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290-Held Hostage but Not Silent: Finding Your Voice in the Face of the Enemy · Stuck No More Voices

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel stuck.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel captive by fear, doubt, lack, or even your past.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: But let me encourage you: your voice can still bring freedom, not just for you, but for others.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, welcome back to the Second No More Voices podcast.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Teresa Croft.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Today's episode is very personal to me because it's about finding your voice even when you're in captivity or feeling like you're in a prison.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel criticized, or maybe you have some judgment going on and/or circumstances that feel like change.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: You're like in a prison of your own making and you don't know where the key is.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: I fought for my voice when it felt like everything around me was trying to silence me.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I fought for my voice.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes I would wait till my late husband left for work and then I'd go live or I'd start doing some things that had to do with my voice.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I later learned to just tough it out.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But listen, despite the criticism you can press into, or despite feeling like chains are holding you back, God is calling you into something.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Captivity doesn't have to cancel.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Come on, you're calling.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to reference a powerful story that really impacted me while I was in the midst of my situation.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's 2 Kings 5, verses 2 through 6.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Write that down.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Kings 5, 2 through 6, because God may speak to you like he spoke to me in this verse.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So there were bands of raiders from Aram that had taken captive a young girl from Israel.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are you following with me?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: She was far from home and she was serving in the house of her enemies.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: By all accounts, she had no positions, no power, no freedom, and yet she chose to speak.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: She told her mistress, the one she was serving, who was the wife of Naaman, that there was a prophet in Samaria who could heal Naaman.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: She spoke up.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Come on.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Naaman was suffering from leprosy.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that one sentence, that one act of courage by this young Israel girl set into motion a chain of events that ended in Naaman's healing.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Her captivity did not silence her.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Her voice became the spark for a miracle.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now maybe you feel like that little girl.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel stuck.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you feel captive by fear, doubt, lack, or even your past.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: But let me encourage you, your voice can still bring freedom, not just for you, but for others.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I got three tips for you.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Get a pen.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to write these down for finding your voice even when you feel like you're in captivity or even when you are in some sort of captive situation.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tip number one: acknowledge the captivity, but refuse to stay silent.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: We don't need to hide the fact that we feel trapped sometimes.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's financial lack that can really feel trapped and like you can't do anything.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: I understand.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe it's just fear of failure.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's relationships that feel controlling.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: But here's the truth.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Even in those moments, your voice still carries weight.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to wait for freedom to speak.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I retired from radio in 2006, I was determined to still help my family's finances.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: I retired because our family was moving.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was like choose my family or choose my radio job.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I chose my family.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And as I started to learn in those moments that did feel like captivity because of just surrounded by so much stuff, so much control, jealousy.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I would get up early in the morning to learn.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then I eventually, as I learned, I would win on Facebook Live.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Back in the day when you go on Facebook Live and the hundreds fall trickle in.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: They don't do that like now.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd speak.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually actually eventually off my listen to the vine dresser post had some one-to-ones with women and led them into my first academy, the Redeem Your Voice Academy.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is back in 2019.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: So, point number two, speak from your scars, not just from your wounds and not just your victories.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Speak from your scars.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: People don't need to see a polished perfect version of you.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: They need to hear your authentic voice.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: The servant girl didn't have status or success.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: But listen, that didn't stop her.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Her testimony pointed Naaman toward healing.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: So the things you've walked through, your scars, are the very places where God can release the greatest impact through you.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes your misery becomes your destiny.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: You go from the landmines to landmarks.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I am learning this anew about this, I was recently diagnosed with cancer, breast cancer, February 14th.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the reason I was able to make that a scar quicker is because God asked me.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'd laid out on the biopsy table.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And God said, Teresa, this could be another story for my glory.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: My first reaction is, God, I got a story in 26 years of hell.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And God said it again, Teresa, are you willing to make this another story for my glory?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Yes.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Breast cancer.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Two surgeries, two cancer surgeries, and learning to rest in the midst of captivity.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, remember your voice is a seed.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The girl's words planted the idea of healing that was possible for Naaman's life.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Your voice may not solve every problem, but it can point someone toward hope, toward God, toward healing.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Every time you speak life, you're planting seeds that God will water in his time.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to ask you, what's holding you captive today?
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Is it fear?
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Is it doubt?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a sense of lack?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: The enemy wants you to believe that your voice is powerless.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: But just like the young girl, your words could be the very thing that unlocks freedom for someone else.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Don't underestimate the power of your voice, friend.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: You could be the one who sparks healing, who sparks revival.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: You can be the one who ignites hope.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: Your voice can be the one voice who shows others what freedom looks like, even if you're still walking through your own journey.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Friend, captivity does not define you.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Your scars do not silence you.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Your voice is a weapon, a seed, a light.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: And when you dare to use it, you're not just setting yourself free, you're leading others into healing too.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: So today I challenge you to use your voice to speak.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: Choose to be the one that plants that seed.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Choose to be the one who speaks so that others can see Jesus in you.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm so glad you could join me for this edition of the Steck No More Voices Academy.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, listen, I have a free webinar.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, join me on the other side outlining how you can speak in a podcast.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: You're not too late.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're listening now, go to the link in the show notes.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: You can be there just in time.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm waiting there for you.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Subscribe, and I'll talk to you in the next episode of the Stuck No More Voices Podcast.