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David Uttal is a cognitive scientist who studies navigation but has problems navigating his way around geographic locations. This isn’t a new problem for him—one that goes back to when he was thirteen years old and was lost for two and a half days on a hike. Uttal admits he's still terrible with simple directions in life. Some people are natural navigators–knowing exactly where they are and how to get where they desire to go. Others, like Uttal, struggle even with clear directions and often get lost.

The psalmist also felt the disorientation of lostness: "I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands" (Psalm 119:176). He compared himself to a wandering sheep. Although sheep can be valuable, they’re also notoriously rebellious and will sometimes drift off without their shepherd guiding them—needing rescue (v. 174). The psalmist’s spiritual navigation skills had deteriorated, and his spiritual sense of direction had faded, so he needed God to pursue him and give him a “discerning mind” (v. 169 nlt).

When we wander away from God's care, He loves us enough to seek us and lead us back to Himself. As He helps us understand the Scriptures and follow “all [His] commands” (v. 172) we can avoid getting spiritually lost.

In honor of Joni's birthday, join us in spreading the Gospel around the world to people with disabilities who really need the hope of Christ. Help us celebrate here!

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.

It would be folly to think life can be lived with no setbacks. But problems have no more power over us than we allow them to have. Remember, joy is more than a good mood. It is a deep-seated confidence in God’s presence, power, and promises. Joy might feel elusive, and finding it might take a long time. But it always remains an option.

Some of the saddest words in Scripture are recorded in Mark 6:5 (CEB). “[Jesus] was unable to do any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Why was Jesus unable to do the works? The answer is found in the next passage: “He was appalled by their disbelief” (Mark 6:6 CEB).

What a tragic loss! God was in their midst, and they did not seek him. Let’s not make the same mistake.

Read more Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

When my two nieces were younger, they’d coax me into a game after dinner. They’d turn off all the lights in the house, and we’d shuffle through the darkness, clutching each other and laughing. They enjoyed scaring themselves by choosing to walk in the dark, knowing they could turn on the light anytime.

In his letter to the early believers in Jesus, the apostle John talked about choosing to walk in a different kind of darkness. First John 1:6 refers to sin as “darkness.” Walking in darkness isn’t a momentary lapse, but a choice to keep engaging in wrongdoing. John reminds us that our holy God “is light” and “in him there is no darkness” (v. 5). So when we claim a relationship with Him yet willfully continue sinning, “we lie and do not live out the truth” (v. 6). Jesus, the light of the world, came so that “whoever follows [Him] will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

By God’s grace, after we’ve wandered in spiritual darkness and we turn to Him in repentance, we can walk in His light again—in His ways and purposes. He will “forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Only when we live in obedience to God can we enjoy the full blessing of relationship with Him and with other believers (v. 7).

Patrick Lencioni joins William Vanderbloemen to make a simple point: you don't need to motivate harder, you need to place better. When work aligns with someone's natural strengths, engagement follows.

This episode gives leaders language and clarity for putting people where they actually thrive instead of burning them out in the wrong roles.

⚡FREE E-BOOK: Spaciousness: Avoiding the 8 Traps That Steal Your Margin - Download at emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness

In this powerful replay of one of our most listened-to episodes, Pete Scazzero invites pastors and leaders into a radical, countercultural way of leading: unhurried, unrushed, and deeply rooted in Jesus.

Are you constantly running at a pace you can't sustain? Exhausted, overextended, and wondering how much longer you can keep going? This episode is for you.

Pete explores the cultural and spiritual forces that keep us trapped in busyness and offers practical, time-tested rhythms that create space for rest, reflection, and deep communion with God. Drawing from his own journey and decades of leadership, Pete names the lies we believe about productivity and success and points us back to a slower, more spacious life anchored in emotional and spiritual health.

This episode will:

• Help you identify what’s driving your pace

• Offer 15 practical practices to embrace a slower rhythm

• Encourage you to lead out of your being, not just your doing

This is more than a podcast. It’s an invitation to freedom.

We live in what Heath Hardesty calls the age of disintegration - a world marked by fragmentation, distraction, and disconnection. I feel that deeply. So many of us are trying to hold our lives together in a culture that constantly pulls us apart. In this conversation, Heath joins me to talk about how apprenticeship to Jesus offers another way - a way toward coherence, union, and wholeness. Heath is a pastor in the Bay Area and the author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World. We talk about what it means to move beyond simply knowing about Jesus to actually living with Him - to abide, obey, and become people who image His love in a fractured world. We explore practices like unhurried presence and compassionate gentleness, and how they reveal a kind of power that’s rooted not in control, but in love. If you’ve felt scattered, weary, or disoriented in your faith, this episode is an invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember that in Christ, all things hold together.

Heath Hardesty is the author of All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World (WaterBrook; on sale 10/14/25) and he serves as the lead pastor of Valley Community Church and is the founder of Inklings Coffee & Tea in the heart of downtown Pleasanton, California. Heath grew up in a blue-collar home and was a plumber’s apprentice in Colorado before becoming a pastor on the edge of Silicon Valley where he, his wife, and four kids now reside. He holds degrees in literature, leadership, biblical studies, and theology from the University of Colorado Boulder and Western Seminary in Portland. Visit him on IG@heathhardesty

Heath's Book:

All Things Together

Heath's Recommendations:

God is On Your Side

The Poems of Seamus Heaney

Gerard Manley Hopkins

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Judah Smith and Dr. Les Parrot, Judah's therapist of 15 years, talk about the unique pressures pastors face. Les and Judah explain why your brain is lying to you 80% of the time, offer insights into...

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Thank you for listening! Your support of Joni and Friends helps make this show possible.

Joni and Friends envisions a world where every person with a disability finds hope, dignity, and their place in the body of Christ. Become part of the global movement today at www.joniandfriends.org.

Find more encouragement on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube.