Have you ever felt paralyzed by worry, unable to seize new opportunities? Reflecting on a heartfelt conversation with a close friend, Stephanie uncovers how worry and anxiety can become a major distraction in our lives.
In this episode of Giving Your Best Life, we delve into the power of prayer and gratitude as tools to combat anxiety. Inspired by a specific Bible verse, we emphasize the importance of bringing all our concerns to God. By sharing practices such as maintaining a prayer and gratitude journal, we build a close relationship with Christ and tackle common worries through faith. I also address the deceptive nature of worry and the importance of resisting the devil by staying strong in faith.
Join me in building a strong foundation in faith, overcoming life's challenges, and experiencing the transformative power of collective prayer. Let’s stand together and cast all our anxieties on God.
Bible verses mentioned: Matthew 6:25-34, 1 Peter 5:7, and Philippians 4:67
Connect with Stephanie:
Get a free resource The 4G Method Journal here.
Shop Stephanie's books here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey friends, it's Stephanie here with episode
number 115 of Giving your BestLife podcast, and today I am
going to continue myconversation on distractions.
I did episodes, so if youhaven't listened to the episodes
on distractions, I did a series.
It was episode 102, 105, and111.
(00:24):
I intended it to only be athree series of on distraction,
except the other day I wastalking with one of my best
friends and she said worry hasbeen such a distraction in our
life and it was like she punchedme in the gut because we live
(00:48):
in a society that we worry abouta lot of stuff that we should
not be worrying about.
We are a very anxious society.
I think worry and anxiousnessgo hand in hand, and she and I
continued to have a conversationabout this and it was just
eye-opening.
I just paused and I've beennoodling on that ever since she
(01:14):
and I talked about it.
And when something stays with me, I challenge you to see that in
your own life also.
If something stays with you, ifthere's a thought that stays
with you and this can even gointo giving is if somebody kind
of keeps coming up in your lifeor you keep thinking about them,
(01:34):
I encourage you to reach out.
I'll give you an example, alittle off topic.
I'm getting distracted, but Ithink it's important for me to
share this because a lot oftimes I love to give you guys.
You know part of giving yourbest life is giving.
And this morning I had got anewsletter from one of my
girlfriends.
She owns an amazing businessand I get her newsletter all the
(01:58):
time and it's actually morethan a newsletter.
I feel like I see her emails acouple of times a week.
It might be on her product, itmight be on her podcast, it
might be something going on withsomebody in her business, so
whatever multiple times a week.
So it just gives you an idea.
It's not like it's once a month.
But this morning, when I got it, and it wasn't even like I
(02:21):
don't want to say this, I don'twant to say it wasn't like there
wasn't anything special aboutthis.
It wasn't saying, hey, look atme and this is what I done and,
um, you know, I hit this bigmilestone.
It wasn't anything like that.
It was just kind of like thisum, hey, we're bringing back
this product Everybody loves wasvery simple, very clean and
they were just something in myspirit and I was like I and it
(02:45):
was specific, it was veryspecific of um I'm going to tear
up, is I just needed to reachout to her and say I'm proud of
you?
And I did that.
I just I didn't ignore that, Ijust sent her a little gift Is
that what they're called?
(03:06):
A little gift that just saidI'm proud of you?
And it was just a little notethat said just wanted to let you
know I'm proud of you, I loveyou, friend.
Now I immediately got aresponse back from this friend
and said I needed this.
This was right on time.
(03:26):
Now, first, I have no ideawhat's going on in my friend's
life.
She's somebody we kind of touchbase with every couple of
months, but we both are super,super busy.
She's building a big businessand so it's not like we were
somebody that stays in touch.
So, anyways, I know I got alittle off topic today and I
didn't intend to talk about that, but I just encourage you that
(03:50):
if things keep coming up in yourlife, or somebody, or a message
, or maybe you keep seeing abook or whatever it is, I
encourage you to pursue that andpray through that.
Now for this little thing thismorning.
I didn't really need to prayabout it.
There's nothing that's going tocome out bad out of you know or
not be.
I really thought it was theHoly Spirit nudging me to reach
(04:13):
out to her.
But on bigger things, maybeit's.
I actually met with a friend theother night for dinner and she
shared some things with me andit was like shared some things
with me and it was like I don'twant to say random, but really
out of the blue, couple of jobopportunities in a similar area
which is outside of the areathat she's been working in.
(04:36):
And I told her don't ignorethat, you know is I would start
praying and take the next stepand pray hey, god, if this is
from you, if this is a door thatyou're opening, if this is
something you want me to seekand pursue, and not even with
the intention of, like, actuallygetting that job, but we never
(04:58):
know is it might be a personthat we are gonna meet, it might
be a conversation we never knowA lot of times where God is
leading us on the journey whichthis will tie in.
A lot of times we don't do thatbecause we worry about whatever
it is that prevents us fromeven taking that next step,
(05:20):
because we're so worried whichwe're not trusting God in the
process, and a lot of times youknow what the end result is
looks very different than whatwe think it's going to look like
.
But God had a plan that wholetime and a lot of times we can
(05:40):
let worry get in the way.
I think about this one friend.
It was worry even a little bitabout like, do I even have the
skill set?
Like I've never done that, Iwill say.
Women are really bad about notapplying for jobs because
they're worried they don't havethe skill set.
(06:01):
They worry they don't have whatit takes to do a certain job
where a man will apply for thatsame job with probably less
skills.
And so that's just something tothink about, women, as you look
at an opportunity that God maybe opening up for you.
That seems really outside ofyour comfort zone.
(06:25):
So we're kind of diving intoworry a little bit.
If I think back when I was goingfrom a police officer to
working in the tech industry 15years ago, I had a lot of
worries because I had neverworked for for-profit business.
I had never worked in for forfor profit business.
I had never worked in a salesorganization.
(06:47):
I had never really worked fromhome.
I had done some consulting, butnot like full time work
remotely from home.
I'd never used the technologythat we had to use.
Like there was a lot of thingsthat I had not done and not to
say that I wasn't worried aboutit, but it was like very clear
(07:10):
that God had opened anopportunity, and so that's where
trust has to come in and go.
Okay, god, this seems reallyout of, you know, my comfort
zone, but I'm going to trust you, I'm going to have faith and
you know, friends, that led toan amazing career for 15 years
of by taking a job that was sovery, very different from
(07:34):
anything I ever thought I wouldbe doing in my life.
I want to go into the Bible andread Matthew 6, 34.
And actually I just want to goto Matthew 6, and the whole
(07:55):
section, 25 through 34, istitled.
Do Not Worry, and I encourageyou to read this whole section.
I'm just going to bounce aroundof some things that stuck out
to me, because I think a lot oftimes it's like wow, when I'm
reading through the Bible.
It's like what is sticking out?
(08:16):
God, what do you want me to see?
What do you want me to talkabout today and these are the
things that I underlined thatreally stuck out to me.
And so if we look at verse 25,it says therefore, I tell you,
do not worry about your life.
I mean, is there a more cleardirection and guidance in the
(08:39):
Bible?
I mean, there's a lot of that.
The Bible is very clear.
A lot of times, the majority oftimes, they're not gray areas.
It's like this is what you doand it says do not worry about
your life.
And then we jumped down to 27and it says and which of you, by
worrying, can add even one hourto his life?
(09:03):
So it's like, even if you worryan hour, it's not going to add
anything to your life, it's noteven going to add an hour.
I say it takes away Worryingtakes away the hours of your
life.
I think we waste this is what myfriend was talking about, which
is why I want to talk about itis we waste so much of our lives
worrying.
(09:23):
It keeps us stuck.
That is one thing about givingyour best life is getting you
unstuck so that you step out infaith and move forward to
whatever God has for your life.
You get one life.
You get one time to do this,and so I'm going to talk in the
end of, like, what do you do ifyou're a worry wart and I am a
(09:47):
worrier If you've ever beenaround me.
My girlfriend and I did a tripto New York City and she really
got to see all my worry come out, because I had a lot of worries
and fears while we were in NewYork City.
But I will say is it did notprevent me from doing one thing
that we were doing while we werein New York City.
And so there's not I reallystruggle with worry, but I
(10:12):
really try to take capture ofthat and flip it around and
let's just jump there.
I'll come back to Matthew 6here in a second, but I just
want to jump to.
You know how do we respond toworry?
And let's see here.
(10:35):
It's in Philippians 4, 6.
And this is one of my favoriteverses of the Bible.
Again, it's very, very specific.
It's not gray.
It's not gray, friends.
It says do not be anxious aboutanything.
Do not be anxious aboutanything Instead.
(10:58):
Okay, so here's what you dowhen you worry, when you're
anxious.
It says instead in everysituation not just big
situations, not just scarysituations In every situation.
This is what you do, throughprayer and petition, with
thanksgiving tell your requeststo God.
(11:18):
Gosh, that just seems like sosimple.
We have access to God 24 seven.
And you guys know I am big onprayer and gratitude.
I've written books, I have aprayer and gratitude journal,
thank you notes to God, uncommonprayers.
The gratitude challenge Likethis is a big part of my life.
It is something I practiceevery day and I still have
(11:44):
worries, and it shows you howreliant we have to be upon God
to come to Him with everythingin our lives.
This is such a great reminder.
I sit in my prayer closet andI've really just been trying to
(12:07):
just like revel in theamazingness of God and who he is
and the power, and sometimes Ifeel guilty because it's like,
oh my gosh, I'm just likepouring out all my like, woes
and anxiousness and, you know,fill in the blank, but it's like
(12:30):
.
No, the Bible tells us that,instead of doing that, instead
of worrying, instead of beinganxious in every situation, that
through prayer we tell ourrequests to God, that's what he
wants us to do and then guesswhat happens.
It says and the peace of Godthat surpasses all understanding
(12:50):
will guard your hearts and yourminds.
I love that.
It will guard both your heartand your mind not just one, but
both of them, friends.
There's a couple other thingsthat I was just thinking about
as it relates to this topic.
If you are somebody thatworries or anxious, get you know
(13:12):
.
I don't like the word and Ithink I've mentioned this before
.
You know it's not a habit.
Prayer and gratitude are not ahabit, and I probably mentioned
this, I probably said thatbefore, so I apologize, but it
really is about building thisrelationship.
Christ should be the number oneperson in your life that you're
going to, that you're walkinghand in hand in life with and I
(13:35):
want you to think about this isa lot of times.
What are some of the things thatwe worry about?
And, as I mentioned these, ifsome of them resonate with you,
write it down and then take thatto God in prayer.
Be very specific.
Let him give you.
After you, tell him yourrequest and petition him in
(13:57):
prayer and thanksgiving.
Look for that peace that comesbeyond the understanding what
the Bible tells us.
We trust in the word of whatthe Bible tells us.
What the Bible tells us.
We trust in the word of whatthe Bible tells us.
Friends, we don't do things orwe don't say things because we
(14:17):
worry about what people aregoing to think about us.
We don't do or say things or weconfront people maybe that need
to be confronted or just havingsome hard conversations.
Why?
Because we're scared.
We're worried how people aregoing to react.
Go back and listen to episode106 that I did with Zach on
(14:38):
navigating friendships, and youknow we talked about some things
that he confronted me with.
He wasn't worried at all,because he kind of has a worry
on the other side is what if Idon't?
What if I don't say somethingto somebody?
We worry that we're not enough,which we're never going to be
(15:00):
enough.
We worry, you know, talkingabout the friend who has this
potential job opportunity is weworry, okay, well, what if I
take that?
What if it doesn't work out?
Well then God has somethingelse for you.
You might be single and youwere dating somebody, or you
went out on a date and youhaven't heard from them, and so
(15:23):
you're worried about oh, they'renot calling me back, they're
not texting, whatever it is, andit's like I would say is give
that to God, give that person toGod, give that relationship to
God.
And guess what?
If that person is supposed tobe in your life and that's a
person you're supposed to bemarried to or or date for a
while, then God, god's got aplan.
(15:45):
Going back to when I talkedabout that trust and faith.
God has a plan.
Going back to when I talkedabout that trust and faith.
God has a plan.
And what I have found over andover and over again remember
this is that worry is usually abunch of lies.
Worry is a bunch of lies.
If we go to 1 Peter, 5, 7, itaddresses this.
(16:11):
So it says or actually, let'sback up to 5, 6.
And it says and God will exaltyou in due time if you humble
yourselves under his mighty handby casting all your cares on
him, because he cares for you.
Friends, god cares for you.
He wants you to cast all hisworries, all your doubts, all
(16:34):
your anxieties on him.
He cares for you.
But I think it's interestingthat these two go hand in hand
in the Bible, because the nextthing that the Bible says in
verse eight is be sober andalert your enemy.
The devil, like a roaring lion,is on the prowl looking for
(16:55):
someone to devour.
Don't you think that whenyou're in this worry, state that
that is the devil.
He's roaring around, he'slooking, and what does the Bible
tell us to do in verse nine?
Resist him, strong in yourfaith.
Strong in your faith.
I'll give you an example this iskind of like a funny example,
(17:19):
but I think it'll get my pointacross of what I'm talking about
is I've been doing grounding.
Um, I like to walk around myyard barefoot.
Um, I challenge people toresearch grounding and the
benefits of grounding.
I just think it's so cool likelast night I was even tearing up
to think about, like, how Godmade the earth and all this
(17:44):
research that I've been doneabout grounding and standing in
the ground or earthing andhaving your feet and how healing
and the things that it can doto your body.
It's like, oh my gosh, god evencreated us to have our feet in
the ground.
Anyways, that's kind of asidetrack, a distraction, as I
want to say, but anyways, soI've been doing this and today I
(18:07):
don't know what hit me, but Ihad been outside and I was
grounding, I was watering, uh,my container garden, um, just
kind of walking around, and Igot the idea to run in my yard.
Do a 10 minute run without shoesor socks on and you're like
(18:27):
Stephanie, what are you doing?
I know I, these are the crazythings that happen in my life.
I know my husband, when he leftfor work, was like, what are
you doing?
But anyways, I did that and I'mconstantly doing these things
that are uncomfortable.
And I challenge you toconstantly, big or small things,
do things that areuncomfortable in your life.
(18:51):
Big or small things, do thingsthat are uncomfortable in your
life.
And why you're going to be likeStephanie why is like running
in the grass uncomfortable?
Well, one in our grass.
We have a pretty big yard andthis is why it's uncomfortable
is because there are some reallybig sticker weeds and I mean,
these thorns on these weeds arevery long.
(19:13):
I can't imagine if you steppedon one.
I mean, oh my gosh, how badthat would hurt.
But they're hardly any of themin the yard, so they're so
sparse.
But you really have to payattention because there's been
multiple times.
I've almost stepped on them.
Okay, so I was worried aboutwell, when you're walking, it's
easier to kind of pay attentionwhere it's at because you're
going slow.
(19:34):
I'm very deliberate about mysteps, but when you're running
you're kind of moving fast, thatyou could potentially step on
something with that before yousee it.
So that was thing one.
Thing two is I didn't discoverthis until I started it, but
there's animal poo in our yard.
So when I started, I was likenot once, but twice.
(19:55):
I saw two different scats and Iwas like, oh, now I have to pay
attention that I don't step inanimal poo.
Three is there are bees,because we have those little
clothes and there are bees and Iwas like, oh, so we got thorns,
we got poop, we got bees, allthese things.
I started running.
I kid you not, I set my alarmfor 10 minutes because I wanted
(20:17):
to force myself to beuncomfortable for 10 minutes
running in the grass, and itwasn't 30 seconds and I wanted
to quit.
Why?
Because it was making meanxious.
I was worried, I was going tostep on a thorn, I was going to
step in poo or step on a bee.
Now, friends, I made the 10minutes I made myself.
(20:40):
I had to talk.
This is what you had to do.
Now, in this situation.
I didn't need to talk to God, Idon't know, maybe I should have
, maybe I should have asked forprotection around my feet.
But I tell you this silly storybecause this is what we do a
lot of times is there'ssomething that's uncomfortable,
and whether it is an opportunity, whether it's a conversation,
(21:05):
whether it's I don't know fillin the blank of something that
you're doing.
Like I told you, my friend isthey've been in their whole life
just worried about every littlething, and 30 seconds 30
seconds is all it took for me toabout tap out.
I had to pause.
I hit stop on my timer on myphone.
(21:25):
I had a little pep talk withmyself and I was like, no,
you're going to finish these 10minutes.
I had a little pep talk withmyself and I was like, no,
you're going to finish these 10minutes.
Now, guess what?
I finished the 10 minutes.
Um, it was harder than I thought.
I only stepped.
I didn't step in poo.
(21:46):
I didn't step in a bee on a bee.
Um, I did step on a stickerthorn.
And then I was worried aboutthe red.
Well, I had on my foot for alittle while.
I put Maluka on it or tea treeoil.
I put this other bacteria stuffon there.
It's fine, I'm.
It's easier for me to put mytennis shoes on and run around
(22:07):
the grass.
It's easier for me.
Better yet is to stay in thehouse and run on the treadmill.
It's not uncomfortable.
It's a little uncomfortablebecause I'm kind of out of shape
, but you know, we can let worry.
It was just such a greatexample today of how worry stops
us in our tracks, stops us fromdoing uncomfortable things, and
(22:32):
I the feeling of when we dowhat we know God has called us
to do, the hard things, at theend it builds up your trust in
Him.
It builds up your faith in him.
I always say is, if we worryand we stay in this worry mode
(22:55):
and we let that control ourlives, it puts us in a box.
It puts us in a box and God isso much farther than we can even
imagine outside of that box.
But we have to trust him, wehave to have the faith.
(23:16):
We have to say okay, god, I amnot enough, but I am going to
trust you.
Friend, I saw this all the timein my giving journey and still,
as I give a gift every day isthere were opportunities that I
saw to give and I would startworrying about what someone's
(23:41):
reaction was going to be.
Sometimes it wasn't even worryabout the reaction of the person
I was giving to.
It would be the reaction of theperson I was giving to.
It would be the worry of whatpeople around me might say.
I can remember I was in Alaskaand I saw a man sitting by
himself at a table an oldergentleman and I was with a group
of people.
We were up there speaking.
I was with a group of peopleand man, I just felt like God
(24:05):
saying, go sit down One.
I was worried that the guywould tell me no Two.
I was worried about what thegroup of people I was with would
think when I went to set withthis older gentleman.
And what I realized over andover again is every time I just
said, okay, god, I feel likethis is a person you're putting
(24:27):
in my path.
Every time I just said, okay,god, I feel like this is a
person you're putting in my path, I'm going to trust you.
Almost 100% of the time it waslike, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I
did what God called me to do inthat gift, because almost every
person needed the gift that Iwas offering that day, and a lot
(24:53):
of times it's way more thanwhat we can see or they tell us.
And so I just want to encourageyou today to take some time to
journal, to write, to dump out,to pour out to God.
He cares for you, he wants youto give him your request and
write out what is worrying you,what is weighing you down, and
(25:16):
just give it to God.
Give it to God and say I'mgiving this to you and I'm going
to move forward in faith.
There's a verse in the Bible andI don't have the.
Is it 5-7?
Is it no, sorry, I don't know,it might be back.
Sorry, it might be back where Iwas at.
(25:38):
Is it in Matthew?
Let's see here.
Yeah, okay, let's go back toMatthew, matthew 6, 34.
It says so then, do not worryabout tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about itself.
Today has enough trouble of itsown.
(25:59):
So, friends, I just want to say,you know, part of giving your
best life is, you know, ourfoundation is in our faith that
we have in Jesus Christ.
It is our prayers and it isgratitude, and it is building
that relationship that we willnever.
(26:20):
We will never reach.
The point that we are strivingfor is to be where we're just
dependent, 100% dependent ineverything, that we don't go
through life without worry,because it's just like God's got
that.
I would love to get to thepoint.
(26:40):
You know where in my life I'mjust constantly like something
comes up.
I'm worried.
God's got that.
Move forward.
So, friends, hopefully thisepisode has helped you out.
Again, I encourage you to writeout the things that are your.
Just a prayer, a prayer to Godof what's worrying you, what's
on your heart.
(27:01):
Give it to him and then moveforward, move forward, step out
in that faith.
You know, worry will keep youstuck.
Worry will keep you stuck, andthat's where the devil wants you
.
The devil wants you stuck, andI hope this conversation on
distraction and worry is justanother way that you can get to
(27:25):
giving your best life.
Friends, if this impacted you,if you know somebody that
struggles with worry, pleaseshare this episode with them.
Share it on social media,message me, share with me what
you're worried about, share witha friend.
The Bible says where two ormore are gathered in our prayers
.
I have a ton of people that Ipray for, and so I'm always
(27:51):
happy to be a prayer warrior foryou.
And yeah, thank you so much.
Friends, have a fabulous day,evening or morning whenever
you're listening to this.
Hey friends, it's Stephanie here with episode
number 115 of Giving your BestLife podcast, and today I am
going to continue myconversation on distractions.
I did episodes, so if youhaven't listened to the episodes
on distractions, I did a series.
It was episode 102, 105, and111.
(00:24):
I intended it to only be athree series of on distraction,
except the other day I wastalking with one of my best
friends and she said worry hasbeen such a distraction in our
life and it was like she punchedme in the gut because we live
(00:48):
in a society that we worry abouta lot of stuff that we should
not be worrying about.
We are a very anxious society.
I think worry and anxiousnessgo hand in hand, and she and I
continued to have a conversationabout this and it was just
eye-opening.
I just paused and I've beennoodling on that ever since she
(01:14):
and I talked about it.
And when something stays with me, I challenge you to see that in
your own life also.
If something stays with you, ifthere's a thought that stays
with you and this can even gointo giving is if somebody kind
of keeps coming up in your lifeor you keep thinking about them,
(01:34):
I encourage you to reach out.
I'll give you an example, alittle off topic.
I'm getting distracted, but Ithink it's important for me to
share this because a lot oftimes I love to give you guys.
You know part of giving yourbest life is giving.
And this morning I had got anewsletter from one of my
girlfriends.
She owns an amazing businessand I get her newsletter all the
(01:58):
time and it's actually morethan a newsletter.
I feel like I see her emails acouple of times a week.
It might be on her product, itmight be on her podcast, it
might be something going on withsomebody in her business, so
whatever multiple times a week.
So it just gives you an idea.
It's not like it's once a month.
But this morning, when I got it, and it wasn't even like I
(02:21):
don't want to say this, I don'twant to say it wasn't like there
wasn't anything special aboutthis.
It wasn't saying, hey, look atme and this is what I done and,
um, you know, I hit this bigmilestone.
It wasn't anything like that.
It was just kind of like thisum, hey, we're bringing back
this product Everybody loves wasvery simple, very clean and
they were just something in myspirit and I was like I and it
(02:45):
was specific, it was veryspecific of um I'm going to tear
up, is I just needed to reachout to her and say I'm proud of
you?
And I did that.
I just I didn't ignore that, Ijust sent her a little gift Is
that what they're called?
(03:06):
A little gift that just saidI'm proud of you?
And it was just a little notethat said just wanted to let you
know I'm proud of you, I loveyou, friend.
Now I immediately got aresponse back from this friend
and said I needed this.
This was right on time.
(03:26):
Now, first, I have no ideawhat's going on in my friend's
life.
She's somebody we kind of touchbase with every couple of
months, but we both are super,super busy.
She's building a big businessand so it's not like we were
somebody that stays in touch.
So, anyways, I know I got alittle off topic today and I
didn't intend to talk about that, but I just encourage you that
(03:50):
if things keep coming up in yourlife, or somebody, or a message
, or maybe you keep seeing abook or whatever it is, I
encourage you to pursue that andpray through that.
Now for this little thing thismorning.
I didn't really need to prayabout it.
There's nothing that's going tocome out bad out of you know or
not be.
I really thought it was theHoly Spirit nudging me to reach
(04:13):
out to her.
But on bigger things, maybeit's.
I actually met with a friend theother night for dinner and she
shared some things with me andit was like shared some things
with me and it was like I don'twant to say random, but really
out of the blue, couple of jobopportunities in a similar area
which is outside of the areathat she's been working in.
(04:36):
And I told her don't ignorethat, you know is I would start
praying and take the next stepand pray hey, god, if this is
from you, if this is a door thatyou're opening, if this is
something you want me to seekand pursue, and not even with
the intention of, like, actuallygetting that job, but we never
(04:58):
know is it might be a personthat we are gonna meet, it might
be a conversation we never knowA lot of times where God is
leading us on the journey whichthis will tie in.
A lot of times we don't do thatbecause we worry about whatever
it is that prevents us fromeven taking that next step,
(05:20):
because we're so worried whichwe're not trusting God in the
process, and a lot of times youknow what the end result is
looks very different than whatwe think it's going to look like
.
But God had a plan that wholetime and a lot of times we can
(05:40):
let worry get in the way.
I think about this one friend.
It was worry even a little bitabout like, do I even have the
skill set?
Like I've never done that, Iwill say.
Women are really bad about notapplying for jobs because
they're worried they don't havethe skill set.
(06:01):
They worry they don't have whatit takes to do a certain job
where a man will apply for thatsame job with probably less
skills.
And so that's just something tothink about, women, as you look
at an opportunity that God maybe opening up for you.
That seems really outside ofyour comfort zone.
(06:25):
So we're kind of diving intoworry a little bit.
If I think back when I was goingfrom a police officer to
working in the tech industry 15years ago, I had a lot of
worries because I had neverworked for for-profit business.
I had never worked in for forfor profit business.
I had never worked in a salesorganization.
(06:47):
I had never really worked fromhome.
I had done some consulting, butnot like full time work
remotely from home.
I'd never used the technologythat we had to use.
Like there was a lot of thingsthat I had not done and not to
say that I wasn't worried aboutit, but it was like very clear
(07:10):
that God had opened anopportunity, and so that's where
trust has to come in and go.
Okay, god, this seems reallyout of, you know, my comfort
zone, but I'm going to trust you, I'm going to have faith and
you know, friends, that led toan amazing career for 15 years
of by taking a job that was sovery, very different from
(07:34):
anything I ever thought I wouldbe doing in my life.
I want to go into the Bible andread Matthew 6, 34.
And actually I just want to goto Matthew 6, and the whole
(07:55):
section, 25 through 34, istitled.
Do Not Worry, and I encourageyou to read this whole section.
I'm just going to bounce aroundof some things that stuck out
to me, because I think a lot oftimes it's like wow, when I'm
reading through the Bible.
It's like what is sticking out?
(08:16):
God, what do you want me to see?
What do you want me to talkabout today and these are the
things that I underlined thatreally stuck out to me.
And so if we look at verse 25,it says therefore, I tell you,
do not worry about your life.
I mean, is there a more cleardirection and guidance in the
(08:39):
Bible?
I mean, there's a lot of that.
The Bible is very clear.
A lot of times, the majority oftimes, they're not gray areas.
It's like this is what you doand it says do not worry about
your life.
And then we jumped down to 27and it says and which of you, by
worrying, can add even one hourto his life?
(09:03):
So it's like, even if you worryan hour, it's not going to add
anything to your life, it's noteven going to add an hour.
I say it takes away Worryingtakes away the hours of your
life.
I think we waste this is what myfriend was talking about, which
is why I want to talk about itis we waste so much of our lives
worrying.
(09:23):
It keeps us stuck.
That is one thing about givingyour best life is getting you
unstuck so that you step out infaith and move forward to
whatever God has for your life.
You get one life.
You get one time to do this,and so I'm going to talk in the
end of, like, what do you do ifyou're a worry wart and I am a
(09:47):
worrier If you've ever beenaround me.
My girlfriend and I did a tripto New York City and she really
got to see all my worry come out, because I had a lot of worries
and fears while we were in NewYork City.
But I will say is it did notprevent me from doing one thing
that we were doing while we werein New York City.
And so there's not I reallystruggle with worry, but I
(10:12):
really try to take capture ofthat and flip it around and
let's just jump there.
I'll come back to Matthew 6here in a second, but I just
want to jump to.
You know how do we respond toworry?
And let's see here.
(10:35):
It's in Philippians 4, 6.
And this is one of my favoriteverses of the Bible.
Again, it's very, very specific.
It's not gray.
It's not gray, friends.
It says do not be anxious aboutanything.
Do not be anxious aboutanything Instead.
(10:58):
Okay, so here's what you dowhen you worry, when you're
anxious.
It says instead in everysituation not just big
situations, not just scarysituations In every situation.
This is what you do, throughprayer and petition, with
thanksgiving tell your requeststo God.
(11:18):
Gosh, that just seems like sosimple.
We have access to God 24 seven.
And you guys know I am big onprayer and gratitude.
I've written books, I have aprayer and gratitude journal,
thank you notes to God, uncommonprayers.
The gratitude challenge Likethis is a big part of my life.
It is something I practiceevery day and I still have
(11:44):
worries, and it shows you howreliant we have to be upon God
to come to Him with everythingin our lives.
This is such a great reminder.
I sit in my prayer closet andI've really just been trying to
(12:07):
just like revel in theamazingness of God and who he is
and the power, and sometimes Ifeel guilty because it's like,
oh my gosh, I'm just likepouring out all my like, woes
and anxiousness and, you know,fill in the blank, but it's like
(12:30):
.
No, the Bible tells us that,instead of doing that, instead
of worrying, instead of beinganxious in every situation, that
through prayer we tell ourrequests to God, that's what he
wants us to do and then guesswhat happens.
It says and the peace of Godthat surpasses all understanding
(12:50):
will guard your hearts and yourminds.
I love that.
It will guard both your heartand your mind not just one, but
both of them, friends.
There's a couple other thingsthat I was just thinking about
as it relates to this topic.
If you are somebody thatworries or anxious, get you know
(13:12):
.
I don't like the word and Ithink I've mentioned this before
.
You know it's not a habit.
Prayer and gratitude are not ahabit, and I probably mentioned
this, I probably said thatbefore, so I apologize, but it
really is about building thisrelationship.
Christ should be the number oneperson in your life that you're
going to, that you're walkinghand in hand in life with and I
(13:35):
want you to think about this isa lot of times.
What are some of the things thatwe worry about?
And, as I mentioned these, ifsome of them resonate with you,
write it down and then take thatto God in prayer.
Be very specific.
Let him give you.
After you, tell him yourrequest and petition him in
(13:57):
prayer and thanksgiving.
Look for that peace that comesbeyond the understanding what
the Bible tells us.
We trust in the word of whatthe Bible tells us.
What the Bible tells us.
We trust in the word of whatthe Bible tells us.
Friends, we don't do things orwe don't say things because we
(14:17):
worry about what people aregoing to think about us.
We don't do or say things or weconfront people maybe that need
to be confronted or just havingsome hard conversations.
Why?
Because we're scared.
We're worried how people aregoing to react.
Go back and listen to episode106 that I did with Zach on
(14:38):
navigating friendships, and youknow we talked about some things
that he confronted me with.
He wasn't worried at all,because he kind of has a worry
on the other side is what if Idon't?
What if I don't say somethingto somebody?
We worry that we're not enough,which we're never going to be
(15:00):
enough.
We worry, you know, talkingabout the friend who has this
potential job opportunity is weworry, okay, well, what if I
take that?
What if it doesn't work out?
Well then God has somethingelse for you.
You might be single and youwere dating somebody, or you
went out on a date and youhaven't heard from them, and so
(15:23):
you're worried about oh, they'renot calling me back, they're
not texting, whatever it is, andit's like I would say is give
that to God, give that person toGod, give that relationship to
God.
And guess what?
If that person is supposed tobe in your life and that's a
person you're supposed to bemarried to or or date for a
while, then God, god's got aplan.
(15:45):
Going back to when I talkedabout that trust and faith.
God has a plan.
Going back to when I talkedabout that trust and faith.
God has a plan.
And what I have found over andover and over again remember
this is that worry is usually abunch of lies.
Worry is a bunch of lies.
If we go to 1 Peter, 5, 7, itaddresses this.
(16:11):
So it says or actually, let'sback up to 5, 6.
And it says and God will exaltyou in due time if you humble
yourselves under his mighty handby casting all your cares on
him, because he cares for you.
Friends, god cares for you.
He wants you to cast all hisworries, all your doubts, all
(16:34):
your anxieties on him.
He cares for you.
But I think it's interestingthat these two go hand in hand
in the Bible, because the nextthing that the Bible says in
verse eight is be sober andalert your enemy.
The devil, like a roaring lion,is on the prowl looking for
(16:55):
someone to devour.
Don't you think that whenyou're in this worry, state that
that is the devil.
He's roaring around, he'slooking, and what does the Bible
tell us to do in verse nine?
Resist him, strong in yourfaith.
Strong in your faith.
I'll give you an example this iskind of like a funny example,
(17:19):
but I think it'll get my pointacross of what I'm talking about
is I've been doing grounding.
Um, I like to walk around myyard barefoot.
Um, I challenge people toresearch grounding and the
benefits of grounding.
I just think it's so cool likelast night I was even tearing up
to think about, like, how Godmade the earth and all this
(17:44):
research that I've been doneabout grounding and standing in
the ground or earthing andhaving your feet and how healing
and the things that it can doto your body.
It's like, oh my gosh, god evencreated us to have our feet in
the ground.
Anyways, that's kind of asidetrack, a distraction, as I
want to say, but anyways, soI've been doing this and today I
(18:07):
don't know what hit me, but Ihad been outside and I was
grounding, I was watering, uh,my container garden, um, just
kind of walking around, and Igot the idea to run in my yard.
Do a 10 minute run without shoesor socks on and you're like
(18:27):
Stephanie, what are you doing?
I know I, these are the crazythings that happen in my life.
I know my husband, when he leftfor work, was like, what are
you doing?
But anyways, I did that and I'mconstantly doing these things
that are uncomfortable.
And I challenge you toconstantly, big or small things,
do things that areuncomfortable in your life.
(18:51):
Big or small things, do thingsthat are uncomfortable in your
life.
And why you're going to be likeStephanie why is like running
in the grass uncomfortable?
Well, one in our grass.
We have a pretty big yard andthis is why it's uncomfortable
is because there are some reallybig sticker weeds and I mean,
these thorns on these weeds arevery long.
(19:13):
I can't imagine if you steppedon one.
I mean, oh my gosh, how badthat would hurt.
But they're hardly any of themin the yard, so they're so
sparse.
But you really have to payattention because there's been
multiple times.
I've almost stepped on them.
Okay, so I was worried aboutwell, when you're walking, it's
easier to kind of pay attentionwhere it's at because you're
going slow.
(19:34):
I'm very deliberate about mysteps, but when you're running
you're kind of moving fast, thatyou could potentially step on
something with that before yousee it.
So that was thing one.
Thing two is I didn't discoverthis until I started it, but
there's animal poo in our yard.
So when I started, I was likenot once, but twice.
(19:55):
I saw two different scats and Iwas like, oh, now I have to pay
attention that I don't step inanimal poo.
Three is there are bees,because we have those little
clothes and there are bees and Iwas like, oh, so we got thorns,
we got poop, we got bees, allthese things.
I started running.
I kid you not, I set my alarmfor 10 minutes because I wanted
(20:17):
to force myself to beuncomfortable for 10 minutes
running in the grass, and itwasn't 30 seconds and I wanted
to quit.
Why?
Because it was making meanxious.
I was worried, I was going tostep on a thorn, I was going to
step in poo or step on a bee.
Now, friends, I made the 10minutes I made myself.
(20:40):
I had to talk.
This is what you had to do.
Now, in this situation.
I didn't need to talk to God, Idon't know, maybe I should have
, maybe I should have asked forprotection around my feet.
But I tell you this silly storybecause this is what we do a
lot of times is there'ssomething that's uncomfortable,
and whether it is an opportunity, whether it's a conversation,
(21:05):
whether it's I don't know fillin the blank of something that
you're doing.
Like I told you, my friend isthey've been in their whole life
just worried about every littlething, and 30 seconds 30
seconds is all it took for me toabout tap out.
I had to pause.
I hit stop on my timer on myphone.
(21:25):
I had a little pep talk withmyself and I was like, no,
you're going to finish these 10minutes.
I had a little pep talk withmyself and I was like, no,
you're going to finish these 10minutes.
Now, guess what?
I finished the 10 minutes.
Um, it was harder than I thought.
I only stepped.
I didn't step in poo.
(21:46):
I didn't step in a bee on a bee.
Um, I did step on a stickerthorn.
And then I was worried aboutthe red.
Well, I had on my foot for alittle while.
I put Maluka on it or tea treeoil.
I put this other bacteria stuffon there.
It's fine, I'm.
It's easier for me to put mytennis shoes on and run around
(22:07):
the grass.
It's easier for me.
Better yet is to stay in thehouse and run on the treadmill.
It's not uncomfortable.
It's a little uncomfortablebecause I'm kind of out of shape
, but you know, we can let worry.
It was just such a greatexample today of how worry stops
us in our tracks, stops us fromdoing uncomfortable things, and
(22:32):
I the feeling of when we dowhat we know God has called us
to do, the hard things, at theend it builds up your trust in
Him.
It builds up your faith in him.
I always say is, if we worryand we stay in this worry mode
(22:55):
and we let that control ourlives, it puts us in a box.
It puts us in a box and God isso much farther than we can even
imagine outside of that box.
But we have to trust him, wehave to have the faith.
(23:16):
We have to say okay, god, I amnot enough, but I am going to
trust you.
Friend, I saw this all the timein my giving journey and still,
as I give a gift every day isthere were opportunities that I
saw to give and I would startworrying about what someone's
(23:41):
reaction was going to be.
Sometimes it wasn't even worryabout the reaction of the person
I was giving to.
It would be the reaction of theperson I was giving to.
It would be the worry of whatpeople around me might say.
I can remember I was in Alaskaand I saw a man sitting by
himself at a table an oldergentleman and I was with a group
of people.
We were up there speaking.
I was with a group of peopleand man, I just felt like God
(24:05):
saying, go sit down One.
I was worried that the guywould tell me no Two.
I was worried about what thegroup of people I was with would
think when I went to set withthis older gentleman.
And what I realized over andover again is every time I just
said, okay, god, I feel likethis is a person you're putting
(24:27):
in my path.
Every time I just said, okay,god, I feel like this is a
person you're putting in my path, I'm going to trust you.
Almost 100% of the time it waslike, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I
did what God called me to do inthat gift, because almost every
person needed the gift that Iwas offering that day, and a lot
(24:53):
of times it's way more thanwhat we can see or they tell us.
And so I just want to encourageyou today to take some time to
journal, to write, to dump out,to pour out to God.
He cares for you, he wants youto give him your request and
write out what is worrying you,what is weighing you down, and
(25:16):
just give it to God.
Give it to God and say I'mgiving this to you and I'm going
to move forward in faith.
There's a verse in the Bible andI don't have the.
Is it 5-7?
Is it no, sorry, I don't know,it might be back.
Sorry, it might be back where Iwas at.
(25:38):
Is it in Matthew?
Let's see here.
Yeah, okay, let's go back toMatthew, matthew 6, 34.
It says so then, do not worryabout tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about itself.
Today has enough trouble of itsown.
(25:59):
So, friends, I just want to say,you know, part of giving your
best life is, you know, ourfoundation is in our faith that
we have in Jesus Christ.
It is our prayers and it isgratitude, and it is building
that relationship that we willnever.
(26:20):
We will never reach.
The point that we are strivingfor is to be where we're just
dependent, 100% dependent ineverything, that we don't go
through life without worry,because it's just like God's got
that.
I would love to get to thepoint.
(26:40):
You know where in my life I'mjust constantly like something
comes up.
I'm worried.
God's got that.
Move forward.
So, friends, hopefully thisepisode has helped you out.
Again, I encourage you to writeout the things that are your.
Just a prayer, a prayer to Godof what's worrying you, what's
on your heart.
(27:01):
Give it to him and then moveforward, move forward, step out
in that faith.
You know, worry will keep youstuck.
Worry will keep you stuck, andthat's where the devil wants you
.
The devil wants you stuck, andI hope this conversation on
distraction and worry is justanother way that you can get to
(27:25):
giving your best life.
Friends, if this impacted you,if you know somebody that
struggles with worry, pleaseshare this episode with them.
Share it on social media,message me, share with me what
you're worried about, share witha friend.
The Bible says where two ormore are gathered in our prayers
.
I have a ton of people that Ipray for, and so I'm always
(27:51):
happy to be a prayer warrior foryou.
And yeah, thank you so much.
Friends, have a fabulous day,evening or morning whenever
you're listening to this.
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