November 17, 2025 • 22 mins
Perhaps I get a bit too personal in this episode, but the stories are real.
Sometimes our needs are big, and sometimes God thinks much bigger than we do. In this episode, we get real about what to do when what you see contradicts what God says.
Abraham wasn't the only one who struggled with trusting what God said, but He and we can grab hold of what will change our focus to help us believe the impossible.
*Link to the content covered in this episode:
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I'm way too personal with you, telling you way too
much.
But I want to encourage you withstories that are real.
These are real things I've facedwith a very real God I've become
persuaded is powerful.
And he does what he says.
Do you love God but forget topray?
Or feel guilty instead ofenjoying his presence?
(00:20):
I understand.
I know how unsatisfying timewith God can feel if we believe
he's distant or busy.
I'm Lenora, mom, Jesus lover,and former international
trainer.
If you're looking to feel closerwith God without fear or
pressure, have a greater abilityto receive from him and desire
more confidence to make animpact with your own life.
(00:41):
Well, get some coffee and let'stalk.
If you're carrying stress andwant support with prayer, I
wrote a book to help you.
100 Prayers, Releasing 100Cares.
It's full of real stories,scripture, and 100 prayers for
every part of life.
A link to the book is in theshow notes.
What do you do if you feel likeyou have a promise from God, but
(01:03):
it's bigger than what you canbelieve on your own strength?
I mean, you realize that he'sdoing this particular thing, or
I've asked him for a particularthing, whether it's a physical
healing or whether it's havingchildren or whether it's a
career thing or who knows.
But what do you do when you feellike it's so much beyond what
you can do?
(01:24):
Well, let's talk about itbecause talk about getting
personal with God.
It's a vulnerable place to be.
It's an amazing place to be, butit doesn't mean it's always
easy.
I have something in my lifepersonally right now that God
spoke to me about.
When I say spoke to me, it was areal sense of his presence and a
sense of something hecommunicated to me.
(01:45):
And I thought, what?
I mean, I had become familiarwith God's presence.
I mean, God's always here in asense.
I mean, he's everywhere.
But when you sense his actualpresence on you and he's
communicating something, and youknow that inner witness, that
inner voice, and you know you'veheard it, but you can't hardly
dare to believe what you'rehearing.
(02:06):
Yeah, that happened to me sometime back.
And I'm still, I'm not gonna sayeverything about it because I
still am uh, in a sense,awaiting the promise.
But I it was something I hadn'tasked for in the first place,
not directly.
Basically, he was exceeding whatI had talked to him about with
his response of what he wasgoing to do.
(02:28):
And I remember feeling like abroken doll that was going back
and forth in my own heart andmind between gosh, I know God's
presence.
But what he just communicated tome seems crazy.
So I'd go to, well, this can'tbe God.
But I'd go back to cocking myhead, but I know his presence.
(02:52):
I know this is him.
But what he just said is crazy.
It seems uh impossible.
And like a broken doll, I keptgoing back and forth between
those two things.
I know God's presence.
I know I'm hearing him, but thiscan't be possible.
And then, after doing that aboutfive or six times, I then I
(03:13):
heard very so gently inside, Iknow it was the Holy Spirit
saying, Is it more than youcould ask, think, or even hope
for?
And I thought, oh wow, that isthe only way this qualifies is
under that verse.
So I'm like, wow, okay, okay,and now what do I do?
(03:34):
Later on, I was asking him, nowwhat do I do?
And one thing I heard from himwas just a verse saying, seek
first the kingdom of God.
And he only had to say the firstpart.
I wanted to roll my eyes andlike, okay, okay, okay, seek
first the kingdom of God.
All these things are added toyou.
Well, that's pretty specific andvague at the same time.
(03:56):
So, but that's what I've had todo.
And I'll tell you someday whenit when it happens.
But I really understand what itis to walk in life, take steps,
live day by day with a promiseyou can't figure out.
There's several things in mylife in the past where God's
told me, Lenore, you're notgonna be able to figure this
(04:17):
out.
One was when I went through adivorce and we had our
struggles, but I it blew meaway.
I did not think we'd end up in aplace of divorce.
Um, and that's its own story.
But God finally told me, let itgo.
And that I wasn't gonna be ableto figure out what all happened.
Over time, I gained some moreunderstanding of things, but
(04:40):
that was hard.
It was extremely a painfulexperience.
I had to deal with loss in waysI never dreamed I would deal
with.
I'm someone who'd studied aboutcovenant.
I mean, the Bible's called OldTestament, New Testament.
That really means old covenant,new covenant, which means, if
you don't know this, it's a it'san agreement that goes beyond
(05:02):
any contract.
It's where two lives become one.
And that's what God does withpeople.
He wants a covenant with us.
He gave his son, fully gave hisson to purchase our life to set
us free and put us back into awhole relationship with him.
He wanted it in the first place,he dealt with our failure, and
(05:26):
he's done the reconciliation.
We say yes, and then we learnwho we are in Christ, and we
walk that out to a honestlybetter and better outcome.
That doesn't mean there's not alot of battles you fight in
life, but if you get to knowwhat the Bible says and what a
covenant means, you find out youhave a covenant partner that can
(05:46):
handle any issue.
And if he says something, he'lldo it.
So, back to what do you do whenyou feel like you have a promise
and you don't know how on earththat could happen, you have to
rely on your covenant partner.
And he better be strong.
Or I'd say he or she, but inthis case, God is God.
I'll just say he is allpowerful.
(06:09):
When he says something, he willdo it.
Now, going to a biblicalexample, I can go right to
Abraham.
I was looking that up, the storyof Abraham, in preparing for
this episode and remindingmyself of several things because
in the book of Genesis, um, youit starts talking about the
(06:29):
story of Abraham.
Now, you may or may not knowthat Abraham's father was
already headed to to the land ofCanaan with his two sons, and
his grandson, who was the son ofone of his third son who died,
and was headed to the land ofCanaan, but he stopped.
(06:49):
He stopped in the town that hadthe very same name of the son
who died.
And God doesn't seem to doanything like this by accident.
So I'll include this comment.
Sometimes pain in our life, ifwe settle there and don't know
how to resolve it, it can stopus from moving forward to
promises God has given us.
(07:11):
Sorrow is a real thing.
Grief and loss is a real thing,but God is bigger than that, and
God can mend your heart of thepain, and you can still end up
cherishing the great memoriesyou have and go on to move
forward to fulfill the rest ofwhat your life can be.
In fact, if you want a greattool for that, I do recommend
(07:34):
the Grief Recovery Program.
You can look it up online.
Um, I'll put a connection tothat in my show notes.
But all that to say, I thinkit's incredibly interesting and
not an accident that that'sincluded in the story of
Abram's.
His name was Abram beforeAbraham.
Abram's story was that hisfather was on the way to Canaan,
(07:57):
but stopped and spent the restof his life in the name of a
city that had the same name ashis son who had passed away.
So, back to Abram, there's atime where God speaks directly
to Abram and says, Hey, you, Iwant you to go and leave your
family, leave the land you'reused to, and go to the land I'm
(08:18):
gonna show you.
And I'm gonna be your source,I'm gonna be your provider, and
I'm making a promise to you thatthe whole earth is gonna be
blessed through you eventually.
I mean, I'm saying eventually.
I don't know if that word wassaid at the time, eventually,
but if it was just understood.
But talk about a big promise.
How do you take that in?
It's also beautiful that God'sintention was always to bless
(08:43):
the whole world.
You know, he started the book ofGenesis.
The first thing he did when hemade mankind was bless them and
tell them to multiply.
And then after the flood, wheneverybody became so violent and
just and just awful that most ofhumanity was wiped out in a
flood, when that was over, Godagain blessed them and has
(09:06):
always said, follow me, I wantto bless you.
It's people who walk away, butit is a great truth to know that
God has always desired to blessus, bless humanity, have
relationship and bless humanity.
Again, it's in Genesis, you seeit in the stories, you see it
after the flood, and you see itagain, even when he chooses
(09:29):
Abram.
I'm gonna bless the whole worldthrough you.
And of course, he does thatthrough Jesus Christ, through
the Messiah.
But again, what a huge promise.
So, what did Abraham do?
What did I do?
Back for a moment to my promise,because it has messed with my
head many times, because I'vethought, I did I hear God?
(09:51):
Is this was I crazy?
And one thing I do or don't dois talk to everybody about it
because I know what it soundslike.
So I don't tell other peoplemost of the time, because I know
I'm standing and fighting for myown faith and confidence.
Now I can tell you it has siftedme in many ways.
Whenever we're standing for abig promise, it is like a way to
(10:16):
get sifted.
Meaning it will bring out anyway you might doubt this thing
and the reasons why you mightdoubt it.
I mean, am I worth this?
Would God actually do this?
Do I hear God?
Did I hear God?
What am I supposed to do to makeit happen?
Often we try to make it happenourselves.
(10:38):
That is one you don't want todo.
Yes, walk with God, obey him ifhe's directing things in your
life, but don't try to make thepromise happen by your own
strength.
Back to Abram.
Eventually, he tried to make thepromise happen using cultural
ways, because it actually wasnormal back then.
(10:59):
If you couldn't produce your ownchild, you honestly could use
someone in that was amaidservant or potentially
technically possibly a slave andproduce your offspring that way.
That was somewhat normal backthen, not for God, but for
culture.
And they tried to do it thatway.
And that wasn't God's plan.
(11:20):
And it caused challenges becauseof it.
So what do you do if you'retrying to believe a big promise?
Well, do your best to just obeyGod, what he's leading you to
do, and don't try to manufactureit on your own.
Another thing is it's reallyeasy to talk yourself out of
(11:40):
what God told you.
Trust me, I've done it athousand times, approximately.
But if the verse that's helpedme with that, Romans 4, verses
20 and 21, I'll just read ithere.
No unbelief made him waverconcerning the promise of God,
but he grew strong in his faithas he gave glory to God, fully
(12:01):
convinced that God was able todo what he had promised.
And another verse, Romans 4.18,in hope, he believed against
hope that he should become thefather of many nations as he had
been told.
So he praised God.
He just kept his focus on whatGod could do, how big God was,
not how big the promise was.
(12:22):
And he hoped against hope.
I've been through that in adifferent area of my life where
I was convinced of somethingnegative, but I knew that wasn't
what God said, but I sure feltlike my feelings were the truth.
And in that case, I had to hopeagainst what I was feeling.
And really, the word hope meansanchored expectation.
(12:45):
God gave me an anchored goodexpectation.
My feelings were an anchorednegative expectation.
So I had to hope in the goodexpectation God gave me and
ignore, ignore, ignore, say noto the anchored negative
expectation I was afraid of.
That was a battle, but it'sworth fighting.
(13:06):
Also, Romans 4, 19.
Abram says he did not weaken infaith when he considered his own
body and when he considered thebarrenness of Sarah's womb, his
wife.
Now, this verse is talking abouthow old Abram was and still
believing that God would givehim a child.
He was around a hundred yearsold.
(13:28):
Now that's a little differentfrom us being a hundred years
old now, back then, but still abig deal.
I mean, naturally, it justwasn't going to happen.
And he knew and considered howhis wife hadn't had a child yet,
which goes right back to theverse I said earlier.
He grew strong in faith as hegave glory to God, as he was
(13:49):
convinced and as he focused onthe ability God has.
It's also like the New Testamentwhen it says the name of Jesus
is above every name, every name,every disease name, every
problem name.
And we have to choose to say thename of Jesus is bigger than the
name of cancer.
The name of Jesus is bigger thanbarrenness.
(14:12):
And I understand these things.
And personally, when I waspregnant with my first son, I
was told I had pre-cancer, earlystages of cancer.
But I was so strong at that timeon my study of covenant that I
my husband and I came to peacepretty quick as we prayed that
everything was going to be fine.
(14:33):
And it was.
Later on, after having my son, Iwas tested.
There was no issues with cancer,never has been ever since, more
than 30 years ago.
So I've experienced givingpraise to God and being
persuaded that he was able to dowhat he said.
And some people might thinkyou're you're weird or boring if
(14:54):
you study the Bible, but if theyknow the fruit in your life that
comes from it, it ain't boringat all.
And it's certainly smart andworth your time.
But also, in our family,supposedly, my husband was never
going to be a father.
He had had cancer in his early20s before I met him, and before
(15:14):
and after chemo, he was told,Yeah, it's not going to happen.
You'll not have children.
Now he didn't tell me thatbefore we were married.
When I found out, I said, Younever told me this.
And he said, Yeah, I did.
I said, um, no, because I wouldhave remembered that
conversation.
Somebody actually asked me, Didyou really answer that way,
(15:35):
Lenora?
And I I actually did, because inthis case, God had already
spoken to me once about kids.
Again, he's usually very simplein what he says.
So it wasn't like we had amassive conversation, but he
said once to me when I was justpraying, talking to him about
something.
And for me, out of the blue, Ijust heard, Do you trust me with
(15:58):
your kids?
And I thought, what?
I'm not where are you comingfrom?
I wasn't talking to him aboutkids.
I wasn't asking him about kids.
I was complaining aboutsomething completely unrelated.
I actually was just beforegetting married that he even
said that to me.
But because I knew that stillsmall voice, I paused and
(16:18):
thought, well, I better thinkabout this and I guess I'll give
him an answer.
So I checked my heart because inessence he was asking me to
trust him with my kids.
I didn't know why.
Didn't even ask him why.
But I thought about it and said,Yes, I trust you with my kids.
I didn't know why I was beingasked, but I just answered.
(16:40):
And that was it.
That's all the conversation thatwe had.
Didn't bring it up again.
But that next year I found outsupposedly my husband couldn't
have kids.
So when I found out he was toldhe could not, I could respond in
a way that wasn't freaked out.
Plus, I had noticed how God, andI thought it was ironic that
(17:03):
Abraham, his name was changedfrom Abram to Abraham, Abraham,
who's called the father of thefaith, the one thing he couldn't
do was have kids.
Thought that was reallyinteresting.
But God did a miracle and openedup Sarah's womb, and they did,
years later, have a child.
And the same thing happened likethe next generation.
And I had really noticed that,just thought it was me in my own
(17:25):
Bible study.
I didn't know God had set me upfor the fight.
So in that case, that promise inmy life was an easy battle.
My heart was already preparedfor it.
I already believed God.
I already trusted him, told himI trusted him in that area.
And then three years into ourmarriage, I had a sense it's
time.
And within a couple months, Iwas pregnant.
(17:47):
Talk about getting personal withGod.
I'm way too personal with you,telling you way too much.
But I want to encourage you withstories that are real.
These are real things I've facedwith a very real God.
I've become persuaded ispowerful.
And he does what he says.
So I want to encourage you, ifyou're listening and you feel
(18:08):
like there's things that youwant to ask from God, or there
are things you feel like he'salready told you, but you don't
know how on earth it's possible.
I want to encourage you to putyour focus on him and his
ability.
When I think of the futurepromise that hasn't happened
yet, so many times I've had tojust say, God, when I look at
(18:30):
that, it doesn't make sense, thething you promised.
But if I look at you, I say,obviously it's possible.
So I'm just gonna stay lookingat you and saying, It's
possible.
I trust you, I believe you.
In fact, I've said to him, youknow, I'm believing you about
this.
Um, please tell me if I'm justridiculous, because I don't want
(18:53):
to be ridiculous.
And I know what it sounds likewhen I tell myself about this
promise.
So please tell me to stop it ifthis isn't you, meaning stop
believing this inside.
He's only ever encouraged me,pretty quietly, pretty mellow,
and sometimes in a couple prettycool ways.
(19:13):
But I know for you, if he's toldyou something and you know it's
him, then focus on how big heis, not how big the promise is.
Keep giving him praise, keepgiving him glory because it's
not about God's ego, he doesn'thave pride.
If you saw him in person, youcouldn't help but praise him
(19:36):
constantly.
He's profoundly amazing.
But because we have so manycircumstances and things in this
world that can grab ourattention instead, we have to on
purpose focus on him, on purposefocus on what he's done for
other people in the Bible, whathe's done for other people
around you, and put yourselfaround other people that will be
(19:59):
able to.
Encourage you.
And then you also need to beencouraging yourself.
And then enjoy life.
Grow in every other area.
Pursue God.
Pursue His kingdom first.
All these other things, thepromises He's given you, will be
added to you.
Keep Him first.
He's what it's ultimately allabout.
And He's what will satisfy you.
(20:20):
Once he said to me, everythingyou could ever want is right
here with you.
God Himself is right here withyou.
You know, if you can, don't dothis if you're driving.
But close your eyes andrecognize God, you're here with
me right now, whether I feel itor not.
But often when we get reallystill, that's when you can sense
(20:42):
His presence or say, God, I wantto sense your presence.
I need to sense your presence.
Help me know you better.
And one of my favorite verses,I've said this in other
episodes, God, open the eyes ofmy understanding to the
knowledge of you, to the hope ofmy calling, to the riches of
your inheritance invested in me,and how excited you are about me
(21:05):
as your inheritance.
Thank you for what you'vepromised me.
Thank you that you're working onit, even though I don't see it,
even if it looks like theopposite is happening.
I will praise you, I will trustyou, and I will give you glory
for this.
And you're my hope and you're mysource.
You're the one making thishappen.
I can't make it happen, but I'llpraise you.
(21:27):
And let me encourage you thatGod loves to show off.
He loves to show how good he is.
He loves to help others beattracted to God because of his
strength working in your life.
So whether you're fighting adifficult battle or you're
waiting on a very big promise,God is faithful.
(21:49):
We will let God be our rock, andthe one who gets the credit when
it's done, when we walk throughthis, will come through it
stronger if we trust in him.
So I hope this encourages youbecause nothing is too hard for
God.
Hey friend, I hope you enjoyedtoday's episode.
Would you share this withsomeone else who may need to
hear it or go on this journeywith you?
(22:10):
Also, please take 30 seconds andleave a quick review for the
show on Apple Podcasts.
And of course, subscribe if youhaven't already.
It really makes me happy to knowthis podcast is helping you.
And remember, a link to get mybook is in the show notes.
Thank you for listening.
I'll see you back next Mondayfor another episode.
Until then, remember, be kind toyou because it makes it a whole
(22:33):
lot easier to be kind to anybodyelse.
I'm way too personal with you, telling you way too
much.
But I want to encourage you withstories that are real.
These are real things I've facedwith a very real God I've become
persuaded is powerful.
And he does what he says.
Do you love God but forget topray?
Or feel guilty instead ofenjoying his presence?
(00:20):
I understand.
I know how unsatisfying timewith God can feel if we believe
he's distant or busy.
I'm Lenora, mom, Jesus lover,and former international
trainer.
If you're looking to feel closerwith God without fear or
pressure, have a greater abilityto receive from him and desire
more confidence to make animpact with your own life.
(00:41):
Well, get some coffee and let'stalk.
If you're carrying stress andwant support with prayer, I
wrote a book to help you.
100 Prayers, Releasing 100Cares.
It's full of real stories,scripture, and 100 prayers for
every part of life.
A link to the book is in theshow notes.
What do you do if you feel likeyou have a promise from God, but
(01:03):
it's bigger than what you canbelieve on your own strength?
I mean, you realize that he'sdoing this particular thing, or
I've asked him for a particularthing, whether it's a physical
healing or whether it's havingchildren or whether it's a
career thing or who knows.
But what do you do when you feellike it's so much beyond what
you can do?
(01:24):
Well, let's talk about itbecause talk about getting
personal with God.
It's a vulnerable place to be.
It's an amazing place to be, butit doesn't mean it's always
easy.
I have something in my lifepersonally right now that God
spoke to me about.
When I say spoke to me, it was areal sense of his presence and a
sense of something hecommunicated to me.
(01:45):
And I thought, what?
I mean, I had become familiarwith God's presence.
I mean, God's always here in asense.
I mean, he's everywhere.
But when you sense his actualpresence on you and he's
communicating something, and youknow that inner witness, that
inner voice, and you know you'veheard it, but you can't hardly
dare to believe what you'rehearing.
(02:06):
Yeah, that happened to me sometime back.
And I'm still, I'm not gonna sayeverything about it because I
still am uh, in a sense,awaiting the promise.
But I it was something I hadn'tasked for in the first place,
not directly.
Basically, he was exceeding whatI had talked to him about with
his response of what he wasgoing to do.
(02:28):
And I remember feeling like abroken doll that was going back
and forth in my own heart andmind between gosh, I know God's
presence.
But what he just communicated tome seems crazy.
So I'd go to, well, this can'tbe God.
But I'd go back to cocking myhead, but I know his presence.
(02:52):
I know this is him.
But what he just said is crazy.
It seems uh impossible.
And like a broken doll, I keptgoing back and forth between
those two things.
I know God's presence.
I know I'm hearing him, but thiscan't be possible.
And then, after doing that aboutfive or six times, I then I
(03:13):
heard very so gently inside, Iknow it was the Holy Spirit
saying, Is it more than youcould ask, think, or even hope
for?
And I thought, oh wow, that isthe only way this qualifies is
under that verse.
So I'm like, wow, okay, okay,and now what do I do?
(03:34):
Later on, I was asking him, nowwhat do I do?
And one thing I heard from himwas just a verse saying, seek
first the kingdom of God.
And he only had to say the firstpart.
I wanted to roll my eyes andlike, okay, okay, okay, seek
first the kingdom of God.
All these things are added toyou.
Well, that's pretty specific andvague at the same time.
(03:56):
So, but that's what I've had todo.
And I'll tell you someday whenit when it happens.
But I really understand what itis to walk in life, take steps,
live day by day with a promiseyou can't figure out.
There's several things in mylife in the past where God's
told me, Lenore, you're notgonna be able to figure this
(04:17):
out.
One was when I went through adivorce and we had our
struggles, but I it blew meaway.
I did not think we'd end up in aplace of divorce.
Um, and that's its own story.
But God finally told me, let itgo.
And that I wasn't gonna be ableto figure out what all happened.
Over time, I gained some moreunderstanding of things, but
(04:40):
that was hard.
It was extremely a painfulexperience.
I had to deal with loss in waysI never dreamed I would deal
with.
I'm someone who'd studied aboutcovenant.
I mean, the Bible's called OldTestament, New Testament.
That really means old covenant,new covenant, which means, if
you don't know this, it's a it'san agreement that goes beyond
(05:02):
any contract.
It's where two lives become one.
And that's what God does withpeople.
He wants a covenant with us.
He gave his son, fully gave hisson to purchase our life to set
us free and put us back into awhole relationship with him.
He wanted it in the first place,he dealt with our failure, and
(05:26):
he's done the reconciliation.
We say yes, and then we learnwho we are in Christ, and we
walk that out to a honestlybetter and better outcome.
That doesn't mean there's not alot of battles you fight in
life, but if you get to knowwhat the Bible says and what a
covenant means, you find out youhave a covenant partner that can
(05:46):
handle any issue.
And if he says something, he'lldo it.
So, back to what do you do whenyou feel like you have a promise
and you don't know how on earththat could happen, you have to
rely on your covenant partner.
And he better be strong.
Or I'd say he or she, but inthis case, God is God.
I'll just say he is allpowerful.
(06:09):
When he says something, he willdo it.
Now, going to a biblicalexample, I can go right to
Abraham.
I was looking that up, the storyof Abraham, in preparing for
this episode and remindingmyself of several things because
in the book of Genesis, um, youit starts talking about the
(06:29):
story of Abraham.
Now, you may or may not knowthat Abraham's father was
already headed to to the land ofCanaan with his two sons, and
his grandson, who was the son ofone of his third son who died,
and was headed to the land ofCanaan, but he stopped.
(06:49):
He stopped in the town that hadthe very same name of the son
who died.
And God doesn't seem to doanything like this by accident.
So I'll include this comment.
Sometimes pain in our life, ifwe settle there and don't know
how to resolve it, it can stopus from moving forward to
promises God has given us.
(07:11):
Sorrow is a real thing.
Grief and loss is a real thing,but God is bigger than that, and
God can mend your heart of thepain, and you can still end up
cherishing the great memoriesyou have and go on to move
forward to fulfill the rest ofwhat your life can be.
In fact, if you want a greattool for that, I do recommend
(07:34):
the Grief Recovery Program.
You can look it up online.
Um, I'll put a connection tothat in my show notes.
But all that to say, I thinkit's incredibly interesting and
not an accident that that'sincluded in the story of
Abram's.
His name was Abram beforeAbraham.
Abram's story was that hisfather was on the way to Canaan,
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but stopped and spent the restof his life in the name of a
city that had the same name ashis son who had passed away.
So, back to Abram, there's atime where God speaks directly
to Abram and says, Hey, you, Iwant you to go and leave your
family, leave the land you'reused to, and go to the land I'm
(08:18):
gonna show you.
And I'm gonna be your source,I'm gonna be your provider, and
I'm making a promise to you thatthe whole earth is gonna be
blessed through you eventually.
I mean, I'm saying eventually.
I don't know if that word wassaid at the time, eventually,
but if it was just understood.
But talk about a big promise.
How do you take that in?
It's also beautiful that God'sintention was always to bless
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the whole world.
You know, he started the book ofGenesis.
The first thing he did when hemade mankind was bless them and
tell them to multiply.
And then after the flood, wheneverybody became so violent and
just and just awful that most ofhumanity was wiped out in a
flood, when that was over, Godagain blessed them and has
(09:06):
always said, follow me, I wantto bless you.
It's people who walk away, butit is a great truth to know that
God has always desired to blessus, bless humanity, have
relationship and bless humanity.
Again, it's in Genesis, you seeit in the stories, you see it
after the flood, and you see itagain, even when he chooses
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Abram.
I'm gonna bless the whole worldthrough you.
And of course, he does thatthrough Jesus Christ, through
the Messiah.
But again, what a huge promise.
So, what did Abraham do?
What did I do?
Back for a moment to my promise,because it has messed with my
head many times, because I'vethought, I did I hear God?
(09:51):
Is this was I crazy?
And one thing I do or don't dois talk to everybody about it
because I know what it soundslike.
So I don't tell other peoplemost of the time, because I know
I'm standing and fighting for myown faith and confidence.
Now I can tell you it has siftedme in many ways.
Whenever we're standing for abig promise, it is like a way to
(10:16):
get sifted.
Meaning it will bring out anyway you might doubt this thing
and the reasons why you mightdoubt it.
I mean, am I worth this?
Would God actually do this?
Do I hear God?
Did I hear God?
What am I supposed to do to makeit happen?
Often we try to make it happenourselves.
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That is one you don't want todo.
Yes, walk with God, obey him ifhe's directing things in your
life, but don't try to make thepromise happen by your own
strength.
Back to Abram.
Eventually, he tried to make thepromise happen using cultural
ways, because it actually wasnormal back then.
(10:59):
If you couldn't produce your ownchild, you honestly could use
someone in that was amaidservant or potentially
technically possibly a slave andproduce your offspring that way.
That was somewhat normal backthen, not for God, but for
culture.
And they tried to do it thatway.
And that wasn't God's plan.
(11:20):
And it caused challenges becauseof it.
So what do you do if you'retrying to believe a big promise?
Well, do your best to just obeyGod, what he's leading you to
do, and don't try to manufactureit on your own.
Another thing is it's reallyeasy to talk yourself out of
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what God told you.
Trust me, I've done it athousand times, approximately.
But if the verse that's helpedme with that, Romans 4, verses
20 and 21, I'll just read ithere.
No unbelief made him waverconcerning the promise of God,
but he grew strong in his faithas he gave glory to God, fully
(12:01):
convinced that God was able todo what he had promised.
And another verse, Romans 4.18,in hope, he believed against
hope that he should become thefather of many nations as he had
been told.
So he praised God.
He just kept his focus on whatGod could do, how big God was,
not how big the promise was.
(12:22):
And he hoped against hope.
I've been through that in adifferent area of my life where
I was convinced of somethingnegative, but I knew that wasn't
what God said, but I sure feltlike my feelings were the truth.
And in that case, I had to hopeagainst what I was feeling.
And really, the word hope meansanchored expectation.
(12:45):
God gave me an anchored goodexpectation.
My feelings were an anchorednegative expectation.
So I had to hope in the goodexpectation God gave me and
ignore, ignore, ignore, say noto the anchored negative
expectation I was afraid of.
That was a battle, but it'sworth fighting.
(13:06):
Also, Romans 4, 19.
Abram says he did not weaken infaith when he considered his own
body and when he considered thebarrenness of Sarah's womb, his
wife.
Now, this verse is talking abouthow old Abram was and still
believing that God would givehim a child.
He was around a hundred yearsold.
(13:28):
Now that's a little differentfrom us being a hundred years
old now, back then, but still abig deal.
I mean, naturally, it justwasn't going to happen.
And he knew and considered howhis wife hadn't had a child yet,
which goes right back to theverse I said earlier.
He grew strong in faith as hegave glory to God, as he was
(13:49):
convinced and as he focused onthe ability God has.
It's also like the New Testamentwhen it says the name of Jesus
is above every name, every name,every disease name, every
problem name.
And we have to choose to say thename of Jesus is bigger than the
name of cancer.
The name of Jesus is bigger thanbarrenness.
(14:12):
And I understand these things.
And personally, when I waspregnant with my first son, I
was told I had pre-cancer, earlystages of cancer.
But I was so strong at that timeon my study of covenant that I
my husband and I came to peacepretty quick as we prayed that
everything was going to be fine.
(14:33):
And it was.
Later on, after having my son, Iwas tested.
There was no issues with cancer,never has been ever since, more
than 30 years ago.
So I've experienced givingpraise to God and being
persuaded that he was able to dowhat he said.
And some people might thinkyou're you're weird or boring if
(14:54):
you study the Bible, but if theyknow the fruit in your life that
comes from it, it ain't boringat all.
And it's certainly smart andworth your time.
But also, in our family,supposedly, my husband was never
going to be a father.
He had had cancer in his early20s before I met him, and before
(15:14):
and after chemo, he was told,Yeah, it's not going to happen.
You'll not have children.
Now he didn't tell me thatbefore we were married.
When I found out, I said, Younever told me this.
And he said, Yeah, I did.
I said, um, no, because I wouldhave remembered that
conversation.
Somebody actually asked me, Didyou really answer that way,
(15:35):
Lenora?
And I I actually did, because inthis case, God had already
spoken to me once about kids.
Again, he's usually very simplein what he says.
So it wasn't like we had amassive conversation, but he
said once to me when I was justpraying, talking to him about
something.
And for me, out of the blue, Ijust heard, Do you trust me with
(15:58):
your kids?
And I thought, what?
I'm not where are you comingfrom?
I wasn't talking to him aboutkids.
I wasn't asking him about kids.
I was complaining aboutsomething completely unrelated.
I actually was just beforegetting married that he even
said that to me.
But because I knew that stillsmall voice, I paused and
(16:18):
thought, well, I better thinkabout this and I guess I'll give
him an answer.
So I checked my heart because inessence he was asking me to
trust him with my kids.
I didn't know why.
Didn't even ask him why.
But I thought about it and said,Yes, I trust you with my kids.
I didn't know why I was beingasked, but I just answered.
(16:40):
And that was it.
That's all the conversation thatwe had.
Didn't bring it up again.
But that next year I found outsupposedly my husband couldn't
have kids.
So when I found out he was toldhe could not, I could respond in
a way that wasn't freaked out.
Plus, I had noticed how God, andI thought it was ironic that
(17:03):
Abraham, his name was changedfrom Abram to Abraham, Abraham,
who's called the father of thefaith, the one thing he couldn't
do was have kids.
Thought that was reallyinteresting.
But God did a miracle and openedup Sarah's womb, and they did,
years later, have a child.
And the same thing happened likethe next generation.
And I had really noticed that,just thought it was me in my own
(17:25):
Bible study.
I didn't know God had set me upfor the fight.
So in that case, that promise inmy life was an easy battle.
My heart was already preparedfor it.
I already believed God.
I already trusted him, told himI trusted him in that area.
And then three years into ourmarriage, I had a sense it's
time.
And within a couple months, Iwas pregnant.
(17:47):
Talk about getting personal withGod.
I'm way too personal with you,telling you way too much.
But I want to encourage you withstories that are real.
These are real things I've facedwith a very real God.
I've become persuaded ispowerful.
And he does what he says.
So I want to encourage you, ifyou're listening and you feel
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like there's things that youwant to ask from God, or there
are things you feel like he'salready told you, but you don't
know how on earth it's possible.
I want to encourage you to putyour focus on him and his
ability.
When I think of the futurepromise that hasn't happened
yet, so many times I've had tojust say, God, when I look at
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that, it doesn't make sense, thething you promised.
But if I look at you, I say,obviously it's possible.
So I'm just gonna stay lookingat you and saying, It's
possible.
I trust you, I believe you.
In fact, I've said to him, youknow, I'm believing you about
this.
Um, please tell me if I'm justridiculous, because I don't want
(18:53):
to be ridiculous.
And I know what it sounds likewhen I tell myself about this
promise.
So please tell me to stop it ifthis isn't you, meaning stop
believing this inside.
He's only ever encouraged me,pretty quietly, pretty mellow,
and sometimes in a couple prettycool ways.
(19:13):
But I know for you, if he's toldyou something and you know it's
him, then focus on how big heis, not how big the promise is.
Keep giving him praise, keepgiving him glory because it's
not about God's ego, he doesn'thave pride.
If you saw him in person, youcouldn't help but praise him
(19:36):
constantly.
He's profoundly amazing.
But because we have so manycircumstances and things in this
world that can grab ourattention instead, we have to on
purpose focus on him, on purposefocus on what he's done for
other people in the Bible, whathe's done for other people
around you, and put yourselfaround other people that will be
(19:59):
able to.
Encourage you.
And then you also need to beencouraging yourself.
And then enjoy life.
Grow in every other area.
Pursue God.
Pursue His kingdom first.
All these other things, thepromises He's given you, will be
added to you.
Keep Him first.
He's what it's ultimately allabout.
And He's what will satisfy you.
(20:20):
Once he said to me, everythingyou could ever want is right
here with you.
God Himself is right here withyou.
You know, if you can, don't dothis if you're driving.
But close your eyes andrecognize God, you're here with
me right now, whether I feel itor not.
But often when we get reallystill, that's when you can sense
(20:42):
His presence or say, God, I wantto sense your presence.
I need to sense your presence.
Help me know you better.
And one of my favorite verses,I've said this in other
episodes, God, open the eyes ofmy understanding to the
knowledge of you, to the hope ofmy calling, to the riches of
your inheritance invested in me,and how excited you are about me
(21:05):
as your inheritance.
Thank you for what you'vepromised me.
Thank you that you're working onit, even though I don't see it,
even if it looks like theopposite is happening.
I will praise you, I will trustyou, and I will give you glory
for this.
And you're my hope and you're mysource.
You're the one making thishappen.
I can't make it happen, but I'llpraise you.
(21:27):
And let me encourage you thatGod loves to show off.
He loves to show how good he is.
He loves to help others beattracted to God because of his
strength working in your life.
So whether you're fighting adifficult battle or you're
waiting on a very big promise,God is faithful.
(21:49):
We will let God be our rock, andthe one who gets the credit when
it's done, when we walk throughthis, will come through it
stronger if we trust in him.
So I hope this encourages youbecause nothing is too hard for
God.
Hey friend, I hope you enjoyedtoday's episode.
Would you share this withsomeone else who may need to
hear it or go on this journeywith you?
(22:10):
Also, please take 30 seconds andleave a quick review for the
show on Apple Podcasts.
And of course, subscribe if youhaven't already.
It really makes me happy to knowthis podcast is helping you.
And remember, a link to get mybook is in the show notes.
Thank you for listening.
I'll see you back next Mondayfor another episode.
Until then, remember, be kind toyou because it makes it a whole
(22:33):
lot easier to be kind to anybodyelse.
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