Latest / The Living Freed Podcast / Gut Issues

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Gut Issues · The Living Freed Podcast

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Hey y 'all, I'm Hannah Liz, a coastal living,
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Jesus living, NC native, and this is the Living
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Free Podcast. where we discuss intentionally
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living our lives to the fulls that God has intended,
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having those late night open heart friend combos,
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not letting others, ourselves, or ideas hold
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us down, allowing Jesus to free us of the chains
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that we didn't know we were holding onto. You
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can see the full show notes attached to this
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episode, and if you loved this episode, please
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leave me a review. Okay, so it's time for our
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weekly updates. This week, I'm actually getting
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ready to go to Iceland So this is one of those
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pre -recorded episodes that if you listen to
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this past episode episode 8 on prayer at the
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very very end I Let y 'all know that this episode
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in the next have been pre -recorded So I'm sorry
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for anything that maybe there's a glitch in the
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system or a glitch in the edit Whatever because
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I'm not in control at the moment of that and
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I'm choosing to surrender even though it's very
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hard for me to Anyways, so I'll be getting on
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a flight Actually, no this time next week when
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you're listening, I'll be driving around Iceland.
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I don't even know where I'll be at this point
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I should probably look up my itinerary anyways
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Yeah, so I'll be in Iceland. Okay, what's in
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what is in is let's see Sunset swims we went
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on a sunset swim last week, and it was beautiful
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so very much loving that and what is out is Honestly,
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what's out is my AC my AC has been out for about
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a week And it has been one of the hottest last
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like past weeks here in North Carolina and everyone
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keeps telling me like oh my gosh It's so hot
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outside. Can you believe how hot it is? How hot
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it is outside. Yes, I can believe it because
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I haven't had a C in my car. Why? Well, I thought
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it's because I put gas in it and that's why it's
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not there's not but someone informed me that
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that has zero connection Even though I definitely
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feel like it does with what has happened in the
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past Anyways, that's a whole rant. I could go
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on that. I'm not going to go on So yeah, that's
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what out is a C and I'm getting it fixed this
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week. Praise Jesus Okay, well that's all I have,
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so let's go ahead and dive in into today's episode.
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Okay bestie, I'm speaking on this as I'm currently
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working on it myself. One thing about me is I
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know things. Always have, probably always will.
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What do I mean by that? Oh well, since you asked.
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The type of things I know are like how long your
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relationship will last until you break up, almost
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to the day sometimes, the outcome of your decisions,
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and I can read people like no one's business,
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so when I say I don't trust someone or I get
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a weird vibe from them, best believe I'm onto
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something. It might come out by the end of the
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party or years later, but trust it will show
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itself. I don't always trust myself either though,
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because the thing about me, because there's many
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things about me if you haven't noticed, is I'll
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always give others the benefit of the doubt.
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My therapist says I need to trust myself more,
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that my gut instinct is cued in. I don't know
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about you, but I hate judging people on first
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impressions. When they say something off or give
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a look that sounds the quiet alarm bell in my
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head, we all have lies we speak to ourselves.
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One of mine is that I'm a mean girl and too judgy.
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So when the alarm bell goes off, I silence it.
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really quick because of those lies and it never
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works out in my favor. I'm sure we all have done
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this at some point and have regretted it. Let's
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talk about what gut instinct is. Psychologists
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would say gut instinct and intuition are the
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same thing and I'd be inclined to agree, but
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where I disagree is this. They say intuition
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is your brain unconsciously connecting patterns
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and matching them to past experiences to the
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current element you are experiencing. Your brain
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is always looking to make sense of things and
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predict what will happen. Now, I believe that
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this is mostly true for most people, but here's
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where my opinion and view shifts. As believers,
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we have the spirit in us, and that means what
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comes along with it is the spirit of discernment.
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There are three different concepts in the Bible
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about the word discernment. One is in Acts 17
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verse 11, and we're going to read that. Okay,
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verse 11 says, Now these Jews were more noble
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than those in Thessalonica. They received the
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word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures
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daily to see if these things were so. This type
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of discernment means to carefully investigate
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and examine matters, to search for truths and
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understanding on a deeper level. Now, the second
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type of discernment is in Matthew 7 verses 1
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and 2. Ok, first one. For with the judgment you
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pronounce, you will be judged, and the measure
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you use it will be the measure to you." This
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one focuses more about condemning others. That's
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the type of discernment based on human opinion
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and judgment that condemns others unfairly, when
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we are actually called to see situations and
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people through the lens of the Holy Spirit with
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grace and truth. And the third one is to test
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and evaluate whether something is true. It's
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going to be in 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 21. And
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one's really wise. Actually, not even wild but
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what's funny that it's in first Thessalonians
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as we've been reading that in my small group
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on Tuesday nights and we're in chapter four and
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First off I always struggle to find Thessalonians.
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I'm not sure why and secondly in chapter four.
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There's a verse that Quite literally says to
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mind your own business and I don't know why that
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just cracks me up So anyways, um, what is a podcast
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with me if I don't go on a random ramble about
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something else? Alright, so verse Thessalonians
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chapter 5 verse 21. Okay, it says, but to test
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everything, hold fast what is good. Wow, simple
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and to the point, right? Now, this was talking
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about prophecies, but like a hundred percent
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of the Bible, we can apply it to all aspects
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of our lives as well. The three main words that
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stood out to me were examine, judge, and evaluate.
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We can apply these three different concepts to
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any situation in life. People, words, actions.
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What we see, feel, or hear. Our gut instinct
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is discernment, and discernment is wisdom, gifted
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to us by Jesus. So no, our gut instinct isn't
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always our brain unconsciously connecting past
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patterns to present moments to predict what will
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happen. It's also our spirit using what was gifted
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to us to protect us from what could be. As I'm
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saying this, I'm realizing what a disservice
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I'm doing not only to myself by not honoring
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the Lord by using the gift He gave us, but I'm
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doing him a disservice as well. Wow. See, I told
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you I'm still working on this. So, why am I talking
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about this? Well, this is one of those late night
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car combos you'd have with your bestie. This
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is a safe space for me to share my tea and how
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truly imperfect I am. So buckle up, bestie. First,
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I know I cannot be the only one. It's not possible.
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No human experience is a unique experience to
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just you or me. So let's talk about it. You're
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at a party. church small group or walking across
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the street and I'm sure alarm bells have gone
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off in your head at least once in your life and
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you dismissed it because you didn't want to be
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the judgy friend you felt guilt for deciding
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right off the bat you didn't like someone or
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you didn't want to come across rude and then
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whatever was bothering you eventually comes out
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to light or plays out and you either say see
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I wanted to say something about them not sitting
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right with me and this is why or think to yourself
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If I'd listened to my instinct, I could have
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avoided this. You don't want to not like the
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friend of your friend because it comes off as
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you being insecure or not wanting to share. You
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don't want to judge the girl at small group even
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though she seems judgy or saying insanely weird
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things because it's a church group and we aren't
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supposed to judge others. You don't want to assume
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the person that happens to be staying anywhere
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from 30 to 10 feet behind you at all times in
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the grocery store aisle to aisle is following
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you even though they have yet to put anything
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in their cart because what on the off chance
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they aren't and are just an indecisive shopper
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who happens to be a man? What if his feelings
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get hurt or they feel insecure because you were
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wrong about being followed? How do I know you've
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had these thoughts or feelings? Because babe,
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I do. All you know is your gut instinct is telling
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you something, but you shut it down for some
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reason or another and we regret it. I'm not sure
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if there has ever been a time we decided to not
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listen to our instincts and were happy about
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it. If there was, I wouldn't be here having this
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talk now. Okay, story time. There was a girl
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I met when I first moved to Wilmington. We hung
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out one time and she and I just clicked, but
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something just fell a little off and I couldn't
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place it. I decided to be friends with her, but
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just distant friends. I wouldn't let her super
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far into my life. We had hung out a few more
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times, and she opened up to me that she was in
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an abusive relationship. I thought to myself,
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oh, this is why I felt off about her. I could
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just sense something wasn't right, and this had
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to be it. Well, I felt for her and wanted to
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help her, so I let her even more into my life,
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let her into my friend's lives. And as I got
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to know her more and more, things began to get
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stranger and stranger in just a short few months.
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Her boyfriend started trying to stalk me on Facebook
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and this girl started to tell one story to me
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and another to my friends. As we began to catch
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her in her lies, things took a weird and dangerous
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turn and I quickly cut her out of my life. I
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told my therapist when I first met this girl
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that a very quiet bell went off in my head and
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that I ignored it and made sense of it and my
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therapist had told me to listen to it because
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I had good instincts. But did I listen to my
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instincts? Nope. I didn't want to judge her and
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I wanted to give her a chance and it fit me in
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the butt in the end. My therapist was surprised
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by how drastic the events turned out to be, but
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wasn't surprised by the fact that my gut was
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right and reminded me for the third time that
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year that I needed to practice listening to it.
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For me, anytime I don't listen to my gut, it's
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because of guilt. I hate not liking someone.
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I genuinely want to like most people and logically
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understand I won't vibe with most people, but
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when a complete stranger doesn't sit right with
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me and I have no reason to not like them, but
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something in me just won't let me, then I start
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to feel an inward battle. Look, I know myself
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and I'm continually getting to know myself more
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and more and I don't waste energy on beef with
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people. Some animals, sure. Fashion trends, absolutely.
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I might drastically shake my head and say, I
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could have told you that when you let me know
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the outcome of a choice you made. But that's
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about it. If you're a person and I don't like
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you, I just won't be around you. When I was younger,
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it's a very different story. I'd waste my energy
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on you if I didn't like you. If I had a bad vibe
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from you or didn't trust you, then I was telling
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anyone who would listen to me. But as I got older,
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I learned to keep my mouth shut and let things
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play out with you from a distance because I don't
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have to let you into my space. I remember when
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I was like 13 or 14, there was a girl who started
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dating someone close to me. Well first, I just
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didn't get any good vibes from her. She came
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off full of it from the beginning, and too, I
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started to hear not the best things about her.
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That's all I needed at that age to get my engine
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running and my mouth blabbing to anyone who would
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listen to me about why I didn't like her. Eventually
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the person close to me let me know that they
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were going to end up together, getting married
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one day, and out of respect to him to keep my
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opinion to myself. So I did. I didn't want to,
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but I did. Well, let me tell y 'all, I was right.
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Everything I ever thought or decided about her
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came out and played out to be true many years
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later. Little Teenage Me was right and Late 20s
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Me was very happy about it, because once again,
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I'm a brat and I know it. Has there ever been
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a time that you listened to your gut and were
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so thankful you did? The girl you decided not
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to be friends with even though everyone else
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accepted her into the group turned out to not
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be who they all thought she was? The guy you
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stopped seeing because something about him just
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didn't sit right with you turned out to be America's
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most wanted? Just kidding. I'm just kidding y
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'all. I'm just being dramatic as usual, but you
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get the point. What about choosing between schools
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or jobs or maybe churches? You go and visit and
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just didn't feel peace when you left, but it
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seems like the best option and everyone around
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you agrees that it is, but you decide not to
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go and sometime down the road you found out why
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and are so glad you made a different choice.
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How did it feel when whatever it was came to
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light or was made clear? I remember when I walked
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out of the middle of the service of a church
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I was visiting because whatever the pastor was
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saying wasn't sitting right with my spirit and
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to this day I have zero regrets. There's a story
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in the Bible about a man named Nehemiah. Homi
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got the okay from the king that he worked for
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to go back to Judah and work on it. Well, some
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guys sent some messages to Nehemiah that they
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needed to meet with them. But Nehemiah knew in
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his gut that it was a trap to do him harm, so
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he ignored the messages to meet. He didn't get
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a sign from God. God didn't send our guy, an
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angel, to tell him not to meet with them because
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it was a trap. Nehemiah just had discernment
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and knew in his gut so he trusted it and was
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right. I remember when I would study to take
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multiple choice tests and my mom would say to
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me, okay make sure to always go with your first
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choice because if you go with your second and
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it's wrong and your first one is right you'll
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regret it. But if you go with your first one
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and it's wrong you'll be like oh well and no
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better for next time. I guess you could say anytime
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I haven't trusted my gut instinct that I could
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hear her saying that to me after. It's really
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good advice and I try to apply it whenever the
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occasion presents itself, but I wouldn't have
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started this conversation the way I did if I
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had mastered it by now. Life is no good filled
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with regrets. I'd rather go through the rest
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of my life trusting my gut and learning from
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it than to spend it wishing I had. God gave us
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to sermon. He won't judge us for using it. In
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fact, he wants us to because it's a gift from
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him that comes with the spirit. So, Are we more
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scared of what people might think of us when
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we use it, or what God might think of us if we
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don't? What harm might it cause others if we
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don't use it, versus if we do? No, truly, think
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about it. If you don't feel peace over the choice
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everyone else wants you to make, how will it
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harm them more than you? If you get a weird vibe
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from the one person, guy or girl, that everyone
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else seems to be friends with, but you decide
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to keep your distance, who will that hurt? You
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don't have to be friends with everyone. If you
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decide to get someone to walk you to your car
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because you feel uneasy about the person that
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just so happened to be going everywhere you are
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in the store, who will that hurt? If they aren't
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following you, then they shouldn't notice a person
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walking you to your car and get offended. If
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you decide to stop going to a certain church
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that maybe your friends serve at because worship
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doesn't sit right with you there, the preaching
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doesn't sit right with your spirit, maybe you
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just don't feel the spirit in there at all and
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it feels dead. Who is going to hurt more than
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you? What harm can it actually cause others to
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listen to your gut more than it can hurt you
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not to? Just like spiritual gifts, your gut instinct
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is like a muscle you have to grow. The more you
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use it, the more you exercise it, the more it
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will grow, the more you become confident in it
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and trust it. But just like working out and growing
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muscles, you have to start small. We can't jump
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in and start lifting 50 pound weights day one,
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or at least I can't. You need to start with your
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fives and your tens, work up to your fifteens
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and twenties, and eventually we'll be taking
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on the big guys. What do your five and tens look
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like? For me, I think my five pound weights are
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when my discernment tells me not to trust someone,
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then I simply just don't let them into my life.
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I will just need to fight the mind trash of,
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you're being judgy or a mean girl, and remind
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myself of all the other times I didn't listen
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and what happened. I'll remind myself that it
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doesn't mean me being weary of her doesn't equal
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me being me. but it can equal me not letting
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her fully into my life and into my space. Remember,
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gut instinct as a believer can be not just intuition,
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but spiritual discernment, which is a gift from
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our Heavenly Father. Why would we waste that,
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much less doubt a gift from Him? Let's work on
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being free from the doubts and uneasiness we
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have when it's actually spiritual discernment.
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Let's strengthen our gut instinct and learn to
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trust it. and let's let go of whatever mind trash
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or fears that typically come along with it, that
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is holding us back and down from feeling secure,
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trust in our gift from Jesus and freed. Okay,
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let's pray. Okay, Jesus, thank you for spiritual
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discernment. Thank you for the gift that you've
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given us. I ask that we don't waste it, that
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we don't keep sitting in regrets, wishing we
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had listened to it because it's from you and
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you're all -knowing. You're all powerful. You're
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a beginning and end. Have us remember when we
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do start to doubt it that it's from you. It's
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you nudging us. It's your spirit letting us know,
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hey, look out for that. Hey, be careful there.
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Hey, maybe we don't make that choice. To not
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sit in doubts and what ifs. To not sit with regrets
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of wishing we had listened to it. That we ponder
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it and grow it. so that not only can we have
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trust in the choices that we've made, but honestly
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grow our trust in you through that. Have our
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trust in you get stronger because of that. And
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have it grow our faith in you because of that.
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Help us wipe away the mind trash that comes along.
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Help us wipe away the insecurities that come
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along with it. And help us just step into faith
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with it. Help us step into the faith of our gut
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instinct, of the warning bells that go off. Help
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us not silence them. Warning bells are not there
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to be silenced. They are there to be listened
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to. They are there to tell us when to evacuate.
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Continue to grow our discernment. Continue to
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help us grow our discernment. And in Jesus' name,
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amen. Alright, thank you so much for listening
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you guys. I really appreciate it I hope that
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you enjoyed this episode and hopefully got something
18:54
out of it and if not hang in there Maybe you'll
18:57
get something out of the next episode Anyways,
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if you are loving it, please go ahead and subscribe
19:03
and leave me a review And if you aren't and you
19:06
have feedback, I would love to hear what we have
19:08
to say whether you DM me on Instagram at Hannah
19:11
Liz D or email me at livingbreedpaw at gmail
19:15
.com. Alright, again, thank you so much for listening.
19:19
I really appreciate it. I hope that you all have
19:21
a great day. Bye, y 'all.