Direction, Discernment and Delivery from Divorce with Joel Weldon:

Have you ever wondered who the man is behind the introduction? Well today you will be able to hear from him. Joel Weldon is our voice-over. He is based out of California and does voice-over for many others such as NBC and Toyota. He is going to share with us his story and some things he has learned along the way.

Joel grew up in Northern Minnesota as a farm kid. His parents took him to church; he accepted it and went. But once he got into junior high, he decided he didn’t want to go anymore. He started dabbling in music. That led him to playing in a top 40s band and then on to writing songs. He started college at Bethel and was a bass player in a couple of different bands. Bethel College required every student to take a Bible class. He started taking New Testament Survey, a class that takes you through the New Testament. He felt it would be a breeze, he knows the New Testament. But he had a teacher that would change his life.

Dr. John Piper is a brilliant man. He was new to teaching that class but definitely resonated with Joel. Dr. Piper started talking about a Jesus that Joel had never known. He wanted to know more about this Jesus. It was a truth that Joel had never heard before. That is when he committed his life to Jesus. He then changed his major and moved to California.

Joel ended up in San Diego, living with his uncle and aunt. While there he got involved with some musicians and started traveling the world. He wrote songs and did thousands of concerts on his own.

Around this time his wife of seven years wanted a divorce. She decided that she didn’t want to be married anymore. Majority of that time his two little children were solely with him. He was in a different world; he had to learn many new things such as how to do his 4 year old daughter’s hair. He stepped out of touring completely. He then started working for a production company. The man he was working for sat him down and told him that God was going to take care of him.

Through that journey Joel learned a lot. There is this expectation of everything falling immediately into place once you commit yourself to Christ. But it isn’t like that. It takes time for Him to teach you the path he has for you. It’s a lot of falling on our face and God picking us back up. It takes time.

There was a wave of emotions that Joel experienced during his divorce. He went through a time of questioning God and wondering why He wasn’t there. He came to the realization that hurt must be taken one day at a time. Deep down he knew that God was there, it was just a process. He was battling guilt, pain, hurt, anger, betrayal and even thoughts of retribution. He had to ask himself “how does God want me to respond?” He looked at the fruits of the spirit, love, hope, etc, and knew that was how he was to respond. Looking at things with love and forgiveness allows us to have a better mindset. Once we improve our mindset, the actions will follow.  

One of the biggest things someone of divorce has to face is learning to trust again. There is a feeling that people are going to hurt us. Joel learned to trust anyway. There was a chance that someone could hurt him again but God walked him through it the first time and He would do it again. One way that Joel was able to battle his apprehension with trust was by having complete transparency. Trust isn’t built by word but by actions. He has now been happily married for 17 years.

We sincerely hope you enjoy today’s podcast with Joel Weldon and are able to implement some things into your life. You can learn more about him at his website, joelweldon.com. Until next time, keep sending us your comments and questions at [email protected]. Also be sure to follow us on Facebook, Stephen Scoggins The Journey Principles, and on twitter @stephen_scoggin. We look forward to being with you on the next Journey Principles!