're so

Jeff Leake (28:46):
we're getting to the root of it here. So if there's
stuff in your life, God's beenworking on you about something.
So this is different than I'mdetermined to change myself.
That's a resolution. A word fromthe Lord is I need help with
this. God wants me to work onthis, yeah. And it's not that
I'm gonna do it for God. It'sthat I'm gonna, I'm gonna start
to work in this direction,believing that God is gonna do

(29:08):
work in me.

Unknown (29:09):
And it's, it should be directed by a sense, from the
Holy Spirit,

Jeff Leake (29:13):
because, and it might not necessarily be an
achievement kind of thing, oneyear it for me, it was the year
of joy. Yes, right, right. Like,what God was saying to me is you
are not enjoying what I'm doingin your life enough, and you're
oftentimes living in dreadbecause there's stuff coming up
you have to deal with. And Iwant you to stop living in dread
and start living in the joy,because the joy of the Lord will

(29:34):
be your strength. Yeah, and thatdidn't require any action step
on me, other than to just pauseenough in my day to breathe deep
and enjoy my life, and that thatwas a great, that was a great. I
did really well with that one.

Unknown (29:46):
I think Mom said she had one about guarding her mouth
this year, tongue, yeah, yeah.
This is your which is funny,because she's not the kind of
person that that's a big problemfor

Jeff Leake (29:55):
no but because she's trying to lean into this
prophetic part. Of her calling.
Yeah, she's recognizing more andmore that her words carry
weight, right? And so God wassaying to her, strain out and
filter out all stray words sothat you're only speaking like I
would speak, yeah, yeah. So

Unknown (30:15):
these, I hope you're getting the flavor. These aren't
goal oriented kind of things.
They're they always reflect thenature of Jesus, and if it
happens, you will look more likeJesus at the end, at the
beginning.

Jeff Leake (30:30):
But they're not.
Oftentimes, they have a like.
When you get it, it's like,yeah,

Unknown (30:37):
that's why I'm saying you start to surrender. That's
usually the surrender appealswith the fog. It's like, okay,

Jeff Leake (30:43):
yeah. And now the promise. I don't want to just to
get the assignment. I want theassignment with the promise.
Like when I had the word theyear of joy, there was a promise
that came with that, which isthe joy of the Lord. Be a true
strength. You're gonna, I'mgonna make this year of strength
in your life. So I needed thepromise, which leads us into the
third phase of this, which isfaith, conviction, that what God

(31:03):
said, I think it was two yearsago I felt like the Holy Spirit
said your your year is the yearof the trumpet, yeah, and the
trumpet means, I want you toraise your voice and declare
things in faith and in prayerover your people, yeah, because
that will lead to breakthrough.
And so don't, don't, keep yourmouth shut, raise your voice. So
that was a, that was a that wasa good one for me. So you need

(31:24):
to carve out some space in theearly parts of this year and
figure out somewhere in betweensurrender and faith. What is God
asking you to believe this year?
What does he ask you to work on?
What's the theme for what he'strying to do in your life and
start the journey with a name.
It

Unknown (31:44):
should be a it should be a short either should be a
word or a short phrase. Youdon't want to be a sentence like
or a paragraph. The Lord isasking me, yeah, you know, it's

Jeff Leake (31:54):
something easy to remember. Mel talks about, you
know, this illustration of youguys being at the ocean when
she's sitting on the beach andthe current is carrying you
down, and she kept calling youback to where she was so that
you wouldn't go too far away.
That's what a word is. You keepcoming you the current of life
takes you downstream a littlebit, and you have to look up and
say, Oh, I'm not working onmargin. I better get back over

(32:15):
here now. Like, I haven't reallyworked on Joe, I better come
back over here. So it's like a,it's like a something that's
rooted in you for this year,that you keep coming back to to
stand on and pray on and work onand let God work on in your
life.

Unknown (32:29):
Okay, so, so frame again, we're looking at, how do
we deal with a foggy futurethat's in front of us, and
especially the unease in thatfog. And we talked about
trusting God, surrendering toGod, standing on a promise, and
then obeying, I think, withfaith. So that's a that's a good
specific, um, specific directionto talk about is the the word

(32:53):
for the year. But maybe we're,maybe somebody's listening to
this in the middle of June now,or even if you have a word, you
might still have other promisesyou need to stand on, like,
what? What can we just spend acouple minutes talking about,
like, what it looks like to graba promise from God to know it
actually applies to me. Youknow, though this, this is a
promise for me, and I can standon this. And what does it look

(33:13):
like to actually, you know, usethat every time there's
discouragement or frustration orfear or so let's,

Jeff Leake (33:21):
let's make it this really, really simple to start
with, so that you can sosometimes we're looking for a
God breathed promise, likesomething in the scripture that
God breathes to us, specificallyin a moment of inspiration, Holy
Spirit, inspiration that we knowis a now word for us today. But
let's just start with a generalone that's easier. So remember
that faith does is not faithwithout a word. Faith is always

(33:44):
in an object. It's never just anemotion, right? So it's not
hope. Hope is an emotion. I hopethings get better. Hope things
work out. Faith is I have aconviction that what God said is
true. I'm relying upon itcompletely. So faith is always
attached to a promise. It'snever it doesn't exist without
being resting in the promises ofGod or the person of Jesus.

(34:05):
Christ always has an object. Solet's just start with one my
favorite life promise,Philippians, one six, Being
confident of this, that He whobegan a good work in you will
carry it into com ontocompletion until the day of
Christ. Jesus, in fact, let mejust suggest, if you don't have
a word for the year and you wantone, just grab one, rather than
stressing over it, why don't youjust grab this one, the book of

(34:27):
Philippians, chapter one, versesix, what God starts? He's going
to finish? Yeah, God startedsomething good in me. He's going
to keep on working on it untilhe completes it, or Jesus
returns. So how do you how doyou take a word like that and
put faith to it? Well? Youmeditate on it, you memorize it,
you quote it, you pray it. Whenyou feel down, you come back to

(34:49):
it when you're discouraged, youspeak it to your soul, and you
you say, would you agree with meon this verse? I'm going to
pray, pray with me on this thatGod would fit. Just the work he
started in me. You aim it atparticular things, like God in
my marriage. I pray that whatgood thing you started in us
you're going to complete with mykids. I pray that what good
thing you started you're goingto complete so it you work it

(35:12):
right, like you're constantlytaking that indication from God
of his will for your life, andyou're working into every
circumstance it's good, and thatthat's how faith enlarges and
grows and becomes stronger whenyou put it in something very
specific, like, like a promise,like that. You

Unknown (35:27):
know, I think faith often is also related to
patience, isn't it? When itcomes to life circumstance,
there's, there is such a thingas faith for a moment, like
faith for the supernatural tohappen right now. But a lot of
times faith is, is like trustover time. You know what? I
mean, God promised this. I stillbelieve it. I know it hasn't
happened. I'm still believing.
I'm still waiting, and it's notallowing discouragement to

(35:50):
derail the road trip. Yeah,like, Ah, maybe I missed it.
Maybe God didn't mean that forme. Maybe he won't do it. Maybe
he can't do it. It's

Jeff Leake (36:00):
like working out in a way, like you pump against the
pressure and your muscles growstronger, yeah, when you pump
against the the pressure of ithasn't happened yet, but you're
standing, you're standing,you're believing. You're
believing. It's like your faithgrows. It's in its strength
during the waiting season.

Unknown (36:17):
Okay, so trust in God's character, surrender to His
requests, there's demands,whatever his direction, yeah?
Faith for the word that he'sgiven, the promise he's given,
and then obedience. Let's talkabout obedience now. Yeah,

Jeff Leake (36:31):
obedience. Well, so that's the clear part. It's the
crystal clear next steps. And soyou say, what is it that you
know you're supposed to do youhaven't been doing recently, or
haven't done yet. Almost alwaysthat's abundantly clear,

Unknown (36:44):
or well, or it's or it's okay, okay. I know all this
is there in the future, but inthe meantime,

Jeff Leake (36:50):
it's the it's the basics, like, yeah, and tomorrow
I will get up and pray. What dowe have to do? Yeah, in the mean
day, I will forgive my offender.
Yeah, you know, today I'm goingto read the Bible. Yeah, today
I'm going to give that moneythat I've been holding on to,
and I know have probably shouldhave given it, and I haven't,
like, today I'm going towhatever. Like, it's the stuff
you know that you need to do, orthat comes out of the surrender

(37:14):
moments, yeah, where God says,Alright, now that you
surrendered, here's what I wantyou to do. You really can't do
the obedience without that firstsurrender. Yeah, it is true,
because you don't really evenknow what to actually obey until
it's like, here it is. Well, andmany times in my life, I'll come
to God with a particular problemI have, and I'll say, God, what
do you want me to do with this?

(37:35):
And the Holy Spirit will say tome, what have I told you to do
that you haven't done? And youand sometimes you don't get
another word till you do thelast word. Like, God's not going
to stack words on you, thatyou're not going to do with
anything without with anyway youhave to actually activate by
your actions those faith stepsthat you're taking. Yeah, I

(37:55):
heard a

Unknown (37:55):
really good teaching on this where it's like, you know,
when we stand before God, oneday, we'll be judged for
everything that we knew that wedidn't act on. So there is like,
there is like, there's, well,there's, there's a grace for
ignorance, though, like somethings we don't know, and
because, because, I mean, youjust see this, like teachers are
judged more strictly. There's,there's like, a curve that God

(38:16):
grades on. And I think if you doknow more and you are taking
more responsibility, there'smore rewards too, but there's
also harsher judgment. So like,if God speaks to us words that
we don't act on, it's not justthat he's like, Oh, you're not
listening to me. It's like he'sactually shielding us from more
judgment. Because if he were toreveal other things without no

(38:37):
but follow, it's a grace. No, itmakes sense. You know, if you
know, if you were to reviewother things to us without us
actually acting on the firstthing, he's just adding more to
the list of things we'll bejudged for. So it's like, I'm
just gonna spare you untilyou're ready for this. Yeah,
it's actually a more lovingthing. So the

Jeff Leake (38:52):
more you become obedient, the more you make
progress to receive the nextassignments. Maybe the reason
why things aren't moving forwardfor you is because you haven't
done the last thing God told youto do? Yeah?

Unknown (39:02):
Well, I mean,

Jeff Leake (39:04):
honestly, I mean, okay, it's not the only it's not
the only reason, but it's apossibility. It's 100% of
possibility.

Unknown (39:10):
That's, I mean, we talked about this, like, a
little bit ago. It's like one ofthe soap boxes I get on. But
sometimes, if, like, the worshipsongs that we have in culture
are always, like, breakthroughscoming, you know? I mean, if he
did it, he'd know, yeah, breakthrough his right? Or there's a,
there's a, there's a newelevation song that says, like,
Miracle after miracle, open doorafter open door. You know, get
ready, because another one's onthe way. And it's like, well, I

(39:32):
love that it is provided that,like, you know, I'm saying it is
provided that what's stopping itisn't God stopping it for you
because you're not doing thefirst thing? Yeah. You know what
I mean. Like,

Jeff Leake (39:44):
if it's a precondition to

Unknown (39:46):
Yes, yeah, yeah. Well, if once we're in my sitting with
God, and once we're in the flowof His grace, then yes, that is
absolutely true. But I feel likesome that's that's in the in the
and this is not, just want to betotally clear, this is not an L.
Elevation targeted thing, no,no. Because in the sometimes you
need to sing those songs, yes.
But in the in the shallowbusiness model, American church,

(40:08):
the easy thing to sell isbreakthrough, breakthrough,
breakthrough, without reallytalking about surrender,
surrender, surrender, becausethat's the thing that won't
build a crowd as much, but it isa precondition for the
breakthrough anyway. So back toobedience. So obedience is just
we have the direction of thevery next step, and we're going

(40:29):
to be aggressive in taking theand you know what? I'll say
this, by that step, I feel likea lot of the unease in the fog
lifts at least a little bit, ohyeah, because it's all the

Jeff Leake (40:41):
fog doesn't lift. I don't think the fog lifts, no,
but the unease does. The uneasedoes. That's what

Unknown (40:45):
I'm saying. Because you're like, I don't know what's
gonna happen, but I do know whatI can do right now. I'm just
doing it, and I'm active, I'mmoving, and I do trust God, what

Jeff Leake (40:53):
happens is you move through the fog. Yeah? When
you're obedient, yeah, you'reright, you're moving towards the
eventual dream down the road,yeah. So Eugene Peterson wrote
this book called a longobedience in the same direction.
Yeah. And he's the guy that isthe one who paraphrased the
message, paraphrased. So I cantruly say, having lived all

(41:14):
these decades, that I've endedup towards a lot of things I saw
way down the road in sort of afuzzy picture from the for the
future. I've arrived at a lot ofthose things, but not because it
like there was no is in theMario Kart game? Is it the
mushroom that makes you go alittle faster, or the star that
makes you like both conquerOkay, yeah, technically, there

(41:36):
is no mushroom button for theplan of God. Yeah, right. It
stays this steady, longobedience in the same direction.
Yeah. And if you keep on takingsteps, one little mini step
after a time, eventually you getway down the road and you're
like, Wow, this has actuallyhappened. Look at this. There's
no, like, jumps. Typically,sometimes there's like,

(41:57):
nothing's there, nothing there.
Then God opens a door. But it'sbecause you've been walking out
of pace in the right direction,yeah, and you end up in the
right place doing what he wantsyou to do, because you've been
obedient in the foggy momentsall along. So in that sense,
breakthrough is coming. Miraclesare on the way. If you're
stationary, disobedient orwalking in the wrong direction,

(42:19):
you don't get all of a sudden,you pass go and collect five
$200 and move into your spaceand like there is no chance card
that you pull from the game thatall of a sudden advances you,
you you can't get furtherwithout daily steps of
obedience. Now, God often givesus grace and mercy for things
we've never earned or deserved.

(42:42):
But the rule of thumb isobedience postures you for the
breakthroughs ahead by thoselittle mini steps you're taking
all the time. That's good.

Unknown (42:52):
I think we have gotten so far into this one that it
might be better to save thepolitics and what do we do about
our future of the president? Oh,

Jeff Leake (43:00):
yeah, no, no, no, I don't think that's okay. How in
the world could we cover that?
No, we actually were justtalking about a future episode
where we would talk about, whatdo we do with with a President
Trump, really? I guess it couldhave been a president Harris, or
really, any president. It's morea matter now that this election
has happened, what's the postureof a Christian moving forward?
But that's a teaser for anupcoming episode, yeah?

Unknown (43:22):
Because too deep into this one to go that direction,
yeah, I think, man, I feel likewe've covered that tension
pretty well. This is to be alittle shorter than some of our
more recent ones. But anythingyou want to add or close on or
final thoughts before we this issuch as,

Jeff Leake (43:37):
so don't waste January, this great time of the
year. Press into God. Schedulesome time of fasting and prayer
at Allison Park, we're going tohave a 21 day season where we're
pushing people to start a Biblereading plan, pray every day and
consider some kind of fast it'llgo from the fifth to the 26th
I'm going to do a 10 day, youknow, the last 10 days, from the

(44:01):
what is it the 16th to the 26thSo, but if you've never fasted
before, maybe consider a lunchor a day. If you've done a day,
maybe consider three. If you'vedone three, consider five. No,

Unknown (44:13):
let's push yourself.
I'll ramp you up. Do at least aday. That's my challenge, at
least today. And if you'vealready done today. Go three.
You can do it. It's really goodfor you. I know it's hard. Pick,
find a partner, Find a buddy aweek if you've done three. Yeah,
I push my middle school pastorpushed me middle school, high
school Pastor, I guess, but hewas youth pastor through through
a lot of that season for me.

(44:34):
Colin Allison, pastor for eachchurch, talked to him, like a
few months ago about this, buthe pushed me, as a middle
schooler, do five when I did it,and it was tough. I think I was
eighth grade, you know, me andJordan, cleric who does the
ministry of alpha pit now, yeah.
And that was formational for us,so you could do it, yeah,
absolutely. If

Jeff Leake (44:52):
you have a medical condition, you might need to
talk to your doctor. But if youknow all things are equal and
you're in a state, considerdoing a fast. Right? And start
your year right. Start with goodhabits and disciplines. And
while you're fasting andpraying, start asking these
questions. You know, am Itrusting God? Am I surrendered
to God? Am I believing God forsomething specific that he's

(45:14):
promised in my life, my beingobedient to what he's asking me
to do? Yeah, journal about that.
Write it down, make a record ofit, and as you do, it can become
a road map for for the upcomingyear, yeah?

Unknown (45:25):
And I think, as it's possible, go all in as much as
you can this season, yeah?
Because I think, like, Januaryis the time we're reflecting and
we're planning, we're thinkingabout the prospects of the
future. And, you know, there isan element of a walk with God.
That's done at a discipline, butthe base level is done out of,
like, a passion or a hunger thatyou foster. You know where it's

(45:46):
I want to know God. Andsometimes that's not like,
you're like, I want more ofthat. It's not always all the
way there, but you actually gethunger by asking for it. God,
give me more of your presence.
Make me hungrier for you. It's arelationship. It's a
relationship. Yeah. So you can'thave a strong relationship
without spending time. But ifyou go after and spend a lot of
time this month, and it'ssomething that you want and

(46:08):
desire, God will meet you there.
He's

Jeff Leake (46:10):
actually longing for that with you. He wants to know
you. Wants to be intimate withyou. He wants that sweetness
that comes when you trust him.

Unknown (46:17):
I just think, I'm like, all about no more baby steps.
You know what I mean? Like, youdon't need the baby steps. You
listen to this podcast, youknow, you get this stuff all the
time, like, go for a big old manstep, or a big old woman step,
you know, like, like a big boystep. Like, because I think
there's more that God has foryou. Why do the incremental
little pitter patter down thethree yards here, one yard here?

(46:39):
You know what I mean? We cantake a big shot right now, and
God has so much more for us thisyear. Why not let this be the
year of breakthrough? Instead ofbaby steps, bring it strong.
Dave, you know, do it Bibleplans quickly. I'll touch on
this. There's two that we'rerecommending to our whole entire
church. If you've never reallyread the Bible, Bible before and
you want an easy thing, there'sa Bible in one year or just a

(46:59):
New Testament in one year planthat we'll have links to on our
website. If you have theYouVersion app, you

Jeff Leake (47:04):
version, you need to look you need to download app as
soon as, yeah, if you have the

Unknown (47:08):
YouVersion app, you can just search Bible project, New
Testament in one year. Andthat's the one word that's sort
of the like, I don't know theBible at all. All right. Hey,
that's that's an easy way tostart. If you have been a
Christian for a little while, oryou're hungry, there is one
that's very reasonable to do,that's a Bible in one year. And

(47:28):
I would recommend you know thatto the fullest extent, it's
called the Bible recap. You'dlike this. Jordan just told me
about it yesterday. Jordan'sbeen doing it for like, five
years. I've probably done it twoor three years. It essentially
what it is is it's so try todescribe this, because it's a
good thing to pitch the Biblethe way it's laid out in the Old
Testament. You know, Genesisthrough Malachi, Malachi, the

(47:51):
last one, yeah, Malachi. Genesisthrough Malachi is not laid out
in chronological order, where,you know the beginning of
Genesis is year one, and thenMalachi is here, whatever, like
2000 or 4000 it's not like goeslike that. There's there's
jumps, and some of the, some ofthe chapters intermix with other
books. And you know, forexample, like Genesis one

(48:13):
through 11 is probably thebeginning of all the whole
story. But then maybe afterGenesis 11, we have the book of
Job between Genesis 11 and 12,for example. And so it's laid
out in a way that in terms ofdating, in terms of dating, but
if we're telling the story frombeginning to end, the
chronological order makes thenarrative easier to piece
together. Yeah, all that to say,the bio recap is a chronological

(48:34):
plan, and there is a podcast.
It's like a seven minute, sixminute podcast each day that
explains what you just read in avery easy to understand, like,
quick synopsis. That's cool. Soyou don't get stuck in
Leviticus. You don't get stuckin, you know, the trickier parts
of the Old Testament, reallydoing some learning while you're
reading. And it's, you don'thave to be a Bible scholar,
yeah. You could have neverpicked up the Bible in your

(48:56):
life. And this will make like,oh yeah, I get this, yeah.

Jeff Leake (49:00):
I have never done a chronological reading plan that
I liked, so I might probablygonna try. I really

Unknown (49:04):
like this one. Okay, I really do, you know. And the
chronological plans for me,really help when you get into
the book of First and SecondKings, yeah, because then you're
like, so where is, you know,where are these prophets, and
who are they talking to and thenwhere's Esther and all this, and
where's Ruth and, like, youknow, I'm saying, like, the

(49:25):
period of after they get out ofEgypt, until return from Mexico.
If you're doing

Jeff Leake (49:30):
this as a newbie, you don't want to start with the
New Testament. Yes, if you'vedone the New Testament, you
might want to consider the Biblein one year. If you have done
the Bible project before, andyou're looking for something
fresh, maybe try the Biblerecap. I actually

Unknown (49:45):
would recommend this one more than the the, whoa. I
really would, because I love,love, love the Bible project. I
am the biggest fan. This isactually a female commentator,
right? She is, yeah, terriblycouple. That's cool. She's,
she's very. Good. That's

Jeff Leake (50:00):
also another reason to dive in on because you
actually don't find a lot offemale theological scholars out

Unknown (50:07):
there. She so Tim Mackey will go a little,
sometimes a little deeper,because he's like Mega PhD kind
of guy, but she goes deep, butit's very easy to understand.
Okay, so even, even a beginnercould get the site, yeah, all
right, to start that, those are,those are my pitches. Okay,

Jeff Leake (50:27):
start your right.
God wants to do something new inyour life. If you're in a fog,
it's normal. But remember, yougot what's the four steps? You
got to trust, you got tosurrender, you got to believe in
the word faith, and you gottaobey, and if you do, he's going
to lead you into a good placethis year, and he,

Unknown (50:46):
we believe he will regardless, but it's just worth
the worth following him on thejourney makes it less painful.
So hey, well, we're glad you'rejoining us for a brand new year.
You know, Lord willing that theyear is here. He hasn't returned
yet. Wouldn't that be cool? Thisnever got released for that, but
I'm sure it probably

Jeff Leake (51:03):
will. I'm going through the Tribulation this
podcast. This

Unknown (51:08):
is free, so we're thankful that you've been a part
where we hope you will continueto join us this coming year, and
as we always say, we would soappreciate your help, if you
still got a little bit of thatholiday cheer leftover, you
know, in your stocking, and youwant to dish them out to us. It
really does make a difference,because we're not, you know,
we're not sponsored right now.
We're not trying to blow thisup. We're not all over social

(51:29):
media. Our goal is really justto spread a resource to try to
help people, and you are a hugepart of that. And so you can do
a lot of things that'll take youless than two minutes. If you're
watching this on YouTube, youcan like and subscribe, and you
know, the like and subscriptioncount actually helps to boost
the video. You can obviouslyleave us a five star review on

(51:52):
any podcast platform you'relistening on, again, we'll shut
you out if it's on Applepodcasts, because we'll see your
name. You can share with afriend, you can post social
media, any of that kind ofengagement helps us spread the
word, and it makes a bigdifference to us. So thank you
again for joining us. We'll seeyou guys again next time you.