Latest / CEO Kingdom Seekers / Ep 26: The Will to Be Misunderstood: The Cost of Carrying Your Divine Assignment (Galatians 1:10)

Transcript

Ep 26: The Will to Be Misunderstood: The Cost of Carrying Your Divine Assignment (Galatians 1:10) · CEO Kingdom Seekers

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Hey y'all, welcome to this week's weekly live.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so I'm getting our Zoom set up because for those of you who are following me on TikTok, we also record this live in Zoom and then put this up as a training for all of our regulated Roots Academy people.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna go ahead and pray over us and then we're gonna talk about I think an incredibly important topic today.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be talking about the willingness to be misunderstood and the willingness to be judged as people who are entrepreneurs and who feel really called, led to create businesses that are centered in Christ and centered in the Bible and centered in our willingness to follow and love and obey God.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're gonna be talking about today.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have three scripture verses that we're gonna be anchoring our lesson in.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something that I think I'm gonna keep doing moving forward.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna see.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: And this topic that I'm gonna talk about today is actually something that is uh, I'm nervous.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that God laid on my heart to talk about.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna go there, we're gonna do it.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: So before we start, I just want to just start off in prayer with God.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: God, thank you so much for waking us all up today, this morning, this afternoon, this evening, whatever time it is that the person is who's watching this.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for another day here with you, God, on this planet.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for always taking care of us.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for reminding us that you are good and that everything that you do is for our good.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: And though other people and sin and evil and all of the darkness that can try to creep in, when we surrender over to you and we give you all of the fear and the worry and the pain and the doubt and the anxiety and struggles and the temptations, when we just offer those up to you, when we lay them at the foot of your cross, Jesus, and we allow our suffering to be combined with yours.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Just the beauty that you create from that, the good that you are able to turn from all of those things.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for divine protection and your provision.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: I pray for you to put a hedge of protection around this podcast in particular to protect us from anyone who wishes to do us harm and to remind us that we get to feast at the table in the presence of our enemies with you.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: That even when there is harm and fear and worry and anxiety and things just hanging and looming over our shoulders that we feel afraid of, that we can just trust that you've got us and you'll take care of us and you will protect us.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: And let us not be afraid to lose and help us to stop being so attached to the things of this earth, knowing what we get to experience with you eternally.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Help us to bring a little bit of that heaven down to earth today as we're talking.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray that whoever hears and listens to this message, God, I pray that they are willing to be misunderstood and they're willing to be judged when it is for your good.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that they will have the strength and the courage and the confidence to continue doing what it is that you call them to do, even when other people tell them that they are crazy or bad or wrong for doing what they're doing.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: I just pray that you give them that strength and give them your peace, give them the fruits of the spirit, help those just really develop inside of them and help them know that they're not alone, that you're always there with them, that you will never leave or forsake them, and that you are always doing good for them.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray all of this in Jesus' name.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: So the title of this episode is Being Willing to be misunderstood.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: The cost of carrying your divine assignment.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a cost that I think is one that we talk about at times, but we're not really talking about it.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: So recently, for those of you who haven't been following me long, almost two years ago at this point, I put out a video.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I was really struggling with everything that I was seeing after the 2024 election.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was struggling with seeing all of the division and the hatred that was happening.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was struggling, honestly, with seeing a lot of people, myself included, there was a lot of hypocrisy.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: There was a lot of dysregulation that was happening.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember I was driving home from a dear friend's house, and I said, you know, I'm tired of all of this division.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm tired of pretending that like I believe things that I don't believe.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm tired of like not using my voice to speak up and to share about like what I'm seeing inside of what I'm doing.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: And this was at the point that my husband and I were still running our online trauma education institute that was reaching like a lot of people.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: It was at the time that our TikTok was growing and our podcast was growing, and we had full programs and we were doing all these things.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, God, I've been drawing closer to you.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I've been drawing nearer to you.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: I've been hearing you more.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm trusting that you're there more.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I just, I don't know what to do.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And God just pulled me over.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: He was like, pull over in a church parking lot.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a church parking lot that it was the first church that I stepped back into after really like stepping away from God for a while, like turning away from him for a while, just being so frustrated and upset with him and not really understanding him, understanding his promises, understanding how he was designed.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so I turned away.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I pulled over in that parking lot and just recorded a nine and a half minute video where I shared about a lot of different things.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: But one of the things I shared about was the struggle I had with voting.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: I shared with the struggle of seeing a group that I had been connected to for a really long time and seeing how they were talking and how they were acting, and seeing another group of people that I had like condemned and been very harsh and judgmental towards for a really long time, and seeing them being caring and compassionate and loving.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, hey, babe.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I don't know what to do with this.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this feels really confusing.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like I've been told my whole life that like these are the bad guys, these are the people who are causing all the problems, these are the people who, you know, they don't really love Jesus, they don't really care, they use religion as a weapon.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that some of that's not true, but I'm saying that it was just a lot of distortion was getting cleared.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: And I was seeing like it's not good in on any side, right?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: The world is fallen, the world is broken.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so God just had me pull over in this church parking lot and record this video where I talked about the fact that I had left the Democratic Party.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I talked about the fact that I was way more moderate at this point, not because I wanted to leave that party, but because I felt like I gotten kicked out of that party.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: I felt like just by having some of the questions that I had and starting to draw closer to Jesus just off the bat, it made it tough to stay there because anytime I'd start to like ask questions or or mention, like, hey, you know, is this really it?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like I would get condemned.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'd be told that I was a horrible person, that, you know, I wasn't allowed to be in this group.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I recorded that video and there was a lot of aftermath after that.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: We knew that there was going to be aftermath.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I handled that in a somewhat dysregulated way because I'm getting misunderstood and judged at this level that I never expected.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm having people who have millions and millions of followers saying that I'm a horrible person and nobody should follow me, all of these things.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the comments, even on TikTok right now, are the exact thing I'm talking about right here.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: For those of you who are watching the replay, it's really fascinating how this is what happens is like you disagree or you have even a question in a group, and automatically people are like, you're a horrible person and you don't deserve to have any rights anymore.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad that this next part that I'm about to share about is happening because I think it's exposing exactly what I was trying to say 18 months ago.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened was we had all of these people that were saying certain things about me that didn't know me, right?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I responded in a dysregulated way.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And my husband was like, hey, you gotta let this go.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like I remember we were sitting on the couch and I was like, I'm not sure what to do about this.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like you and I are already talking about closing up the trauma institute because we're seeing it actually get weaponized in some ways that are not the way that we designed it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: I remember he was like, babe, I'm gonna give you an example.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: He said, you know, when you're in battle, like imagine that you're up a little bit on a hill and you're looking down and you're seeing all these people who are against you, right?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like they don't like you, they want to conquer you, they want to have these things like not go well for you.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, you've tried talking to them, you've tried having a conversation, you've tried not responding.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, and at times you've gotten frustrated and you've responded like negatively.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, so that doesn't work.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Like being nice doesn't work, being mean doesn't work.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, so you gotta be kind.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, and you've got to center yourself on God.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like you've got to center yourself on Jesus.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: So what we're gonna do is you're gonna walk around, right?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're in a position where it's they're snapping and snarling, but like they can't actually reach you.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to reach you, they're trying to come after your nursing license, they're reporting you to the board for voting and loving Jesus, which the board is like, those aren't reasons to lose your nursing license.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: You're doing everything in a way that is protected, like you're being very clear that you're not a therapist or a counselor.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: Other people are making that assumption, but like in every single video that you're doing, you're talking about how you're not a therapist, you're not a counselor.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so he's like, you just gotta walk around.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: You just gotta walk around.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: And they're gonna snap and they're gonna snarl and they're gonna do these things.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you have to understand that, like, if if you are actually doing what God is calling you to do, if you are actually following on your divine plan, then you have to trust that God has divinely protected and cared for you.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like that that's what he's doing, that he's not gonna let bad things happen to you.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And even if the worst thing that could happen happens, you're still his, right?
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: You still get to spend eternity with him in heaven.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got to really make sure that you're following his will.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: You've got to be praying and staying in the word and trusting that you're following his will.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And he didn't say all of this like in one setting, but like this, these were conversations we were having over time.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what I just started doing.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: I just started ignoring, right?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I started praying for every person who left a negative comment.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Every video I would make when somebody would leave something that was harsh or cruel or unkind, I would pray.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd be like, God, please help draw this person close to you.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: If there's anything I'm doing here that is hurtful or harmful, please make it clear to my eyes to see.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Please open my ears, please help me see what I'm doing wrong.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so just like praying for people who persecute you, praying for people who disagree with you, praying for people who want to see harm come to you, like praying for people like that.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's terrifying, right?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And praying and saying, God, I trust that you're protecting me in the way that you want to protect me.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I trust that you will correct me quickly because I want to be corrected.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be obedient.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: I want to know if I'm doing something that goes against you.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: I want to know if I'm doing something that goes against you, God.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: We opened regulated REITs Academy and Agency.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: We shifted to really working with people who were more faith-centered, and things started working.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: And it was beautiful, right?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing that happened that I didn't talk a lot about, and this is something that I think is really important.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: If anybody here is watching and you've been misunderstood and you've been judged, okay, you you, especially as Christians, especially as somebody who is trying to follow God, all right, you are trying to follow Jesus, you are trying to, your intention is to put his will above all else.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: If that is what you are doing, then what happens is a lot of times on the outside and the external, you're seeing all of this like snapping and snarling and people like saying all these horrible things.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: But what often happens in the back end, and this was what I didn't expect, I had so many people in my DMs, I had so many people in my emails, I had so many people being like, Lee, I don't feel safe commenting on your video because I'm watching how they're coming after you.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: But I appreciate what you're doing.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate your willingness to step in and say these things that are not being said because I don't feel safe enough to do it.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was one of those moments where in the Bible it talks about that there are two different levels.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: There's the seen and there is the unseen.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: There's the seen and there is the unseen.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of times what we're seeing, what we're seeing with our physical eyes and our ears, that's not the full picture.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's not the full story.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And there are things happening on this unseen level, right?
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like we don't battle with flesh and blood, we battle with principalities and powers, we battle in the spiritual realm.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: The things that we're seeing in the physical realm are oftentimes manifestations of what is happening in the spiritual realm.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's a verse that I want to share here.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: It took out nuance, it took out all of that.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so fascinating because I was watching this going, oh my gosh, so many people are gonna not only just misunderstand me for the actual message that I said, but they're gonna misunderstand me based off of something I didn't even say.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna misunderstand me based off of somebody else's intentional, intentional distortion of this.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: And this is happening right around the time that our podcast is starting to grow, that we're having all these incredible guests on, that we're starting to have these new clients come in.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like all this goodness is happening, and all of a sudden, it's like this thing from a really long time ago comes back up, and now there's the distortion again.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: But this time, I'm praying in the same way, but I've grown, right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I say that like humbly, okay?
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that I am at the point that I'm like, oh, I never make any mistakes and I never do anything wrong anymore.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: The thing that is happening though is that I had enough maturity to go, okay, this time I'm not gonna try to fight.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: This time I'm not gonna try to engage, this time I'm gonna walk around, but I'm gonna do it in a different way.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: This time I'm not afraid to be misunderstood.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: This time I don't feel like I need to fix people's perceptions.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: This time I'm gonna let people judge and misunderstand and think whatever they want to think, because that's not my business.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: My business is the business of sharing what God has called me to share.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: My business is using the gifts that God has called me to use and the way He's called me to use them.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: That's my business.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: And by the way, there's some questions happening here in the comments right now.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like, please answer me this.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: If this is this, then why is it this?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, here's what I want to say.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a question, that is an uh argument.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is, I already have a presupposition that you are wrong.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I want you to debate me.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, thank you.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's not why I'm here.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: I hope for those of you who are live and you're watching this and you're watching the comments, and you're like, oh my gosh, this is again in real time.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: How do we do this?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: We attack what she looks like, we attack what she sounds like, we attack her race, we attack her opinions, we attack her intelligence, we attack her morality, we attack all of these things and we and we go for the places that it'll likely hurt her the most, right?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: We go after all of these identities that this person is tied to.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the issue with that is if you're going after the identities that you think are going to make somebody feel bad, if the primary identity is of Christ, you're out of luck.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: If my primary identity is a brother or sister of Christ and it is a child of God, you are out of luck when you attack all of those other identities that I'm telling you don't matter to me as much as that one does.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: And and so this is gonna actually take me into the meat of this podcast now, because you guys, like the enemy's gonna try to distract you, he's gonna try to dysregulate you, he's gonna try to get you to shrink back, soften your message, qualify what you're saying in order to avoid being misunderstood.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And y'all, let me just name this plainly.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's not your business.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, that's not your business.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a version of your calling, there's a version of what you know God is calling you to do that everyone around you is comfortable with.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, it is smaller and or slightly different than what God has called you to actually do, what God has created you to actually do.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's quieter, it's safer, it doesn't ruffle feathers, and the enemy is gonna use any and all means in your life, including the people who you love the most.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: And please don't hear what I'm not saying.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that the people you love the most are like in the hands of the enemy.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm saying.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: But we all sin, we all get drawn away from God at times.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: The devil's gonna use those moments where we turn our back, or he's gonna use the people who haven't yet turned back towards God to keep you in that smaller version, to keep you in the distortion and the diminishment of your gift and your talent and your calling and your purpose.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna do that for a very specific reason because he knows that if you're not scared of him anymore, if you're not scared of the devil the way you used to be, if you're not scared of the enemy, if you're not scared of people misunderstanding you, if you're not scared of people judging you, if you're not scared of people even threatening you, because that's what I've gotten.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: I've gotten literal threats.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: I've gotten threats to my livelihood, I've gotten threats to my family, I've gotten threats to my personal self.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: I've had people say horrific things.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the beautiful part is when you understand that the more you step into what God has called you to do, the more you're gonna face that.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a sign that you're doing what God has called you to, and that you get to trust that He is going to care for you and take care of you and provide for you and protect you, and that everything that happens to you, He's gonna use for good if you allow it.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you understand that, then you're gonna do some incredible things.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And again, they might not seem big to you.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: You might not be somebody who gets on a podcast like this and talks the way I'm talking.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: You might not be somebody who stands up on stages and preaches the gospel from there.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: You might not become a minister or um religious person in the terms of like serving in the church.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: You might not become a content creator, you might not become those things, okay?
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: What will likely happen is that you're gonna be shown very clearly, this is where I want you to serve.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is where I want you to serve.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna talk about what it costs to carry that divine assignment today.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're not talking strategy or branding.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's not what we're talking about today.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking about the battle that you're gonna go through.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right, the battle and the willingness, in accordance with God's will, to be misunderstood, misjudged, and misread by the people who matter to you, by the people who make you feel bad, by the people who try to tear you down, and to do it anyway.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: So Galatians, chapter one, verse 10.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says this to the church.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: The full verse is this Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or am I trying to please people?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: People pleasing is not a personality quirk, it's a spiritual problem.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: It is a decision, whether it's conscious or subconscious, to let the opinion of people carry more weight than the voice of God.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: Paul says this directly, and this is something that's been coming up a lot.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, my husband and I we were talking yesterday with a client, and this statement came up.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot serve both.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus talks about this in a lot of different places in our lives.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: You can't serve God and man, you can't serve God and mammon materialism.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: You can't serve God and these other identities that you're putting higher than being his child, being adopted as a brother or sister of Christ.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: The trap is that people pleasing, and this is something we used to see in the Institute all the time, and it's another reason why the Institute closed, why we decided to shut that down was because we were approaching people pleasing from this perspective of that like scene level.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is what's happening inside of you.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: You're people pleasing because you are afraid of what other people think.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, absolutely.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: You are people pleasing because you don't want to cause division, because you want to be open to feedback and let other people tell you where they think you're wrong and think you're right.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: And please, again, don't hear what I'm not saying.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that being open and curious and receptive to other people's feedback, like that is good.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: God tells us to do that.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: When other people use this, I'm gonna give you feedback and I'm gonna tell you how you should see this, and I'm gonna question, and not really question, I'm actually gonna judge, but I'm gonna put it in the form of a question, like just happened here.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: When people teach you and train you to people please, they are silencing you.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: They're going, hey, my opinion matters more than God's.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: My opinion matters more than God's.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so I need you to do what I tell you to do, and I need you to do what I say is important.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: I need you to say these things or not say these things, I need you to do these things or not do these things.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's not humility.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to say a very tough thing right here, okay?
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: I love you.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is said with care and compassion.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: It is disobedience to claim to love Jesus, to claim to follow Jesus, and to not put him first, to not spend time in his word, learning his scripture, asking him to reveal through divine inspiration like what the word means, spending time in prayer, spending time in worship, and putting him first in the confirmation process my children are going through, and also.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a sponsor, and there are these videos that we watch, and there's a moment in it where Father Mike is talking about how if you read the entire Bible and you agree with everything it said, you probably didn't understand the Bible.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because as humans, there are parts in the Bible, there are parts in our catechism, there are parts of understanding our faith that like are gonna make it really hard for us to agree with.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to be challenged.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Your flesh is going to be challenged by what the word says.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I see this happening a lot right now in spaces where people are like, well, if you believe this politically, then you don't believe in Jesus.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: You don't love Jesus because this is what Jesus said.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And they pull out one small verse and they don't connect it to the context before or after.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: They don't ensure that what they are saying is actually the full story.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I see this happen a lot.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: And what is so fascinating about that is that's very Pharisee behavior.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: It is Pharisee behavior to pull out a piece of the law, to pull out a piece of the gospel, the scripture, and say, well, it says this here.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so since you're not doing this, you aren't following Christ.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_00: So where this shows up for entrepreneurs and leaders, it looks like softening your message so that you don't offend.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like avoiding hard conversations with team members because you don't want to be seen as harsh or unkind.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like staying in a partnership or role that God has already given you pretty clear instruction that you need to be released from because you're afraid to disappoint someone.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: It looks like not launching the thing that God told you to launch because you're waiting for permission from people who are not the ones who are supposed to give it to you.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've done this more times than I can count.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have disobeyed.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: And again, we hear that word.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in our current society, we hear that and we think about that from the perspective of reward and punishment.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, if I obey God, if I do what He tells me to do, then I get rewarded.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: But if I do don't do what God tells me to do, even if it doesn't feel right, even if it doesn't feel good, then I get punished.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yes and no.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: Reward and punishment are the consequences, they're not the intents.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_00: So when God leads us, either through scripture or through personal prayer and revelation, inspiration, when he leads us to do things, and we are saying, God, I want to do whatever it is you call me to do.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: God, I want to fully surrender to your will.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: God, I want to follow you even when it's hard, even when it's tough, to the point of death, to the point of martyrdom, like all of the apostles, except for John.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: John was the only one who didn't suffer a pretty gnarly death in defense of his faith.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the gospel talks about this a lot in a lot of different places.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's you soften what God tells you to do.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: You delay what God tells you to do.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: You read the scripture and you go, oh, well, I don't like that one.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: That feels judgmental.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna do everything else but that.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: And we do it a lot of times with this idea that we're gonna get punished or we're gonna get rewarded.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Y'all, rewards and punishments, like I was just saying, those are natural consequences.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: Those are natural consequences of us following or not following.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: There are artificial consequences and there are natural consequences.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give you an example here, all right?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: The world gives a lot of artificial consequences.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: So an example of this is oh, if you vote for this political party, then I'm never speaking to you again because I think you're a bad person.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_00: That's an artificial consequence.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody's going, I don't like what you did.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to decide what the punishment for that is.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Not based off of what God said, not based off of what the law says, not based off of anything particularly definitive from a morality perspective, because not loving your enemy is very non-biblical.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Again, there's a difference between distancing yourself from somebody and punishing somebody for doing something that you don't agree with.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_00: But I share that because as a parent, we try to help our kids understand the natural consequences of things as much as possible.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so sometimes we say, hey, we are putting a consequence here so that you can understand that later on in life, if you do this, there are consequences.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: So the natural consequence of things is what we want to rely on the most.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: So if you climb up on that chair, you might fall off and get hurt.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: So right now, I'm gonna come over and I'm gonna walk over to you and I'm gonna say, hey, I'm gonna get you down off of this chair because this is the natural consequence that often comes from climbing on this chair.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_00: But in other cases, as a parent, I'm gonna say, you know what, I'm gonna let them climb, and if they fall, they fall because they're gonna be relatively safe and they're gonna learn the natural consequences that way.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: So this is why parenting is so hard, by the way.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is why being an entrepreneur and a CEO is so hard, by the way, because you got to figure out where it makes sense to just allow the natural consequences to happen versus to protect somebody from those natural consequences and to teach them what could happen if they continue to do what they're doing.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: The natural consequences of what happen when we say, Hey God, I don't want your help.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hey God, I don't need you here.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good at my own.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know you tell us to pray constantly and to find it joy when we go through trials and tribulations and to surrender to your will because you love us and you care for us and you want to protect us and you want to be able to do as much good in our lives as possible.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: I know you say all of that, but I'm not gonna do that.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: And God's like, but here, I've given you this Bible that you can literally read.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's the year of our Lord 2026, and you have access to information that people would have clamored for.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_00: You have the literal Holy Spirit that is able to live in your hearts that up until the time of Jesus and his death and resurrection couldn't happen.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have these incredible things at your fingertips that you're not using, and that are here to guide you, that are here to help you, that are here to steward you and give you help and understand natural consequences.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we go, no thanks.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then when bad things happen as a natural consequence of that, because if we say, Hey God, I don't want your help, and he's like, Okay, well, I can't protect you to the level that I want to protect you, I can't teach you to the level I want to teach you.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: I can't support you to the level that I want to support you if you're telling me no, because I've given you free will to deny me.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: You have to choose to accept my love, you have to choose to love me back.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: So the natural consequences of refusing God's love and refusing to love him back, those are gnarly.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so, down back in the physical realm, we're like, oh, but you know, I want to follow God and I want to do what he's calling me to do, but but these people over here, they're saying X, Y, and Z.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_00: These people over here, they're judging me.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: These people over here, they're saying things to me that I don't like, these people over here, they're making it so I feel scared to do this.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right at the time that God was like, I want you speaking and writing and reading more.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: I want you using everything you've gone through to teach and to testify and to share the message that I have given you.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right at the time that's happening, that's when all the misunderstanding and judgment starts happening.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that's not a coincidence.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so for a lot of us, we'll look at that moment and go, oh, this is the consequence of me trying.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: No, these are the physical artificial consequences that the enemy is using other people to put in place to try to stop you from being obedient.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_00: All right, being misunderstood is not the same as being wrong.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this takes me to the next verse.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, John chapter 15, verses 18 and 19.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: As it is, you do not belong to the world.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_00: If the world hates you, and by the way, Jesus is saying this to the people he's teaching.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: As it is, you do not belong to the world.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_00: He says this the night before he's crucified, y'all.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like he's not being dramatic.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_00: He's preparing the disciples for what's coming, and he's reframing what rejection and persecution and crucifixion means.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: Being misunderstood and having other people start screaming and hollering and hooting and telling you you're wrong and you're bad and you don't deserve anything good, and you are a horrible person, and you deserve to go to you nowhere and all of that, having people say those things to you, having people like rip you to shreds, try to cancel you and attack you and ruin your business and ruin your family and ruin your life, like all of that, that is not evidence that you're off track.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, and this is not something that anybody else can answer for you, okay, y'all?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, like you have to answer this for yourself.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you know that you are spending time in the word, in prayer, and you are truly surrendering to doing God's will, if that is where you have been focusing, and nobody else can tell you, because that is an internal thing, you know if your heart is surrendered to God's will.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you have moments, and yes, you have doubts, and yes, you have struggles, but you know that you are surrendering to God's will, and that you truly want Him to use you as a vessel for His good.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you know that's what you're doing, then when people misunderstand you and they come after you and they attack you, then that's not evidence you're off track.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus is saying if the world understands you perfectly and loves everything you're doing, that's a warning sign.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: If the world loves and is like slay queen, right?
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, oh my gosh, do everything you're doing right now.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I love the way you're living your life.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you're like in support of this and in support of that.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is incredible.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is that cult of personality.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is, I dare to say it, this is Hollywood, this is politics, this is a lot of places.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like, y'all, if you are the most popular person and you're not facing a significant amount of backlash, now there are cases that this is not it.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are cases that you are wrong, wrong.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where being surrendered to God's will like really matters because you've got to be willing for God to check you.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_00: When I posted that original video at the beginning of last year, I was wrong in some ways.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was following what God wanted me to do to a point, but I was also being disobedient in some ways.
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so some of that backlash that I experienced was because I didn't do it the way that God really called me to do it.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I needed to learn that lesson.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: I needed to learn what partial obedience looks like.
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you're partially obedient, you're actually being disobedient.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I needed to learn that.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_00: I needed checked, I needed humbled.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you are coming at this from a humble perspective, meaning I'm doing this not for myself.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to suffer because I truly believe that I am doing this for God and for his kingdom.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to have people persecute and hate and attack and judge and blame and do all those things because I believe that it is the right thing, is what God's calling me to do.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: There's other religions outside of Christianity that call you to follow God and to sacrifice yourself, but there's a difference.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: The difference here is when we do this, we actually value God's will over our own.
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: And God's will is love.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_00: So everything you're doing is from a place of love.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's not from a place of hatred, it's not from a place of judgment, it's not from a place of condemnation.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_00: You are doing things because you love God so much and because you love his creation so much that you are willing to suffer for it.
• 34:40
  SPEAKER_00: You suffer for it, not other people.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 34:48
  SPEAKER_00: So the enemy is going to use misunderstanding to make you doubt your assignment.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is where it's super important to understand that there are two kinds of misunderstanding.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's the kind that comes from poor communication or immaturity, and that's what I was just talking about.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: That's worth addressing.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's worth growing through.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like honestly, if I went back, I would do that video differently than I did.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_00: At the very beginning of that video, I say, because I'm so nervous.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so nervous that people are going to misunderstand me and they're going to judge me.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because at that point, I still really cared what other people thought about me.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I still do care what other people think about me, but not before what I care about God thinks about me.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so at the beginning, I say, I hope that you'll still think well of me.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you'll still like me.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_00: And actually on TikTok, like the search for some of these videos is I hope you'll still like me.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: And people are like, no, we don't still like you.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: We hate you.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: And that was so tough to see.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_00: That was so tough to go through.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: But there was so much growth that happened after that because that was the part that people made fun of the most.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: They were like, she's a pick me.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: She wants us to still like her.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: Why would we still like her?
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: She voted against us.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: She doesn't care about us.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: She doesn't think about us.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh, yeah, okay, that was poor communication and that was immaturity.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: But there's another kind of misunderstanding that happens.
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this is what I see happening a lot more now.
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: It comes from carrying something that the world's not going to understand.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_00: It comes with caring about and being on an assignment to do something that the world as a whole isn't going to understand.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's the true cost.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm saying these things, knowing that only a select few have the ears to hear and the eyes to see and the hearts willing to understand.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that everyone else, this is going to fall on deaf ears and closed eyes and hardened hearts.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_00: So I have to sit here and hold that.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: I have to know that a lot of what I get back in saying this message and sharing these things is going to be negative.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I might never see the fruits.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_00: I might never personally see the fruits of what I'm doing.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to be willing to do it anyway.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the enemy's going to take this.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not mature, if you're not rooted and grounded in Christ, if you're not like God, use me.
• 37:08
  SPEAKER_00: Use me the way that you want to use me.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: Guide my words, guide my actions, guide my heart, guide my thoughts, guide my feelings, like use it all for you.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: The devil's going to take that criticism and the confusion and the silence that you receive, because that's something that happens too that we didn't talk about.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people are silent that you expected to support you.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when you ask them about that, they're like, oh well.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because they don't want to get drawn into it.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're bringing to light a lot of things that people don't want to look at.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you start and deepening in your relationship with God and following him no matter what, and other people who are around you start seeing that and you start changing, that is confronting.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: Because now they have to actually make a conscious choice.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: Do they agree with you or not?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Do they believe in Jesus or not?
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: So the devil's gonna uh take this criticism and the confusion and the silence, and he's gonna whisper in your ear.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes he's gonna yell.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna be like, see, you're wrong.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: You went too far.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: You should have stayed quiet.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've said this in the last week in a time of just struggle.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that I could just stop talking.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that I had never done this in the first place.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: I wish that I and I and as soon as I heard myself say that, I was like, hey God, I'm sorry.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because I don't mean to be disobedient and hardened in my heart here.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is just really painful.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's painful to have people say these things about you.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's painful to get messages telling you to yeet yourself off the planet.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's painful to have people say that the daughter that like you have this incredible relationship with and you two get along really well and you have these amazing conversations and such a good experience together that people are telling you that that child should like disown you when she gets older because you're a horrible mom.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like those kinds of things are tough to hear.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_00: People saying that they think that your business shouldn't exist anymore because you're a horrible person.
• 39:13
  SPEAKER_00: And on the flip side, people telling you that you're grifting and being like, oh, you're just doing this to make money.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, y'all, there's so many easier ways to make money than what I am doing right now.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: If I was doing this to make money, I would have made a million different decisions other than this one.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: I promise you.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: That one always cracks me up.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: But what it looks like to carry this misunderstanding well, you're not defending yourself to everybody who misreads you.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like I stopped answering comments.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: I stopped quote unquote clapping back.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: I just let people misunderstand me now.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: The one place that I do still correct occasionally is when people say that I was acting in my former role as a therapist, because some of the videos that came out in criticism against that I was a therapist or a counselor in these things, and I was like, I never, I was actually talking with someone about that yesterday.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: I said that was like the wildest part to me because at the beginning of every video, I said, I'm not a therapist.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not a counselor, I'm a nurse practitioner, I'm an expert in nervous system regulation.
• 40:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is who I am.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so you don't need to defend yourself to everyone who misreads you or who says nasty things about you.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to answer the comments.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to explain your calling to people who are not a part of receiving it.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Your calling from God was not a conference call.
• 40:27
  SPEAKER_00: Other people didn't hear it, and other people don't understand it to the level that you do.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_00: Like the vision that you've been given, the calling, the way in which God has created you, the things that He is like nudging and leading you toward, the thing, the places He wants you to obey, the places He's convicting you, other people weren't a part of receiving that.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it might not make sense to them.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'll share this quick story.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's two places I choose to numb out when I'm feeling really overwhelmed.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of going to Jesus, instead of going to God, it is either drama, finding something wrong in my life, in my home to fix.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: So like things feel out of control, and I'm like, oh, the house is messy.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: Let me, we have to clean it.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Or getting on social media and getting riled up by videos.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: But the other place is alcohol.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like alcohol is a thing that I've always used to kind of help me like take the edge off.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one of those things that honestly, I've talked about this a lot.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you watched my drinking habits, you'd be like, Lee, you do not have a problem with alcohol.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you don't, you don't drink that much, right?
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: So what was interesting with that was is that about three and a half weeks ago at this point, I was sitting in church and I had been talking to God about this a lot.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I don't want to numb out anywhere anymore.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_00: I don't want to numb my body anymore in a way that like makes it so I'm not paying attention to the discomfort I'm having inside of myself.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm kneeling and I'm praying, and I hear so clearly, this is right before communion.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_00: I hear the only wine you're drinking from this point forward is communion wine.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay, because wine's like something I drink.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: Every now and then I'll drink something else.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I had recently decided, okay, a glass of wine a night, that's it.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_00: And not even a couple weeks later, it was nope.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_00: The only time that alcohol is gonna pass your lips is with me in communion.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, okay.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sharing that because it's been something that I've been hesitant to talk about.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually just wrote a post about it the other day.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it was nice because the people in my life who really do understand, the people who are supportive, they were like, oh my gosh, this is so convicting and this is so helpful.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: And also a lot of them are like, Lee, I made this decision six months ago or a few years ago.
• 42:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I'm so excited for what's gonna happen.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, I'm not writing this post to explain what I'm doing so that other people understand.
• 42:57
  SPEAKER_00: And when I go places and I decide to have uh soda or a sparkling water or a mock tail instead of drinking, and people are like, why aren't you drinking?
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna be like, oh, you know, this is what I feel convicted around.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of other people go, well, drinking's not bad, or drinking's not this, or drinking's not that.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're allowed to decide what you do.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_00: I have had a very clear personal conviction around this that this is something that in order to be in full obedience, I'm not doing.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we've got to be able to stay close enough to God that we can tell the difference between his correction and the enemy's accusation.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you gotta be able to stay close enough to God and stay in his word and be quiet and listen and get to know him well enough and pray for the Holy Spirit to nudge you and convict you and guide you and help you grow, that you begin to be able to discern the difference between conviction and correction and the enemy's accusation.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: So the question I want to just leave you with in that part is if you are experiencing resistance to where you feel like you're being called to go next, is it because you're off track or is it because you're exactly where God placed you and wants you to be?
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you're just afraid of what happens if you get bolder, if you get louder, if you share more, if you, you know, go big?
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: Are you scared of what the enemies told you is going to happen?
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Because as somebody who's had a lot of those things happen, I will tell you right now, you're afraid of losing money.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 44:42
  SPEAKER_00: You're afraid of losing clients.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_00: You're afraid of losing those identities that you've tied yourself to.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: You're afraid of being seen as not a good blank, fill in, fill in the blank.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because if that's what's happening, then you're likely not off track.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's likely that you got the enemy whispering in your ear that you're gonna, again, be misunderstood.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: But in this case, it's good to be misunderstood.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: That means you're actually on track.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_00: And the last verse I want to talk through today in relationship with this is Isaiah 43:1.
• 45:16
  SPEAKER_00: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you.
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_00: I have summoned you, I have called you by name.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are mine.
• 45:25
  SPEAKER_00: I love this verse.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: I have called you by name, you are mine.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_00: This verse comes after one of the most gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, brutal chapters in Isaiah.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_00: God's just finished describing the natural consequences of Israel's disobedience.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_00: So go back to what we were just talking about earlier in the episode.
• 45:50
  SPEAKER_00: The natural consequences of disobedience.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_00: And he turns and says, But now, do not fear.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: I have redeemed you.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: I've called you by name.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_01: You are mine.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: That's the identity piece right there.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_01: You're his.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know whose you are.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: The willingness to be misunderstood is not something that you can manufacture through just discipline or mindset work.
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: It comes from rooting yourself in knowing what God says about you and what God says about Himself.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: And from there, the opinion of other people loses its power over you.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not because you stop caring.
• 46:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think that this is important.
• 46:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like words hurt really bad.
• 46:49
  SPEAKER_01: Words hurt a lot.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_00: And you stop needing other people's approval.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: You stop needing their words to look a specific way in order to know you are loved.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: If you've listened to this point and you're still not sure like that Jesus loves you, I'm gonna cry.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: You're still not sure that God loves you.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're sure not still not sure that Jesus loves you so much that he came down from heaven and emptied himself of what he was to be human and to experience what we experience.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: He limited himself for us and then suffered excruciatingly for us so that we could be reconnected to God, we could become adopted brothers and sisters in Christ, we could claim our status with God.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_01: If you still question if Jesus loves you, then I invite you to pray about that.
• 48:10
  SPEAKER_00: I invite you to pray this prayer right here.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus, show me how much you love me.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Help me understand, help me feel, help me grasp the weight of how much you love me and care about me and want to provide and protect for me if I just let you.
• 48:32
  SPEAKER_00: You don't stop caring about the fact that people are cruel, that people misunderstand you, that people judge you, that people deem you less than, like not enough, too much, all those things.
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_00: That people say horrible things to you about you, about your business, about others.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: You don't stop caring about that.
• 48:52
  SPEAKER_00: But you don't need people to understand who you are and whose you are because you are deepening in the understanding that God knows who you are and loves you.
• 49:07
  SPEAKER_00: This part of the verse where he says, I have called you by name, I have summoned you by name is another translation.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: I am drawing you closer to me by name.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: It means that the assignment that he has given you is personal.
• 49:20
  SPEAKER_00: He's not issuing out a blanket call, a general call to the masses and hoping someone's gonna pick it up.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, he called you by name, which means the misunderstanding that comes with carrying your assignment is also personal.
• 49:35
  SPEAKER_00: As I was preparing for this, this line came up.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_00: God knew that you were gonna be misunderstood, and he called you anyway.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_00: God knew that you were gonna face these trials and tribulations, and he called you anyway.
• 49:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something that's so beautiful to just sit with for a second.
• 49:53
  SPEAKER_00: Because it means two things.
• 49:56
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, it means that he loves you so much that this suffering that you're going through, he's allowing it because of the good it's gonna create.
• 50:10
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of like transforms your understanding of suffering, doesn't it?
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_00: When you go, okay.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same way in which if you've ever, again, as a parent, you've watched your child try to do something that you want them to be able to master on their own, and they are struggling and they're like, mom, dad, help.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_00: And you're like, you've got this.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_00: I know you've got this.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm right here.
• 50:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna step in and actually help you here because this is what's gonna help you grow.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is what's gonna strengthen you and fortify you so that later you're not even gonna need me for this.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm always here, and I want you to be able to do this on your own.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the first thing is that he loves you so much that these trials and tribulations he's allowing because they are for your good and for the good.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_00: The other piece that I think is so beautiful is I think it makes everything that we go through, it makes it a lot easier to count all of that suffering as joy.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's a verse in the New Testament, you know, count all suffering as joy.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_00: The book of James talks about this a lot.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be double-minded.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be willing to go through trials and struggles and tribulation, and then also at the other side of your mouth talk about how tough and how horrible it is.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_00: But what if this suffering isn't just to help you be strengthened or to be fortified?
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it's leading you to be able to do what you're being called to do even better.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_00: What if you got misunderstood and you got judged in the way that you did so that you could understand that nobody else's opinion can matter more than God's?
• 51:49
  SPEAKER_00: So as you go to do even bigger and tougher and more intense things, God's like, yeah, I know you're gonna be able to do this.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_00: And look at the good you're gonna be able to do.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_00: I think about Paul all the time.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_00: He's maybe one of my favorite saints.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think about how he understood how much people get persecuted as the one doing the persecution, so that he could teach people in the depth that he did.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like he led the life that he did to start and literally gets knocked off his horse in a way that completely shifts the entire understanding of Jesus and Christianity in a way that is absolutely unfathomable, right?
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like he wrote so much in the New Testament, and this is a guy who was literally persecuting Christians.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_00: I think about those moments that Paul must have had after Jesus revealed himself to him, and he's thinking about all the harm he's caused and all the things he's messed up.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I can imagine the enemy being in his ear and being like, Who do you think you are?
• 53:11
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you think you are to do all of this?
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the beautiful part is is like we also know how he responded in some ways because he's like, I'm his.
• 53:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm his now.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm imprisoned.
• 53:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, I've imprisoned people.
• 53:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm being beaten, okay.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'd beaten.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_00: I understand all of this because I've done all of this, and so I count it as all joy.
• 53:42
  SPEAKER_00: So the three things that this verse gives us when we're being misunderstood.
• 53:46
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, do not fear.
• 53:47
  SPEAKER_00: The fear of judgment's real, but it's not the final word, okay?
• 53:50
  SPEAKER_00: The judgment that we should be the most concerned about is God's.
• 53:57
  SPEAKER_00: I saw this podcast the other day.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_00: It was a guy talking about how a woman asked him, Do you want to know my own personal version of hell?
• 54:04
  SPEAKER_00: And the guy was like, No, but like, yes.
• 54:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the woman said, It is dying and meeting Jesus and God opening up the understanding of everything to me and showing me what my life could have looked like if I followed his plan and not my own.
• 54:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, this fear of God judging us, whether we're good or bad, you know, I think that's something that a lot of times certain Christian groups use to like scare people in line.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that God's love is a way better way to get people to understand.
• 54:40
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to be afraid of not getting to spend eternity with God.
• 54:48
  SPEAKER_00: That is something to fear.
• 54:51
  SPEAKER_00: The fear of turning your back against him and saying, no, I don't want you.
• 54:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, he's gonna honor that request.
• 54:58
  SPEAKER_01: So there's that piece.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_00: But the second piece here that I think is so gorgeous is you're mine.
• 55:07
  SPEAKER_00: The only opinion that defines you belongs to the one who made you, and he's redeemed you.
• 55:12
  SPEAKER_00: Your past mistakes aren't gonna disqualify you from the assignment.
• 55:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's okay that you messed up, it's okay that you've screwed up, it's okay that you were immature, it's okay that you made these mistakes.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that that is something that we don't pull out of the Bible nearly often enough is every single person in the Bible other than Jesus made mistakes.
• 55:31
  SPEAKER_00: Every single person other than Jesus and Mary, right?
• 55:37
  SPEAKER_01: But like they all made mistakes.
• 55:45
  SPEAKER_01: So billions and billions of people are not perfect.
• 55:49
  SPEAKER_00: I'm one of them.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_00: And if I let God use my mistakes, if I let him use my immaturity and my missteps, and I say, hey God, I'm offering all of that up to you, use it now as part of my calling, as part of my gifting, as part of my talenting.
• 56:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do you understand?
• 56:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to sit with the question of if you truly believe that God summoned you by name, if you truly believe that God has created and called you to this assignment personally, what would you stop waiting for permission for to do?
• 56:21
  SPEAKER_01: What would you stop allowing fear to control?
• 56:27
  SPEAKER_00: Where would you stop concerning yourself with if you're gonna be misunderstood or not?
• 56:34
  SPEAKER_00: Because you're gonna be misunderstood.
• 56:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a possibility, it's a promise.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 56:38
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus told us, Paul lived it, every prophet in the Old Testament experienced it.
• 56:44
  SPEAKER_00: The question isn't whether or not this is gonna happen, it's really, what are you gonna do with it?
• 56:51
  SPEAKER_01: People misunderstood you, so what?
• 56:54
  SPEAKER_01: People misunderstand you and judge you and blame you and condemn you.
• 56:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like, so what?
• 57:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, are you gonna let it stop you?
• 57:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's the question.
• 57:05
  SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna let people deciding who you are stop you from remembering whose you are?
• 57:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, here's the three things I want to invite you to carry out of this, okay?
• 57:14
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, back to that Galatians verse.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_00: Check where you are managing someone else's comfort instead of obeying God.
• 57:22
  SPEAKER_00: Other people are like, if you don't do this, I don't like you.
• 57:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't do this, you're a bad person.
• 57:28
  SPEAKER_00: Other people trying to control and manipulate and get you to see things from their perspective or silence you or soften your message or do whatever it is.
• 57:36
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 57:37
  SPEAKER_00: We have to be able to be discerning and random people just judging you or misunderstanding you.
• 57:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you trying to manage their comfort?
• 57:47
  SPEAKER_00: Are you then not making videos?
• 57:48
  SPEAKER_00: Are you then not making content?
• 57:49
  SPEAKER_00: Are you not selling more?
• 57:50
  SPEAKER_00: Are you not living out the calling that God has given you because other people are telling you that you're bad or wrong for doing so?
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_00: John 15.
• 58:02
  SPEAKER_00: Stop using misunderstanding as evidence that you are wrong.
• 58:05
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta learn to tell the difference between God's conviction and the enemy's accusation.
• 58:13
  SPEAKER_01: There are people in my life that if I'm like, hey, this is what everyone around me is saying, what do you think?
• 58:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Lee, I think they have a point.
• 58:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm listening.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_00: All right, I'll have those people where I go to them and I'm like, hey, these people are telling me that I should quit or I should give up or I should change or I'm a horrible person or I'm this or I'm that.
• 58:29
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Lee, who does God say you are?
• 58:33
  SPEAKER_00: What has your prayer life look like?
• 58:35
  SPEAKER_00: What does your time in scripture look like?
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_00: Do you like search your heart?
• 58:39
  SPEAKER_00: Do an examination of conscience here.
• 58:41
  SPEAKER_00: What is your motive?
• 58:42
  SPEAKER_00: Are you truly trying to follow him and do what he's calling you to do?
• 58:45
  SPEAKER_00: Or is some of your own ego coming in here?
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_00: That curiosity, that willingness to do that, it's not whether or not you what the answer to that question is, because the answer a lot of times is like, oh, my ego came in, or oh, you know, I got I popped off because my flesh got mad.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's not how you answer it, it's what you do with the answer.
• 59:04
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta learn to tell the difference between conviction and accusation.
• 59:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then once you understand, oh yeah, I'm operating from my flesh versus operating from the spirit, then you got to understand what you do with that.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_00: You gotta understand how you get back into obedience and surrender.
• 59:20
  SPEAKER_00: And then the third piece, and I think this is honestly the most important one, is coming back to your identity before you look at your strategy.
• 59:27
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say that you realize, oh yeah, I was being immature here.
• 59:30
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're like, no, actually, I am doing what God called me to do.
• 59:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, great.
• 59:34
  SPEAKER_01: Before you decide on the strategy, whose are you?
• 59:40
  SPEAKER_01: What does God say about you?
• 59:42
  SPEAKER_01: What does God say about him?
• 59:44
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can't carry this assignment from the place of needing approval.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot do what God is calling you to do in the world, especially as an entrepreneur and a business owner, as a leader.
• 59:55
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot do those things and be concerned with what the masses are gonna say.
• 1:00:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because they aren't gonna like what you choose.
• 1:00:05
  SPEAKER_00: And they're all gonna have an opinion.
• 1:00:09
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:00:10
  SPEAKER_00: So if this landed for you today, I want to invite you to share it with somebody in your life who's maybe even shrinking back from something that God is calling them to do.
• 1:00:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes the most powerful thing that can happen for us is like when somebody says, Hey, I see you, and I remember who you are, and I remember whose you are, I remember who God said you are, and I remember who God said he is, and I don't see you living in accordance with that right now.
• 1:00:34
  SPEAKER_00: So because I love you, I'm sharing this with you.
• 1:00:38
  SPEAKER_00: If you're like, Lee, I don't even know where I'm gifted.
• 1:00:40
  SPEAKER_00: My invitation to you is to take our primary motivational gifts assessment.
• 1:00:44
  SPEAKER_00: It is free.
• 1:00:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's at growingyourgifts.com.
• 1:00:48
  SPEAKER_00: My invitation also is to come back next week because I do this every Tuesday at 9 a.m.
• 1:00:52
  SPEAKER_00: Eastern.
• 1:00:53
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to close this off by praying specifically for like whoever is listening who is in the middle of being misunderstood right now.
• 1:01:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want to just ask God to give you the courage to keep going.
• 1:01:05
  SPEAKER_00: God, please lay your hands on the mind and the heart and the shoulders of this person who is tired.
• 1:01:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're tired of being misunderstood, they're tired of being judged, they're tired of having to wage this spiritual battle that is both seen on the physical realm, but more so unseen on the spiritual realm.
• 1:01:33
  SPEAKER_00: God, I just pray that you would give this person, you would infuse them with your protection and letting them know how much you love them, how much you sacrifice for them, how much you understand them being judged and misunderstood, and you understand their suffering.
• 1:01:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that because of that, that is actually why you are calling them to keep going.
• 1:01:55
  SPEAKER_00: That is why you have given them the calling and the mission and the purpose and the gifts and the talents that you have given them, is because you understand them.
• 1:02:02
  SPEAKER_00: And because you know that if they offer those up to you, if they take what they have in their hands and they offer it up to you to be used in the way that you know will do good, you're gonna do supernatural and incredible and miraculous things with that.
• 1:02:18
  SPEAKER_00: So have this person just love you back, accept and receive your love and love you back to the point that they are willing to be misunderstood on the journey of going where you call them to go and doing what you call them to do.
• 1:02:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray all of this in Jesus' name.
• 1:02:38
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.