Have you ever felt like your courage was slipping through your fingers, leaving you grappling with discouragement? That's precisely what we discuss in our latest Joy Podcast episode. We dive into the moments when life seems to drain the enthusiasm right out of us, revealing how we've turned prolonged hardships into avenues for hope and transformation. By sharing our personal struggles and the wisdom found in the simple definition of discouragement, we offer a raw and relatable conversation that promises to uplift and inspire.
Facing fear and anxiety is a journey many of us know all too well, but finding encouragement amidst the storm isn't just about endurance—it's about the power of faith, the solace of scripture, and the support of community. We reflect on a challenging decade, sharing how spiritual healing paved the way for our passion for women's ministry. We explore leaning into faith even when God's presence seems distant, and how those silent seasons can deepen our connection to the divine and remind us that we're never alone.
Our heartfelt discussion concludes by emphasizing the importance of fellowship and the church as a haven for those weathering life's storms. We remind you, our dear listeners, that no burden is too heavy to cast upon the Lord. Join us as we find solace in scripture, particularly the promise of new beginnings from Isaiah 43:18-19, and close with a prayer for hope and encouragement. Your stories of overcoming fear and anxiety are a cherished part of our Joy Podcast family, so we eagerly await to hear your voice and share in this ongoing conversation.
Have you ever felt like your courage was slipping through your fingers, leaving you grappling with discouragement? That's precisely what we discuss in our latest Joy Podcast episode. We dive into the moments when life seems to drain the enthusiasm right out of us, revealing how we've turned prolonged hardships into avenues for hope and transformation. By sharing our personal struggles and the wisdom found in the simple definition of discouragement, we offer a raw and relatable conversation that promises to uplift and inspire.
Facing fear and anxiety is a journey many of us know all too well, but finding encouragement amidst the storm isn't just about endurance—it's about the power of faith, the solace of scripture, and the support of community. We reflect on a challenging decade, sharing how spiritual healing paved the way for our passion for women's ministry. We explore leaning into faith even when God's presence seems distant, and how those silent seasons can deepen our connection to the divine and remind us that we're never alone.
Our heartfelt discussion concludes by emphasizing the importance of fellowship and the church as a haven for those weathering life's storms. We remind you, our dear listeners, that no burden is too heavy to cast upon the Lord. Join us as we find solace in scripture, particularly the promise of new beginnings from Isaiah 43:18-19, and close with a prayer for hope and encouragement. Your stories of overcoming fear and anxiety are a cherished part of our Joy Podcast family, so we eagerly await to hear your voice and share in this ongoing conversation.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Joy Podcast, your women's guide to living a joy-filled life. We are your co-hosts, katrina Morris and Allison Jordan. We are grateful you joined us, as we have real and raw, faith-based conversations surrounding motherhood, marriage, careers, friendships and everything else in a woman's daily life that's right, ladies, grab your cup of coffee and pull up a chair as we dive into all the things.
Speaker 1:
Hey guys, Katrina here, Full disclaimer. In this episode my mic has a little bit of technical issues, but be patient and stay with us. It only gets better from here. Thanks for your kindness and patience as we work through all the things. Enjoy the episode. Hey everybody, Welcome to episode three of the Joy Podcast. So good to have everybody today. Today we are talking about discouragement. Yes, we are going there. We have on happy faces, but let's just, we said we were going to be real. We're kind of discouraged. It has been a little bit of a discouraging day. We've had some technical issues and we're going to tell you it's taken about three hours just for us to get it working and tech, you know that is discouraging, and so the moments that we had of laughter was more delirium than anything else.
Speaker 2:
Yes, Well, we're going to keep it real for you here today.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, and I think you know I mean, if we're going to touch on it, let's just. Let's just talk about it. And so discouragement can come in many different forms and it can come um the definition. Marian Webster, we wanted to give you some sound wisdom, so we will always check our sources before we share them with you. And Marian Webster describes discouragement as a loss of confidence or enthusiasm, or a absence of courage, and the courage is a little odd to me. I wouldn't have thought they coincided with discouragement, even though courage is in discouragement. But the absence of enthusiasm, yeah, and how many times have we started the day with enthusiasm?
Speaker 1:
and we started a new habit. Or we've said you know the New Year's Eve, you know this is what we're going to do in the new year, and then we lose enthusiasm, usually by 12 pm. Yeah, the next day, january 1. And that brings discouragement because maybe something didn't go the way that we thought it should, case in point, three hours to get our tech issues resolved for the podcast. But here we are and so we have to work through the discouragement and the everyday tasks or the traffic issues. But let's talk a little bit deeper.
Speaker 1:
Maybe discouragement comes in seasons and it lasts a year or longer in your life. And you think I'm walking the way the Lord wanted me to walk, I'm following his guidance, I'm doing the things that, the way the Lord wanted me to walk, I'm following his guidance. I'm doing the things that the Lord has asked of me to do or that the Bible says, but I'm not where I think I need to be or he's not working fast enough. We're going to talk a little bit about that and we're going to give you some verses and equip you today with how we can combat that and deal with discouragement on a little bit deeper of level. But first we want to share our joy podcast verse for you, and this really, really is the catalyst for where we want to provide you with some nuggets of wisdom and detail in what the joy podcast, what we're here to do for you.
Speaker 2:
So Allison, will you read that for us? Yeah, so the verse that really laid on our hearts through this and as God was putting this joy podcast together, the verse that just came to us was Romans 15, 13,. That says may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so in times of discouragement, like even we've had today, there's hope in Jesus, and so what we want to bring to you through the joy podcast is that there is hope, and that's what we continually want to give to you, because that's where we have joy, and joy is Jesus.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, oh, absolutely. And that's where, um I can't remember the verse you might know, but where, um, they talk about character develops perseverance, and I can't remember where it's at. We'll put it in the show notes, we'll figure it out but it's really about the perseverance to continue to press in and move forward. And so when you are starting the new job, or you're going through something new and we're, you know, discouraged in the job interview, or the kids are not eating their vegetables, or the husband's working late, or whatever it looks like, um, you know, the perseverance develops character and hope abounds from that. You know, and I think that's where we have to have our hope is that this is only for a season or for a moment, and not letting it get us down to a place where we're so discouraged that we lose hope. That's right. And can you tell us a little bit about, maybe, a time in your life where you went through a season of discouragement but coming out of that season, you were a new creation and really had a new sense of yourself?
Speaker 2:
Yeah Well, I mean, I'm 50 years old, so I've walked through many seasons so far in my life and there's been several seasons where I've been really discouraged or things were just really, really hard. And I know you can all resonate with that and you know my husband and I we've been through a lot together. We've struggled with infertility, we lost our first child through miscarriage, we've had financial difficulties, we've had several moves, we've had health issues, we've had hurricane damage. We've had so many different things in our lives. But there was a season of my life about 13 years ago that was just so discouraging. It was a health issue, it was a struggle with fear and anxiety, panic attacks something I had never experienced in my life and it came out of the blue. And I know this is an episode that we're going to need to deep dive in a little bit more, because I know there's so many of you, and you yourself, katrina, that we have all experienced this.
Speaker 1:
And it's a very important issue, so we'll go into that more.
Speaker 2:
But during that season of my life, I was just so discouraged, like God, why am I going through this? I love my life, I love my husband, I love my kids, I love my job, I love my church, I love my family. I mean, everything, according to me, was going just as it should. And then this came up out of the blue and I was so discouraged and it doesn't it didn't go away overnight, okay. Okay, I wanted it to pray and, like you said, we can't always rush things and God doesn't do things always in our timetable, and I was ready for it to be done and over, and so it was. It was a long year and a half of a year and a half, wow.
Speaker 2:
Just really praying through it, yeah, um, uh, with the help of my doctor and help of so many friends, and these are things we'll go into later. But I was so discouraged during that time and so how to get encouraged through that, to find encouragement to gain just strength from the Lord, I had to really step away from some things to get my attention where it needed to be, on my healing, on my family, on just staying close to the Lord, because I knew it was only through him I was going to get through that.
Speaker 2:
But yeah, so times of discouragement, you have to look for hope, and the only hope I had was in Jesus and he brought so many people in my life through that time to give me encouragement and and kind of like we want to do here on the podcast too. But walking through seasons of discouragement can be in the everyday too?
Speaker 1:
Oh, it absolutely can you know, but I think you know, visiting the year and a half that you said you went through those things. Um, you know what do you think? Just taking this step back, because I can relate a bit, when we moved here, I faced fear and anxiety that came out of nowhere. Again. I'm like what is this, uh? And I found it to be just debilitating.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, to a certain degree, and, and I can remember waking up in the middle of the night at 3 am and having fear and panic and thinking what is wrong, but having these thoughts that they never necessarily materialized, but the discouragement that came with that. You know you're not sleeping and you know you have things, like I said, that aren't going the way that you think they are. And I remember I had to get over the counter sleep medication like Unisom or, you know, melatonin and and it. It only lasted a few months, but it was deeply discouraging for that season. So as you went through, you know, different parts of that for a year and a half, what would you say was the most important part to help you get through that? Was it just stepping back and freeing yourself from a lot of other obligations, so you could focus on yourself.
Speaker 2:
I mean I was, it was. I was so discouraged and I was, I mean, struggling with fear, struggling with anxiety, that I couldn't focus on a whole lot of other things right now. But I had young kids at home, I had a job to keep going to, and so anything else that I could put aside for that time to focus on, um, that encouragement, that healing that I needed, that's what I had to do. So I stepped aside from some activities that I didn't need to be a part of right then and I focused on God's word.
Speaker 2:
And I will tell you, katrina, there were times I was sitting there and I would read through God's word and I'm like Lord, I don't even know what I'm reading. I would read it again. And then I would read it again and I remember my mom and some friends telling me just keep praying, just keep taking those scriptures. So I would take scriptures and write them down on on cards and just carry them with me, because I didn't feel like anything was soaking in, and so I would just take them and read them out loud in those times of fear, and I would just read the passage out loud. I had my coworkers at that time, all the ladies that I worked with write down scriptures on cards for me. I still have them, by the way.
Speaker 1:
And that's encouraging, just that encouraging to be in God's word. Yes, and that's where you know the Bible says his word never returns void. But I think for a lot of us we come to a position in our life and a time in our life when we have the opportunity to lean into the Lord and lean into his promises because we know he's faithful and we trust him and if we believe that he is the God of the universe that created everything that he will get us through.
Speaker 1:
And so in those moments of fight or flight where you could just turn away from the Lord and what his promises are versus lean into it, even if you you're not hearing him right, I feel like God does his the most most important work when he is silent, because he's doing a work in our hearts and a lot of times when we come out of that, like you said, it was a pivotal moment for you because it takes you to the next level. Yeah, and as I look back at my serious issue with anxiety and fear for those few months once we had moved to Wilmington, I look back at that and I just see a different Katrina.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
It was allowing me to shed a part of me that I didn't know I needed to shed. It was humbling. Yes, Um, and I, you know, got at the feet of Jesus in my closet amongst all the stinky shoes right.
Speaker 1:
Like I didn't have an extra room that I could go to, but just in the closet with the door shut, and I also did the, the plastering of the scripture, and I also did the plastering of the scripture and I really should have had these verses before. But Isaiah 43 talks about I am doing something new. Yes, do you not see it? I will make a way.
Speaker 2:
Isaiah 43, 18 and 19.
Speaker 1:
Yes sister, I love it.
Speaker 2:
So we'll put that in the show notes because I don't have it with me. But you know verses that is God to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. And I can tell you, during that time I, my spirit, was crushed and just walking through that, everything about that time of my life. But I always knew that God was with me. And one of the things that I just kept reminding myself is, even though I felt like God was silent during that time, I never took for granted that God's silence didn't mean his absence. So even if he's silent, he is still with me. And so I knew that and I knew he was never going to take me through something that he wasn't going to go with me through, and so I just clung to him during that time.
Speaker 2:
Did I want it to be over? I remember telling my mom I said I'm I'm ready to graduate from this season of my life, like I have the degree and I'm ready, I'm ready to graduate. But I knew it was in God's timing. But through that season of discouragement and pain that I went through, there was so much I gained out of it. Now I will tell you this Would I ever want to go through it again?
Speaker 1:
No, absolutely not. I agree with that.
Speaker 2:
But do I regret any of it? No, not in a million years because it drew me closer to the Lord through that, and it really was a pivotal moment when people talk about spiritual markers in your life, a time in your life that so altered your life this was that for me and through that is where God birthed in me this heart for women's ministry, because through that I knew if I was struggling with that there were other women out there struggling too. Because through that I knew if I was struggling with that there were other women out there struggling too. Because I felt alone, and a lot of our discouragement comes from times where we feel alone, yeah, like nobody else is going through this.
Speaker 1:
Yeah.
Speaker 2:
So that in itself, like you know, being at home with your kids and trying to get them to eat the vegetables, or, you know, looking for that job and you didn't get the job I mean moments of discouragement. You feel alone in it, and so that's where discouragement can breed. And so through that, god really birthed in me to just encourage other women because of what?
Speaker 1:
he did in me through that time. You know and I can speak to that as well is you know when I was in my prayer closet and really asking the Lord to intercede like Lord, you are the right hand of God.
Speaker 1:
I need you to talk to him, like right now. Yeah, and you know, because this is how I'm feeling and you're you're being quiet and the podcast was birthed in my heart in 2021, really, and I knew it was a joy podcast and I knew it was a joy podcast and I never will forget. It was a pivotal moment. I was praying, I was crying and I felt the holy spirit just come over me. Yeah, and I really it was almost audibly. I heard him say how can you have a joy podcast and talk to women about joy If you've never been broken enough to be able to experience true joy?
Speaker 2:
yourself.
Speaker 1:
I was like all right, god you're you went. You know you're, and so I knew at that time I had to go through it. I had to go through it. Lord don't get me wrong. I prayed for it to go away.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, same.
Speaker 1:
But I I then at that moment knew that if he wasn't going, he wasn't going to take that away at that time, that he would need to get me through it and bring me to the other side.
Speaker 1:
Yes, and he's so faithful to do that oh he is because, look, we're in the joy pocket and he's brought you which is a huge encouragement in the middle of all of this and and I love that when we're thinking about pivotal moments in our life. It was 13 years ago when I had a serious surgery after traumatic injury that changed my life and we'll talk about that later in another episode. But it was also 13 years ago when we were comparing our stories and just how they coincided. It was almost 13 years to the month that God had both put us through some different difficult things. Maybe not God, but we were going through difficult things.
Speaker 2:
He allowed those to happen. He did.
Speaker 1:
And so I just think he's been working on us for this for over 13 years.
Speaker 2:
And that's one of the things when we first had our talk together, as we were sharing our stories, and it was you know, like you said, the Joy podcast for you was birthed out of a time of discouragement. How God brought healing and joy to your life. Discouragement and how God brought healing and joy to your life. And for me, finding that hope and encouragement from the Lord and the joy that he is to my life was birthed out of a time of discouragement. And so coming in here with this talk of discouragement is because God brought us through something so extreme, different circumstances right at the same time and we know that is no accident that those things happen and God brought us together that we have a message of encouragement we want to share with women. So if you're feeling discouraged on the other side of that screen which I'm sure a lot of you are, as we were just a little bit ago there's different phases of discouragement, different things that cause it, but daily we can feel discouraged.
Speaker 1:
But you're not alone. And what do we do with it?
Speaker 2:
Where do we go when we are?
Speaker 1:
Not if we get discouraged, but when yeah, and I think just you know really a couple of things quickly. We can sort of run down, you know, to sort of encapsulate this episode, is you know, take a step back, isolate this episode, is you know, take a step back. When you're feeling discouragement, when it's in a season or it's a heavy discouragement, take a step back, and that can be.
Speaker 1:
you know, there are certain things that you have to do obligations, but take a step back from things, that you're able to extracurricular things and spend that time with the Lord. And, you know, look at your life as a whole and then you know, am I walking the way that? You know I'm working or I'm doing these things? But, lord, what do you want to say? How can you speak into this and then listen? You know, I think we're so quick to ask him, but then we're also quick to get up and go instead of just stop and listen.
Speaker 1:
It's hard to be be still and that's when he wants to talk to us, he wants to answer us and so take a step back from all the busyness. I know you know the hustle is real, but he'll honor that. Taking a step back and then a support system you talked about you know family and friends and church church is hard right now and I know there's a lot of things and people say I don't need church, but we do. It's biblical.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, we need that community and that's what church really is and I know there are a lot of people that have been hurt by churches, but really it's, and there's probably been some discouragement.
Speaker 2:
Right.
Speaker 1:
But God's word says that we are the body of Christ and we are to be in community with others. That's the most important part. So, get that community, get that support system. That's right have someone to talk to and I think, lastly and you you know, give me any other ones that you have, but just to spend time with the Lord.
Speaker 2:
Yeah.
Speaker 1:
You know crying to him get in your quiet space, shut the door bathroom closet. Yeah, you know crying to him Get in your quiet space, shut the door. Bathroom.
Speaker 2:
Closet yeah.
Speaker 1:
You know what else.
Speaker 2:
Well, I love this passage of scripture as we talk about being with the Lord. You know, in 1 Peter 5, 7 says to cast your cares on the Lord because he cares for you. And you know that word cast means to hurl and to hurl them. And I mean there were so many times. I mean we have cares, we have burdens, but we're not meant to carry those, and so when we can cast them, he cares for us so deeply that we can give him those cares, but I have to be careful because I'll pick it back up and tote it again. So I do, I mean, and literally I can lay it right down and sometimes I'll pick it right back up, but to cast those cares on the Lord because he cares for us and to just continue to give those to him because he can handle them better than I ever could even attempt to.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah. So you know, we really hope that we have been able to be a light in your day and some hope for discouragement that you may be feeling we are going to. Can you look up the Isaiah?
Speaker 2:
first for me. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Just off the cuff here, because I still have it on my mirror and really day by day. It was a moment of Lord. You have the victory. We can operate from a place of victory. We don't have to be so discouraged. We come out on top when we recognize that we trust in the Lord. He created the earth. He still has it, and that's really where our hope is found, and so um, you want to read it.
Speaker 1:
It's isaiah 43, 18 and 19 you think I would have this memorized. No, forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing yes exclamation mark. Yes, he says see sister, I am doing a new thing.
Speaker 1:
Praise the Lord. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams, in the wasteland. Yeah, it still gives me chills. Yeah, I mean that I felt like for those times I was in a wasteland, yeah, and just knowing, but I still could perceive it because of the promises that he had given to me yeah, he's telling you, katrina, I'm doing a new thing. Hang on tight, sister.
Speaker 2:
That's right.
Speaker 1:
And Allison girl.
Speaker 2:
So, if you're walking through the wilderness, just keep holding on. He's doing a new thing. Just keep holding on. He's not going to let you go it alone.
Speaker 2:
That's right, and you know, before we end today, I want to pray for you because there's many of you out there listening to this that are discouraged right now. Oh yeah, you're discouraged and I want to pray for you. I want to encourage you and let the Lord lift you up, even in this moment. So can we take a minute and pray before we sign off, let me pray for you. Dear Heavenly Father, I just come to you. I praise you for who you are. You are Almighty God, you are our sustainer, you are a redeemer, you are a compassionate God and Lord, right now I'll lift up the lady on the other side of the screen who is in a season of discouragement.
Speaker 2:
Lord, I've been there many times. Katrina's been there. Lord, we know these seasons of discouragement come, but, lord, I also know that you are with me every step of the way, and I want the lady on the other side of the screen, lord, let my sister know that she is not alone, that there are others that are going to come alongside her and encourage her. Lord, just encourage her spirit right now to know that you love her dearly and that you are going to see her through every step of the way. Give her holy courage to walk the way that you have for her, and, lord, help her to know that she is dearly loved. In Jesus name, I pray Amen.
Speaker 1:
I could use some holy courage. Holy courage, let's walk in that yes, if you found this episode helpful, hopeful, or you know someone who is discouraged maybe you're not right now yeah, listen, share this with others, with your friends. We want to be a light for everyone that's right, we want you to comment. Let us know what you found helpful through this yeah so share it and we love you and we thank you. We cannot wait to see you or you hear us on episode four.
Speaker 2:
That's right, and just remember that we have other episodes coming up where we are going to continue to touch on fear and anxiety. So if you have walked that road as well, just know that we're going to touch on that. So let us know too in the comments if that resonates with you, and know that we're here for you as well.
Speaker 1:
What do you want to see?
Speaker 2:
We're sharing it all, so let us know that's right.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Joy Podcast. Our passion is to help you find your purpose and joy in the hard things of life join our conversation by liking, following and subscribing so you don't miss the next episode.
Speaker 2:
We are grateful for you and would love your feedback. Please leave us a five-star review, wherever you listen to this podcast.