Chapter 10: Ep2: Rooted in Faith: Resilience Amidst Life's Storms

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Hello, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today we're continuing our journey through

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the 40 Days of Spiritual Renewal series.

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Today's episode is all about resilience and adversity.

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We'll explore how being rooted in faith gives us the strength to stand firm

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and bloom, even when life's storms comes our way.

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If you've been feeling overwhelmed or weary, this message is for you.

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The reality of adversity. So let's start out with an honest truth.

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Life isn't always easy. We face challenges, setbacks, and struggles that test our faith.

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But the good news is that God equips us to be resilient in the face of adversity.

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2 Corinthians 4, 8-9 reads that we are hard pressed on every side,

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but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair,

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persecuted, but not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed.

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This scripture reminds us that while adversity may come, it doesn't have the final say. I love that.

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Adversity may come, but it does not have the final say.

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Through Christ, we can endure, persevere, and overcome.

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Resilience doesn't mean avoiding hardship. It means standing firm and trusting

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God to carry you through it.

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So let's look at some biblical examples of resilience in the scripture.

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There's two stories, Joseph and Paul.

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Joseph's story happens in Genesis verses chapters 37 through 50.

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If you've been on my podcast long enough, you know that's one of my favorites.

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So if you get a chance, read about Joseph's story. Joseph was betrayed by his

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brothers, sold into slavery, and imprisoned unjustly.

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Yet, he remained faithful to God.

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And in time, God elevated him to a position of leadership in Egypt.

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What was the key here? That he remained faithful to God. So life around you can be shaky.

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Even people can be shaky. But your heart to God should always remain steadfast.

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And so the lesson here is resilience in trusting that God can turn your trials into triumphs.

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That's powerful. Joseph went through a lot.

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And yet in the end, he was just confident enough to say that what you meant

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for evil, God has turned it around for good.

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So you should realize that man does not get the final word in your life.

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God has the final word when you stay and remain faithful to him.

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Let's look at Paul's journey on 2 Corinthians 11, 24 to 28.

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Now, Paul's story, he's in mostly all the New Testament.

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His story is powerful, but Paul faced countless hardships, beatings,

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shipwrecks, imprisonment, but he never wavered in his mission to share the gospel.

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So when God calls you to something.

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You never hear him complaining. He just counted the cost before he took on the job.

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Oh my gosh, that's good stuff, right? Like you ever wanted a new job and you

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get a new job and you find out that job is a little bit more difficult,

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caused a little bit more time consuming, a little more emotional trauma from the patients you have.

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And you're like, oh, my gosh, I could have stayed with my other job. Right.

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But PAW.

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Said he faced countless hardships. What was his focus?

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His lesson he learned here was that resilience comes from focusing on God's

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purpose for your life, even when the path is difficult.

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That's a word for me. It might be a word for somebody else out there,

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that where God leads us doesn't say it's going to always be easy.

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It's going to be some hardship.

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I can say it'll be some beatings, some shipwrecks, or some imprisonments.

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But if that's part of that journey that God has you on, then our focus needs

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to count on the resilience that God has given us that we can handle it all. Why?

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Because he's always with us. This is part of his purpose for our life.

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This is part of our training.

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And even when a path is difficult, God says, I got you. You're going to be okay.

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So our source of our strength comes from God. So whenever we try to,

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you know, fake it, sometimes we can't fake it when we're tired, right?

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We can't fake it when we're angry. We can't fake it when you have no energy.

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But the lesson here is that we don't have to fake it.

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We are trusting in God. And then we're focusing on God's purpose for our life.

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So how do we develop this kind of resilience, the kind of resilience that Joseph

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had, the kind of resilience that Paul had?

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It starts out, once again, by staying connected to our source of strength, God.

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Psalms 28, 7 reads, the Lord is my strength and my shield.

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My heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

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My heart leaves for joy and with my song I praise him.

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When we trust in God, He gives us the strength to face any challenge.

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Resilience isn't about relying on our own abilities.

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It's about leaning into God's power and promises.

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When we trust in God, He gives us the strength to face any challenges.

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Resilience isn't about relying on our own abilities.

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It's about leaning into God, power, and promises.

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So where have you seen God's strength sustain you during a tough time?

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When we start to count the times that we knew it wasn't our strength,

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then we realize that we're not alone in this battle.

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And if we can lean back and count like, wow, remember, I didn't do that without

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the Lord, then we won't think that we're doing it on our own anyway, right?

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So building resilience takes intentional effort.

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Here are three steps to help you develop spiritual strength.

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Anchor yourself in prayer. Philippians 4, 6 reads,

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Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition

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with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

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So prayer keeps us connected to God's peace and guidance during tough times.

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So when you start to feel a little anxious, you just say, hey,

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I'm feeling anxious, Lord. So you just take it right before the Lord.

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Right. So you give, you're giving the Lord, giving it right to him right away.

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So you're not carrying it. Number two, lean on God's promises.

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Isaiah 41, 10 says, so do not fear for I am with you.

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Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you.

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I would uphold you with my righteous right hand. I love that verse.

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So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

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I will strengthen you and help you.

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I would uphold you with my righteous right hand.

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So you want to memorize scriptures like that so you can remind yourself of God's faithfulness.

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So lean on his promises and memorize scriptures that will help you,

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that will come up automatically when you feel like you need a little extra reminder of who God is.

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And number three, surround yourself with encouragement. Stay connected to people

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who uplift your faith and remind you of God's goodness.

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Community is a powerful source of strength during adversity.

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So don't count on your own strength. Lean out to someone and say, hey, can you help me out?

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I'm feeling a little weak today. You know, so you want to anchor yourself in

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prayer Always have a prayer line God always will give you a plan of escape,

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He'll give you an answer. He'll give you discernment. He'll show you how to win that war.

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Lean on God's promises. I'll have some personal decrees that you can decree.

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Just decree the word of God over your situation.

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Memorize scripture. Go ahead and decree the scriptures you memorize from your heart.

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And then surround yourself with encouragement.

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Don't neglect your church or your Bible studies. Stay connected.

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To your encouraging crew.

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And let's say some decrees here. I decree that I am hard-pressed,

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not crushed, because God is my strength.

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I decree that I will not fear adversity, for the Lord upholds me with his righteous hand.

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And I decree that every trial I face will be turned into triumph by God's power.

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This week, I challenge you to reflect on a time when God helped you overcome a challenge.

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Write it down and be thankful.

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Keep a, like I always said, keep a gratitude journal. Because a lot of times

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when things come, we forget that he already rescued from that.

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So he will take care of this one too.

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Choose one of the scriptures we discussed today and memorize it.

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Let it be your anchor during times of adversity.

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Or maybe you already have a favorite scripture. Let that be your description.

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Create decrees around it so that you can actually just be having it like it's

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like being armed and ready.

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Let's close this out in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for being our strength in times of trouble.

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Help us to trust you completely and stand firm in faith, knowing that you would

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carry us through every challenge.

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Build resistance in our heart so that we can reflect your power and love in every situation.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Thank you for joining me for this episode of Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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And if this message encouraged you, share with a friend and subscribe so you

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don't want to miss an episode.

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Until next time, with God, you are unshaken and unstoppable.

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And be blessed.