The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

When trials hit our lives, it can be hard to even believe that God is for us. How can we reconcile a good God with a life that seems bad? But even if we can believe, then what? How do we relate to a good God in the middle of painful circumstances? Aubrey Sampson found herself asking that when she found herself suffering from an autoimmune disorder, watching her young son undergo surgery and a difficult recovery, and grieving the sudden loss of a close family member. In the second part of our mini-series on lament, Aubrey shares with Davey some of the things that she writes about in her new book The Louder Song about what lament means and how it is vital to our lives today.

It’s hard enough when one challenge hits your life, but what if it’s not just one? Sometimes trials don’t come alone, and we can find ourselves walking through one difficult season after another. Every new circumstance brings new levels of pain and grief, and it can be hard to draw near to God when everything seems to be going wrong. This is exactly what Molly Huffman faced. After her mother’s death, a miscarriage, the loss of her newborn son, and a divorce, it seemed like the whole world was against her. Molly sits down with Davey to share what she’s learned about the idea of “lament” and how she’s drawn closer to God through every storm she’s faced.

Mere Knox is a picture of what it looks like to live a life devoted to changing the world for God. She serves as a preacher, worship leader, and much more for NewSpring Church’s Fuse student ministry, and she’s had the opportunity to impact countless lives for the gospel. Mere sits down with Davey to share some of her story and the things she’s learned about ministry, community, singleness, gender roles, and much more.

Rachel and Simon Henry’s lives were changed in an instant, but their story goes far beyond that one night. In this second part of the interview, Rachel and Simon continue to share with Davey about getting closure, finding healing, and how God has redeemed their story and turned it into an opportunity for them to help others as well.

Rachel Henry found herself living every woman’s nightmare one night when she awoke to strange noises in her house. With her husband Simon away at college and her children asleep in their beds, Rachel was sexually assaulted by three men who had broken into her home. More than four years later, Rachel and Simon have walked through an amazing journey of healing, and they’ve made it their mission to help others do the same. Rachel and Simon sit down with Davey to share their powerful story of how they’ve walked from unspeakable horror to God’s healing.

We often idealize marriage, but real marriage never quite looks like the ideal. We’re all imperfect humans, and putting two broken people together doesn’t magically solve everything. In her thirty years as a professional counselor, Julie Dodson has seen the challenges of marriage firsthand in the lives of many of her clients, including Davey and Kristi. Julie sits down with Davey to share some of the things she’s learned about how we can thrive in our marriages and other relationships with those around us.

The trials we each walk through come in all shapes and sizes. For some of us, our struggles are temporary and we can look forward to the day we’ll put them fully behind us. For others, our lives may change in an instant, and we may spend the rest of our lives healing from one moment. But what do you do when your trial is ongoing? What if you know it’s only going to get worse, and there isn’t an end in sight? Sandy Morris stepped into that kind of trial when her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimers at only 46 years old. Sandy sits down with Davey to talk about what “long-suffering” looks like and how she’s learned to suffer well through it.

Most of us probably would agree that boundaries are an important part of any relationship. But what about our relationships with ourselves? In her years as a professional counselor, Alison Cook has discovered that boundaries aren’t just necessary between each other, but within our own souls as well. Alison sits down with Davey to discuss some of the ideas that she shares in her new book, Boundaries for Your Soul, and how these boundaries can make a huge difference when we’re going through any sort of trials.

When someone has walked through a painful circumstance, none of us would blame them for having a negative outlook. Life has been hard, so it’s easy to assume that life will continue to be hard. That’s only natural, right? But LeAnne Lavender defies that. She and her husband Derek have walked through some terrible circumstances. But instead of being grim and pessimistic, LeAnne has a different approach. She sits down with Davey to share Derek’s and her story, and how she continually chooses optimism in the face of unimaginable challenges.

The first part of Chris and Emily Norton’s story is inspiring enough on its own, but it doesn’t stop there. They’ve walked through seasons of deep depression, they’ve become parents and foster parents, and much more. In the second part of their conversation with Davey, Chris and Emily share some more struggles they’ve walked through and how they’ve not only overcome them but turned around and used their season in life to change the lives of others.