These days, you can't go far without seeing the advice and guidance from self-help gurus. There’s certainly no lack of experts to help a person become all that they can be. But when it comes down to it, who should we listen to more than anyone else and are we only simply deluding ourselves into believing that life will ever be without struggle?

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, everything falls apart and when we arrive there, it can feel a lot like "what’s the point?"

The bigger question though...what if all of it is meant to develop a deeper trust and reliance of Him? What if every valley we crawled through was meant to cultivate a character that separates us as a people set apart?

Man has a tendency to get confused. Culture is partially to blame, but it’s our own insecurities that fill in the rest. We get confused as spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends, employees, and community servants. We continue to place ourselves in spaces we were never meant to be. If you aren’t you who is achieving or doing the thing you feel is important to your identity, who are you then? 

Often, when we pray for something, we make up our minds as we pray what the answer should be. We must be careful to understand that God’s plan and man’s plan are not the same. We lack comprehension for what it truly means for God’s will to be done. We speak it and say it, but do we truly believe it?

In this episode, I talk about one of my favorite Bible verses because it tickles me every time I read it. Once getting over those giggles, I ask some questions that might point us in a different direction...one that perhaps leads us a little closer to Jesus. 

I can’t speak for everyone, but I can certainly tell you from my own life that I didn’t begin to see the tangible effects of the Holy Spirit in my life until I was confronted with that big scary Jordan River moment. You will never fully know God’s word is true unless you allow Him to show you it is. You’ll only ever be standing on the edge wondering if you should put your toe in the Jordan River, and never actually stepping in to see God stop the water.

Our time is not God's time and when we try to place ourselves over and above God, we'll always get frustrated things aren't moving as fast as we think they should. Listen as I give you some homework on how to fix this part if you're feeling impatient and overwhelmed. 

Family relationships can be very complicated. There are many who don't have a great or any relationship with their earthly Father and that can sometimes create a false projection of who God is. Listen in to this encouragement about who God is and why we should never feel shy about coming home again. 

We are constantly confronted with becoming better versions of ourselves, evolving, and setting and crushing goals. But where on our list does transforming into the people we were called to be as Believers? Listen in as I discuss.