An Infusion of Hope and Perspective

Dannah Gresh: Recently, on the videocast Grounded:

Jan Thompson: God owns it all. He’s in charge. This hasn’t taken Him by surprise. 

Susan Hunt: Grandchildren, call your grandparents. Just let them know that you love them.

Mark Vroegop: Don’t waste this opportunity. I would define lament as this way: as a prayer in pain that leads to trust.

Erin Davis: We can have confidence that God will care for our physical needs because He has generously provided for our spiritual needs.

Dannah: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Adorned, for May 15, 2020. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Well, when things here in the United States started shutting down in March of this year, the Revive Our Hearts team put our heads together to talk about how we could best serve and minister women during what we could see was going to become a very difficult time.

We knew that a lot of women were struggling with fear.

We knew that isolation was going to be a factor as people were already being told, “Don’t leave your house.”

We knew that what you hear day after day on cable and network news can be, well, it can be a downer, and it can be confusing.

So we asked the Lord, “How can we help infuse hope and perspective into women’s lives during this season?” In a day when all we were hearing about was this virus that was going viral, we felt it was an incredible opportunity for the love of God to go viral through His people to others in our world.

We wanted you, our listeners, to be “rooted and grounded in the love of Christ,” as we’re encouraged to do in Ephesians chapter 3.

And it was in the course of those discussions that a new videocast called Grounded was born. And, Dannah, you have been engaged in that Grounded program since day one.

Dannah: Oh, I have. And, Nancy, it is like a family—these women coming together each morning from all around the world. With Erin Davis hosting, and others joining in to co-host and there are friends that are familiar faces and voices of the Revive Our Hearts ministry. 

It’s just helped me every day to turn my own eyes off of my fears, off the bad news, off the newsfeed, off of my circumstances, and onto the hope and perspective found in God’s Word.

Nancy: And I want to just say a huge “thank you” to you and to Erin, who co-hosted this program—at 8:00 a.m. Central—each morning. That means you’ve got to be camera ready. You’ve got to have the hair and makeup done and your heart full and fresh.

I have watched this program day after day and seen you and Erin, and others who’ve been guests on that program, do a beautiful job of helping us to view these circumstances from heaven’s perspective. It’s been encouraging. It’s been a lifeline. It’s been challenging. There has been laughter. There have been tears. There has been prayer. It’s just been a rich way of pouring into the lives of women each morning. You’ve done it so winsomely, and it’s been such a sweet gift to women during this season.

Dannah: It has helped me to remain accountable to be in God’s Word, and it’s also created some rhythm and routine as I spend that time, after my prayer time with the Lord, with women all across the globe, and then make breakfast for Farmer Bob and I to start the day out together. I’ve just loved it.

Nancy: Well, today on Revive Our Hearts we’re going to share just a few highlights from past Grounded programs from its beginning through the end of April. We’ll tell you at the end of today’s program how you can go back and watch Grounded episodes. I think you’ll find them really encouraging.

Now, keep in mind, we’ve all been sheltering at home, and these have been done via a video-conferencing call. So the audio sometimes had glitches in it (you’ve seen that even on cable and network news). But this will give you a good feel for what Grounded is all about, and I think you’ll find it super encouraging. 

Nancy: Now, Dannah, every day on Grounded, you and Erin Davis start out with some good news.

Erin: It’s good to see people helping others. In this time when many of us could have a real scarcity mindset and really grab on to everything tightly, people are giving.

Dannah: Meet Tom Moore. He’s a ninety-nine year-old British veteran, and for his 100th birthday, he decided he wanted to raise $1,000 to help the heroic medical workers. That’s essentially $100 for every ten laps he vowed he would walk—with his walker—in his backyard.

Erin: Early on in this crisis, as many of you know, many assisted living centers went on total lockdown to keep the virus from spreading to their very vulnerable residents. 

Renee’s grandma, whose name is Alberta, is 103 years old. She lives in an assisted living facility in Virginia, and family members had been visiting her, but Renee realized that soon those visits were going to come to an end. She has started calling her grandmother each day at noon to read her the Bible. What an encouraging thing that must be.

Alberta looks forward to that phone call every day. It’s her lunch time there. She sets aside her lunch and waits until that call is over where she can hear her granddaughter read Scripture to her.

Renee says, “When I was little, before I knew how to read, my grandma and I would cuddle and read books. We can’t cuddle anymore, but now I have the privilege to read to her.”

Nancy: And then we spent some time getting grounded with God’s people. I love this time, because it’s an opportunity for us to hear from others who give relevant, wise, biblical advice. You’ve covered practical topics, like handling your finances well during this time of uncertainty. Here’s Jan Thompson.

Jan: So, let me share with you just five principles that, if you will operate your financial decision making off of these, you will in fact be empowered.

The first one is: You have to spend less than you earn. No matter how much you make or how little you make, you have to create margin in your life so that you can prepare for these kinds of events—the winters of your life.

The second one is: You have to avoid the use of debt. That is, essentially, making payments on a depreciating asset that’s worth less than what you owe on it. So avoid those debts.

The third principle is: You’ve got to build an emergency reserve. And in this pandemic we’re going through is a tremendous example of why we build an emergency reserve.

The fourth one is: Set long-term goals. The shorter the time horizon with which you make a financial decision, the more likely it is you’re going to make a decision that’s going to land you in the ditch.

And the fifth principle is: Live a life of generosity. If God has blessed you in incredible ways, and you’re not struggling through this, look around you. There are lots of people who need your help and the hope that you can bring them.

God owns it all. He’s in charge. This hasn’t taken Him by surprise. He loves me, and He’s promised to meet my needs. So if I put my hope in a stimulus check or something that the government’s going to do or a vaccine cure, we’re going to continue to be anxious. But if we get the perspective right and ground ourselves in God’s Word, then we will be able to deal with it from the psychological point which helps us then move forward with the financial part.

Nancy: That’s author and financial advisor, Jan Thompson, on a recent episode of Grounded. 

And then our precious friend, Susan Hunt, gave us some sweet insight into what staying at home during the pandemic has been like for an older widow.

Susan: Just remember them. Pray for them. Check in to see if they need anything—groceries, or whatever they need to be picked up and brought—leave it on the doorstep. Send notes of encouragement. But just reach out to them. Let them know that you’re thinking about them and that you love them.

And I love the way our churches are reaching out to the elderly and those who are sick. Our elders are calling us, and they’re checking on us. And that is so important.

Grandchildren, call your grandparents. Just let them know that you love them. Not being with them and not being able to be hugged by your loved ones is hard, and particularly those who are in the hospital. 

Sometimes my soul just becomes so sad. My husband died four months ago, and so I’m still feeling that grief. But I’ve just been reflecting on and praying from Psalm 86 where we read, “Be gracious to me, O Lord, gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.”

“Gladden the soul of Your servant.” That is such a wonderful gospel mystery that, even when our souls are grieving, at the same time we can have gospel gladness.

Nancy: That’s my sweet friend, Susan Hunt, who in many ways is the mother of the True Woman movement. She shared on our daily videocast, Grounded.

Dannah: And one day my dear friend, Pastor Dan Nold, told us a little of what it’s like to be a witness for Jesus when you actually have COVID-19.

Pastor Dan Nold: I was talking to pastors from around the state’s larger churches, and I just felt like they were leading in stride and kind of hitting it out of the park, and, honestly, I felt inadequate at best. And as I laid there just praying, I had the sense of God saying, “Dan, your problem is you’re still trying to control anything that you can control. And you think that all of this depends on our leadership.”

And I just had a sense of Him saying, “Dan, what you’ve been longing for, I’m doing. And you just need to let go.”

So that, for me, right from the beginning, which I think for leaders all over, for all of us, that sense of, “Where do I need to surrender control?” The idea that the best thing I bring to this is not my leadership capacities, it’s my broken, desperate dependence on God. And that was a big learning curve.

I think every time I look out over Central PA, it’s like I just see God’s arms, the Father’s arms spread wide. It’s like He’s giving us a worldwide Sabbath, and He’s clearing off all the distractions and just wooing us back to His heart and saying, “Child, come home.”

I’ve just been telling people, “Don’t waste this opportunity.” I don’t know when we’ll ever be given an opportunity like we’ve had—globally and locally—to just focus in on Jesus and what matters and to clear off some of those distractions.

Dannah: The word “revival” is coming up a lot. Is that some of what we should be expectant for and hoping for right now?

Dan: I can’t help but be expectant for that. For twenty years that’s all I’ve prayed for.

Dannah: That’s Pastor Dan Nold.

Nancy: Speaking of pastors, Mark Vroegop joined us on a powerful episode of Grounded to talk about the concept of biblical lament.

Pastor Mark Vroegop: I would define lament as this way: as a prayer in pain that leads to trust. On either side of lament are the ditches of despair and denial. I think a lot of Christians, at first, live in denial. They go through grief, and they think that rejoicing in the Lord means that they deny how hard this really is.

The other side is despair, where people completely give up, and they think, Man, if I feel this way, I must not be a Christian. And what lament does is it balances a belief in God’s sovereignty and yet also recognizing that this is really difficult. It’s a prayer language that takes me through my pain, where I’m able to talk to God honestly about my struggles, but then ends in trust.

So I would commend, just as a starting place, Psalm 13. It’s a short one, and it walks us through kind of the basic structure of lament, which is in general: turn, complain, ask, and trust. So, it’s a way to pray:

• I turn to God in my pain.
• I lay out what’s wrong in bold and stark terms—complain.
• I ask for God to help me.
• And I end in trust.

Nancy: What an important reminder from Pastor Mark Vroegop. He was a recent guest on the new videocast from Revive Our Hearts called Grounded.

And then on each episode of Grounded, we spend time getting grounded in God’s Word. That’s one of my favorite things about this daily program. It’s a way we can look to the Scriptures for perspective and hope.

Here’s a little montage that includes excerpts from Erin Davis, Robyn McKelvy, Dannah Gresh, and Portia Collins, all of whom have been seen recently on Grounded. And, as you listen, just let God’s Word wash over you and maybe ask Him to give you one thing you can hold on to, one thing to meditate on and remember in the day ahead.

Dannah: “My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your Word.” Do you need a little strength right now? Do you feel a little weak? It’s in the pages of Scripture. And then, of course, hope. Verse 49 says, “Remember your word to your servant in which you have made me hope.”

I promise you, you’re not going to find that in the newsfeed. You’re not going to find that on social media. You’re going to find it right here in the pages of God’s Word. No matter how hard this pandemic is hitting you personally, whether you’re in the big center of the storm, or whether you’re through that, and you’re in the eye of the storm, or whether the storm’s not coming directly over you, this is where you’re going to find your hope.

At a time where there’s so much conversation about the economy, so much conversation about the incentive checks, so much conversation about our money; are we as hungry, are we talking about what’s truly of worth than what they’re saying there? And my attitude about the Bible . . . is it that it’s the greater treasure than what’s in my bank?

In times like these, again, the Scriptures are getting to come alive. I’ve said that many times on this program, that I feel like, “Oh, that’s what this means!” When I’m in a time when the economy is failing, is my first concern my bank account? Or am I still prioritizing the Word of God as my greatest treasure?

Erin: 

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (Matt. 6:25–34)

Just six weeks ago had someone called me and said, “Do you trust God with your money?”

 I would have said, “Yes.”

“Do you trust God with your retirement funds?” 

I would have said, “Yes, I trust Him! I do!”

And then COVID-19 hit, and I find myself with crazy fears in the night. I am just worrying about things that a few weeks ago I did not know that worry existed in my heart—worrying that I won’t have enough to take care of my kids. Areas of weak faith have been exposed in my heart through all of this. And that is actually a mercy.

Robyn McKelvy: Don’t put your hope in these riches—they’re uncertain—but put your hope in God. And then, this is the part that gets you: 

They are to do good. To be rich, yes, but be rich in good works. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share. Thus, storing up for treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. (1 Tim 6:18–19)

It doesn’t matter how much money I have. I can be rich because God’s ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. So I can be rich in good works. And that’s the beauty—you don’t have to have a lot of money. You don’t have to have a lot of things. You’re able to just do good because God calls you to do it, and He’s giving you hands and feet to do good.

Everybody has hands and feet. You may not have a whole bank account that has a lot of zeros behind it, but everybody has hands and feet. So lay your treasure in good works. Be the hands and the feet of God.

What else can you do? There are family members you can call. The lady I talked to yesterday who lost her dad in COVID-19, she needed to tell someone her story, and I was able to call on this. And these are good works. Lay your treasure today. Find some way you can lay your treasure in good works.

Be rich—and that’s what I love. When the Scripture comes out and says, “You’re rich!” We know that we’re rich. Because we’re the children of God, we’re rich. But be rich in good works.

Portia Collins: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8)

I think that is something that I hold to firmly when I find myself getting mama bearish and just super filled with worry. When all these negative thoughts and doubts are coming in, I redirect myself to what is true, what is commendable.

And we need God’s Word. We are prone to wander. Our minds are prone to wander. We will just go out . . . I call it jumping down the rabbit hole. We will do that. So we need to stay grounded in the truth of God’s Word, constantly reminding ourselves of what God said and believing that.

Being joy-filled doesn’t necessarily mean that we put on this facade of being happy all the time. I will be completely transparent and say that I’m a woman who has anxiety and depression a great bit of my life.

I think one of the most impactful illustrations in the Bible that we could look at is Job. I wholeheartedly believe that Job had joy in the midst of his suffering. Was he honest? Absolutely. Did he lament? Absolutely. But he still held firm to God, his source. He knew who his source was, and it wasn’t in any person or circumstance or anything that could take that away.

So, for me, I’ve been going through so much with the whole COVID-19, and then my family has been dealing with so much hardship. But, honestly, for me, being joy-filled means I’m continuously reminding myself of the truth of God’s Word and reminding everybody else around me.

There are moments when I cry, when I’m sad. But when I think of God, His goodness and His truth, I have to share this. For me, one of the most joyful things is to share Christ with other women, to share Christ with my family members. And even in the midst of my suffering and everything that I’m dealing with, that brings such an immense amount of joy to me.

Nancy: Well, we’ve been listening to some highlights recently heard on our new daily videocast, Grounded. God has used this program to ground the hearts of His people at a time when many of us have been grounded at home during the pandemic.

And if you haven’t had a chance to watch Grounded, you can go back and review past episodes at our website, ReviveOurHearts.com, or you can find them on the Revive Our Hearts YouTube channel.

Dannah: We’re able to bring you initiatives like Grounded because listeners like you get involved and support Revive Our Hearts financially. When you do, you’re part of stories like this one.

Woman: I want to express my appreciation for Revive Our Hearts. I have enjoyed this ministry for many years. However, the podcasts became especially invaluable to me recently.

At age thirty-nine, I unexpectedly ended up in the hospital for forty-six days. Five surgeries, a stay in ICU, and a very slow recovery created a season of intense suffering. While lying in the ICU alone at night, I would listen to Nancy’s podcasts on trials and suffering. I didn’t have the stamina to read, but in that dark room with chaos swirling around, words of peace washedover me.

Some days, fear and panic would rise up. In those moments, I turned words of truth on from Revive Our Hearts. I played the series “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” countless times. Many nurses overheard your messages, and I hope they were encouraged as much as Iwas.

Nancy: Boy, not only did God provide comfort and peace for this woman, but He used her and those Revive Our Hearts podcasts to speak truth to those nurses. I love that! 

We’re grateful and humbled for the ways the Lord is using this ministry as an avenue to reach hungry-hearted women. The testimonies we’ve been hearing all week are happening because listeners like you who support Revive Our Hearts financially. 

Now, in order to keep these programs going and to expand our outreach to women around the world who are begging for Revive Our Hearts in their language, we’re asking God to meet a need this month.

By the end of May, we are praying for Him to provide $750,000 as we close this fiscal year and begin a new one.

Would you pray and ask God if He would have you to get involved? We understand that this is a very difficult time for many, and, of course, we don’t want you to feel obligated to give to Revive Our Hearts if you’re having trouble making ends meet, or if your church or a neighbor has significant needs that you can help meet. But as the Lord provides for you, and as He prompts, I hope you’ll consider supporting Revive Our Hearts with a donation at this important time. 

You can find out more details at ReviveOurHearts.com. You can also make a donation there online, or you can call us at 1–800–569–5959.

Thanks so much for helping us infuse hope and perspective into the lives of women in your community and all around the world.

Dannah: Have you ever tied a string around your finger to keep from forgetting something? On Monday, Mary Kassian will warn us not to forget something really important when hard times come. 

Thanks for listening today. Have a wonderful, God-honoring weekend. I’m Dannah Gresh. Please be back on Monday for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth wants to help you be grounded in the love of Christ. It’s an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.