The Light

If you’re running a race that feels much longer and harder than what you signed up for ... this episode is for you.

Bestselling author and pastor Max Lucado joins Meredith Brock and Kaley Olson to share a powerful message from the life of Elijah. You’ll discover how to stand firm when society's values shift, why fatigue and discouragement often follow our greatest steps of faith, and how God lovingly responds when you are out of fuel and ready to give up.

You’ll learn:

• Why standing strong in a changing culture starts with knowing who you stand before.
• How to identify the physical and spiritual signs of depletion before you burn out.
• What is God’s practical, gracious response when you feel overwhelmed, depressed, or isolated.
• Why the most courageous thing you can do today might simply be showing up and taking the next step.

Resources From This Episode:

• Get your copy of Max Lucado’s new book, Unbreakable Courage: Strong Faith in an Age of Anxiety, Chaos, and Exhaustion, available anywhere books are sold.
• Capstone Wellness provides residential treatment and custom therapy intensives that retrace hurt to the roots in a Christ-centered environment. You can learn more by visiting Capstonewellness.com/proverbs31 today.
• Click here to donate to Proverbs 31 Ministries and to share your story with us!
• Download a copy of this episode transcript here.

Want More on This Topic?
Listen to previous conversations with Max Lucado, like this one, in The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast episode archive.

You decorate the house, send greeting cards, and find just the right gifts for those you love. But in the flurry of activity of the holiday season, how can you be sure you haven’t left out something vital? John MacArthur will help you focus on what’s most important this Christmas in his study called The Real Meaning of Christmas.

Can human unfaithfulness ever cancel God’s faithfulness? Looking at Romans 3:3–8, Dr. John Neufeld shows that God is as faithful to His warnings as to His promises, that His righteousness shines brightest against human sin, and that forgiveness comes by seeking His glory rather than our own. Faith brings both forgiveness and good works, so grace never makes how we live irrelevant.

The Heart of the Gospel: This 25-message series on Romans 1–4 presents us with Christianity 101. It is the basics of our faith, teaching us how we can know for certain that sins are forgiven and what it is to live by faith.

The church is a place like no other. You’ll rarely find such a supportive community elsewhere in life. When you hurt there are people who will stay with you and suffer with you.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll turns to Mark 3:1–6, contrasting Jesus’ warm compassion with the Pharisees’ cold indifference and underscoring the call to show mercy to the “least of these,” those who cannot care for themselves.

From the Series: Jesus: The Servant at Work, Volume One, A Study of Mark 1:1–6:13

read more

How do you respond when someone else receives the blessing you’ve been praying for? You can be genuinely happy for a friend’s success while quietly wrestling with jealousy, disappointment, or grief over an unanswered prayer. These complicated emotions don’t mean you want others to fail; they may reveal how deeply you long for something yourself. In Deuteronomy 34:9, Joshua receives the wisdom and responsibility to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land after Moses’ years of faithful service. Their story reminds us that God’s plans don’t look the same for everyone, and another person’s blessing doesn’t mean God has forgotten you.

Highlights

• Learn how to respond when a friend or loved one receives a blessing you have been praying for.

• Understand why jealousy and disappointment can coexist with genuine happiness for someone else.

• Explore Moses and Joshua’s story in Deuteronomy 34 and what it teaches about faithful service, leadership, and God’s plans.

• Discover how to resist comparison and celebrate others without viewing their success as your own failure.

• Find encouragement in the truth that God has not forgotten you, even when your prayers seem unanswered.

• Reflect on how God’s plans may differ from your expectations and exceed what you can currently imagine.

• Consider how to trust God’s faithfulness while continuing to pray, hope, and encourage others through their blessings.

Click to Listen to Signs of Life: UM News Podcast Season One | UMNews.org

Join us this Fall for Season One of "Signs of Life," an original podcast from UM News. The journey begins in Atlanta, hearing how a book from an icon of the Civil Rights movement is bringing relationship and understanding to two congregations seeking to bridge divides. Then to Belfast, learning about the Northern Ireland Peace Process and the Methodist connection that was—and is—an essential part of healing and peacemaking. Finally, at the Global Young Peoples Convocation in Dublin, explore the world of translation and interpretation through diversity, language and culture.

UM News Podcast Season One | UMNews.org

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Full Transcript Below:

When Someone Else Receives the Blessing You Wanted

By: Laura Bailey

Bible Reading:

 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses. - Deuteronomy 34: 9 NIV

“Laura, I have the best news! Call me as soon as you can!” My friend's cheerful voice played through the speaker on my phone. My heart sank; I knew exactly what she was going to tell me. And well, I was happy for her, truly, but there was a twinge of jealous

Learn how to experience victory when faced with attacks from the enemy.

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