June 22, 2022 • 31 mins
Beloveds, I've got good news! God's power isn't limited by your capability to anticipate or perceive His goodness. When you can't even imagine better, and your eyes can't see God's faithfulness on the horizon. You can rest assured in the truth that He is still able to do exceedingly more.
In this episode, let's dive into this truth together.
Scriptures Mentioned:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,
Ephesians 3:20 NIV
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13 NIV
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6 ESV
(That word Mercy is talking about the Steadfast Love of God)
Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
Colossians 3:16
Let the sunrise of your love end our dark night. Break through our clouded dawn again! Only you can satisfy our hearts, filling us with songs of joy to the end of our days. We’ve been overwhelmed with grief; come now and overwhelm us with gladness. Replace our years of trouble with decades of delight.
Psalm 90:14-15 TPT
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”
Isaiah 40:8 NIV
For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
Psalm 107:9 ESV
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord , the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
Psalms 121:1-8 NIV
Letter from the host:
Dear Beloveds,
Reflecting on and responding to the faithful and intelligent love of God has been therapeutic to my mind, heart, and body! I vulnerably share because I want you to experience the joy of authentic connection with Jesus, yourself, and others.
Growth happens at the point of connection. Thank you for trusting me with this connection! I'm glad to be with you!
With joy,
Gabrielle Michelle
New episodes Bi-weekly! On Wednesdays!
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Website: https://www.returningtojoy.com/
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Music by AG (Affirming Grace) @agmusic4god
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gabrielle Leonard (00:00):
Welcome to the return to joy podcast. I'm
your host, Gabrielle MichelLeonard. Here we're leading
people to cultivate joy throughstorytelling. We hope listening
will reveal pathways tounlocking the healing power of
connection, so that you can seeyour relationships and the world
around you transformed fromfractured into flourishing.
(00:25):
Thank you for bearing with me. Iknow I know, it has been like
three weeks since I havereleased a podcast episode. But
thank you for showing upnonetheless, to listen to
another one. It is always a joyanytime I get on here to share
what it is that I've beenprocessing with the Lord or how
(00:47):
he's encouraging me how I'm youknow, working through things.
This particular episode has beenrather therapeutic for me, are
these episodes have continued tobe rather therapeutic for me.
And I know I've heard from someof you and saying that it's
really been a help to hear howI'm processing with God and to
(01:07):
hear even how I'm encouragingmyself in His Word. And so if
you're one of those people outthere that have been really
encouraged by what you've beenhearing on these episodes, or
maybe you've been really growingand seeing maturity just in in
your walk through listening tothese, please give me a holler.
I would love to hear from you.
out so that way I have like aface to put with, you know the
(01:30):
list of listeners, because rightnow I just have like numbers.
And I'm a very relationalperson, if you know me well. And
so numbers are not motivatingenough for me of like, okay,
cool, as many people arelistening, I love hearing
stories, and I love seeingfaces. Because it's it's it's
(01:50):
real people that God is movingon the hearts of and it's and
it's a beautiful work. And itit, you know, pushes me forward
all the more. So if you've beenencouraged, if this has been if
any episode on here has beenreally impactful for you,
please, please reach out to meand let me know. Obviously, you
know, the Instagram is returningto joy podcast. Facebook, though
(02:13):
I'm barely on there is justreturning to joy. Or you can
just go to the website. And Ithink that I think there is a
contact form where you could putin. Yeah, you can you can shoot
me a message there. And I'll getback to you. All right. Now that
that's out of the way. I am veryexcited to share with you just
(02:35):
what the Lord put on my hearttoday. This is coming. This is
coming out fresh and hot. Yeah,so I'm gonna just dive right
into it. Man A couple monthsago, I think it was maybe I
don't know. I don't know. Timeis a blur. Who knows time these
(02:56):
days. Anyways, not that long agoreally feels like yesterday, I
was really struggling goingthrough a hard time. Um, be
dishonest, even specifically, oflike, part of the hard time I
was going through part of theheart was like a recent breakup
that I had had. And I that makeswith some other things had me in
(03:19):
a conversation with God, where Ivery specifically told him, God,
I can't even imagine better. Ican't even imagine better. So if
God's ability to show up and befaithful, is dependent upon my
ability to perceive hisgoodness, in the midst of the
(03:44):
situation, then I'm stuck. Sothere was so much shame
connected to that confession ofI can't even imagine better. I
can't see it. There's like thisblack hole in front of me. This,
this just blank, thisnothingness. So the shame there
(04:05):
was crippling in that moment.
Because I'm thinking God, howare you going to show up for me?
How am I going to experienceyour goodness in the land of the
living? If I can't even see it?
I can't even imagine it, whichwas such was so foreign for me
(04:26):
because I am very much so aseer. I can see what the Lord is
up to I don't necessarily meanin the sense of specifically but
you know, when you just know inthe depths of you of man, like
God's God's doing somethingright now. And that ability to
perceive and see, you know, thatGod is doing something in spite
(04:49):
of what we can or cannot see,was just shut off for me in a
moment. But the sweet and reallycool thing was As immediately
after beginning of life I, Maothat confession to the lord of
God, I can't even imaginebetter. I heard the Lord speak
to me to my heart. He said, It'sokay if you can't imagine. And
(05:13):
there was such this wave ofpeace that washed over me
instantly. And I love how theLord confirms things in his
word. Then immediately Ephesians320 came to my mind, where he
says, where the Word says, Nowto Him who is able to do
(05:35):
immeasurably more than all wecan ask or imagine, according to
his power that is at work withinus. Oh, that just that does
something for me even still,even still. I'm not gonna lie,
like I am clinging to thatverse. Still, I'm not. I'm not
(05:56):
deep in the midst of what feltlike a pit of darkness that I
was in, in that moment when Ifirst cried that out a couple
months ago. But can I tell youthat that word has been
something that I'm clinging tohave, like, I don't even have to
be able to imagine it? I knowthis worse, don't get me wrong.
(06:18):
I know this versus saying he'sable to do exceedingly more than
we are able to ask or imagine.
But that's the thing. I heard inthat I heard God saying, It's
okay, if you can't imaginebecause guess what, even if you
could imagine it, even if youcould conceive better, even if
you could see my goodness, evenif you could go Oh, yeah, but I
(06:41):
know what God's gonna do, or Iknow the possibilities of what
he could do, I know whatbreakthrough is going to could
look like in this moment in theseason for me, even if you could
do it, if you could, even ifyour mind was able to conceive
it right now, in this moment, Iwould still be able to do better
than that, I would still be ableto perform more and do greater
(07:02):
according to the work my powerthat is at work already
Gabrielle within you. Goddoesn't even need your
imagination, to be on par withwhat he's able to do. That just
set me free. And I, I had to Iwanted to get on this dome
(07:23):
behind the mic real quick to saythat anybody who listens,
because let that set you free.
I'm gonna I'm gonna get intotalking about some, some
passages and some scripturesthat I've been reading in the,
in the digging in the word thatI've been doing in these last
several months on another level.
But, but first, I think the Lordjust needs to set you free from
(07:47):
any shame and any guilt and anycondemnation that would say that
would even put a performance onyou. Even when it comes to your,
your faith walk. Like I gotta Igotta pray enough, I gotta do
enough, I gotta believe enough.
I gotta trust God enough, Igotta perceive it enough. My
thoughts gotta be in alignment.
I gotta be meditating all thesedifferent things. And I have to
(08:10):
have this highest level ofconception of like, what God is
able to do for God to show upfor me to see the goodness of
the Lord. And I just want to setyou free from that, like he's
set me free from that. In amoment of just saying, baby
(08:30):
girl, daughter, son, you don'teven it's okay. If you can't
imagine you don't even have tobe able to imagine. Because
guess what I'm able to doexceedingly more than what even
your imagination could conceiveof. We can't out think the
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goodness of God and in our inour thoughts, even when our
thoughts are weak, even when ourmind is weak. Just really,
really thankful for that. I'mgoing to mall I'm going to I'm
going to time right now that manwith a lot of prayer with a lot
of reading of Scripture withlike talking to people like me,
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we're by the grace of God, likemy thoughts are pretty sound
right now. But can I tell youthat it would it felt really
good. And I believe actuallythat the Lord made a way for
himself, you know, to show up inmy life he made a way for the
clarity of mind and heart thatI'm experiencing right now, by
(09:43):
setting me free from shamespecifically in regards to the
the lack of capacity I felt likemy mind and heart had in that
moment. You need to knowthat God is good, even when you
can't perceive his goodness. Idon't say that in a way of
(10:05):
saying like, so you just got tobelieve God's good. No, I'm
sacks wouldn't hear me when I'msaying God is good even when you
can't see his goodness. So thatmeans that in those moments when
you can't perceive of God'sgoodness, guess what, he's still
going to be good towards you.
(10:27):
He's still going to be faithfuleven when you can't even
perceive of his faithfulness. Ican't tell you how many times
I've quoted to myself, Psalms23, forgetting the specific
verse within it, but it's stillwhen it says, Surely goodness
and mercy will follow me all thedays of my life. I quote that
(10:50):
verse so many times, becausethere's, I remember one time
walking, I was like, doing ahike. And I was by myself at the
time, someone had told me aboutthis really cool Brook and
stream that was, you know, alittle ways out, if you just,
you know, come they just whatthey told me the path is, you
know, easy, just just walkstraight or walk up this way.
(11:12):
And you'll see this reallypretty stream and, and I
remember I had wanted somepeople that were there some
different friends to come withme, but they weren't able to
come with me. So I'm walkingalone, to find this stream feels
quite biblical. Or prophetic,you know, but I am walking, and
I'm just, I had begun havingthis conversation with the Lord,
(11:35):
this was like, maybe two yearsago. Um, I've just been like,
man, God, like, there's somespaces in my life where I'm
tired of walking alone in. And Ijust felt, even in that moment,
just really grateful, andthankful for Psalms 23. And
specifically that variousbecause I was just reminded of
(11:59):
man, even in the moments when wefeel like we're walking along,
because there's some times whenwe don't feel like we can even
see in front of us, you know,seeing in front of us is hard.
Perceiving God's faithfulnessahead. And sometimes, it can
even seem like, you know,there's an absence or, or a
(12:20):
lack, you know, in regards towho is in and what is present
with us in a moment. Andobviously, we know the Lord is
faithful up ahead, and he iswhen he walks with us, you know,
in our current moment insituation, and I believe he
brings people alongside of us,but even when we can't see it,
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Psalms 23 That Surely goodnessand mercy will follow me all the
days of my life. I'm not sure ifthis is like, this is not you
know, the only interpretationjust I'm just telling you my
experience with that verse andwhy it encourages me. It
encourages me because I go, I'mreally thankful for the fact
that even when I can't see upahead, and I can't make out
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God's faithfulness up ahead, andI'm not sure I'm not 100% sure
if he's walking with me,currently, maybe it doesn't feel
quite like it. I find this Ifind this comfort and going. But
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
life. It's almost this up forme, it almost feels like this
hindsight of like, oh, everytime I look back, I know I'm
(13:26):
gonna go, Oh my gosh, he waswith me. Oh my gosh, like his
goodness was chasing after me.
And his goodness, was likecovering over all the places of
pain and His mercy was wassheltering me. And it's this is
it feels like this comfortingblanket to know that the things
that are following me in my lifeare the goodness and mercy of
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God. So that first encourages mebecause it's like, Man, I may
not see up ahead. Up ahead maybe blurry. What's happening
right now in the midst of me maybe uncertain and I may feel
unstable in some ways, but I canguarantee you goodness, and
mercy is following me. Let melet me look back. Let me look
(14:15):
back. And I can always pimp Ican always see oh god, how you
were faithful. And that helpssteady me in the current and
then helps me to build anexpectation for the future. He
has been faithful in the pastand he will up ahead. Look at
me, I know Adam already gottenoff track. That was not what I
(14:39):
was going to talk about ortransition to but it is what it
is. And I pray that was anencouragement to somebody on
here. Um, where are we going togo now? So I do want to read
this first because I read itthis morning. I read many read
like the chapter of Colossiansthree. But this first stood out
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to me, I need y'all to know Icare about context of Scripture.
Just it's just gonna be a littlesidebar, even if I be out here
quoting one verse, you girlknows the context. So random,
anyways Colossians 316 It says,Let the message about Christ, in
(15:22):
all its richness, fill yourlives, teach and counsel each
other, with all the wisdom hegives. Sing songs, sing psalms,
and hymns, and spiritual songsto God with thankful hearts, and
Murray that again, let themessage about Christ in all its
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richness, fill your lives, teachand counsel each other, with all
the wisdom he gives, sing psalmsand hymns, the spirit and the
spiritual songs to God withthankful hearts. I really love
that last line, the spiritualsongs, songs to God with
thankful hearts, you can read ina couple of different versions.
But essentially, it's talkingabout that span that spontaneous
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prophetic utterances of thehearts and it's not talking
about just for worship leadersin the fancy people on stage,
it's talking about for all thebelievers of like, you, the Lord
can put a new song in yourheart. And what's so beautiful
about that is, man, there isthere is a season I don't know
you, you know, I don't know whoI'm talking to right now. But I
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can guarantee this, that theLord knows you, he sees you. And
the specific season that you'rein His goodness is so good, that
he will give to you a song thatwill a beautiful melody that
will shine a light upon like,what he is up to in doing
prophetically in your life, inthe midst of your situation. So
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I love like singing songs thatothers have put out it is a jam.
But there is something so good.
And I know it takes somecourage, especially you know, I
mean, not if you're gonna do itby yourself, but you know, it
takes courage if you're gonna doit around, you know, around
other people, but to just toread the scriptures to be in the
Word of God and then to just letyour heart open up and just sing
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like what would if you were tojust start singing to the Lord
spontaneously. I wonder what hewould what he would, what would
come out of that. I bet it wouldbe a melody in a song that
represents specifically what theLord is singing over you, or
what he's put inside your heartfor you to sing back to him.
That is this, this propheticutterance this, this truth of
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like God, you will be this youare this right now. And I am
nine. It is not what I'm goingthrough what we're going through
as a people will not be the lastand final word, but this Lord is
true. Whatever that truth is,that's another random tangent,
but it's not. But the onlyreason why I quote this verse
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Colossians, 316, because it justencouraged me to encourage you
guys have it talking about like,the message about Christ and all
of its richness, filling ourlives and for us to pass that on
to one another. I did this thiscollective bumping into one
another. We're we're, we'rewe're allowing this overflow to
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come out of us. And we'repassing on the wisdom that God
has given to us. And we'repassing on how we're being
ministered to into his word. Itis a way of bringing about so
much healing and freedom in ourlives. I love how proverbs 420
talks about filling our thoughtswith his word. And in these last
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couple of months, I have justfilled my thoughts with his
word. Truly, I love studying theBible, I love going deep in the
Word of God. But in these lastcouple of months, it has been so
needed and necessary and I'veI've found a new
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I think I've rediscovered thepower to just reading scripture,
not even trying to get somethingout of it. And so I hope you're
tracking with me what I mean bythat. But there's something so
powerful to even in the momentswhen because I know sometimes
you know maybe you don't pull upyou don't pull up your open your
(19:25):
Bible and you don't read itbecause you're just like man,
I'm exhausted. And also I don'tknow if I can extract anything
from this again, where it feelslike the burden in the demand is
on you to like work outsomething in your life. But real
instead of this partnership andtrust on like the Lord to to in
his power to be at work withinyou. And so I think that I've
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rediscovered the power of justman, I'm just about to sit
before I'm allowed. I'm gonnajust let myself sit before this
word. That makes sense. It'seven being even that being
different than Okay, all right,I'm coming before the word. And
the word is sitting before me.
And I'm trying to like, takesomething from it, and study it
deeply and get something out ofit, which there's a place for
that, too. And there's a needfor that, too. I think I'm
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specifically speaking to anyfolks that are in a season right
now, where they're like, I'mstruggling, I'm struggling in my
thoughts. I'm struggling in myheart, I feel like I'm holding
on by a thread. And maybe evenyou're like, and I don't even
know if I can perceive thegoodness of God, if I could see
it, if it, you know, smack me inthe face thickness, you're not
(20:36):
going to face but anyways. Or ifyou're like, Man, I just, I'm
even, you know, teetering on theedge of like, I don't know, if I
believe this to be true. Youknow, I'm struggling. And I add
to that is, to those people arewho I'm speaking to, when I say
I see you. And I in that spacemakes sense to me. And in those
(21:00):
moments is, so I'm realizinghow, on the other side, I'm
realizing how fruitful justsimply reading His word was,
even when I wasn't 100% Sure, Ibelieved it. Just simply going,
alright, here's my heartpresented to this word. And so
I'm gonna read you just a couplerapid fire words, or scriptures
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that my heart has gravitated hasjust gravitated to in different
ways. And these have come to mein all different ways. I'm not
gonna read them all is there'sa, I've read a lot of a lot of
different passages of Scripture,and even just different verses
have stood out to me. But here'sa couple. This is Psalms 90,
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verse 14, these will be in avariety of different
translations. But this one says,Let the sunrise of your love and
our dark night break through ourclouded Dawn, again, only you
can satisfy our hearts fillingus with songs of joy to end to
the end of our days, that onehas been a favorite in the last
(22:09):
like, you know, two weeks. I'mgonna say that one again. It's
just good. And then I'll readthe next verse after it says,
Let the sunrise of your love inour dark night. It's been
interesting the last severaldays, in the morning, early in
the morning, I've just had thisdesire to, to get up and go walk
(22:30):
outside. Ever since the Lord'sbeckoning, like, come, come walk
with me outside. It's just beensweet. And that was one of the
verses that I was just prayingbefore the Lord in the morning
is I would say, it was somethingsweet about knowing I'm up
really early. And darkness hasjust passed. And so I could just
it felt like I was participatingin that word in that moment. And
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I I do try and go when Iexperienced scripture, and I
read Scripture as much as I can.
I want that to be a full bodiedexperience. My heart is engaged,
my mind is engaged, my body isengaged. Where I'm like, I'm I'm
allowing myself to feel that tobe in it. Let the sunrise of
(23:16):
your love in our dark night. MyGod in the same way that I'm
looking around right now. AndI'm seeing the beginning rays of
the sun. Darkness has justgotten pushed back, the sun
rose. And the night has ended.
God I'm asking you, Lord to endthe places that feels like
darkness. In my own life. I'masking you to push back the
(23:39):
places that have been chaotic,and have been the spaces where
I'm like, God, I can't see. Ifeel like I'm gonna stumble. So
I love this. His breakthroughare clouded Don again, only you
can satisfy our hearts, fillingus with songs of joy to the end
of our days. The next versesays, We've been overwhelmed
(24:01):
with grief. Come now andoverwhelm us with gladness,
replace our years of troublewith decades of delight. Another
verse that just, you know, Ilove Isaiah 48 I think there's
been a lot of nature verses thathave been striking to me right
now in this season. Plus a 4040Verse A NIV says The grass
(24:22):
withers and the flowers fall butthe Word of God endures forever.
And honestly, like I said, thewhole embodying thing. There's
all these walks that I've justbeen doing with the Lord look, I
pay attention to the grass thatis dead I pay attention
sometimes I'm grabbing likelittle leaves off of trees, and
I'm crumbling those in my handto for that to be a tactile
(24:44):
feeling, where I go wow, likethis blade of grass that I just
grabbed in my hand. I can easilydestroy this I can easily this
this will easily fall apart andthen it will just become you
know, dirt you know Again, andit just it comes to an end. But
then I'm reminded of like, Lord,the things that you've spoken
(25:07):
your word of truth, your Whittenword, the promises that you've
spoken everything, Lord thatyou've, you know, sent out your
word to do, you will accomplishit, it will not come to an end,
but it will actually endureforever. And there's this sense
of grounding that comes fromthat this sense of stability,
(25:28):
when a lot of things around usare crumbling, and there's a lot
of chaos and we're like, I don'tknow what's gonna last. And I
don't know what's gonna, youknow, be fruitful, and I don't
necessarily know what's going tobe sustained. It is really
really really stabilizing toknow that God but your word, it
will endure forever. I lovePsalms 107 verse nine, ESV. He
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satisfies the longing soul, andthe hungry soul, he fills with
good things. I think that's,I've been kind of doing this
rhythm of fasting lately. And Ithink that's maybe one verse
that's part that probably struckme. Because of even just, that's
that space and season that havebeen in on some days, is just
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knowing man God, like, my, mybody is hungry right now. It
desires food and nourishment.
And in the same way that like, Iknow, like, okay, like, you
know, I will get food again,like, I will have that and, and
I'll be satisfied again. There'sjust been something that's just
(26:37):
been a good reminder of knowingGod, so will you satisfy me? And
so you know, you will, you willfeel our longing and our hungry
souls. Okay, so the last passagethat I'll actually touch on real
fast is Psalms 121. And thewhole thing is really good. I'm
not going to read in this momentfor the sake of time. But I do
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want to highlight these twothings here. Verse three says
that he will not let youstumble, the one who washes over
you will not slumber. I lovethat. And then verse five, he
says, The Lord Himself watchesover you, the Lord stands beside
you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by daynor the moon at night. Can I
(27:24):
tell you that there have beensome times that I've stepped
outside because I'll do itfrequently during the during the
day just to take a break andtalk with the Lord. And
especially if it's super stupid,hot outside, and I come to this
shady tree, I'll stand in thatshade for a moment. And I'm not
(27:47):
sure what you know, which camefirst whether it was having that
experience of just, I just wasbecame aware of like, Man, I
just stepped in this shade. Andthis soul feels like the
provision of God. And then nowknowing this passage in the Lord
and talking about the Lord beingour protective shade, that him
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standing beside us and watchingover us as our protective shade.
I just feel very reminded ofthat in those moments that in
the same way you and you cutwhen it's hot, and you come to a
tree that's given off someshade, you want to stay there,
no part of you wants to removefrom that Blaze. There is where
you want to be. And so in thosemoments, I remind myself of man
(28:30):
just like the shade is is givingme it feels like it's giving me
everything that I need right nowin this moment. I don't want to
leave from this place in thesame way God is doing that right
now in my life. He's he is notdisconnected. He's not
disregarding the heat andpressure that seems to be
(28:54):
applied in my life right now.
He is apply he's giving shade.
He is sheltering me. And he'swith me right now. And on a
practical note, it just gives meanother thing to thank the Lord
for of like man God thank youfor the provision of this tree.
This is a random tangible we gotto get out of like only thinking
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of provision in terms of money.
Man I'm like in those ones likeGod you provided this tree here
for me for others and I thankyou for it I'm sitting
underneath the shade of it andGod in the same way that I'm
that I'm being reminded of theprovision that you have for me
as I stand it underneath thistree guy, would you show me the
(29:36):
other ways in which that I'veforgotten or haven't recognized
your provision, but it is therefor me accessible? Not, you know
only for some only for the freeyou know, it is it is for me.
And I can I can be in it. I canstand in it. Receive from it.
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It's mine, you know, so I amdone loading you with a bunch of
different scripture andencouragement for you to go. You
know what your appetite on andgo and feast on. And again, even
if you're like, Man, I'm tired.
I trust that the Lord will worksomething in you. As you just
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sit before him be in hispresence, he is truly able to do
more exceedingly more than youcould ever ask, think or
imagine, or even have thecapability of imagining. So be
encouraged by that, whereveryou're at right now. If you're
hearing this message, you'velistened to the entire episode.
(30:42):
And for that I am deeplygrateful. I hope this episode
resonated with you and if it didhelp us out by sharing this
episode, and leaving a review onApple podcasts, and Spotify.
Most importantly, reach out tolet me know how you're engaging
with this episode, and whattopics you'd like to see covered
in the future. You can connectwith us on social media, or get
(31:04):
in touch with me directly atGabrielle at return to joy.com
to share your heart. I'll seeyou in two weeks for a new
episode.
Welcome to the return to joy podcast. I'm
your host, Gabrielle MichelLeonard. Here we're leading
people to cultivate joy throughstorytelling. We hope listening
will reveal pathways tounlocking the healing power of
connection, so that you can seeyour relationships and the world
around you transformed fromfractured into flourishing.
(00:25):
Thank you for bearing with me. Iknow I know, it has been like
three weeks since I havereleased a podcast episode. But
thank you for showing upnonetheless, to listen to
another one. It is always a joyanytime I get on here to share
what it is that I've beenprocessing with the Lord or how
(00:47):
he's encouraging me how I'm youknow, working through things.
This particular episode has beenrather therapeutic for me, are
these episodes have continued tobe rather therapeutic for me.
And I know I've heard from someof you and saying that it's
really been a help to hear howI'm processing with God and to
(01:07):
hear even how I'm encouragingmyself in His Word. And so if
you're one of those people outthere that have been really
encouraged by what you've beenhearing on these episodes, or
maybe you've been really growingand seeing maturity just in in
your walk through listening tothese, please give me a holler.
I would love to hear from you.
out so that way I have like aface to put with, you know the
(01:30):
list of listeners, because rightnow I just have like numbers.
And I'm a very relationalperson, if you know me well. And
so numbers are not motivatingenough for me of like, okay,
cool, as many people arelistening, I love hearing
stories, and I love seeingfaces. Because it's it's it's
(01:50):
real people that God is movingon the hearts of and it's and
it's a beautiful work. And itit, you know, pushes me forward
all the more. So if you've beenencouraged, if this has been if
any episode on here has beenreally impactful for you,
please, please reach out to meand let me know. Obviously, you
know, the Instagram is returningto joy podcast. Facebook, though
(02:13):
I'm barely on there is justreturning to joy. Or you can
just go to the website. And Ithink that I think there is a
contact form where you could putin. Yeah, you can you can shoot
me a message there. And I'll getback to you. All right. Now that
that's out of the way. I am veryexcited to share with you just
(02:35):
what the Lord put on my hearttoday. This is coming. This is
coming out fresh and hot. Yeah,so I'm gonna just dive right
into it. Man A couple monthsago, I think it was maybe I
don't know. I don't know. Timeis a blur. Who knows time these
(02:56):
days. Anyways, not that long agoreally feels like yesterday, I
was really struggling goingthrough a hard time. Um, be
dishonest, even specifically, oflike, part of the hard time I
was going through part of theheart was like a recent breakup
that I had had. And I that makeswith some other things had me in
(03:19):
a conversation with God, where Ivery specifically told him, God,
I can't even imagine better. Ican't even imagine better. So if
God's ability to show up and befaithful, is dependent upon my
ability to perceive hisgoodness, in the midst of the
(03:44):
situation, then I'm stuck. Sothere was so much shame
connected to that confession ofI can't even imagine better. I
can't see it. There's like thisblack hole in front of me. This,
this just blank, thisnothingness. So the shame there
(04:05):
was crippling in that moment.
Because I'm thinking God, howare you going to show up for me?
How am I going to experienceyour goodness in the land of the
living? If I can't even see it?
I can't even imagine it, whichwas such was so foreign for me
(04:26):
because I am very much so aseer. I can see what the Lord is
up to I don't necessarily meanin the sense of specifically but
you know, when you just know inthe depths of you of man, like
God's God's doing somethingright now. And that ability to
perceive and see, you know, thatGod is doing something in spite
(04:49):
of what we can or cannot see,was just shut off for me in a
moment. But the sweet and reallycool thing was As immediately
after beginning of life I, Maothat confession to the lord of
God, I can't even imaginebetter. I heard the Lord speak
to me to my heart. He said, It'sokay if you can't imagine. And
(05:13):
there was such this wave ofpeace that washed over me
instantly. And I love how theLord confirms things in his
word. Then immediately Ephesians320 came to my mind, where he
says, where the Word says, Nowto Him who is able to do
(05:35):
immeasurably more than all wecan ask or imagine, according to
his power that is at work withinus. Oh, that just that does
something for me even still,even still. I'm not gonna lie,
like I am clinging to thatverse. Still, I'm not. I'm not
(05:56):
deep in the midst of what feltlike a pit of darkness that I
was in, in that moment when Ifirst cried that out a couple
months ago. But can I tell youthat that word has been
something that I'm clinging tohave, like, I don't even have to
be able to imagine it? I knowthis worse, don't get me wrong.
(06:18):
I know this versus saying he'sable to do exceedingly more than
we are able to ask or imagine.
But that's the thing. I heard inthat I heard God saying, It's
okay, if you can't imaginebecause guess what, even if you
could imagine it, even if youcould conceive better, even if
you could see my goodness, evenif you could go Oh, yeah, but I
(06:41):
know what God's gonna do, or Iknow the possibilities of what
he could do, I know whatbreakthrough is going to could
look like in this moment in theseason for me, even if you could
do it, if you could, even ifyour mind was able to conceive
it right now, in this moment, Iwould still be able to do better
than that, I would still be ableto perform more and do greater
(07:02):
according to the work my powerthat is at work already
Gabrielle within you. Goddoesn't even need your
imagination, to be on par withwhat he's able to do. That just
set me free. And I, I had to Iwanted to get on this dome
(07:23):
behind the mic real quick to saythat anybody who listens,
because let that set you free.
I'm gonna I'm gonna get intotalking about some, some
passages and some scripturesthat I've been reading in the,
in the digging in the word thatI've been doing in these last
several months on another level.
But, but first, I think the Lordjust needs to set you free from
(07:47):
any shame and any guilt and anycondemnation that would say that
would even put a performance onyou. Even when it comes to your,
your faith walk. Like I gotta Igotta pray enough, I gotta do
enough, I gotta believe enough.
I gotta trust God enough, Igotta perceive it enough. My
thoughts gotta be in alignment.
I gotta be meditating all thesedifferent things. And I have to
(08:10):
have this highest level ofconception of like, what God is
able to do for God to show upfor me to see the goodness of
the Lord. And I just want to setyou free from that, like he's
set me free from that. In amoment of just saying, baby
(08:30):
girl, daughter, son, you don'teven it's okay. If you can't
imagine you don't even have tobe able to imagine. Because
guess what I'm able to doexceedingly more than what even
your imagination could conceiveof. We can't out think the
(08:57):
goodness of God and in our inour thoughts, even when our
thoughts are weak, even when ourmind is weak. Just really,
really thankful for that. I'mgoing to mall I'm going to I'm
going to time right now that manwith a lot of prayer with a lot
of reading of Scripture withlike talking to people like me,
(09:18):
we're by the grace of God, likemy thoughts are pretty sound
right now. But can I tell youthat it would it felt really
good. And I believe actuallythat the Lord made a way for
himself, you know, to show up inmy life he made a way for the
clarity of mind and heart thatI'm experiencing right now, by
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setting me free from shamespecifically in regards to the
the lack of capacity I felt likemy mind and heart had in that
moment. You need to knowthat God is good, even when you
can't perceive his goodness. Idon't say that in a way of
(10:05):
saying like, so you just got tobelieve God's good. No, I'm
sacks wouldn't hear me when I'msaying God is good even when you
can't see his goodness. So thatmeans that in those moments when
you can't perceive of God'sgoodness, guess what, he's still
going to be good towards you.
(10:27):
He's still going to be faithfuleven when you can't even
perceive of his faithfulness. Ican't tell you how many times
I've quoted to myself, Psalms23, forgetting the specific
verse within it, but it's stillwhen it says, Surely goodness
and mercy will follow me all thedays of my life. I quote that
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verse so many times, becausethere's, I remember one time
walking, I was like, doing ahike. And I was by myself at the
time, someone had told me aboutthis really cool Brook and
stream that was, you know, alittle ways out, if you just,
you know, come they just whatthey told me the path is, you
know, easy, just just walkstraight or walk up this way.
(11:12):
And you'll see this reallypretty stream and, and I
remember I had wanted somepeople that were there some
different friends to come withme, but they weren't able to
come with me. So I'm walkingalone, to find this stream feels
quite biblical. Or prophetic,you know, but I am walking, and
I'm just, I had begun havingthis conversation with the Lord,
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this was like, maybe two yearsago. Um, I've just been like,
man, God, like, there's somespaces in my life where I'm
tired of walking alone in. And Ijust felt, even in that moment,
just really grateful, andthankful for Psalms 23. And
specifically that variousbecause I was just reminded of
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man, even in the moments when wefeel like we're walking along,
because there's some times whenwe don't feel like we can even
see in front of us, you know,seeing in front of us is hard.
Perceiving God's faithfulnessahead. And sometimes, it can
even seem like, you know,there's an absence or, or a
(12:20):
lack, you know, in regards towho is in and what is present
with us in a moment. Andobviously, we know the Lord is
faithful up ahead, and he iswhen he walks with us, you know,
in our current moment insituation, and I believe he
brings people alongside of us,but even when we can't see it,
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Psalms 23 That Surely goodnessand mercy will follow me all the
days of my life. I'm not sure ifthis is like, this is not you
know, the only interpretationjust I'm just telling you my
experience with that verse andwhy it encourages me. It
encourages me because I go, I'mreally thankful for the fact
that even when I can't see upahead, and I can't make out
(13:03):
God's faithfulness up ahead, andI'm not sure I'm not 100% sure
if he's walking with me,currently, maybe it doesn't feel
quite like it. I find this Ifind this comfort and going. But
Surely goodness and mercy willfollow me all the days of my
life. It's almost this up forme, it almost feels like this
hindsight of like, oh, everytime I look back, I know I'm
(13:26):
gonna go, Oh my gosh, he waswith me. Oh my gosh, like his
goodness was chasing after me.
And his goodness, was likecovering over all the places of
pain and His mercy was wassheltering me. And it's this is
it feels like this comfortingblanket to know that the things
that are following me in my lifeare the goodness and mercy of
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God. So that first encourages mebecause it's like, Man, I may
not see up ahead. Up ahead maybe blurry. What's happening
right now in the midst of me maybe uncertain and I may feel
unstable in some ways, but I canguarantee you goodness, and
mercy is following me. Let melet me look back. Let me look
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back. And I can always pimp Ican always see oh god, how you
were faithful. And that helpssteady me in the current and
then helps me to build anexpectation for the future. He
has been faithful in the pastand he will up ahead. Look at
me, I know Adam already gottenoff track. That was not what I
(14:39):
was going to talk about ortransition to but it is what it
is. And I pray that was anencouragement to somebody on
here. Um, where are we going togo now? So I do want to read
this first because I read itthis morning. I read many read
like the chapter of Colossiansthree. But this first stood out
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to me, I need y'all to know Icare about context of Scripture.
Just it's just gonna be a littlesidebar, even if I be out here
quoting one verse, you girlknows the context. So random,
anyways Colossians 316 It says,Let the message about Christ, in
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all its richness, fill yourlives, teach and counsel each
other, with all the wisdom hegives. Sing songs, sing psalms,
and hymns, and spiritual songsto God with thankful hearts, and
Murray that again, let themessage about Christ in all its
(15:44):
richness, fill your lives, teachand counsel each other, with all
the wisdom he gives, sing psalmsand hymns, the spirit and the
spiritual songs to God withthankful hearts. I really love
that last line, the spiritualsongs, songs to God with
thankful hearts, you can read ina couple of different versions.
But essentially, it's talkingabout that span that spontaneous
(16:06):
prophetic utterances of thehearts and it's not talking
about just for worship leadersin the fancy people on stage,
it's talking about for all thebelievers of like, you, the Lord
can put a new song in yourheart. And what's so beautiful
about that is, man, there isthere is a season I don't know
you, you know, I don't know whoI'm talking to right now. But I
(16:28):
can guarantee this, that theLord knows you, he sees you. And
the specific season that you'rein His goodness is so good, that
he will give to you a song thatwill a beautiful melody that
will shine a light upon like,what he is up to in doing
prophetically in your life, inthe midst of your situation. So
(16:52):
I love like singing songs thatothers have put out it is a jam.
But there is something so good.
And I know it takes somecourage, especially you know, I
mean, not if you're gonna do itby yourself, but you know, it
takes courage if you're gonna doit around, you know, around
other people, but to just toread the scriptures to be in the
Word of God and then to just letyour heart open up and just sing
(17:16):
like what would if you were tojust start singing to the Lord
spontaneously. I wonder what hewould what he would, what would
come out of that. I bet it wouldbe a melody in a song that
represents specifically what theLord is singing over you, or
what he's put inside your heartfor you to sing back to him.
That is this, this propheticutterance this, this truth of
(17:39):
like God, you will be this youare this right now. And I am
nine. It is not what I'm goingthrough what we're going through
as a people will not be the lastand final word, but this Lord is
true. Whatever that truth is,that's another random tangent,
but it's not. But the onlyreason why I quote this verse
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Colossians, 316, because it justencouraged me to encourage you
guys have it talking about like,the message about Christ and all
of its richness, filling ourlives and for us to pass that on
to one another. I did this thiscollective bumping into one
another. We're we're, we'rewe're allowing this overflow to
(18:21):
come out of us. And we'repassing on the wisdom that God
has given to us. And we'repassing on how we're being
ministered to into his word. Itis a way of bringing about so
much healing and freedom in ourlives. I love how proverbs 420
talks about filling our thoughtswith his word. And in these last
(18:44):
couple of months, I have justfilled my thoughts with his
word. Truly, I love studying theBible, I love going deep in the
Word of God. But in these lastcouple of months, it has been so
needed and necessary and I'veI've found a new
(19:05):
I think I've rediscovered thepower to just reading scripture,
not even trying to get somethingout of it. And so I hope you're
tracking with me what I mean bythat. But there's something so
powerful to even in the momentswhen because I know sometimes
you know maybe you don't pull upyou don't pull up your open your
(19:25):
Bible and you don't read itbecause you're just like man,
I'm exhausted. And also I don'tknow if I can extract anything
from this again, where it feelslike the burden in the demand is
on you to like work outsomething in your life. But real
instead of this partnership andtrust on like the Lord to to in
his power to be at work withinyou. And so I think that I've
(19:51):
rediscovered the power of justman, I'm just about to sit
before I'm allowed. I'm gonnajust let myself sit before this
word. That makes sense. It'seven being even that being
different than Okay, all right,I'm coming before the word. And
the word is sitting before me.
And I'm trying to like, takesomething from it, and study it
deeply and get something out ofit, which there's a place for
that, too. And there's a needfor that, too. I think I'm
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specifically speaking to anyfolks that are in a season right
now, where they're like, I'mstruggling, I'm struggling in my
thoughts. I'm struggling in myheart, I feel like I'm holding
on by a thread. And maybe evenyou're like, and I don't even
know if I can perceive thegoodness of God, if I could see
it, if it, you know, smack me inthe face thickness, you're not
(20:36):
going to face but anyways. Or ifyou're like, Man, I just, I'm
even, you know, teetering on theedge of like, I don't know, if I
believe this to be true. Youknow, I'm struggling. And I add
to that is, to those people arewho I'm speaking to, when I say
I see you. And I in that spacemakes sense to me. And in those
(21:00):
moments is, so I'm realizinghow, on the other side, I'm
realizing how fruitful justsimply reading His word was,
even when I wasn't 100% Sure, Ibelieved it. Just simply going,
alright, here's my heartpresented to this word. And so
I'm gonna read you just a couplerapid fire words, or scriptures
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that my heart has gravitated hasjust gravitated to in different
ways. And these have come to mein all different ways. I'm not
gonna read them all is there'sa, I've read a lot of a lot of
different passages of Scripture,and even just different verses
have stood out to me. But here'sa couple. This is Psalms 90,
(21:46):
verse 14, these will be in avariety of different
translations. But this one says,Let the sunrise of your love and
our dark night break through ourclouded Dawn, again, only you
can satisfy our hearts fillingus with songs of joy to end to
the end of our days, that onehas been a favorite in the last
(22:09):
like, you know, two weeks. I'mgonna say that one again. It's
just good. And then I'll readthe next verse after it says,
Let the sunrise of your love inour dark night. It's been
interesting the last severaldays, in the morning, early in
the morning, I've just had thisdesire to, to get up and go walk
(22:30):
outside. Ever since the Lord'sbeckoning, like, come, come walk
with me outside. It's just beensweet. And that was one of the
verses that I was just prayingbefore the Lord in the morning
is I would say, it was somethingsweet about knowing I'm up
really early. And darkness hasjust passed. And so I could just
it felt like I was participatingin that word in that moment. And
(22:54):
I I do try and go when Iexperienced scripture, and I
read Scripture as much as I can.
I want that to be a full bodiedexperience. My heart is engaged,
my mind is engaged, my body isengaged. Where I'm like, I'm I'm
allowing myself to feel that tobe in it. Let the sunrise of
(23:16):
your love in our dark night. MyGod in the same way that I'm
looking around right now. AndI'm seeing the beginning rays of
the sun. Darkness has justgotten pushed back, the sun
rose. And the night has ended.
God I'm asking you, Lord to endthe places that feels like
darkness. In my own life. I'masking you to push back the
(23:39):
places that have been chaotic,and have been the spaces where
I'm like, God, I can't see. Ifeel like I'm gonna stumble. So
I love this. His breakthroughare clouded Don again, only you
can satisfy our hearts, fillingus with songs of joy to the end
of our days. The next versesays, We've been overwhelmed
(24:01):
with grief. Come now andoverwhelm us with gladness,
replace our years of troublewith decades of delight. Another
verse that just, you know, Ilove Isaiah 48 I think there's
been a lot of nature verses thathave been striking to me right
now in this season. Plus a 4040Verse A NIV says The grass
(24:22):
withers and the flowers fall butthe Word of God endures forever.
And honestly, like I said, thewhole embodying thing. There's
all these walks that I've justbeen doing with the Lord look, I
pay attention to the grass thatis dead I pay attention
sometimes I'm grabbing likelittle leaves off of trees, and
I'm crumbling those in my handto for that to be a tactile
(24:44):
feeling, where I go wow, likethis blade of grass that I just
grabbed in my hand. I can easilydestroy this I can easily this
this will easily fall apart andthen it will just become you
know, dirt you know Again, andit just it comes to an end. But
then I'm reminded of like, Lord,the things that you've spoken
(25:07):
your word of truth, your Whittenword, the promises that you've
spoken everything, Lord thatyou've, you know, sent out your
word to do, you will accomplishit, it will not come to an end,
but it will actually endureforever. And there's this sense
of grounding that comes fromthat this sense of stability,
(25:28):
when a lot of things around usare crumbling, and there's a lot
of chaos and we're like, I don'tknow what's gonna last. And I
don't know what's gonna, youknow, be fruitful, and I don't
necessarily know what's going tobe sustained. It is really
really really stabilizing toknow that God but your word, it
will endure forever. I lovePsalms 107 verse nine, ESV. He
(25:53):
satisfies the longing soul, andthe hungry soul, he fills with
good things. I think that's,I've been kind of doing this
rhythm of fasting lately. And Ithink that's maybe one verse
that's part that probably struckme. Because of even just, that's
that space and season that havebeen in on some days, is just
(26:15):
knowing man God, like, my, mybody is hungry right now. It
desires food and nourishment.
And in the same way that like, Iknow, like, okay, like, you
know, I will get food again,like, I will have that and, and
I'll be satisfied again. There'sjust been something that's just
(26:37):
been a good reminder of knowingGod, so will you satisfy me? And
so you know, you will, you willfeel our longing and our hungry
souls. Okay, so the last passagethat I'll actually touch on real
fast is Psalms 121. And thewhole thing is really good. I'm
not going to read in this momentfor the sake of time. But I do
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want to highlight these twothings here. Verse three says
that he will not let youstumble, the one who washes over
you will not slumber. I lovethat. And then verse five, he
says, The Lord Himself watchesover you, the Lord stands beside
you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by daynor the moon at night. Can I
(27:24):
tell you that there have beensome times that I've stepped
outside because I'll do itfrequently during the during the
day just to take a break andtalk with the Lord. And
especially if it's super stupid,hot outside, and I come to this
shady tree, I'll stand in thatshade for a moment. And I'm not
(27:47):
sure what you know, which camefirst whether it was having that
experience of just, I just wasbecame aware of like, Man, I
just stepped in this shade. Andthis soul feels like the
provision of God. And then nowknowing this passage in the Lord
and talking about the Lord beingour protective shade, that him
(28:08):
standing beside us and watchingover us as our protective shade.
I just feel very reminded ofthat in those moments that in
the same way you and you cutwhen it's hot, and you come to a
tree that's given off someshade, you want to stay there,
no part of you wants to removefrom that Blaze. There is where
you want to be. And so in thosemoments, I remind myself of man
(28:30):
just like the shade is is givingme it feels like it's giving me
everything that I need right nowin this moment. I don't want to
leave from this place in thesame way God is doing that right
now in my life. He's he is notdisconnected. He's not
disregarding the heat andpressure that seems to be
(28:54):
applied in my life right now.
He is apply he's giving shade.
He is sheltering me. And he'swith me right now. And on a
practical note, it just gives meanother thing to thank the Lord
for of like man God thank youfor the provision of this tree.
This is a random tangible we gotto get out of like only thinking
(29:15):
of provision in terms of money.
Man I'm like in those ones likeGod you provided this tree here
for me for others and I thankyou for it I'm sitting
underneath the shade of it andGod in the same way that I'm
that I'm being reminded of theprovision that you have for me
as I stand it underneath thistree guy, would you show me the
(29:36):
other ways in which that I'veforgotten or haven't recognized
your provision, but it is therefor me accessible? Not, you know
only for some only for the freeyou know, it is it is for me.
And I can I can be in it. I canstand in it. Receive from it.
(29:56):
It's mine, you know, so I amdone loading you with a bunch of
different scripture andencouragement for you to go. You
know what your appetite on andgo and feast on. And again, even
if you're like, Man, I'm tired.
I trust that the Lord will worksomething in you. As you just
(30:18):
sit before him be in hispresence, he is truly able to do
more exceedingly more than youcould ever ask, think or
imagine, or even have thecapability of imagining. So be
encouraged by that, whereveryou're at right now. If you're
hearing this message, you'velistened to the entire episode.
(30:42):
And for that I am deeplygrateful. I hope this episode
resonated with you and if it didhelp us out by sharing this
episode, and leaving a review onApple podcasts, and Spotify.
Most importantly, reach out tolet me know how you're engaging
with this episode, and whattopics you'd like to see covered
in the future. You can connectwith us on social media, or get
(31:04):
in touch with me directly atGabrielle at return to joy.com
to share your heart. I'll seeyou in two weeks for a new
episode.
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