Girls Gone Bible - When Your Faith Is Tested (Don't Waste the Trial) | Girls Gone Bible

Episode Date: August 28, 2026

Hiii GGB :) James 1:1–8 teaches us how to walk through trials with faith, wisdom, and perseverance—and why we shouldn't waste what God can do in the hard seasons. We love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari Order our book, Out of the Wilderness: 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons: http://www.girlsgonebible.com/book GIRLS GONE BIBLE TOUR September 11 — Pensacola, FL September 13 — Lakeland, FL Get tickets to our shows: https://www.girlsgonebible.com/tour ♡ OUR SPONSORS ♡ NOCD Specialized virtual OCD treatment with therapists trained in ERP. Book a free 15-minute call at https://www.nocd.com GLORIFY Grow closer to God every day with the Glorify Ring. Reserve yours at https://www.glorify.global/ggb GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY Purpose-driven Christian education built for what's next. Learn more at https://www.gcu.edu JONES ROAD BEAUTY Use code GGB at https://www.jonesroadbeauty.com to get a Free Gift with your first purchase! #JonesRoadBeauty #ad

Yelir. Hey guys. I'm Ann. I'm our. This is Girls Gone. B'Blay. We are a faith-based podcast where we talk all things, spirituality, mental health, the Bible. We love Jesus.

And we have two gatherings left in our tour. Lakeland, no, Pensacola, Florida and Lakeland, Florida. I don't know why I had a southern accent. It's not like a southern place like that. September 11th. and 13th. It's our last GGB gatherings. Would it be crazy? Like, if everybody came, like, can you guys all just come? This is, that would be amazing. Can you guys all just come to Lakeland and Pensacola with us? Seriously. I don't even know where those are. Who cares? Let's all go be together.

And hug. Yeah. Yeah. I would love that. Please. Go to girlscombival.com.com. dot com slash tour um buddy what's up what you've been doing you've survived in this california heat it's hot as heck outside but say how to you really want to know what i've been doing i have been i've been relaxing literally not i've like completely disconnected from my own life and i i i've seen me i have been you guys i most of america is following this lindsay clancy trial right now now. I have just been so immersed in this trial since we're on day 20. Since I've been home every single day, all day, like I have just been engulfed in this case. It feels so personal to me. Yeah. She's two towns over. She's, yeah, she lives two towns over from where I'm from.

And it's just it just felt so personal. I feel so affected by it. I'm sure so many of you that are listening right now do too. But I it's like really affected me and like in a really big way. Like I'm not even kidding. I had my on stay on the phone with me last night for like three hours that night. I was like, I need somebody to stay on the phone with me. Wow.

I have been just interceding and it's so hard. It's just been so it's crazy. It just every day. you're like on this journey with them, hearing how graphic it is. And I think mental health has just been such a big part of my life because I grew up, you know, seeing a lot of mental health struggles. And so it just feels so personal. And then just the kids and seeing what she's going through. But it's so crazy through it all. I'm just, I keep hearing that scripture with the enemy meant for evil. God intended it for good. And I just feel like this could change history.

for the mental health system and wake a lot of people up and to spiritually and just with mental health stuff. Yeah, 100%. That's truly, like if you want me to be so honest, like that has been my life for a bit now. Yeah. I like now that I'm in California because it's on East Coast time, I set my alarm for 6 a.m. I'm up at 6 a.m. I'm watching it all day. Oh, my gosh. I've like checked out of my own life.

It's crazy. It feels like a lot. That's so heavy. Yeah. So, yeah, we just have to be praying for, we just got to be praying for each other, praying for our world, praying for people, interceding. Yeah. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. And if you're just praying for yourself, you're, you're doing it all wrong. So we have to be interceding for our people in the world. 100%. Because mental health is real and the enemy is real. And we have to be. have to be praying for one another. And we are so incredibly fragile.

And thanks for talking about that. It's really sad. Am I anything new? Well, when we were on the East Coast, oh my gosh, I had. So me, my mom and my sister-in-law of Vilma, like my brother, Julio, I have two older brothers, Julio and Neris. And my, if you guys know me, you know my family is literally my everything. everything. I love my family. We love each other. Almost every tour stop. My family comes.

Like my mom, my brother, his wife, and the two little children. From the very beginning. Like we just, even if it's for 24 hours, like, I don't know, just family is everything. Family is so important. And that's not just like your blood family. That's the family that you choose as well. You know, just like having people who love you that you love and just like making time and effort to see them and be with them and prioritize. that. My brother married Vilma, like, I think they've been together like eight years, nine years almost. Hasn't been? Yeah, it's been a long time.

But Vilma is like the sweetest angel. Literally an angel in human form. Like, she's an angel. Like, if you see this right now, Vilma, just know. Not only that, but she got the best style. She's gorgeous. I wait for the outfit

she's going to wear. I'm like, would you get that? And then I go to order it right away. My favorite thing is every time you see feel like you go, would you get that shirt? Where'd you get those pure order right away? Yeah, and it never looks the same one, me. No, yes, it does. But she's like such it.

She's, I realized recently, like, to have that much purity towards a sister-in-law, somebody else. Yeah. Somebody else, but, like, sister-in-law stories, even within, like, Christian families, can be a nightmare. Yeah. Absolutely. You know what I mean?

And I literally looked at her and I was like, do you know how blessed we are? how much we love each other and like we've never even remotely almost gotten into it just nothing like nothing negative like I'm just she's the best where was I going with this anyways okay so well let me just say yeah she also what's so great about her is she just loves and accepts and puts in so much effort and she puts in so much effort and she'll she'll go to bat you know Her and my mom, yeah. And most sister-in-laws don't do that. You and I are the exact same when it comes to this.

Like if we have, we've never been married, but if we're going to go. But like every significant other that you and I have ever had, like, we love their families. But Vilma loves my mom. Like, that's my sister and that's my mom's daughter. That is your sister. Anyways, when Vilma first came, we used to have the best time, just the three of us. me, my mom and Vilma. We were the three musketeers and, like, praise Jesus for Liam and Sierra, my nephew and niece. We love them more than anything. But like we haven't had time, me, my mom,

and Vilma in so long. And like for moms out there, I can't even imagine you have kids and they're the biggest blessing of your entire life and you become a different person, you know, like you do. It's your whole life. It's your whole life. And so I think for Vilma, I was so good for her. We went to the East Coast, New Jersey and Massachusetts for GGB tour. And my mom and Vilma came out and she didn't bring the kids this time. And it felt like the three of us when Vilma first came. And it was, I can't even explain it. We had the time of our lives.

Well, because you and I were talking about how when you're with, because when you have your kids, you almost like feel a little bit separated, like left out. Yeah. You're so concentrated on them. So it gave you guys a time to like really. really be dogs together. We were dogs. And we laughed like crazy.

You guys were hilarious. We laughed so much. And my mom and our tour manager, Chris, got along so well. And it's just so funny because our tour manager, Chris, is like, he's the best ever. And he's like a Texas-born guy who, like, you know, he just has a really specific personality. And then my mom has a really specific personality. My mom will say the most politically incorrect. She's Eastern European.

Foreign people will say, like, improper things and, like, politically incorrect things. And it's not their fault. Like, they don't mean anything bad by it. And so. But it's hilarious. Like, you don't, you can't get mad at them. No, it's so funny. It's so out of context.

You think that's what I kind of sound like with my Boston accent? Like, because I feel like. That you're not supposed to say. Yeah. Yeah, because I do all the time. Honestly, we both do that. It's ridiculous. No, you don't do it like I do.

We both do it. I'm going to embarrass her so much sometimes. We're in a meeting today. I am embarrassed myself, didn't I? Did I embarrass you today? No, not at all. Yeah, we are young, but I was making a joke because he said you guys are so young. And of course, I always got to rebuttal back the young joke.

No, I wasn't going to say you. Me, I mentioned something because I said that I want us to have a morning show. so bad. And I mentioned it three times in this meeting. And you, I heard, I didn't say one word in this meeting. No, but I heard you. I said, oh, for the love of God. You said, oh, for the love of God of morning show. Well, I pictured Kelly Rippon that man. And I picture like that would be us. Like, literally, what is his name? Kelly and. And I see my favorite show. No, Kelly and Regis. We would be Kelly and Regis. You're Kelly. No, you're Kelly. I'm Regis. I don't know why. What's the dynamic? She's like the, like, I don't know, just watch it.

I'm like the little old man. No, I'm the little old man. Anyways. Yeah, Andrew wants to do a morning show. What do you guys? You guys next, I promise you in a couple years we're doing a morning show. It's like morning devotional. You better get your morning.

But I have to start waking up in the... You better get your attitude for it. No, no, I'll go on there. Me and you will be fighting because you'll be slurping your coffee. I'll be pissed off. You're like an old married couple. No, literally. Well, that's awesome, though.

I love that. Anyways, totally. Yeah, so we had the best time and it was so much fun. And then my mom was telling me a story about how my brother got bullied. My brother, Julie, like, got bullied or something. And I was, I was just a. emotional day. I was falling my eyes out. I wish I had a camera on us because I go, he got bullied. That's so sad. I freaking can't with bullying. Don't even get me started. But imagine hearing

hearing about your brother getting bullied. Your brother getting bullied. And like, I called him and I said, hey, I just want you to know I love you so much. And like if I was older than you, you know I would have protected you. And he's just like, you're so weird. Why are you calling me? And it was just like, That's my brother. Anyways, today we are reading through the book of, how do you say James in Spanish? Oh, wow. What? Had a trick question?

Hames. Do you know? No, Hames. Because the J is H. Are you sure? Okay. And Julio. Himes.

Hames. Okay. I'm sorry. Hamas. Hame. write in the comments how you say James in Spanish. The book of James, I love this description. The central theme of James is faith that works.

The letters concerned primarily with practical matters related to the Christian's way of life. How does faith work itself out in a Christian's life? This is the book where the verse, Faith Without Works is dead. It's a letter from the author James. So James is Jesus's brother. They say he's Jesus's brother. So James was not one of the 12 apostles. He is not to be mistaken with the apostle James.

Different James. Different dog. Sorry. I'm going to give me one. Can you tell? We're on different minds right now. No, I'm trying to keep up because I'm getting Hamas with the freaking.

The Islamian Islam with James and I'm confused. And my brain is feels fried because I've been watched the trial. I object. I object. Okay. James is. Oh, yeah. I was just going to say something about Kevin Reddington.

Yes. Oh, tell him. Okay, real quick. Here's something I learned through this trial. If I don't have a Kevin Runnington, I don't want him at all. As a husband. Yes. He just set the bar for all.

across the world on what a man should it be. I am watching him and I go, I love him. If I don't meet someone like him, I don't want him. Angela sent me a voice note and she said, if you were a 70-year-old man, you would be Kevin Reddington. It is so true. Yeah, he goes, and the post-bathom? Yeah.

Father Bob. Father Bob. He's talking about Father Bob. Anyways, okay. So James. I'm not going to say it. James. Sorry.

He is widely understood to be James the brother of Jesus, not one of the 12 disciples. They say that Jesus' brothers did not initially believe in Jesus being the Messiah. You didn't like that? Are we talking about Catholicism? I'm confused. Okay. No. No, this is, no.

Okay. You're scaring me. You scare me, huh? After the resurrection, Jesus personally appeared to James in 1 Corinthians 15. James then becomes one of the most important leaders of the church in Jerusalem. He plays a major leadership role in Acts 15. Just to begin this, I mean, the people always wonder, because the verse, faith without works, is dead, seems contradictory to the verse that says, we are saved by grace through faith alone.

Like, we are saved as believers through faith in Jesus, by the grace of God because of what Jesus did on the cross and his resurrection, and nothing we can do can earn our salvation. But then it seems contradictory because this verse in James says faith without works is dead. People are like, this is a book of works. Like we can only be saved through faith. But I believe that that verse that says faith without works is dead doesn't mean that we earn salvation through works. Absolutely not. It means that works are a byproduct of true faith. Works are evidence of true faith. If you truly believe in Jesus, your life will reflect it. If you truly believe in Jesus, you will be generous. If you truly believe you will display the fruits of the spirit. Yes, absolutely. You know, so it's like

your, like true love compels you to do something. True love compels you to protect, to honor, to respect, to be faithful. So true faith in Jesus compels you to live a life that reflects that. So that's what this whole book is about. So James one, verse one, James, a servant of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings. This passage is called trials and temptations. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,

and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. First thing, we're going to kind of go just like over these eight verses with you guys. One of the first things I love so much is James, who's believed to be a brother of Jesus, whether half-brother, full brother, I don't know.

If he's not a brother, he's a cousin. James doesn't write in because he has proximity to Jesus. This is someone who grew up with or around Jesus. And he doesn't write this letter boasting about his proximity. He doesn't say I'm the brother or family member of Jesus. He says, I am a servant of God, knowing his place. And what I love so much is that James is one of the people who didn't believe in Jesus being the Messiah in the very beginning. And what I think is so crazy is you can have proximity to Jesus and still not know Jesus.

And I think we talk about this all the time because you can know all of it. about God and still not know God. You can know the entire Bible back and forth and still not know Jesus. And that's something that has convicted me so much about throughout my journey of like wanting to know so much, wanting to learn so much, wanting to memorize all this scripture when really the thing that, and not saying that that's bad, but what Jesus cares about more than anything is what do my relationships look like? How am I reacting? How is my pride? How is the sin? Like, those, Those are the things that Jesus cares about. You know what I mean?

And he wants us to be in a relationship with him. Yes, 100%. But it's like when I really think about what the Lord wants from us, if the first commandment is love God and the next is love people, how are your relationships? You know what I mean? How is your own heart? How is your pride? So before you're sitting here, like thinking you know Jesus because you know all this stuff,

I've really, really been challenged with that the past few years. of like, it doesn't matter how much of the Bible I know if it's not like reflected in my life. Yeah. You have to have humility. Yeah. You have to. Well, when you know Jesus, when you truly humble yourself instead of reading the Bible as head knowledge, like I said, you have to read for the person of Jesus. When you, there's no way that you are looking at Jesus, but you are nasty.

Yeah. Now, when I say that, the pruning process. We all are filthy rags, right? We go through a process. We all, I've been nasty. It has been a process, but you don't settle in that place. When you do something, you're like, wait a minute, that didn't feel good. You don't settle in the place.

That's why we talk about pride and humility because to follow Jesus, to have relationships, to be humble, you have to have humility. You cannot have walls of pride up. Yeah. It's the only way. And I think we say that, of course, always speaking from a place of brokenness. Yeah, and we're walking through it. Totally. Walking through a place of brokeness, not a place of like, hey, we're perfect and we haven't like acted out of the character of Jesus. But the point we're making is that as you journey along as a Christian, that's the focus. Forever. Once, like, conviction is the most beautiful thing in the world. When people say like, someone said to me, or I heard someone say recently asked the question, like, what's the balance with making Christian content, right? Like, what's the balance of learning about Jesus, like having

intimacy with Jesus verse making content about him? And I genuinely think that the answer is, if you are spending more time making content than being disciples, you've got it all wrong. You know what I mean? Like, our lives are 5% camera, 5% being on. a stage. A lot of percent of those little moments for me personally, like if I could describe my relationship with Jesus, how it's like internalized in my own heart and in my own head, when I feel like the number one thing that I feel Jesus say to me the most is be humble, be humble. Like it's gentle, it's kind, but it is a continuous be humble. That was prideful. That was not pure.

whatever that was wasn't good forgive them say sorry go reconcile with that person even if you don't want to so it's kind of like this is this is the point of like when we talk about not making christianity and aesthetic this is like what the true christian life should look like it means that you don't just read the bible so that you can debate people with it you read the bible so that it's transmitted into your heart and then express through your life So I just love that moment. That was the first verse. Anyways, so this is to the 12 tribes scattered among the nations. So reading scripture in context is one of the most, if not the most important thing that we do. We believe in expository teaching here that everything is read and interpreted in the

context which it was written. I think we, I really want to do an episode where we take all of the verses in the Bible that are like famously taken out of context and like be like, actually this is how it was originally said, but we like put it on a coffee mug and that's like not what it was meant to be at all. James is writing to the 12 tribes in the dispersion in the, I don't know what to say that. In to the 12 tribes in the dispersion, he's primarily writing to Jewish Christians scattered outside their homeland. Many believers had been dispersed because of persecution and instability. So James isn't writing to comfortable Christians sitting around debating theology, which I love so much because we're going to talk this whole verse, this whole passage is about having joy in the face of trials and hardship and suffering.

And he's literally writing to Christians who have lost everything, who have lost their homes, who have lost so much for the sake of the gospel. And he's saying have joy. Consider it pure joy. So let's talk about count at all joy, joy, my brothers and sisters, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. are steadfastness. It is the spiritual ability to stay planted under the weight of a trial without abandoning your faith to carry you through. Let's talk about some examples of that. When our faith is tested by storms, it produces the ability to endure in us and carry on even when life is difficult. Let's talk about singleness, for instance, because that can be a trial, right?

I mean, it's never fun. It's never fun when we go through trials. When we go through hard times, when we go through difficulties, when we go through sufferings, it is painful. And we hate it. I hate going through trials. I don't want to go through trials. I hate it. But he says, but count it all joy because something so amazing will come out of it on the other side of it.

Singleness, for instance. I wouldn't necessarily count singleness as a trial because I think singleness is such a gift, but the trial could be disappointment, frustration. You could be in a season where you desire marriage so much and have children and you just desire that and you've been praying for a long time and it just hasn't happened yet. And you're watching everyone around you move on with their lives and get married and you're still in the same place. Yeah.

So the testing would be, are you going to trust God when your timeline doesn't match his? Through the difficulty, instead of losing heart and losing faith, through the tears, you say, I still trust you. You don't settle. You don't settle for less than what God has for you. You don't rush the process. You don't throw in the towel and say, God has forgotten about me. Through that, through the waiting, through staying close to.

of Jesus, through not settling, through not rushing the process that steadfast is produced. And I can tell you through my singleness, what it is produced in me, I would have not gained without it. Yeah. I just wouldn't. Through the uncomfortability, you guys know I talk about, get really comfortable with being uncomfortable through that. I have found a peace, a contentment. I don't need a person to be okay anymore. There is just a peace and a contentment and a joy and a and just a fulfillment that I have that I don't panic anymore. I don't have this anxiety and panic. I feel true contentment and that was only through the testing of my singleness season. When we're in the middle of it, we can feel like it's such punishment. I was about to ask you,

through your singleness up until now, did it feel good? Did it feel like something good was being produced. So at first, at first it was so uncomfortable that it, at times it felt like punishment. Yeah. Like I didn't, like this was in the very beginning. But through that, I have a hunger, a love, a dependency. I know myself. I know Jesus. I have true love. I feel so safe. Yeah. And who I am now on the other side of the testing, of the watching everybody get married, listening to what everybody says about how, you know, your time could be coming. Through just focusing on Jesus, I cannot believe the steadfastness. That's the perfect word.

The perseverance and the steadfastness that it produced in me. And truly when it says, let steadfastness be in full infect so that you may be, be perfect and complete. Perfect means finishing the race. That through the trials, it builds something in you that you may be perfect lacking nothing that you will finish the race. And that's the one word I always say, I go, I lack nothing. I really don't. I lack nothing. And so through these, one more example, like it could be you don't get a job. You really want a job so bad. you have this purpose that you want and then you go and you've prepared and then it falls through. Yeah.

And so through that, you don't panic. You keep, you keep praying. You keep focused on Jesus. You don't throw the towel in. And through that, instead of like letting disappointment completely take over you and turning away from him, you keep focused on Jesus. And then months later, you'll realize that life doesn't fall apart like the way it used to. And it grows you. and it builds you and it refined you.

And it is not punishment. It truly is. I've lived it for the past coming on four years. And it's been, it's built me into the woman I am today. It's the only way. It's the only way. It's the only way. I feel like simply consider it pure joy.

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, I love the fact that he tells us to be joyful in the face of trials and temptations and tribulations. So this reminds me of Romans 5, 3 to 5, not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.

I love this because the fact, I think something that I've built my life on is that, like, I've been through a lot, my family's been through a lot, my lineage, like my bloodline coming from Eastern Europe, like they've been through a lot. And Chris, our tour manager said this the other day, actually. He goes, it's so crazy because he knows a lot of Albanians and just Balkans in general because he lives in New York. And he was like, it's so crazy to me that these people who have endured so much hardship, like they have not had civil peace in their countries forever.

And they have had so much communist oppression. They have had so much hardship. And yet they are still some of the most joyful people in the world. Do they need a little therapy? Probably. But yet they are so joyful. And I like the joy of the Lord being your strength, the only way to get through life is to be joyful.

Heidi Baker said, I don't want any miserable laid down lovers of Jesus. You will not make it through life. You will certainly not make it through life as a Christian without joy because it's too difficult. You have to look at even the hardest of situations with joy. I'm not saying that as if that should be easy, but it's all about a perspective shift.

That's why we read the Bible and let it come to life in us. And that's why we have people and friends who remind us that, yes, you actually can look at this horrible situation with joy. Now, when it comes to death and loss and deep grief and evil in the world, there's evil in the world that the Lord hates and just shouldn't have happened. You know what I mean? We're not putting like a Christian cliche on like horrific, disgusting, horrible things that happen in the world. And still, God can make good from it because that's who he is.

Yeah. But just know that when we're talking about this, we're not talking about like something horrifically disgusting and awful happen to you. And it's just like, well, consider it joy because that's what God says. So that's why I preface that. but consider it pure joy when you face trials because when you have joy, it's not that the joy is denying the pain that you're going through. The joy comes from knowing that something is being produced from it.

That's why you're able to have joy. When I went through the last year of my life, my hard time that was really difficult, every time my friends told me to think about what the Lord is doing through, through it to think about how amazing it can be that was like the best thing you could say to me because deep down I knew it was true and equally as like okay equally as annoying and also hard to believe if I've learned anything in my life I've talked about this last episode but if I've learned anything it's this scripture that when you face trials of any kinds the testing of your faith produces perseverance I talked about this last episode I if I wasn't

wasn't a woman of God before. I am a woman of God now because I got to experience a deep level of faith and trust when I didn't feel it. And so it is only in the face of trials and temptations like this that you truly see what you're made of. Like when we started Girls Gone Bible, I think I've told this before, but I'll say it again. When we went on tour, that was really, it was just a lot, speaking in front of people, preaching the gospel in front of people for the very first time in front of thousands of people. It was just a lot on us. There was a lot we weren't understanding. Why do we feel like this? Why is this hard? Why is the come down difficult? What is this spiritual warfare that's happening? And I remember things were coming up in both of us that were like,

oh my gosh, what is this? Like, I didn't have this before. And one of our mentors told me, because I said Tor like created this in us, like the insecurity or like the anxiety. And she was like, no, actually, I don't think Tor did that to you. I think Torr brought up what was already inside of you. And it is the kindness of God to bring up the ickiness that's inside of us so that we can get rid of it. And like true faith be produced. And I think that's what happens when your feet are put to the fire in the face of trial. You see what you're made of, you know, whether good or bad. And if it's bad, don't worry about it because Jesus is using it. And that's why we look at it as joy. Sometimes I don't always feel joy, but I can always hold on to hope.

Yes. And I think that's the perspective shift when you read this scripture is the one thing that I always say is how do you speak? Now, we don't always have to be toxic positive all the time, but life and death are in the power of the tongue. Here's a perspective shift. It's never going to happen for me. God has forgotten about me. Yeah. His promises, I guess he can't hear my.

prayers, or you can change it to, I'm going to keep trusting you. I know I have tears streaming down my face right now, and I don't understand, but let me keep, let me stay in your word. Let me keep trusting your promise. Let me keep trusting your promises. You stay in that place. I haven't always felt good through my trials. I haven't felt joy. I have sometimes felt like I was crawling on the ground. But I held on to Jesus. I held on to hope. I held onto his word. And that's what carries you through. Yes. And when you grow up with a lot of negativity and a lot of just negative talk, you grow up like that. You can speak death. And so that perspective change of watching how you're speaking, watching how you're talking and saying, no, no, no, I'm not going to speak

like God has forgotten me. I'm going to hang on to his word and keep saying, I trust you anyways. It's all about the way you speak. It changes. It produces hope and joy. And I'm so happy that you look what you just said that when he says that is genuinely such a good point, you don't always feel joyful, but he's not talking about this in a feel. This isn't a feeling. He's not saying be happy for what you're going through. It's a beautiful. It's a the perspective, count it pure joy. Yeah. As in you might not feel that way, but you can look at it that way.

Yes, yes. This is why context really matters. If James had used the verb of joy to rejoice, it would sound like a command to perform an emotion. Example, feel happy when you face trials. But by using the noun, he points to an objective reality, that he's not asking the readers to pretend that they enjoy suffering. Yeah. He's instructing them to view the entire situation as a framework for ultimate enduring joy because of what that trial produces in the end, which is said fat. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Said fat. Um, so good. Because we can, we can look at our trials. We can be in our trials and we can go the opposite way. Yeah. We can be in our trials and like I said, rush the waiting process. Go to substances. Go to sex. Go to or. that's why the testing in your testing what will you do because he says you can rest knowing that in your

suffering through that you will bear fruit but you have to stay with Jesus and this you have to I keep hearing the verse even though I walk through the darkest valley I fear no evil because you are with me I literally I just said this the other day I said that verse out loud even though you're walking through a really dark time, suffering, hurt, rejection, whatever it is, you will not stay there. He is walking through it with you. But I promise who you will be on the other side of this trial. You will literally lack nothing. It's so exciting. It's so exciting. But it's the only way. A thousand percent. And I love so much the next verse too. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Mature and complete doesn't mean

that you're perfect. It doesn't mean that you get it right every time. But the whole point of the Christian walk is to become mature. The whole point is that we grow and we grow and we grow and we become more mature, go deeper in our intimacy with Jesus. And I think maturity is like from a faith perspective, maturity is not that you always feel good. But it's it's, it's, It's that over time, you don't get us shaken up from trials. You don't get us shaken up when something goes wrong. You remember the history. You remember the past.

You remember the character of God. And you're able to withstand the trials, not perfectly, but with a more mature perspective. You go from milk to solid food. You're able to see situations that are difficult. And we're not taking away from that. There are things that I've walked through that I still go through that are so difficult and I'm never pretending that they're not difficult but I can choose to have the perspective that the Lord is always doing something with it and it carries you through yeah and then the

next verse verse five if any of you lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you this isn't the only time that the New Testament says if you ask God for wisdom ask him because he'll give it to you we ask God I ask God for wisdom every day, every situation that I'm in. I ask for wisdom. And I genuinely believe that he gives it to me. And I think the wisdom in this context really is coming for, you need wisdom to be able to count trials as pure joy like James is telling us to do. You need the wisdom of heaven to be able to look at a situation that looks really bad as something that's good. You need a different type of brain. You genuinely need the mind of Christ, the eyes of Christ. Like, you need to be,

you need to ask Jesus, Lord, let me see this the way you see this. Lift my eyes above my current circumstance into heaven to see what you're doing. That's my prayer all the time. Lord, shift my perspective. Give me eyes to see and ears to hear. I want to know what you see, not what I see, which is filtered through my flesh, trauma, things that I think I want and need for safety, the desires of my heart that don't line up with the will of God, you know? If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously. In my panic, in my anxiety, when my nervous system is in a literal, like, knots, Yeah.

My first instinct is sometimes as I mature, I'm learning to go to God. But I think about when I'm in a panic sometimes and I when I don't go to God. And I'm like calling this one and calling that one and I'm chat, like how much do we want fast answers? But he says, I think about the scripture when David says, I lay my request before you. and I wait expectantly. Wait. When you wait expectantly, what does that mean?

You wait in faith. God doesn't always answer. That's the problem I think we have is we are all on our own timelines. Yeah. If we don't get an answer, we're panicking. If it's one thing that I learned, you sit. Even in our prayer time, we think that we ask God and then he's just going to answer us right away. No, you wait.

And you know what? Sometimes that looks like weeks. months. It's great. But if you ask and you pray and you wait expectantly, your father will answer you. First, we want you guys to write this down for this week. Ask Jesus for wisdom. Continuously ask him for wisdom when you don't know what to do, when you know your perspective is wrong, when you need a different, different way to think about whatever's going on, ask him for wisdom. Don't stop. Make it something that's like second nature. First nature. What's the second? nature. Second nature. I don't know. Like, make it something that comes so naturally to you that you're just like,

Lord, give me wisdom in this. Give me wisdom. Don't stop praying. Like, do you know that when you pray, God hears you and he answers? Like, if you ask him to speak, he speaks. If you ask him to give you a heavenly perspective, he's going to give it to you. But like Ari said, it might not be an instant change. It could be something that you have to walk out. And I even think I just, thought about that moment in Elijah, we'll go back to Samuel and Elijah, that he didn't speak in the fire or the wind. We don't know how to get quiet. And honestly, I can be one of those people. I don't know how to get quiet sometimes. I want to get up. I want to go. I'm like someone who go, go, go. And you have to learn to sit and listen. Sit and listen. Sit with him. Let him love you. Let him.

Because it's like when we learn to sit with him, to let him love us, to let him, that's when our nervous systems calm down. He is a nervous system resetter. You need to let him sit and speak to you and love you. And that's when we hear from God. That's truly it. Yeah, 100%. And I think I love what it goes into about when you ask, you must believe and not doubt because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea blown and tossed by the wind. And this isn't necessarily taught. Like I feel like people would read this and get scared. Like, oh my gosh. So if I ask and doubt a little bit, does that mean that I'm not going to get anything?

He's not going to answer because I can't tell you how many times I've prayed with a little bit of doubt in my heart. But the next line that says the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea and is blown and tossed by the wind. It's not like innocent doubt, right? It's about a heart that is divided. We talk about this all the time, like a heart that is divided. in what you believe.

Like, do you really believe? Like, you're asking God for wisdom, but, like, you don't really know if his ways are actually better than your ways. You're asking for wisdom, but, like, you don't really know if that sin is actually a sin. You don't really know if you're, like, you have to live the way he's asking you to. I think in this moment when he's saying about doubting, you don't need to feel condemned if you're moving through emotions of, like, oh, I'm doubting.

I can't tell you how often if I'm having anxiety or if I'm having anxiety or if I'm, I'm struggling with OCD. I'm doubting. I'm doubting everything. And I just don't believe that that's what the Lord is like speaking to and that. He's speaking to if you're doubting, like if you doubt. You need to wrestle with it with him. Exactly.

I'm not doubting like whether sin is sin and evil is evil and if good is good. Like I'm doubting like a heart issue. You're not in your pride. You're wrestling with him. I'm confused about this. Yeah. Exactly. When he says for the one who doubts is tossed by the win, when I think about that, I think

tossed by the win, I know, tossed by opinions, tossed by the world. Instead of putting your faith in the word, your faith in his character, your faith in what he says, you can't have, when you have divided opinions, when you're like, oh, you know, I believe this, but you're like consuming yourself with all of these. other things and I see it so much like I believe in God but what about this like that's what I love about what you said about wrestling yes we can wrestle and have questions and all these things but when your heart is so divided when you're just tossed by the ways of the world yeah when you're consuming yourself with things that are are of this world you are going to literally be tossed by the wind

exactly that's what I would I when I read that that's what I picture yeah are you going to listen to all the outside voices, are you going to be rooted in his word? Yeah, a thousand percent. Because where there is doubt in your life, there's instability in your life. It's true. Yeah. When you sit there and you consume yourself with opinions of others more than his character, more than the word of God, you will be unstable in all your ways. A thousand percent. Truly. And it leads us into that person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. And the that's not like a condemning verse that's saying that, you know, you're out and God doesn't care about you. It's simply, like Ari mentioned that scripture today, the prayers of a righteous person avail much.

When a righteous person prays and their heart isn't divided, like their prayers are heard by God and are amplified by God and it makes heaven move. Like, that's just what happens. I genuinely believe that the doubt we're talking about is a divided heart. And I believe that that division in your heart, a heart that's not fully devoted, will be praying prayers that are diluted because your allegiance is separated. Like you're not all in. Your heart's not all in in what you're praying. And so when you're going to receive nothing from the Lord, it's not because he doesn't care about you. It's because your heart's not in the right place.

How can you receive what you're asking for when you're not asking from the right place? And then it leads us into the last verse. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. That's one of my favorite verses ever because a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. That's another version of it. It's, that's tough. That's tough.

And when I look at periods of my life where I've been double-minded, yeah, it leads to instability. That's literally what you just talked about. Instability, anxiety, depression. Yeah. Yeah, when you are unstable, when you are getting tossed by the wind, tossed by opinions. Yeah. You're unstable not only in all your ways, in your mind, in your life. You're whenever.

Trying to make decisions, trying to do anything. Life is so tough as it is. We're not meant to like be just tossed around. That's why we have to be rooted in this. Yeah. Um, Romans 1017 says, faith comes by hearing and the hearing by the word. word of God. Test it. You test his word. You, you, you know that when you, when you read the word of God

and to read the person of Jesus, that's where your faith comes. That's when your eyes open. That's when you stop questioning and listening to the outside world and the opinions of others and you put your faith in this and you start to read as character and you start to, you start to understand. But you have to do it for yourself. You have to get the noise out. Get the opinions out. Get some and friends, get, like, get people to pray for you. If you are feeling unstable, if you are feeling confused, talk to, talk to your father about it. Talk to him what you're wrestling with. He's not scared of your doubts. He's not scared of your confusion. But I think there's so much garbage on the internet. There's so many opinions. There's so many philosophies. There's just so many things.

I mean, I'll go on TikTok sometimes and just, I watch these videos and I'm like, it's no wonder why people can get swayed the other way. But for as long as you just live in this confusion and let be double-minded for as long as you're going to stay anxious, depressed, unstable. Yeah. And it's a barrier between you and God. So. And you and peace. Like I think what I love so much about the eight verses that we read today is that like we're meant to live a life of I think the whole point of the Christian walk is one to be sanctified into the image of of God to adopt Christ's likeness and also to move into wholeness like if I've learned anything it's that Jesus is wanting us to be to heal and become whole and to become whole in our hearts and to

become whole in our minds and renew our minds through the word. And I just think that this passage is very much like a passage that should lead you to peace. Yeah. You know, that takes the things that are hard and says, hey, there is a way to move through situations like this with a different perspective. Yeah. That will give you joy that's not based on an emotion and a feeling, but it's based on the fact that you can look at a situation differently and not have it consume you and lead you to, like, immense despair. And like I look at this as like, this makes me feel peaceful moving forward. That I can, we can count on Jesus. Like we can genuinely count on him. Yeah. You know, we can genuinely count on a God who loves us so much that he would come down on to earth,

die a brutal death, be buried, defeat sin, grave and hell and raise again. And then invite us all into his kingdom with him. Like he did all of that. And then on top of that, he moves through life with us and takes what sucks and turns it into something beautiful. Yeah. And take the things that are hurting us and make something good out of it. That's crazy.

Not only for us. Imagine what that does when our families and our friends or people see us go through such deep suffering trials and you have somebody that loves you watching you. Oh. And you're literally like going through it. It's the best. And people that love you see you praying and trusting and having joy in the midst of your suffering. Can you imagine what that does in the lives of the people that you love and the lives of other people? What that produces in them. You become a billboard. They literally see you and say, I want what they're having. I can't tell you what has been produced in my family, what's been produced in my friends, what's been produced in so many people through seeing

your steadfastness, through seeing your faithfulness through your trials. And so it's not just for you. It's for the lives of so many other people. You have no idea what you do by being faithful. Yeah. A thousand percent. Become a billboard of hope and joy for other people. You want to be the type of person that someone says, oh, I want to move through the hard parts of life like they do. You know what I mean? And again, we don't say this from a place of perfection. We don't say this from a place of we get this right every time. Something we're walking through.

Every day. And we will be walking through this forever. We will forever be maturing. We will forever be walking through things. And then in hindsight be like, look what God did. I'll remember that for next time. So we love you guys so much. Thanks for chilling with us.

That was weird. I've never said that before. I didn't like it. Start prayer groups, start Bible studies. I'm telling you, I've been thinking about this a lot. In this season, start getting your friends together. Have prayer nights. Have Bible studies.

Get together with your friends. Like, this is what we need to be doing to stay grounded, to stay faithful, to not be tossed by the wind. Yes. We need each other. We need community. be the one that starts something. Yes.

Start something. Start a community group. Like that's great. That's what we're called to do as followers of Jesus. This is how we keep the faith. This is how we keep the joy. We need each other. And so I've been feeling that really strongly to just go disciple people.

Go help people. Like this is what's going to keep you standing. Yeah. Go be a leader. You know seriously. You really. I'm saying you put. You put the hand so behind.

We love you guys so much. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he turn his face towards you and give you peace. Shalom. Shalom. Where shalom? I don't know.

He hasn't been back yet. It's a girl. Oh, she was sorry.