S7 EP1 | Betrayal? Trauma? Illness? Trials? God is Still Sovereign & Good.
Welcome to Season 7!!!
We are diving right in as Carla shares a truth she’s been clinging to after receiving some bad news last week. In the pain, struggle, grief, challenge - God is still Sovereign. And He has good plans that cannot be thwarted. Be encouraged as you listen to today’s episode.
God's Sovereignty and Goodness Amidst Trials
Life's curveballs, challenges, and hard times can make us feel hopeless.
Carla's personal experience with her father's unexpected colon cancer diagnosis.
Reminding ourselves that God is sovereign and still good in the face of adversity.
Trusting in God's Sovereignty
Joseph's story in the Old Testament as an example of God's sovereignty.
Trusting that God's purpose for us is good, even in tough times.
Emphasizing the importance of knowing God's character to build trust.
Resting in God's Sovereignty
Scripture references highlighting God's sovereignty and purpose (listed below in Key Scriptures).
Encouraging deeper Bible study to build confidence in understanding God's character.
Finding peace through trust in God's sovereignty, even during trials.
KEY SCRIPTURES:
Genesis 50:20: The speaker mentions Joseph's story and how what was intended for harm, God used for good. This reflects the idea that even in difficult circumstances, God can work things out for good.
Isaiah 46:10: This verse emphasizes that God's counsel shall stand, and He will accomplish all His purpose. It reinforces the idea that God's plans are sovereign and cannot be thwarted.
Psalm 103:19: This verse mentions that the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all, highlighting God's sovereignty over everything.
Job 42:2: Job's realization that God can do all things and that no purpose of God can be thwarted reinforces the theme of God's sovereignty.
Ephesians 1:11: This verse speaks of God working all things according to the counsel of His will, underscoring God's sovereignty in all circumstances.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Join In His Image Wellness Collective ---> carlaargeswellness@gmail.com
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] Carla: Hey friends, welcome to Affirming Truths. I'm your friend and host, Carla Arges. This show is a safe place to share our struggles, grow in faith, and root our identity in Christ. My hope is that you will leave each episode feeling encouraged in your journey. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode and it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review.
[00:00:30] Carla: I am so glad you're here. Let's get started. Hello, friends. Welcome to this episode of Affirming Truth. I am your host and your friend, Carla Arges. Welcome to the show. I'm You know, I've had a lot of time recently to reflect, right? And I think it's important that we all take time and moments for reflection, really just to [00:01:00] see how we're growing in God, to see what we're producing in our lives.
[00:01:05] Carla: And I noticed a very Big difference in how my life is being played out based on what I've been sowing. So we all know that the Bible is full of parables and analogies and metaphors relating to sowing and reaping. Um, Israel was an agricultural culture, an agricultural society. So these metaphors would have had deep meaning to them.
[00:01:40] Carla: And I was really reflecting and I even for the Patreon devotion that goes out every week, um, I wrote on this this week and I've been really inspired to talk to you guys about sewing and reaping because there may be a few of you guys Looking at your lives, looking at [00:02:00] your finances, looking at your relationships, looking at your health and wondering, how did I get here?
[00:02:07] Carla: God, why is this happening? I can't turn things around. Everything's happening to me. When really the root cause is that you have been sowing the wrong things. Right. And I know that that can be a hard thing to admit. And I know for certain, it was hard for me to get to the point to realize that maybe the root issue of all of my problems, or not all of them, but a lot of them with me.
[00:02:37] Carla: And so let's talk about that. Um, it says in Galatians, whoever sows to please their flesh, from flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life. Our flesh, that's our old nature, that's our sinful nature. The [00:03:00] flesh is what was under the dominion of the prince of this world, under the enemy in sin.
[00:03:07] Carla: And therefore, anything we produced or chased or desired or sowed in the flesh ultimately bared sin consequence, destruction, right? We even see this in our world today on a larger scope. In societies, in cultures, where they are sowing against the goodness of God and against his will, and they are sowing in their fleshly desires, the outcome, what they're reaping is destruction.
[00:03:40] Carla: We see the collapse of marriages. We see this. Whole gender confusion. We see so many things that are taking us farther away from God because people are sowing in the flesh. But friend, you are a new creation. You are born of the [00:04:00] spirit. And so it's time to start sowing in the spirit. Job 4. 8 says, according to what I've seen, those who plow iniquity and those who sow trouble, harvest it.
[00:04:16] Carla: We reap what we sow. Goes on in 2 to say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows abundantly will also reap. Abundantly, but that's true whether you're showing in the flesh or sewing in the spirit. If you are sewing in the flesh abundantly, you're going to see that harvest that reaping in your life in abundance in that way too.
[00:04:51] Carla: And you can see it through broken relationships. You can see it with isolation, with shame. [00:05:00]You can see it with walking farther away from God, confusion, anxiety, fear, right? But if we sow in abundance, out of the spirit. What are we going to get? Well, what is the fruit of the spirit? What does the spirit produce?
[00:05:26] Carla: It produced love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. If we sow in the spirit, empowered by the spirit, then we will live out the fruits of the spirit. That will be our harvest. So let me ask you, friend, What are you reaping in your life right now? And I'll tell you what I used to reap [00:06:00] based on what I was sowing.
[00:06:02] Carla: When I was sowing seeds of victimhood, when I was sowing seeds of resentment, when I was sowing seeds of jealousy, that's what was being produced in my life. I was discontent. I was, I was anxious. I was covetedness. I was never happy. My relationships were sour and some would argue, Oh, but Carla, you have borderline personality that makes for strained relationships.
[00:06:39] Carla: Sure, but I certainly wasn't sowing into being healthy and stable in that illness. I wasn't taking responsibility. I wasn't inviting the spirit in. That makes a difference. I have borderline now, and my relationships reflect [00:07:00] not my illness, but what I'm sowing. Even though I have illness, there's a difference.
[00:07:08] Carla: I have bipolar, but what is evidenced in my life is not a product of my illness because I'm not sowing out of the flesh, I am sowing in the spirit. What is the status of your relationships? And guys, this can seem like small, innocent things. I think I've told you this story before, but I used to watch a lot of reality TV.
[00:07:37] Carla: This is going back years and years now. I used to watch a lot of reality TV, all the Housewives, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians, all of that. God really convicted me of it because what it was producing in me, what I was reaping from, sowing my time and my energy [00:08:00] and my focus into that I was reaping discontent.
[00:08:06] Carla: Watching those shows made me discontent with my life. Now, I'm not saying those shows are bad for everyone. That's what it was producing in my life. Sowing my time and my energy, numbing out to reality TV with sowing discontentment. And how did that discontentment show up? I was Discontent in my marriage, I was discontent with my home, I was discontent with what I thought my lack of freedom was.
[00:08:42] Carla: Those were all lies of the enemy. You see, I was sowing in the flesh, and so I was reaping destruction. Where are you sowing your thyme? What seeds are you planting? The [00:09:00] fruit doesn't lie. The fruit does not lie. You cannot plant a fig seed and expect an olive tree. You cannot plant an apple seed and hope for oranges.
[00:09:15] Carla: Fruit does not lie. You will know them by their fruit. If someone were to look at you, what fruit are you producing? Oh, that stings, that's ouch, that's an ouch, because oftentimes we are so blinded to our own lack of good fruit. I mean, we certainly have expectations of our children to bear good fruit, don't we?
[00:09:48] Carla: We certainly have expectations of their obedience and their patience and their kindness, but do we live up to that?
[00:09:59] Carla: Is the [00:10:00] fruit of the spirit abundant in our life and not just by blind works, right? Works have to be initiated by faith. Works alone don't cut it. God is always after our heart. It is the overflow of a faithful heart, surrendered and obedience that produces the good works in the spirit and sees the fruit.
[00:10:28] Carla: This is where you have to make a decision. You have to choose, listen, you are the farmer here, you are the one sowing the seeds, you have to choose forgiveness over resentment, you have to choose joy in the midst of a hard circumstance. You have to choose grace when someone lets you down, you have to [00:11:00] choose mercy when you have an opportunity for retribution, right?
[00:11:08] Carla: What choices are you making? You have to take radical responsibility, even in how you sow into your health. When I talk about my four pillars of thriving and take my clients through it, this really comes down to what are you sowing? If you want to thrive in your faith, if you want to thrive in your mental health, it comes down to what you're showing.
[00:11:35] Carla: Are you spending time in the word? Are you moving your body? Are you eating out of reverence for the temple of the Holy Spirit? Are you resting and abiding in Christ? Or are you packing your day with the [00:12:00] to dos? Are you over scheduling yourself? Are you so busy doing that you're not being? Right? We reap what we sow.
[00:12:16] Carla: Oh, and sometimes it's so hard, right? Because sometimes we have sown good things, and we're waiting for the harvest, and the harvest doesn't seem to be coming. It's a long, long season, and we want to give up. And we want to throw in the towel, friend, don't. The harvest will come. The seasons will change. I promise you that.
[00:12:49] Carla: The Word promises you that. Paul says, let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do [00:13:00] not grow weary.
[00:13:05] Carla: Keep sowing, keep sowing the goodness, keep sowing prayers with faithful expectation. Keep planting those seeds. God is working beneath the surface.
[00:13:20] Carla: I have some homework for you guys. I want you to take some time this week and reflect, what is the fruit in my life? Where have I grown weary of, of spirit sowing? Where do I have to sow differently? And really reflect on that and pray. That the Holy Spirit will reveal it to you because a lot of the, the way that we live out our life has to do with what we're reaping.[00:14:00]
[00:14:00] Carla: We live out our reap. We live out our harvest. And so if we're not happy. With how the life, our lives are going, we have to ask ourselves, what are we sowing? Am I sowing discontentment and pulling away from God or am I sowing faith and hope and joy as I connect with him and give him my time, right? My affirming truth for you today is I will sow in the spirit and reap the goodness of God in my life.
[00:14:46] Carla: And I'm going to take you back to the opening. First, whoever sows to please their flesh from flesh will reap destruction. Whoever sows to please the Spirit from the Spirit will reap [00:15:00] eternal life. Sow good things, friends, and watch the world. The harvest unfold in your life. I'll talk to you next time.
[00:15:19] Carla: Thanks for joining me today. I hope we're already friends on social media, but if we're not, come find me on Instagram at Carla Arges or at Affirming Truths. Can't wait to see you back here next week. Bye friends.