episode 7 season 2

The speakers discuss the concept of self-sufficiency and how it can be a hindrance in one's relationship with God. They talk about how self-sufficiency can lead to idolatry and push God and others away. They emphasize the importance of recognizing our dependence on God and surrendering control to Him. They also touch on the idea of speaking life into our circumstances and trusting in God's healing and provision. They highlight the temporary nature of challenges and encourage listeners to hold on and not give up. Hello, hello lovely people. Word of mouth with Nate and Shelby. So we're back. What it do? What it do? How you doing Nate? I'm good. I'm good. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Okay, so we just came off of dealing with control the past couple podcasts and now we're going to talk about self-sufficiency. This is a very ouchy subject for me. Oh my God, I love the word ouchy. It's a big hurt. I love it. Yeah, so Nate, I've been doing this study and it's about idolatry. And I think, you know, when we talk about idolatry as believers, we think about like the golden image, you know, yeah, all that stuff, like the cow and all that stuff. But we don't really think about the things that this study is talking about. And it has burned me every day. Share. Share, share. So we'll just go through the list real quick. My, my, my. Yeah, it's heavy stuff. Okay, so we're talking about man's approval, busyness, ouch, which I do to avoid feelings. Oh my God. Control, which we just talked about. Comfort, which was a killer for me. Comfort. Because there is so much we take for granted. Oh my God. Like running water, Amazon Prime shipping, cell phones, let alone that we can walk and talk and breathe, work, have opportunities, all these things. And then we have self-sufficiency. Wow. Man, you know you've got to share this. I mean, you've got to share this book. So self-sufficiency is a killer for me because, you know, I'm Miss Independent Woman. Miss Independent. You know, that was a song too. I know, but it wasn't Janet Jackson, so. It wasn't Janet. And it wasn't Milli Vanilli. Right. Anyways, I think this one killed me because I think I'm self-sufficient all the time. Okay. What makes you self-sufficient? That I can do anything and I can handle anything and just keep moving, just keep pushing, right? So you stay busy in your self-sufficiency. I'm busy. I'm busy. I stay away from that. And it gives you control because... Yep. Wow. That is... Wow. So I think that it's a very touchy subject and we're probably going to... We might hurt some feelings. We might step on some toes. I'm okay with it. But just know that I stepped on mine first, like I planted on my own toes and I hurt my own feelings, so. Ouch. Yeah. So, you know, we live in this world where we talk about you are enough. Yes. And I am enough. Just... You're talking about saying that to each other, right? Yes. Okay. Or we say it to ourselves in the mirror. Yeah, well, I don't, but... And I'm not faulting that, you know. I think that, yes, we should build each other up, absolutely. And I think you are enough saying that to someone is saying, basically, you're loved, right? Yes. That's how it is. But you don't want to say the L word necessarily. Why not? I don't know. I think it gets touchy with people sometimes. I don't know. I'd rather for them to be touched. And I also think that you are enough is saying that you're worthy. Yes. Of good things. You're worthy of being loved. You're worthy of those things. So when you're saying you are enough, or I am enough, I'm worthy of those things. But if we talk about it biblically, yeah, we're really not. We're not worthy. We're only worthy through the blood of Jesus. Amen. That's the only way. We are not enough, but Jesus is. God. So, this kind of flipped me on my head because, you know, like it says, this mantra, we are enough, is to preach self-help, self-care, and self-sufficiency. At first glance, these all seem like really great things, but they lead to the exhausting pursuit of building our lives solely around ourselves, in our own strength and our own sufficiency. It aims to build us up in a way that actually pushes God and others away from us. Wow. So, we're creating, basically, like we're making the island. Yeah, it says, ultimately, it feeds the lie that we only need ourselves. You don't even need God. Wow. Because you're enough. You've got this. You don't need God. Okay, that is what rocked me to my core. I can see how. Because we thought that it was okay to tell ourselves, but also to hear other people tell us, hey, you're enough. You're enough. And we take it literally to heart. And in all honesty, some of us, or not really directly, but indirectly, we were kind of pushing God away, too. Because we were saying, hey, I don't need you either. And I'm saying I'm guilty of this. I'm owning this right now. This was really convicting to me. Wow. Because, you know, like I said in the last podcast, when I was doing this study and I was writing the answers down and everything to the questions, God stopped me and he said, you keep saying that you're this independent woman, but you are dependent on me. And when you say that you're the independent woman, you take the power out of my hands and put it on yourself. Okay, I don't ever want to do that. And I never saw that I was doing that. I thought, you know, like we talked earlier, it's like a banner. It's like I can do anything and I'm proud and da-da-da. But we know where pride gets us. Come before a fall. And I always talk about being humble. And, yeah, God just humbled me with this study. And so, yeah, I think self-sufficiency is a big deal for us people. Yes. Especially for us island people. I would have never thought that I was leaving God out of the equation when I said that I got this or I don't need no help or I'm enough. I can do it on my own. I didn't know that I was saying. I didn't either. I didn't see it that way. Wow. But like we said earlier, you know, you can say I can do all things, but you need to add the through Christ. Come on. Because when you say I can do all things and you leave him out, that's when you're in trouble. And that's what I've been doing. And I haven't been leaving him out of my life, but I've just, it really was convicting to me about how much onus I'm putting on me and not giving him credit. Or not letting him take the load. Jesus take the wheel. Right. The Bible gives an account where God says, cast your cares. And this is literally, we're saying, hey, give it to me. Matthew 11, 28 says, take my yoke and let's do a flip flop because my yoke is easy and my burdens are light. Yeah. Like I'll take, you go rest. But that, see, that's what kills me is, you know, if we go to the word, it's so simple. We're literally supposed to just hang out, man. Like just keep flowing, but given him everything and not having any guilt, not having any shame, not having any anxiousness, no anxiety, no fear. No fear. That used to be a slogan. No fear. Jesus. Used to be. Yeah. Yeah. But we just can't live that way because we're in the flesh suit and we get all wrapped up in our own. We get self-sufficient. And the enemy comes and goes, hey, I'm going to give you a call. Is that the enemy calling? That's the enemy, right? Yeah, even though my ringer was on. But yeah, I get it. And, you know, the enemy comes in and once we get in those places and just gives us all those intrusive thoughts and keeps us marinating on the stuff that we can't control. Can't control at all. Wow. I don't even know. It's funny. And I thank God that you're in this study and that we're talking about it on this platform because a lot of us didn't know that we were creating that kind of monster. Like when you said, man, I'm completely convicted and I'm humbled now. Yeah. That's a huge monster when you put yourself in the place of God. That's a savior complex. Yes. Guilty. Guilty as charged right here. God. And it's the small things. The small foxes is what spoils the fire. It's the smallest things that we do that can create some of the massive, huge things in our lives. And we're trying to figure out what, why, what just happened. You created this monster. Yeah. But we want to blame the enemy too. I want to say I wasn't me. No, I can't. Don't point the finger at him. I was just busy. No, you did that. And, you know, I think that a lot of it is just in living life. Like we're just pushing through. We're just trying to get through the day. We're just trying to keep the, you know, the ball rolling and all that. And I don't think we do it intentionally. But then when you get checked and it's like, oh, that's when you go, oh, and you look back in all these things I've been doing. Yep. Yep. Self-sufficiency is huge. It allows you to look at yourself, self, look at yourself and realize that you're nothing without him. That's how we're supposed to look at ourselves. Instead of thinking that we are in charge and we're running the show. Why are we so easily attracted to that, wanting that kind of control or to be self-sufficient? Is it for other people? Like are we trying to prove something to somebody else? Because we ain't proving nothing to God. I think, yeah, some of that plays into part. But I think a lot of it goes back to the timing and our impatience and we want what we want when we want it. The timing. The timing of what? Anything. What we want. Getting what we want. Okay. And I think, you know, as we go on, because we've talked about being a microwave society where everything's instantaneous, it's going to get worse. So if God's not doing it when I want it done, I'm going to make it happen myself. Got it. Got it. Okay. And, you know, like we've talked in the past, you can do that, but you're circumventing his will for you. Yes. And you're postponing probably the blessings that were coming because now he's got to maneuver around you. And he knew you were going to do that, so he's not shocked. He's not surprised or offended. But now he's got to redirect things, and it's probably going to take a little longer, maybe a lot longer than what it would have originally taken. That's such a great analogy to put it in that perspective. How many times have God had to redirect? You ever been driving and you went down the wrong street, you had your Google Maps on? Rerouting. Rerouting. How many times have God, you heard the Holy Spirit just shout out, rerouting? Wouldn't it be nice if he did that? So you'd know, like, oh, I just screwed that one up. All good. Can I go back? Man, I know he had to reroute a whole lot in my life. Oh, you're not alone over there, mister. Because of my self-sufficient ways, my self-driven, yeah. And I think, you know, it's going to be a process. Because it was a process for me to become this independent woman, it's going to be a process for me to let it go. That was my next question, too. Because I know that's not an overnight thing. To become independent, it took you a while to say, hey, I got this on my own. Now you have to come out of that. Backtrack. Whoa. That's a huge process. Yeah. Trust. I'm not good with trust. Are you willing to go through the process? I'm going to try. Amen. Amen. If I could become an independent woman, I can do whatever, right? Yes, you can. If you become independent, that means you can become dependent on him fully. Yes. Fully. Yes. And I believe that. I believe we all can. That's why we probably need to discuss it on this platform. Because there's not just women out there, but there's so many people that are self-sufficient. We were made to be. We were pushed to be. Or we just did it. Yeah, and I think we have to explain that you still have to walk life. You still have to keep moving. You still have to take action. But there should be a lot of freedom in giving things up to God. Because you don't have to dwell on it. You just have to trust in his will to be done. You said freedom of giving things up to God? There's freedom in giving things up to God. So, let me ask a question right there. So, you're saying I can... It's freeing to give him control in my decision-making. That's freeing. It's freeing to give him control over my finances? That's hard. Okay. That's terribly hard. But it's freeing, though. Because I know that he's Jehovah Jireh. He will provide. Absolutely. So, that is freeing. But that's hard. And it also still means you've got to go to your job. You've got to go to work. You don't just get to go sit back and be like, okay, God, you've got this. Say that again. Because a lot of people, I think, think that. Like, you just get to, oh, I don't have to do nothing. I can just rely on God. It's sad that we've got to give that disclaimer. We're not saying stop working. We're not saying being lazy. Just sit on the couch and don't do anything. We're not saying that. Listen, do what you have to do, but trust God that he will provide the need. Yeah. He will provide the need. And it should relieve you of any anxiety or any fear. Because you're trusting that whatever comes your way is his will. Absolutely. And you don't have to think about it. You don't have to dwell on it. You don't have to try and fix it. I'm speaking out of my own brain. Oh, here's a big one. Because you said it's freeing. And this is very touchy for me in a lot of ways. It's freeing to give this to God from a health standpoint, knowing that the professionals have made a statement of something that you will have for the rest of your life. That's very hard. Very hard. But remember, doctors are practicing medicine. And the great physician can fix anything and heal anything. He did it in the word. He did it in the past. And he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Nothing is new under the sun. Nothing. No disease. No disease known to man. Nope. No infirmity. No nothing. He's already conquered it all. There is a balm still in Gilead. I receive it. I receive it. But yes, it is not easy. As long as we're in this flesh suit, it is not easy to try and fight it all the time. In what you just spoke, it is freeing to know that there is a great physician that sounds better and looks better than that guy at Park West saying, hey, you got this. It is freeing to know. But it's hard, especially when you're talking about sickness, when you're seeing the physical manifestations of something and you're feeling it in your body. It is not easy to say, but my God is greater. It is not easy to say, God's got this. I don't have to claim it. I don't have to own it. I don't have to talk about it. And I think a lot of it, too. You want to talk about it because you need to process it. But we know what happens and what power is in our tongue. And when we speak things out, the enemy can use those things. And he will. He will take every opportunity. Flip every word you said. And sometimes you don't even have to flip them. He can just say, yep, you said it. Guess what? You owned it. It's yours now, and I'm going to make sure you understand that. Yeah. And that's why we have to be careful with our words because he will use those things in which you said them. Wow. But I think in humanness, we get caught in, well, I'm just speaking the truth. You're speaking the worldly truth. You're not speaking the biblical truth. Here's a good one. The Bible says the truth will set me free, so it should be freeing to me to know that I'm healed. Yeah. To know that I'm set free from that, whether it's mental, whether it's physical disease or that thing that kept me captive for so long. I'm free from that. I'm reminded of the Book of Mark. It's given vividly in the Book of Mark about the woman that had an issue for 12 years. She did everything she could. Spent all of her money. She went to every doctor and spent everything she had. Had nothing left. Wow. All she did was have the faith to touch the hem of his garment. Come on. That's so powerful. That's so powerful. Because she could have became self-sufficient and bitter and angry and frustrated. I mean, like all of them, which, to be honest, I mean, to have an issue for 12 years, for a woman, that's rough. She doesn't have any issue that's in your face all the time. Any issue. Yeah, you're right. You're right. And to stand in the face of something and to say, no, I'm not going to accept that. This is what I'm standing on is very trying. And you have to stay in that place so much and so long sometimes. And it's so hard to stay in that place and remain strong in that place. Yes, it is. When you have this in your face that says something opposite of what you're claiming for yourself. That's when you have to have the body around you. And you have to have people who are going to be your strength when you don't have it anymore. And speak life into you when you can't speak life into your own circumstance. I was going to say, the wheels are turning over there. No, that hit home. That hit home. It can be very hard when you're looking at the physical, like the tangible things. Oh, and when you're feeling the pain, the actual physical pain, and you're seeing all the signs of the disease. Yeah. All the signs of the abuse, all the signs of the brokenness. And you're seeing that and you're living it every day. It is absolutely... We'll take everything you've got to stand in the face of that and say, nope. I'm believing that my God already took this, already handled it, already wiped it out. Amen. Amen. Already healed it. Already put me back together. And that my body is in line with the word of God. So true. And you can start commanding stuff, too. Absolutely. Call it down. I am the head and not the tail. It got personal. Sorry. You were speaking directly to me in areas. But you are the head and not the tail. Absolutely. And you don't have to own anything the doctor says or anybody else says. In Jesus' name. Because you are God's creation. And he bore all your sickness and disease and your iniquities and everything else when he died on that cross and his blood was poured out. Yes. Took it all. He took it all. Because there is nothing new under the sun. There is no new sickness. There is no new nothing. COVID ain't new. It ain't new. It ain't cancer, COVID, HPV. They got a bunch of names for whatever. Yeah. It ain't new. He's already conquered it all. Thank you. I think some people had to hear that. I know for myself. I think some people had to hear that because they look at things in a tangible way. We are a society. I think you said it earlier. We are a society where we have become prone to being programmed to what we see every day. In 2 Corinthians 4, I believe it says, For the things that we see with our natural eyes are temporary. That's another thing that I need to say because God put that on my heart the other day. In fact, I wrote it down. What you are facing is temporary. If it is good, enjoy it. If it's not, it's almost over. You're one day closer to the end of it. I'm taking that with me. But that's the thing. I'm speaking for myself. We get so into what is in our face, and we think it's the end of the world. We think that it's going to last forever, and we're never going to get out from under it, and it's always going to be this way, and blah, blah, blah. The fact of the matter is it's temporary. It's temporary. This is a temporary situation. Addiction is temporary. Bankruptcy is temporary. Brokenness. Temporary. Sickness is temporary. Yes, it is. Infirmities are temporary. Yes, they are. God, they are. So when you're in those places, you have to rely on Him to be your strength and to equip you to face the challenge and to pursue what is promised to you and remind yourself that this is temporary. Yes. This is temporary. What is it? Sadness endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning? It's weeping. The whole scripture basically says that this is just for a moment. It's only going to last for a moment, but the joy that you have is the rest of your life. Yes, it's eternal. Joy comes in the morning. Hold on. Don't quit. Don't give up. Don't give up. We actually can't afford to. Our lives, it's not our own anyway. We have to be that example and that testimony for someone else. If we give up, imagine what someone that's watching your life, what they'll do. You give up. Your children. Someone at your job is watching. How are you still able to keep a level head? Push forward. The ripples can go on for a long time, whether they're good or bad. Yes. Yes. This was not at all how I was expecting this to go. The Holy Spirit shifted. Oh, my God. Someone out there needs to hear this because this was not at all what I thought we were going to talk about. It was like a complete shift. I know for me, it was a complete shift. Thank you, God, to remind all of us, even the listeners, to remind us that it's temporary. I put myself in the woman that we were just talking about in the book of Mark. When you get to that place of exhaustion, frustration, anger, just hurt altogether, nobody wants you around. No, she was completely ostracized. Yes. She was alone for a long time. And you get so desperate that you just say, well, I just got to get to him. I got nothing to lose. But why do we wait that long? That's the issue. Why do we wait that long? He doesn't want us to wait that long. That's the issue. That's the issue. How do we wait so long? Because we're self-sufficient. Because we think we control it. And then when we realize it's completely out of our control and we don't control a dang thing, and it's so far gone left, that's when we finally hit it and go, I can't do this. God, I need you. Right. If we had just done that when it first started to go left, maybe we would have avoided how far left it went. Wow. This has been word of mouth. Podcast with the prophetess herself. I'll stop that. Man, thank you. No. Like I said, this was not what... I saw the shift on that one. You felt it. I could see it. I did. God. Thank you, God. And I believe that those that listen to this one, please understand that you don't have to do it yourself. Don't wait till you get too late. No. Cry out to him now. Now. When you first start seeing things in your face that you think you might be able to handle, just ask for his help. Yes. Say, hey. Hey, big guy. I know you see me down here and I know you see what's in my face. I'm just going to ask. Yes. Because he wants us to ask. Yes. His word says. You know... Seek. Ask. Knock. It's so puzzling. I heard people tell me as a kid, never question God. I can ask him. I can. I can ask for something and he'll hear me. And you can ask him about your unbelief. We just talked about that off mic. You can ask him. Why do I have this unbelief? Fix this unbelief. Take it from me. Please. You know, and I think a lot of people... Yes, you have to revere God and you have to respect him. Absolutely. But you can say, you know what? I'm a little ticked about this. What's going on here? Are you here? Do you see me? The way you were just speaking of how you can talk to God. Hey, big guy. It's your girl. Yes. It's your boy. You created me. Right. It's your son. You know me. You know me. I need you to come holler at me. Yes. And you don't like it. And I think that's, you know, we had talked about talking about prayer. And it doesn't have to be formal. And, you know, you don't even have to get down on your knees. Like, he hears everything in your heart. You don't really even have to speak it out loud. Because sometimes we speak things out loud and the enemy goes, Oh, I'll go get a hold of that one. And play on it. Yep. Yep. So it's just your inner voice. And you just talk to him like you do anybody else. Like, it's real chill. Don't make it a big production. He doesn't need that. No. He just wants your heart. And he wants to hear it. That's all. He wants you to ask. So that he knows you're relying on him. And not yourself. I got it. Just talk to him. That's it. Be respectful. But talk to him. But you can be mad at him. He understands that. Of course. If you're in grief right now. If you've suffered a loss. And you're mad at him. Tell him all about it. Yes. Even if you got to yell. He won't be offended. He loves you regardless. And he wants you to get through it. And he wants to help you. And he wants to hold you. And he wants to heal you. Yes. This is scripture. The Bible says you can be angry. Don't send behind the anger. You can be angry. You can yell out and say, Hey, where are you? I'm reminded of a poem. Yeah, we're over time. I'm reminded of a poem that I would see in people's houses growing up. It was called The Footprints. Yes, I was. You know what? That came to me too when we were talking about this just a minute ago. Wow. Wow. Footprints in the sand. Yes. And the guy. There weren't two sets of footprints. He got angry. He was like, Hey. Where were you? This was the most difficult time of my life. Yeah. And when I look back, it was only one set, bro. Yeah. Only one set of footprints. Where were you? Where were you? And he said, I was carrying you the whole time. That's when the waterworks begin to kick in because there wasn't time that God carried us. And there will be. And it will continue. Amen. These have been word of mouth on our podcast with Nate and Shelby. Give God control. Don't be self-sufficient. I'm going to try. Me too, Shelby. I got to relearn a lot of stuff, but I'm going to try. I'm going to try and do it. Me too. We love you all. Thank you so much for tuning in. Love you. We'll see you soon. Bye.