You Are Weak: That’s Good News, with Emily Jensen

What is making you feel weak today? Whether you’re feeling discouraged because of grief, maxed out in terms of capacity, or exhausted because of illness, this episode of Grounded with guest Emily Jensen will give you a new perspective on your weakness. Learn how you can find strength in God and rest in His sufficiency. 

Connect with Emily

Instagram: @emilyajensen 
Twitter: @risenmotherhood
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/risenmotherhood
Website: https://emilyajensen.com/

Episode Notes

• He Is Strong book by Emily Jensen: https://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/books/he-is-strong-9780736986687
• “Your Weakness Makes You Useable” video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEhaThKtHx0
• Make a #GivingTuesday Donation to Give Truth to Women Across the Globe: https://www.reviveourhearts.com/donate/givingtuesday/

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Portia Collins: What makes you feel weak today? Guess what? I've got a list—a long list. I’m Portia Collins, and this is Grounded.

Dannah Gresh: I've got a list too, Portia. I'm Dannah Gresh. Today we're here to give you some hope and perspective. 

I want to say something pretty obvious. If we didn't feel weak, we wouldn't need hope. So I want to ask you again, what makes you feel weak today? This isn't rhetorical. We want you to use the chat feature to tell us. Here are some examples to prime the pump: right now I have a dear friend who just buried her brother. She's exhausted by grief, and I grieve with her. She feels weak. I've been recently feeling maxed out capacity wise. There's just not enough of me to go around. Does anybody feel my pain?

I'm thinking back to a few weeks ago. I was all geared up to decorate for Christmas. I was so excited to get the tree out, the lights out, but I was feeling sick. I was feeling weak. And . . . I still haven't decorated for Christmas. 

Maybe you're feeling weak because you just hosted a wonderful family dinner, but it was that prodigal sitting at your table that just broke your heart. There’re so many things that could be making you feel weak today. It's your turn. What makes you feel weak and lonely? Put a comment in the chat. We want to know so we can cover you in prayer. Our guest today is going to give you some fresh perspectives on the topic of weakness. Her name is well, very familiar, so lean in a little bit.

Portia: Yes, Emily Jensen is here.

Dannah: Woohoo!

Portia: You might know her as one of the faces from the ministry Risen Motherhood. She says that when we are beyond motivational speeches, when the tips and the tricks don't work, even though you've tried them all. She says that God's Word speaks to your weakness. Amen.

Dannah: I cannot wait to hear her hope and perspective. As always, we'll get grounded in God's Word. And today, I want to take you to a passage of Scripture that taught my heart something really important about weakness. It's an invitation from God. Find out what your weakness is inviting you to do, today on Grounded and as always.

We want to invite you to share this episode, because there's a lot of weakness in this world. You have friends who need this. When you're sharing every now and then maybe go ahead and leave us a review. That helps us get to the top of the news feed. 

Well, it's time for good news. And today, we want to reframe some of the fear that is rising as the United States military has been sending troops into locations around the world. Erin Davis, come on in. Can you find some good news for us in that? 

8:04 - Good News (with Erin)

Erin Davis: Well, I can't on my own, but because God is good, He does good. We can always find good news, even in circumstances that don't seem good at first pass. 

Fellow history lovers, you will be interested in this quote, maybe you can guess who said it. 

We know only too well that war comes not when the forces of freedom are strong but when they are weak. It is then that the tyrants are tempted. 

Those were the words of Ronald Reagan spoken back in the year I was born 1980. But what a reminder that war is evidence of weakness in our world. Aren't we seeing that in full display? Seemingly no matter where we turn, we are seeing that evidence of weakness in their world. There's a lot of that you already know where the conflicts are. But there's Israel and Hamas; there's Ukraine and Russia. 

To prepare for the segment, I actually Googled what are the existing conflicts in the world right now. I quickly clicked out of that page, because it was overwhelming. It's not just those big conflicts that are dominating the headline today. There's ongoing complex happenings in Africa and in the Middle East. There are pockets of battles being waged throughout the world right now, civil wars, brethren against brethren nation against nation. 

And as a result, in recent weeks, the Pentagon has built up American troops in many places, and they've issued some strong warnings about increased military conflict. 

Now I know what you're thinking, Erin, I thought you were the good news girl today. So far, I haven't given us good news, I've just reminded us that there is a lot of bad news. 

But honestly, hearing that is enough to make any mom, any wife, any grandma, any woman in the world feel weak. It makes me feel weak. I have four sons who are coming of age, and realizing that the world is in such terrible shape makes me feel very weak, actually physically weak in the knees. 

So, we want to thank you, if someone you love is serving in the military anywhere in the world right now. We know that can be painful during the holiday season as you're separated from them. And so, we want to say we see you, we acknowledge you, and we're grateful. There are nearly 1.5 million serving our country in active duty right now. 

But there's something about the delicate condition of the world that makes serving right now particularly worrisome. So today, we want to comfort you in your weakness if that's you. We have as always, some hope and perspective. We credit former military mom Edie Nelson with today's good news. She says one thing got her through the stress of her son's deployment in her own words, “The single thing that brought me the most comfort while our son was deployed was . . .” can you guess it? “. . . prayer. Praying for him took away my feelings of helplessness. I was able to relinquish my need to control not only because I had something to do,” she was busy with the work of prayer, “but more because of the prayers themselves.”

So, we want to invite you to experience that comfort today. I'm going to pray with you in just a moment, and not just me, our Grounded family is an army, a global army. We pray for each other so faithfully. It's been an encouragement to me many times. I hope if you are the mom or grandma, friend of someone deployed, that you will experience that comfort here in a minute. 

So, if you have a loved one in the military, get that in the comments. We would love to pray for them by name. You are about to be surrounded by prayer generals, as the Grounded women unite on behalf of those currently deployed. 

But first listen to this. Edie also said something truly good came out of the time she spent praying for her son while he was deployed. She said, “My conversations with God helped me to become more familiar with my Lord. As I got to know Him better, my faith grew. I learned to trust Him more and more.” 

It reminds me of a song that we used to sing as little kids: “we are weak,”but what? “He is strong.” And when we express our weaknesses, He rushes into those cracks in our own lives. He fills them with His goodness. 

And so, Edie we think that's really good news that you experienced true comfort, the nearness of the Holy Spirit and a growing faith in the midst of a weak time in your life. So, Edie kept a deployment prayer journal. She wrote down a lot of her prayers. You might consider doing the same thing for your loved one, if they're serving on the front line. But for today, I would just like to cry out to God who's always listening. That's really good news. 

Let's pray. God, Your eyes are everywhere. You see everything, every image bearer of Yours who is fighting somewhere in the world right now. You love them more than their moms and grandmas ever could, which is hard to imagine. Because mother love is big, and it is strong. You also know what it's like to feel the helplessness of somebody you love being in danger. You watch that play out in our lives. 

So, we pray for those who are serving in a military complex right now. We of course pray for their protection. We pray You’re your righteousness to reign. But for those who are back home waiting for their loved ones, I pray that right now, it would be like a heavy heirloom quilt draped around them in the spiritual sense. They feel the comfort of your nearness. And like Edie, their faith would grow in the midst of this weak point in their life.

Lord, we love You. You're always strong, and we're always weak. And that's good news. It's in Your name I pray, amen.

All right, Portia, over to you.

Portia: Let's do it. Let's do it. It's time to get grounded with God's people. I gotta ask you this question again, guys. Do you feel weak? I'll be the first to raise my hand. So where do you go to find strength? Well, I think I've got just the person to help us answer these questions. Emily Jensen is here with us today. Of course, she is a familiar Grounded guest. You may know her as a co-founder of Risen Motherhood. Today she is here to coach us up with insights from her new book, He is Strong: Devotions for When You Feel Weak. Welcome to Grounded Emily.

13:57 - Grounded with God's People (Emily Jensen)

Emily Jensen: Oh, thank you for having me. I'll try to beat you to be the first to raise my hand and say, “Yes, I have a long list of weaknesses, too. I feel weak.”

Portia: I feel incredibly weak, on most days. And so, it drives me to the throne. All right, let's jump in. Talk a little bit about what inspired you to write He Is Strong? And actually, how does that kind of coincide with your work in Risen Motherhood?

Emily: Yeah, well, motherhood has provided a tremendous number of opportunities for me to go to the Lord when I am in need of strength. But a few years ago, I had a moment in motherhood that really just kind of pulled out the rug from underneath me more than any other moment had before. 

And that was when our fourth son had his first seizure. I did not know what was happening at the time. It just felt like a very scary medical emergency. 

And so, as time went on, we of course found more information for that. We were able to help get him treatment for that. But he did go on to have subsequent seizures and struggle with epilepsy. And all of that happening in my life drove me to a new level of weakness that I had not experienced before. 

And so, in the process of that I started meeting with one of my pastors, I started just doing a little more reflecting. I realized that not only did I feel weak in that season, but as I looked over my life as a young woman, as a college student, as a young married wife, when I was a mom, two young kids, all these different stages of my life, I kept describing myself as weak. That's just a feeling I felt so many times in so many ways. And so, I really wanted to go to the Word of God and find out, what does He say about this? Is it okay that I have weaknesses? Is this a bad thing? Is this a defect? How am I supposed to overcome these weaknesses? 

So, it was just really a joy to be able to put this devotional together. It was also a balm for my own heart to look through the Word and come to the Lord with all of my weaknesses and ask Him what he says and just find so much hope and grace there.

Portia: Absolutely. I love what you just shared. As you you've said, this book, emphasizes finding strength in God during moments of weakness. And so, can you share with us how this principle of finding strength in God, when we are weak has played a pivotal role in your own life?

Emily: Well, I think there's something so important about being willing to acknowledge our weaknesses. The word weakness simply means to lack something. And so, there are so many areas in life where we realize, “Hey, I'm not enough in this area. I don't have enough of what I need.” Maybe I'm insufficient, or I'm unable. And some of that is, by God's design, right compared to God. We are absolutely lacking. We have limitations, and that is a good thing. 

But also, there are areas in our lives where God has put us in situations where we don't have all that we need in and of ourselves. And so sometimes I've recognized that if I am not acknowledging my weaknesses, and I'm wanting to just immediately run to my own solutions, I'm wanting to bulldoze through those. I'm wanting to pretend like they don't exist. Then I miss an opportunity to depend on God to seek His provision, and then to marvel in His glory when He does provide grace in that situation.

And so, I think there have been so many times in my life now where I start to get that feeling like, “I don't have what it takes here. I know that I cannot be all things to all people.” I'm not maybe doing all the things I had on my list that day. And instead of wallowing in that or having a pity party or wanting to get myself together first before I give up, I've recognized just go straight to the Lord. Just go straight to the Lord with that expectation that He is going to guide me and counsel me by His Spirit, that He's going to lead me and that He's going to be with me in whatever it is I'm facing.

Portia: Amen, amen. So, I love that you said, I’m just going to Him trusting that He's going to guide this. I specifically kind of want to zoom in and hear a little bit about what Scriptures, specifically guide us toward finding God's strength?

Emily: While Scripture is where it's all at, it's so amazing to me the way that God reveals His strength to us in His Word. There are so many things in our lives and our circumstances that are ever changing. We have relationships with people that can feel tumultuous. 

Sometimes it feels like I can't even count the calendar entries in my day, the appointments that I have there. I can't even rely on myself, right? Some days I wake up and I feel crabby, or I am sick that day, or I just don't have as much energy as I typically do. Like, there's all these different things that are ever changing and unstable. 

But God's Word is always true, and it's always sure. There is wisdom and direction and guidance for our lives and His Word. I love even being able to think about the way that it leads us in prayer, because sometimes we don't know what to pray. We are so overwhelmed with our own inability, our own weakness, that we're not even sure what to ask for. But Scripture says that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us on our behalf, that He helps us pray with things that are too deep for our words. He's communicating that to God somehow. 

I also think the Spirit brings us to the Word of God. He helps us find things that we can cry back out to the Lord, that we can cling to, in the midst of our weakness. 

This weekend I was at church, and we were talking a little bit about the Holy Spirit and all the different things that He does in the way that He works in our hearts. I just thought it's so precious to me that the Spirit produces fruit in our lives, that He helps us in these circumstances where maybe we don't know what to do, or we don't have that strength in and of ourselves. 

And yet, by the Spirit, we can respond with love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, and whatever that situation is. We're not going to do it perfectly, but we can respond in ways that reflect Christ. That's not something that comes from us because we are fickle. We are ever changing, but God is not. Christ in us is not. And that is something that we can hold tightly to.

Portia: Amen. I know that there are a lot of Grounded sisters who are watching, and they have probably battled through some fierce moments of weakness and struggle. And I can personally say, I know even with me that sometimes it's hard. Sometimes I feel just so disconnected from what I know to be true what I believe. And so, what advice would you give to someone who is struggling? Or feels disconnected from their faith during times of personal weakness or struggle?

Emily: I think no matter what you're feeling, go to the Lord. I recently was cleaning out some old journals. My daughter wanted to have one of Mommy's journals to write in. And so, she was pulling them off the shelves. I started tearing some pages out of those so that I could give her what was left over. 

As I was tearing out pages, I found a page that was dated from five years ago. It was shortly after our fourth son, this one that has epilepsy now was diagnosed with his genetic disorder. And on that page, I had listed half a dozen things that I was thankful for. 

And it's so interesting, it really struck me, because now that we are a lot further into this journey, I can look back and remember how weak and desperate and scared and sad I felt at that time. And yet I was holding in my hand this piece of paper that made it look like I was bursting with thanksgiving. I was praising God for what was going on. I was just like, “How was that possible?” Because my feelings at that time didn’t correlate with the words that are on this paper. Yet I look back, and now I'm able to see what God did in and through that time and what He's still doing, I'm like, “Oh, He absolutely carried me through that season with praise and thanksgiving, even though at the time I wasn't feeling it, you know. 

And so, I really had a moment where I had to stop and go, “I cannot always judge what God is doing or how His grace is carrying me based on how I'm feeling at that moment. But God's Word tells me that He is with me, that He is guiding me, that He is sanctifying me, that His grace is sufficient for me, and that He is doing something good and glorious, even if I can't see it, or I can't feel it.” 

Some stories like that have helped train me to go to the Lord and not wait until I'm feeling spiritual or not wait until I'm feeling thankful or I'm feeling joyful, but to go with Him to go to Him just right where I'm at and look expectantly for Him to work. 

Portia: Amen. Girl, that is the gospel view. He is there. I think that is the perfect place. I would love to talk to you more, but we're gonna put a pin in this because it is time for us to get grounded and God's Word. I think that what you just shared is a perfect segue for us to dig into God's Word.

So Dannah, tell me where we're going in our Bibles. Thank you, Emily, for being with us. We're gonna drop a link to your book in the episode notes and the chat. Thank you so much for being with us.

27:03 - Grounded in God's Word (with Dannah)

Dannah: You are going to want to go ahead and open your Bibles to 1 Samuel 30. Oh, I am so excited, because my first sentence that I wanted to share with you is, “Even the strongest leaders can feel weak.” Did you hear Emily Jensen leader of Risen Motherhood talk about feeling weak. 

Listen, sometimes I think when we feel weak, we're tempted to believe the lie that we can't lead that, we can't disciple that, we can't shepherd our children, those that God's entrusted to us. 

So, I want to remind you that each of us has a Great Commission mandate, which means each of us has leadership potential in us. You will feel weak. King David did.

Weakness I think can be one of God's good tools, my friend. We see it really clearly in the life of David. Remember, he did not immediately rise to the throne of Israel after he was anointed by the prophet Samuel—as a very young man, I might add. 

Instead, he had to endure a lot of testing and schooling to prepare to serve as king. I think one of his more difficult training courses may have been what I have titled, “Rejection 101.” We read about it in 1 Samuel 30. Rejection can make you feel weak, right? We feel rejected by families or friends. We feel weak when we feel rejected by a boss or a coworker, maybe even our kids. 

And David knows that kind of weakness. Let me take you back to that time in his story in 1 Samuel 30. I hope you'll take time to read the whole story this week. It's so rich and full of encouragement. You see the reigning King Saul. He was consumed by jealousy; you may remember that he chased David into hiding for over a decade. Saul's rejection of him was a divine test, at least I think so, to see if David would believe God and walk in the truth of His Word, even when he couldn't see it unfolding. David wasn't just rejected; he was a reject, and he lived with rejects. The Bible records that everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter in soul gathered to Him. That's from 1 Samuel 22:2. David welcomed them, and he trained them, and he gradually built an army and a community of families. But here's the thing, even they eventually rejected him. Talk about weakness. 

It all happened this way. After a fierce battle with a people called the Amalekites, David and his men returned to their camp in the town of Ziklag. They found that it had been burned and looted by the enemy. Every wife and every child was gone, taken alive. 

And that's when the man who had been rejected by his people, and even rejected by their enemies, was rejected by the rejects. The men that were following him, they leaned into their grief by blaming David for what had happened. They even talked about stoning him. 

Now, how did David respond to this test during his coursework and weakness? Did he tell the angry men, “Hey, I'm hurting too. Can you see?” Did he beg them to heal his broken heart? Or did he argue with them and blame them in turn? Or did he run off to find others who might commiserate with him? No. Let me read to you what David did when he was in that moment of extreme weakness. This is 1 Samuel 30:6. It simply says, “David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” 

David strengthened himself in the Lord in this vulnerable moment where David reached out to God for strength. He got alone with the God of the universe to strengthen himself. Some Bible versions, notably the King James Version, says that he encouraged himself in the Lord. When many would just give into the weakness, David determined to be strong. 

Many would try to draw strength and encouragement from other people. That's our that's our natural go-to, isn't it? To text a friend to call a friend? “Do you see how hard my life is right now?” But David doesn't do that. He went directly to God in prayer first. And my friend, you can do that too?This is your invitation to turn to God for strength. Will you do that? I hope so. 

It's not always easy. I think there are three steps to it. The first thing is, admit you're weak. You know, if your heart is reeling from that prodigal who sat across the table from you at Thanksgiving, and you just don't know even how to form prayers, go to God. Admit that you feel weak that there's almost nothing you can do to change the mind and the heart of that child. 

Is your marriage in a hard place of testing? Don't believe the lie that you can fix that. Only Jesus can. You are weak, but he is strong. Admit you are weak. It's a very difficult step. It requires humility, but it's the first step in finding strength and accepting God's invitation to step number two.

Tell God what He already knows, that you need His strength. Strengthen yourself in the Lord the way that David did. You don't need fancy words. Don't pretend. Don't come to him pious with all the right words. God already knows what's in you. Just say it. Jesus, I'm so weak. I don't know what to say, but help, I need You. 

But then, here's step number three, after you've gone to the Lord first. David did eventually go back to those people who had rejected him and say, “Hey, I've strengthened myself in the Lord. Now I have a message for you. I want to remind you, your fathers, your sons, I'm feeling the strength of it. I need you to join me in rising up in the strength of the Lord to get our wives and our children back.” Then after he strengthened himself to the Lord, he went to others. 

Friends, you need to do that after you strengthen yourself in the Lord. Call a friend, text a friend after you strengthen yourself. Because I strongly advise you when you are weak, and you strengthen yourself in the Lord, don't do it alone. Turn to God with the kindness and help of another believer. I want you to watch this brief video of Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth. She's talking to two of my friends, David and Shona Murray, about encouraging us to turn to one another, to be strengthened in the Lord.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: We think that our strengths are what will make us useful. 

Shona Murray: Yes. 

Nancy: But many times, it's really our weakness that makes us most useful to others. 

Shona: It is. When you are vulnerable with others, you find that others are equally able to be vulnerable with you. And together, you're humbly accepting that we are human.

Nancy: Yes.

Shona: We're not perfect. We're not pre-fall. We're not yet in heaven. This world, as God has said, is a world of veil of tears, valleys, tribulation. But if we can help each other along the way, as fellow pilgrims like Pilgrim’s Progress, then it is a glorious journey.

Erin: That is what Grounded is all about. We don't come here every week because we're so strong. We come here every week because we're weak, and we want to help each other as pilgrims all the way home. 

Dannah: Yes.

Erin: I hope that encourages you today. Another way weakness is a gift is because, as Dannah has said, the invitation that you need others. It’s an invitation to turn to one another. We want to be here to help you. We want you to be here to help us when you're feeling weak. 

And on that note, we want to invite you to pray for and help our Christian sisters in Cambodia this week. This this will make you feel weak. Only point 5 percent of the population of that country is Christian. You can imagine how weak our Christian sisters feel they are when they are so much in the minority. We're talking about maybe just 300,000 believers in the entire country with very little to disciple them and strengthen their faith and like here in America where we have seemingly endless resources, conferences, Bible studies, great books like Emily's, to point us to. That's not true for our family around the world.

But our ministry has been given an incredible opportunity to help Revive Our Hearts. And the goal is to strengthen our Christian sisters in that country. Through the Far East Broadcasting Company, we've been invited to produce and distribute. This should have been in our good news. This is really good news, biblical content for women in the Khmer language spoken in Cambodia.

But of course, we can't do that on our own. We're weak. We need your help to do that, here at the beginning of this week, when Giving Tuesday is celebrated. And you can slough that off as commercialism, but the reason Giving Tuesday exists is the pushback, that we would give toward organizations that matter, especially those who are doing good work in Jesus' name. 

So here Revive Our Hearts we're asking the Lord to provide—listen to this number— $156,000 this Giving Tuesday. 

Dannah: In one day? 

Erin: Yeah, we're expanding it a little bit today and tomorrow, but these first couple of days of this week, so yeah, that makes us at Revive Our Hearts feel weak. That's a lot of money. And that money will be used to help us produce and distribute daily, half-hour Revive Our Hearts’ broadcasts in Portuguese and a shorter podcast in the language they speak in Cambodia. So, we are excited about this opportunity to get the message of freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ to the languages of women who live in Cambodia, Brazil, Portugal, and elsewhere around the world where those languages are spoken.

Dannah: Yeah, I just had the opportunity to spend some time with the man who leads the Far East Broadcasting Company.He was sharing with us some of the stories of these women in Cambodia. When we hear a Grounded podcast, or livecast, or Revive Our Hearts podcasts, it's one of dozens and dozens we hear a whole week long, all month long. 

When these women hear one of these broadcasts, it is like a treasure to them. They pass it on to their friends through their phone apps and things like that, because it is a treasure. 

Erin: They are hungry. 

Dannah: They are so hungry for hope and perspective from the Word of God. We have the opportunity to take it to them, but we can't do it without your help. I want to put that goal of $156,000 in perspective.

Erin: Good, because I need help with the math, that’s big math.

Dannah: It's crazy, right? But $156,000 sounds enormous, but in God's economy and with the audience we have it's really not a lot because if everyone listening to my voice right now, and those who listen to the Revive Our Hearts program, hear my voice every day on the daily podcast, if each of them gave just $1 That's it. 

Erin: I can do $1.

Dannah: Yeah, we would blow this goal out of the water and then some. We would be podcasting in so many nations and so many languages. But we know that won't happen because there are many listening right now who won't give or call. 

So, I'm asking you if the Lord is pulling on your heartstrings, right now. Would you consider making a little bit bigger gift? Maybe just $10 that would make a difference. Or maybe the Lord really blessed you this year and you could give $100.

To make a donation you can call us at 1-800-569-5959. You've probably heard me say that number if you've ever listened to the daily program.

Erin: That just rolls right off your tongue.

Dannah: It rolls right off my tongue. You can also make a donation online at ReviveOurHearts.com. Again, it's ReviveOurHearts.com or 1-800-569-5959. 

Erin: You know sisters, Grounded sisters, one thing we love about you is you're eager to respond so we know that we don't have to twist your arm. But we do want you to know that even those small gifts Dannah mentioned can go a long way toward giving hope and perspective to other women and nations that don't have the access that maybe you have. 

And we do like to sweeten the pot so when you request it with your donation, we will send you a copy of (Un)remarkable, Volume Two. I don't know if we've talked about that on Grounded before but previously, it was only available as a digital download. It's stories of real women, some of whom have been Grounded guests. Gracie Burnham's mentioned in this book, along with others who lived unremarkable lives in the sense that they didn't do anything extraordinary, necessarily, but they were faithful. And just for Giving Tuesday, we've released a special edition in paper. I'm a paper book girl all the way, so don't give me digital, give me paper. 

Dannah: Yeah, me too. 

Erin: So, we're releasing it just for Giving Tuesday. This little book contains the inspiring stories of ten ordinary women. What they did was they basically acknowledged their weakness and cried out to the Lord in it, and He did what only He can do, which is He rushed in and used their lives in some really extraordinary way. 

So, consider this book our way of saying thank you for your donation this Giving Tuesday week. It really means a lot to us.

Dannah: It does. And you know what else, Erin? I would love it if the Grounded sisterhood showed up big Tuesday.

Erin: Me too. 

Dannah: We’re a much smaller podcast. I mean, there are hundreds of thousands of us, but we're a much smaller podcast than the main podcast Revive Our Hearts. But we would love to represent on Giving Tuesday. So, I challenge you. I'm gonna go ahead and get off today and make my own donation so that I can participate. We do have a very short window to give. It's a 48-hour campaign. You only have through Tuesday night to give for this specific campaign so that women can hear the truth in their own language. We're trusting God to provide that 156,000 in this very short window. It's a big goal for us. But hey, you know what? It's not a big goal for Him.

Erin: No, He owns everything, and He's so good. Nobody wants women flourishing in Christ more than Jesus Himself. And so, we're going to trust Him every step of the way. But what an exciting thing to be a part of.

Dannah: Yeah, I am excited to participate. Hey, as we close up today, Erin, I can't help but think that we talked about some big scary things that make us feel weak sometimes. 

Erin: We did. 

Dannah: But things that makes me feel weak sometimes is the marathon of holiday hosting between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Erin: You ain’t kidding. I can't even make myself go to the barn and get the boxes out. I know I need to but that part overwhelms me. 

Dannah: Yeah. I know it's a superficial weakness compared to a sick child or an aging parent. There are so many tests, financial tests. But even I feel like turning to the Lord in the weakness of getting out the Christmas decorations and cleaning up the holiday mess from Thanksgiving and getting it out for Christmas. Turning to the Lord in that weakness can be practice for when we really need to strengthen ourselves in the Lord for the big tests, right?

So, let's pass these little challenges. Let's pass these little tests. Let's turn to them this week and all month long. You know, the next time Grounded is together, it will be December and Christmas will be upon us. 

Erin: Woah!

Dannah: Can you believe it? Where did the year go?

Erin: I don't know. Where are we just saying there's another one coming like a freight train. 2024 is barreling at us. 

Dannah: Well, think about this as we close. We're celebrating Jesus this month, our coming King, celebrating him as the King of kings. We're celebrating Him as a little baby. 

Erin: Yeah.

Dannah: Who can't feed Himself, who can't clothe Himself, who can't care for Himself. This needy, weak baby who came in His weakness because the God of the universe loved us so very much that He became weak for us. Think about that.

Erin: That's another way weakness is a good thing. If Jesus had not come incarnate as that weak baby (this blows my mind every year), born from the womb He made, then we would have no answer for our own weakness. So, thank you for pointing us to Him. We're gonnabe pointing to Jesus all December and all January and February and until Grounded is over and the Lord comes back. We're gonna point you to Jesus. And we'll be here to remind you that your weaknesses are a good thing. 

Hey, we're gonna keep an extension of this conversation. Next week Brooke McLaughlin will be on. Dannah, you've been dying for us to get Brooke on. She's gonna have hope in perspective for the mom at the end of a rope. 

So, if you are already at the beginning of the Christmas season feel totally maxed out and exhausted and like you can't get it all done, this one's for you. We're eager to visit with Brooke next week, and we're eager for you to be there, so set an alarm. You can have Christmas decorations up or not, you can listen to Christian music with us next week or not. It doesn't matter. We just want you here, and we want you to be a part of the conversation. So let's wake up with hope together next week Grounded.

Portia: Grounded audio is powered by Skype. Grounded is a production of Revive Our Hearts calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ

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