Rachel Kerr Schneider

David W Ebel: you Welcome to the God Says Yes Podcast. You are welcome here. Welcome to another episode of God Says Yes. And today ⁓ we want to make sure that we're going to start this off right with prayer. Heavenly Father, we're grateful for this chance to be together. We're grateful for those that are listening and viewing. We're grateful for those that we bring in as guests so everyone gets to know them. We ask that your love will be felt and lives will be encouraged. We pray that you will do your very best by filling our mouths with the things we should say and guiding us away from the things that aren't of great value. Bless our time together in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, folks, I'm David Ebel. I'm your host. been doing ministry for over 50 years and the passion of my heart is to reach people who are struggling. So today, this podcast is about how God says yes to everyone. Even if you've been treated badly, you've been betrayed, belittled, all those things, people promise you things that don't fulfill, they borrow money and don't pay it back, or they go to church and they act like idiots and they hurt people instead of helping people. That doesn't mean God is bad. That just means people are still people and they still are flawed. I think to me the most insidious one is the church hurt because ⁓ biblically the church is supposed to be the emergency room of the body of Christ. where we all go broken and when we get better we feel good enough about it that we go and help the next broken ones. So that's what we're supposed to do. But unfortunately some people come to church and they're not ready to get well. And in the process they splash over their disregard onto others who have innocent hearts and it hurts those that shouldn't be hurt. So... you know, on behalf of the rest of the church who wouldn't ever do that, I apologize. I'm sorry that people could have ever dreamed to treat you like that. That's not okay. So what I want to do is I want to make sure that with our podcast, we're offering chances, hope. ⁓ God created us one at a time from the inside out to be like Him. So though the outside may look different, that doesn't mean the inside's different. The inside is just like Him. He created us with hope, so we've always had hope. We've always had faith. Those that were planted in us in our DNA, those don't go away. But then the rest of it, we either learn by hearing and implying, or by watching and either doing what we loved or avoiding it at all costs. sometimes we learn by not doing. And that's okay too. But my goal today is to help you who have had people disappoint you or life treats you poorly. We want you to know that God created you to love and He always loves you. You can't do anything to get away from it. He's going to love you no matter what you do. He's going to offer you hope and strength. soon as you open your heart enough to let in, not because of people. You know, I've had people say, well, I don't want to go to church because the hypocrites are there. Well, there's always two answers. One is come and join the hypocrites or the other one is look at them and realize that that's the reason why we go because we meet, we go to meet with Jesus so he can deal with us. So we don't continue to be hypocrites. But, uh, whether, however you got to where you are, this is a time, this short time is a time to encourage you. and I'm grateful that you're here. I have with me my friend Rachel Schneider. And Rachel is an amazing woman. She's been a career success. And then on top of it, she's an author. She's a wife. She's a mom and a lot of other things. And ⁓ before we recorded, we got to know each other and I'm. I'm really impressed with what God has done and I believe you will be too. So Rachel, I welcome you to the program and maybe you can say hi and introduce yourself generally. Well, David, it's been a pleasure. I feel like we are old friends and I mean that in the best way possible. I am just thrilled to be here and I love what you said earlier about about the church hurt because it is real and it does exist and you know people make up the church and we are all we are all flawed and I think that you know what you're doing here with this platform is so critical in in reminding all of us ⁓ that you know we we believers always we always need to have our faith shored up and whatever we can do. And usually it's by sharing our story because it's by sharing what God has done in our lives, how he's brought us through something, how he's revealed himself to us. That's what helps us fortify and strengthen relationship with others who believe, others who may be struggling with their belief. ⁓ And it gives us the opportunity to, to, to tell him out loud, to share out loud how wonderful he is and to praise and thank him for all of that. And so I am just, I'm so honored and privileged to be here tonight with you ⁓ because it's especially interesting because I know the title of your book is When the Doctor Says No, God Says Yes. And I know that refers to the medical miracles that you've experienced in in your life. you know, for me, the doctors gave my husband ⁓ a terminal diagnosis. And I know that, you know, after after after I dealt with the shock and after we dealt with the disbelief, you know, I, I, I started praying for a miracle. I started asking for that miracle. I was like, you know what, if anybody If anybody's going to get cured of ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, you know, why not, John? God can heal anyone of anything at any time. So why not? It's not because I have such incredible faith. It's just because we serve such an amazing God. So I prayed that prayer and made that request all out, full on for about two years. And then I had to realize that John's healing, it was going to come differently. Yes. And it wasn't going to be the way that that I expected. was I upset with God? No. Was I disappointed? Absolutely. But did I realize too that that God didn't bring me this far to drop me? He didn't bring me and John through this journey ⁓ for no reason. There is always a purpose for our struggle. There is always a purpose for the pain. The other thing that I tend to remember too is that we think about what our Savior Jesus endured on the cross, on the way to Golgotha, carrying the cross, being scourged, being humiliated. Who are we to think, David, that we're going to get out of this world without suffering ⁓ in some way, form? God never said this is going to be easy. He never promised us rainbows and unicorns. mean, it's difficult. I do believe, I think a lot about Job. And I think about this amazing man in the Bible who God let the devil do almost anything, but kill him, right? And the devil had to go and get permission from God. And the devil was convinced he was going to get Job to renounce his God. And he did practically everything he could, and Job wouldn't do it. He would not do it. And so, and that gives me that. And so that's a story for all of us. whatever we're going through and whenever we hit those points in our life where we're like, okay, Lord, have you forgotten me? I'm still suffering out here. Are you listening to me? Where am I in this plan of yours? Because I can't, I'm not understanding it. And yet, we have to make sure that we keep ourselves fortified. And that's what you're doing is making that happen by letting people share their stories and reminding themselves and each other of the goodness of our God, no matter what, even when it seems like everything's going wrong. His plan is right for us. Exactly. Yes. Now, one of the things that when you were talking about you prayed really hard and you expected God answers every single prayer. He does. The problem is there's more than one answer. Sometimes it's yes, sometimes it's wait, sometimes it's wait for the new body. And they're all yeses. It's just yes but or yes when. Because God already knows from the beginning what the end will be. And if He gives us what we want and it's short-sighted, God doesn't get the glory out of who you will become in the end because He gave it to you before it was ready. I remember one of my children when they were little, Mom was making biscuits. And she, my daughter, a biscuit now. And they hadn't been near an oven yet. And she just wouldn't, she was insistent and demanding and really kind of manipulating trying to get that biscuit. So finally my quiet wife, who's just the patient subset of anybody you've ever seen, reached down and said, you want it so bad? take that one. She thought, ⁓ and she bit into that thing and all the flour went down her face and it just strung and goo down her face. And she said, that's not what I wanted. Yes, it is. Sometimes what we want isn't what we need. We need the whole process to get to the good stuff at the end. Absolutely. You're so right. And that's the benefit of a conversational program like ours. We can share these things back and forth and help each other be encouraged. Exactly, exactly. And what we want sometimes to your point is not what's best for us. And I knew, what I did know David through all of this was that God, there was a story here that God wanted me to share. That there would be a time when he would want me to talk about this. My husband, John, was so private. And, you know, this was this ALS is such a brutal, brutal disease. It just it paralyzes the body while the mind stays completely intact. So if you can imagine that you have an itch and you need to scratch it on the end of your nose, you can feel it and it itches and you can't move your arm. to get your finger to the end of your nose and yet your brain keeps telling you there's an itch there. I will tell you, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. It is such a brutal, brutal disease. And there is still no known cause and there is still no known cure. And the doctors literally just say you have between two to five years, get your affairs in order. And it's basically you you manage the loss, right? Every month, every day, there's something else that maybe you find you cannot do. So you slowly you slowly die. Yes. I mean, it is just and it is it's part of those neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's and Huntington's. And and I do believe. that if we can ever find the cure for one of those, it will help unlock the mysteries of the rest of this. I agree. Yeah. And so I know that there are people who get diagnoses every day and they are devastating and they're wondering how are we going to deal with this? I guess the one thing that I do want to that I do want to remind people of is that you are not alone. ⁓ You may feel that way, but the truth is that Jesus is with you. Our God is with us. The Holy Spirit has been gifted inside each one of us. Stir it up, activate it. It is there so that it can comfort, it can advocate, it can guide us in those moments where we don't ⁓ have a clue how we're going to do this. And I often would say, okay, I don't have the words. I don't have the words. Holy Spirit take over. I don't have the words. I can't breathe in this moment. I'm not sure what to do, what to do next. I think what's so terrific now, which didn't exist even 15 years ago, is that we can open up our phone or our computer and we can go. to a podcast such as yours, we can go find community. We can go find believers. We can find people to fortify our faith. We could find an ALS support group. can find community. And that is something that I am so thankful for. We can reach across the street. We can reach across the world and connect with people. And I think that there's... There's such power. There is such power in that ability. ⁓ So that isolation doesn't have to exist. And you and I both know that if we feel alone, God hasn't left us. We're the ones that have moved. We're the ones that have moved away. His presence never leaves. Agreed. Agreed. We get this idea that God, where are you? But he says he never leaves us or forsakes us. He's with us always. And I would underline that in red, always. Always when it's good, always when it's bad, always when it feels good, always when you feel terrible. Always. Because once you've invited, you've asked Jesus to forgive you, you've invited him to cleanse your heart with the blood that he shed on the cross. You become new from the inside out. You're spiritually new. And with that comes the Holy Spirit to indwell in you, to lead you, guide you, to comfort you, to strengthen you, to reveal to you, so that you're not doing it just on your own strength. God is there inside helping you from the inside out. And, you know, though you may have to physically still endure, you're not enduring on your own. You're enduring with help. Extra strength is guaranteed. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think, you know, it's so important to when I think about relationship, right? And we think about strengthening our relationship with God. ⁓ How do we do that? You know, how do you build relationship with Jesus? It's the same way that you and I build relationship with anyone. It's spending time with them. It's getting to know them. It's it's you know, we have the Bible we have the word we have we have music we have so many ways that we can get to know Jesus better and and yet I find too that some people will say you know And you may have heard this too. You're too Christian for me, know, you're too you're too. I'm like, what does that mean? What do you mean? too. What do you mean? I'm too Christian for you. Well, they get intimidated because maybe Maybe I do know the books of the Bible or maybe I do know the stories of Esther and Ruth and Boaz and whoever. Maybe they get intimidated by the fact that I might have a little more biblical knowledge. But David, we can all get that. The story, it's available to all of us. I used to get upset when people, we live in in very disturbing times, A lot of people, myself included, believe Jesus could be coming back any day now. so I want to live like that and I want to be ready. And a third of the Bible is actually prophecy. And yet a lot of people will tell me, ⁓ I don't need to know about that. I'm not going to be here. I'm not going to be here. going to be raptured or I'm going to be dead. I don't have to worry about it. And I'm like, ⁓ no, no, no, no, no. Your ignorance is not an excuse. have been given God has done so much to prepare us and Given us the opportunity so that we don't have to be scared We can be prepared. He doesn't want us to be scared He wants us to be prepared and so so I want to encourage I want to encourage anyone who might be listening going ⁓ you know, I don't know enough. Well, here's the thing You don't have to know all of that. I understand that don't have to know all of that. But if you want relationship and understanding all that God has done and a history and seeing how he's used, been using people from the beginning of time, people who just made themselves available and some who didn't want to be available. Like Moses going, you really, do you really want me to do this? You can identify so easily with some of these people that are like, wait a second, I'm not sure I want to do this. You want me to do what? How? So I just think that sometimes we don't really recognize how God is still doing what He's always done. He hasn't changed. He hasn't changed the way that he operates. so just making yourself available for what he wants to do in you, through you, with you, it will change your world. agree. I think that part of our culture, the culture of this world we live in is everything should be instant microwave. know, do it ding, OK, it should be ready now. That's not what the world has ever worked. that's not, and God doesn't, God owns the clock. He's not in a hurry. So he doesn't have to do it by a microwave schedule. But what he does have to do is do it right. He doesn't compromise and he doesn't have to apologize. He does it right the first time. And when we get interested in finding out what he really wants and who he really is, then we'll pursue it. I remember when I met my wife, And she wrote me her first note. I had that thing memorized in 15 minutes. I didn't have to find the paper. I could tell you word for word what it said. And by the time I'd had five or six notes, they were all memorized because I already was in love with her before I would admit it. And I knew that she loved me and though she was incredibly quiet, I could tell. And ⁓ when we finally came to the point where we got engaged, she had a lot to say and just didn't know how to say it because she'd never had anyone to listen. If I looked at, if I'm that willing to get invested in a girl, and she could have said no one told me to jump off a cliff, why would I not? be more interested in the God who created me and finding out how to make him happy with me. How can I please him? How can I make him proud of what I do? Not because he's going to give me a cookie or an award or something, but because I love him enough that I don't want him disappointed. Exactly. Exactly. And so living my life that way. And yeah, I've had a couple of people tell me I'm too religious for them. That's okay. That's all right. ⁓ I'm sure that there was a time early before I gave my heart to Jesus that I had a cousin who was religious and ⁓ it took us being at a funeral before I had a chance to have a conversation with him. I been avoiding having that conversation because I knew what he was going to talk about. I ⁓ was intimidated by it. But when I gave my life to Jesus, who got the first phone call? And we're still close. A couple of grumpy old men, but we still love Jesus. the key is that if you love someone, you don't want to love them just like, hi, I'll see you next month. You want to know them. You want to spend time with them. You want to make them happy. When I found out that my wife liked pink roses, you think I bought her yellow ones? No, that was it. ⁓ When you've loved somebody, you want them to have the best you can give them. Even if you're not wealthy, you still want to give them the best you can offer. And that's how it is with Jesus. He knows what you're worth. He knows what you have and what you don't have. And he doesn't want what you can't produce. He doesn't want you to work yourself into the ground to perform. He just wants you to trust him and give your life to him so he can spoil you a little bit and bless you and lead you and guide you and give you strength. And he will as soon as we'll let him. Absolutely. And he also, he's gifted us each. We all have different gifts and he wants us to use those. He delights in how we can show the world what he can do through us and how he has gifted us. And I think Sometimes we forget that. And as you were sharing your story with me earlier, ⁓ just hearing all of the things that you've done and where you've been and how you were able to minister to others in very creative and unusual ways. Those are some of the ways that we fortify each other too. by sharing the gifts and how we've been able to serve Him. And sometimes we're unaware of it. Sometimes we're not even aware of exactly what we're doing and the impact we are making. I think that there is just, there's so much that we can learn by listening and sharing with each other because God, His ability, to use us as infinite. And I think that it's being available and just opening ourselves up to that possibility. Because we may have a plan for our life. I I sure did when I married John. And I certainly thought that we would have kids and have a home. And I certainly thought that we would grow old together. And yet he died at 50. And we had been married for 24 years. I never ever ever thought that I you know getting married again or you know I wasn't scared of being single I knew I had 2 boys to raise. I I was really I think I was so sad about the fact that my husband was not going to be able to. to see those boys grow up and become the men that they are today. And that was so much a part of his heart was being a father. And that was the part that would just make us both. It still just breaks my heart because these boys, they lost him when they were 10 and 14. And those are such tender, tender ages. so I just... And yet, I think sometimes too, David, that God breaks our heart. He breaks our heart open so that we can love more completely and differently than we could ever know. And it's just still just an inkling of what he must have felt as he watched his son crucified on that cross. And yet this life I have now, It's not the happily ever after that I thought about or had hoped for, but it is the hopefully ever after. And I have a life more abundant because of what God has done and what I have allowed him to do and believed in him, not to give me a life more abundantly, but to just take care of me. I always believed he would take care of me, but I didn't dream. that he would do it to the extent to which he has. And I am so grateful for that. You know, when you were talking about giving our stories, it occurred to me that one of the people, I have had people tell me that they don't want to hear about the Bible because they think it's got flaws in it and argue this and argue that. And so ⁓ my usual answer is, OK, then we won't talk about that. Let me tell you my story. because they can't deny what I experienced. And as a result of telling my experience or you telling your experience or our friends telling their experience that builds the faith of other people and In the process it helps us to be able to say well I don't get it all but I'm not going to argue it so hard I want to find out why it's there and they and it becomes an interest instead of a wall And I think that's important because many times the reason why the wall is there is we've been wounded By some money or some thing. And it's easier to have the wall and let nothing in than it is to try to be the guardian of the wall and let in the good stuff and keep out the bad stuff. So even though we may start out with a wall that's this deep, slowly but surely with too much practice with that wall it gets deeper and deeper till no one or nothing gets in. And then we're alone with all of our ugly feelings. Yes. That's not God's plan for us to be miserable. That's never been His plan. Not at all. Not at all. And the greatest gift He's given us, right, is freedom of choice. Freedom of choice. He wants us to choose Him. He's not forcing us. He wants us to choose Him. And I was reminded today, I've been attending a conference of Christian leaders, and I was in ⁓ a breakout about decision making. And look at that decision that Adam and Eve made and what the consequences of that one decision were. I mean, huge, right? yet, to the same degree, we all get to make that choice to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and look at how that one decision can change our life. And I thought about that because we're all making, I think the statistic I heard was we make about 35,000 decisions a day. A lot of them are automatic, like, you know, you're driving in your car and you're turning on your signal and you're shifting the lane and you're doing all of that. So many of which we don't even think about, but you think about, you know, there are some big decisions that all of us will make in our life, you know, jobs and marriage and children and so many things. And I think about, wow, Adam and Eve at one end and then Jesus on the other. It really is something to think about. ⁓ yeah. And because we all have personal relationships with Jesus, no two are going to be the same. And though the truth of Jesus, never changes. how it applies to us because we're unique is different. The truth stays the same, but how it's applied is different because we are different. I I love certain things and I look forward to them. I just interviewed someone who part of their regiment to not gain weight is they have not had chocolate in 26 years. Wow. chocolate and ice cream are the reasons why I'm not skinny. And I didn't respond that way to this lovely person because it was important to their victory that they found out what they needed to do and what they didn't need to do and they took care of themselves. And I admire that. But I'm kind of grateful that God didn't say, and you no more chocolate. But in each of us we have our choices and things we must do and things we really shouldn't do. And I believe that part of that, that ability to choose that you talked about, he created us that way, not just so that we would choose Jesus, but beyond that, how we would choose to serve him. Because there's the choose of here I am, I surrender. And then there's the second choice of standing up and saying, what? And I know a lot of people who've been at that altar uncountable times. but they've never stood up and said, And then they wonder why, well, why is he going up in this? Well, this guy's going to Bible college. Why are they doing all this? We were really fine when we were just shooting pool every Friday night. The difference is that the more you put into something, the more you can get out of it. And when you decide that you want more out of your life than just a casual acquaintance, you've got to put more in to get more out. And when you really put your trust in Jesus, even though you may have done it and it didn't work out well because of people or situation, Jesus didn't fail, God didn't fail. It was man that failed. So skip the skip past the man part and figure out what can we do with the rest of it for the rest of our lives. Find the people who are living it right and use them as models. Yes. And there are so many of them. And man's going to fail every single time. So my parents live in Australia. they are still teaching over there. And my dad's teaching in a Polish-speaking church. And most of these people, their English isn't great. And he knows zero Polish. But he is bringing the word to them. every single week and they are packing the room to hear what he's going to share with them about the minor prophets, the major prophets, all of them. And they're learning their English and they're learning the Bible and I think it's such a wonderful thing. And my dad's 88 years old. So I think the thing is that, and you were mentioning earlier that you're 74, you're doing this podcast. I mean, we are never, we're never too young and we're never too old. I mean, and God continues to grow us. He continues to use us. Our gifts continue to flourish and our faith gets strengthened as we go through these situations in our life. And I think that that's the one thing that when I speak to women, that's the one thing that I really want to encourage them is to really fortify, well, women and men, to fortify what really matters. And there's so many things in this world that don't matter. There's so many things in this world that don't matter. And we try to... It's like my mom says, you're chasing after the wind, right? We're chasing these things that just are of no importance. And I think that once we've gone through things like you have and I have, your perception of time and of what is truly important, the lens that you're looking through life through changes dramatically. Absolutely. And it really does have an effect. so I'm just so grateful that we've had some time to delve into some of this because it is so very important. And it's important for people who have a baby faith and it's important for people that have a mature faith because it strengthens our faith. ⁓ all the time when we continue to hear about what God has done. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more. One of the things that I learned through the years is when I want advice, I don't look for the newest person in the room. Because I want somebody who's been there, done that, and is going to give me a broader perspective. And ⁓ when I was I was on the road, I remember being in South Georgia and ⁓ there was a little 90-some year old retired pastor who wasn't working. He was retired like I'm retired. He says he's retired but doesn't slow down. And he said, son, sit here. I said, yes, sir. He said, I want you to know three things. I said, all right. First one is you know nothing. I said, got that straight. Second one is you need to know something. I said, I'm trying. Third one is the only good answer is Jesus. And I said, about all the rest of it? He said, it's all gonna burn up, away, or be gone, and eventually, your great grandchildren are not gonna care about one of those pieces of paper that you've been hoarding. what stuff's gonna last? That's what you need. You say you're gonna be a minister? I said, well, they tell me I am one. He said, you're just gonna be. You're not quite there yet. And it's all right. You gotta crawl before you walk and walk before you run. And people will have the vanity problem. They want to be they want to be experts before their toddlers. They don't want to go through the deep, the middle. But you can't get to from one end of the other without going through the middle. So it doesn't matter what you don't know. It matters that you do know what you don't know and you find out how to get the answers to what you need. You know, that sunk in so deep. I'm still remembering it. Yeah, you have shared that that that was excellent. I love the way that you said that so clearly, so confidently, and so succinctly. mean, but you're absolutely right. You're Well, feel free to share that. Absolutely. ⁓ my goodness. You know, the key in life isn't what you know. It's how can you love people? And when I run into a... ⁓ We just had a young couple for dinner Sunday after church. And ⁓ they... ⁓ They're newer in their journey. They've had plenty of life experience, but they're newer in their journey. And now that they've found each other and they've gotten married, they're working on the rest of their lives. But he ⁓ comes out of a recovery background and he believes he's not worth much. therefore he tries too hard. She on the other hand has been through enough that she's just there and being sweet and lovely and encouraging and all these things. I turned to my wife and said, boy, he needs her. And she said, yeah, but she needs him for balance. And I sat and thought, and I turned to her said, that's how we were, wasn't it? And she said, Because when I started, when I gave my life to Jesus, I didn't think he got me a deal. I thought he got cheated. I really did. I was convinced that he got the short end of that stick forever. I didn't think I had one thing that was talented, one thing that was gifted. I didn't think I had anything to offer anybody. I felt like my life was a big zero. Actually, if you dropped a bomb in the middle of the zero, I would be under the bomb. That's what I thought. And ⁓ once I gave my life to Jesus, Philippians 413 came up and I clung to that. I can do all things through Christ which gives me strength. And I just hung on to that and when a door would open I'd say, God, if this is what you want, you need to be clear with me because I don't know what you're talking about yet. And people, elders would come up to me and say, is that what you're trying to do? Yeah. Well, let me give you some input. And they would guide me. They would do it freely and they'd do it gently. And as a result, was able to boldly make that one last step, one more step, until I could finally make those decisions ⁓ based on enough life experience in the Lord that I didn't have to have people to check in before I stepped every step. But they gave me the strength by helping me. And now that's what I do with every young couple I can find is invest in them any way that they'll let me. because I know what it did for my wife and I. And we've been able to do it for hundreds of other couples and we're still doing it. And it's what an honor it is to have the privilege that God dropped someone in your path to love. Yes, absolutely. And the fact that they are willing to receive it as well is huge. so, you know, I think that that is, that's the testimony. That's what we're here to do. We are here to love each other, to encourage, to occupy until he comes again. one of my prayers is to have that holy boldness, just fortify me with that holy boldness to share you, to share your word, to share your glory and to be able. to stand fast in that time of persecution. mean, it's, know, believers have been persecuted since the beginning as well. And so I think it's just so important, especially in this world we live in, to have community because we all need this additional, we all need this additional support. It's so, it's just critical, especially when the world itself can seem so dark. And sometimes it appears that evil might be winning. But we know how this story ends and evil will not. Evil will not win. It will not triumph. And yet there are times when even I look at the world and go, wow, how can this be happening? ⁓ How can this be happening? But I know ultimately that God is in control. And so, you know, I don't need to get myself stirred up in a tizzy. because he's got me. I know he's got me. so I don't need to be stirred up into a frenzy in a negative way. Absolutely. Motivated instead of stirred up. Yes. Now, as we get toward the end of the podcast, I always invite my guests to give us a nugget, a golden nugget. something to mull and polish over the next week, whether we journal it, whether we meditate on it, however we process it. What would you give us to take with us for the next week that would stay with us and help us to do even more with what we've learned today? I would ask the question, am I choosing wisely? Why? Because as I alluded to earlier, we make a lot of choices. Our opportunities to choose are numerous. Every day we get to make choices at what we're putting in our mind, in our body, and in our spirit. Am I choosing wisely? Am I ⁓ going to spend 30 minutes doom scrolling, or am going to spend 30 minutes maybe reading or listening to the Word? There's so many. wonderful ways to fortify our spirit. can listen to the Word. We can listen to hymns. There's so many things that we can do. So I would just say, are you choosing wisely? Are you choosing wisely in the words that you're saying to somebody in a conversation that you're having? In some bit of information that you're passing on, whatever you are, are you choosing wisely? you know, moving your body or taking care of your physical health, getting sleep. Are you, are you choosing wisely? That's a, that's a wonderful way to take it. And I hope that those that are listening or watching will polish that nugget. They'll, they'll not just go, ah-huh, and put it on the shelf, but they'll, they'll, they'll consider it that they'll make it something to over, for them to, to think about, to apply. And if you're struggling, maybe as the south this ex-western is how do i choose wisely because it you know saying i will is one thing and this next step is how when jesus is i am the way the truth of the life no one comes to this the other father but through me that doesn't mean that god doesn't love everybody does but he there's many roads to cincinnati but i would want to take all of them ⁓ i want i want i want to take the one that's gonna get me there You got that right. And I was born, I have been to Cincinnati, Dave. I was, I was born without a sense of direction. I can't find North. You give me a map, I can show it to you. You move the map and North moves. Jeez, okay. And I was on the road for 12 years with that. Wow. So when I say there's many roads to Cincinnati, that's not only funny. There's a level of truth in that for me because ⁓ I've been lost more than I've been found on the roads at times. But I got where I needed to be, God used me, and in spite of my limitations, He's been very good to me. And He'll be very good to you if and when you trust Him. And that's our goal, is to get to a place where we say, ⁓ people are people and I'm tired of them. This isn't about people running my life. What runs your life becomes your God. So if TV is what runs your life, man, soap operas are going to run your life. If ⁓ fear runs your life, then you're going to live in doomsday. You're not going to be able to get past it. Whatever it is, unforgiveness, bitterness, ⁓ know, just all the different things. But when we finally say, you know, I've tried all those things, done. I'm going to try Jesus and I'm not going to give him a half. I'm going ⁓ to give him six months of diving off that cliff. I'm going to give him room to show himself and really try. I have yet to find anybody come back when I've made that challenge six months later and say it was a waste. And I mean, I've talked to thousands of people. Not one of them has either emailed me or sent me a letter or met me face to face. Nobody has said, You you challenged me and you wasted the time. Because when you invest in it, rather than just acknowledge it, it's a life change. And that's what we want for all of this. It's a life change. as we get ready to close our time together, I'm going to pray. And once we pray, I'll give our evening challenge. And then you take it with you, friends. And ⁓ Rachel and will continue for a minute after the recording is done. But ⁓ for you and I right now, this moment, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come in Jesus' name one more time. We're grateful for the topics that were discussed and the hearts that you stirred. I'm grateful for Rachel and how she transparently shared and opened her life so we could hear her heart. We're grateful for the concern and the depth of concern that you've placed in there for those that need that stability. Lord, guide us and lead us through your Holy Spirit. If we're struggling, draw us closer to you so you can be our strength. If we need healing, manifest that healing in us. Whatever we need, Lord, be that thing and be real about it. Reveal yourself clear enough that people can get it. And Lord, we're gonna be careful to give you all the praise, the honor and the glory. because you created us to love. You'll always love us and you'll continue to love us and we are grateful for it in Jesus' Amen. Amen. And the challenge is always seek after God. He will be found. If you want to know how to get to God, His name is Jesus. Jesus said He is the way. So seek after Jesus and you will find peace. This has been the God Says Yes Podcast with David Ebel. Connect with David, email him at godsaysyespodcast.gmail.com. You can get his latest book, When the Doctors Say No, God Says Yes, at Amazon.com.