Have you ever felt that gnawing sense of discontentment that no amount of shopping or comfort food can satiate? Join me, Jo, on the EncouragHer Community Podcast as I share my own journey through the turbulent waters of discontentment, tracing it back to the grief of losing my mother and my naturally busy personality. In our first chapter, "Staying Strong Through Discontent," we'll uncover how quick fixes often fail to bring lasting peace and how turning to spiritual practices, like fasting, can lead to deeper, more sustainable contentment. Through personal stories, including my own struggles with unnecessary Amazon shopping, we'll explore the crucial role of recognizing areas of weakness and seeking divine wisdom to foster true, lasting peace.
In our second chapter, "Finding Strength Through Prayer," we'll delve into the transformative power of prayer in bringing God's presence and strength into our lives. Reflect on areas where you need growth, rely on God's guidance to become stronger, and be intentional in your daily actions. As you navigate your Monday, find moments of joy and rest, and step into the world with purpose, choosing to be a source of encouragement for others. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation that will inspire you to start your week with renewed strength and purpose. Happy Monday, and love to you all.
Now get out into the world and be a woman who intentionally encourages another!
Have you ever felt that gnawing sense of discontentment that no amount of shopping or comfort food can satiate? Join me, Jo, on the EncouragHer Community Podcast as I share my own journey through the turbulent waters of discontentment, tracing it back to the grief of losing my mother and my naturally busy personality. In our first chapter, "Staying Strong Through Discontent," we'll uncover how quick fixes often fail to bring lasting peace and how turning to spiritual practices, like fasting, can lead to deeper, more sustainable contentment. Through personal stories, including my own struggles with unnecessary Amazon shopping, we'll explore the crucial role of recognizing areas of weakness and seeking divine wisdom to foster true, lasting peace.
In our second chapter, "Finding Strength Through Prayer," we'll delve into the transformative power of prayer in bringing God's presence and strength into our lives. Reflect on areas where you need growth, rely on God's guidance to become stronger, and be intentional in your daily actions. As you navigate your Monday, find moments of joy and rest, and step into the world with purpose, choosing to be a source of encouragement for others. Tune in for a heartfelt conversation that will inspire you to start your week with renewed strength and purpose. Happy Monday, and love to you all.
Now get out into the world and be a woman who intentionally encourages another!
#women #podcast
Speaker 1:
Good morning Encouragers. Happy Monday it's Jo. Welcome back to the Encourage Her Community Podcast. I'm so glad you're here. I can guess that you showed up needing some encouragement and if not, well, I hope you get some anyway. Sometimes we don't even know what we need until we receive it. So this podcast began out of my need for encouragement. The Lord then encouraged me and led me to start recording some encouragements for other people. So I know that encouragement is always needed. I literally always need it myself, and I'm sure there are areas in your life or within your day that you could use a little added encouragement. So I'm just here to do that today and I hope that it works. I hope it encourages you. I hope that you then pour out whatever you've gained here into someone else. Let's just keep it going. Encouragement is contagious and I do believe it can change the world. Through the Lord's leading, it can change the world. So happy Monday, so glad you're here.
Speaker 1:
I wanted to share with you a message, just an encouragement to stay strong. I know that strong is something that some women do not necessarily identify with. Maybe you could say you have some strengths, but overall you might not call yourself strong and forgive me if that's not your story. If you think that you are strong, that's incredible. But I can also guarantee that, even if you feel strong, or would identify with the word strong, that you can probably also identify some areas in your life that feel weak or areas where you have weakness. You know you're not as good at something, don't have as much willpower, you struggle, you lack. All of us are a work in progress, so I can just guess you could probably make two columns, strengths and weaknesses, just like I could. The Lord has made it very evident to me that one of my weak points, if you will, the weakest link of my self, would be this area of discontent. I can be a discontent person and you might not see it on the outside, I might not talk about it. It's an internal thing for me and I do believe it began to become very strong after I lost my mom, when I had a lack of control in my life. Deep, deep sadness, grief and just wanting to feel, I think, just joy possibly is how it began, but it has kind of morphed over time to just look like discontent and wanting to feel content. And you know, grief never goes away for me and it's a process for life. So there are other things outside of grief that can make me feel discontent. Boredom is one of them.
Speaker 1:
I'm someone who, if I was in school now, they would probably diagnose me with some kind of attention deficit. I'm just a busy body. I remember when I was in school having a hard time sitting that long during the day. I just like action and my mind is even busy. So even if I look calmer still, there's probably like 18,000 ideas going on in my head. So I've learned to calm myself. I've matured, calm my mind, take it slower so many things but there still just lingers this feeling of discontent. So I'm assuming that you would relate in some way.
Speaker 1:
There's probably an area of your life that does not make you feel content or full contentment, and when God started working on that with me, I mean it's kind of not fun. Right, it's not a fun one, and it's changed over time. He's had me do different things Fasting is always a really great um and spiritual discipline for working on contentment or instant gratification, which for me the two kind of go together. Wanting to feel content so quickly, doing something that makes me feel good Used to look like maybe taking a drink of a soda real quick. I used to love soda. I don't drink soda anymore, but it can come in many forms. Thatment, you know, I don't know what that would be for you. Maybe that's just a quick bite of a brownie or um, not including food. Maybe that's exercise. Maybe that's just going to sleep. Maybe that's a glass of wine. I don't know how you find quick contentment. Maybe it's online shopping. You could find lots of ways to make ourselves feel quickly content.
Speaker 1:
But the truth of the matter is that all of those things I mentioned first of all, none of them are inherently evil in and of themselves. Secondly, when they're misused and they're used to create a contentment in your spirit they're not going to show up for you, they're not going to sustain you and it's fleeting. It's like an instant gratification that goes away. True contentment is something that comes in the spirit and it looks more like peace, and that is what the Lord is working on me with. When I'm feeling those moments of discontent, what can I do? What can I turn to instead of things that may just be quick fixes? And seeking him in it, pausing, slowing down, seeking something that will have lasting impact, that will actually be transformative.
Speaker 1:
So you know, when we're talking about this topic, you might be like well, in theory, that sounds really great, but what about like a quick fix on a Tuesday afternoon? What do I do? Right, I don't always have time to sit for long periods of time and sit in God's word or meditate or pray. I get that. I have a really busy life too, but I would ask you to pray about first. I kind of identifying where in your life you have discontent, where in your life do you feel like a weakness, something you struggle with. That in turn, leads to discontent, and I'd encourage you to stay strong and relying upon the Lord and asking him for wisdom in that he has recently well, not so recent, about six months ago, he showed me that one of my ways, my coping skills, my terrible coping skills was shopping on Amazon, and you know I would justify it all day long as inexpensive, it's on sale, we need a new one, whatever, nothing elaborate, nothing that's going to break the bank, but unnecessary and fleeting and not fulfilling. And he started to show me that and then I started to not like it. I was like I do do that, I do feel discontent sometimes and then get bored and then go on Amazon. That's actually a truth, like it or not, joe, it's a truth. So he faced me with that and then, when I began to become convicted over time, he started to ask me to just stop it altogether.
Speaker 1:
So I have, with the Lord's leading, sort of honestly begrudgingly. I am not shopping or buying myself something for a full year. So an item of clothing or shoes is what I came to January one, to January one. So I started this on January one. I have not bought anything for myself in the way of clothing or shoes. And it's not fun, guys, like it's not fun to realize how many moments you actually want. And yet I feel great that I have succeeded so far. We are now mid end of June and I've succeeded.
Speaker 1:
I've had weak moments and I've thought to myself. Even yesterday I was at Marshall's and I literally put a few sports bras in my cart. I love to work out and it's like well, lord, like that's not really clothing. It's kind of like under the clothing no one's going to see it Like. And it's like well, lord, like that's not really clothing, it's kind of like under the clothing no one's going to see it Like. Is it really that big of a deal.
Speaker 1:
I really do need new ones, which is true, but nope, I had to put them back. It was painful, guys, they were cute, I mean, it was painful, they were good price. I put them back. Okay, I put them back, but that was the weakest moment I've had yet. But I really have had to. You know, I've had to notice that that need in me. I've had to face it and each season there's like something new that I'd want. You know, we went on a little. You know, me and my husband trip. I wanted a few new little things to wear. Again, nothing terrible. These things aren't evil.
Speaker 1:
But if it's taking me to discontent and if it's continuing a pattern in my life of discontent, taking a break from it is really fruitful and very beneficial. And I'm saying this to you, I'm also saying this to myself right, I'm going to see this out. It's like a long-term fast and I'm going to see it out. And I have had moments where I've had such clarity about how silly, how silly right, how first world problem is this? But he doesn't. He doesn't condemn me, he doesn't convict, you know, in that way. It's not, that's not coming from him. He is just saying stay strong, stay strong in me and I've told myself myself no thanks, I'd rather be strong. So if I have a thought, go, I want to go on amazon, I'm feeling bored. No, thank you, I'd rather be strong.
Speaker 1:
And god works through our weaknesses to show his strength and his abilities. So, by allowing ourself to face these weak moments and rely upon him instead, he can show himself to us and to others through us, and that is the scripture I wanted to just remind us about today. We can see in scripture I'm pulling it up now 2 Corinthians 12, pulling it up now, 2 Corinthians 12,. Verse 9 says but he said to me these are Jesus's words my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So this is Paul talking about his weaknesses and how Jesus said my power is made perfect in your weakness. So by doing this, ladies, by allowing ourselves to be convicted of the things we need to improve on and grow in or really be removed from our life, the things that are toxic and creating discontentment, by taking a fast or a break or asking the Lord if you need to, allowing him to show you that part of you. We can make his power be known to ourselves and to others.
Speaker 1:
It's not fun, it's not always fun. It's not fun, it's not always fun, but I'd pray that you would grow a desire to seek more contentment in the Lord, and I am enjoying it and I'm not enjoying it. It's not necessarily fun, but I am grateful for the Lord's leading. I know that he's working. I know that he's showing me pieces of me that need to be transformed and continue to grow, and I trust him with it. And I'd rather be strong. I'd rather be strong in him than have new shoes.
Speaker 1:
I'd rather work on a weakness and become stronger in contentment than have a new sports bra Come on. No doubt about it. These things are fleeting, they're earthy, they're temporal. They're not going to make a change in my heart and my spirit and my mind and benefit my life in the long run. It's not going to improve the kingdom. If I have a new cute sports bra, come on. So it puts things into perspective and I'm grateful, ultimately, at the end of the day, that the Lord has led me this way, although admitting it is not easy.
Speaker 1:
So, ladies, I just want to encourage you again to pray about this and think about this and be encouraged that he is there listening. He is wanting to be with you in it and by allowing yourself to bring it to him, he can show you an area where he can say hey, let me into that, let me help you with that, let me help you stay strong in that way, because through him we can be strong, because of him we can be strong. So today, ladies, let's focus on that. Let's focus on the areas of strength we have, but then let's also ask the Lord. Lift it up and say Lord, show me where I need to continue to improve and help me. Rely upon you. Ladies, I pray that you have a fantastic Monday. I hope that you are finding moments of joy and rest, and I'm also hoping that you are out in the world with intention. Don't just let the day go by. Be a woman of intention. Be a woman who chooses to encourage her. Happy Monday, love to you all.
