Latest / How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack / Ruth Chou Simons & Anxiety

Transcript

Ruth Chou Simons & Anxiety · How to Faith a Life Podcast with Faith Womack

0:00
SPEAKER_00: If you're listening to the How to Faith a Life podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips, this is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian walk.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you've subscribed to this podcast and your favorite podcast streaming services.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: Review this podcast so other people can find it, and share with other believers who want to ask the hard questions.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Now, with all that said, let's begin.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: Hi your friends, welcome back to the How to Faith a Life Podcast, a ministry of Bible Nerd Ministries.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: I am so excited to have our special guest here, Ruth Joe Simons.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: It is such an honor to have her.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: She is a best-selling author, artist, and Bible teacher through her ministry, Grace Laced and her many books.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: Ruth has helped countless people see how the beauty of the gospel meets the everyday rhythms of life.
0:42
SPEAKER_00: She's passionate about connecting deep theology with real life discipleship, and I'm so excited to welcome her to the podcast.
0:48
SPEAKER_00: You might recognize her name because I reviewed her book, Now and Not Yet, in a reading vlog last year, and I loved it.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: And now, as of yesterday, when you're listening to this, she has a new devotional out.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: Let me hold it up for you if you're watching in video form.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: It's The Way of the Wildflower, which takes the reader through gospel meditations to discover freedom from anxiety and comfort from heavy burdens.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: Ruth, welcome to the podcast.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad to be here.
1:11
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: It is one of those things that makes me just want to pinch myself because, you know, reading your book last year and hearing so many of, you know, the Bible nerds in the comments say, I love her, you know, oh, I really, you know, this is what I loved about the book, or now I'm ordering it, I'm gonna read.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited, you know, having those conversations around you and then now getting to share you with anybody else in the Bible nerd community who doesn't follow you is just such a joy.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: Now, what I'm really excited about in particular is your ministry around anxiety, because I mean you can probably tell just by me blabbering really fast.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: I am a very anxious person, and I think so many women today are.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: I mean, obviously you address many different issues in your book, but that was kind of a heart cry of yours in The Way of the Wildflower.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: Can you share a little bit about your heart behind this devotional and the gospel meditations and beautiful art?
1:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:59
SPEAKER_01: You know, I think a lot of times, and sometimes I do the same where I go, I'm not that anxious, right?
2:04
SPEAKER_01: You think, oh, that's kind of like something when somebody is diagnosed with something specific or a specific situation or going through a season where they are really, really, really struggling.
2:15
SPEAKER_01: But I think the fact that we read about it in God's word, be anxious for nothing, or cast your anxieties on him because he cares for you.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: Like you think about the fact that that wouldn't be addressed to all of us if we didn't all struggle with some level of worry and fear and anxious thoughts really just boil down to us thinking that we have to fix, control, or manipulate, or make everything better in our own strength.
2:40
SPEAKER_01: That's really just what anxious thoughts stem from.
2:43
SPEAKER_01: The root feeling is really striving.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: And I've talked about this before that I'm a recovering striver, I'm a recovering perfectionist, somebody who thinks that if I just try a little harder, I can get for myself what I probably struggle to believe that God will provide for me.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And I think it started in the garden.
3:00
SPEAKER_01: I think it absolutely started when Eve looked at the fruit that was forbidden and was tempted by the serpent, the enemy.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: And she ultimately wasn't just like, oh, this is a shiny apple or whatever we're led to think in through storybooks, but ultimately that she looked and said, Genesis 3 tells us that she believed it was good for food, but also made one wise.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: So what we learned there is that she really wondered, could God be holding out on me?
3:26
SPEAKER_01: Could he know more, have more wisdom to make my life better than it possibly is?
3:32
SPEAKER_01: So I'll take for myself because I don't think God showed me everything that I'm supposed to have.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think we do that every day as well.
3:39
SPEAKER_01: And that's where our anxious thoughts really stem from is that fear that God might be holding out on us.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: And if we just take things into our own hands or we think our way out of a situation, we could have something better we could keep ourselves from discomfort or suffering or pain.
3:53
SPEAKER_01: And so, yeah, this book comes from a deep place of wanting to turn over all the things that cause me to think in the middle of the night, wake up in the middle of the night, kind of spin with anxious thoughts.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: It really started there from a personal journey.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: And I love the imagery that you use throughout it, really the theme of the book.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: Wildflowers.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: They're delicate, they're seasonal, they're easily overlooked.
4:16
SPEAKER_00: Like here in Texas, we got them on the sides of the road.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: I know you and Colorado, they're everywhere.
4:21
SPEAKER_00: Why did you choose them as the metaphor for like spiritual growth or rest in encouraging us in our walk with the Lord?
4:27
SPEAKER_01: I think sometimes we read through certain parts of the Bible and we're like, oh, that's really cool.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: But until you like kind of touch and feel and experience you, then you make the connection.
4:35
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, when I read Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God, that's beautiful until I see a sunset.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: And then I go, oh, wait, yeah, that's arresting.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: It really causes me to worship and be in awe.
4:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, that's what happened to me in reading Luke 12.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: We have a parallel passage in Matthew, right?
4:53
SPEAKER_01: Just that when Jesus is teaching the disciples and saying, Why worry?
4:57
SPEAKER_01: Can you add an hour to your life by worry?
5:00
SPEAKER_01: If you can't do that, why do you worry about the rest?
5:02
SPEAKER_01: And then he moves on and says, consider, and I can imagine him talking to the disciples right there.
5:06
SPEAKER_01: He'd be like pointing right over there to these little flowers that grew up on the hillside where he was teaching the disciples.
5:12
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Well, consider how the wildflowers grow.
5:15
SPEAKER_01: Consider those lilies of the field, in some translations, neither toil nor spin.
5:20
SPEAKER_01: And yet they're clothed, yet they're beautiful, more beautiful than even Solomon was dressed, is what he's saying.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: And he's really pointing to, and then he also mentions the birds of the air, right?
5:30
SPEAKER_01: So it's almost like Jesus says, look up as high as you can look and think about what lives among in the heavens here, like in the sky, and then look on the ground and everything in between the heavens and the earth, that's all taken care of by God.
5:45
SPEAKER_01: And so when I started thinking about, you know, what causes me worry, what causes me anxiety, it's always the stuff of earth.
5:53
SPEAKER_01: It's always the things of like, well, if I could have a little bit more, if I could look a little bit better, if I could have my circumstances turn out just a little bit more the way I want them to be, then I could really rest, then I could be at peace.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: But Jesus' words to the disciples were consider how the wildflower is growing effortlessly and freely and in the way of belovedness, because the creator, their God, like takes care of them.
6:22
SPEAKER_01: And so it kind of set me off on a journey where as I live amongst wildflowers in the summertime, especially here in Colorado, just like the skies, I was like, okay, wait, I'm seeing this play out in real ways that I hadn't seen before.
6:36
SPEAKER_01: When I read that scripture, I go, yeah, consider how the wildflowers grow.
6:40
SPEAKER_01: But now that I'm really among them and I feel burdened and kind of stressed out about things in my life, now I'm gonna really consider how do they grow?
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Why would Jesus take the flowers that just pop up on the side of the road or in a field that don't get planted by a master gardener, except the master garden gardener who is God?
7:00
SPEAKER_01: How do they grow?
7:01
SPEAKER_01: And so that set me off on that exploration.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Many of us, I mean, especially me, live very like hurried lives.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm rushing through everything.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm constantly going for the next thing, performing all of that.
7:13
SPEAKER_00: And I miss the quiet, still beauty of God's presence and God's provision.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: How has engaging with scripture and this wildflower imagery really helped you deepen your worship and your awareness of God?
7:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, I love that you confessed that and admitted that because I think so many of us imagine that everyone else is having this beautiful quiet time where the birds are chirping and they're sipping on coffee leisurely.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: But the truth is, and I hope that everyone listening to this is nodding their heads and saying yes and amen.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: But most of us have to fight for our time with the Lord.
7:48
SPEAKER_01: Most of us have to fight to stay engaged and not be distracted by our the notifications on our cell phone.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: And so many of us are like, I really wish it was beautiful and leisurely, but most of the time our day starts with either a child needing something or traffic or an inbox that needs attention or even social media just kind of tempting us to be there before we're in the word.
8:12
SPEAKER_01: So the truth is, stillness before the Lord is, I think it's battle.
8:16
SPEAKER_01: It's actually really hard to fight for and throw in there the fact that we are sometimes a little consumeristic about the way we approach God's word.
8:24
SPEAKER_01: It's so easy for us to be like, what you got for me today, Lord?
8:27
SPEAKER_01: You know, I just need something that'll get me through the day.
8:29
SPEAKER_01: And we forget that it's God's word is actually sewing into our lives day by day.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: And today, in God's word, I may not suddenly be like, wow, that passage in Micah just completely transformed my life.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: But as I understand the story of scripture from beginning to end, those daily deposits of God's word, they are actually forming me, shaping me, sanctifying me, growing me into his likeness.
8:53
SPEAKER_01: And so when I fight for stillness in God's word, I have to remember that not every season is this blooming, flourishing, fruitful season, just like it is it for a wildflower.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Wildflower season here, and I'm gonna come back to that in a second in relation to our time in God's word, but let me paint this picture for you.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: Here in Southwest Colorado, where I live, the flowers bloom in the month of July, sometimes into August.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: And I think right now, as at the time of this recording, I'm seeing a few stragglers along the side of the road.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: But I really wish it was always wildflower season.
9:26
SPEAKER_01: I wish that the dead of winter had flowers everywhere, right?
9:29
SPEAKER_01: But it's not how God planned it.
9:31
SPEAKER_01: There are seasons of dormancy.
9:32
SPEAKER_01: There are seasons where the roots have to recover.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: They are nourished in other ways.
9:37
SPEAKER_01: Just because, and I said this for years, but just because you don't see blooms doesn't mean something's not actively happening.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: There's not growth happening.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: I've said it like you don't have to be blooming to be growing.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: That's the phrase that I've used for years because I really resist, resent even seasons where I'm not flourishing and blooming with all sorts of things.
9:57
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to be still.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to have seasons where it feels like maybe nothing exciting is happening.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: The reality is just like a wildflower has a season of dormancy where it's resting, it's being, it's growing and it's being prepared for another season of blooms later on.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: I'd say our time in the Word and our fighting for our walk with the Lord is the same way.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: There are seasons where we're just like highlighting and underlining and we're doing word searches and we're not word searches, that was the wrong phrase.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: We're doing word studies and we're spending a lot of time going, wow, I didn't ever know that, you know, the root word here is this, and that's fascinating.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: And look at how it connects to something else.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: I love times like that.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, whoa, I am growing exponentially in a direction where my mind is full of like both facts and knowledge and insights.
10:49
SPEAKER_01: But then there are a lot of other seasons where maybe time in the word feels dry.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: I'm struggling.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: I'm going, I'm not really sure how that connects with things.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I understand that passage.
11:02
SPEAKER_01: Or there are seasons when perhaps I'm just going through a really busy and exhausted season where my mind is having a hard time locking in.
11:11
SPEAKER_01: I'm having a hard time kind of pressing into the Lord because maybe there's stuff going on in my heart and I need to talk to the Lord about it because I'm having a hard time really engaging in God's word.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: The truth is every season, if you will press in and confess your weakness and be still before Him and open His Word just out of the desire to continually be nourished because we can't stop eating, then you'll find that even in seasons where it's not big old blooms everywhere where you're just like, I am so flourishing in my time with the word, that even that slow and steady time might be a time of dormancy, it might be a time of rest, it might be a time where you're getting the roots deeper and the blooms will come in a different season.
11:57
SPEAKER_01: So I think of wildflowers as being such a good illustration.
12:00
SPEAKER_01: Their growth cycle is also a good illustration for ours too.
12:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you shared something recently.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: And correct me if I'm wrong, did you work on this book when Man Cub was it three had his accident?
12:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, actually I did.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: I was almost done with all the writing, but I was still in the process of painting.
12:18
SPEAKER_01: And I actually included the story.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: I ended up adding it into the book in one of the meditations that I wrote on.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: You know, the Lord always calls me to live out the messages I write.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: Turns out he really likes it when I had to put into practice the exact things that I'm writing about.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: And this was no exception because I'm writing about being unburdened in the things that I fear and my anxieties.
12:40
SPEAKER_01: And in the right in the middle of this project, my 19-year-old, my freshman in college, my third son, had a traumatic micing accident.
12:48
SPEAKER_01: So intense that they had to put rods and screws and do a spinal fusion because he had shattered so many parts of his vertebrae.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: And I remember being in the ICU thinking to myself, okay, what actually has to happen right now is for me to recall all the truths of who God is, who I am, what redemption actually means in the thick of it, when the rubber meets the road, when you're in the ICU and there's an unwanted circumstance and you are fearful, and there are things to worry about, and it feels kind of scary.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: This is a time where it's not just little fluffy thoughts of like, you've got this girl, like, but it's actually like, okay, what is actually true?
13:28
SPEAKER_01: That's when you have to recall the truths of God's word and the truths of his character.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And you can't know that unless you've been steady in his word or you avail yourself of his word.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: And so, and honestly, you know, as I was working on it, I was like, thank the Lord that I could overflow into the words that I write and the paintings that I paint.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: It can come out of the overflow of a life that has to live that out in real time.
13:53
SPEAKER_01: I had to in real time remember, hey, this is the same God who calls me to remember that he takes care of the flowers of the field.
14:01
SPEAKER_01: He's taking care of the birds of the air, he's taking care of my son in the OR, even now, right now.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
14:07
SPEAKER_00: Hiya, friends.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna interrupt this podcast really quickly because I want to make sure you don't miss out.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: You see, most Christians say they want to go deeper in their Bible, but here's the hard truth.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: Most of us are studying it completely wrong, and that's why we can't go any deeper.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: But my new book, published by Zondervin, comes out November 18th, and it's titled No More Boring Bible Study.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: I wrote it because I'm tired of watching Christians settle for shallow devotionals and misused Bible verses that just end up robbing the word of its power.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: This book gives you the tools you were never taught, the stuff pastors learn in seminary, but most Christians never even hear.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: We're talking how to actually handle different types of biblical literature, how to stop twisting scripture to fit into your life, and how to finally hear God's word.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: In truth, if you believe the Bible is true, you cannot afford to keep skimming it or even not understanding it.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: If it really is true, let's treat it like it is and feast on it.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: If you care about being faithful to God's word, this is the book you're going to want to pre-order.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: So here's my challenge: pause this podcast right now, go to Amazon and pre-order No More Boring Bible Study.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: It's also on all the other websites that you get books.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: But don't wait until you forget.
15:12
SPEAKER_00: This is your moment to choose.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Do you want shallow, flimsy faith or deeper, richer study of the Bible that will actually change your life?
15:19
SPEAKER_00: It's No More Boring Bible Study by me, Faith Womack, and you can pre-order today so that as soon as it's out, it's on your doorstep, reminding you, oh yeah, this is what matters.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Let's read this.
15:28
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss out and forget because if we really believe the Bible's true, we're gonna prioritize it.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: Now let's get back to the podcast.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Are there any passages of scripture that you just return back to over and over again through those tough seasons when you don't know what to read?
15:42
SPEAKER_00: You just need to be fed.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: What are your favorite passages of scriptures to go back to?
15:46
SPEAKER_01: So many.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's definitely putting me on the spot for, you know, it's hard to pick favorites, but I will say, you know, honestly, going to Romans and remembering how I'm not saved by my righteousness and my own doing, that might not seem like comfort.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you're like, wait, what?
16:03
SPEAKER_01: Why is that comforting?
16:04
SPEAKER_01: Because in our times of weakness and in our times of fear, sometimes we think that we, in our either strength or in our weakness, can somehow move the needle on God's love for us.
16:17
SPEAKER_01: And so that's why Paul writes nothing can separate us from the love of God.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: And that nothing can separate us.
16:23
SPEAKER_01: I think that, you know, that whole section in Romans 8 will absolutely lead us back to the reminder that that true comfort and that true rest and that true security is found only through Christ.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: So I always return to passages like that.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: I always return to Ephesians 2, again, as a reminder that we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, so that I remember like he's got purposes planned for me.
16:48
SPEAKER_01: It's just that it doesn't all depend on me.
16:50
SPEAKER_01: That helps remind me all the time.
16:53
SPEAKER_01: The psalmist puts in on display how to cry out to the Lord when you kind of don't know how things are going to turn out, when you're stressed, when you're scared.
17:01
SPEAKER_01: I love Psalm 42 and how the psalmist says, you know, why are you so downcast, oh my soul?
17:07
SPEAKER_01: Put your hope in God.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: And he reminds himself.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: Or Psalm 103, put your hope in God because remember not, I mean, forget not his benefits, he says.
17:16
SPEAKER_01: Bless the Lord, oh my soul.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: Again, telling the soul what to do, bless him, like remember all his benefits.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: And then he lists out all the things that God has done for him.
17:25
SPEAKER_01: And I think those are not only great passages to remember as a bomb and as a comfort, but I just named off some passages to use as examples for how to talk to yourself, how to remind yourself what is true, right?
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Nothing can separate from you, not famine or hardship or turmoil.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, yes, you're reminding yourself and you're repeating exactly what Paul has said.
17:50
SPEAKER_01: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, is Paul declaration as summary in Philippians 4, but that's because he's already said, look at all these things that I've learned contentment in.
18:00
SPEAKER_01: So those are not just reminders of what is true, but an example.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Those are passages that help us remember how to emulate what Paul does when things aren't going his way.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: And he can say, Yeah, I've already learned the secret, is that I can have contentment in all circumstances because God's already done so much for me.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: I can recall these things.
18:20
SPEAKER_01: So I go to those passages again and again.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
18:23
SPEAKER_00: And what a testimony to memorization too, and that you're able to speak those over yourself because you've memorized them, because you've written them on your heart.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
18:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, I'm gonna interrupt this podcast real quick because what if I told you your Bible study could actually change someone's life half a world away?
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Not just your life, but their life too.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: In Kaunguari, Kenya, families wake up every day with zero access to clean water.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: But for$50, we can step in not only with a water filter that lasts 20 years, but with three discipleship visits, gospel conversations by local missionaries, and a connection to a solid local church.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: This isn't charity that replaces the church, it strengthens it.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: And the best part, it's not Americans flying in to save the day, it's local Kenyans, neighbors discipling neighbors in their own community.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: I went myself to check it all out.
19:04
SPEAKER_00: I paid my own way, it's not like they asked me to come out, but I can tell you, this ministry is the real deal.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: And they're doing kingdom work, and that's why I want us Bible nerds to be a part of it.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: Joe and I already gave$5,000, which is 100 water filters with the discipleship and the missionaries coming to the homes and all of that.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: But I'm asking the Bible nerd community to join me to do something bigger.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: Let's fund 2,000 filters together.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: That's 2,000 families with clean water in the living water.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Please don't assume someone else will cover it.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: If you're hearing this, the need is still real.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: There's something so valuable in the worshipful response of saying, yes, Lord, use me, even with my couple of bucks.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: So before you keep listening to this awesome podcast, pull up the show notes.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: You'll see there a link to give as a Bible nerd, and even the map of where you can track the impact of our Bible nerd community in Kawangwari.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: You can see their faces, their names, some of the families I even got to meet who now have water because of you guys.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Let's stop just reading the word and start living it out in our lives, even where it hurts, even in our wallets.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Will you join me?
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Open the show notes now as we get back to this podcast.
20:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, this season of my podcast, I'm, you know, interviewing actresses and theologians and authors.
20:09
SPEAKER_00: And what I really love about having you on this podcast is you are not afraid to use your artistic abilities to build the church up and to give such beautiful displays of like God's beauty and of these theological truths that you're unpacking in your book or in your devotions, you then get to display them through beautiful art.
20:29
SPEAKER_00: And that's such like an image-bearing quality that you have.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: Will you talk a little bit about your artistic involvement or the way that you serve the church through art?
20:39
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for noting that.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: You know, because when I was growing up, I always loved art.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: I always loved beauty.
20:47
SPEAKER_01: I always loved drawing and painting and just making beautiful things with creativity.
20:52
SPEAKER_01: I never thought I could serve the Lord with it.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: I just thought, oh, even decor or beauty or creating beauty out for hospitality's sake, I was like, well, that's just my thing.
21:04
SPEAKER_01: I kind of like that.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize how I could serve the Lord with it.
21:07
SPEAKER_01: But interestingly, I think years later, when I started realizing that art wasn't for me, but that it was like, it was literally a tool in the tool belt that God gave me, like of ways in which I could use anything to point to Jesus.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: And this might be a little too much to say it this way, but I started seeing myself almost like the way John the Baptist was, where he said, Don't look over here, look over there.
21:30
SPEAKER_01: He was pointing there, here comes the Lamb of God.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: And I kind of picture myself with my little paintbrush going, look over there.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: Like you might be following this trail of artwork that you find beautiful.
21:40
SPEAKER_01: But at the end, what I'm really telling you is like, I've been preparing the way for you to see your true hope.
21:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm just leaving the way to show you where true hope comes from.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: And so one of the things that I like to say about my artwork, but also it's kind of a thing I repeat to myself when I'm painting because it helps me remember what it's about, because it's so easy when you're creating.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Especially if you're trying to make things beautiful, to get a little obsessive about the excellence of your own work or get kind of stuck in like whether my work is good enough or how does it compare to somebody else's work.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: So the secret to me not doing the comparison thing and staying like on track with my mission and my calling is actually to remember that my artwork, and if you are a dancer or a musician or whatever your creative skill or any gifting that you have, you could literally borrow this in the same way.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: But I tell myself that my artwork is a silver platter.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: It's a gorgeous silver platter upon which I'm serving up the feast of God's word.
22:36
SPEAKER_01: So it's not the main course.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: The artwork itself isn't the meat, it's not the potatoes, it's not the hero of the story.
22:44
SPEAKER_01: It's the silver platter upon which I can serve it.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: And so it helps me remember that I am a vehicle.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: I'm a vessel.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: My giftings are a vehicle, it's a vessel.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: That paintbrush and the paints and my ability to make a flower look like a flower or a butterfly look like a butterfly, that's a God-given ability that I've honed and perfected.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: But that ability is simply an opportunity in a way in which I can just use the delivery system for which God's given me skills.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: It's a delivery system of the message.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: God is great.
23:18
SPEAKER_01: God is awe-inspiring.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: His redemption story is an invitation for you to draw near.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: That's all I want.
23:25
SPEAKER_01: My goal is that my artwork would make you linger and make you go, okay, I want to, I'm drawn in.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm not drawn into me, but drawn into the beauty of God's word, drawn into the story of redemption, the drawn into why he's created all this that I'm trying to emulate.
23:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm trying to paint it, but why has he created flowers and birds and bugs and critters?
23:46
SPEAKER_01: And why has he created landscapes that cause us to be in awe?
23:50
SPEAKER_01: Well, I think it's all an invitation from him.
23:52
SPEAKER_01: And so hopefully my artwork does that is kind of builds in this invitation to come a little closer and see the work of God.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: I love it.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: That was so cool to hear you describe as I was flipping through the way of the wildflower, because now that you've described it, looking back at some of these pieces and the way that you sew, like you're you're detailed in your like botanical displays, like you're not trying to make your own rendition, you're trying to point to the creator's original beauty and colors and things like that.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: I think so often in like worldly art, maybe even sometimes, they try and you know mix up art, the they try and enhance reality and you're showing God's beauty in the reality, in the wildflowers that we mow down, right?
24:35
SPEAKER_00: Guys, if y'all haven't checked out The Way of the Wildflower, I highly encourage you.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: It can be kind of hard to find devotions or gospel meditations that really take you back to truth and not just feelings or like, you know, cute little piffy statements.
24:50
SPEAKER_00: And we want to go back to truth.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: If we really believe it's true, we'll treat it like it is and we'll spend our time in it.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: And so I highly encourage you to check out Ruth's The Way of the Wildflower.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Again, it just launched yesterday.
24:59
SPEAKER_00: So order it, show her all the love, and then add some reviews on Amazon because I know that always helps.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: But Ruth, what would you like readers to come away with after they go through The Way of the Wildflower?
25:10
SPEAKER_01: What's your heart cry for them?
25:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thank you.
25:12
SPEAKER_01: And thanks for that really kind shout out.
25:15
SPEAKER_01: Yes, reviews really do help re help readers find the book.
25:18
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, my prayer is that you linger long in these meditations because I do choose to write my devotionals differently than a lot of the devotions that I grew up with.
25:28
SPEAKER_01: My goal is that you wouldn't read this book in replacement of God's word, but that it would just enhance and it would cause you to return and run back to God's word and say, I'm sorry I stayed away for so long.
25:41
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry that I didn't pay attention.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: God, I'm sorry that I thought that I could turn to my phone instead of you.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: I want to be back in your word.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: The my my desire and my hope would be that the beauty of these pages and maybe even the testimony of how God's word has shaped even my insight and how to address times that are stressful and fear-inducing.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, some of the topics I've written about are, you know, when you want what you don't have, or when life is overwhelming, or when grief is fresh, or when friendships feel really difficult.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: You know, those are some of the topics that that I try to tackle here, but it's always pointing us back to the truth that everything finds hope ultimately, because of redemption, that the gospel actually changes everything.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: It changes everything about our lives, the way we think, the posture of our hearts, how we do the next thing.
26:37
SPEAKER_01: And so my heart's cry would be that you would put the book down and say, He is holding everything together.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: He's holding all things together, Colossians 1:17.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: And the reality is if he holds all things together, then I can lay down everything that we feels heavy on my shoulders, everything that's heavy on my heart.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: I can take everything.
26:57
SPEAKER_01: And just like 1 Peter 5 tells us, 6 and 7, I can cast my anxieties on him because he cares for me.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: That's ultimately my goal, is that you would remember that he cares for you so deeply, so much that he did the impossible by winning you back to his presence, by taking care of everything that was required for you to be never separated from his love and his care.
27:21
SPEAKER_01: He saved you so that you would forever dwell with him.
27:24
SPEAKER_01: And if that's the truth, then he cares for you enough to take all your burdens and all your anxieties, and so you can cast them on him.
27:32
SPEAKER_01: So my hope is that it would be a bomb, it would be a daily reminder, but it would also be a crossroads, a point of change in which you might remember and realize that there's not one thing you were meant to carry on your own.
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Just give it to Jesus.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
27:48
SPEAKER_00: Now I ask all our guests this question.
27:50
SPEAKER_00: So, what are some tools or practices that have helped you grow in studying the Bible deeply?
27:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a great question.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: One of the things that I've learned over all these decades, some dry seasons and some wonderful seasons, like we've talked about, is that going deep in God's word for me has to come in various forms.
28:07
SPEAKER_01: I can't just sit down and say, hey, 15 minutes a day of reading it a certain way is the one way I'm gonna really get into God's word.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: I have to experience in multiple ways.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: So I often share now that I start my day with audio Bible.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: So I have, if first, I don't even use my eyeballs to try to read it from a page.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: I'm not taking notes, I'm not highlighting.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: I am truly just listening to God's word.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: I am on a different reading plan every year, but I just let the word wash over me.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: I let God's word be the first thing I listen to in the morning.
28:39
SPEAKER_01: And then I find another time to pull out a journal and revisit those passages and pull out some things that I need to think about and dwell on.
28:48
SPEAKER_01: And then I find time to talk about God's word.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: So you can't go deeply in it when you're just like ruminating and just thinking about it.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: No, I spend some time with embodied people in my life.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: So not just on the internet, but across the kitchen table at a coffee shop with a friend on a walk where we talk about how to apply what we're reading from God's word, what we're thinking about.
29:11
SPEAKER_01: And that like rehearsing it on our lips and then encouraging one another, as Paul writes, with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, that actually like anchors that truth in my heart.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: So going deep absolutely looks like doing a Bible study.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: Highly recommend doing a Bible study with local ladies in your church.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
29:31
SPEAKER_01: It also looks like discipleship and mentorship.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: Go deep, studying God's word with one other person, but it also looks like a daily rhythm of hearing God's word, reading God's word, jotting notes and studying it, but also articulating and speaking it back out with people in your life.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: Rue, thank you so much for coming on this podcast.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: That was so wise and so rich.
29:51
SPEAKER_00: Everyone, go check out the way of the wildflower and where can we find more from you?
29:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would love to connect.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: I'm pretty active on Instagram with little insights day by day.
30:01
SPEAKER_01: You can find me at Ruth Joe Simons on Instagram, but you can keep up with my uh travel and speaking schedule at RuthjoSimonds.com and then all my artwork, my art brand is at gracelaced.com.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: You're listening to the How to Faith a Life Podcast, where we wrestle with questions on how to live a life of faith, from everything from books to Bible studies, even Bible study tips.
30:22
SPEAKER_00: This is your place to wrestle with the hard questions and dive deep into what scripture really says for the Christian walk.
30:27
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30:31
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