Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Believe and Become podcast. Thanks for joining us today. We're excited to share with you a teaching we did on the Igniting Hope YouTube channel. If you haven't heard of Igniting Hope, check them out at ignitinghope.com they're some of our favorite people and our mentors. We're excited to share their message with you too. And today we have a teaching on finding peace in the storm. As always, if you want to share this episode with a friend that needs to hear it, that would be incredible. You can help us out by subscribing to the podcast and checking out all of our resources in the show notes below. We'd really appreciate that. Hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to Believe and Become Spirit Led breakthrough for transformation that lasts.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: We're Josh and Corina Greegor, authors, speakers and freedom coaches who help Christians like you break free from anxiety, burnout and spiritual frustration by renewing your mind and walking in truth.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: If you're hungry for real, lasting change and ready to grow in identity, peace and purpose, you're in the right place.
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Let's believe what God says and become who he created us to be.
[00:01:15] Speaker A: Today we want to talk to you about having peace in the storm. And this morning I was just feeling kind of chaotic. I don't know, I was kind of feeling unsettled. I didn't know what was wrong exactly, but just felt this kind of feeling of chaos and a little bit of confusion. And so it led us to thinking about how do we deal with chaos in our lives? How do we deal with storms that pop up because we that happens to all of us. Things happen in life and sometimes it can just be emotions. You know, sometimes it's not an external thing, sometimes just an internal thing that's happening in your heart. And sometimes you know the enemy's poking at you too, and he's trying to get you to lose your peace. Because the peace of God is so, so critically important to us as believers. What attaches us to Him. And so I just think about cultivating gratitude in your life. Thinking about Philippians4.8 talks about presenting your request to God with thanksgiving and the peace of God which transcends all understanding. Guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That's so important. So cultivating gratitude and is thanking God for His presence and giving him those emotions that you're having. Wendy always says if you want a new emotion, you need a new belief system. So our emotions come out of what we're believing. If you're having chaotic emotion, you might be Believing something, that there's chaos in your life. But the truth is, is that God is in control. He is always in control, and he is always working things out for our good. That is his promise to us. And we can stand upon his promises. He is so good and he's so faithful.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: We want to start with Isaiah 26:3. And this is one of my favorite verses, because it says that, uh, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in youn. And this is something for me that has constantly brings me back to what am I thinking about? What is my mind stayed on? What have I set my mind on? And Paul tells us, you know, set your mind on things above, not on earthly things. Set your minds on heaven, set your minds on Christ. And so these are things, I think, that are so valuable in this fight for this space up here, which can sometimes feel like a million different things are coming at you. And so understanding that, I get to choose, like Josh said, I get to choose what I believe. And so really, you get to choose what you think and what you think about. And when we choose to set our minds on him, then we actually get to choose peace. So there's a couple of things. One, I really like to talk about biblical meditation, because I feel like Christians often are scared of meditation. It's something that we're not really familiar with in this century. It's not something that we talk a lot about. We talk about prayer, and we talk about, you know, memorizing Scripture. But meditation is a little bit different. And Joshua 1:8 says, keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night. So when you think about this word, meditate here, it actually means kind of like. Like chewing the cud, like how animals will bring stuff back and chew on it, and then it goes back down, and that comes back up. And it's not a pretty picture, but it is a really great illustration of what we do with the Word. When I take that verse, you will keep me in perfect peace because my mind is stayed on you. Because I trust in you. Thank you, God. And I'm saying it over and over. God, thank you that my mind can be stayed on you. Thank you that you are keeping me in perfect peace. And I'm just repeating the Scripture while I'm doing the dishes or while I'M changing a diaper, or while I'm making dinner, repeating it over and over, or while I'm saying, God, I want to keep this book of the law on my lips. I'm going to meditate on it day and night, just over and over. So it's just this way of almost chewing on the Word and think about, when you're chewing something, you're actually extracting nutrients from it and you're beginning to digest it. And so it's the same thing with your mind when you're chewing on the scripture. You're meditating on it, going over it and over it and over. You're actually extracting nutrients from the Word to nurture, to nourish your heart, your soul, whatever you need in the moment. And so when those storms come, when those chaotic times come, we're not in a panic and we're not at a loss. And we might, you might feel that way in the moment, but you actually know where to go and how to bring peace in that storm. I think that biblical meditation is so beautiful because as we memorize the scripture, we can also chew on the scripture all day. And something that I like to do, if you come to my house, you will see I have scriptures and declarations posted everywhere because it reminds me to say the thing over and over, to say it out loud while I'm making my coffee. The future will be better than the present, and I have the power to help make it so. When I'm making my coffee and the future will be better than the present, I have the power to help make it so. God, thank you that you are doing something good in me. And when I'm cooking and I have Romans 12:2 there, and I'm meditating on the Word. And so all day long, wherever I am, there's a reminder to set my mind on things above so, so that I can have peace in the moment.
[00:06:21] Speaker A: Isaiah 26:3 has been such a helpful verse for me personally. I had anxiety for many years, and during it particularly, it was kind of like Covid era. And it was, I think we were all kind of anxious. We were all kind of nervous and worried, didn't know what was going on in the world. And that was really a season where I, I, I didn't sleep well because I would wake up in the middle of the night. It was usually about three in the morning, two, three in the morning, somewhere in there. And I wake up and my thoughts, my mind would be racing and yeah, I just really had trouble sleeping. And so I would get up, go downstairs. I would be pacing the house, praying, trying to, just fighting those anxious thoughts that were trying to overcome me. And God has better for us. He has better for you too. And right now I just, I just sense him releasing grace. If you struggle with anxious thoughts that are running through your mind, he's breaking that off right now in Jesus name. And he did that for me. He'll do that for you. But anyways, I would be pacing the house or laying on the couch trying to fall back asleep. And this was a verse that I, I latched onto in that season. And I love just personalizing it. Part of biblical meditation. You can, like Karina was talking about, find verses that speak to your situation and personalize them. And so I would say, thank you God, that you keep me in perfect peace. Thank you that you promised me perfect peace. Thank you that my mind is stayed on you because I trust in you. Thank you for your prayer. And just say it over and over and over until you feel it, until you feel that break of the anxiety. And so that's just one strategy that helped me a lot. And that particular verse was very powerful in my life for getting rid of anxiety, those anxious thoughts. And the battle is in our minds. Pastor Bill Johnson at Bethel Church has been talking about the promised land and the Israelites entering into their promised land. And they had physical giants, giants in the promised land that they were fighting. But the giants that we fight are our thoughts. It's in. The battle is in our head and it's how we're going to think. Are we going to believe God's promises? Are we going to believe what he has told us in His Word and what he's speaking over us every single day of our lives? Are we going to believe the lies? Are we trusting in Him? Are we trusting in ourselves? Where have we put our trust? That's where biblio, this idea of biblical meditation comes in. You get his promises, get God's promises. I actually have this spiral bound note cards and I write out the verses that God is speaking to me. And then I meditate on those. I memorize those.
That way when I do feel the chaos, I can just flip through this and remember, okay, these are God's promises to me. And you can personalize them and just say them over yourself. That is so powerful. In Sunday school they taught, okay, memorize these Bible verses. But it's the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is how we fight our battle. Get your sword ready if you haven't killed something. With the word of God, you're not doing it right.
[00:09:19] Speaker B: I think that's so good, too, because sometimes you don't know how to fight. Maybe you're. Maybe this isn't all new to you. Or you're like, this is just how I've always been. I didn't realize that was a bad thing. Or I've always just lived with anxiety. My shoulders have always been in knots. Or, you know, I'm always just worried about stuff. And you never really realize, actually, that's not God's plan for your life. We are giving you freedom right now. That is not God's plan for your life. Maybe you didn't grow up in Sunday school. Maybe you didn't memorize Scripture and you don't know what to fight with. I always just tell people, open your Bible and start reading it out loud. It doesn't matter. It's all good for fighting. It's all good for speaking truth and peace into a situation. And ask the Holy Spirit for inspiration. That's something Josh would do sometimes when we were going to bed. He would just say, holy Spirit, what scriptures do you want to speak to me? And then he would just open his Bible. And often it was right on speaking to exactly the situation. And so taking that moment to just listen and maybe even play a little Bible roulette, open it up, put your finger on the passage, see what it says. You never know, it might be a word from the Lord, but that gives you just a moment, like, okay, I'm going to stay my mind on him. And whether that means I'm reading about the Israelite slaying giants, or I'm reading about Jesus calming the storm, or I'm reading about David. And, you know, all of his.
He would not. All of the things he did was great. You know, so maybe some of you're reading about some of those not so great things. That's okay. Just read your word and get it on your lips, because that is how we fight. And I think too, something that's really important to recognize is that there's two parts to this verse, that it's my mind is stayed on him, but I also trust in him. And I was thinking about, what is your go to? What is your go to thing the minute you start feeling stressed? I know for me, for many years, it was like a warm, sweet drink and some shopping, right? So I'm sure there's people out there who are relating with me. Right now. I'm gonna go to Target, I'm gonna grab my Starbucks and Then I'm just gonna see what lands in my cart. And that may or may not end up as $200, but I will feel better when I leave the store. I may not feel better when I get home or when I have to Show Josh the $200 that he just spent on random stuff. But in the moment, it was the thing that comforted me. Or maybe it's like a pint of ice cream or a slice of pizza. I know there have been so many times where I'm like, I just need some comfort food, you know? And we call it comfort food because it's something actually that we trust in. And so what's the thing that you run to? And I was thinking, as Josh is showing you this little note card, I'm like, this is just the same little size as my phone. You know, I can choose which one I'm gonna pick up when I'm feeling anxious. And if your scripture's on it, then good job. You're doing the right thing. But if it's not, if you're running to something else, it was just a distraction. It's just what I do or whatever. This is how I calm down. Or. Well, maybe let's calm down with the word. Maybe let's replace that. That thing that you run to with the scripture and with some time with the Lord, and allow him to minister to your heart. If you still want your Starbucks and your Target, you know, go for it. But at least this way, you have started in a healthy place with the Holy Spirit and where you can feast on him in the middle of the battle.
[00:12:27] Speaker A: That's a good word. Yeah, that's a good word right there.
I mean, I'm kind of old school. I like paper because there's no distractions on this, right? There's no distractions. You can put it in your phone. That's just as good. Put it in your notes app or what? However you want to do that. It's great. But then when you get the text message or the Instagram notification or whatever it is, then you're like, two hours later, I'm off on a rabbit trail, you know? But this is pretty foolproof. It's not going to ding yet.
[00:12:54] Speaker B: One of the other things that I've done is just take a screenshot of my scripture, and then that becomes my screensaver. So anytime I open my phone, the scripture is right there. I'll just repeat it before I go on to do anything else. So that's also just a really quick way to always have the scripture right. In front of you. I also wanted to talk about Psalm 16, verses 8 and 9. This is really in the same vein. It says, I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken, therefore my heart is glad. And my tongue rejoices. My body also will rest secure. So think about all of the things that we're saying here. I keep my eyes on the Lord. He is at my right hand. I know I'm not going to be shaken, therefore my heart is glad. My tongue rejoices and my body rests secure. And so as we fix our mind on him, one of the things that happens is all the things that were worrying you before kind of get a little bit smaller. As a child, I really struggled a lot with fear. And thank God for Christian parents who just knew how to fight. Because my mom would come into my room and she would sing with me and pray over me, and she taught me how to warfare because I didn't know how to do that as a child. I would just lay in bed, terrified, not able to move. But because she knew how to fight, she could come alongside me and teach me. Let's fix our eyes on Jesus, because as he gets bigger, everything else gets smaller. And something like fear. As a child, that seems to be the biggest thing in the world. Even as an adult, there have been moments that I have still fought with this and I have still still had to go back to those simple things of I'm going to sing and I'm going to pray and I'm going to quote scripture, I'm going to fight and be really intentional about that. But when I keep my eyes on him and magnify the Lord and who is God? I mean, he is holy and he is righteous and he is just and he is beautiful and he is big and he rides on the clouds and the earth is his footstool. And pretty soon there's really nothing that. That can compare and there's nothing that can compete for my affection and my attention. And so the things that used to be a big deal, they are slowly but surely becoming smaller and smaller, even as I realize actually he's in control and he's got this. And I don't have to. I don't have to got this because he's got this.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: That's good. I want to share. Probably the most, I guess, famous or well known verse for spiritual warfare is Second Corinthians 10, verse 4, which says, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for pulling down Strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And there's so much in this verse, I love it. But one of the main things is that the battle is in our mind. We're not fighting against flesh and blood, and we're not even really fighting against the enemy. He's been defeated. Jesus took care of that on the cross. But God knows that the real battle is in our minds. And what we're going to believe. Are we going to believe the truth? Are we going to believe lies that the enemy's trying to whisper to us? And so, for one thing, we know where the battle is going to happen. There's not, there's not a question if I'm trying to enter my promised land. The giants out there are in my mind. It's my thoughts and it's my belief. Sweet. And so, and so the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. Strongholds are just patterns of thought that we've built. Every time you believe a lie, you put another stone on that stronghold, and eventually you have a big tower where the enemy can hide behind there and, and, and attack you from it. And eventually those become automatic thoughts that you're having.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: And it can be as simple as, like, I can't believe I said that. I'm so stupid, right? It's just this thing that automatically comes out of your mouth or I, oh, I don't, I don't do that because I'm not talented, right? So there's just these little things that you might think are. It's just the way that, that it is, but it's actually a lie that you're believing about who you are and often about who God is.
[00:16:56] Speaker A: And then I love the end of the verse where it says, we're bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. And so that to me means you can decide what you're gonna think. You can say, I had a thought. I can't believe I said that. I'm so stupid. Okay, I can go. Okay, I'm going to capture that thought and I'm going to put it on trial. You know, it's on the witness stand in the courtroom and say, okay, that thought is captured. And then I'm going to put it on trial. Was it obedient to Christ? Does that line up with what he says about me? Does Jesus call me stupid? No, he actually says I have the mind of Christ and I think his thoughts. I have the Holy Spirit inside of me and he is always directing my thoughts. So the truth is I'm not stupid. Actually I have access to his intelligence. I'm fearfully and wonderfully made and he wants to do incredible things in me and through me. And so you say, I don't like that thought, it's a bad thought, I'm going to flush it. And you can even actually go like this and you can flush that thought and say I'm not going to think that anymore. And say the truth is that I have the mind of Christ, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. And to speak truth over yourself and then, then you're breaking down that stronghold and you're building a new positive stronghold. So it's great to try to tear one thing down, but you don't want to sweep the room and leave it empty. Yeah, you gotta fill it with the truth, what God thinks about you, what he's spoken over you, his prophetic promises over you, and the truth of his word and start building a new positive stronghold. And then your mind, instead of going down the I'm a, I'm stupid route, you have a nice, just think about when you go out and make a sled run in the snow. It's going to be a smooth, quick ice. You know, ice is over after the going down it all day. And then you have a smooth, it goes to positive things. So it's just as important as getting rid of the negative is to fill it with the positive thoughts and truths of what God is saying.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: And that's as simple as I can't believe I said that. That's so unlike me, right? Just one little different. That tiny little tweak will just begin to change the way you think about yourself and about your actions, about the people around you.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: So the other thing that we, I wanted to share is that God is setting us up for victory. He doesn't lead us into battle to lose because he, he wins all of his battles. He's, he's already won the war for us. And so if he leads you into a battle in your mind, if he leads you into, into a storm, actually God doesn't, He doesn't cause bad things to happen in our lives, but he does use our, the circumstances in our life to mold us and change us and to show us our beliefs and to get us stronger. And so if, if you're in battle, it's for your good and it's for victory. And sometimes I know it can be Discouraging. You feel like you're doing laps every time something that comes back up, you're like, man, I thought I dealt with that. I thought I dealt with those lies. I thought I dealt with that bad attitude that I was having or whatever it is. Sometimes that's God just saying here, you've dealt with this. Go ahead and knock it out of the park. You know, this is an easy one for you because I know that you're ready for it. And then when you defeat that lie, you say, that's not me. Those aren't my thoughts. That's coming from someplace else. I don't have to think that anymore. You're like, yeah, celebrate yourself. I did a good job. And I've. I've grown. And you can see how much you've grown. So sometimes those recurring kind of discouraged. You're like, man, I thought I had a deep revelation of the father's love for me. Now I feel orphaned again. Then you go, no, that's. That's actually not true. I do have that revelation. I am deeply loved by him and he's a good father. That's just to go, yeah, I'm getting stronger. I've. I've buff beliefs, as Steve would say. I have strong beliefs.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Well, and I think we kind of had an example of this recently in our lives where. I'm just gonna tell on Josh, but where it was a series of probably two or three weeks.
And it was literally everything that he had overcome since we came here, since we came to school started coming up one right after the other. And at first it was like he saw it, you know, he saw that one and dealt with it, and he saw that. That thought pattern or that thing coming back up, and he dealt with it. But, like, by the second or third week, he's like, I don't know what's going on? And it was just a couple more things. And I was like, wait a minute. This is like, everything. Everything that we've walked through and overcome the enemy is just like, sees your victory and he's throwing the kitchen sink.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: At you, like, just trying to see what will.
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Right? Just trying, like, okay, if that maybe he didn't really overcome those things. And so I think often we face those situations and go, like, I must not have overcome. And that's exactly what he's hoping for, right? That discovery, discouragement to settle in. Because I think that was the last thing was, like, this just overwhelming discouragement of, like, I've been through three years of ministry school, and I'm still Struggling with all these. And it's like, no, actually, you're not struggling with them. You've overcome them so much quicker than you did before. You didn't go as low as you used to. And so just being able to recognize, wow, look at how far you've come. That was victory in itself. In that moment of like, oh, this is just the devil being stupid. He thinks he can win, but he's already been defeated. And so just maybe having that person in your life that can go, wait a minute, wait a minute. This is actually not what's happening. I'm going to see this for you, and we're going to just knock this out of the park together. I think that's so important that you have people in your life that you can bounce things off of. And often when you say the thing out loud, you're like, well, that was dumb. I can't believe I've been stressing over this for three weeks, you know, or whatever it is. So, yeah, just recognizing the schemes. And Bible says we are not unaware of his schemes. And so even just that Second Corinthians passage is so huge, we're not unaware of his schemes, but we look at that verse and we've confused it all sorts of ways and tried to make it about everything outside of us, instead of like, no, it's right here. And the Scripture is giving us the key that the weapons of our warfare, we have them. They are mighty, they are prayer, they are staying our mind on Christ. They are the scripture, they are worship. And so we know what they are. We just have to employ them.
[00:23:04] Speaker A: Yeah. And I wanted to end with a story. Early on in my career, I was traveling all over the country with a team of people from my. My work. And we used to have a lot of free time in the evenings after we toured whatever facilities and gone to classes and did all the things we're supposed to do. And so three of us decided we were going to go to the gym together. And one of the guys, one of my good friends was big guy. He's 6, 7, played football, just a really strong dude. Um, we would go to the gym, you know, when his name was Ken, Whenever I wasn't going to say his name, but I said it.
[00:23:41] Speaker B: Um, hi, Ken, if you're watching.
[00:23:42] Speaker A: Whenever Ken was spotting me, I had a lot of confidence in him because he was strong. But I knew that whatever weight I was trying to lift, Ken could lift it off of me. You know, I had so much confidence, and so I could really give everything that I had into it and then. And Ken was really good. Cause sometimes you only need a tiny little help, like a little lift, like one finger on each side of the bar to. To get that last rep. And so he was just really good training partner. And it was probably last year I was working out in the garage. Jesus just showed up and said, hey, I'm spotting you. I'll be your workout partner. And I think that's just a beautiful illustration that, that Jesus is always with us, no matter what trial we're going through, whatever weight we're trying to lift. Jesus, he's there and his hands are on the bar with you, and he's helping you lift that weight. And he knows everything about you. He knows exactly how much you can lift, and he knows exactly how much you need to build those spiritual muscles. Because we build spiritual muscles by pushing against resistance. And that's how God gets us strong and why he allows the circumstances of life to come in. You have a storm, you have a difficult thing you need to push against. But know that he is always there helping you lift that bar. And it might feel like you're lifting 500 pounds, but the reality is maybe you're lifting like five.
And Jesus is lifting 495.
Right? And it's easy for him, right? But he knows that that's what. How much that you could lift. He's got that training program built in for you that's going to get you strong and where you need to be. And then the next time that you face that struggle, it's easier because you've already pushed against that resistance and you've built those spiritual muscles. You've got buff beliefs like Steve says. But it comes through practice. It comes through saying, okay, here's some lies. Here's something that I'm believing that isn't true. I'm choosing not to believe that. I'm deciding to declare the truth of God's word over myself. And it just gets easier and easier. And I say that from personal experience. I struggle a lot with believing a lot of different lies about myself and about my. My life, my circumstance. And it felt hard at first. But as the Holy Spirit works inside of you, he makes you aware of your thoughts. You're like, oh, that's not my thoughts. That's weird. That's not true. And then you can flush those lies. And it does get easier as you practice that. And then pretty soon those thoughts, they just stop coming up. The enemy stops trying to poke you at. Poke at you with them. A lot of times like he planted that lie a long, long time ago in something that happened in your life a lot of times when you're very young. And so then you automatically think those things because your brain has been trained that way. You've been rehearsing it for forever. But then as you work on breaking those old thought patterns and developing new ones that are based on truth, that just becomes easier and easier. It almost becomes automatic. And then you can celebrate your victory. I love one of our igniting hope phrases is we celebrate progress, not perfection. And so you can celebrate every time your lows aren't as low or. I didn't think that thought for very long. I didn't believe that. I didn't get stuck in discouragement because of a lie I was believing or beating myself up or over a mistake I made or something like that. God doesn't expect you to be perfect, but he is really ecstatic when you grow and when you get stronger. So that's why I had to share.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: I just want to encourage you to stay your mind on him today. And in those moments when you feel the storm swirling, remember that Jesus slept through the storm. And when they woke him up, he just said, peace, be still. There wasn't anything fancy or extra. There's not a certain flag you have to wave or a dance you need to dance, or a shofar you need to blow. Like, you just speak peace to the storm and rest in him and he's going to see you through so good.
[00:27:37] Speaker A: Yeah, we love you guys. Thank you for tuning in with us. And we just release grace upon you right now to fight that battle in your mind. God is strengthening you right now. Imagine Jesus. He's holding that bar. He's not going to let anything crush you for sure. And he's. He's working it all out for your good. All things work together for the good of those that love him and are called according to his purpose. That's his promise to you. So if it feels tough, it feels heavy. Know that Jesus is there and he's strengthening you. I'll just in with this. Isaiah 41:10 says, Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. He is upholding you. He is strengthening you right now. It's his strength inside of you. You're not doing it on your own. It's his strength that you can rely on. So we just bless you with that. Thank you for spending time with us. Go out there and fight that battle. You've got this and you're getting strong buff beliefs today. Thank you and we just bless you.
[00:28:43] Speaker B: Well, thanks for listening, friend. We are so glad that you spent time with us today. We hope that you enjoyed this episode and that you were able to find something here that ministered to your soul. If you need more encouragement on overcoming anxiety, discouragement, or just in finding peace in general, you can check out Josh's book 40 Days to Peace. It's available on Amazon and the link will be in the show notes. As always, we love that you have spent time with us and we would really appreciate if you would follow us, rate us, and share us. Be blessed.
[00:29:15] Speaker A: Bye.
