Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Thanksgiving is here. Thanksgiving is here. And it's a. It's a time for food, family, and gratitude. Right?
[00:00:08] But what happens, but what happens when it feels like you have nothing to be thankful for?
[00:00:14] Maybe you're. You're facing that, that broken relationship, loneliness or shame, or maybe you've experienced some type of loss, maybe loss of a friend, a family member, like, man, I'm just, I'm just thinking about my cousins right now who've actually experienced loss with a parent.
[00:00:42] And I've been there myself because I lost my dad. But. And this is just around these times every year, you know, especially when you have tradition, right? You just, you think about and you start reflecting on all those things of the past and, and the great times. And when we lose somebody, it just sometimes just hard to navigate.
[00:01:04] Thanksgiving could just be one of those glaring reminders of, you know, what's missing in our life. And it gets hard. I get it. It gets hard and.
[00:01:15] But it's something that we have to navigate through and we just have to trust God, knowing that he's going to carry us through, because it's one of those times and moments where we just really can't depend on ourselves. We have to depend on our higher source, our power, because he has a strength to carry us through.
[00:01:31] And I just want you to stick with me because I'm about to share some stats with you all and some practical tools to shift our focus, but also deepen our trust in God and just take that small step towards hope. Even if it feels like your world is falling apart.
[00:01:52] Trust me.
[00:01:56] Let's go. Let's go. So here are some stats. Here's some stats that I think that when it, when we think about it and reflect on it, it lets us know, like one, we're not alone, but two, that God is right there with us.
[00:02:15] God is right there with us. And so loneliness and separation and isolation. It says that 60, 61% of adults age 18 to 25 report feeling lonely regularly. And this is according to a study that was done by Cigna. And that chronic loneliness can increase the risk of premature death by 29%, making it.
[00:02:40] That is making it more harmful than smoking at least 15 cigarettes a day. Hey, can you imagine?
[00:02:49] So if loneliness is. Is. Has this much persuasive influence, imagine how much of an impact just a kind word over or in intentional connection could have on someone's life, including yours.
[00:03:07] Including yours.
[00:03:09] The mental health during the holidays. This is another one. Holidays has that ability to trigger feelings and depression or anxiety. The study shows that 64% of people, according to the national alliance of Mental Health, actually struggle with that. And 45% of people who experience loneliness during the holiday says it's because of family conflicts or loss. This means that nearly half of those who are struggling with this are carrying burdens connected to their past or present relationships.
[00:03:43] Now, what if gratitude can actually be that first step to healing those wounds? The impact of community service. Now, volunteering has been shown to decrease depression symptoms by 22% while boosting a sense of purpose and life satisfaction. And 79% of those people who volunteer says that it reduces their feelings of stress.
[00:04:11] So what if. What if just stepping outside of your pain and serving somebody this holiday season could actually be the catalyst for your healing? Just imagine you just going to.
[00:04:23] I know one of the local things that we have here in the Sacramento area is loads of fishes where people can actually volunteer and serve those people who are just less privileged than them, who might not have a family member or a loved one to actually go to. But then stepping out and serving now you having, like this real sense of gratitude and one another thing is just going to make you reflect on how good you actually have it. Because I think sometimes we just get caught up in this, in this thought process, like we're the only ones who are suffering and doing bad. In reality, there's always somebody who's doing worse than we are. But it just takes us back to having those feelings and being thankful for what we actually have and expressing that gratitude, even when it feels like we're not in a place to express it. Spiritual growth through trials. A Pew research study found that 69% of people who went through a significant life challenge reported growing closer to God as a result.
[00:05:26] The studies also show that those who pray regularly are 40% more likely to report feelings of contentment and peace.
[00:05:34] So even in the pain, God is inviting us to lean in closer. So what could that look like for you if you just trusted him today, even in your struggles? Gratitude's positive impact on mental health. This is a huge one.
[00:05:49] Practicing gratitude can lower stress levels by 23% and increase happiness by up to 25%, according to a study that was done by Greater Good Science Center.
[00:06:00] Grateful people are more likely to build stronger relationships. We can reduce feelings of isolation and increase resilience during tough times.
[00:06:11] So what that shows is science is actually catching up to what God has already told us. Gratitude has the power to transform our perspective. So imagine the difference a small shift in focus can actually make in our lives.
[00:06:27] As I talk about just finding gratitude, even during pain. Remember, God doesn't ask us to ignore our struggles. He asks us to trust in him. So here are some things we could do. We need to understand how gratitude reframes our struggles in helping us see God's hand at work.
[00:06:47] But also, you and I must learn how to trust God to heal that broken place in our life and fill that void where we don't actually step out and do something silly that actually contradicts who we really are and what kind and what God says about us. But we also need to take those actionable steps to create connections and cultivate gratitude.
[00:07:08] I'm going to share a story.
[00:07:10] It's not my story, but it's a story from a person who I deeply admire and I call her My sister, Dr. Tony Rivera. Now, she was. She was faced with an unimaginable challenge. When you think about childhood abuse, trauma, and brokenness, I'm talking about a brokenness that could have kept her stuck.
[00:07:35] And I guarantee there are so many other people who've actually been in this situation that she's probably been in. Oh, my goodness. Just traumatic experiences from such an early age, from 10 to 16. 10 to 16. From physical abuse, trauma, sexual abuse. And I just think about people who've experienced not even half of what she experienced, who fall victim to what they've actually gone through. And they're stuck in a place because all they reflect on is the past. And so their present is the past on a continuous basis. But she chose to trust God and get herself out of that circumstance. And it wasn't easy. Even in her darkest moments, you just think about everything that she had to go through. But along the way, she's had people who poured into whether or not she was hearing it at the time it was going in, it was sinking in because it was those words of encouragement. Even if she didn't believe at that time, these other people believed in her.
[00:08:43] And one of the things that she shared with me was how she began to focus on what she could be thankful for, even in the smallest ways. For her, it started with writing down one thing every morning.
[00:08:57] And she said, derek. I realized gratitude wasn't about pretending life was perfect. It was about seeing how God was holding me together.
[00:09:06] And so today, she's helping other people overcome the pain and walk in freedom. And that's the power of gratitude and faith in action.
[00:09:13] So gratitude actually has the ability to transform our perspective. First, Thessalonians 5. 18 tells us, Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's Will for you and Jesus Christ.
[00:09:27] Gratitude doesn't mean denying our pain. It means trusting that God is using them to refine and strengthen us.
[00:09:36] Start a gratitude journal. Write down three things that you're thankful for every day, no matter how small they seem. Nothing. Trust God to heal the brokenness. Psalms 34:18 reminds us that the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
[00:09:53] God is with you in the pain, so lean into his promises even when it's hard. So what you need to do today is pray specifically about the areas where you feel broken, and ask God to show you how he's working, even if you can't see it yet.
[00:10:10] I know, I know. God is walking with you. He is walking right there next to you. You might feel him, or you might not feel him. You might not feel him. Because most time when we actually want somebody to walk alongside us, we want, like, a physical being. What happens when God is right there and all of a sudden you feel like an internal being working on the inside, changing your heart, reducing that stress, that anxiety, that depression. And now you feel the warmth of God on the inside.
[00:10:50] 3. Let's build that connection. Let's build that connection with community. Ecclesiastes 4. 9 says, Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.
[00:11:02] That means don't isolate yourself.
[00:11:05] God often brings healing through people he places in our lives. So reach out to somebody. Reach out to a person, a family member, a friend, a pastor, somebody that you can actually connect with, because connections break the power of loneliness.
[00:11:23] I want to share. I want to share a quote with you by Rumi. Now, Rumi was.
[00:11:29] He was an Islamic scholar back in the day. He was a poet back in the 1200s. And Rumi said, the wound is a place where the light enters you.
[00:11:44] The wound is a place where the light enters you. This is kind of similar to what Romans 8:28 says about.
[00:11:53] And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him.
[00:11:59] But it suggests that our wounds, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual, and healing and growth can occur even though our wounds may feel like setbacks, but they can actually be avenues for God's light to actually shine through and guide us towards healing and purpose. And I know Rumi, based off of what he said, believed that pain and suffering have the potential to teach us profound truths about ourselves and our life. But he said, where the light enters you, the word light in this context meant wisdom and divine insight or love that we may not have been open to otherwise. You know, the message is that struggles can ultimately lead to self discovery and deeper connection with God. And gratitude allows God's light to shine through our pain, transforming us into something beautiful that we might not even seen because we're so focused on what's going on in front of us. But now where God is trying to lead us.
[00:13:04] Oh wow.
[00:13:07] As we go about this holiday coming up, Thanksgiving, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's not about pretending that everything is okay when it really isn't. But be truthful and honest with yourself. Document, write down some things that you're struggling with because in reality it's really trusting the one who actually created you and knowing that you are loved, resilient, and never alone. So what's one thing that you're thankful for today?
[00:13:34] I want you to drop in the comments. Something that resonates with you, that God has placed on your heart to share. I would definitely love to hear from you.
[00:13:46] But before we end, before we end, you know what we got to do. We got to say a word of prayer.
[00:13:53] So let's get into it.
[00:13:55] The only Father, we just want to thank you for this time that you have blessed us with. We bless you for our life. We thank you for our struggles. We thank you for gratitude, Lord, just the ability to thank you for things, even when things aren't perfect in our lives. Right now we might be struggling with loneliness, comparison, loss, shame, guilt, identity, not feeling valued. But we know that when we have you, all those things that we may be feeling about ourselves aren't true because you didn't make us to feel negative or have false ideas about who we really are when we know that they don't align with who you say, who you say we are. But I just want to thank you on this, on this particular day here and this week that we give you all the thanks and the glory for your name is powerful Jesus. Yeshua. Yes. And we ask that you just fill all these people who are broken today with your spirit and give them peace.
[00:15:08] We ask you to guide their thoughts in their minds, knowing that the enemy will do whatever he can to separate them from you, your child, your children.
[00:15:19] In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's go. I want you all to remember that this is Thanksgiving.
[00:15:27] Do something that you've never done before. Step out of your comfort zone to go serve some people. Go pray for somebody and be who God created you to be. D Wells. Why not you? Here we go. Let's go, let's go.
