Looking to Jesus in the Midst of Change

This episode contains portions from the following programs:

"You Can Stay Grounded Through Change"

"Behold the Word in Every Season"

"But Now I See"

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Dannah Gresh: After years of always having weekly help on the farm, I suddenly find myself without it. I haven’t quite found the right person . . . yet. I’m still praying!

Which means the stall mucking, the weed pulling, thewater trough scrubbing, and all those other glamorous farm chores? They’re mine. Well . . . they're ours. My husband, whom I playfully call “Farmer Bob” won’t let me muck alone!

I figured I had two choices: I could be bummed about all the extra work, or I could use the change to learn something fun.

So this summer, I learned to drive Farmer Bob’s tractor. Oh yes, I did.

And I’m not talking about the cute little John Deere we use to mow the lawn. I mean the great big BIG utility tractor. 

As it turns out, some change can actually be fun, but not all of it is. Some change feels less like climbing onto a tractor and more like having the ground shift underneath your feet. That happens when a child leaves home, a friendship changes, your health takes an unexpected turn, a season you loved comes to an end.

We don’t always get to choose the changes that come into our lives, but we do get to choose how we face them . . . and who we face it with. Because let me tell you something I've learned: when life changes, God doesn’t. 

I’m your host, Dannah Gresh. You’re listening to Revive Our Hearts Weekend. 

When I think about looking to Jesus in the midst of change, I can’t help but remember the words of my sweet friend, Erin Davis, on our very last episode of Grounded. Now, if you’re not familiar, Grounded was a weekly videocast hosted by me, Erin, and Portia Collins. Back in 2024, God was leading us into new seasons as hosts, and that meant saying goodbye to this weekly videocast we loved so much. As we closed out our final episode, Erin encouraged us with truth from God’s Word about change. Here’s what she wanted our listeners to know.

Erin Davis: Change is constant. So, is God. Isn't that a comforting thought? 

As soon as we finish recording this episode of Grounded, I will turn off the lights and cameras I use to record Grounded. I will celebrate the gifts and sacrifices of the Grounded team, who I have had the joy of serving beside week after week, month after month, year after year, for over 200 episodes. I will close my laptop. I will flip off the light switch in my little studio slash office. And I will head into a brand-new season of life, one that I am sure the Lord has ordained for me, so sure. But that doesn't mean that it isn't filled with countless unknowns. 

But I am not afraid. I am not spinning wildly out of control. I am not anxious about tomorrow or the day after that or the day after that. Because, you see, Grounded is not a podcast. It is a reality for those of us who live our lives on the granite foundation of Jesus. I'll tell you a little bit more in a moment about the changes in my life, but I don't want to talk about me. I want to talk about Jesus. You've heard that over and over from our team. That's what Grounded has always been about, and that is what Grounded is about as we make this transition. Jesus told us, of course, that we could build our lives on Him and be safe. 

Listen to Matthew 7:24–27, Jesus' words here. 

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. 

There's many parts of the world for which rain is a season. I'll talk about this as our rainy season. There are parts of the world where even floods are a season. There are parts of the world where windiness increases for a season. And by God's meticulous and sometimes mysterious design, those seasons of intensity are necessary for the coming seasons of abundance.

But if your house is not built on the rock, any change of season will upend you, and here's why: because it will expose that your life was built on predictability, that your life was built on the false sense that you are in control. Is that shifting sand! Or that your life was built on things going your way, according to your plan. Sand, every bit of it. It could never hold you up. So, if changes in your life have exposed that you are on a foundation of sand, it's actually a tremendous mercy. 

Did you notice whether you built your house on the rock or on the sand? The rain is coming; your house is going to get pummeled. You're going to be shook at one point or another. And God mercifully prepares you by exposing your sandy foundation. He's preparing you so that the next time the rain comes, you make a different choice, and you build your house on Him. 

We can be women of hope in every season. And man, what a witness to the world that is—women who are unshakably calm. Not because we are so stoic, not because we are blind to what's happening around us, but we are unshakably calm in every season, in the midst of every change, because of who our life is built on. 

Listen again to Jesus' words from Matthew 7:24–25: 

Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man [You won't mind, I don't think, if I say wise woman] who built her house on the rock, and the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. 

Did not fall. What a beautiful thought. Did not fall. I can endure this changing season, but I'm not going to fall. I can endure this hard thing, but I'm not going to fall. I might feel like I'm in a free fall, but I'm not. I'm not going to fall. Why? Because my life is founded, grounded on the rock, and the rock is not a place. The rock is not a circumstance. 

Listen to Psalm 18:2. 

The Lord is my rock and my fortress, [this is SO important] and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 

I've been holding on to three little words out of Hebrews 1. They are this: “but he remains.” It's about Jesus and the fact that His throne will remain forever. His rule will remain forever. His love will remain forever. That's why He's our rock. That's why He's our fortress. Your body's going to change—you already know that! At some point, your job's going to change. Your family is going to change. I think probably for all of us, our families change in ways that we don't like. Our world is changing in ways none of us feel good about. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

And because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, His goodness and His mercy will dog us all the way to glory. His gifts are going to remain constant. You can bank on it. You can count on it. You can set your feet on the rock and be confident that your hope will not be put to shame, because hope is not a place. Hope is not an idea. Hope is not a platitude. Hope is a person, and we can build our life on Him. 

Jesus' character will remain constant. He cannot change. Not only will He, He cannot. Jesus' love will remain constant. It doesn't go up or down based on your circumstances. It's everlasting from before He poured the foundations of the world. He loves you. He always has. He always will. His will, will remain constant. His will is for you to know Him and love Him and share Him with others. Jesus is your source of hope and perspective, not the Grounded podcast, all other ground is sinking sand.

Dannah: Amen. I always love hearing from Erin, and that day it was extra special. Change is hard, it’s emotional, but it cannot separate you from the love of Christ who never changes. As Erin put it, His goodness and mercy will dog you all the way to glory. Don’t you love that thought?! Our Good Shepherd is chasing after you relentlessly. He’ll never let you go.

Where do we find this Good Shepherd? Where do we experience His comfort in the midst of change? If you’ve been around Revive Our Hearts for long, you know the answer. It’s His Word! In seasons of transition, our spiritual rhythms often undergo some changes, too. That’s something I got to unpack at a recent True Woman conference with a lovely panel of speakers. Let’s hear what Amanda Kassian, Emily Jensen, and Gretchen Saffles have to say about making space for Scripture, whatever your life looks like today.

Dannah: I'm gonna start with you, Amanda. Talk to your younger self. You're busy; you're stressed out. You're in college; you're a single-something. Why does it matter that you overcome the busyness to be in the Word, and how do you do it?

Amanda Kassian: You know, Dannah asked me this like two seconds before we came up here. So my mind has been swirling. I've been picturing twenty-something Amanda. What I would encourage twenty-something Amanda is just to remain consistent and congruent to what you believe. And if I know that God's Word is the bread of life, if I know that if I seek Him with all of my heart, I will find Him. Then that is the source of life that I need to be clinging to.

Being close to forty now, I have seen the riches of my prayer time and my time with God, because I have a prayer journal. It was in my teens that I started. I've seen the faithfulness of God, and just—the fact that I was able, by God's grace, to continually meet with Him and prioritize that. That has been so sweet to read back on those pages and to see His faithfulness throughout.

Dannah: Beautiful. So journaling might be a really good tip to slow you down from your busyness.

Emily, let's talk about career women for a moment, because you've just made a pretty bold career move and said no or pushed pause on a very successful Risen Motherhood ministry. How does that enable you to maintain your time in the Word and shepherd your family?

Emily Jensen: I think for all of us, one of the hardest places to have character and reflect the person and work of Christ is at home. It doesn't sound like it, but it is easy to get up here and put on makeup, get your hair done, and look and sound really holy and put together like we have all this great advice. 

But do you know where my character really comes out? It's at the dinner table with my kids. It's when we're running late and they can't find their football cleats, and I have a moment where I have to decide how I'm going to respond. It's how I'm training them, and it's my personal time with Jesus.

I know, Gretchen, over the years, you've reminded me that private devotion is more important, and that's what fuels any other ministry that we do. And so I think that keeping that time in the Word with the Lord is so important. It's so, so sweet and dear to me. Anything else that I hope to do in my home, in my church, in my community and beyond is going to flow out of that authentic connection with Him in the Word.

Dannah: So is it fair to say that sometimes your no in your career is your yes to your family and the Word and the Lord?

Emily: Yes.

Dannah: Let's talk about family. Those littles—they do sort of make it noisy. I don't know if you know this, but I'm a grandma: NanaDannah. When they sleep over, there's no morning time in the Word that has to wait till they leave and I take a nap.

What would you, Gretchen, say is an important way to maintain your time in the Word in the chaos of the littles?

Gretchen Saffles: I will say that one thing I have to do is to redirect my gaze to Jesus first thing in the morning. Now, I had to let go of all my unrealistic expectations, because I have a lot of them. I have a lot of high ones on my children, myself, my husband, all the people. And Jesus has had to relinquish, or help me relinquish, all of those things.

Because as my kids grew, it seemed like even if I inched up the time I would wake up, they knew. They knew. It's like they're so far away. But do they hear my alarm or something? So I would wake up and open my Bible, and it's like pitter-patter, pitter-patter. And all of a sudden they're there: "Mom! Mom!" I would grumble and get so frustrated and wanted to just give up and go, “I'm not even going to do this today.” But the Lord has shown me that I can invite them in.

I want them to see a mom that delights in the Lord, that loves His Word, and even though, in that moment, I may not actually read anything. Maybe I can read aloud with them, but they're seeing that. It's also training my own heart. I still need to open God's Word.

But the beautiful thing is, like we've mentioned—morning, noon, night, carpool line—pulling it up to listen to it. And one thing that's been transformative to me is meditating on it and memorizing it. Because when you close your Bible, it's not like you're leaving Jesus. He goes with you. We have the Holy Spirit, and His Word is alive. So as we memorize it, we can bring it up to mind. The Holy Spirit brings it up to mind.

I'm also just reminded of Jesus. He was interrupted by His disciples in Mark 1:35. He's spending time alone with the Father, and then they come and they're like, "Jesus, where are You? We've been looking for You." 

Jesus isn't like, "Go back to bed, disciples. I am alone with the Father." 

No, instead He goes with them. He says, “This is where we're going next." And so that's what we want them to see.

Dannah: Such good advice from these dear sisters in ministry. Oh, I love them and their love for Scripture! The True Woman conference is all about beholding Jesus in His Word and remembering the gospel together. When we do, our circumstances might not change, but we will change. And that’s the best kind of transformation, isn’t it? The kind that happens in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A young woman named Brooke experienced this kind of transformation at True Woman '12 as Joni Eareckson Tada sang a well-loved hymn. And she hasn’t been the same since. We’re closing today by hearing her story. 

Brooke Boyer: I grew up with two brothers and two sisters and my parents.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: This is Brooke Boyer.

Brooke: I was really well loved; it was a Christian family. When I was about eight, I was sexually abused for about a year or so. It wasn't until I was probably about fourteen that I started comprehending what really actually happened, and understanding how wrong that all was. That was when I wondered where God was during that time, and I just became really angry with God.

Margaret Yost: We didn't really realize, as her parents, that it was so deep inside her. My name is Margaret Yost, and I'm from Troy, Ohio. 

Brooke: I was very angry, and I was very bitter. So I turned to going to parties and drugs and guys—anything I could get my hands on to prove to anybody and everybody just how much I hated God.

Nancy: Not surprisingly, Brooke's bitterness and rebellion toward God hardened her into a morose eighteen-year-old. That was in 2012. Something else happened that same year.

Brooke: My mom invited me to True Woman '12.

Margaret: I was just hoping God would just reach down and "smack her upside the head," and that would be that. At that time, I knew it was actually safer for her to be with people I trusted rather than have no one at home to be accountable to, so that was kind of part of it, too.

Nancy: Well, Brooke hadn't told her mother the whole truth. There were other motives, too.

Brooke: Yes, there was a guy here who I had been talking to, who was a childhood friend, who said he would meet up with me when I was here. So that was probably my main reason for coming—to meet up with him.

Nancy: The conference started on a Thursday evening. This is Bob Lepine, who served as our emcee for the conference . . .

Bob Lepine: Some of you had this thought, Maybe I shouldn't go. But you're here, and I want you to know that this is a divine appointment. I want you to know that you have been prayed for, by name, as a part of this event. 

Nancy: And that's a true statement. Brooke had been prayed for even before she and her mom had shown up. We didn't know what was going on in her life, but we know the One who does know everything. Every True Woman Conference is bathed in prayer . . . before, after, and during. 

Bill Elliff: So, we're going to pray as we begin, and I know that . . .

Brooke: Everybody was praying, and it was really weird to me. I grew up with praying with my family, but this seemed kind of ridiculous to me.

Daniel Henderson: . . . back to Him, from hearts of love . . . I'm going to ask you to do this: Turn and find three of four other ladies . . . maybe the easiest way is to just turn to the row behind you . . .

Brooke: The person that was speaking wanted us to divide into groups of three or four and pray together about different topics. There were two ladies to my left—I had no idea who they were. It was my turn to pray, so I just told them, "I don't pray. I don't believe in God; it's not my thing."

So they said, "It's okay; that's fine. Can we pray for you?"

I said, "If it made them feel better, sure, go ahead."

Margaret: Brooke wasn't sitting with our group at the time, so I didn't realize until afterward about the two women who had prayed for her.

Brooke: I don't remember anything that they said. I do remember running into them later, and they remembered who I was. They said, "Just so you know, our whole church is praying for you," and that really hit me. I was like, "Wow, that's crazy."

Nancy: Then, during the day on Friday, Brooke rendezvoused with her friend.

Brooke: I ended up sneaking out during one of the sessions and seeing him.

Nancy: Two of Brooke's roommates at the hotel had some concerns, so they approached Margaret.

Margaret: And that's how we became aware of her meeting with this boy that we weren't approving of at all.

Brooke: My mom actually ended up finding out about it, and she wasn't too happy about that.

Margaret: I pulled her aside to one of the tables in the hall, outside of the conference, and we talked for a while, and then both of us just ended up sitting there, crying for a while.

Brooke: I love my parents. I never wanted to hurt them. Even though I was living my life the way I was, I never wanted to see my mom hurt. To see her crying, and for her to tell me that she was really disappointed in what I did, it really hit me that, "I'm really messing up some stuff." So that was probably the first part that got to me.

Nancy: By the time Friday evening sessions started, Brooke's emotions were all over the place.

Brooke: I was crying because my mom was crying, and I was saying, "I don't want to be here!"

Margaret: I told Brooke she had to sit with me, and so we were just sitting there side by side.

Nancy (introducing Joni at True Woman): And we are so thrilled, this year to have with us—this year live and in-person—Joni Eareckson Tada. (applause and cheering)

Brooke: I wasn't really listening, but then Joni Eareckson Tada got on stage, and she sang "Amazing Grace."

Joni (singing at True Woman): "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound . . ."

Brooke: That just kind of hit me. Somebody that went through so much, that had so much happen to her . . . and yet, she still believed that God loved her. 

That just really hit me, and I just said, "God, I can't do this anymore. I'm so empty, and I have such a heavy weight on me. I just need You . . . come save me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see."

Joni sings: "I once was lost, but now am found . . ."

Brooke: I wanted to see.

Joni sings: "Was so blind, but now I see."

Brooke: It was amazing!

Margaret: I had my True Woman notebook on my lap. I was taking some notes. Brooke took my notebook out of my lap and put it on hers. She took my pen and wrote on the corner of it and gave it back to me.

I looked down and read it. It said, "I once was blind, but now I see. I love you, Mom." So I just took her right out and we went to the prayer room and prayed together, and she submitted to Christ. I'll never forget it! 

Joni: When I met Brooke a few moments ago, she shared her story briefly with me and talked about having been abused—the struggles, the questions . . . mainly the question, "Why would God allow me to have to go through something like that?"

As soon as she said that, tears welled in my eyes, because even after forty-seven years, the pain of those questions—it's so real; it's so current. You can identify with people who question God as to "why" so much pain in their lives? But yet, through the tears, we both smiled at one another, because we could definitely testify of God's faithfulness, His overwhelming grace, His support, His sustaining strength every single day. And the joy of knowing Him far outweighs the urgency of questions.

I could see that in her eyes . . . the questions, now, are really not the point. The point is she's found the answer, and Jesus is enough. He's the answer.

Brooke: For the first time in forever, I just felt like I could breathe. I just felt like this weight was lifted off my chest, and I could finally breathe!

Margaret: His grace is so magnificent, we can't even comprehend it! That He can just reach down and take someone that was totally running the wrong way and just snatch her up and point her to Christ.

Dannah: What a powerful story of life change from a past True Woman conference! At every single conference we’ve hosted over the years, the Lord has been at work transforming women from the inside out. We heard so many incredible testimonies last year at True Woman '25, and we’re prayerfully anticipating more at True Woman '27, which is now only one year away! 

If you’ve never joined us in Indianapolis, we would be so overjoyed to have you! It might just change your life. And right now, you can still register with our super early pricing. Visit TrueWoman27.com to sign up and learn all about the theme and speaker line-up. It’s gonna be a really special time together. I hope to see you there!

You know, this podcast, the True Woman conference, all the beautiful stories of life change wouldn’t be possible without our listeners. If you’ve ever donated to Revive Our Hearts, you’ve been a part of calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. This is a big deal!

Maybe you haven’t given yet, but you’d like to join us in this work as well. If so, you can do that by visiting ReviveOurHearts.com, or calling us at 1-800-569-5959. When you make a donation of any amount, we’ll send you Nancy’s newly released Advent devotional, Consider Jesus, a 31-day journey to recapturing the true joy and significance of Christmas. Be sure to request that when you give! 

Today, we’ve been looking to Jesus in the midst of change. Next weekend, we’re looking to Jesus in the midst of shame. When our sin feels too great a burden to bear, we have a burden-bearing Savior. I can’t wait to spend our time talking about Him. In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy a sweet Lord’s day with your local church this weekend.

Thanks for listening today. I’m Dannah Gresh. We’ll see you next time, for Revive Our Hearts Weekend.

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

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