Faith In Between

Faith and Transformation: Embracing Weakness to Find Spiritual Growth

Uilani Kumuhone Season 7 Episode 81

Have you ever felt trapped in the monotony of daily life, yearning for meaningful change? How do you find contentment amid financial struggles and feelings of inadequacy? 
Today, let's discuss the struggles and triumphs of mothers juggling multiple roles, overcoming discontentment by trusting in God's sufficiency, and focusing on the present moment. Reflecting on key scriptures and practical advice, we discuss the importance of financial ethics, especially in low-income areas like Hawaii, and how God's grace can lead to true peace and fulfillment. This episode is a heartfelt reminder that acknowledging our weaknesses and turning to God can bring transformative change and spiritual growth, encouraging everyone to trust in God's plan and keep pushing forward with faith, no matter how daunting the journey may become.

Flow of Show
Main: Discontentment

  • Discontentment [Merriam-Webster online dictionary]: the condition of being dissatisfied with oneʻs life or situation. 
  • Hebrews 13:5 (AMP) 
  • 1 Timothy 6:6-10 (AMP)

How did I get out of the discontentment?

  • The only way is through God
  • 2 Corinthians 12:9 (AMP)
  • Perfect [Merriam-Webster online dictionary]:Being entirely without fault or defects.  
  • Matthew 6:33 (AMP)

Trusting God

  • Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP)
  • Isaiah 55:8-9 (AMP)
  • Psalm 37:4 (AMP)

Domestic Violence resource list
National hotline: (800)799-7233
Oahu Domestic Violence Shelter: (808)526-2200
Domestic Violence Action Center: (808)531-3771
Child and Family Services: (808)841-0822




Mahalo for joining me today!
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supporting biblical resources

  • You Version bible website:https://www.bible.com/
  • Topical bible verse search: https://www.openbible.info/topics/

As always thank you for being here with me on Faith In Between, My name is Uilani Kumhone and I will connect with you on the next one.

Bye!!

Speaker 1:

Music by. We have so many things to jump into today, so let's get right into it. Aloha ladies, what's up? And welcome back to Faith in Between. Thank you guys so much for being here. I don't know if you guys realize, but I really cut my introduction short. I just was like get to the point so we can get into our episodes, because these past couple episodes have been so good that I've been going way over and I don't want to keep doing that to you guys, so I'm going to cut the introduction short, that way we can just get right into our episode. So today, before we even start, as always, we want to just do some you know, beginning chatter before we even get into our actual episode. We even get into our actual episode.

Speaker 1:

Last week I, or the week before last, I talked about my marriage and how you know, trusting God with the process, and I use my marriage to really show you guys what that would look like in your life. And you know, for me it really did come from within my marriage. And don't get me wrong, like me and my husband are still working on our marriage. Definitely, marriage is an ongoing thing that you need to continuously work on, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows right now and it's not going to ever be. You know, we always have to learn and grow from the season that we're in with our spouses. So I mean that message can be carried on to many different things, but I specifically used my marriage because I felt like that's where God was kind of showing me that that's where he was really using that scripture at that time. So I hope you guys really like that message.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to continue to talk about my marriage more because I feel like more local girls here on the island really need to hear that for their marriage, because I know that we kind of struggle in silence with, um, our husbands. There's so much things that you know with us local girls that we kind of just keep to ourselves and I think marriage is kind of one of them. You know, besides, like our regular like gossip and ranting that we do to our best friends or like our you know moms and stuff there we really don't really sit down and really talk about that. So that all goes to say, you know, like I hope that if you guys do, are you know if you guys are struggling with something way deeper than what I can even address, because for me, I'm not trying to fix your marriage. I'm just trying to give you guys instant encouragement and faith within your marriage.

Speaker 1:

Fixing your marriage takes so much more and there is counseling and there is, you know, groups set up to help you if you are struggling with your marriage like really, really, and I would encourage you guys to go and seek those out maybe go to your church or look online and see if there's anything you can find On the flip side of that. I also didn't mention that as I talk about marriage, I I don't want to be insensitive to those women who are out there who are struggling in a really abusive marriage. I know that that's not something that people want to hear, but I know that it's really real and, though I don't deal with that, I just pray that if that is you, that you have the courage and the strength through God to find and seek help, and I collected a few numbers and a few places that here on Hawaii, on Oahu, that you can go ahead and call. If that is you in that situation and you're kind of just trying to figure out how to get out of that or wanting help through that, because I really can't help you with that, but I wish I could. But these organizations definitely could. Um, this is the national domestic violence hotline and that one is for the entire us, so that one is 800-799-7233. And then we have three different shelters and centers here on oahu the. The first one is the Oahu Domestic Violence Shelter, and then Domestic Violence Action Center and then Child and Family Services. So these three are going to be in Oahu. The locations are disclosed for, of course, safety reasons. So if you want to, you can go ahead and call them and they can help you from there. And I will have those three numbers listed in the show notes below so you guys can go ahead and look at that if that's you and sis, like I just want to encourage you like, don't be afraid. I know that that's something you know easy to say when it's not you, but I promise that God's got you.

Speaker 1:

There was a time in my marriage also where I felt that I needed to leave my marriage, not because of an abusive marriage, but because just where I was at emotionally and mentally, it wasn't okay with me, and so I really felt like I needed to leave, and this was years ago and I prayed and asked I was like Lord, what do I do, you know? And he just was, like, be obedient to me. And so, you know, long story short, I, you know, at that time I was like I told my husband I have to leave and within like a short time, there was so much things that happened between me and him, like a few days, where it kind of really God really shifted that narrative and my husband really came to a place of understanding and love towards me. And I pray for that for you. But if you're not getting that, trust God, sis, like do the thing and and move forward. And I I don't know if that, you know, I don't mean to be offensive, if that's offending anybody, because that's not what my goal is. I just want to encourage you to, you know, do what's best for you and your family and know that it's not your fault, that that the other person in your relationship has their own responsibilities and their own um things that they need to work out for themselves. Okay, we cannot fix them for, for for them. They have to do that on their own and you have to do that for your own.

Speaker 1:

But all that goes to say I just hope that you guys are really seeking God through your guys' marriages and really asking God for that clarity and that newness that you need, that freshness, and trust him through the process. That was what that whole episode was about before. This was trusting him through that process, going through that breakdown, breaking us down to that bare minimum, and then him building us back up. Right, that's the part we got to trust him with that he's going to build us back up. Same for any situation, right. Breaking us down, whatever that looks like for us, whatever we feel like God is calling us to do, and him trusting that he's going to build us up after that us to do, and him trusting that he's going to build us up after that, all right. But I just you know my heart goes out to you guys. You know, with those marriages that are just struggling, I understand completely, um, and I hope that things get better. I really do um. So you know other than that. You know other than that, that heaviness that we, that we, have to address.

Speaker 1:

Um, I'm so excited because my kids are all back in school. I we've been dealing with some sickness in my home, of course, like as soon as they step into the school, all of their like allergies and everything starts acting up. My oldest has been home for a whole week now. He got sent home, he's still at home, he still has some symptoms and stuff. So it's just been really crazy. But the I've also gotten you also gotten some crazy shifts in my life.

Speaker 1:

I signed up for a free course at KCC they were offering it and one of my friends from high school had posted like hey, if you guys want to know more about this, let me know. So I just DM'd her and then she gave me all the information. I was kind of sitting on it for a while and then, maybe like two weeks after, I felt Holy Spirit, keep bringing this thing up, this opportunity up in front of me. So I finally reached out, registered and I am now a full-fledged, full-time student. I am so excited. I haven't been in school for the last 11 years since my son was born, literally when my oldest son, literally when my oldest son. I was pregnant to him walking on the stage getting my degree at LCC. So this is crazy that 11 years later I am now back in school. It's a free course offered by KCC in the field of community health worker.

Speaker 1:

I don't know if much of you guys have heard that it's not a very common term right now. They're still building it up to be a more professional position in the health care system. But you've met them before, I'm pretty sure. When you go to your doctors, like at the major hospitals or anywhere at the clinics or the health centers, they're there to not only look at your physical health needs but also all your health needs your mental, your emotional, your environmental, all these sorts of things to help you live a better lifestyle overall. Not just oh, I feel sick and I need medicine, but like hey, what's going on at home? Hey, what kind of stress do you deal with all day? You know, what does your environment look like every day? You know, and those and helping to adjust things in people's lives that way. But they also give resources for medical and, um, like as far as medical insurance and all that stuff. So it's a kind of a heavy thing. I mean I'm a little nervous about it because I'm really not hursed in like resources or even like medical, like professional side of the medical part.

Speaker 1:

But you know I'm learning. It's exciting just to be back in school. So that's just something. You know. We're all back in school and for all of you mamas who are in college right now, who are taking classes, you know, trying to deal with everything at home and make sure your kids get everything done on top of you going to school. Keep going, girl. I'm so proud of you. We'll get through this semester and God's got us. I promise you that. So you know, moving into that from you know into our message, from that being in school again and having this new opportunity in front of me. It's funny because, like this has been years now where I've been asking God, you know, to make this change in my life and I've been like Lord I really need something different in my life.

Speaker 1:

I don't know what it is, because you know, if you know, especially if you're a stay-at-home mom or a mom in general, whether you're working or whether you're going to school, you do feel like at some point that your life is kind of really just repetitive and mundane, right, like you got to wash the dishes and wash the clothes, fold them, take care of your kids, take them to school. It's very mundane tasks that you have to do and after a while it's very mundane tasks that you have to do and after a while it gets very draining, either which way you go, whether you're working, whether you're at school, whether you're staying home full-time or whether you're doing a little bit of everything and this can feel super like pointless after a while. You know what I mean. Like I don't know about you guys, but you know, like you just felt like the same thing was happening over and over and over again and you're so close to something great, but then you always just you fall short, you fall back and you just keep doing that same routine and having that same way of life that you've always been doing. And though that way of life is not a super horrible bad bad thing, I mean, if it is, then I encourage you to seek help. But for most of us it's just like we're just bored or like we're just like we don't know what that is.

Speaker 1:

I finally understood after spending time with God and this was like a few months ago, that this happened, I think even before summer. But for some reason God brought it back up to me again to talk about, because I wanted to talk about my school and all this stuff about new opportunities. But then there was another part where I was like but hold on, because before that, before I even got into school and before I even, you know, started this new journey and this new adventure, there was that space in my life where I just felt like everything was the same and I kept pushing for something different and nothing was changing. And I was just getting so frustrated with Christ because I was like Lord, what is? Why don't, why can't I make any kind of changes? Like, why is it still the same thing over and over and over again? And one day I was driving in my car to go pick up my daughter at school and I'm I'm asking God, I'm like Lord, what is going on? Why? Every time I keep asking, I feel like nothing's happening, like help me.

Speaker 1:

And for some reason he brought this podcast episode up from Christine Kane and it was titled let me see where is? Is it the key to being content, no matter what? And I was like I just kind of looked up at the sky and I was like lord, I know, I know you're not about to teach you. This like this is crazy, like this. Because, mind you, I haven't listened to christine kane from the very beginning, so I just kind of came in in the middle and so I've been trying to catch up on all her episodes and I would just listen to the next and the next. So there was no like scrolling through her thing. And when I like literally opened up my podcast app after praying, like in that in that moment that episode was the one that was the next one, and I was like, oh my gosh, I already knew and so right, I play it. And this episode is so like spot on to what I've been feeling.

Speaker 1:

And I think it's like the main topic of what I want to talk about today, which is discontentment. And discontentment, according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, is the condition of being dissatisfied with one's life or situation. And when I just read that description or that definition 100% I'm like, oh my gosh, yes, that is where I was at. I was so dissatisfied with my own life and my own situation that I didn't take the time to appreciate what was right in front of me. Right, and I think a lot of us do this and we don't mean to, but sometimes, when we're chasing after something way ahead of us, we forget to focus on what's right in front of us. Right, and those things that are right in front of us is actually what God really wants for us to do, because that's the here and now, that's what he wants us to take care of. All those things in the future, those dreams that we have, those goals that we have, those will come if we trust God with the here and now and if we be obedient to him in the here and now. And so this is something that I had to learn and, honestly, guys, it changed my life. That being aware of that discontentment and learning about it and leaning into Christ about it, that is what helped change my life. Not any type of money that I could have wanted which I did Not any kind of job or any kind of schooling. It was the fact that I could hone in and say discontentment is in my life, present, and I need to fix that first. And so this is where this whole thing came from.

Speaker 1:

So Hebrews 13, verse five, the amplified classic I've been loving the amplified classic, by the way it says let your character, your moral essence, your inner nature be free from the love of money, shun greed, be financially ethical, being content with what you have. For he has said I will never, under any circumstances, desert you, nor give you up. So what, essentially, hebrews 13.5 is saying that when we become greedy, well, we want more right. And I'm using money because I honestly feel like a lot of people in hawaii in white, and I especially can relate to this. And I know, sis, like I know, it's such an ugly, you know thing, to rear its head in your life. Trust me, I wasn't always like this. I feel like I got this way after having my kids and seeing that, you know, hawaii is just expensive, like it's just expensive to live in, and noticing that I want my kids to have all of these things and wanting them to have a better life than I had is something. So it just it just clings to you.

Speaker 1:

And so I started becoming this person of like I want more and and it's funny, because I've set my heart out on many different, many different network marketing opportunities because of this and I'm gonna tell you guys right now, none of them are successful, and not because I don't think I mean I think I think I'm really good at like being able to talk stories with people and sell them things. I believe I could do it, but it never happened for me and I realized it's because that God was like that's not your place girl, like as much as I wanted it to be my place, because I wanted to make more money for my family, because I wanted to feel like I was doing something to contribute to my household with my husband. I did it and I see now that God was like but that's not your place, you don't have a place in the marketplace right now. Your place right now is in your home and for a long time I just was like yeah, but I want more, I want more, I want more and this is what my issue was and living growing up in right. So, okay, sorry, let me back up just a little bit.

Speaker 1:

If you live in white and I, if you live on oahu and you live in these places, like, like white and I, um kalihi palolo, like these are low income areas, these are poverty, you know deterred areas, these are places that people who are on welfare, on Medicaid, on you know all this kind of assistance programs, really live, and I'm, I'm a part of that community because I'm also in that boat. You know I'm. I don't work, my, my husband's the only one that works, because I, we decided that we're going to, you know, give space for us to raise our children and not shove them off to babysitters or daycares or anything like that. But if that is you, if you are, you know you and your husband are working and you have to send your kids to daycare, that is not a problem. Like, I'm not here to judge anybody because, yes, I get it, we got to do what we got to do.

Speaker 1:

At this point, everybody has their own way of life. So for me, we just chose that I stay home, and because my mom did the same thing too. So living this kind of lifestyle that your parents lived, living in poverty for so long, like it's so difficult, it's such a struggle and your mind, especially when you start having kids, ends up being like I want more, I want more for my kids, I want more for me. Like it just gets to you after some point. So first timothy six, verse six, oh wait, sorry.

Speaker 1:

First timothy six, through 10, says but godliness actually is a source of great gain when accompanied by contentment, that contentment which comes from a sense of inner confidence based on the sufficiency of God, for we have brought nothing into the world, so it is clear that we cannot take anything out of it either. But if we have food and clothing. With these we will be content. But those who are not financially ethical and crave to get rich, with a compulsive greedy longing for wealth, fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction, leading to personal misery. For the love of money, that is, the greedy desire for it and the willingness to gain it unethically, is a root of all sort of evil and some, by longing for it, have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves through and through with many sorrows.

Speaker 1:

I don't know if anybody had to hear that, because that is such a heavy scripture to read, even for me. I I was like, oh my gosh, because it describes me like trying to not I mean, I'm not trying to unethically, I don't do things illegally but like I'm trying to do any which way thing that I can do to get more of it. Because, right, like I said, living in poverty, and this is just, I'm using money because it's such a universal topic to understand. When it comes to discontentment, because a lot of us live in discontentment, especially in our finances, right, and I, you know, I just I realized that I was trapped in this life of trying every which way to get to the place of overflowing abundance. Right, but, and overflow? It's funny because I wanted to do this overflowing abundance, which only Christ promises and only Christ can give. But I'm trying to do it in a worldly way, on my own, like, okay, this is what overflowing abundance looks like. I'm going to go chase that. And God is like no, I promise that. What I promise the world cannot give. Right Like that. God tells us this over and over again. Right, just like his peace. What the world gives you, that is quote unquote peace is not the peace that we think it is, and the only peace that we can truly be content in and satisfied in is his peace, right.

Speaker 1:

So discontentment is just this huge monster that just rears its head, especially when you're a mom of multiple children, when you're living in impoverished areas, like like we do, and you have a lifestyle that only taught you how to live in poverty, basically, and that's like all of white and I. So don't feel bad if this is useless. Sis, like this is me too, like I. I have the same issue and I have the same type of like wandering, of like what do I do? And and where it says where a lot of people have wandered away from their faith because of this, because of this greediness and girl, I've been there Like literally, I swear to goodness.

Speaker 1:

There's this one time where I was just hustling just to like make and nothing was happening, nothing. I didn't get a penny out of it. Why? Because that's not what God wanted for me. That's not where God needed me to be. He needed me to be right here. So that brings me to my topic number two, because we got to keep on going on. This is how did I get out of that discontentment? And, honestly, the only answer is God. God is the only way out of that. There is no other way to get out of that.

Speaker 1:

So second corinthians, 12, verse 9, says but he has said to me my grace is sufficient for you. My loving, kindness and my mercy are more than enough, always available regardless of the situation, for my power is being perfected and is completed, and shows itself most effectively in your weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weakness so that the power, of the power of christ, may completely enfold me and may dwell in me. Guys, this scripture is so amazing, right?

Speaker 1:

The first thing I started doing was getting quiet with God. This is the very first thing that I needed to do, and it's something that you need to do in order to get over this discontentment. After I realized that that's what it was, that discontentment is what was holding me back, I was like, lord, I gotta get into prayer with you, I gotta get the real work done, which was the work within myself with Christ. So, because after years of feeling like nothing was changing, I really began to take the time and work on my quiet time with God first, like make set, get that routine set right, cause we often think that we can do this with no intention. We think that set right Because we often think that we can do this with no intention. We think that and I do this too, I do this a lot Just reading those devotionals and those five minute, you know, bible verses on our phones is enough, but it's not enough.

Speaker 1:

Guys, those things are great, they're great to keep you in the loop, but they're not enough. You still got to stop and find that time and you still got to be intentional about it. And I get it right. Like we have so much things in the day. We have all these things, but that's why my time is early in the morning before my kids wake up. I and then trust me, it's not perfect all the time. I'm tired half the time but I especially in these times when I know that I need it the most I make sure I get up. I set my alarm an hour early.

Speaker 1:

I get up out of of bed, I get in my room, wash my face, whatever I got to do, and even for you, even if that it's just five minutes on your break at work or that 15 minutes that you got break between your classes, even if it's that sis, stop and spend the intentional time with Christ. Go to your car, go find a little spot under the tree, sit with him and just ask him, just give him all of your worries for that day and tell him Lord, this is all that I got. I only got five minutes. I'm I'm, you know, I'm sorry that this is all I got. I'm working really hard, I'm doing all this stuff, but this is all I got and I surrender it to you.

Speaker 1:

Like guys like that intentionality in those five minutes is worth way more than half an hour sitting in prayer or just reading your phone on your Bible or doing. I mean I'm not saying, if you're spending half an hour in prayer, amazing, great, that's not what I meant. Sorry, I cut myself short on that one. But like, if you're just babbling on, is what I mean? Like just sitting in prayer, just saying all these things and you're not really asking God the right questions, or for yourself that, true, that weakness that you got, we got to just be like Lord. This is my weakness, because guess what hon? He already knows what your weakness is. He's waiting for you to know it. He's waiting for you to ask him about it. Why? Because if you don't realize it on your own, if you cannot come to that your own place of like this is what I'm struggling with then god knows that he's never going to be able to do anything that's going to actually help you, because everything that he will do for you will be for waste, because we, if we're not in in the know of what's going on in our life, then we're just going to keep walking over it like it's nothing right.

Speaker 1:

We have to be intentional. We have to know, lord, this is my, and this is why I love this scripture, because he tells us our weaknesses are perfected, right, are perfected. God's power is perfected in you, me, our, my weaknesses. So when we give our weaknesses to God and we let allow him to work on those weaknesses, his power is being perfected more and more in us, and I believe this is what testimony is all about.

Speaker 1:

When you hear a testimony, it's the final result about something happening that there was their weakness and God worked them through it and at at the end, they became this right, this better person. Their life was changed, their you know world is different now. And that testimony holds power because in their weakness, as they worked through it with God, god's power became perfected within them. And that's the perfection that we test, you know, protect, proclaim to other people. That's when we say our testimony and other people that power that we hold in our testimony, when we push it out, that's when other people are like wow, they received the power of Christ through that.

Speaker 1:

And so I believe that, whatever it is, you're and I know, girl, I know there's some things that are just like, like you're probably thinking like sis, you don't even want to know my weakness like it's so horrible, it's disgusting, and I get that. Like sis, I get that there's some deep, dark things that I work through too for myself and one of the prayers that I pray on that level. I'm like, lord, you know my dark spots, you know my weaknesses, you know where those spots lie. I don't have the strength to tell you that, but I'm going to tell you that I'm aware of it and I need your help with that. Like and I always pray like shine your light on the darkness in my life. That's what I always say bring those things to light, lord. Let them come out the way they need to strengthen me for the storm that I need to go through, because those things are going to start coming to light. Strengthen me, help me, protect me, guide me in that storm, but bring them out, because I don't want to live like this anymore. Like, literally, that's been like my prayer for like these past couple of weeks, because I'm like I want to get it all out at this point. I don't want it anymore. I want to be different, I want to change, but that's the only time that God can really change you is when you're ready for that, because he can do so much other things.

Speaker 1:

People can help you over and over and over, and this is same with anything else when you try and help somebody over and over and over again and they just disregard your help or they go right back to what they were doing after your help. It gets discouraging and it gets tiring right, even for us as as the amazing people that we're, even for the mamas that we are right. When our kids continuously do those things we ask them not to do, it gets difficult. It's like I can't help you anymore unless you get you know, unless you're ready to help yourself first. Like you have to do something, right, right, that's the same thing with God. Like we need to do something first before we can just be like heal me, lord, give me the new mindset. Okay, great, God can do it all, he can do all of that.

Speaker 1:

But is what you're asking for what you really want? Because what you really want and what you're asking for needs there is work that needs to be done with that. There is a lot of footwork, there's a lot of spiritual work, there's a lot of mental and emotional work that needs to be do that, you know, in order for that to be done and that's the part that scares me is that part I'm like, oh Lord, I don't know if I'm ready for that, but you know, just like with this discontentment, I needed to be ready to bring all of that out into the light, and I wasn't ready for that. But I was like you know what, lord? No, because I'd rather walk through that storm and come out on the other side of that in a much better place than I was, then stay exactly where I am now because I'm I'm so weary already in this space. I need to get out of it, and I'm ready to do that. Right and so?

Speaker 1:

Um, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary of the word perfect means being entirely without fault or defects, right? So this is why we are praying to God about our, we are asking God about our weaknesses, because we want to reach this place where we're entirely without fault, we can walk away from that weakness and be like we are done. We have the power of God in us. That weakness is perfected in Christ, and I am a new person. That's where this all starts coming in Right, and so that is like this is sorry, like this is just so amazing. I'm so excited.

Speaker 1:

So Matthew 6, 33 says but first and most importantly, seek aim at strive after his kingdom and his righteousness, his way of doing and being right, the attitude and character of God, and all these things will be given to you. Also, guys, really seek him. That's it. Keep going to him, keep finding him and everything else you want. When you start working at those things that you need help with, everything else will be added onto you, honey, like that's just it. But trust him with what you got right now. Trust him with that weakness. Everything else will come. I promise you that.

Speaker 1:

So my last and final thing is trusting god, and I know you guys are like um, you always say this, but you know what. It's true. Trusting god is the thing that I want to continue to push out to you guys, because that's what my podcast is all about having faith in between our seasons, right in between those things that we have no clue what's going on. Trusting god, having hope in god. So, of course, proverbs 3, 5 through 6 says trust and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways, know and acknowledge and recognize him, and he will make your paths straight and smooth, removing obstacles that block your way. So this is one of my all-time favorite scriptures, along with jeremiah 29, 11.

Speaker 1:

These scriptures remind me that the thing that we need to do, the only thing we need to do, is trust in god with all of our hearts and not to rely on our own understanding. And so isaiah 55, 8 through 9 says for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my, your ways, my ways, declares the lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. And so when I look at proverbs 3, 5 through 6 and isaiah 55, 8 through 9 together, side by side, you know I see a bigger story, and it's telling me that I can trust god in god's understanding, because his understanding, his ways, are higher than mine. So the, so what I'm understanding, is only a fraction of what god knows, maybe, even though not, maybe, not even a snippet, but just a real small thing of what god knows. So I can trust that, I can trust him with my things, because what I understand is nothing compared to what he understands, and because he's God and because he's almighty, he can see that and he can trust that, because his ways are higher, his understanding is higher than mine.

Speaker 1:

And so Psalms 37, 4 says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires and petitions of your heart. This is like my I love. I found this scripture like two years ago and I absolutely love this scripture. Right, delight yourself in the Lord. All these things that the Lord is asking us to do. Give him our weaknesses right. Don't rely on our own understanding. Trust in him and rely on his understanding of everything these things. When we delight in the Lord. That's how we delight in the Lord when we actually do these things that he's asking us to do and he will give you the desires and petitions of your heart. He will give you those things because when you trust him with everything, then he can. He will work everything out the way that it needs to be done, and those desires in your heart are not overlooked. They're just waiting for the right time.

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God is waiting for the right time for those desires in your heart and, trust me, when you align your ways with his ways, when you ask him, lord, align my heart with your heart, your desires change. They change into something way bigger, way better than what you could have ever imagined. Because we're seeking him, because God sees that whatever he gives to us, that is the desires of our hearts We'll be able to handle and take care of, because we are doing it from a place of trusting him. And that's it Right. And so I think that whole, that last scripture sums everything up beautifully that when we come to God with our struggles, with our weaknesses, and we do it intentional, we be intentional about those things and really sit with him and seek him in the midst of all of that and trust him to be God and do the God thing with our weaknesses and our struggles, like change it and bring holy power to it. By turning it into a testimony, we are able to walk in that which he is calling us to, that which we may have felt was lost for a long time. But after doing the work and spending the time and being honest with God, seeking him, we are able to start heading into that direction and in the right direction with God.

Speaker 1:

So thank you guys so much for joining me today on this episode. It it has been such a hectic time in my life with the kids and school and all of that stuff, but I believe that God is using all of those instances in my life to bring strong and connecting stories to you folks, to bring encouragement in whatever you are currently going through in your life, which is my ultimate goal for the podcast. So thank you guys, so, so very much. And I just want to say, if you guys have been sticking around and enjoying our conversations, then I would love for you to subscribe to Faith In Between so that we can always be connected. And if you're really feeling like sharing, I would love for you to write a review, because when you do write a review, it helps other women be able to find Faith In Between who may want to join our little community here. So I cannot tell you, guys, how blessed I am to be here with you from week to week and I cannot wait to see you in the next one.

Speaker 1:

Mahalo, so much for tuning in. New episodes are posted every other week. If you would like to reference back to any scriptures or quotes that I mentioned in the episode, they will be all in the show notes section of the show. You can also find my handles to connect with me on facebook and instagram. I post not only podcast related but life related content as well. Mahalo for tuning in, ladies. Thank you.

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