Latest / The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast / A Word in the Dark | How God Meets You Before the Path Is Clear (Epiphany Reflection)

Transcript

A Word in the Dark | How God Meets You Before the Path Is Clear (Epiphany Reflection) · The Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast, the Enneagram for Real Life.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Here is where you'll find conversations where faith meets story and strategy for lasting transformation.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Amy Wicks, here to help you find wisdom and wholehearted rhythms for moments that matter most.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're learning your type or deepening your spiritual formation, these conversations will remind you that the Enneagram shines a light, that Christ is the transformation.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Friend, before you rush into January's energy, or the lack of it, and before you set goals or habits or resolutions, I want to invite you into something older, slower, and steadier.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Because today is Epiphany.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's a day in the church calendar that can remind you of this simple truth.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: God reveals Himself before everything makes sense.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Epiphany isn't just about clarity, it's about light appearing in the dark.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly where I want to invite you to begin this year.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: The story of Epiphany isn't neat.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: The Magi didn't get a map.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't know how long their journey would take.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: They simply followed a light, step by step, trusting that God was already at work, leading them exactly where they needed to go.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And this matters, especially at the start of a new year, because so many of us enter January feeling pressure, pressure to figure things out, to fix what's broken, and to finally reach the goals that we've missed again and again.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: But Epiphany, well, it offers a different imitation.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Not to try harder or to get together, but just to pay attention.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not only about what God reveals to you, it's also about what is revealed within you.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: Saint Augustine wrote in Confessions around the year 400, how can you draw close to God when you are far from your own self?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then he wrote this prayer.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Grant, Lord, that I may know myself, that I may know thee.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: I think that prayer feels especially important right now because you might be faithful and sincere and committed, yet you might still be feeling disconnected from your own story.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: For a minute, I want to invite you to go back with me to 2024, because it's a year that I now define as a dark night of the soul for me.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have language for it at first.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: I certainly didn't see it coming, but there was just a sense of something being stripped away, or what the Bible defines as pruning, definitely a pruning season.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: My confidence was going away, my certainty, certainty of my calling, certainty of my parenting, even my marriage.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And for sure, some of the certain ways that I had learned to rely on myself spiritually, and key word there, I had learned to rely on myself.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: But it wasn't until the fall of 2024 that I could finally name what it was, a dark night of the soul.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, it was a season where God felt quieter.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And yet I do look back now and see that he was closer than I realized.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: But specifically on January 6th of 2025, which was Epiphany of 2025, something else became clear to me.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: I realized what I had been walking through wasn't only grief or exhaustion or a dark night.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: It had also been a season of intense spiritual warfare.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that detail mattered because it really helped reframe or give insight to so many things.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was also a day that I understood why the Lord had given me the word joy for 2025.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when I heard it at first, I was like, oh no, what does this mean?
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but as I continued to unpack it, I realized that it wasn't the joy that meant circumstances were suddenly going to prove, or it wasn't a feeling that depended on answers or relief.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: But it was very clearly aligned with James 1 joy.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Specifically, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, based on that, I knew the word wasn't about feeling happy, it was about going deeper.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Joy that would come after endurance, joy that would hold me steady when life doesn't change, and joy that would mature me instead of rescuing me.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly how it unfolded last year.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I remember last winter, I felt a visceral wave of joy after listening to a message from my daughter far away at college in Phoenix.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: I was missing her like crazy, yet I had this deep sense of joy that God had her exactly where she needed to be.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: And that was enough.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: There was even joy in the hard reality that our house didn't sell last summer.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And if you follow that saga, you know how disappointed we were.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But even though it wasn't the outcome I wanted, I felt such peace and joy in the place that God still had us.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also been deeper joy in my daily walks.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Even though I'm not able to run right now because of my back pain that's lasted for over 14 months, I find myself thanking God every single day that I'm still able to move my body.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the kind of joy that James writes to us about.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's joy that doesn't deny hardship, but the kind that makes you more wholehearted.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: As you're thinking through your word for the year, I want you to hear this.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: A word for the year is not a self-improvement theme.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a demand, and it's not God asking you to become someone else.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I believe getting a word like this is an imitation.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lens and it's a way of noticing what God is already doing in your life, in you and through you.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: You need a revealing word, a word that reminds you who God is when you can't yet see where he's leading.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And boy, I'll pay good money for that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's really not about trying harder, it's about beginning with intention and curiosity.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus tells us to seek, ask, and knock, not anxiously, not frantically, but as someone who already belongs, as someone who God is already speaking to because he loves talking with you.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So when you start this search, this seeking, asking, and knocking, start from a place of belovedness because it doesn't need to feel desperate.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: This is just part of the relationship rhythm that God wants to have with you.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now I want to mention something that I wish I had understood sooner.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because when my word for 2025 joy was held within the word of God, specifically James 1, everything shifted because I realized this word joy that the Lord had given me, it wasn't asking me to feel it.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was just the Lord asking me to consider it, to look at what I was facing and trust God that he was doing something deeper than I could see.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So getting in the word, getting in the scripture reminded me that perseverance wasn't punishment.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It was Christ-like formation.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Once my word was paired with scripture, it made it shift.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: It wasn't about me trying harder or staying positive.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: It was inviting me to stay rooted in Christ.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So as you think about a word for this year, I want you to consider starting with scripture.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a passage that has been standing out to you, one that you read recently or one you remember reading last year.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's just a phrase or a scripture that has caught your attention.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you do have a word.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I want to invite you to let scripture give it depth and context.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what happened with me.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: I took that word, I did some word search in my Bible app, and I sat with several passages long enough to just sit with me, to figure out what phrase was tugging at my heart.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it was clear after a little bit of time with the Lord and with the scripture that James 1 was the defining element that the Lord wanted to give me for 2025.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, if nothing comes right away, that is okay.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: I really think that this journey is just about being curious and paying attention.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Please, you don't need more pressure.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And certainly not about getting a word for the year.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before I offer you a simple epiphany practice, just a little guidance, I want to share something I think you're going to be excited about hearing.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: I also think that you're probably going to notice some similar themes, like I'm going to share with you today, that might surface across the faith and Christian space.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Themes about reflection, story, formation, and slowing down.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think that's a coincidence, right?
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's no such thing as a coincidence when it comes to God's kingdom.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Because I believe the Lord is inviting you and me back to something ancient and grounding, not to reinvent yourself, but to understand your life with compassion.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, throughout the Christian tradition, transformation has never begun with trying harder, or at least a transformation that lasts.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: It begins with paying attention.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, St.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: Augustine, Nowen, C.S.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Lewis, their writings and their wisdom point us back to the same place, that God will meet you in the truth of your lived story.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I'm calling 2026 a year of wholehearted story work.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Not as a trend, but as a return, a return to seeing your life with compassion, a return to letting God reveal what He has been doing in your life, how He's been shaping you, and how He's gonna guide you to what's coming next.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where this podcast is headed.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: In the year ahead, we're gonna spend some time together with each Enneagram type, a longer amount of time than we have in the past.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: So that way you can recognize the patterns and the scripts that have potentially shaped you.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna also invite you to explore how you're wired for work and to contribute without burning out.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I'm going to share and continue to share wholehearted stories, because sometimes stories reach places that teaching never can.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: But running through all of it is going to be one steady rhythm.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wholehearted story work invites you to see your story with clarity so you can begin a new chapter with courage and hope.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: The podcast and everything else that you're going to see from Wholehearted Enneagram isn't about trying harder.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's about seeing your story in the light of God's grace and letting him guide you to what comes next.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's that epiphany practice that I wanted to share with you.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: So just pause for a moment, find your breath, maybe breathe deeply a few times, grounding yourself, relaxing, and being present.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to light a candle or imagine lighting a candle, and ask these two questions.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: There's no rushing through.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, it's about being curious.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: These questions might look like, God, what are you revealing about yourself right now?
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, what do you want me to notice?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to hear a paragraph in response.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: You just need a word, a phrase, or maybe even an image.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: As you take it in, as you receive what the Lord is already speaking to you, I'd love for you to write it down.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: Not to analyze it, but to notice it, to take notice, to take note, and begin to see what the Lord would have in it for you.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now that is the very simple way that wholehearted rhythms begin.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's not about force, but it's about attention and intention.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now, also, last year I created the wholehearted abundance journal.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's not another thing to keep up with, but a place to notice just like this where God's presence has been over time.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, in addition to the simple rhythm that I just shared with you, you might want to spend some more time exploring what God has been revealing.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I've created a journal that guides you through rhythms like this.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, I'll link that in the show notes.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: In the end, friend, abundance is not about outcomes.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's a journey of awareness, practice, and something that you will receive again and again because God is always offering it.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: As we finish this little conversation and yet begin a new series, four rhythms to a wholehearted year, I want to leave you with this truth.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need clarity for the whole year.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: You just need light for the step that you are on.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And Epiphany reminds you, God is always with you in the dark.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: He's making a way.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And he's ahead of you in the way that you should go.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Now, tomorrow I'm gonna be back here with a special conversation about worship.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not worship as a mood or performance, but as trusting in the Lord.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Until then, my friend, may you notice God's light already near you.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining me for the Wholehearted Enneagram Podcast.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: If this conversation spoke to you, please share it with a friend.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: You can also visit simply wholehearted.com to take the free Enneagram quiz and also get your personalized podcast playlist specific for your Enneagram type.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And remember, friend, your starting point doesn't have to be your stuck point.