April 1, 2025 • 25 mins
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Have you ever felt like life is throwing way too much at you? Like you're being stretched beyond what you can handle in your business and your overall life? I get it...I've been there too. But what if stress isn’t just an obstacle, but a sign that God is preparing you for more influence, impact, and income?
In this episode of the God Empowered Entrepreneur Podcast, I’m sharing my personal experiences with stress and how both the good and tough kinds of 'more' in your life can actually be divine tests. Instead of seeing stress as something to escape, what if we leaned in and asked God: what are You trying to teach me through this?
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by business growth, work demands, financial pressure, managing your home, taking care of yourself, building your relationship with God all at the same while going through your own version of roadblocks in between, then this episode is for you.
For the next 20 minutes, I want to help you shift your mindset, strengthen your faith, and step confidently into what God is calling you to by learning to change your perspective on the stress you're currently facing. Let’s talk about how to navigate your stress with grace and trust that God is equipping you for the next level in business and beyond!
Episode Highlights:
00:00 | Introduction: Why God seems to be putting you in stressful seasons
03:36 | Navigating the good and bad types of ‘more’ in your life
04:37 | Transforming stress into spiritual growth
07:56 | The deeper reason why God challenges us
09:29 | How faith helps us pass God's tests
12:24 | The growth that comes from challenges
19:54 | Why stewardship in the present is key to handling 'more' in the future
23:24 | Final thoughts
Tune in now!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Angel Marie (00:00):
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the
God Empowered EntrepreneurPodcast.
Today we are diving intosomething that some of you might
be thinking, oh yeah, angel, I'mthere.
I need this episode.
Others of you might be thinking,I'm not quite there yet.
Angel, here's the thing.
(00:21):
I think in some shape, formcapacity that no matter what
stage of life you are in, nomatter what you are carrying
within this current season ofyour life, I think that this
episode topic can not only applyto you, but that it can help
you.
Now, the reason why I'm sayingthis is because this specific
(00:43):
episode topic was crafted.
Out of stress, not me feelingstressed when I was writing out
the details of this episode andbringing it your way today.
But using the very recent stressthat I went through to pull
inspiration from in order tobring this episode to you today.
(01:05):
And when it comes to stress, weall deal with it.
We all struggle.
We all get overwhelmed.
We all feel burdened no matterwhat it is in our life, in our
business, in our goals, in ourday to day, whatever it is.
Stress, unfortunately, is a partof the human experience.
(01:27):
Now I could create an episode onhow to manage stress better or
how to navigate stress in yourlife better.
Yes, and maybe that's an episodefor another time, but in this
week's episode, my friend, Iwanna talk about why the stress
happens and it's something thatyou might have not thought about
(01:48):
before because the stress cloudsyour mind too much in order to
even think about.
What I'm gonna say, hear me out.
What if the stress or what youperceive as stress right now in
your life or in your business isGod's way of challenging you to
handle more?
(02:09):
Just sit with that for a second.
Marinate in it.
What if.
God sees as your reaction to himtrusting you to handle more in
your life.
Now that more that I'm talkingabout could mean anything.
It could mean the good type ofmore meaning, more opportunity.
(02:30):
You have more customers, moreclients, more blessings, and
maybe you feel stressed out atthe weight of all of those
blessings.
It could mean that good type ofmore that I'm referring to, or
maybe it's not so good.
Maybe the more that comes toyour mind right now.
Is more problems, morefrustration, more.
(02:54):
Oh my gosh.
I need to pause this podcastepisode for a second because if
you are watching this episode inthe video version right now, I
am just now noticing thisgorgeous light behind me in the
window.
It is just shining through sobeautifully.
The minute I saw it in thecamera, all I thought about was
wow.
Thank you Jesus, for being here.
Thank you for being present intoday's episode.
(03:17):
Wow.
Wow, wow.
Okay.
I just had to highlight that andI wanted to keep that in this
episode rather than editing itout, because God can show up
anywhere.
He's literally right there indifferent ways, different
shapes, different forms.
Man, what a beautiful God thatwe have.
Alright.
Continuing with what I'm saying.
Maybe you're going through thebad kind of more, more problems,
(03:38):
more frustration, more of, oh mygoodness, can I just catch a
break?
That type of more.
What's interesting is no matterthe kind of more that you are
currently dealing with in theseason of your life, both of
them could be God's way of.
Challenging you to be able tohandle that more, and no matter
(04:01):
which more it is, whether it'sthe good, more or the bad, more.
Both types of mores can causestress.
They can cause us to feeloverwhelmed.
They can cause us to feel likewe just can't handle it.
Why?
Because it feels burdensome,because our humanness can only
take so much.
(04:22):
We get burnt out.
We sometimes just want to throwin the towel.
That's a normal reaction to thekind of more that we might be
carrying, whether it's good orbad.
And I notice that when I amfaced with stress in life,
whether it's the good more orthe bad more, I tend to focus on
(04:43):
that stress.
And how much it's negativelyimpacting my life, rather than
focusing on God and how much hecould be using that to
positively impact my life overtime.
It's a change of perspective,but it's tough.
It's dang near impossible tochange your perspective when you
(05:07):
are just going through it.
No matter if it's good or ifit's bad at the end of the day
when things feel too much, whenthey feel heavy, when they feel
like a huge weight ofresponsibilities.
Our human brain will focus onthose problems rather than
focusing on the fact that maybeGod is actually seeing this as a
(05:29):
solution for you, for your life,for who he's calling you to be
and what he's calling you to do.
So I wanna talk about that.
I want to help.
I wanna challenge, I wannaencourage you to change your
perspective by firstunderstanding why God could be
(05:50):
challenging you to handle moreright now in the season of your
life, whether it's good or bad.
Because when we understand thewhy, when we understand the root
of things.
It helps us to change ourperspective.
It helps us to see God and bepowerful.
All mighty light that he willforever exist in.
(06:13):
And we start to tune out of ouremotions, our burdensome
feelings, all the negativethings, and we start to tune
into the spirit the truth.
The positive because we trustGod in what he has us currently
dealing with or handling in thisseason of our lives.
(06:36):
Now, let me be very clear.
Sometimes we're not gonnaunderstand the why.
Sometimes us digging to get thefull clarity, the full picture,
knowing all the reasons.
Sometimes you will not get thatuntil you're with your father in
heaven, and then you start tosee the why and as far as what
(06:58):
God chooses to reveal to you andto help you understand and the
whys that you are able to seeversus the whys that you will
not see until you get to heaven.
That is a mystery.
That is something that God knowsand we can rest in the fact that
one day we will know.
But on the other hand, I dobelieve that if we would just
(07:18):
tune in, if we would just takethe time to change our
perspective, if we would juststudy and meditate and allow our
spirits to rise up over ourhuman emotions when we're going
through frustrating or heavythings or responsibilities, we
can better understand the why.
We are going through thesethings can change our
(07:39):
perspective, change ourattitudes about it, change our
actions behind it, and moveforward just in a better way to
be able to get through it in abetter way.
So let's dive into that.
The first reason why God couldbe challenging you to handle
more in your life right now thatyou see is causing you stress.
(08:02):
It could be because he istesting you.
God is testing you to see howyou carry it.
He wants to see if after all ofthe things that he's previously
brought you through, your past,your experiences, every open and
every closed door., your uprisein faith, making your
(08:26):
relationship stronger with himleading up to this point.
He is testing you to see justhow strong your relationship
with him, your trust in himreally is.
It's one thing.
To say that we trust God.
It's another thing to show thatwe trust God when things in our
(08:48):
life are going well, when wefeel good, when we're at peace,
when we're just happy, it's easyto show that we trust God in
those happy moments.
What's hard is showing that wetrust God.
In the tough moments, in theoverwhelming moments, in the
stressful moments, in themoments where we literally feel
(09:10):
like we're about to break fromeverything that we are carrying
in this season of our lives,whether it's good stuff or bad
stuff, at the end of the day,it's just overwhelming.
It's overbearing.
God could be testing you.
He could be testing you inseeing if you will perceive him
as a bigger than what you aregoing through.
(09:33):
You see him as the ultimatesolution., if you will show that
he is bigger than that, bycontinuing to prioritize him, no
matter what you're goingthrough, no matter how much that
stress is causing you to be busyand your brain is nonstop, he is
testing you to see if you willnot only still prioritize him,
(09:56):
but also.
If your actions will remainChrist-like, because let's be
real.
You know what?
I will be real with you.
When I am stressed.
When I am frustrated, there aremoments, okay, where my actions
are not Christ-like.
What do I mean by that?
I am angry.
I am acting out in emotionalimmaturity.
(10:19):
When I'm stressed, I don'trespond well to my fiance.
Sometimes I snap and I need towork on that.
Now let me be clear.
It's okay to have a moment whereyou just are sad and you just
need to cry.
It is okay to have a momentwhere you're like, Hey, I need
to step away.
I can't have a conversationright now.
I just need moments of solitude.
(10:39):
That's still Christlike.
Jesus had moments where hecried.
Jesus had moments where he hadto step away.
What I'm referring to is whenyou take.
These moments and youunintentionally start to allow
your human emotions to surpassyour Christ-likeness, meaning
(11:01):
now your emotional immaturitycould be coming out, your anger
is coming out, your anxiety isrunning rampant.
That is what I'm referring to.
God could be testing you andsometimes it takes him testing
you in order to show the truthbehind where your faith and your
(11:22):
trust in him is really at.
It will reveal all.
It will challenge you to remainclose to him.
It will challenge you to refocuson him.
It will strengthen what mightfeel weak to you into something
that is unbreakable.
Sometimes God just needs to testyou and that test, even if it's
(11:47):
hard.
You overcoming that test, yousucceeding in that test and I
know that you can shapes youmore into the person that God
needs you to be and what he'scalling you to do.
And in order to be who he needsyou to be and do what he needs
you to do, he needs you tostrengthen.
And sometimes it takes a testfor him to be able to strengthen
(12:12):
you.
That brings me to my next point.
God could be challenging you tohandle more in your life right
now to grow you.
God wants to grow you.
Growth is necessary to makespace for the more that you
desire.
(12:32):
Now, let me do a quickcomparison here.
The more that I was talkingabout previously is the
unexpected more.
The more that happened fromefforts, and therefore you have
more opportunities and moreblessings in your life, and
you're just carrying a lot oftasks and responsibilities and
it's all good, but it'soverwhelming.
(12:53):
And then you have the bad,unexpected more that I was
talking about earlier, thestresses, the problems, the
frustrations, the roadblocks,the finances, things that are
just weighing you down in anegative way, but.
Every human being has their ownidea of the more that they
desire.
And these are all naturallygoing to be positive mores.
(13:18):
We want more money, we want morepeace, we want more time
freedom.
We want more.
Opportunity to travel.
We want a bigger house.
More of this in our family andmore of this in our health, and
we wanna look this way and feelthis way.
There is this natural humandesire of more, and it's why we
(13:40):
have goals.
Think about it in the sense ofentrepreneurship.
Every person who desires to bean entrepreneur, desires to take
their creativity, put it outthere into the world, and make
impact and make income from it.
Every entrepreneur is looking tomake more money, make more
impact, make more growth, havemore here, more of this.
(14:02):
It's natural not just forentrepreneurs, but for humans.
To desire these positive mores,these goals that we're trying to
get to, right?
But here's the thing, if you'veprayed on those mores and you
know that it aligns with God'sword, that he could very well
give you that more that youdesire.
(14:24):
Then that means that God knowswhat needs to be done in your
life right now in order tocreate capacity in you to be
able to handle the more in thefuture that you desire.
Now, think about that.
You want more money in thefuture, guess what?
God can bless you with thatmore.
(14:44):
If you put in effort and faithand go about it his way,
absolutely he can bless you withthat more.
But he knows you.
He knows what he needs to do inyour life right now in order to
teach you and in order to createcapacity within you to be able
to handle the more money thatyou want.
For example, he is going topotentially put challenges in
(15:08):
your life right now that aregoing to force you to manage
your money better now.
He could be giving you ideas towork through that are gonna take
logistical thinking and creativemethods, lots of prayer,
biblical principles to grow yourmoney now so that you can handle
the more money that will comefrom it in the future.
(15:31):
He might challenge your heart.
In certain moments to begenerous with your money.
Now, even though you want moremoney for yourself in the
future, this is how amazing Godis.
He knows you better than youknow yourself.
So you might be sitting therethinking, yeah, I want more
money in the future.
I want more of this in thefuture.
(15:52):
I wanna reach that goal in thefuture.
And you might think that thatgoal is something you should
have now.
You should be able to accomplishit right now, today.
You want the more money, youwant, the bigger house.
You want this now today, but Godis like, Hmm, I know you better
than you know yourself and inorder for me, if it is in my
(16:13):
will for you to give you themore that you desire in order
for me to do that, then I needyou.
To grow.
I need you to build capacity.
I need you to learn.
I need to teach you.
So you, my friend, have thechallenge of being receptive to
whatever that teaching might be.
(16:33):
Whatever you're going throughright now.
How can you use this as anopportunity to change your
perspective and say, wow, Godcould be teaching me right now.
God could be growing me rightnow.
I'm gonna give you an example.
Last week I went through a lotof stress.
And it was a mix of good andbad.
(16:55):
The good more because I had lotsof projects and clients and
students that I was trying topour into.
That's good.
But also I had the bad morewhere I was going through some
family things and reallystruggling with my anxiety at
the time.
Both mores caused me to feeloverwhelmed.
On top of that.
I'm trying to take care of mydogs.
(17:17):
I'm trying to manage a home.
I am planning a wedding.
I am preparing for marriage withmy fiance.
I'm trying to keep myrelationship with God strong.
I'm trying to prioritize myworkouts and my mental health,
but also work on this projectand this real estate goal over
here and this and that.
So many things where I was juststraight up stressed out.
(17:39):
Now I can look at all of thesestressors and say, this is too
overwhelming, and.
Obviously take action to help myoverwhelm, taking time away,
letting something go that weekso that I could focus on what
matters most.
All the things, yes.
But it also brought about thethought for me of if I am
stressed out at my life rightnow, how in the world is it
(18:03):
gonna be when I have kids?
Genuine thought, seriousquestion.
How can I expect?
To raise, to handle, toprioritize bringing up kids in
this world as a mother, if Icannot handle my life right now,
(18:24):
that is not something for me tofreak out about instead.
It's something for me togenuinely think about.
What if God is using all of thethings that are going on in my
life right now in this currentseason?
What if he's using that to growme, to teach me what it's like
to create capacity, to makeroom, to balance these things in
(18:49):
a healthy way so that when itcomes time.
For me to have a family to raisechildren, I am more ready.
I'm more mentally prepared.
I am stronger to be able tohandle that.
Now let me be clear, okay?
I believe that you are nevergonna feel 100% ready for
(19:10):
everything, but you can beintentional in getting prepared.
Simply by changing yourperspective and what God could
be doing right now to help growyou to create capacity for what
could be next.
Think about that in yoursituation.
How could God be trying to growyou right now?
(19:31):
Last thing that I'll say in whyGod could be challenging you.
With the more that you'redealing with right now is
because he wants you to stewardit well, will you handle this
season of your life withChrist-like maturity?
(19:52):
And that ties back to what I wassaying earlier.
Will you handle it well?
Will you manage it well?
That is what stewardship means,your beautiful ability.
To be able to manage things wellto the point where stress is
less likely to happen becauseyou manage your time well,
(20:14):
because you manage theseprojects, these clients, these
students that business, thetasks with it, you manage it
well.
You manage your home well, youmanage your health well.
You have certain plans to helpyou manage things well.
You are leaning consistently onresources to help you manage
things well, whether it's books,the Bible, which is the ultimate
(20:38):
roadmap to success in everythingin your life, internally and
externally, by the way, peopleand community around you, so
that you're not just goingthrough this by yourself.
Are you leaning on these things?
Are you stewarding these things?
Well, sometimes God wants tochallenge you to simply become a
(21:00):
better steward.
I truly believe that becoming abetter steward opens up the door
for unbreakable peace, becausewhen you steward things well
naturally, peace is there.
Anxiety.
Is much more difficult to comeby.
You have more peace, you havemore balance.
(21:20):
Your soul feels more rested evenin busy seasons or busy days
because you're simply being agood steward.
You're learning what it's liketo not be all over the place
where your mind is chaotic.
Everything is everywhere, all atonce.
No, you're learning to put thepieces together.
(21:41):
You're learning for things tofeel or to be more balanced
because you are prioritizingwhat it's like to simply be a
better steward.
And stewardship, my friend, goodstewardship unlocks the door.
For where God could be bringingyou next.
Because if he sees that you cansteward well the season of your
life that you're in now, whetherit's the good, more or the bad,
(22:03):
more.
If he sees that you are doingyour best, you're putting in the
effort and the faith to stewardit well, then he can trust you
with what he might want you tosteward in the future.
Maybe you are going through aseason of your life of all the
bad moors, or maybe it's justsome of the bad moors.
(22:24):
Maybe you're strugglingfinancially.
Maybe you feel like you've hadback to back rejections from
people or opportunities, and youjust can't catch a break.
Maybe you're going throughfamily stuff that's weighing you
down.
How can you steward these thingsbetter?
What does it look like tosteward your mental health
(22:45):
better in these situations, butalso steward your actions behind
these situations to navigateyour way through?
What does that look like from amindset standpoint and from an
action standpoint?
As you navigate through, as youpray over.
A way out and letting God guideyou as you put in that effort in
a Christ-like way.
(23:07):
Think about that.
Think about that.
I hope you enjoyed this week'sepisode.
I know you're probably deep inthought right now, or at least I
hope you are, because somethingI always say is that it's one
thing to listen to theseepisodes, whole nother thing to
take action on what you arelistening to, and that is my
hope for you today.
Take the time to think about whyGod has you going through what
(23:29):
you're going through right nowin the season of your life,
good, bad, the in between both,whatever it is.
Think about that and then.
Work on changing yourperspective from feeling and
being so stressed about it, tothinking, how could God be using
this to test me, me, to grow me,and to help me be a better
(23:50):
steward?
Thanks so much for watching nowif you love episodes like these,
I would love to hear from you.
We are always taking topicrequests.
Feel free to text the numberthat's located in the podcast
show notes or in the YouTubedescription below where you're
watching this episode.
Text us a podcast topic request.
We would love to consider it,talk about it, and continue on
(24:11):
this journey together.
Thanks for tuning in, and I'llsee you next week for another
episode.
Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the
God Empowered EntrepreneurPodcast.
Today we are diving intosomething that some of you might
be thinking, oh yeah, angel, I'mthere.
I need this episode.
Others of you might be thinking,I'm not quite there yet.
Angel, here's the thing.
(00:21):
I think in some shape, formcapacity that no matter what
stage of life you are in, nomatter what you are carrying
within this current season ofyour life, I think that this
episode topic can not only applyto you, but that it can help
you.
Now, the reason why I'm sayingthis is because this specific
(00:43):
episode topic was crafted.
Out of stress, not me feelingstressed when I was writing out
the details of this episode andbringing it your way today.
But using the very recent stressthat I went through to pull
inspiration from in order tobring this episode to you today.
(01:05):
And when it comes to stress, weall deal with it.
We all struggle.
We all get overwhelmed.
We all feel burdened no matterwhat it is in our life, in our
business, in our goals, in ourday to day, whatever it is.
Stress, unfortunately, is a partof the human experience.
(01:27):
Now I could create an episode onhow to manage stress better or
how to navigate stress in yourlife better.
Yes, and maybe that's an episodefor another time, but in this
week's episode, my friend, Iwanna talk about why the stress
happens and it's something thatyou might have not thought about
(01:48):
before because the stress cloudsyour mind too much in order to
even think about.
What I'm gonna say, hear me out.
What if the stress or what youperceive as stress right now in
your life or in your business isGod's way of challenging you to
handle more?
(02:09):
Just sit with that for a second.
Marinate in it.
What if.
God sees as your reaction to himtrusting you to handle more in
your life.
Now that more that I'm talkingabout could mean anything.
It could mean the good type ofmore meaning, more opportunity.
(02:30):
You have more customers, moreclients, more blessings, and
maybe you feel stressed out atthe weight of all of those
blessings.
It could mean that good type ofmore that I'm referring to, or
maybe it's not so good.
Maybe the more that comes toyour mind right now.
Is more problems, morefrustration, more.
(02:54):
Oh my gosh.
I need to pause this podcastepisode for a second because if
you are watching this episode inthe video version right now, I
am just now noticing thisgorgeous light behind me in the
window.
It is just shining through sobeautifully.
The minute I saw it in thecamera, all I thought about was
wow.
Thank you Jesus, for being here.
Thank you for being present intoday's episode.
(03:17):
Wow.
Wow, wow.
Okay.
I just had to highlight that andI wanted to keep that in this
episode rather than editing itout, because God can show up
anywhere.
He's literally right there indifferent ways, different
shapes, different forms.
Man, what a beautiful God thatwe have.
Alright.
Continuing with what I'm saying.
Maybe you're going through thebad kind of more, more problems,
(03:38):
more frustration, more of, oh mygoodness, can I just catch a
break?
That type of more.
What's interesting is no matterthe kind of more that you are
currently dealing with in theseason of your life, both of
them could be God's way of.
Challenging you to be able tohandle that more, and no matter
(04:01):
which more it is, whether it'sthe good, more or the bad, more.
Both types of mores can causestress.
They can cause us to feeloverwhelmed.
They can cause us to feel likewe just can't handle it.
Why?
Because it feels burdensome,because our humanness can only
take so much.
(04:22):
We get burnt out.
We sometimes just want to throwin the towel.
That's a normal reaction to thekind of more that we might be
carrying, whether it's good orbad.
And I notice that when I amfaced with stress in life,
whether it's the good more orthe bad more, I tend to focus on
(04:43):
that stress.
And how much it's negativelyimpacting my life, rather than
focusing on God and how much hecould be using that to
positively impact my life overtime.
It's a change of perspective,but it's tough.
It's dang near impossible tochange your perspective when you
(05:07):
are just going through it.
No matter if it's good or ifit's bad at the end of the day
when things feel too much, whenthey feel heavy, when they feel
like a huge weight ofresponsibilities.
Our human brain will focus onthose problems rather than
focusing on the fact that maybeGod is actually seeing this as a
(05:29):
solution for you, for your life,for who he's calling you to be
and what he's calling you to do.
So I wanna talk about that.
I want to help.
I wanna challenge, I wannaencourage you to change your
perspective by firstunderstanding why God could be
(05:50):
challenging you to handle moreright now in the season of your
life, whether it's good or bad.
Because when we understand thewhy, when we understand the root
of things.
It helps us to change ourperspective.
It helps us to see God and bepowerful.
All mighty light that he willforever exist in.
(06:13):
And we start to tune out of ouremotions, our burdensome
feelings, all the negativethings, and we start to tune
into the spirit the truth.
The positive because we trustGod in what he has us currently
dealing with or handling in thisseason of our lives.
(06:36):
Now, let me be very clear.
Sometimes we're not gonnaunderstand the why.
Sometimes us digging to get thefull clarity, the full picture,
knowing all the reasons.
Sometimes you will not get thatuntil you're with your father in
heaven, and then you start tosee the why and as far as what
(06:58):
God chooses to reveal to you andto help you understand and the
whys that you are able to seeversus the whys that you will
not see until you get to heaven.
That is a mystery.
That is something that God knowsand we can rest in the fact that
one day we will know.
But on the other hand, I dobelieve that if we would just
(07:18):
tune in, if we would just takethe time to change our
perspective, if we would juststudy and meditate and allow our
spirits to rise up over ourhuman emotions when we're going
through frustrating or heavythings or responsibilities, we
can better understand the why.
We are going through thesethings can change our
(07:39):
perspective, change ourattitudes about it, change our
actions behind it, and moveforward just in a better way to
be able to get through it in abetter way.
So let's dive into that.
The first reason why God couldbe challenging you to handle
more in your life right now thatyou see is causing you stress.
(08:02):
It could be because he istesting you.
God is testing you to see howyou carry it.
He wants to see if after all ofthe things that he's previously
brought you through, your past,your experiences, every open and
every closed door., your uprisein faith, making your
(08:26):
relationship stronger with himleading up to this point.
He is testing you to see justhow strong your relationship
with him, your trust in himreally is.
It's one thing.
To say that we trust God.
It's another thing to show thatwe trust God when things in our
(08:48):
life are going well, when wefeel good, when we're at peace,
when we're just happy, it's easyto show that we trust God in
those happy moments.
What's hard is showing that wetrust God.
In the tough moments, in theoverwhelming moments, in the
stressful moments, in themoments where we literally feel
(09:10):
like we're about to break fromeverything that we are carrying
in this season of our lives,whether it's good stuff or bad
stuff, at the end of the day,it's just overwhelming.
It's overbearing.
God could be testing you.
He could be testing you inseeing if you will perceive him
as a bigger than what you aregoing through.
(09:33):
You see him as the ultimatesolution., if you will show that
he is bigger than that, bycontinuing to prioritize him, no
matter what you're goingthrough, no matter how much that
stress is causing you to be busyand your brain is nonstop, he is
testing you to see if you willnot only still prioritize him,
(09:56):
but also.
If your actions will remainChrist-like, because let's be
real.
You know what?
I will be real with you.
When I am stressed.
When I am frustrated, there aremoments, okay, where my actions
are not Christ-like.
What do I mean by that?
I am angry.
I am acting out in emotionalimmaturity.
(10:19):
When I'm stressed, I don'trespond well to my fiance.
Sometimes I snap and I need towork on that.
Now let me be clear.
It's okay to have a moment whereyou just are sad and you just
need to cry.
It is okay to have a momentwhere you're like, Hey, I need
to step away.
I can't have a conversationright now.
I just need moments of solitude.
(10:39):
That's still Christlike.
Jesus had moments where hecried.
Jesus had moments where he hadto step away.
What I'm referring to is whenyou take.
These moments and youunintentionally start to allow
your human emotions to surpassyour Christ-likeness, meaning
(11:01):
now your emotional immaturitycould be coming out, your anger
is coming out, your anxiety isrunning rampant.
That is what I'm referring to.
God could be testing you andsometimes it takes him testing
you in order to show the truthbehind where your faith and your
(11:22):
trust in him is really at.
It will reveal all.
It will challenge you to remainclose to him.
It will challenge you to refocuson him.
It will strengthen what mightfeel weak to you into something
that is unbreakable.
Sometimes God just needs to testyou and that test, even if it's
(11:47):
hard.
You overcoming that test, yousucceeding in that test and I
know that you can shapes youmore into the person that God
needs you to be and what he'scalling you to do.
And in order to be who he needsyou to be and do what he needs
you to do, he needs you tostrengthen.
And sometimes it takes a testfor him to be able to strengthen
(12:12):
you.
That brings me to my next point.
God could be challenging you tohandle more in your life right
now to grow you.
God wants to grow you.
Growth is necessary to makespace for the more that you
desire.
(12:32):
Now, let me do a quickcomparison here.
The more that I was talkingabout previously is the
unexpected more.
The more that happened fromefforts, and therefore you have
more opportunities and moreblessings in your life, and
you're just carrying a lot oftasks and responsibilities and
it's all good, but it'soverwhelming.
(12:53):
And then you have the bad,unexpected more that I was
talking about earlier, thestresses, the problems, the
frustrations, the roadblocks,the finances, things that are
just weighing you down in anegative way, but.
Every human being has their ownidea of the more that they
desire.
And these are all naturallygoing to be positive mores.
(13:18):
We want more money, we want morepeace, we want more time
freedom.
We want more.
Opportunity to travel.
We want a bigger house.
More of this in our family andmore of this in our health, and
we wanna look this way and feelthis way.
There is this natural humandesire of more, and it's why we
(13:40):
have goals.
Think about it in the sense ofentrepreneurship.
Every person who desires to bean entrepreneur, desires to take
their creativity, put it outthere into the world, and make
impact and make income from it.
Every entrepreneur is looking tomake more money, make more
impact, make more growth, havemore here, more of this.
(14:02):
It's natural not just forentrepreneurs, but for humans.
To desire these positive mores,these goals that we're trying to
get to, right?
But here's the thing, if you'veprayed on those mores and you
know that it aligns with God'sword, that he could very well
give you that more that youdesire.
(14:24):
Then that means that God knowswhat needs to be done in your
life right now in order tocreate capacity in you to be
able to handle the more in thefuture that you desire.
Now, think about that.
You want more money in thefuture, guess what?
God can bless you with thatmore.
(14:44):
If you put in effort and faithand go about it his way,
absolutely he can bless you withthat more.
But he knows you.
He knows what he needs to do inyour life right now in order to
teach you and in order to createcapacity within you to be able
to handle the more money thatyou want.
For example, he is going topotentially put challenges in
(15:08):
your life right now that aregoing to force you to manage
your money better now.
He could be giving you ideas towork through that are gonna take
logistical thinking and creativemethods, lots of prayer,
biblical principles to grow yourmoney now so that you can handle
the more money that will comefrom it in the future.
(15:31):
He might challenge your heart.
In certain moments to begenerous with your money.
Now, even though you want moremoney for yourself in the
future, this is how amazing Godis.
He knows you better than youknow yourself.
So you might be sitting therethinking, yeah, I want more
money in the future.
I want more of this in thefuture.
(15:52):
I wanna reach that goal in thefuture.
And you might think that thatgoal is something you should
have now.
You should be able to accomplishit right now, today.
You want the more money, youwant, the bigger house.
You want this now today, but Godis like, Hmm, I know you better
than you know yourself and inorder for me, if it is in my
(16:13):
will for you to give you themore that you desire in order
for me to do that, then I needyou.
To grow.
I need you to build capacity.
I need you to learn.
I need to teach you.
So you, my friend, have thechallenge of being receptive to
whatever that teaching might be.
(16:33):
Whatever you're going throughright now.
How can you use this as anopportunity to change your
perspective and say, wow, Godcould be teaching me right now.
God could be growing me rightnow.
I'm gonna give you an example.
Last week I went through a lotof stress.
And it was a mix of good andbad.
(16:55):
The good more because I had lotsof projects and clients and
students that I was trying topour into.
That's good.
But also I had the bad morewhere I was going through some
family things and reallystruggling with my anxiety at
the time.
Both mores caused me to feeloverwhelmed.
On top of that.
I'm trying to take care of mydogs.
(17:17):
I'm trying to manage a home.
I am planning a wedding.
I am preparing for marriage withmy fiance.
I'm trying to keep myrelationship with God strong.
I'm trying to prioritize myworkouts and my mental health,
but also work on this projectand this real estate goal over
here and this and that.
So many things where I was juststraight up stressed out.
(17:39):
Now I can look at all of thesestressors and say, this is too
overwhelming, and.
Obviously take action to help myoverwhelm, taking time away,
letting something go that weekso that I could focus on what
matters most.
All the things, yes.
But it also brought about thethought for me of if I am
stressed out at my life rightnow, how in the world is it
(18:03):
gonna be when I have kids?
Genuine thought, seriousquestion.
How can I expect?
To raise, to handle, toprioritize bringing up kids in
this world as a mother, if Icannot handle my life right now,
(18:24):
that is not something for me tofreak out about instead.
It's something for me togenuinely think about.
What if God is using all of thethings that are going on in my
life right now in this currentseason?
What if he's using that to growme, to teach me what it's like
to create capacity, to makeroom, to balance these things in
(18:49):
a healthy way so that when itcomes time.
For me to have a family to raisechildren, I am more ready.
I'm more mentally prepared.
I am stronger to be able tohandle that.
Now let me be clear, okay?
I believe that you are nevergonna feel 100% ready for
(19:10):
everything, but you can beintentional in getting prepared.
Simply by changing yourperspective and what God could
be doing right now to help growyou to create capacity for what
could be next.
Think about that in yoursituation.
How could God be trying to growyou right now?
(19:31):
Last thing that I'll say in whyGod could be challenging you.
With the more that you'redealing with right now is
because he wants you to stewardit well, will you handle this
season of your life withChrist-like maturity?
(19:52):
And that ties back to what I wassaying earlier.
Will you handle it well?
Will you manage it well?
That is what stewardship means,your beautiful ability.
To be able to manage things wellto the point where stress is
less likely to happen becauseyou manage your time well,
(20:14):
because you manage theseprojects, these clients, these
students that business, thetasks with it, you manage it
well.
You manage your home well, youmanage your health well.
You have certain plans to helpyou manage things well.
You are leaning consistently onresources to help you manage
things well, whether it's books,the Bible, which is the ultimate
(20:38):
roadmap to success in everythingin your life, internally and
externally, by the way, peopleand community around you, so
that you're not just goingthrough this by yourself.
Are you leaning on these things?
Are you stewarding these things?
Well, sometimes God wants tochallenge you to simply become a
(21:00):
better steward.
I truly believe that becoming abetter steward opens up the door
for unbreakable peace, becausewhen you steward things well
naturally, peace is there.
Anxiety.
Is much more difficult to comeby.
You have more peace, you havemore balance.
(21:20):
Your soul feels more rested evenin busy seasons or busy days
because you're simply being agood steward.
You're learning what it's liketo not be all over the place
where your mind is chaotic.
Everything is everywhere, all atonce.
No, you're learning to put thepieces together.
(21:41):
You're learning for things tofeel or to be more balanced
because you are prioritizingwhat it's like to simply be a
better steward.
And stewardship, my friend, goodstewardship unlocks the door.
For where God could be bringingyou next.
Because if he sees that you cansteward well the season of your
life that you're in now, whetherit's the good, more or the bad,
(22:03):
more.
If he sees that you are doingyour best, you're putting in the
effort and the faith to stewardit well, then he can trust you
with what he might want you tosteward in the future.
Maybe you are going through aseason of your life of all the
bad moors, or maybe it's justsome of the bad moors.
(22:24):
Maybe you're strugglingfinancially.
Maybe you feel like you've hadback to back rejections from
people or opportunities, and youjust can't catch a break.
Maybe you're going throughfamily stuff that's weighing you
down.
How can you steward these thingsbetter?
What does it look like tosteward your mental health
(22:45):
better in these situations, butalso steward your actions behind
these situations to navigateyour way through?
What does that look like from amindset standpoint and from an
action standpoint?
As you navigate through, as youpray over.
A way out and letting God guideyou as you put in that effort in
a Christ-like way.
(23:07):
Think about that.
Think about that.
I hope you enjoyed this week'sepisode.
I know you're probably deep inthought right now, or at least I
hope you are, because somethingI always say is that it's one
thing to listen to theseepisodes, whole nother thing to
take action on what you arelistening to, and that is my
hope for you today.
Take the time to think about whyGod has you going through what
(23:29):
you're going through right nowin the season of your life,
good, bad, the in between both,whatever it is.
Think about that and then.
Work on changing yourperspective from feeling and
being so stressed about it, tothinking, how could God be using
this to test me, me, to grow me,and to help me be a better
(23:50):
steward?
Thanks so much for watching nowif you love episodes like these,
I would love to hear from you.
We are always taking topicrequests.
Feel free to text the numberthat's located in the podcast
show notes or in the YouTubedescription below where you're
watching this episode.
Text us a podcast topic request.
We would love to consider it,talk about it, and continue on
(24:11):
this journey together.
Thanks for tuning in, and I'llsee you next week for another
episode.
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