Alarm Clocks, Not Architects: When God Sends You to Sound the Warning

Have you ever felt like you're the only one who sees through the carefully crafted personas and polished spiritual performances? "Stop Faking It" dives deep into the uncomfortable space between staying silent and speaking truth in a world that rewards pleasant pretending over authentic confrontation.

This raw, unfiltered exploration begins with a spontaneous moment of worship—no script, no notes—as Heather shares her own journey of wrestling with obedience when it feels easier to stay quiet. Drawing from Romans 12:9 and Ephesians 5:11, we examine the godly responsibility of exposing darkness while maintaining a spirit of love. The message is clear and challenging: "Truth and grace are never in conflict, but silence and sin always are."

For those constantly cleaning up messes they didn't create—the perpetual fixers and emotional janitors—this episode offers liberating permission to walk away when your spiritual assignment is complete. God may have placed you in someone's life to be the alarm, not the architect; to sound a warning, not rebuild the entire structure. And when that purpose is fulfilled, choosing to step away isn't failure—it's freedom. Just as Jesus never filtered his message to keep people comfortable (he flipped tables in the temple, after all), we're called to speak truth with boldness tempered by genuine love. The crucial difference lies in our motivation: "Is this God-led or ego-fed? Are you exposing to heal or exposing to harm?"

Stop carrying what God told you to let go. Stop covering for people He asked you to uncover. Be real, be bold, and discover that the truth really does set you free. Share this message with someone who needs permission to put down the spiritual mop and walk in their true purpose today.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to In the Midst.
You know, sometimes you juststumble upon something and you
just know.
You know that it's sentstraight from heaven above.
Well, today I was getting readyto talk to you about a totally
different subject and I justneeded a moment in worship.

(00:22):
It has been quite chaotic.
I just needed a moment inworship.
It has been quite chaotic justaccepting a new job and figuring
out the logistics of how thingsare going to go, as the last
year I've been at home with myfamily and I just can't get over
just the overwhelming no ofGod's presence in my life.

(00:49):
And what I didn't realize isthe year off had nothing to do
with me, but everything to dowith Him.
And I feel like I get on thispodcast and I just cry and get
emotional.
But I think you need the realand sometimes I question my

(01:16):
faithfulness and I questionwhere we are as a family and as
we're making decisions as afamily and as we're making
decisions.
And I come to the place where Ijust need to get to my knees
and as I'm talking to you, I'mnot sitting at my desk as I

(01:37):
normally would be in amicrophone or anything real
fancy.
I'm literally sitting with myphone on the floor, crisscross
applesauce, in just total awe ofHis great power and mercy.
No script, no notes, just trueheart for God.
Right now, and as I waslistening to some worship songs

(02:04):
that you and I both probablyhear on Sundays, I got off on he
is here, and then it moved meto a song that I haven't heard
in a long time.
But who Am I?
And it just made me think, asI've listened to this for a
second.
He was the voice that calmedthe sea.

(02:28):
He could call out to the rainand calm the storm.
How could I ever doubt hisgreat power?
And something so small isgiving me a desire of my heart.

(02:48):
I've longed to understand myplace in this world and I still
don't understand all of it.
And, goodness, I go back tosomething.
My mom always told me that ifhe lights every stone that

(03:08):
you're to step on, would youstill go?
And as I've matured over thelast year in his word and in him
, I'm starting to realize thatwe can't plan life.
We can prepare for His plan byHis Word and by prayer, but

(03:36):
we've got to realize that we areHis.
I am yours, god.
I am yours, god.
And when we we've talked aboutthis before in several podcast
episodes.
But just being able to lay itat his feet and to walk in his
ways, I just thought mytestimony was done because it's

(04:02):
just begun was done because it'sjust begun.
You know, god is not looking atour past once we lay it down.
He's looking at how he's goingto use us in our future.
And the song is I'm a flowerquickly fading here today and
gone tomorrow, a wave tossed inthe ocean and a vapor in the

(04:32):
wind.
Still, you hear me when I'mcalling Lord, catch me when I'm
falling, and you've told me whoI am.
I am yours, and that'ssomething we forget.
Whose we are, no matter whatwe're walking through, no matter

(04:54):
what we're going through, he'sstill the same Yesterday, today
and forever, and in that promisewe are still His.
I don't think I've stopped toeven say this is Heather, but I
do want to start by saying thisToday's episode, if it's not

(05:16):
already a little heavy, it'sgoing to be a little bolder and
a whole lot needed.
This is going to ruffle somefeathers, but I've never been
one called the fluff pillows.
So grab your coffee, pull overfor a second if you need to,
because we're going to dive intosome truth today.

(05:37):
The episode is called StopFaking it, and I'm not just
talking about other people, I'mtalking to us, about the masks
we wear, the peace we pretend tohave, and the way we sometimes
trade conviction for comfort,all in the name of keeping it
together.
Boy, how I didn't realize allof what I just told you before

(06:01):
was going to run square intothis.
It's awesome how God preparesour hearts for our own message
that he's already given us togive to you.
But he knew that I would needpreparation to be able to give
you truth today.
So let's get honest.

(06:21):
Have you ever felt like you'vebeen the one who always finds
out, the one who notices what'sreally going on while everyone
else is clapping?
You see through the highlightreels, the polished posts, the
God is good captions that coverup the real brokenness, and then

(06:42):
you really start to wonder whyis this always falling on me?
How do I always end up here?
You didn't ask to carry it, youdidn't sign up to be the truth
bearer, but somehow God keepsgiving you the insight, the
discernment, the weight of whatothers pretend not to see.

(07:03):
And with that weight comes thequestion can I be real.
Can I speak up?
Can I still love Jesus andothers and call out what's wrong
?
Am I Christ-like if I'm bold,or does that make me hard to
deal with?

(07:24):
You can absolutely be bold,unfiltered, and still be
Christ-like, but what you can'tbe is fake and obedient at the
same time.
Romans 12, 9 says Love must besincere.
Hate what is is evil and clingto what is good.

(07:47):
You cannot love sincerely whiletolerating evil.
You cannot cling to what isgood while pretending brokenness
doesn't exist.
Truth and grace.
I'm going to say those twowords one more time.
Truth and grace are never inconflict, but silence and sin

(08:14):
always are.
The world doesn't need apolished version of you.
It needs an honest you walkingin freedom of Christ.
When you see it, name it.
Let's talk about this callingto see things for what they
really are.

(08:35):
Some of you listening have beenthe one to notice the lie before
it unraveled.
Did you say anything?
Or did you just take a stepback and say, hmm, not getting
into that?
Some have watched people cheatothers, manipulate stories and
distort truth to serve their ownagenda.
And, the worst part, they didit with a smile and maybe even

(09:01):
in the name of Jesus.
You've sat back and said Idon't want to cause division or
that's not my place.
Guys, I've been there, I'vedone the same.
But what if God gave you theinsight because you were the one
he trusted to speak?
Ephesians 5.11 says have nothingto do with the fruitless deeds

(09:26):
of darkness, but rather exposethem.
That verse isn't about drama,it's about responsibility, the
difference between gossip andgodly confrontation.
There is a line betweenstirring trouble and shining
light, and it took me a longtime to realize that.

(09:46):
It took a lot of prayer andreally focus on what God's
desire for my heart is, becauseI find myself a lot of times
right dead, center of a mess,and I have to make a decision.
I'm in this.
Am I just going to seep to theside?
Am I going to allow myself tobe used?

(10:12):
How am I going to say what Ineed to say when sin starts
rotting the foundation?
It's not loyalty to stay silent, it's disobedience.
Your voice may be the verything that keeps someone else
from falling into that same trap.

(10:34):
You aren't stirring up division, you're trying to shut down
destruction.
Do you hear me?
You are not stirring updivision, you are trying to shut
down destruction.
Clean up crew.
You're not crazy.
I feel like I should have ayellow bucket, a mop and some

(10:55):
gloves at all times.
Let's talk to those of you whoare always cleaning up the mess.
You're the glue in your family.
You're the glue in your family.
You're the person people callwhen things fall apart, but
somehow you weren't invited tothe table when decisions were
being made and if you were, theydidn't listen to you.
Anyway.

(11:15):
You're always helping, alwayscaring, always covering and, if
you're honest, you're tired.
You didn't create the crisis,but you're left managing the
aftermath.
You're putting out fires whilesomeone else keeps striking

(11:37):
matches and you're wondering whyam I still in the middle of
this?
Here's what I want you to knowOnce the trash is taken out,
you're allowed to walk away.
You were never called to be thepermanent janitor for people who
enjoy making a mess.
You cleaned it up, you showedup, you did what God asked you

(12:02):
to do, and in Galatians 6, 9, hetells us let us not grow weary
in doing good, for at the propertime we will reap a harvest if
we do not give up.
But sometimes doing good alsomeans knowing when you're done.
Obedience isn't just standingin the mess, it's knowing when

(12:24):
to step out of it.
God may have assigned you toexpose it, but God didn't assign
you to endure it.
You weren't sent there to be asavior.
Jesus already filled that joband it's okay to walk away.
But listen really close, friend.

(12:45):
When your part is done, it isokay to walk away.
That doesn't make you prideful.
That doesn't even make youunloving.
That makes you free.
Sometimes God places you insomeone's life to be the alarm,
not the architect, to sound thewarning, not to fix the

(13:10):
structure, to offer truth andnot carry consequences.
In John 15, 16, he says you didnot choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you so that youmight go and bear fruit, fruit
that will last.
That fruit doesn't always comefrom staying in the fire.

(13:32):
It comes from obeying when Godsays that's enough.
And yes, sometimes that meanslosing friendships that were
really just spiritualassignments.
You were there to present them,jesus, and they chose something
else.
That's not on you.
You did your part.

(13:55):
Now let God go do his.
Jesus didn't fake it, andneither should you.
Jesus never played nice withsin.
Matthew 23, 27,.
Jesus said woe to you, teachersof the law and Pharisees, you
hypocrites.
You are like whitewashed tombsbeautiful on the outside but

(14:16):
full of dead bones inside.
He confronted the hypocrites.
He called out injustice.
He confronted the hypocrites.
He called out injustice.
He flipped tables in the templeand he never apologized for
protecting the sacred.

(14:43):
Jesus didn't filter his messageto keep people in pews.
Let me say that again.
Jesus didn't filter his messageto keep people in pews.
He didn't get on Facebook andcreate something that draws
followers to keep them watching.
He didn't cater to the feelingsat the expense of the Father's

(15:07):
will.
He spoke what was true and heset people free.
So if you want to follow Jesus,you better get used to telling
the truth with boldness andgrace.
But don't be mean.
Be real.
Being unfiltered is not thesame as being unkind.
We are called to speak truth inlove.

(15:30):
That means not every truthneeds a microphone or spotlight.
It also means silence isn't avirtue if it's covering sin.
You need to think about that.
Ephesians 4.15 says Speak thetruth in love.

(15:51):
So ask yourself is this God-ledor is it ego-fed?
Are you exposing to heal orexposing to harm?
Do your words come from a placeof prayer, not pettiness?
We're not called to be perfect.
We're called to be pure inheart and when your motives are
right.

(16:11):
You can be both direct anddeeply Christ-like.
And while we're at it, let'stalk about everyday interactions
.
This truth-telling doesn't meanyou walk around bitter and loud.
It doesn't mean unloading yourentire day on the cashier at
Walmart.
When they ask you how you are,thank you, because here's the

(17:24):
thing they might be carryingsomething heavier than you.
Proverbs 18.21 says the tonguehas the power of life and death.
Let's choose life Instead ofventing, listen Instead of
unloading, ask how they areInstead of complaining.
Say, hey, can I pray with youright now?

(17:46):
You might be the only Jesusthey see today.
Even if your own heart needs amop and a miracle, show up
anyway.
That's faith, that's boldness,that's kingdom work.
So here's what I want to leaveyou with today I beg you to stop

(18:09):
faking it to be accepted.
Stop hiding truth to keepfriends.
Stop covering for people Godasked you to uncover and stop
carrying what he told you to letgo.
John 8, 32 says then you willknow the truth and the truth
will set you free.

(18:30):
You were not created to liveunder pressure.
You were created to live inpower.
You were not called to pacifydarkness.
You were made to shine light.
So if you've been the onecalled to clean, correct
confront, then do it, and whenthe job is done, walk away in

(18:55):
obedience, because, at the endof the day, god is still in the
midst, and that's where I wantto be too.
Thank you for joining me forepisode 5 of In the Midst.
Stop Faking it.
If this stirred something inyou, don't keep it to yourself.
Share it.

(19:15):
Let the bold be encouraged, letthe weary be strengthened, and
let's all commit to walk intruth.
No filters, no faking.
I'll see you next time righthere in the midst.