The Abidible Podcast
You love God. You want to abide in Him through His Word. But you just don't know where to start. You're in the right place! Be encouraged weekly as you learn to abide in the Bible yourself. Learn alongside your host, Kate, who is just a regular wife and mom (like you?) whose life has been transformed by learning to study the Bible on her own. If she can, you can! You're meant to be here, friend.
The Abidible Podcast
#069 "Calling, Waiting, And Walking With God: Honest Answers On Discernment, Community, and Everyday Faith"
In the fourth part of this Ask Us Anything series, host Kate and her husband Jason open up about what it means to trust God when waiting doesn’t end the way you hoped. Together they explore how to live your faith with courage at work and at home, find purpose in delay, and practice real discernment without over-spiritualizing decisions.
Listeners will gain practical steps for testing desires, learning to wait well, and seeing work as ministry—plus encouragement from Kate’s post-surgery journey and Jason’s grounded perspective on clinging to Christ through uncertainty.
If you’re seeking clarity in calling, strength in waiting, or hope in hard seasons, this heartfelt conversation will help you anchor your trust in the God who fights for you.
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Hey guys, this is Kate from Abidable.com, and you're listening to the Abidable Podcast. I'm just a regular wife and mom who's had my life transformed by learning to study the Bible on my own. If I can, you can. On this show, I help you know and love God more by abiding in Him through His Word yourself. We are back finally after a little hiatus that was not planned, not fun, some post-surgery surgery. Some post-surgery complications. We won't get into. That's another story for another time. But I'm really glad to be back with you with our next episode number 69: Calling, Waiting, and Walking with God. And we're gonna jump right in. So, sir, you have the first question. And by sir, I mean my very handsome Hamilton husband, Jason, who is joining us again on the podcast graciously after a very long day of work.
SPEAKER_00:Graciously. Should we start at the top? Question number one. Question.
SPEAKER_03:I knew you were gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00:Having experienced the heartbreak and frustrations of waiting, what advice would you give to someone in a season of waiting?
SPEAKER_03:No God. I mean, I just look back at my life and how I used to handle having to wait for things, not understanding what was happening, and not knowing God, not abiding in his word and being a wreck. You know, having very much the story be that the rains came and the winds blew, and my house was built on sand. And so great was the crash of it. I would blame God, I would isolate, I would dig myself deep into depression or anger or whatever emotion because I didn't know God. And oftentimes it's not that it wasn't a good thing. I'm thinking of wanting to be a mom. You know, that was a desire that God had given me. But the timing of it, I didn't even know back then how to bring that before the Lord and how to wait on him because I didn't know him and I wasn't abiding in him. So that's my advice. I mean, heartbreak and frustration of waiting, significantly different. I'm still in some challenging seasons right now with my body not responding how I thought it would post surgery and having some complications with that. And knowing what I know now about God because of the years that I've spent abiding is absolutely making a tremendous difference in how I'm responding. And I know myself. I've said this before on the podcast. I know myself and my flesh and how I normally respond. And so to be able to keep getting up and to keep going and to not give up and to be doing the things that I need to be doing for my health is full credit to the Holy Spirit in me and who I know God to be as a result of abiding. So that's it. I mean, that's my advice. What would I give to someone in a season of waiting? Stick your nose in the crack of this book and do not come up for air until you feel solidly planted on the rock because he is what we need and he is what we're after. And if we are abiding in him, all those other things, you know, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you, whether we get them or not, we have Christ. And so waiting is made much easier. What would you say to that one? Having experienced heartbreak and frustration of waiting, what advice would you give to someone?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I think um very similar to what you're saying. The the two things that came to mind to me would be cling and surround. So cling to Jesus, you know, just like you're saying. And I kind of I think you almost took it from what I'm hearing in terms of like the frustration of waiting, you know, wanting something that's not coming. I almost took it from the heartbreak, you know, of like a despair, a depression, of like this thing is not coming, and that type of a struggle. And so that's where to me I'm thinking of clinging, you know, just continuing. And I think clinging instead of like staying near to him or reading your Bible, but like sometimes it's a matter of clinging. So when you're in that place where sometimes it's easier to abide and to continue to pray, and like, oh, okay, that was frustrating, but we're we're still hopeful, and yeah, then that's a little bit easier. But when it's like, oh, it's been three years and I've been praying every single day, and there's no hope on the horizon, that's where the clinging comes in. So don't give up. And then surrounding um, just surrounding yourself with with good community, good people who can you know hold you up, point you back to the truth. Just don't do it alone. Um, because I think that's where you can also get into giving into that despair and believing the lies and then just giving up. But if you've got other people, you know, holding your arms up when you get tired and beautiful picture there.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, yeah, that's not my natural inclination in my flesh. Mine is to isolate and to not want to be in community, not make myself be vulnerable in that way. And I'm really thankful for the example that I've had consistently at the church that we've been a part of for that ability to see other people being vulnerable and a reminder that I can be vulnerable too. I don't have to, you know, deal with it on my own or pretend to be strong. So that's really good advice. And I think it's important that you also mentioned the heartbreak piece because there is that element of really not understanding what the Lord is up to. And so the final piece of advice would just be being able to be honest. Like go through the psalms, like see how honest David and the other psalmists were with their despair and their frustration and not understanding what the Lord was up to. Like he can handle your questions, your doubts, your frustration, your anger. You can bring that to him and not be afraid of being honest. He knows you feel that way anyway. And there's a beautiful thing that he does in that process when he meets you in that place, when you're able to be vulnerable and real in that way, he will meet you and he will hold you and he will help you and he will bring you through. Whether or not you get that thing, I think it's so important. Like we, you know, prosperity theology is so dangerous because it's this idea that if you pray hard enough, if you believe big enough, you will get whatever you want. And that's not the story in the Bible. Sometimes the thing that you pray for never comes. And the most beautiful realization in my own life, when there have been things that I wanted so desperately and not gotten was the understanding that if I had Jesus, and it took me years to wrestle through this, but if I had Jesus, that was enough. If he never gives me this thing, he is still worthy of all my worship because of what he did on the cross alone. So having that tested, first Peter one talks about that tested genuineness of your faith, which is such a beautiful thing that can only sometimes come when we have to wrestle with and struggle with not getting the thing that we want. And when you know God, you know that he's sovereign, you know that he's good, you know that he's loving, and he's always only ever working all things together for your good for those who love him and are in Christ. And so that means that even though it's this thing that you want so, so bad, you get the freedom to surrender that thing when you know him, because you can trust him because you know him. I just told you that I was gonna be really fast on these questions, and what are we on on the more thoughts that I was gonna say on the other hand? Say it then. You know what? Just say it.
SPEAKER_00:No, I think it's just you know, when we talk about abiding and clinging and surrounding with other people, like you keep hearing truth, that's where you also understand when you're in those moments, like you're saying, what I am hoping for, what I'm asking for may not be what's best for me. Yeah, and so biblical, right? Like sometimes that's what gets revealed in the whole thing that yeah, you prayed for two years for something, but that was a selfish desire, or that was something that wasn't quite what was best for you, and so got it something even better, and you won't notice that stuff if all you're doing is focusing on that thing, isolating, just getting fixated on that. But if you're diligently in the word, clinging to him, being surrounded by people, then eventually you might notice those things too. And it could be that what you're praying for is the thing God wants to give you, and it just took a while, right? Or it could be something different, and you may miss that as an opportunity too.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah, I mean, how many times can all of us look back and think about the things that we prayed real hard for? I mean, I got a whole list of things I prayed real hard for that I thought, oh Jesus, I know this is the best for me. And had he answered those prayers, I'd be in a heap of trouble. So there's just that again that comes the ability and the freedom to surrender comes more easily the more you know him. And that's why it's so critical to be in the word and to remember who he is and all he's done. And it's like, okay, I don't understand what's going on, but because I know who you are, I'm gonna give this thing to you. Final thing on that too about being in community is the challenge for the person who's hearing someone share about their struggle with the weight to be able to press in and ask some of those hard questions. Like if you see somebody that you love who says they love Jesus, praying for, waiting for something that is not God's best or is not even in alignment with God's will, be bold and courageous in love to bring that up to them and help point them to what's true and what's good and what's right. It's a challenging community to do that. So I have the next question for you. What are each of your spiritual gifts?
SPEAKER_00:I would say for me, and I think it probably depends on your list of spiritual gifts. Some people define them a little bit differently, but um administration, definitely, serving, definitely, discernment, yes, and wisdom. Yes. I don't know.
SPEAKER_03:And that's why I need to need to go into that anymore, but none of those are mine. I feel like wisdom and discernment may be toward the bottom of it.
SPEAKER_00:I think I think wisdom is in there.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah. Administration, definitely not.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I I mean I wouldn't say that it's a gifting of yours necessarily, but I I mean you're not bad at it. Like these are not things that like you're not a you're not bad at serving. You're you're not bad at discerning. Oh no, I mean, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_03:Mercy and helps.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so you would agree with those?
SPEAKER_03:I definitely agree with those. Okay. Yeah, and I think uh God's graciousness in giving you to me in those areas that I don't feel as strong is just a beautiful thing. Like I've been in Genesis one and two for a long time, and just finishing up two in the design that God had for marriage to be one flesh, to be a help mate. That word is just such a beautiful word to come alongside and compliment. And marriage is a gift, really, that God has given. And so, in many ways, I see your spiritual gifts as completing me in areas where I'm weak. My uh top spiritual gifts are creative communication. This is the shape assessment that our church did a couple years ago. So, creative communication was 96%. So I'm gonna say thanks to Frank, my father, who taught me how to speak from birth. If you get me and me and Frank in the same room, you're gonna be hearing a lot of talking.
SPEAKER_00:So, yeah, that's and some of the same stories.
SPEAKER_03:Some of the same stories that makes me think of Bear. Um, teaching was my second. Mercy, encouragement, and giving. So those are my top five.
SPEAKER_00:Mm-hmm. I feel like we should have done the newlywed game on this one.
SPEAKER_03:That would have been fun. I would have been, I think I would have picked yours. Okay, you've got the next question.
SPEAKER_00:How do you know a calling, quote unquote, is on your life in a certain season, and what are the steps to surrender in obedience?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I'm sure my wonderful listeners are gonna get tired of hearing me say the same answer always to start. But first and foremost, if you're making big big decisions about calling and direction for your life and you're not in the word, that would be a caution to not make any big decisions and to get back in the word. Abiding in God daily so that you know him and you know his heart and hit like thinking God's thoughts after him, like having the desires that God has for the decisions that you're making with your life. It's number one most critical thing. Second thing, similar to what Jason was saying, is is being in community and around other people who know you, know where you are in life, and to have these kinds of conversations with them so they can speak into the things that you're considering doing. I also think that it's biblical and can be a real blessing to have a desire and keep it between you and the Lord and pray on it for a period of time and ask the Lord to remove that desire or confirm that desire from like outside sources. That's kind of what happened with the podcast. It was something that I didn't necessarily feel called to do, but it had been brought up a few times and then it started to be brought up more consistently, and that felt like a confirmation for me for something that I had been waiting and praying on from the Lord. And so God is gracious and he, you know, is like, you know, I'm like, sometimes I'm like, Lord, I am too thick to get this. I just need you to show me and to confirm where you want me to go and what you want me to do. And so, Lord, please direct my path. Like he's not gonna send a singing telegram or a blimp with a sign trailing behind it over town. Would be really nice if he would shoot some flares up, you know, to make it really clear. But then ultimately, I would say that if you are abiding in him and if you are walking in community and if you've been praying on something and there is nothing that is holding you back, no roadblock that is stopping you, no check in your spirit, no, you know, conviction from the Holy Spirit or disagreement from somebody else in community, then I feel like it's yes, in Christ, you know, that you can move forward. It's not sinful, it's not, you know, it doesn't go against your faith and your conviction biblically, then yes, move forward in confidence and um be bold and be courageous and do that thing that the Lord has laid on your heart to do. You know, he makes each one of us as a member of the body to do things that others can't do. And sometimes we're fearful. And so taking that fear before him and laying it down and being obedient to go do the thing that he's laid on your heart to do is such a beautiful way to be a part of the body of Christ. And that may not just be in ministry, like I know it's saying kind of a calling. It might some people might think of this in terms of also like vocation or career or where to live or whether to start having kids or you know, fill in the blank. But I think that advice would apply to all of that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I wouldn't really add too much more. I think we kind of talked about this in a previous episode too, about sometimes it's just a matter of there might not be a right or wrong way to go. And so you just kind of take a step. And I think like you're saying, if if you're abiding, if you're getting good wise counsel, then it's for the most part not going to be harmful to take a step because once you realize, oh, maybe that wasn't the right thing, then you're gonna probably be quick to make adjustments or to step back because you're in the right space. You know, your heart is in the right place and you're you're checking it against scripture, you're checking it against people. So I think that gives you the freedom and you know, kind of the courage to do that, because if it is wrong or if it's not the best thing for you, then you're gonna be well positioned to notice that instead of just blindly going down a path and not finding out until you've really hit rock bottom or something.
SPEAKER_03:So yeah. And that's why we can't minimize the idea of abiding, because I know there are seasons where I was trying to make some of these big life decisions and I was not in the word and not praying and not surrounded by wise counsel. And so it's like I remember just feeling like a a crapshoot. Like, how how am I supposed to? It was very stressful, like wanting to do what the Lord wanted me to do, but not knowing him well enough to really even know what that looked like. And so, again, that's why being in the word of God is our very life. It is critical to all the decisions that we make in the things that we do. And again, if you follow those steps and you have peace, then do it. Like, don't, don't keep waiting for the singing telegram. Be faithful, be obedient, and go and be bold and courageous to do the thing that he's calling you to do because you're the only you that he's made and you fit in a specific space in a specific place to do something beautiful for the Lord and bring glory to him. So I say go for it. If those all check the boxes for you. So our next question. Uh, by the way, that question was our number one requested question. Interestingly enough, people were really wanting to know how to know if there's a calling on your life in a certain season. I didn't say this, but I kind of alluded to it with the podcast. But also, like, if there are people in your life who are like, hey, you're really good at connecting people, you're really good at teaching, you're really good at like shepherding discipleship, like, hey, you're really good at behind the scenes, like serving. I see you doing that so faithfully. Like, step into those places where other people might see something in you that you don't even see in yourself. Um, that's the Lord using that person to point you to that.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, try it out and see. Right. See what excites. You might be good at something, but it doesn't really excite you. Yeah. So you might just be good at doing it as a job or part-time. Yeah. But try it and see.
SPEAKER_03:Go do it.
SPEAKER_00:It's like thinking of Shia LaBeouf, like just I thought you were I thought you were thinking of Nike and you couldn't come up with the slogan.
SPEAKER_03:What's the name?
SPEAKER_00:Like in the office, break me off a piece of that fancy piece.
SPEAKER_03:Break me off a piece of that fancy piece. Do you remember that? Or they couldn't figure it out?
SPEAKER_00:I thought you just couldn't remember just do it. And so you said go do it.
SPEAKER_03:I think I think I probably couldn't remember just I was trying to think of the Shia La Buff. Like, have you guys ever seen that on YouTube? Shia La Buff, just do it. What are you waiting for? Just do it. Okay, next question. What is an example in your lives where you felt or where you allowed God to fight for you, quote unquote. Letting go of control, just to clarify what they meant, letting go of control in decision making.
SPEAKER_00:The first thing that came to mind for me, I don't really remember or know how this ties into decision making, but an example where I felt or allowed God to fight for us was just in Liam's birth. Like with your water breaking and then just completely at the mercy.
SPEAKER_02:Totally.
SPEAKER_00:Like we're just at the hospital, and now it's whatever we're told to do. And if God wants them to come right now, then we're gonna go down that path. And if he wants them to come later, then we're here for that. So I I don't really remember a whole lot of decision making other than just we're here, you're laying in bed, I'm doing whatever you need, and we're doing whatever the doctors say. Yeah. And then we're just trusting God to make the decisions for us in terms of when he's coming. But that's the the biggest one uh that I can think of in our life. I'm sure you have a better one, more applicable to the question.
SPEAKER_03:I think that's a really good one. I think other people are gonna relate to that. They're gonna think of a time in their life where they really, you know, and and like as as tragic or um traumatizing or horrific or stressful as a season like that, with you know, my water breaking at 23 weeks and being told our son had less than a 10% chance of survival, like as traumatic as that can be, or whatever, you know, circumstance that you're thinking of, listener, in your own life that you've gone through, those are also the places where we get to see God be God in a way that we never would have otherwise. And it is a gift. Like it sounds hard, harsh to say or weird to say, but I can say honestly that I look back on that season, I wouldn't change a thing. I'm so grateful for the ways that God fought for us and the way that he showed up and the way that he showed us who he is. And we had a good outcome. Some people don't. Some people, there's a tragic outcome. And we have friends who have lost children and who have delivered them full term and who continue to choose to walk with Jesus. And we've seen, I just think also the beauty of watching. I'm thinking of a particular situation with our friends who went through a really gnarly trial, and we watch them walk with Jesus and not grow bitter or angry and trust the Lord with things very much on the line. And those, it's like other people are watching. And when I watch them go through that, it's actually very pivotal in my whole coming back to Jesus because it's like, okay, well, look at what they're going through, and they're choosing Jesus, and he is worthy of their worship, even in the midst of their whole life coming crashing down around them. And what am I doing? So it's like I kind of off on a tangent here, but I do think it's a really beautiful thing when you watch somebody else choose Jesus and let Jesus, let God fight for them in the midst of something so hard. It makes me think of Exodus 14, 13 to 14. I just looked it up. Um, the Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still, like that reminder that God is God. And we are really foolish for trying to take that role on. And it is a beautiful place to live in surrender. And sometimes it is the circumstance that you described where we really literally have no option. I can't control whether my son is coming today or tomorrow, or if he's going to live or die. I mean, this life and death. But even in other circumstances where maybe your reputation is being tarnished, or I don't know, I can't think of like a whole bunch of different examples. Like I'm thinking of my health right now, that this is something that I have tried to get answers for for the last 10 years and seen multiple different doctors and tried multiple different diets and mattresses and all these things for the pain that I was feeling. And I really do very much feel like as I continue to grow and surrender and relationship with Jesus, he laid the path to the exact doctor who was only 15 minutes from my door, who's the only one really on the whole West Coast who performs the kind of surgery that I needed with precision and is world-renowned and was able to handle my very complicated case and get this disease out of me. It's like that for me, I think is the most recent example of seeing how God fought for me, how he provided financially for us. For us to be able to do that surgery. I mean, I was really sick and I didn't know how sick I was. And so for the Lord to put all of those things in, I can't, I can't take credit for that. You can't take credit for that. Even Google can't take credit for that for as much as I research, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Google can't take credit for it. It wouldn't be worthy, but I'm sure it can take credit for it.
SPEAKER_03:It could try. It could try.
SPEAKER_00:Okay. Next question. What does honor and God look like as an individual? And what does honor and God look like in a relationship?
SPEAKER_03:Ooh. Do you have a good answer for that one?
SPEAKER_00:Do you want me to be honest? I was glad that I was asking it because I was just going to piggyback on yours.
SPEAKER_03:I mean, I think that there are things that you and I have been able to do as a couple that have been more effective. Like I think of the seasons when you've been leading like our small group and we've met with couples one-on-one and been able to talk through particularly marriage or parenting stuff together, that's been more effective. Like I think that you and I are a good team in that way. I also think that as a couple, you know, a mar it says in a relationship, but for us, particularly as a married couple, I think that God ordained us to be together, similar to what I was saying about our spiritual gifts, that I think we're much more effective and we can do more for his kingdom and glorify him better together because we complement each other in really beautiful ways. And I think that's grown for us as we've grown in the Lord too, because we haven't been married almost 20 years, but we haven't been walking with the Lord like we have for the last four years. And so I feel like that ability to serve and to minister to other people not only increases when we're together as a couple, but exponentially when we're abiding, truly abiding in God's word together as a couple. Now, I don't think that doesn't, I don't think it minimizes what we can do individually or like makes renders being an individual obsolete. I think there are still things that I do, like with Abidable with women, that I'm called to do. Certainly that you're not called to do. You've been gracious and coming alongside me and supporting this ministry through the course and doing those videos with me or doing this podcast with me. But this isn't your number one choice thing to do. And so I think that's where we kind of like also can come out separate and you serve in the ways that you're called and you're gifted and meet needs in the ways that you are, like in your men's group or in our small group, or at the place of your employment, you know, even though it's a secular job, you're called into that space, and I'm called for right now as a mom, as a homeschool teacher, as a wife, as the abidable, I almost said abidable mama.
SPEAKER_00:I was gonna say that's what sounded like that's where you were going.
SPEAKER_03:I don't I don't know what I was gonna say, but so I don't know if that answered that question. I mean, what else would you say? That's a great question.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I think one of the things that came to mind is there's kind of the easy answer of honoring God as an individual, is spending time with Him and praying and you know, all those things, which I don't want to say go without saying, but in some ways, kind of, you know, like hopefully that's kind of a given in terms of this question. So we're building off of that.
SPEAKER_03:No, but I think it's good that you said that because I didn't touch on that at all, you know, like how you're even just uh like you're saying, abiding in God one-on-one, not even just outwardly serving. I didn't talk about that, like just honoring God with your quiet time and your prayer life and your thought life.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and then well, and that's what I'm thinking with that is that we have to be doing that individually so that then beautiful in a relationship, we have something that we can bring. You know, I can here's what I'm learning, I can ask you questions, I can challenge you, we can, you know, play off of each other, I can encourage you, you can, you know, and the same thing with you, if if one of us is not doing that and is essentially, you know, kind of dead weight and just being dragged along, then that's not life-giving to the other person, and that's it's draining, and we're not equal partners in this, and we're not using our gifts together. So are some of your gifts getting sucked out if I'm not performing where I need to be performing, you know, and complimenting your gifts to to make them flourish even more, you know, and be highlighted and complimented the way they should. That's kind of what I was thinking, was just in terms of as an individual, we need to be doing those things to be healthy and strong so that we can then come together and be, you know, what God has called us to be.
SPEAKER_03:I think as I'm hearing you say that too, I'm thinking about the person who's listening and saying, like, I am all by myself. I, you know, I'm in I'm in a marriage, but I am all by myself in this journey. You know, my my wife or my husband has no desire to be in the word, is not walking with the Lord, is not even a Christian, perhaps, and is not interested. And I think the word of encouragement, we talked a little bit about this about nagging, you know, not nagging your husband. And God sees you and he knows your situation and he speaks to it when he talks about how your life can have the impact on an unbelieving husband, you know, wives, the life that you live and how you abide in Christ and how you love him and serve him, Jesus can have an impact and will have an impact on your spouse. And so for the person who is all alone, maybe in a marriage, walking by themselves with Jesus, just want to encourage you to continue pursuing hard after Jesus and to continue praying that Jesus would transform that person's heart who you love so much, he loves them more. You know, as much as you want them to be walking with Jesus so that you can together honor God, God wants that for your husband or for your wife more. And so, even I think about in our marriage early on, I was very self-righteous. I thought I was way more mature and closer in my relationship with Jesus and living more on fire and on purpose for him. And I had a really nasty attitude toward you about your quote, you know, quote unquote immaturity in Christ. Really? Yeah, you know that. And so there was a bitterness. Like I had sin that I had to repent of, and God, in his absolute kindness and faithfulness, revealed a lot of my own sin. And in so doing, it's like each one of us has enough to be bringing before the Lord in repentance, and he has enough work to be doing on each one of us individually that surrendering your spouse to Christ is the best possible thing that you can do and asking to see them as Christ sees them. Now it's doesn't mean I'm getting way off track here, but it doesn't mean staying obviously in an abusive relationship. It doesn't mean staying in a dangerous situation. If you're in those situations, you need to get out and seek help and seek counsel immediately. But I'm talking about just like a difference in your worldview that you love Jesus and your spouse doesn't. And so again, I can't say enough. Like that that was our story and that was our journey that I just I'm like, oh, I, you know, I'm all in for Jesus. And I was always hoping and praying that you would get there, but now I look back and see how completely immature and selfish and self-righteous and all kinds of weird stuff that I had going on in my own life. So do do your thing with Jesus and abide with Jesus and trust him with your spouse.
SPEAKER_00:I will. Thank you. Thank you for that permission.
SPEAKER_03:Are you ready for the last question? I am not. Well, here it comes. How do you describe ways you view work as ministry? Has your perspective of a job changed as you've drawn closer to the Lord? How do you work through worldly struggles or personality issues while staying aligned with your values? I said that was one question, but it was a bunch of them we tied together. But essentially, work and ministry. Your J O B job. How do you view that?
SPEAKER_00:At the risk of sounding cheesy, one thing that I always go back to is the audience of one, which I know is a song at one point and can kind of sound like cliche-ish. Uh that's a different podcast. So if you would like to hear me sing, please visit Jason Sings anywhere you get your podcast. Actually, I don't do that because I have no idea if that's a real podcast. And it may not be something you should be looking up. No, but I think it it's honestly true. Um that for me, I view my work like I'm not actually working for my boss. It's I'm working for Jesus. And I happen to work in local government, so it's not like I'm doing something that's super spiritual or you know, like a quote-unquote ministry, as some people would view it. Yeah. But that's my perspective that I'm gonna do like doesn't matter if I have a good boss, a bad boss, if my team sucks, or I think they suck, and maybe it's actually me, I'm gonna do my work the best that I can because it's where God has put me. It's the ways that He's gifted me, it's the opportunity he's given me, and so I'm working for an audience of one. And I say that, that's my goal. Obviously, I'm not always doing that. I do lose sight of that. I think recently I was convicted of some of the ways, especially with where I work, local government, liberal, you know, progressive city. There are times that I've just kind of I wouldn't say that I've necessarily gone along with things that are wrong or not biblical, but maybe haven't been as vocal, or not even maybe haven't been. There are times when I have not been as vocal because I've been able to justify that it's not worth saying anything right now. It's not gonna, it's not gonna change anything, or people are gonna think this way about me, and that's not really who I am, so I need to wait until I have a better opportunity for them to really hear me. If I stand up here, it's gonna come off this, you know. Like I was able to justify a lot of things where I I should stand up for what's right and say, this is you know my worldview, this is my perspective. Because I don't know how many times maybe people thought I was going along with something or I agreed with something because I didn't explicitly say I don't agree with that. And I was able to not raise my hand and agree with it. But if I didn't say something, did some people walk away going, like, oh man, Jason, he's a Christian. He talks about Jesus, you know, like I know that about him. I know that he reads the Bible, but he didn't say anything about that thing. So maybe the two go together. Maybe that's what Christians are is that they are okay with this thing or they go along with this. So that's my long-winded way of just saying, like, whatever job you're in, you know, like for me, it is ministry. You know, everything that we do in our life is a ministry, parenting, being in a relationship, going to work, going to the store and interacting with people, you know, like these are all opportunities to live out our faith and and to have gospel conversations with people. So just even recently being convicted, just being a little bit more bold. So I don't know if that's necessarily changed as I've drawn closer to the Lord. I mean, I guess it kind of has. I don't know if that answered the question or not, but yeah.
SPEAKER_03:Did you want to do that last part? How do you work through worldly struggles of personality issues while staying aligned with your values?
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I think that I kind of touched on that.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, I think you answered it. And the other thing about, you know, personality issues, like I I just watch how you serve and how you lead and how you work, like your work ethic and the man that you are. I've said this to you before. Like, I don't think, and I'm so biased because I you're my favorite person, but I I don't think that there's people who have met someone like you. Like, I think who you are as a person of integrity, kindness, wisdom, the way that you just comport yourself in general is being salt and light because it's so unique to most people's work environments. They've not had a boss like you, they've not had an employee like you. And so in so many ways, it's what you were saying, you know, audience of one, just how you handle yourself is ministry because it is a fish swimming upstream when everybody else is going downstream, when the culture, especially in work environments, I'm not out in the workforce anymore, but I hear it from all my friends who are like just everything's so how much can we lower the bar? And how can we get away with the least amount possible? And how can we cut corners and how can we just, you know, just get through it because this is a J O B. And I know that you don't, this isn't like your dream job, and it's not like you're not like, you know, clock goes off and you're jump, your alarm goes off and you're jumping up excited for the day, but you go and you get it done. And I think a big piece of that is because you're doing it to serve Jesus, to glorify Jesus, and also provide for our family.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I would just say, you know, to kind of sum it up, I think as Christians, we're called to do the best job we can. You know, like we should be, I don't want to say the top performers and the hardest working necessarily, but we should be. And, you know, like people should see us as they they take pride in their work, they do a good job. I think we can also show like we're not working all hours of the day because that's not healthy, right? And that's not a good balance either. So we can show people like I work really hard for what I'm paid and the hours I need to. I put in extra ones sometimes, but I also show that I have a healthy balance with my family comes first, you know, all these things, and people can see that, like, man, he works really hard. He's a team player, so when we need people to stay late or work on weekends once in a while to finish projects, like he's there, but he also has made it very clear. Like everybody would say, you know, like you and Liam come first. So I'm gonna have boundaries there. But then also doing it with a good attitude, like we can be loving and still bold and still tell the truth. And we can have fun and we can, you know, blend all those things together. Like people should be able to see, like, he works hard, but he's a real stick in the mud. He never like engages with people and he's always just telling us, you know, what he believes and never lists, you know.
SPEAKER_03:And you're also good at owning when you've you know dropped the ball, asking for forgiveness. Hey, I handled that wrong, or just really caring about each individual person, getting to know each individual person uh so that they know, you know, and and we've talked about this before, like the idea of even speaking, you know, the truth to someone or or being able to stand up, you know, as a Christian in a very secular city, you guys were in the Pacific Northwest, and it is um very liberal. And so you can imagine my husband working in government, some of the conversations that he is a part of. And so, you know, having the right to be able to not write isn't the right word, but kind of like you have established relationship with people, they know who you are, they know what you're about. And so if you're going to speak up and say, you know what, this that's that's against everything that I believe, and you can do that with boldness and with truth and in love, and also without fear, you know, like worst case scenario, you lose your job and God will provide for us. So, in anything that we do in calling and ministry and work and in relationships, and this is really relevant right now in the world, uh, in terms of speaking up for truth when that feels really scary and really hard to do. We just don't want to try to be more or try to have like apologize for got who God is. Like, let me be more compassionate than God by reframing how marriage is supposed to look. Let me let me apologize for God's views on gender identity because God got it wrong. Like that's why we come back to abiding in the word and understanding why God's word is absolutely true and why we want to not be fearful of speaking the truth in love. Amen. I think that's a good place to wrap up for this week. So thanks again for being with us.
SPEAKER_00:Thank you.
SPEAKER_03:That's it for this episode. If you know someone who would be blessed by what you just heard, please share the Abidable podcast with them. Keep spreading the word so we can make much of the word. Drop us a review, tell us what you love and what you're learning. Check out the link to learn more about partnering with us by buying us a coffee one time, by joining our Abidable Plus membership community for$10 a month, or by becoming a monthly supporter. In next week's episode, our last one in this Ask Us Anything series, we will be talking about the church: hurt, healing, and hope. We got a lot of questions about this, as you can imagine. And as you've heard me share before, we were a part of one of the largest, most public church collapses in recent history. We'll share openly and honestly about what that was like, what we learned, and what we'd say to someone experiencing that now. And we'll also just address what the church is and what she's meant to be, and what she'll never be until Christ comes back for her. Don't miss it. And remember, you are able to abide in the Bible. We'll see you next time. Until then, let's abide.
