During your walk with Jesus, there are going to be times when He calls you to do something that feels BIG.
Maybe it’s ending a relationship, writing your first book, or standing up for yourself for the first time. Whatever it is, it just seems impossible. It’s large, it’s scary, and you don’t believe that you’re properly equipped to succeed.
But Jesus does not set us up to fail. Nor does He fail to equip and support us. So let’s talk about two ways you can count on Him as you step out in faith and obedience!
Show Notes:
Intro
Welcome, fair lady, to today’s episode. I can’t believe that this is episode 75. Which means that, since October of last year, I have outlined, recorded, and promoted 75 episodes! That’s just crazy to me - and I’m the one who’s created them! You’d think it would seem a bit more real, but I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.
Which is a common occurrence when you’re doing the calling that Jesus has placed on you. Or when you’re facing a big ask of His. Or when He has you poised to up-level in some way - even if it seems crazy, or scary, or impossible.
Back in 2021, Jesus gave me specific direction regarding rebuilding my business, Relate Escape, to do His mission - which is setting women free from the things holding them back, or holding them captive, and helping them to grow into the empowered Christian women they were created (and desire) to be. And part of that plan was starting this podcast. Now I did have some experience with podcasting already, but not to this extent. Not to the point of having written and released 75 episodes!
But sister, when Jesus is calling you to something BIG, He (a) knows that you’re already ready in ways you might not even realize, and (b) will help you with anything that you need - internal or external - to get you there. Jesus is not going to leave you in the lurch. Nor is He going to saddle you with more than you can handle.
If Jesus wants something done, He is going to help you get it done. If Jesus has something special for you, He is going to help you succeed. One, because He has big plans to accomplish. (Usually way bigger than we can fathom, right? He weaves our lives together with others.) And, two, because He loves you and has your well-being at heart.
So whatever Jesus is currently calling you to do, or whatever you're currently facing, let me share from personal experience just how solidly you can count on Jesus.
Firstly, Jesus will make sure you’re taken care of mentally, emotionally, and spiritually
He can do this through practical or supernatural means - or a combination of both.
In the episode teaser, I mentioned how my marriage suddenly fell apart back in 2011. There I was, suddenly faced with the knowledge that (a) my marriage was over, and (b) I was facing life without a home, job, income, or resources. As you can imagine, there was some immediate shock and tears.
But when I woke up the next morning, the night after my ex-husband had made his declaration, I woke up with a certain song playing through my head - Addison Road’s “Hope Now.” Which talks about leaning on God and being set free through His love.
The lyrics go:
If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm yours
I'm not my own
I've been carried by you
All my life
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
This love sets me free
When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok
And make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
This love sets me free
I'm not my own
I've been carried by you
All my life
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
You have become my heart's desire
I will sing your praises higher
'Cause your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Your love sets me free
Now, I hadn’t been listening to this song the night before. This wasn’t an instance of this song coming to mind because I’d heard it recently. This was an instance where Jesus put this song in my brain on purpose, so that as I awoke on what could easily be labeled as one of the worst days of my life, my heart and mind and spirit was filled with a God-centered anthem.
Instead of leaving me to face the truth of my situation alone, God showed up before I had even opened my eyes to say, “I’ve got this. You can place your hope in me. Keep your faith in me. You might be in one heck of a storm right now, facing the fact that your life as you know it just completely fell apart and you have too build a new one. But it’s okay because I’ve got this.”
And this put me in such an okay place that when my friend called me a few hours later from the road, as her and my mom were coming to see me, she was surprised to hear me answering her call in a joyful mood. Instead of being a mess and in tears, I was being held together by Jesus.
Now, this is one of the more extreme examples from my life. But it’s the perfect example of an instance where God gave me the emotional, spiritual, and mental capacity to face something huge.
I wasn’t prepared to face that situation on my own, so God stepped in and equipped me in a way that only He can.
Secondly, Jesus will provide for your logistical and physical needs
A prime example of this type of provision happened several months after my marriage had ended. I had moved in with mother and, despite having my B.S. in web and graphic design, I fully believed that I couldn’t make it in a full-time web design job.
Yet, I couldn’t work a minimum wage job forever and support myself - which became a dire need when my mother essentially threw me out about a year after I had moved back home.
Long story short, I ended up getting my first full-time web design job off of a CraigsList ad. The job turned out to be absolutely horrible. Especially after the owner’s wife saw me for the first time; she instantly started making my life miserable.
I ended up quitting after only a few months, but the $40,000 salary from that job was a gift from Jesus. Because when I interviewed for what would become my next job, which was for a local government entity, the salary range was from something like $30,000 to $40,000/year. They initially wanted to hire me at the lower end. But when I told them I had been making $40k, they gave that to me instead. Which allowed me to make enough money to get my own apartment and start establishing my life on firmer ground.
Despite looking for that first web design job out of need, I still had doubts about my abilities. I wasn’t in a place back then to even consider a strategic move like taking a first step in getting a job so that I could establish a salary precedent. Or to figure out what I needed to make in order to support myself. I wasn’t in the right place to be capable of that back then.
But Jesus was. Jesus was doing the math. Jesus opened the right opportunities. Jesus was all over the logistics. He took care of what I needed…what I wasn’t capable of handling on my own yet.
And lest you think that now, eleven years later, I’m no longer in need of that despite all the growth He has done in me…or how empowered I am in Him now versus back then…that’s so not the case.
I’ve mentioned this recently on the show…but Jesus has called me to write a book. This was not something I expected to do anytime soon. I thought, if anything, it would be later on in the progression of my business. But Jesus was like, “Nope. This was a childhood dream that got lost. And we’re resurrecting it and using it to help others at the same time.”
Now, I’m a good writer. And I write out the outline for all of my podcast episodes - which means I’ve done over 70 outlines at this point. So I’ve done a lot of writing for Jesus in the past year or so.
But writing one’s first book…and writing about one’s story and journey which is fraught with abuse and bad memories…is a big, new endeavor. And sometimes, I look at my chapter outline and kind of cringe at the thought of the upcoming chapter due to what I’ll be writing about.
I’ll go into my dedicated writing session thinking that this is going to be one of the most difficult chapters to write…and instead, the words just flow out to me to the point where it’s the easiest chapter I’ve written to date. Just like when I’m writing the podcast episodes. Jesus just gives me the words and I merely type them.
Jesus tasked me with writing a book - while doing the podcast and having a job and doing life - but He’s not ignoring the logistics. He’s right in there with me, helping it to be a success - without it costing me too much or being harmful.
Wrap-up
Sister, throughout my entire 20+ walk with Jesus, He has been there with me every step of the way. The examples I’ve shared with you today are just a handful that I could list if we had the time.
And I know I could include relevant Scriptures here as well…but I wanted the focus today to be on sharing life experiences. Because sometimes we need to hear those stories of what Jesus has done in real life - or, to put it another way, in the lives of others - so that we can better envision the same happening in our own lives.
So whatever big thing that you are currently facing - whether it’s a calling, or the next level of growth, or the world falling apart around you as you’ve known it - know that Jesus has you.
He has the logistics - no matter how impossible they may seem. Or whether you’re even aware of what you need. And He has your mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
I mean, seriously…who can ask for a better quote/unquote “man” than that? Cheers!