…All The Time.
There’s a standard call and response in the church… matter of fact, for this one, it’s probably bigger than the confines of any organization and it seems to have seeped into active AND inactive members of the organized church. One person says GOD IS GOOD and the response is…..
Yup. Some of y’all got it but haven’t seen the inside of a church in years. The response is “ALL THE TIME.”
God is good.
All the time.
I mean… it’s true. It can be painfully questionable in some moments. I promise. But it’s still true.
Matter of fact… contrary to what many may say, I’ve felt that the deeper my faith got, the more difficult it can be in moments where you KNOW that God is good… and God is active… and God is going to show up “all the time”… but you can’t see Him that day. Or that week. Or that year. Or… for years.
Or maybe you get glimpses … but not the full goodness. Maybe you even have a breakthrough… like I experienced on many levels a couple weeks ago… but you still have clouds lingering heavily in your life. I still have some of the worst pain in my life. And God is good … all the time. Even though I haven’t healed… I know He’s still gonna heal me.
You know how this train of thought started? A quote got stuck in my head. Honestly I thought the quote was “you aren’t paying me for my 30 minute consultation, you’re paying me for my 30 years of experience.” I had morphed it into a bit of a reflection on my past 30 days streaming. I had the thought that “this isn’t about the 30 days that I’ve been live streaming, it’s a collision course that’s been 30 years in the making for me.”
And it is. And it hasn’t been easy. At all.
The real quote. (To the best of my knowledge)
When we see this quote, we should think about our definition of value. The time spent in school. The time spent learning a trade… learning an art form… learning a craft. We think about the time you’ve PUT IN to GET OUT good results and higher value for your expertise.
You know what I don’t think we factor into our definition of value?
The pain.
The struggle.
The suffering.
The moments when we don’t know if we’re going to make it. Even though our gut says we are on the right track.
The doubt.
The uncertainty.
And not the glorified “struggle” or the glorified “grind”. I’m talking about the real deal suffering. The shit that people don’t even want to think about… The stuff that people can’t even truly handle hearing. That part. That part is so important for our transformation and for our evolution and for our value.
It’s not normally folded into the formula but I’d venture to say that someone that really goes through it, has a perspective that is invaluable.
I can always tell, too. You can feel it in a person. When you vent a little of your story out, you can feel a person who has been through it… and have come out of it… they listen different. They lean in. They interact different. They empathize different.
All I really feel like I want to say with this newsletter/podcast is that if you are going through it… you have so much value. You are so important. You are so loved. You have a story to share (one day) that could be exactly what someone else needs to hear.
Keep going.
You may not see your value today… but God’s plan is so much bigger and better than ours. I’m excited for you to look back and see that “You don’t get paid for the hour. You get paid for the value you bring to the hour.”
Side note: for you literal thinkers… although I DO think that survivors of pain and suffering WILL make more money (lol. I just do) I’m not just talking about money here. Sometimes encouragement is a currency that’s ten times more valuable then money. Sometimes hearing someone say “that’s exactly what I needed to hear today” is more valuable than gold. The money will come. Have faith. In the meantime, know that every single thing you are going through has the potential to make you better and stronger. You just have to decide to let it.
Don’t give up.
I’m praying for you.
Joel
Hey, thank you for reading this and being a part of my own personal struggle and journey. I appreciate you more than you know. If you feel compelled to support me and my mission to “teach people to SHARE their blessings and their bruises to connect with love and empathy” you can show it in a couple different ways!
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Thank you!! We’re going to keep going TOO!! Promise!!
…All The Time