Hope in the Midst of the Hard

Dannah Gresh: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth says it’s easy to praise God when He answers our prayers the way we think He should. But . . .

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: You have no guarantee that the burden you're carrying right now— the tribulation you're going through—will be solved in the ways that you hope it will. But what you do have is a guarantee that Heaven rules and that God does all things well.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Heaven Rules, for May 15, 2026. I’m Dannah Gresh.

We’re encouraging everyone to read through the Bible this year. If you’re following the Revive Our Hearts reading plan, there are ways to receive daily encouragement along the way, to submit comments, and to read the comments of people from all over the world who are reading the same passages you are. All the information is available at ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026. 

You might be thinking, It’s the middle of the year, I can’t join now. That would not be true. In fact, the summer would be a great time for you to push reset on your Bible reading habits. You can jump right on in with use where we are. Again, you can sign up at ReviveOurHearts.com/Bible2026.

Do you ever look at the world we’re living in and get depressed or discouraged? It can seem like we’ve slipped back into the days of the Judges, with people everywhere doing what’s right in their own eyes. Maybe you’re facing a severe trial that’s draining you of energy and tempting you to give up on God. You need hope in the midst of the hard.

God has a word for you. It’s in the life of what we might call an “un-hero.” Here’s Nancy to explain. She’s teaching in Judges chapter 6.

Nancy: Verse 11 of chapter 6: 

The angel of the LORD came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezite. [This was a man from a town that was in the tribe of Manasseh.] His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said [to this terrified man], “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.” (vv. 11–12)

This is laughable, because Gideon was anything but a valiant warrior. Here he is, fearful and timid, hiding, trying to thresh wheat down in a winepress, which is not going to be very effective. But he's promised by the angel of the Lord that the Lord would be with him, that the Lord would work in him and through him, and would make him into a bold, courageous man who would deliver God's people from their oppression. Well, verse 14: 

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have [little, itty, bitty strength, or big strength that God is giving you] and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you.”

Now, Gideon’s first assignment didn't begin out on a battlefield, it began at home, because his father had an altar to Baal and a pole that had been used in the worship of Baal's female consort, Asherah. The Lord told him to tear down the altar, to cut down the pole, and to build an altar to the Lord in their place. Gideon did what the Lord had told him to do, but notice that he did it at night, because he was fearful of his family and of the men of the city. 

Well, in verse 33 we see this coalition of Midianites and Amalekites and others that gathered together—the enemies of God's people. They crossed over the Jordan, and they camped out in a place called the Valley of Jezreel. This is in northern Israel. In some other places in Scripture it's called the Valley of Megiddo. It's where scholars believe that the battle of Armageddon will take place in the last days before Jesus comes to reign and rule over this earth. It's a site of numerous battles. 

So this massive coalition of God's enemies—Midianites, Amalekites, and others—come and gather together in this Valley of Jezreel. Look at verse 34 of chapter 6: 

The Spirit of the LORD enveloped Gideon.

It is said of four judges in this book that the Spirit of the Lord came upon them. But the word here is a little different. Literally it means “clothed.” One translation says the Spirit of the Lord “covered Gideon like clothing” (NASB).

As I read that, I think, O Lord, I want to be clothed with Your Spirit. I want to be covered with Your Spirit. I want to be empowered for service by your Holy Spirit—filling me, resting upon me, clothing me with Yourself.

Dannah: You’re getting a sneak peek at an upcoming program for the Wonder of the Word project where Nancy will teach through the whole Bible. She’ll have more to say about Gideon and other characters in the book of Judges when she covers it next year. 

Think about it. Gideon wasn’t exactly a picture of bravery and courage. But the Lord graciously and patiently kept helping him in his journey of learning to trust Him. 

A little later in that same program on Gideon, Nancy went on to say this:

Nancy: So we come to the next paragraph, and God gives Gideon one further bit of reassurance before he goes into the battle. The Lord sent Gideon down into the Midianite camp at night, and that's where he overheard a man, one of the Midianite men, telling a buddy about a dream. Look at verse 13 of chapter 7. 

“A loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp [in this dream], struck a tent, and it fell. [It was a big loaf of bread.] The loaf turned the tent upside down so that it collapsed.” [That was his dream.] His friend [his buddy] answered, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has handed the entire Midianite army over to him.” When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to Israel's camp and said, “Get up, for the LORD has handed the Midianite army over to you.” (vv. 13–15) 

There's going to be a victory in this battle, a massive victory. But before there's a victory, there's going to be worship and faith. You see, we want to worship God and exercise faith in the rearview after the battle's done and we've seen the outcome. But here Gideon worships. He believes God, and He encourages God's people to believe Him before they can see the outcome. 

Dannah: I want you to hear now from a listener who heard Nancy’s teaching as she was recording it.

Elizabeth Morrison: My name is Elizabeth, and I'm going through a prolonged trial. The part about Gideon and how he was kind of a coward but when the Spirit of the Lord enveloped him and how he worshiped before the victory, that spoke to me. 

I'm asking God to increase my faith, but I still battle living like I don't have a king on the throne who will make things right. So like you said how we want to believe God and worship after the victory, I am very much looking forward to the day when I will worship and see how God works for good what is hard right now. I want God to increase my faith to worship and believe it so that I can walk in more faith and joy in the midst

Nancy: Thank you. You know, worship and faith in those circumstances doesn't mean that we're assured that the situation is going to turn out as we hope it will or as it should. There's no guarantee that that mom I was just talking about, that her husband is going to repent and return. He's doing everything to go against God and His Word. 

But here's what we do know: we have the promises of God. That's what Gideon saw down in that valley or heard when that dream was told in the interpretation. God let him hear that so he could get a glimpse that in the end it would be right. 

We have God's promises that in the end it will all be right. And . . . it will all be all right. So that's what we cling to sometimes with raw, naked faith; when we can't see anything reassuring, and we didn't hear that dream that somebody else had, that gives us the final answer. We don't know how the circumstances are going to end. It may be that they end terribly, but that's not the end-end. 

What causes us to worship and believe is knowing that in the end God will be glorified. We will look back, and we will say that God's will was right. God was right. God was good. He protected me. He cared for me. He provided for me. My king has done all things well. We will not doubt that in the end.

So, we're sitting on this side of that circumstance and this side of that mountain, and we're saying I'm gonna choose to trust God now for what that which I cannot currently see. But I know that in the end my King wins and it will be right. Anybody can praise and worship God and believe when they've seen the answer come, when it's all been fixed, or they've got a pretty bow on the picture of the problem and it's all been solved. 

But you have no guarantee that the burden you're carrying right now, that the tribulation you're going through will be solved in the ways that you hope it will. What you do have is a guarantee that heaven rules and that God does all things well and that you will look back in time and say, “Why didn't I worship? Why didn't I trust?” 

Now, I get that all of us have times when we don't worship and we don't trust. But we're going to look back, and none of us are gonna say, “I shouldn't have worshiped Him so much,” or “I shouldn't have trusted God so much—He blew it!” 

No! There's gonna be none of that at the end! We're gonna say, “You know what? God could have been trusted. He could be trusted to write my story. I could have worshipped Him then as I am now.” Let's do it now and not just then. I think that's the lesson from Gideon's story.

Dannah: Encouraging words from Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, responding to a listener named Elizabeth. 

Gideon was a judge in ancient Israel at a time when evil was rampant, and the Israelites were suffering as a result of their own choices. Even the judges themselves were deeply flawed. Nancy has this reminder for us related to that, again, from the book of Judges.

Nancy: This is a book about the absence of a king. There was no king in those days, and a series of judges who were a mixed bag, some better than others, but there were many failures and faults and flaws in these judges. There are several things that we see in this book about human leaders that I've been pondering, as I've been meditating on Judges. Let me just read several of these sentences to you. 

First, God gives people rulers and leaders that reflect the condition of the people. Remember that when you're tempted, as I often am, to complain about bad political or spiritual leaders. God gives us leaders who reflect the condition and the hearts of the people they serve.

Number two, the lack of good and wise leaders is an evidence of God's judgment on people who are bent on going their own way and sinning. God's judgment isn't just that He comes and wipes us out. At some point, there will be cataclysmic judgment on evildoers and evil in our world. But sometimes that judgment is just God giving us bad leaders. 

Here's the third statement: the lack of leaders who are grounded in truth leads to people living by their own truth—your truth, my truth, everyone has their truth. This inevitably leads to confusion, chaos, and ultimately, anarchy.

Number four, God sometimes chooses and uses deeply flawed leaders as human instruments to accomplish His holy purposes. All leaders have weaknesses, faults, and flaws. Remember none of them can save us and deliver us . . . only God can do that. 

Here's a fifth sentence. Even the best human rulers are a pale reflection of the righteous rule of Christ. So, you have a good and godly husband, you have good and godly pastor, but the best of human rulers are just a pale reflection of the righteous rule of Christ. 

And then number six, both the best and the worst of earthly leaders point to our need for King Jesus. The lack of righteous rulers that we see all around us and all around the world, the lack of righteous rulers reminds us that we need a King, capital K, and His name is Jesus. 

Dannah: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, with some commentary on the book of Judges. A listener named Chiree heard Nancy say that. Here’s what ministered to her.

Chiree Patterson: So much, Nancy, from the book of Judges. Thank you. I think as I was listening to it—it's not pleasant, and it's not easy. And unfortunately, it's reality for earth. This just brings us to the book of Revelation. You've been so faithful to paint such a realistic picture of humanity, but then always point us to the King of kings and the Righteous Judge. Going to Revelation chapter 19: 

Then I saw heaven open to behold a white horse one sitting on is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. (v. 11 paraphrase) 

That has comforted me for the last ten years since you walked us through a really difficult trial. God just has been faithful to use your voice and His Word to remind us that one day all things will be made right and that He is the one that can be trusted. Also, that we can absolutely depend on fallen man to fall and to abuse and to harm, but He is never that way. So thank you for that! 

I want to continue looking to the Lord in perilous times, but the end of the story is not here. We know the end of the story, where He will win. So thank you for that. 

Nancy: Yes. Beautiful, thank you. Trust in His goodness when you can't see it.

Dannah: We’re listening to a few women sharing how the Holy Spirit spoke to them through the Scriptures in a recent recording session where Nancy was talking about the Old Testament book of Judges. Let’s hear from Sarah next.

Sarah Booth: Hi, my name is Sarah. One of the things I was thinking about when you talked about that cycle seven times of: the disobedience, then the discipline, then the desperation, and then the deliverance.

Nancy: I’ve seen it said with four different words starting with s: sin, servitude, supplication, and salvation. 

Sarah: After the deliverance you would think they would have learned their lesson and they would have been fine. But . . . then it’s right back into disobedience and discipline.

You pointed out how the generation that knew Joshua and the generation after that had learned, but then it's like they forgot. 

Nancy: We’ve been blessed by God, but we’ve forgotten God. That’s how you can describe the era of the judges.

Sarah: As I thought about the second, it almost made me angry. Like, after all that deliverance—over and over and over—how could you be so ungrateful and go right back into disobedience to the God who had rescued you again and again and again?! 

Nancy: You’re going to see this cycle: people turn from God, they followed after other gods, then God turns His people over to their enemies (discipline), then they groaned over their oppression out of desperation, and then God sent judges to deliver or to save them.

Sarah: Which again just points the finger right back to myself. How can I who has been delivered by a Savior, how can I ever go back into ever disobeying Him? 

It reminded me also of your book on gratitude when you had another alliterated thing—guilt and grace and gratitude.

Nancy: We start with our guilt. We are guilty sinners before a holy God. All we deserve is God’s judgment, His wrath. We are born sinners. We sin because we are sinners. We are born as rebels against God. We are guilty before God. We deserve His judgment and His wrath.

But instead of giving us His wrath, God has offered to us, has extended to us His grace, His favor because Christ was willing to take the payment, the penalty, the judgment, the wrath that we deserved for our sins. He took our guilt upon Himself on the cross.

So instead of pouring out His judgment on us for our guilt, God has poured out His grace upon us. He has received us into His family as His children. He has bestowed upon us the righteousness of Christ. This is unbelievable grace.

So when we realize we are guilty, and instead of giving us the wrath we deserve, God has poured out His grace upon us, what’s going to flow out from our hearts? It’s going to be gratitude—not grouchiness, but gratitude. Lord, you’ve given me what I don’t deserve. You haven’t given me what I do deserve.

Of all people who should be grateful, it should be those of us who have received the grace of God.

And then what flows out of our gratitude is another g—generosity. Guilt + grace results in gratitude. And grateful people, people who have been filled with the grace of God become generous people—because they have been given so much. They have a lot to share. They are happy and joyful to share with others to be generous because God has been so generous with them. 

Sarah: I think that makes such a difference. The desperation reminds me of the guilt part, the deliverance of the grace. Instead of then going right back into disobedience, I think if we can focus on that next step of gratitude and keeping our eyes on the cross and on what He did for us, being grateful for that, and then teaching that to our kids, and keep on pointing them to the cross.

I think if we can keep our eyes on that deliverance and be grateful for it I think it will help us be less likely to turn back into that path of disobedience But to be continuing to live in obedience out of gratitude and love for the one who did so much to deliver us So thank you for that reminder.

Nancy: Oh, thank you, Sarah—so sweet, so good.

Dannah: Sarah Booth has been a longtime listener of Revive Our Hearts. She came a long way to listen to Nancy that day in the studio. Sarah and her husband are missionaries in Portugal. In fact, she shared some of her story with Nancy.

Sarah: It started with my mom who listened to Elisabeth Elliot's program, Gateway to Joy, and she listened to it faithfully. 

I remember one day I came home from college break, and she told me they have this new young person who's taken over a program, and now it's called Revive Our Hearts, and it was you. 

Bob Lepine: Nancy, welcome to your own program.

Nancy: Well, this is a very exciting day, and the Lord has in so many ways been preparing all of us for this day.

Bob: Let's go back to the beginning of that. You actually came to faith in Christ earlier than most, didn't you?

Nancy: I did. Actually, receiving Christ and trusting Him as my Savior is my first conscious memory.

Sarah: She immediately was listening to your program as well. There had been quotes of Elisabeth Elliot on our refrigerator and other things, and then very soon books like Lies Women Believe, and other things like that started to appear in our home. And so, it really started with my mom being fed through your program over the years.

Nancy (on air): We replace the lies with the truth. The truth is that God is good. He is good.

Sarah: After I finished college, I became a teacher. Thankfully, my job had me working at more than one school. My lunch break where I had to drive from one school to the other was exactly at the moment that your program was on the radio. And so as I drove, I'd hear the first half of your program in the car. Then I'd sit in the car with my packed lunch and I'd quickly eat the rest of my lunch in the car while I could hear the rest of your program. 

It was the year before I got married, and you helped me grow so much teaching on the Proverbs 31 woman and other things like that. I really, really grew just like my mom grew a lot through your program.

Nancy (on air): We think about being an excellent or virtuous woman, a woman of great spiritual strength and character, there is a sense in which that is a past accomplishment. When we become a child of God, in Christ, as God sees us, we’re perfect. We have the righteousness of Christ. 

There is a sense in which He has made us, past tense, already that excellent, virtuous person. The challenge here is to live like who you are, to live out the reality of who you are in Christ.

But then there is a present, ongoing sense that we are becoming this kind of woman. It’s progressive. It’s the outworking and the development of what God has already been putting in our hearts if we are children of God—cultivating who we are in Christ.

Then, this is what really encourages me: there’s a yet future sense when it comes to being an excellent woman, a virtuous woman. That’s what we can look forward to. It’s that final, completed state where we are glorified, we are sanctified, we are perfect, we are mature.

As we are in process, we can look forward to the time where God is making us into that woman.

Sarah: When we moved to Portugal, I didn't have a radio station where I could hear you, but thankfully, through technology improving, eventually I was able to get a phone where I could start listening to your podcasts. That's helped me in a huge way as a wife and now a mother. And honestly, there's so many days of giving out to others that for you I felt like you've been like a Sunday school teacher to me or somebody who's been pouring into me as I try to pour into other people.

Nancy (on air): Don’t underestimate the significance of your faithfulness to God in this season of life. You may think, My life is obscure. It’s not touching anybody. I’m at home with these three, little kids all day long, day in and day out. My life’s not touching anybody.

Anna may have thought that for years. My life’s not touching anybody. Here’s this widow, alone; yet her life is touching us today in God’s providence. It’s been preserved for us.

Your life will go on and bear fruit, potentially for generations to come, if you will be faithful to God in whatever season He has placed you now and in whatever seasons He has ahead for you.

Sarah: You've influenced three generations of my family. Now my daughter's got your books. She's doing some of the studies. My son got the Lies Boys Believe book this year for Christmas. Of all the toys that he'd asked for and anything else, that book was his favorite gift that he got for Christmas. 

He came up and apologized. He's like, “Mom, I know I was supposed to read this little by little, but I read the whole thing in two days. I'm sorry.” He loves it. And so, like I said, three generations of my family, you guys have influenced, and now the people that were ministering to in Portugal are being influenced too. 

[Audio from Revive Our Hearts, Portuguese]

Sarah: Now so many of the resources are in Portuguese. I'm so thankful that you guys have done this because before I would try to take what I learned and explain it to the ladies. But to have now the podcast directly in their language, many of the books and resources in their language . . . I've had ladies in our church come up to me with tears in their eyes and just be like, “Oh, Sarah, that podcast . . .!” They are getting so blessed by these resources as well.

Thank you so much for investing in all of us.

Nancy: Wow, so precious! Thank you for sharing that. I hear that you're one of our Revive Partners. Is that fact or fiction?

Sarah: Yeah, I'm a partner too.

Nancy: Tell us why you decided to become a partner.

Sarah: I don't know, I called in one time to say how I felt listening to your program. I felt like I was mooching off of you because it was free. If I wanted to watch something on TV or Netflix or something I would have had to pay for it, and I was like, “I listen to this all the time. I've never once paid a penny for listening to this!” God just really convicted me. 

One of the times you guys were mentioning the big need that you had financially. I talked with my husband, and he agreed. Ever since then we've been monthly partners, because if we can pay for other stuff to watch on other streaming programs that's not worth anything that's one thing; but this is spiritually impacting all of us, so it's definitely been worth investing in. So, thank you.

Nancy: Well, thank you. How precious and sweet that you would come all the way to be a part of our day and to let us meet you and to hear a little bit about your story. Just precious. Thank you for sharing that.

Dannah: It’s so good to hear from one of our Revive Partners, who’s also a missionary in Portugal. A Revive Partner is someone who commits to supporting Revive Our Hearts each month, with your prayers and financial giving. 

And just a quick reminder to you if you’re a Revive Partner. Next month we’re hosting a special gathering for you. It’s our way to say thank you for being a Revive Partner. You’ll be encouraged from God’s Word, and you’ll hear more of what He’s doing through Revive Our Hearts. That’s in addition to the bonus Revive Our Hearts resources you have access to on an ongoing basis. Thank you so much for giving! There’s more information about being a Revive Partner at ReviveOurHearts.com/partners. 

Even if you’ve only made a donation to Revive Our Hearts once or twice, you’re helping us reach women like Sarah in Portugal and her mom since 2001. I love it that now three generations in Sarah’s family have been impacted by Revive Our Hearts.

Thank you for praying! Thank you for giving! Your donation at this time is critical for helping us continue reaching women like Elizabeth, Chiree, and Sarah. We’re asking the Lord to provide $1.4 million dollars here in the month of May. Yes, that sounds like a lot, but if each listener gave even a small amount, we would more than meet that goal. 

Maybe you identify with Sarah, who appreciated the spiritual nourishment she was getting so much that she felt like she wanted to chip in and give back.

Friend, would you pray about how much the Lord might want you to give? Then contact us to make a donation. You can do that by calling 1-800-569-5959, or by heading to ReviveOurHearts.com. 

As a thank you, we’ll send you a copy of Called to Thrive, a new booklet from Nancy that’s a personal guide to living in freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. Request it when you make your donation of any amount. 

Today we’ve done our best to point you toward the hope we have in Jesus—hope in the midst of the hard. 

Next week Nancy begins a series looking at what she calls “Indispensable Ingredients for Life.” She’ll draw them from the Old Testament character, Joshua. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and can be back on Monday for Revive Our Hearts.

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.