Confident in Christ

Dannah Gresh: Revive Our Hearts is brought to you in part by members of the Revive Partner Team, friends like Chris.

Chris: Hi. My name is Chris, and I live in Mississippi. My faith has been nurtured through this ministry since 2004. The teaching is always practical, encouraging, and scripturally based. I’ve been a Ministry Partner now for several years, and what I really love about that is I get to be a part of helping other women to grow in their love for God and His Word, and to also make Him known to those around them.

Dannah: When her mother was diagnosed with cancer, Mary Kassian was shaken, but her mom? Well, she displayed a quiet confidence in Jesus.

Mary Kassian: “Mary,” she said, “The Lord is always faithful to deliver. He delivered me through the dangers of war, through starvation as a refugee, through poverty, struggle, loneliness as an immigrant. He has been faithful every step of the way, through every impossible moment. So why should I doubt His faithfulness now?”

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, co-author of You Can Trust God to Write Your Story, for June 30, 2026. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Is true, lasting confidence in God truly possible? When the world around us is chaotic, when our circumstances feel like shifting sands, how do we stand assured in Him? Mary Kassian wants to help you answer these questions today.

We’re listening to the second half of her message from the Seen Conference in Alberta, Canada, a message that was all about becoming steadfast and stable in Christ. Yesterday she opened Psalm 34 and pointed out two marks of an unshakable woman. You can go back and listen to that episode at ReviveOurHearts.com or on the Revive Our Hearts app. Today she’s giving us the third and final mark.

Mary: Finally, an unshakable woman is confident. She stands firm on the promises of God. Verse 19–22:

One who is righteous has many adversities (or troubles or afflictions), but the LORD rescues him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The LORD redeems the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.

Do you not think that being a Christian means that you will live a painless, easy, trouble-free life? On the contrary, this stanza begins with a hard truth: we will face troubles, and not only that, our troubles may be many. A righteous person may have many troubles. And then comes the pivot, a small word with this incredible power. . . “But the LORD delivers him from them all.”

Now, God doesn’t promise a trouble-free life, but He does promise deliverance. Notice the verb here. It’s not “He will deliver,” or “He delivered.” It’s “He delivers.” That’s an imperfect verb. That means that it’s not confined to past, present, or future. His deliverance is an action in progress. It’s unfolding. It’s ongoing. It’s continuous.

The reason you can take this promise to the bank is found in the next sentence. “He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.”

What? Huh? No broken bones? I just about broke a bone when I fell off that pier (I may have cracked it.) My youngest son, Jonathan, broke his arm several times—same arm—three times. It was broken so badly that he needed a rod surgically inserted to make it heal straight. It’s not just athletes that end up in the emergency room with broken bones. So what on earth are we talking about here?

Now, if you’re taking notes, or you like to mark your Bible, I want you to highlight verse 20: “He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.” And beside it, I want you to write the reference of two verses: Exodus 12:46 and John 19:36.

So the Lord promises to deliver His people, to rescue His people. And then He gives a clear hint of how. So verse 20 holds an astonishing prophetic, connect-the-dots, game-changing, breath-taking promise of a Deliverer. Let me explain.

When the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, God sent a series of plagues to compel Pharaoh to set them free. The final plague was devastating: The death of every firstborn son in Egypt. But . . . God provided a way of escape: the angel of death passed over the homes marked with the blood of the lamb, and that night, God’s people were spared.

And from then on they remembered His rescue through a yearly celebration called the Passover. For the Passover, each family had to choose a young, perfect male lamb without blemish or defect. Every detail mattered. Every command carried meaning. And Exodus 12:42 notes another striking detail: not a single bone of that lamb was to be broken—not during the preparation and not during the Passover celebration.

Okay. So fast forward to the cross. Crucifixion was brutal. Men were often dismembered or had their legs broken before burial. Yet when the soldiers came to Jesus, they found Him already dead, and they did not break His legs.

So John 19:36 makes it clear: These things happened so the Scripture would be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones will be broken.”

The Passover lamb was a shadow. Jesus is the substance. He fulfilled what the shadow promised. David had no idea what he was writing about, but the Holy Spirit, through him, was saying, “There’s a Deliverer.”

Through the Passover lamb, the Lord provided deliverance. In Jesus, He provides a Deliverer. We can stand firm. We can stand steady and confident and unshaken because our Deliverer has come. And the one who it says here in verse 22, “Redeems the life of his servants.”

Now, to redeem is “to buy back, to rescue, or to restore by paying a price.” At its most basic level, the Hebrew root means “to transfer ownership.” When you redeem something, you transfer ownership of it. You set something free from bondage by paying what’s owed. So, in the ancient world, if somebody fell into debt or into slavery, a redeemer, often a close relative, could step in, pay the ransom and buy back their freedom.

That’s exactly what God did for us. Sin keeps us captive. It keeps us enslaved. We are unable to free ourselves. We cannot pay the debt. But Jesus paid the price to redeem us. He buys us out of slavery and restores us to God. But redemption is bigger than that. It’s much bigger. Scripture redemption is not only about rescuing souls. It’s about God rewriting, redeeming the whole entire story.

Just think of Joseph who said to his brothers after their betrayal: “What you intended for evil, God intended for good.” So Joseph recognized that even sinful, evil, harmful actions are redeemed. They’re woven by God into a story that ends with life and blessing and purpose.

And that’s what God does. He takes pain and evil and tragedy and loss and hardship, and He flips the story on its head. He buys the storyline back. We know “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,” said Paul.

So no matter how nasty or chaotic or broken your life feels, you can trust God to write your story. Every twist, every turn, every chapter, every line, He redeems it and changes it into something beautiful and eternal.

And, again, notice the verb. It’s not, “He has redeemed,” nor “He will redeem.” But “He redeems.” His redemption is ongoing. It’s an action in progress. It’s unfolding. It’s ongoing. It’s continuous. He’s weaving an intricate, exquisite tapestry, glimpses of which we only see from its unfinished side.

My friend John Piper is fond of saying, “God is always doing ten thousand things in your life, and you may be aware of three.” The Lord rescues. The Lord redeems. And because He redeems, you can trust Him to write your story.

• When the tasks are too many and the time is too short, He redeems.
• When the bank account is empty, and the bill is due tomorrow, He redeems.
• When the crash comes out of nowhere and damages more than steel, He redeems.
• When the doppler monitor cannot find a heartbeat, He redeems.
• When conflict tears a gaping fissure through a cherished relationship, He redeems.
• When the acid of slander brings a caustic hole through your gut, He redeems.
• When the trial slices through your chest like a jagged blade, He redeems.
• Stunned by the diagnosis that sentences your child to a lifetime of struggle, He redeems.
• Holding her tight, praying for mercy as the death rattle rocks every breath, He redeems.
• Trembling in disbelief as you receive news of the unspeakable tragedy, He redeems.
• When pain and exhaustion blurs the edges of day and torments you at night, He redeems.
• When hope feels like a language you’ve forgotten how to speak, He redeems.

I’ll never forget the conversation I had with my mom after she received the diagnosis of ovarian cancer. I was distraught. I knew what that meant. I knew it was going to be a lot to go through a hysterectomy and go through treatment. So I was kind of flipping out a little bit, but she was calm, and she was confident.

“Mary,” she said, “The Lord is always faithful to deliver. He delivered me through the dangers of war, through starvation as a refugee, through poverty, struggle, loneliness as an immigrant. He has been faithful every step of the way, through every impossible moment. So why should I doubt His faithfulness now?”

Psalm 34 indicates that we can remain unshakable. Confident. Even when we step into a sticky, slimy, mucky, utterly awful mess, we can be constant anchored in the fear of the Lord. We can be courageous, strengthened by the nearness of God. We can be confident standing on the promises of God.

You can bow your heads because I want to take this home, and I want you only to stand right now if you’re going through a tough time, and you need a little bit of constancy, some courage, and some confidence. Would you do that? Just bow your heads, and if you’re going through a tough time, would you stand, please?

These sisters came here this weekend in need of some oxygen so they could breathe. So we’re just going to hold them up cause we’ve all been there. And if we haven’t been there, we will be. And if we have been already, well, believe me, we will be again. Let’s just cry out to God on their behalf. God’s face is turned toward each one of us.

Holy God, I just pray for my sisters. I pray, Lord, that You will strengthen them. Give them hope where they don’t feel hope. Keep them constant when they feel shaken. Where the problem is just so big and so long and so hard and so all-consuming, may they look at You and see You as bigger, and see Your goodness, see Your love, see Your kindness and know that You know the end to this story. It’s already been written.

Father, I pray that You will infuse them with confidence. Not confidence that they’ve got what it takes, but confidence that You are near. Confidence that You are holding them. Confidence that when they cannot take another step, You’ve got their back.

Confidence that when the tears run out and they just keep coming still, that You’ve got every one of them in Your bottle, that there’s not been a cry You have not heard. There has not been an ache You have not felt. There has not been a sleepless night where You have not been with them through that night. You’re so good.

Let’s all stand. I want to just end as we end our time with just a sense of the goodness of God. “Taste and see.” God is so good. He’s good in the good times, and He’s good in the yucky times. He’s good whether we perceive Him to be good, or we don’t perceive Him to be good, or whether we are going through a hard time or not. He is good. And we invite you to taste and see.

You can be a woman who is unshakable, a woman who is constant, a woman who is filled with courage, a woman who is confident. That’s what we want you to walk away with, that certainty of being grounded in Christ because God is good. Will you say it with me? “God is good. All the time, God is good.” Amen.

Dannah: Wow! Don’t you just feel like you were in the room that day as the sisters in Christ laid hands on one another and prayed for constancy, courage and confidence in the Lord? What a powerful thing it is to lift one another up.

You know, we may not be in the same room together, but our team would still love to pray for you. If you’re dealing with some tough circumstances, would you let us know at ReviveOurHearts.com/prayer. You can offer as much or as little detail as you choose when you make a prayer request there. And no matter what, we would just love to hear from you.

I am so grateful for Mary Kassian’s message on the three marks of an unshakable woman. That’s what we want to be. That’s what I want to be. And Psalm 34 assures us it’s possible.

This chapter has been so full of riches for us, and the rest of the psalms are, too. And you know what? Today is the last day we’ll be mentioning Dwell: Thirty days with God in the Psalms. This is Nancy’s classic devotional resource, but it’s freshly updated. It is filled with timeless biblical truth. If you’ve enjoyed our June summer in the Psalms theme, it’s a perfect way to keep that going.

To give and request Dwell, visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

Well, tomorrow is a new month. Can you even believe it? July is going to be all about true womanhood, and my friend, buckle up because we have some huge announcements coming tomorrow. I’m talking a new resource from Mary Kassian, a brand-new teaching series answering one of our world’s most unanswered questions, and an announcement about early registration for an event I know so many of you love. You’re going to want to be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Now, yesterday we listened to a little bit of Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s teaching from Psalm 34. To wrap up our time together. I’d love to spend a few minutes with her today teaching from the same passage as Mary but from her unique perspective. 

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: So where do we run to find refuge from condemnation, the condemnation we deserve for our sins? There is only one place to run—to Him, to Christ. Christ is our refuge. Christ is our protection from the wrath of God. He is the one who can preserve us, and the only one who can preserve us from the consequences of our guilt.

We're all guilty. We all deserve to die. It's no wonder that people on this planet are feeling hopeless. We’re under God's condemnation. But our hope—and isn't that what people are looking for today, hope?—is found in fleeing to Christ for safety. 

How can He protect us from condemnation? Because when He went to the cross, and died on that cross that we call Calvary, He took our guilt. He took our punishment. He died the death that we deserved for our sin.

And that's why the apostle Paul could say to the Romans, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). He says at the end of that chapter, “Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (vv. 33–34).

None of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. Christ died for us. He was raised for us. He intercedes for us in heaven.

So what does all that have to do with meltdowns? Well, the starting place for dealing with every issue in life, the starting place is to look to Christ, to flee to Him. We need daily, moment by moment, to preach the gospel to ourselves.

When you know that you've been delivered from condemnation, from eternal condemnation, you've got the answer to life's biggest problem. And in comparison with that, whatever your other problems are, nothing else really matters a whole lot.

You see, that last phrase of Psalm 34 puts everything in perspective. "None of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned." You get that part solved, and you can go through the rest of life holding your head high. You can face what life throws at you because you have fled to Christ for refuge, and you know there is no condemnation. Life's biggest issue is settled.

O Father, I lift up to You today, sisters and any brothers who may be listening as well, who are just facing hard times, discouraged, feeling hopeless, discouraged, oppressed, depressed, weary, weary in the battle. And whether it’s because of gray skies or something much, much larger than that, thank You, Lord, that when it comes to the major things in life, for those who are in Christ, the issue is settled. There is no condemnation.

So help us, Lord, not only for our salvation, but for all of life, to flee to Christ for refuge, and to find in Him safety and security and confidence and joy. May we realize how very alive we are, even in the midst of difficult circumstances because we have fled to Christ for refuge. We pray in His wonderful name, amen.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

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