September 30, 2025 • 18 mins
Episode Summary
What do you do when life throat-punches you for the 50th time and you feel like staying down? In this episode of The Unshakeable Life, Jim Burgoon gets brutally honest about exhaustion, burnout, and failure—and the one thing that keeps us standing when everything else crumbles.
Drawing from personal stories of ministry wounds, entrepreneurial failures, and even the grief of losing his mom, Jim shares why falling doesn’t disqualify you from God’s calling. Instead, Scripture reminds us we may be struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9). With raw honesty and practical tools, Jim helps you reframe resilience, stop pretending you’re fine, and discover the courage to take your next small step with God.
If you’ve been wrestling with the question, “What’s the point of getting back up again?”—this episode was made for you.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn
- Why failure and falling don’t remove you from God’s plan.
- The danger of “I’m fine” platitudes and how to be real before God.
- How to anchor yourself in God’s presence when you feel abandoned.
- Why resilience isn’t instant—it’s small, courageous steps forward.
- How silence, prayer, and Scripture renew your strength in dark times.
Scripture Anchors
- 2 Corinthians 4:9 — “Persecuted, not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
- Isaiah 40:31 — “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.”
- Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.”
- Ephesians 6 — “After you’ve done everything, stand.”
Faith Connection
God has never expected perfection—He has always promised presence. The Bible doesn’t say we won’t be knocked down; it says we won’t be destroyed. The difference between despair and hope is whether we believe that truth in the middle of the struggle. Jesus Himself fell under the weight of the cross, yet He got back up to finish the work set before Him. That same Spirit now strengthens us to rise when life feels unbearable.
Reflection & Connection
- What’s one area in your life where you’ve been pretending you’re “fine”?
- What’s a small, courageous step you could take this week to move forward?
- Who in your circle needs to hear your honesty so you don’t walk alone?
Key Takeaway
You may be knocked down, but you are never abandoned. Stop pretending you’re fine, anchor yourself in God’s presence, and take one courageous step at a time. God doesn’t need you to sprint—He just calls you to keep standing.
Resilience Corner
Breath Prayer: “Lord, I am weak, but You are strong. Help me rise again.”
Resources Mentioned
- Join the Newsletter: www.leadwithjim.com/nl
- Full Episode Show Notes & Transcript: www.leadwithjim.com/podcast
- Using GPT for deeper Bible Study: https://youtu.be/VflG29Hx_Xw
- Youtube Video of Jason Upton Singing: In The Silence
Connect with Jim
- 🌐 Website: www.leadwithjim.com
- 🎙️ Ask a Question:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you have been throatpunched by life and you're ready
to give up, well, stick aroundbecause we're going to talk about
that.
This is the Unshakable Life mindset.
Resilience, action.
No stride.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with your God.
Jim Burgoon stepping forward.
(00:30):
This is the end.
Unshakable life.
Welcome back to the show.
I'm your host, Jim, and thisis the Unshakable Life podcast.
And on this podcast, we'regoing to be talking about a biblical
mindset, developingresilience, and how to take courageous
action in order to chase afteryour God given call.
(00:51):
So today I want to open up aconversation between you and I because
I know you don't feel likeyour life is unshakable.
I know that you feelexhausted, you feel burnt out, you
feel like you've beenforgotten, you feel like you want
to quit.
And the question then becomes,when life throat punches you again,
maybe for the 50th time, whatdo you do?
(01:13):
We feel like we're only onemore bad decision from just completely
giving up.
Like, if life doesn't turnaround at this decision, we're not
going to go forward.
But that's not reality.
Reality is building theresilience and the strength we need
and having the hope inside ofus through Jesus Christ that's going
to keep getting us up and keepmoving us forward because we all
(01:37):
get knocked down.
Getting knocked down is partof the journey.
When I, and I'm alwayssurprised when people, including
myself, were in these placesof knock down, get up, knock down,
get up, and we were like,shocked that we got knocked down.
I mean, think of it like a baby.
How often does a baby falldown before they learn how to walk?
(01:58):
But I want to tell you thatevery one of us have faced these
places of falling down and notwanting to get back up.
I have.
I. I remember when I was apastor, pouring out and yet taking
everybody's junk and beingyelled at and being called all names
and having to like, defend thefaith and, and not get upset and
be able to forgive quickly.
(02:18):
It's exhausting.
Or maybe you were like me withmy own autoimmune issues.
Where can I find the strength?
Or maybe you're anentrepreneur and you failed 38 times.
And yes, I have failed 38 to42 times somewhere in there.
I've not gotten the exactnumber, but it's been a lot.
And the, you get into theseplaces where you're like, that's
(02:40):
it, I'm done.
I don't want to get back up.
Tonight's the night we're at.
We're just going to stop andwe sit at our desk and we ask ourselves,
what's the point?
We try and try again.
Why are we even doing this?
Why do we continue moving forward?
And we get into thisexistential crisis where we're arguing
(03:02):
with ourselves to try toconvince ourselves to stay down because
we've been beaten up so much.
But there's something in usthat keeps getting up.
And I want to help you reframethe conversation today, because even
though you want to stay down,there are people right now that we
know deep down are dependingupon us.
And we keep getting up.
(03:24):
There's just good news.
Falling or fail doesn'tdisqualify you from God's calling.
And I know there's a lot of usthat feel if we've made too many
mistakes, God's going to giveup on us.
And that's not the case.
God is not going to give up onyou because you keep falling down.
Matter of fact, I don't readanywhere in scripture where God gives
up on us.
(03:45):
He gives us chance afterchance after chance, and then he
allows us to go in our ownway, and then he waits for us to
call upon him and then he runs in.
That's what scripture shows us.
So you're never disqualifiedfrom your calling because you fail.
Where we find ourselves isevery time we get knocked down, we
(04:07):
think that we're destroyed,but that's not the case.
You may be knocked down, butyou're not destroyed.
You're not disqualified.
Scripture 4:2 Corinthians 4, 9reminds us persecuted, not abandoned,
struck down, but not destroyed.
And so the idea is thatscripture never tells us that we're
knocked.
(04:27):
We're not going to be knocked down.
Scripture tells us we're notgoing to be destroyed.
We're not abandoned.
We.
We're not left alone.
But we will be knocked downfrom time to time.
And for some of us, likemyself, you're going to hear a lot
of my stories permeate throughthis podcast because I've been knocked
down more times than I like to admit.
(04:47):
So let me give you threepoints that are going to anchor yourself
in the darkest of times.
The first one, stop pretendingyou're fine.
Stop pretending likeeverything is okay, because it's
okay not to be okay.
It's okay to ask for help.
I struggle asking for helpbecause I went through so much trauma
(05:09):
growing up that it was unsafeto ask for help.
So I Delved into a real deepindividuality and independence, hyper
independence, where it wasunsafe for me to ask for help.
So I often never asked for.
And I just suffered alone in silence.
But as I grow older, as I getmore into Christ, as I live life
(05:29):
with my wife, who teaches methese amazing things through her
own struggles, it's okay notto be okay.
It's okay to ask for help.
It's okay to be weak.
Matter of fact, Scripturetells us it's in our weakness God
is made, his power is made perfect.
And we have to recognize that.
We've got to stop theChristian platitudes of I'm blessed
(05:51):
and highly favored, whileinside we we're falling apart.
We've got to stop with thiswrong theology of I can't say anything
or I'm going to be cursed.
I don't know where thatstarted in Christianity, but it's
wrong.
The power of life and death inthe tongue doesn't mean you speak
these word curses if you'reacknowledging how you feel in order
(06:13):
to overcome it.
Remember, we don't serve a Godwho's vindictive or judgmental in
a critical way.
That's not the God we serve.
We serve a God who's loving,who's going to challenge us, who
is just, who is holy.
And when he goes into ourlives, he says, that's not okay for
you to have and begins to take it.
But one of the prerequisitesof that is we have to admit and relinquish.
(06:39):
Like, we have to acknowledgethat we have the problem.
You look at AA or N A or anyof these other things, like they
won't even accept you untilyou admit that you have a problem.
And in Christianity, we shouldbe no different.
If we have the Savior of theuniverse, we have to admit and accept
that we have a problem andthat we are not okay.
(07:00):
And that's okay because thatdoesn't mean that's the state you're
always going to be in.
I mean, look at Psalms.
I say, if you ever want tolearn how to complain properly, read
Psalms.
David complained all the time,in a proper way to God.
He never hid his pain.
He lived it.
And he shared it with God.
He said, God, these people areafter me.
They want to kill me.
(07:21):
They want to take my life.
God, you see it all throughthe Psalms.
And he says, God, where are you?
You said, I would be king, butI'm hiding in caves.
So maybe this prayer, firstprayer for you this week is to say,
lord, make me strong in my Weakness.
Maybe your prayer should be,lord, I'm broken.
But you're the healer.
(07:42):
You're the one who helps me.
You're the doorway to healing.
Matter of fact, you're JehovahRofe, the Lord who heals.
So let's start with that.
Let's go to the greatphysician and say, God, I'm not okay.
Can you help me be okay?
And then allow God to bringpeople in your life who know you,
(08:02):
you're safe with.
So that when you can say, hey,I'm not okay today, they can encourage
you, they can pray for you, orthey can do what's needed in order
to support you.
That's what community reallylooks like.
Which brings me to the second point.
You've got to anchor yourselfback in God's presence.
Isaiah 30, Isaiah 40, 31 says this.
(08:24):
Those who wait on the Lordwill renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles.
Notice it didn't say those whogrind harder, those who hustle more,
those who isolate more.
No, it doesn't say any of that.
It says, those who wait, thosewho pause, those who breathe, who
(08:45):
quit striving.
Remember, you know, the Biblealso tells us in Psalms 46, 10, be
still and know that I am God.
That word still needs to quitstriving, right?
Those of us that breathe canbegin there to anchor ourselves in
God's presence.
And for me, and maybe for you,this may look like breath prayers.
(09:06):
This may look like lord, helpme today because I don't know how
to help myself.
If you want follow me on onFacebook at Lead with Jim Every morning
without fail, I post a breath prayer.
If you don't know how to praya breath prayer, go to that Facebook
post, hit the follow and lookfor the breath prayer every morning
and pray that prayer.
(09:27):
Because I do it.
Because I want you to beencouraged and to empowered.
Because we've got toconstantly be reminded that we are
not alone, that the presenceof God is always with us.
Even if we don't feel it, wewe know that God's presence is with
us.
And in those moments we haveto really do breath prayers.
If we can't muster up anyother strength and go, God, I can't
(09:48):
feel you, but I know you are here.
Remember, there's a differencebetween feeling and knowing.
We don't need to feel God toknow God.
And so God, I know you'rehere, so help me be more sensitive
to your presence.
And when we're more sensitiveto his presence, we'll feel at least
in some way or See in some waythat God is with us and has never
(10:12):
left us nor forsaken us.
So just take the moment to reanchor yourself in God's presence,
whether it be breath, prayers.
Matter of fact, you can alsotake a walk.
Leave the headphones at home.
Just take a walk in silence.
I think we put so much noiseinside of our heads that we miss
out on what God's trying to say.
Because we're trying.
We're so afraid of the silence.
(10:32):
It's in the silence that Godis speaking.
Jason Upton wrote a beautifulsong about that.
I'll include it in the shownotes for you because it's one of
my favorite song.
It's because he speaks that hesays, in the silence you are speaking.
Oh Lord, how much morebeautiful can you say that?
And remember, if we're alwaysdistracting ourselves, and I did
(10:52):
an episode not too long ago ondistracting, you can check that out
in the catalog.
But we're.
If we're so busy ondistracting ourselves with sound
and all these other voices, wemay miss the one voice we need that's
going to help us constantlyget back up and never quit.
This leads me to the third point.
Take small steps.
(11:13):
Let me even add a word.
Take small, courageous steps.
Because sometimes the smalleststep you take is the most courageous
one, especially if it's thefirst one.
Because people have thismisconception of resilience.
People believe resilience isbouncing back immediately and getting
back up and back in the game.
No, sometimes you're bouncingback takes weeks, sometimes it can
(11:34):
take a year, sometimes itcould take longer.
But it's not about bouncingback immediately.
It's about getting up andtaking the next right step and the
next one after that.
In fact, the Bible tells usthat we get a lamp before our feet
to illuminate the next step.
It doesn't give us afloodlight to illuminate multiple
steps.
He gives us the next step.
(11:55):
So we have to understand thatin this resilience, bounce back.
It could take a while, butthat's okay.
Your job is not to worry aboutfive steps.
Your job is to worry about thenext step that God is taking you.
And if you're not anchoring inhis presence, you're going to miss
that step.
You're going to jump rightback into hustle culture, get up
and grind.
And what you're not realizingit is you're depleting what little
(12:18):
energy and what little lifeyou have left and you're depleting
it more.
So burnout becomes easierevery single time.
So if we anchor ourselves in our.
In God's presence, if we makesure that we're admitting that we're
not okay, and then we takenext step after next step, we will
bounce back healthier,stronger, and more resilient than
(12:39):
we've ever been if we do itthe right way and we don't dive right
back into what made usunhealthy in the first place.
Now, I don't know what thatnext step is for you.
The next step for you could besimply writing that email that you've
been dreading, journaling thatyou've been avoiding, reading that
scripture, that you have beenseriously, like, just navigating
(13:02):
around everything you could dobut that scripture.
And you know that's what Godwants you to read.
So go read it.
Maybe.
Well, let me say this for me.
My mom, before she passed, andmy mom passed in 2023 from cancer.
And she left me a voicemailbefore she lost her voice, before
the cancer really took a lotfrom her before she passed.
And I didn't listen to thatmessage for a long time.
(13:24):
Matter of fact, I think it wasalmost a year and a half before I
listened to that messagebecause it was so hurtful, because
there's so many things Iwanted to say to her, so many things
I wanted to fix, so manythings that I didn't get a chance
to because the cancer came onand it came so fast.
And a year and a half later, Ihad no idea what she was going to
say, but she said, don't pickup the.
(13:45):
She called me one day.
She said, don't pick up the phone.
I want to leave you a message.
Because she knew, and it wasonly a minute and a half, and it
was her saying, she says, Ilove you to the moon and back.
And I avoided that for a yearand a half.
But now I have this eternalmemory of her in her voice telling
me she loves me.
So what have you been avoiding?
(14:05):
That's your next step.
That's the courageous step youhave to take.
But here's the truth.
God doesn't need you to sprint.
There's no speed that you needto go in order to reach the finish
line.
All we're required to is totake a stand.
That's Ephesians 6.
And then make it across thefinish line.
Even if you're crawling acrossthe finish line, even if you feel
(14:28):
like you're in last place,that's okay.
Our job is to cross the finishline at the end of this life into
the next, not run, not jog.
Just follow the pace God setfor you and make sure you're doing
it in a healthy way.
Make sure you're doing itanchored in the fact that you need
to acknowledge, you know, thethings that you're going through.
You need to anchor yourself inhis presence.
(14:49):
And then you need to takecourageous step after courageous
step.
And you know what?
And we can all get gold starsat the end of that, because every
courageous step requires a celebration.
And I want to celebrate with you.
I want to make sure that youand I are constantly moving into
God, because when life punchesus in the throat, we have to get
back up.
You're not allowed to stay down.
(15:10):
There's eternal ramificationsof you staying down.
People that may not hear Jesusbecause you didn't show up, people
that would not be transformedbecause you decided to quit, that's
not okay.
It's okay to rest, it's okayto take time.
It's okay to heal.
But your life isn't over aslong as you're breathing.
God is not done with you.
So if we do this in a healthyway, we'll live a beautiful, long
(15:33):
life and.
But we'll live it in a waywhere our life has fulfillment and
impact and meaning, not justdoing a bunch of stuff and hope.
We're doing okay.
So that really ends up where Iwant to encourage you.
Who do you need to bring intoyour life?
Even if it's just you and Godhaving the conversation initially
where you can be honest andreal and say, I'm struggling in this
(15:56):
one area.
Now, you and I know that youand I both probably struggle in multiple
areas.
That's okay.
But just pick one.
Start somewhere small.
Take that courageous step andshare with somebody and with God.
This is the area I'mstruggling in.
Let that be released and see.
Watch the weight come off of you.
Watch it just become more bearable.
(16:19):
And then find that practicethat you need to do and to support
that, you know, whatever that be.
Maybe you pray, maybe you seea therapist, maybe you journal more,
whatever that means to supportyourself in a healthy way, to get
back up and keep getting back up.
Because why?
Because the healthier youbecome, the stronger you become,
the more resilient you become,and the better you're able to follow
(16:43):
God to the end of this life,whatever that may be for you.
And if that's the case, you'llhear, well done, good and faithful
servant.
And I think at the end of theday, that's how God meets us, is
when you're feeling down, whenyou're feeling like you've been knocked
out that God gets on theground with us and he says, come
on my kid, come on, get up.
(17:04):
We're almost there.
We got little ways to go andhelps us up and pushes us to the
end so we can stand before himand hear those words.
So my friend, I'm so gratefulyou're here and let's just do this
journey together and learnwhat it means to have an unshakable
life.
Thank you for spending thistime with me on the Unshakable Life
podcast.
(17:24):
My prayer is that today'sconversation helps you to build build
resilience, reclaim peace, andstep with courage into your God given
calling.
If this episode has encouragedyou, challenged you, or impacted
you in any way, could you dome a favor?
Share it with a friend, leavea review and hit the follow so you
don't miss what's next.
(17:45):
And if you want more tools andencouragement for your journey, head
over to leadwithjim.com you'llfind resources to help you grow as
a healthy, authentic Christianleader, entrepreneur and creator.
And until next time, rememberyour foundation is Christ, your calling
is unshakable, and your lifecan make eternal impact.
(18:05):
This is the Unshakable LifeMindset Resilience Action.
No strife.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with yourguy Jim Burgoon stepping forward.
(18:28):
This is the Unshakable Life.
If you have been throatpunched by life and you're ready
to give up, well, stick aroundbecause we're going to talk about
that.
This is the Unshakable Life mindset.
Resilience, action.
No stride.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with your God.
Jim Burgoon stepping forward.
(00:30):
This is the end.
Unshakable life.
Welcome back to the show.
I'm your host, Jim, and thisis the Unshakable Life podcast.
And on this podcast, we'regoing to be talking about a biblical
mindset, developingresilience, and how to take courageous
action in order to chase afteryour God given call.
(00:51):
So today I want to open up aconversation between you and I because
I know you don't feel likeyour life is unshakable.
I know that you feelexhausted, you feel burnt out, you
feel like you've beenforgotten, you feel like you want
to quit.
And the question then becomes,when life throat punches you again,
maybe for the 50th time, whatdo you do?
(01:13):
We feel like we're only onemore bad decision from just completely
giving up.
Like, if life doesn't turnaround at this decision, we're not
going to go forward.
But that's not reality.
Reality is building theresilience and the strength we need
and having the hope inside ofus through Jesus Christ that's going
to keep getting us up and keepmoving us forward because we all
(01:37):
get knocked down.
Getting knocked down is partof the journey.
When I, and I'm alwayssurprised when people, including
myself, were in these placesof knock down, get up, knock down,
get up, and we were like,shocked that we got knocked down.
I mean, think of it like a baby.
How often does a baby falldown before they learn how to walk?
(01:58):
But I want to tell you thatevery one of us have faced these
places of falling down and notwanting to get back up.
I have.
I. I remember when I was apastor, pouring out and yet taking
everybody's junk and beingyelled at and being called all names
and having to like, defend thefaith and, and not get upset and
be able to forgive quickly.
(02:18):
It's exhausting.
Or maybe you were like me withmy own autoimmune issues.
Where can I find the strength?
Or maybe you're anentrepreneur and you failed 38 times.
And yes, I have failed 38 to42 times somewhere in there.
I've not gotten the exactnumber, but it's been a lot.
And the, you get into theseplaces where you're like, that's
(02:40):
it, I'm done.
I don't want to get back up.
Tonight's the night we're at.
We're just going to stop andwe sit at our desk and we ask ourselves,
what's the point?
We try and try again.
Why are we even doing this?
Why do we continue moving forward?
And we get into thisexistential crisis where we're arguing
(03:02):
with ourselves to try toconvince ourselves to stay down because
we've been beaten up so much.
But there's something in usthat keeps getting up.
And I want to help you reframethe conversation today, because even
though you want to stay down,there are people right now that we
know deep down are dependingupon us.
And we keep getting up.
(03:24):
There's just good news.
Falling or fail doesn'tdisqualify you from God's calling.
And I know there's a lot of usthat feel if we've made too many
mistakes, God's going to giveup on us.
And that's not the case.
God is not going to give up onyou because you keep falling down.
Matter of fact, I don't readanywhere in scripture where God gives
up on us.
(03:45):
He gives us chance afterchance after chance, and then he
allows us to go in our ownway, and then he waits for us to
call upon him and then he runs in.
That's what scripture shows us.
So you're never disqualifiedfrom your calling because you fail.
Where we find ourselves isevery time we get knocked down, we
(04:07):
think that we're destroyed,but that's not the case.
You may be knocked down, butyou're not destroyed.
You're not disqualified.
Scripture 4:2 Corinthians 4, 9reminds us persecuted, not abandoned,
struck down, but not destroyed.
And so the idea is thatscripture never tells us that we're
knocked.
(04:27):
We're not going to be knocked down.
Scripture tells us we're notgoing to be destroyed.
We're not abandoned.
We.
We're not left alone.
But we will be knocked downfrom time to time.
And for some of us, likemyself, you're going to hear a lot
of my stories permeate throughthis podcast because I've been knocked
down more times than I like to admit.
(04:47):
So let me give you threepoints that are going to anchor yourself
in the darkest of times.
The first one, stop pretendingyou're fine.
Stop pretending likeeverything is okay, because it's
okay not to be okay.
It's okay to ask for help.
I struggle asking for helpbecause I went through so much trauma
(05:09):
growing up that it was unsafeto ask for help.
So I Delved into a real deepindividuality and independence, hyper
independence, where it wasunsafe for me to ask for help.
So I often never asked for.
And I just suffered alone in silence.
But as I grow older, as I getmore into Christ, as I live life
(05:29):
with my wife, who teaches methese amazing things through her
own struggles, it's okay notto be okay.
It's okay to ask for help.
It's okay to be weak.
Matter of fact, Scripturetells us it's in our weakness God
is made, his power is made perfect.
And we have to recognize that.
We've got to stop theChristian platitudes of I'm blessed
(05:51):
and highly favored, whileinside we we're falling apart.
We've got to stop with thiswrong theology of I can't say anything
or I'm going to be cursed.
I don't know where thatstarted in Christianity, but it's
wrong.
The power of life and death inthe tongue doesn't mean you speak
these word curses if you'reacknowledging how you feel in order
(06:13):
to overcome it.
Remember, we don't serve a Godwho's vindictive or judgmental in
a critical way.
That's not the God we serve.
We serve a God who's loving,who's going to challenge us, who
is just, who is holy.
And when he goes into ourlives, he says, that's not okay for
you to have and begins to take it.
But one of the prerequisitesof that is we have to admit and relinquish.
(06:39):
Like, we have to acknowledgethat we have the problem.
You look at AA or N A or anyof these other things, like they
won't even accept you untilyou admit that you have a problem.
And in Christianity, we shouldbe no different.
If we have the Savior of theuniverse, we have to admit and accept
that we have a problem andthat we are not okay.
(07:00):
And that's okay because thatdoesn't mean that's the state you're
always going to be in.
I mean, look at Psalms.
I say, if you ever want tolearn how to complain properly, read
Psalms.
David complained all the time,in a proper way to God.
He never hid his pain.
He lived it.
And he shared it with God.
He said, God, these people areafter me.
They want to kill me.
(07:21):
They want to take my life.
God, you see it all throughthe Psalms.
And he says, God, where are you?
You said, I would be king, butI'm hiding in caves.
So maybe this prayer, firstprayer for you this week is to say,
lord, make me strong in my Weakness.
Maybe your prayer should be,lord, I'm broken.
But you're the healer.
(07:42):
You're the one who helps me.
You're the doorway to healing.
Matter of fact, you're JehovahRofe, the Lord who heals.
So let's start with that.
Let's go to the greatphysician and say, God, I'm not okay.
Can you help me be okay?
And then allow God to bringpeople in your life who know you,
(08:02):
you're safe with.
So that when you can say, hey,I'm not okay today, they can encourage
you, they can pray for you, orthey can do what's needed in order
to support you.
That's what community reallylooks like.
Which brings me to the second point.
You've got to anchor yourselfback in God's presence.
Isaiah 30, Isaiah 40, 31 says this.
(08:24):
Those who wait on the Lordwill renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles.
Notice it didn't say those whogrind harder, those who hustle more,
those who isolate more.
No, it doesn't say any of that.
It says, those who wait, thosewho pause, those who breathe, who
(08:45):
quit striving.
Remember, you know, the Biblealso tells us in Psalms 46, 10, be
still and know that I am God.
That word still needs to quitstriving, right?
Those of us that breathe canbegin there to anchor ourselves in
God's presence.
And for me, and maybe for you,this may look like breath prayers.
(09:06):
This may look like lord, helpme today because I don't know how
to help myself.
If you want follow me on onFacebook at Lead with Jim Every morning
without fail, I post a breath prayer.
If you don't know how to praya breath prayer, go to that Facebook
post, hit the follow and lookfor the breath prayer every morning
and pray that prayer.
(09:27):
Because I do it.
Because I want you to beencouraged and to empowered.
Because we've got toconstantly be reminded that we are
not alone, that the presenceof God is always with us.
Even if we don't feel it, wewe know that God's presence is with
us.
And in those moments we haveto really do breath prayers.
If we can't muster up anyother strength and go, God, I can't
(09:48):
feel you, but I know you are here.
Remember, there's a differencebetween feeling and knowing.
We don't need to feel God toknow God.
And so God, I know you'rehere, so help me be more sensitive
to your presence.
And when we're more sensitiveto his presence, we'll feel at least
in some way or See in some waythat God is with us and has never
(10:12):
left us nor forsaken us.
So just take the moment to reanchor yourself in God's presence,
whether it be breath, prayers.
Matter of fact, you can alsotake a walk.
Leave the headphones at home.
Just take a walk in silence.
I think we put so much noiseinside of our heads that we miss
out on what God's trying to say.
Because we're trying.
We're so afraid of the silence.
(10:32):
It's in the silence that Godis speaking.
Jason Upton wrote a beautifulsong about that.
I'll include it in the shownotes for you because it's one of
my favorite song.
It's because he speaks that hesays, in the silence you are speaking.
Oh Lord, how much morebeautiful can you say that?
And remember, if we're alwaysdistracting ourselves, and I did
(10:52):
an episode not too long ago ondistracting, you can check that out
in the catalog.
But we're.
If we're so busy ondistracting ourselves with sound
and all these other voices, wemay miss the one voice we need that's
going to help us constantlyget back up and never quit.
This leads me to the third point.
Take small steps.
(11:13):
Let me even add a word.
Take small, courageous steps.
Because sometimes the smalleststep you take is the most courageous
one, especially if it's thefirst one.
Because people have thismisconception of resilience.
People believe resilience isbouncing back immediately and getting
back up and back in the game.
No, sometimes you're bouncingback takes weeks, sometimes it can
(11:34):
take a year, sometimes itcould take longer.
But it's not about bouncingback immediately.
It's about getting up andtaking the next right step and the
next one after that.
In fact, the Bible tells usthat we get a lamp before our feet
to illuminate the next step.
It doesn't give us afloodlight to illuminate multiple
steps.
He gives us the next step.
(11:55):
So we have to understand thatin this resilience, bounce back.
It could take a while, butthat's okay.
Your job is not to worry aboutfive steps.
Your job is to worry about thenext step that God is taking you.
And if you're not anchoring inhis presence, you're going to miss
that step.
You're going to jump rightback into hustle culture, get up
and grind.
And what you're not realizingit is you're depleting what little
(12:18):
energy and what little lifeyou have left and you're depleting
it more.
So burnout becomes easierevery single time.
So if we anchor ourselves in our.
In God's presence, if we makesure that we're admitting that we're
not okay, and then we takenext step after next step, we will
bounce back healthier,stronger, and more resilient than
(12:39):
we've ever been if we do itthe right way and we don't dive right
back into what made usunhealthy in the first place.
Now, I don't know what thatnext step is for you.
The next step for you could besimply writing that email that you've
been dreading, journaling thatyou've been avoiding, reading that
scripture, that you have beenseriously, like, just navigating
(13:02):
around everything you could dobut that scripture.
And you know that's what Godwants you to read.
So go read it.
Maybe.
Well, let me say this for me.
My mom, before she passed, andmy mom passed in 2023 from cancer.
And she left me a voicemailbefore she lost her voice, before
the cancer really took a lotfrom her before she passed.
And I didn't listen to thatmessage for a long time.
(13:24):
Matter of fact, I think it wasalmost a year and a half before I
listened to that messagebecause it was so hurtful, because
there's so many things Iwanted to say to her, so many things
I wanted to fix, so manythings that I didn't get a chance
to because the cancer came onand it came so fast.
And a year and a half later, Ihad no idea what she was going to
say, but she said, don't pickup the.
(13:45):
She called me one day.
She said, don't pick up the phone.
I want to leave you a message.
Because she knew, and it wasonly a minute and a half, and it
was her saying, she says, Ilove you to the moon and back.
And I avoided that for a yearand a half.
But now I have this eternalmemory of her in her voice telling
me she loves me.
So what have you been avoiding?
(14:05):
That's your next step.
That's the courageous step youhave to take.
But here's the truth.
God doesn't need you to sprint.
There's no speed that you needto go in order to reach the finish
line.
All we're required to is totake a stand.
That's Ephesians 6.
And then make it across thefinish line.
Even if you're crawling acrossthe finish line, even if you feel
(14:28):
like you're in last place,that's okay.
Our job is to cross the finishline at the end of this life into
the next, not run, not jog.
Just follow the pace God setfor you and make sure you're doing
it in a healthy way.
Make sure you're doing itanchored in the fact that you need
to acknowledge, you know, thethings that you're going through.
You need to anchor yourself inhis presence.
(14:49):
And then you need to takecourageous step after courageous
step.
And you know what?
And we can all get gold starsat the end of that, because every
courageous step requires a celebration.
And I want to celebrate with you.
I want to make sure that youand I are constantly moving into
God, because when life punchesus in the throat, we have to get
back up.
You're not allowed to stay down.
(15:10):
There's eternal ramificationsof you staying down.
People that may not hear Jesusbecause you didn't show up, people
that would not be transformedbecause you decided to quit, that's
not okay.
It's okay to rest, it's okayto take time.
It's okay to heal.
But your life isn't over aslong as you're breathing.
God is not done with you.
So if we do this in a healthyway, we'll live a beautiful, long
(15:33):
life and.
But we'll live it in a waywhere our life has fulfillment and
impact and meaning, not justdoing a bunch of stuff and hope.
We're doing okay.
So that really ends up where Iwant to encourage you.
Who do you need to bring intoyour life?
Even if it's just you and Godhaving the conversation initially
where you can be honest andreal and say, I'm struggling in this
(15:56):
one area.
Now, you and I know that youand I both probably struggle in multiple
areas.
That's okay.
But just pick one.
Start somewhere small.
Take that courageous step andshare with somebody and with God.
This is the area I'mstruggling in.
Let that be released and see.
Watch the weight come off of you.
Watch it just become more bearable.
(16:19):
And then find that practicethat you need to do and to support
that, you know, whatever that be.
Maybe you pray, maybe you seea therapist, maybe you journal more,
whatever that means to supportyourself in a healthy way, to get
back up and keep getting back up.
Because why?
Because the healthier youbecome, the stronger you become,
the more resilient you become,and the better you're able to follow
(16:43):
God to the end of this life,whatever that may be for you.
And if that's the case, you'llhear, well done, good and faithful
servant.
And I think at the end of theday, that's how God meets us, is
when you're feeling down, whenyou're feeling like you've been knocked
out that God gets on theground with us and he says, come
on my kid, come on, get up.
(17:04):
We're almost there.
We got little ways to go andhelps us up and pushes us to the
end so we can stand before himand hear those words.
So my friend, I'm so gratefulyou're here and let's just do this
journey together and learnwhat it means to have an unshakable
life.
Thank you for spending thistime with me on the Unshakable Life
podcast.
(17:24):
My prayer is that today'sconversation helps you to build build
resilience, reclaim peace, andstep with courage into your God given
calling.
If this episode has encouragedyou, challenged you, or impacted
you in any way, could you dome a favor?
Share it with a friend, leavea review and hit the follow so you
don't miss what's next.
(17:45):
And if you want more tools andencouragement for your journey, head
over to leadwithjim.com you'llfind resources to help you grow as
a healthy, authentic Christianleader, entrepreneur and creator.
And until next time, rememberyour foundation is Christ, your calling
is unshakable, and your lifecan make eternal impact.
(18:05):
This is the Unshakable LifeMindset Resilience Action.
No strife.
Break free from the burnout.
Find your true north with yourguy Jim Burgoon stepping forward.
(18:28):
This is the Unshakable Life.
Host
Jim Burgoon
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.