BW 168: When the World Doesn’t Make Sense And There Are No Good Answers

[TRANSCRIPT BELOW]

In this gentle gathering, we name the pain of recent headlines, settle our nervous systems, read Scripture honestly about evil days, and look for how God is at work, even now. Expect box-breathing, short prayers, Habakkuk 1:2–5, Psalm 94, Psalm 46, four simple “anchors,” and journaling prompts you can use this week.

What you’ll learn

• How to set a calm boundary with media overload

• A trauma-aware way to lament (without fixing or debating)

• Four anchors: Name the pain • Normalize reactions • Turn to Scripture • Nurture one next step

• Why Scripture says God works in dark days, not just after them (Gen 50:20; Hab 1:5; Acts 8; Phil 1)

Chapters
00:00 Welcome & why this matters
02:10 When headlines overwhelm your nervous system
04:30 Opening prayer + box breathing (4×4)
10:50 Reading: Habakkuk 1:2–5 (“How long, LORD… I am doing a work…”)
16:10 “Even now” narration: God at work amid evil days (Gen 50:20; Isa 60; Acts 8; Phil 1; Eph 5)
18:40 Signs of awakening + honest questions we’re asking
21:00 The 4 Anchors for hard weeks (name • normalize • Scripture • one next step)
30:20 Guided journaling (4 prompts you can reuse)
36:00 Reading: Psalm 94 (selected lines)
39:10 Reading: Psalm 46 (refuge and strength)
40:40 Reading: Psalm 34:15–19 (near to the broken-hearted)
45:00 How to bring complaints to God without shame
47:30 Blessing, resources, gentle close

Scriptures referenced
Habakkuk 1:2–5 • Genesis 50:20 • Isaiah 60:1–3 • Acts 8:1–4 • Philippians 1:12–14 • Ephesians 5:14–16 • Psalm 94 (selected) • Psalm 46 • Psalm 34:15–19

Download/Copy for later

• Box-breathing card + journaling prompts (paste your link)

• Resource list: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline • Crisis Text Line (text 741741)

If this helped:
Subscribe for weekly comfort + practical steps. Join the free Brave Widow community (paste link). Share with a friend who needs a calm, faith-honoring space.

TRANSCRIPT:

[00:00:00] Hey, hey, and welcome to episode number 168 of the Brave Widow Show. Just a few minutes ago, I shared a gathering for us to acknowledge and honor some of the things that have been happening the past few weeks. And essentially my thought was, what do we do when the world just doesn't make sense? And there are no good answers.

And so today I walk through some scripture, some guidance, and some clarity for how we can honor and acknowledge violence evil, when it feels like the world is really dark. Some of the things that we can do to recenter, to refocus, and to fill a sense of peace. [00:01:00] All right, here's the replay of when the world doesn't make sense.

Maryanne and Minu, welcome, welcome. I'm glad you guys are here. Uh, we're doing this just webinar style, so that way people don't feel pressured that they have to have their camera on or, um, that they feel uncomfortable in any way. So. Yeah, I would love to hear from you at any point in the chat.

Let me know how, what you're thinking and what is resonating ultimately with you. So, um, our goal today, uh, was really just to take a few moments and honor and acknowledge all the things that have been happening around us over the past. Two to three [00:02:00] weeks, all the craziness, all of the um. Violence that not only has been happening, but that we've been really forced to witness.

Um, there's really not been much escaping it. Things that are happening on social media, things that are happening on the news, and so. I know for a lot of my widow friends and a lot of my friends in the grief space, um, it's been a really trying past couple of two or three weeks because it's like, how does God allow all of this to happen?

Where is he in intervening? Um, it brings up all those questions that we might have had when we lost our person. Like, does God not hear, hear me? Is he not answering my prayers? Like, how, how could he let this happen? How could he, um. Allow this violence to go on and as, as someone of faith, what are we supposed to [00:03:00] do whenever we're living in this world that just feels a little bit crazy?

And so, um, we actually in my church service, um, this past Sunday, um, the pastor there shared some really great verses and great things to consider. And so I just wanted to carve out some space for us to come together to talk through how we can. Make sense of a world that doesn't make sense and how we can respond when it feels like there are just no good answers.

Right? Why did my person pass away? Why, why did God save that person, but not this person? Why? Why does he allow the violence and, and things to happen around us? Um, there sometimes it feels like there's no answers or there are no good answers, so. Really, this is just a moment of reflecting and sharing that.

So, um, I don't have any PowerPoint [00:04:00] today, so I know this is gonna be a little bit different for you guys, but our goal today is just to be present, to be minded, mindful, and to find comfort and guidance in being here together. And so, just for a moment, I'm gonna invite you to close your eyes. And think about a time where you watched a movie or you read a book and you really just got pulled into the story, and you can open your eyes if you want.

Think about a time when you were so emotionally involved and attached or so drawn to that story that it caused an emotional reaction in you. So maybe it was a scary movie and you like got scared and you jumped and, and you reacted that way. Or maybe it was a sad movie and you [00:05:00] cried and your heart broke for.

The person who was in that movie, or the person who was in that story, like I've read a lot of great stories that I would laugh out loud, I would cry. The reason that I wanna mention that is because our mind, our brain, when it can imagine things strongly, so strongly that it can cause an emotional reaction, our mind doesn't know the difference.

Between what's real and what's not real between what we imagine or what we're thinking about versus what we're actually facing. And I think about my daughter, she loves watching scary movies, right? And even when she was younger, she loved watching these scary movies, but she'd always be on the couch like, like this, looking at the movie going, it's not real.

It's not real. It's not real, right? And so. When we see [00:06:00] things or we imagine things, or we envision things that cause a strong emotional reaction, our brain can't really tell the difference between imagination and reality. And so the reason that I bring that up is because we were not designed or meant to process.

All of the very heavy things that have been happening over these past couple of weeks, and maybe for one of the first times in a long time that I can remember, I couldn't even scroll on social media. I couldn't open any of the apps without feeling like my eyes were violated, like seeing things that are super graphic hearing.

People relive stories. We've, we've had in the past couple of weeks, two different school shootings, incidents. [00:07:00] We had a lady sitting on a train being, um, stabbed to death while other people sat there and watched. We had Charlie Kirk and, and what happened with that situation and so. Regardless of political beliefs, regardless of, you know, what your viewpoints are or what you wanna tell people they should and shouldn't think.

We w we witness acts that are evil. We witnessed things that we weren't, we're not designed to carry and process all of that trauma, all of those traumatic things that that happen over and over and over. Your eyes weren't meant to see people bleeding out and dying while other people are sitting there watching.

And so that can weigh like really heavy on our heart and that can be a lot to try to process, um, [00:08:00] or make sense of, and such a really short amount of time.

And so I have a few thoughts and a few scriptures that I wanna share with you. And before I kick that off, I want us to pray, um, because that's just how we roll here at Brave Widow, when the world doesn't make sense, when it feels like we're living in chaos, when it feels like we have been forgotten. Um.

Turning to the scripture and turning to God can help us like recalibrate and refocus and find our way. So, um, here in Psalms 34 18, God of Comfort, I ask that you draw near to the broken hearted and receive what even words can't hold. So dear Heavenly Father, um, as we're all gathered [00:09:00] here together today.

Um, I just ask that you provide your peace that surpasses all understanding that you provide your comfort, that you promise to us, um, in your word, and that you, you pull us and draw us near to you sometimes. When we're wrestling with these questions or wrestling with these things that happen and we feel lost and overwhelmed and like evil is winning and the things that are good and pure and true are in the minority, like we can easily lose sight of, um, what we should focus on and how we can be beacons of light in a world that feels, um, feels really dark.

So. I just ask that you fill each person's heart with comfort and love [00:10:00] and peace, and knowing that as long as we continue to seek you, to find you in the places that you promise us that you'll be, that we can become grounded. We can let go of fear, um, of what might happen, and we can refocus on. Ultimately what, what matters in life?

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

So, um, as I'm gonna read some from Habakkuk, um, it's easy when we're on social media and we're scrolling to feel like this is the worst time in history to feel like, um. People haven't been before where we are now, but the reality of that is that isn't true. And in [00:11:00] fact it says in the end days that the days will be like they were in the days of Noah, where there was.

Violence and evil and um, all sorts of things that were happening where people who were believers and people who were righteous, very much felt like they were in the minority, and that it was really confusing to understand how all these horrible things were were happening. And so scripture is very honest about days that are evil.

But it's also just as honest that God is not idle during those times. And so before I read this scripture, um, I do wanna take a moment of silence for not only for the people, um, who, whose families have been affected over these last few weeks, but also for [00:12:00] ourselves and how. As we have walked through some of these events, it can bring on a resurgence of questions, a resurgence of grief, a resurgence of things that just don't make sense.

And so, um, I want to do just a little breathing exercise. So, uh, use your best judgment if you can do breath work, if you're comfortable with that. If physically you're able to do it as my disclaimer. If you struggle with breathing or with breath work, please don't push yourself past the limit of what you're able to do.

But I'm just gonna invite you to do some breathing with me, and as we're breathing, what our goal will be is to sink down into our body. And to come to a place where you feel very calm and still, and we can receive, um, some passages that I have for you. So, um, one of the easier [00:13:00] breathing exercises we can do is what we call box breathing, where we breathe in, and I'll count to four.

We hold our breath, I'll count to four. We breathe out, I'll count to four, and then we hold our breath there again for four. And we'll just do that four a few times again if you're able to or you're comfortable. And if it helps you, you can close your eyes. You can get into a position that's really comfortable.

That's why I did this with, um. No cameras, so nobody had to feel weird being on camera, just me. And so, um, for me, if I was watching this, I would close my eyes. I would just like wiggle around and get comfortable, make sure nothing's like poking into you. Maybe roll my shoulders a little bit. 'cause I tend to tense up my shoulders.

And then once I'm in a mostly comfortable position, I breathe in for four. So, breathing in. 1, [00:14:00] 2, 3, 4. Holding your breath. 2, 3, 4. Breathing out, three, four and holding that. 2, 3, 4. Breathe in. Hold your breath and then breathe out and hold your breath out. And then this time we're gonna just do it pulling in as much air as physically possible into your lungs and into your stomach.

Okay? So we're gonna breathe in, puff out that chest, puff out that stomach, hold your breath, 2, 3, 4, and then release your breath, pushing all the air all the way out, and then holding your breath. 2, 3, 4. Okay. Now I invite you just to breathe [00:15:00] normally to stay in your very relaxed and comfortable position.

And I'm gonna read to, you can keep your eyes closed or you can flutter them softly open. And this is from Habak chapter one. How long Lord must I call for help and you do not listen or I cry out to you about violence and you do not save? Why do you force me to look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?

Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges for the wicked, restrict the righteous. Therefore, justice comes out of perverted and then God answers in verse five [00:16:00] and says, look at the nation's and observe.

Be utterly astounded for I am doing something in your days that you will not believe when you hear it.

And so even while scripture is honest about days that are evil, it's just as honest that during those times, God is not idol. In Genesis 50, verse 20, Joseph says, you met this for evil, but God meant it for good. When darkness covered the land in Isaiah, God's light rose. In the days of the early church in Acts, there was a lot of pressure and a lot of danger to people who were sharing the gospel.

And that pressure didn't silence faith, it only multiplied it. It [00:17:00] scattered believers who preached everywhere in Philippians polls, chains of being in a jail advance the gospel. In Acts a jailer meets Jesus at midnight. And so today we may grieve honestly and also we can watch for grace because even now God is near awakening hearts, drawing people home and teaching us to, as it says in Ephesians, redeem the time because the days are evil.

So as we think about the fact that many times in the Bible, there have been believers who felt distraught, who felt like the world was turning dark and there was no hope [00:18:00] and, and God was doing nothing. There are so many examples where God was doing something. As he says in Habakkuk, if he were to tell us all of the incredible, amazing things that he was doing, we wouldn't even believe it.

So I invite you to think about some ways that you have seen God moving, whether it's in your area, whether it's on social media or online. Like how have you seen God move through some of these horrible things?

After the assassination that happened with Charlie Kirk. Um, there were a couple days there where you couldn't scroll without seeing the video, without seeing pictures, without seeing the theories of what happened and who did it and, and all of that. Like it was just [00:19:00] post, after post after post of feeling like my eyes were violated, but.

Since the last few days, maybe since even this weekend now I have started to see post, after post after post of people going to church for the first time in years of people opening their Bible for the first time maybe ever. Of people being curious, like, why is all, why are all these evil things happening?

Who is this Charlie person? What did he stand for? Why do people feel it's so controversial. There's a lot of curiosity there. Um, I don't know, do you if you guys see that as well, but. There were many churches that were full of people who haven't been there in a long time or maybe hadn't ever gone, or [00:20:00] people who are now so much more open to spirituality and faith and who is God and, and what does it mean and, and what is, what happens after death and, and all of those things.

People are starting to ask the tough questions that sometimes we have an answer for and sometimes we don't. But again, regardless of your point of view, regardless of your politics, regardless of your own personal belief, I think it's hard to watch the world around us right now and not feel like there's a shift, not notice that something is happening, things are changing.

It's not even about this politic or this party versus this party or or whatever it is, but it's becoming very clear, like people [00:21:00] who celebrate atrocity and people who come together and love and support and gentleness and kindness for each other.

So today I wanna share with you, um, four, we'll call them anchors. Um, four anchors that you can practice when the world just feels really confusing and overwhelming and you're like, I, I don't, I don't even know what to think about this much less what to do. And things just feel like they're spinning and they're spiraling out of control.

Okay, so the first one is to name, name the pain, like name the emotion, like, what is it you're feeling? You feel grief, you feel sadness, you feel confusion. You feel lost, you [00:22:00] feel hopeless. Like what is it in the coaching world or psychology? Sometimes they call it, name it to tam it. So our first perspective is that we wanna name what it is that we're feeling and experiencing.

The second anchor is we want to normalize our reaction. So even though you may not. Most likely we're not personally affected by some of the really difficult things that have happened in the last two or three weeks. It's normal to feel grief. It's normal when you hear a story of a flood that that annihilates a camp full of teenagers, that you go home and hug your kid tightly.

Say, I can't imagine how those parents must have felt. I can't imagine [00:23:00] how I would feel if that was my child, if that was my situation, if that was my daughter who was on the train, who people just sat around and watched.

It's normal to have those reactions to things, especially owl when there's no sensor button, there's no like blurred out anything. It's just in your face and it's pushed in in your face over and over and over. And so your brain has a very normal reaction to something that it has a hard time distinguishing.

Oh, this is happening to some people versus to me, to my family, to, you know, I, I should be able to look at this in a very detached way, even for. People like myself, people who are coaches or counselors or work in emergency services, like we really have to work on the skill of [00:24:00] not, not feeling with other people, not not taking on other people's hurt and other people's, um, challenges.

Like it's not easy. It's not an easy thing to learn how to do or to learn how to navigate. Someone tells me their heartbreaking story. I wanna cry when someone tells me how unfairly their family has treated them or someone else has treated them, my heart hurts with them. And so even people who, who are exposed to those things all day every day is something that they have to actively work on learning how to do and even find an outlet for, for themselves.

Because when you're carrying those heavy things, your brain and your body, the tendency is like to take it on, to carry it yourself. And so for you, when you see the videos and you hear the stories and you're like, ah, I can't even imagine like [00:25:00] how horrible and how unfair and how tragic the situation is, it's really easy to like take that on yourself.

Which brings us to the third anchor that I have for you, which is turning to scripture. And not to scripture that's like, God is good and God is great, and life is great and I should be happy, and we have joy in Jesus. But scripture that acknowledges the reality that we face. And there are so many examples, like when I was looking for examples of what to include for today, there were so many to pick from.

Where the author of that passage is like, God, how long? How long do we have to suffer? How much do we have to suffer?

And so when we feel all consumed by what we're seeing on social media, [00:26:00] when we feel that all that's overwhelming and we're just being bombarded by it, sometimes we just need to turn it off. And we need to pull ourselves out of the overwhelm, out of the chaos, out of all the noise, and find that still quiet place where we can refocus back to God, back to the places he says we can find them as in like the Bible and the scripture meditating on his word day and night in, in.

Implant, I can't think of the right word, but essentially engraving his word on our heart

and staying focused to that and staying focused on the things that we can do, on the things that we can control so that we don't live in a state of [00:27:00] fear. I know several people who have said, I'm just like, I live in so much fear and this is just feeding the fear. Feeding me anxiety of the unknown. And there are so many times that God tells us, do not fear.

Do not be afraid. And so one of the ways that we do that is trying to ground ourselves down into the peace and the calm of knowing that God is faithful, knowing that he looks out for us, knowing that no matter what, yes, he says We will experience suffering. Yes, he says that we'll be persecuted. He doesn't say we're gonna have an easy life or that we're gonna be happy all the time, and all of those things.

He tells us we will experience suffering, but he also tells us that we aren't alone. And even on the day that I learned that my husband was no longer alive, that was the thought [00:28:00] that came to me over and over and over. You are not alone. You are not alone. And even when I'm bawling my eyes out and I'm driving back home to tell my kids and I'm telling God how unfair this is and how much I hate it, and how much, um, this shouldn't have happened and why did this happen, and all of the things, just the overwhelming thought over and over as you are not alone.

And so you are not alone.

So then our fourth anchor here is really just to define one next step. And so maybe that next step initially is rest. Because you may be grieving, you may, you may feel heavy with the things that are happening around you. Maybe that next step is to. [00:29:00] Donate to a family or to a nonprofit in an area that you wanna support.

Maybe it is buying something from a local shop. When a town has experienced a tragedy just to like support that town, whatever it is, is finding one next step that you can take and that you can focus on. It doesn't have to feel big or overwhelming or difficult, but it recenters us back to we, we are not in control.

We have to live in surrender. And becoming a widow more than anything probably reinforces that idea that we think we know how much time we have. We think we know how things are gonna turn out. We think we know what's gonna happen in the future, but really we don't. We don't have control of that. We don't have the ability to force [00:30:00] things to happen.

What we can control is what we choose to think on, what we choose to meditate on, ruminate on, and the actions that we decide to take. And that's it. That's it. That's all you can control.

So I have some questions for you as, um, like a journaling exercise here.

Take a deep breath with me. So as I think about this, and feel free to put your answer in the chat if you're comfortable doing that, or you could just write it on a piece of paper. But what. What feels heaviest to you right now? This is our first question to consider, so type it in the chat if you don't mind, or you can write it down on a piece of paper.[00:31:00]

Marianna, I see that Karen says This has affected my own children. I took my daughter to another church on Sunday. She's Relic gone since Ben died four years ago. Was a good biblical sermon and awesome, very powerful prayer. David has already been reassessing his relationship with the Lord and how he should use his life for greater things in the kingdom.

Oh, Karen, that's amazing. Okay, so to the question, what feels heaviest right now? Maryanne says, people celebrating the Evil Act. Joanne over here says the future.

Yeah, like I never, you know, I've read Revelations and I've thought about the future and the end times and all of that, and I was just always like, but how would that be possible? Like, how would people celebrate things that are [00:32:00] wrong? How. How is it possible, like when the Bible warns about calling good things evil and calling things evil that are good?

Like how could that be? Everybody knows what's good. Everybody knows what's wrong and what's bad, but then it's like we are here, we are here we're things that I've always believed were good. People call evil and people call evil things that are good.

Crazy. All right. My second question for you is what kind of support would be kind for you this week? What kind of support would feel kind for you?

I'll give you a minute to [00:33:00] put that in the chat.

Okay. My next question, Patty says, guarding my heart with God's word. I love that.

Our next question is, what can help me feel 1% safer in the next 24 hours? What can help me feel 1% safer?

Maryanne says, trusting God.

I, um, have a couple of clients that I've talked with who, um, they already struggle with some anxiety and just some of the things that have happened the past few weeks, I think [00:34:00] has amped that up for them, where they just feel like so afraid. Afraid to go places, afraid to do things, afraid that they're not safe.

So thinking about like what's, what's one thing that could help me feel even a tiny bit safer is helpful. Then the last question that I have for you to think about is who, who can witness me without fixing? Who can witness me without fixing? Which is essentially who could you talk with and openly share your fears or doubts, your thoughts and beliefs?

Without judgment, without someone trying to fix you, without someone trying to give you advice, but just someone who could witness be a witness to what you think and what you feel and what you believe with zero judgment, zero analysis, zero criticism.[00:35:00]

Patty said Emily. Thank you, Patty.

Karen says, knowing God is present and he numbers our days. Yes. Yeah. Karen, that made me think of, um, one time early on as a widow, someone had invited me to a missionary trip in Peru and they were telling me about this mission trip and how it was going to be dangerous and, um. How they, last time they went, they thought that the people there would rise up and they would not return home.

And I remember talking with that about my dad. Like, okay, I would love to go on a mission trip and help people, but I also feel like, whoa, that's really dangerous. And I have four children at home. I can't be doing that now. And I just remember my dad wasn't like, oh yeah, of course that makes sense. He was like [00:36:00] the safest place.

That you can be is where God wants you to be. And I was like, whoa. That's true. The safest place you can be is where God wants you to be.

Okay. So I have two more scriptures to read with you, for you. So again, get, get comfortable. And sit back and relax. I'm just gonna read you the first one here is Psalm 94. It says, Lord God, a vengeance shine, rise up judge of the earth. Repay the proud what they deserve. Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked celebrate?

They pour out arrogant words. All evil, evil doers boast, Lord, they crush your people. They oppress your [00:37:00] heritage. They kill the widow and the resident alien and murder the fatherless. They say the Lord doesn't see the God of Jacob. Doesn't pay attention. Pay attention. You stupid people. I would love to say that fools, when will you be wise?

Can the one who shaped the ear not hear the one who formed the I not see. The one who instructs nations and teaches mankind knowledge. Does he not discipline? The Lord knows the thoughts of mankind and they are futile. How happy Lord is anyone you discipline and teach from your law. To give him relief from troubled times until a pit is dug for the wicked.

The Lord will not leave his people or abandon his heritage. For the administration of justice will be righteous and all the upright and heart will follow it. Who stands up for me against the [00:38:00] wicked who takes a stand for me against evil doers? If the Lord had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence of death.

If I say my foot is slipping, your faithful love will support me. Lord, when I'm filled with cares, your comfort brings me joy. Can a corrupt throne be your ally? A throne that makes evil laws, they ban together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord is my refuge.

My rock is the rock of my, my God is the rock of my protection. He will pay them back for their sins and destroy them for their evil. The Lord our God will destroy them. And then Psalm 46, God is our refuge and our strength. A helper who is always found in times of trouble. Therefore, we will not be afraid.

Even [00:39:00] though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil, there is a river. It streams delight the city of God and the holy dwelling place of the most high God is within her. She will not be toppled. God will help her.

When the morning Dawns nation's rage, kingdoms topple the earth, melts when he lifts his voice. The Lord of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come see the work of the Lord who brings devastation on the earth. He makes wars cease throughout the earth. He shatters bows and cut spears to pieces.

He sets wagons, ablaze. Stop fighting and know that I am God exalted among the [00:40:00] nations, exalted on the earth. The Lord of armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our stronghold. And the last few verses I have for you come from Psalm 34, the eyes of the Lord. On the righteous and his ears are open to their cry for help.

The phase of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to remove all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out and the Lord hears and rescues them from their trouble. The Lord is near the hearted. He saves those crushed in spirit. One who is righteous has many. Adversities, but the Lord rescues them from them all.

And so what I wanna leave you with today is that even though we feel alone and like [00:41:00] the world has gone crazy and things don't make sense and that God is silent and doing nothing, we can find example over and over. Where other believers have have been there, other believers have prayed those prayers and have brought to God their questions and their complaints.

There's an amazing book called, um, just Be Honest, that one of my, my brave widow peeps had recommended, and it's probably one of the best books that I've read, on being in a season of suffering and being able to take your complaints and take your questions to God, that God can handle it. God can handle your questions and your complaints.

And that when we wrestle with God, when we [00:42:00] wrestle with these tough questions and these difficult situations that we're not in the wrong, God wants us to seek him. He wants us to seek his guidance and to see what he is doing when we're in these very dark times to see that. Even though there are some terrible things that have happened out of those terrible things that have happened, God can create some really beautiful, amazing things that maybe wouldn't have happened or wouldn't have happened for a long time if, if those things hadn't occurred.

Karen says. My close besties and my two immediate supervisors, Aaron and Brian, through all of this, I've noticed a huge change in myself, my friends, and many people [00:43:00] online. We have moved from shock and justifiable intense anger to a sense of pe, peace and purpose moving forward and trusting in God. Yeah, and so anytime that I am.

Coaching or, or talking to someone about feeling angry, feeling grieving, feeling, having all of the questions and having all of the complaints and all of the, um, you know, just, just outrage at times of what has happened has never to been, has never been to go to God and say like. Yes, you're wonderful and amazing and I'm grateful.

Thank you. God is to go to God and say, I know that the Bible says that you're good and that you love us, and that you know you [00:44:00] want what is best for us. And I also don't under understand all of this that's happening over here. I don't like this. I hate this. How long will you let this continue? How long do people have to suffer?

Sometimes even people that I work with like can't catch a break, right? It's like one major loss after another one, after another chaotic thing has happened, and there are just some times where people cannot catch their breath because it's one thing right after another. And sometimes I have, I pray for them.

The same question was, God, how long? How much can their heart possibly handle? When can they feel a sense of relief? Like, God, you tell us that you, you save our crushed spirits. There are so many times where I would pray and just say, God, [00:45:00] please rescue me from despair. I cannot live like this anymore. I can't.

My heart cannot take it. It's going to give out. I need you to rescue my heart and my spirit. And I prayed that many, many, many times and he has. So I just encourage you to be honest in your conversations with God, honest as you're looking to the Bible for answers and in the ways that he can speak to you.

And we know that when we go to the Bible and we look for answers, that our pursuit does not return void. Our as we seek, as we look, as we want to hear from God that we will.

And so that is my prayer for you today. That is what I wanted, the space that I wanted to create, the message that I wanna share, which is one of hope. [00:46:00] Not out of, not naivete, not out of, oh guys, we gotta keep our chin up. But just an honest, authentic look at what is happening in the world around us and what we can actually focus on and do during these times when it just feels like there are no good answers.

Karen says, I also have noticed that perhaps our society is finally learning how to grieve instead of shove it down. The tears, vigils and even people in the public eye and media seem less concerned about honestly sharing their feelings and sadness. Yeah, I do think. You know, social media has been, has had so many great things and so many hard things to deal with.

But one thing that I do like about social media is that so many people, whether I [00:47:00] like what, how they're showing up or not is a whole nother topic. But I do think that there are so many people who are just trying to be authentic and real and Okay. Sure. Maybe on Instagram people are trying to. Paint a picture of living their best life and everything's great and wonderful, but that's one reason why I love YouTube and TikTok and some of these other platforms where people don't care.

They don't care if you see their dirty laundry. They don't care if they're bawling their eyes out or their hair's all messy and crazy or whatever. Like people are just more, um, more about authentically. Showing up as they are and sharing their honest opinion, whether or not you like it. UE says, I cried because of Charlie's innocent death.

It reminds me of my beloved and belated husband. Thank you Emily, for helping voice our grief. Yeah, [00:48:00] yeah. I think that, um, for many widows is what struck a chord, right? Because we. See the now, the newly young widow, we see the little children who are never gonna know their father, and it brings up a lot of that same grief that we have had for the loss of our person and how unfair it is, and how our heart, our heart just breaks.

So it has been hard. Patty says this was a beautiful break, a refreshing pause, a time to recenter back to God. Thank you. You are welcome, and thank you for joining me today. Until next time, I will see you later. I.