Latest / HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN® / S9Ep:2390 What Nine Years Taught Me: Faith, Failure, and Forward

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S9Ep:2390 What Nine Years Taught Me: Faith, Failure, and Forward · HAVE FAITH LET IT BEGIN®

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  Hey, Have Faith family. Don't forget to like, subscribe, and share the podcast with your friends.
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  Visit our website, HaveFaithLetItBegin.com.
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  We would love to hear your feedback.
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  Welcome back to Have Faith, Let It Begin. My name is Angel Santana.
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  As we continue our series, Becoming the Person God Always Knew I Could Be,
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  I find myself reflecting on something that's hard to believe.
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  This past week, this podcast celebrated our ninth season. our ninth year.
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  Nine years, more than 2,400 episodes, thousands of conversations,
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  countless prayers, countless lessons.
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  And if there's one thing I've learned, it's this.
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  Life has a way of teaching us things that we can never learn from a book.
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  Today's episode is called What Nine Years Taught Me. Have faith,
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  let it begin. Starts right now.
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  Have faith, let it begin is on the air. My name is Angel Santana and thank you so much.
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  You know, when I started this podcast, I was thinking about numbers.
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  I was, but I wasn't thinking about those type of numbers that you think.
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  I wasn't trying to think about views or anything. I was just worried,
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  well, at least one person listened to me.
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  And when I was thinking about those numbers, I was thinking about downloads.
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  I was thinking about statistics. I was thinking about people.
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  Nine years later, that hasn't changed. Because at the end of the day,
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  people won't remember your analytics.
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  They'll remember how you made them feel.
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  They'll remember whether you encouraged them, whether you listened, whether you cared.
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  I've learned that ministry is not about reaching the masses.
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  It's about loving the person God places in front of you, one conversation at a time.
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  There were days, many days actually, where I felt inspired.
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  There were days when I didn't. Then there were days when recording felt easy.
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  There were even days when I felt, when it felt impossible.
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  But one thing I've learned is that consistency is often more powerful than talent.
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  Showing up, it matters. Being faithful, that matters.
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  Taking the next steps, that matters. You don't have to be perfect. just have to keep going.
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  And that is what it's true for podcasting.
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  You know, it's true for ministry and it's true for life.
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  For years, I thought I needed to have everything figured out.
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  I thought I needed all the answers. I thought I needed to become someone else
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  before God could use me. Boy, I was wrong.
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  God wasn't waiting. God doesn't wait for protection. Excuse me,
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  not for text. God doesn't wait for perfection.
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  He works through willing hearts.
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  Because if perfection were required, none of us would actually qualify.
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  The beauty of faith is that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.
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  I've shared stories on this podcast that weren't easy to tell.
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  Stories of heartbreak, loss, fear, disappointment. Moments I wish never happened.
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  Yet some of those stories have generated the most responses,
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  and you'll probably want to know why.
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  Because people connect with authenticity. I've learned that God rarely wastes our pain.
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  The very thing that he wanted to hide may become the one thing God uses to help
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  someone else heal. That's right.
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  This might be the biggest lesson of all to me and for all of us.
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  Nine years sounds like a long time. But I don't feel finished.
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  I don't feel like I've arrived. And I don't feel like the story is over.
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  In fact, I believe God is still writing chapters that I haven't even imagined
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  yet. And maybe this is true for you.
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  Maybe you've been convinced or maybe you've convinced yourself your best days are behind you.
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  Let me encourage you. If God's still breathing life into you,
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  God is still working on your story.
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  If I could sit down with the younger version of myself, I'd tell him, Angel, keep going.
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  Trust in God. Don't quit.
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  The heartbreak won't last forever. The fear won't last forever.
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  And the uncertainty won't last forever. One day you'll look back and realize
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  God was working the entire time, even when you couldn't see it.
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  Nine years later, I'm still learning, and I'm certainly still growing,
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  still trusting, still becoming.
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  And that's something worth celebrating.
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  So let's pray and celebrate together. Heavenly Father, thank you for your lessons.
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  Thank you for every blessing, every challenge, and every opportunity that has brought us this moment.
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  Thank you for being faithful through every season, every heartache.
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  Every celebration, every,
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  disappointment, even in those times. Thank you for helping us.
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  Help us to continue to grow and learn and trust in you with the chapters still ahead of us.
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  We pray this unto you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
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  Tomorrow on Half Faith, Let It Begin, we're going to conclude this series with
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  a message that perfectly captures where we are today. Still becoming.
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  Until then, be yourself. Trust in yourself. Trust in God.
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  Because he's never going to leave your side. There's my alarm.
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  You know what that means, right? Saying, angel, you got to go inside to work.
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  And never forget, have faith, let it begin. It's time to go to work.
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  Have faith, let it begin. Please come back. God be with you. We are all brothers.
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  This is Christ. How can you let me be?