Podcast

From Crippling Anxiety to Courageous Faith: Sarah Griffiths Hu

Sarah: [00:00:00] Something that I’ve said to myself in the past, and I said it so often that my friend actually created , a plaque for me that says, you don’t have to be fearless to be faithful. Now, there’s more to that.

Sarah: You don’t have to be fearless to be faithful, but you do have to have the courage to step out in obedience and follow where God is leading you. And what I have found is yes, I might be afraid, but when I take that first step of faith, that fear, it dissipates. Loses its power.

Welcome to the Unshakable Hope podcast, where real life intersects redeeming love. I’m Kelly Hall, and this is where we wrestle through faith questions such as, how do I trust God’s heart when his ways and delays are breaking mind? We’ll hear from people just like you and me who have experienced God’s faithfulness when life didn’t unfold as they expected my prayers, that God would renew our hope and his word and his love through these [00:01:00] conversations.

Kelly: Hey friends. I am so glad you’re here.

Kelly: Well, I’m wondering if you have ever experienced times when the voice of fear was larger than God’s voice of truth, or maybe you’ve had a variety of fears that have caused you to struggle to embrace God’s purpose for your life with confidence. My guest today knows what it’s like to be crippled by anxiety and held back by fear, and yet God led her through one brave step after another to walk into the freedom that only trust in God can bring.

Kelly: Sarah Griffiths Hu is an author, speaker, and encourager at heart. She is passionate about helping women trust God as they surrender fear and step into courageous living with nearly 30 years in women’s ministry, she weaves biblical truth with vulnerable storytelling to remind women that God is faithful, he is present, and he is able. Even when life feels [00:02:00] uncertain.

Kelly: Her debut book, which I love so much, I read it in two sittings, I think. It’s called Courageous Trust, A Journey of Faith Over Fear. In this book, she shares how God taught her to trust him through some of the most difficult circumstances of her life, and she invites women to say yes to God even when the next step feels impossible.

Kelly: Sarah’s a wife, mom to two adult children and a joyful grandma. to Two precious little ones. Grandma, not Grammy. I’m a Grammy. Yeah,

Sarah: grandma. It’s what I grew up with. Yeah.

Kelly: Well, I’m so glad you’re here, Sarah.

Sarah: Thanks for Aw, thanks for having me. I’m so thrilled to be here.

Kelly: Well, like I said, your book was fabulous.

Kelly: I could not put it down if I had it on Kindle, I probably would’ve read it all night,

Sarah: well thank. I’m so grateful for that.

Kelly: Well, okay, we have a lot to talk about today and I know it’s gonna be fabulous. So God has taken you on this beautiful, incredible journey from crippling [00:03:00] anxiety to life changing faith.

Kelly: And some of these fears in your life started when you were a child and they just were exacerbated by different life experiences. But I wonder if you could talk to us about the first time you realized. You had fear, and fear was holding you back. What was that like for you?

Sarah: The very first time when I remember that was I was actually a teenager and it was in my later teens and I was going in for an audition.

Sarah: I was a, I loved acting and directing in theater and, well, I wasn’t directing yet as a team, but I enjoyed the auditioning process and I’d never been afraid. Of auditions. Nervous, yes, but not afraid. And I remember this one day after a, a tragic event that happened in my life that I know we’re gonna get into later.

Sarah: And I walked into this big area where I was going to be auditioning and all these people were there, and it was like fear grabbed my [00:04:00] throat and instead of going to the signup desk, I turned around and walked away. Oh, now my dad had actually driven me an hour and a half to this audition, so, and it was, it was nothing big.

Sarah: It was a community theater event. It wasn’t like some big part that was gonna, you know, whatever. But the fear was debilitating and I turned around. Wow. Yeah. Did that shock you? It did, because I remember seeing, they basically were having auditions where everyone knew everybody was watching everyone else’s auditions.

Sarah: And I’d done stuff like that before. But I feel like the fear that gripped me where I felt like I almost couldn’t breathe was shocking. Yeah. I, and I felt like a failure when I turned around and walked away. And I think I even lied to my dad. He’s like, how, how did it go? And I, and I’m just [00:05:00] realizing this right in this moment, that I’m pretty sure that I lied to my dad.

Sarah: I need to talk to him about this. And I said, oh, there was no space for me.

Sarah: Oh,

Sarah: and then I, I, yeah, and I walked away.

Kelly: Wow. Yeah. So that’s not the first time something has been uncovered on this podcast. I love it.

Sarah: Yeah. I’m like, okay, I need to have a conversation with my father.

Kelly: You know, my heart just breaks for that young girl.

Kelly: For that teenage era. Yeah. Where you were so crippled that you loved doing this, you loved it. Yes. And then suddenly you were absolutely, you were unable to walk into your calling. Your delight, your joy. Yes. The You God created was completely stifled.

Sarah: Totally. And you know, when I was a, a little girl, my, so my mom was very heavily involved in women’s ministry as well, and I would follow her around to all of her events and I would see her speaking and I knew God was calling me into this life and he’d given me this assignment [00:06:00] to to basically encourage women.

Sarah: I didn’t know yet. It was writing and speaking, but I knew I was there to encourage women and it’s. So interesting how the enemy can take something and twist it or we, you know what I mean? He can twist it around. Yeah. Because in, in my teen years when my early teens, I was a victim of assault and that assault, well, it, it changed the trajectory of everything. ’cause I thought if I, if I can’t tell this story, ’cause I didn’t want to tell anyone, not even my parents. Basically I’d snuck out of my house to go meet a boy, which was already bad. And then this thing happened. So I thought if I can’t tell this story, then there’s no story for me to tell.

Sarah: And so I let shame and silence rule my life. And so this was the first big thing that happened where afterwards, going into this audition where all of a sudden I wasn’t the same girl that I was, [00:07:00] and I also allowed that moment. This was sometimes the way that we play in our minds. Something out is I thought if I’m not gonna tell anyone, I’m just gonna prove to myself that I’m in control of my body.

Sarah: I’m gonna prove to myself that I can handle it on my own. And that was my first mistake in this situation was believing that lie.

Kelly: Yeah. That’s a really interesting connection. Mm-hmm. So let’s talk about that just a little bit more. How shame can drive you into being a control freak.

Sarah: Yes, it really can because at the, I feel, when I really look at the things I was afraid of something my child was doing that made me fearful that they were gonna walk down the same path I was gonna walk down or what have you, that control and wanting to make sure that.

Sarah: Even if it’s out of a good heart, but wanting to make sure that it’s not going to go down the same path I went down caused me to be even [00:08:00] far more fearful than I should have been.

Kelly: Yes. One of the things I realized when I wrote Courageous Faith, which is framed around Proverbs three, five and six, trust in the Lord with all your heart not in yourself, was this thought that when our plans are driven by fear and panic.

Kelly: It’s the very opposite of trust. That’s why I love in that verse where God says, trust in me, not in yourself. ’cause that’s what you’re gonna wanna do. You’re gonna wanna control everything. So it really is a surrender thing. Like you have to realize, I’m not in control. I can trust God. I can surrender and walk in more freedom and courage and power than fear was letting do.

Kelly: Yeah.

Sarah: Amen.

Sarah: That’s, that’s a word in itself right there. But yes.

Kelly: Well,

Kelly: let’s step into more of your story. First of all, before we move into the bigger part of your story, can you just tell us how long it took before you shared that story with

Kelly: anyone?

Sarah: I can. [00:09:00] I was married. Wow. So I was married at 21 and my husband

Knew I had a past, but he didn’t know what started the past and. So I was 21. I remember we were laying in bed together. It was dark and I just finally said, I have something to say and I might get choked up a little bit. And then very shortly after, God laid it on my heart to start sharing this story.

Sarah: And so we were part of a. Soul Gospel Group who let us in, do not ever ask me to sing. I am not good. They just let us join. And so, they had a segment where they would have people share their testimony, and I knew that God was asking me to do that before one of our songs. But in order for me to do that, it meant also sharing with my parents my past, because my parents are going to be there

Sarah: so that led to me very shortly after, just a couple months after I shared with my husband, did I [00:10:00] share with my parents. And of course, they were heartbroken for me and that I didn’t share that with them, uh, but also just heartbroken for the trajectory that it took my life on.

Kelly: Oh, it must have just hurt so much to know they could have rescued you as a 15-year-old if you would’ve told them and just talked about it.

Kelly: So as you shared it, it, would you say that it released you from the shame, from the crippling effect of fear?

Sarah: I don’t know if it released me from the crippling effect of fear, but it released me from shame. Okay. Because I hadn’t yet dealt with fear. Actually it did help me with being fearful of men.

Sarah: Okay. Because that was a big fear that I used to have, was a fear of just men in general. And as soon as I was able to share that with people, it’s like that fear was released.

Kelly: Wow. That’s so interesting. Well, again, my heart just breaks for you that you went through this as such a young girl and you didn’t know how to process it.

Kelly: Well, I wanna go through your story [00:11:00] and I’d love, it’s too big to tell, get the book. I highly recommend it. But what I’d love for you to do is just highlight some of the big transforming places in your life where God invited you to trust him, to care for you.

Sarah: Yeah,

Sarah: the first place I, that comes to mind right off the bat is my husband was not my husband yet, and we were dating and for our second date, my husband actually brought me to church.

Sarah: Yeah. Which is crazy. I love that because I had not gone to church in a long time. And I, so I was 20 years old. He brought me to church and the pastor shared the message from Luke 15 about how Jesus sat with sinners and he left the nine nine to save the one.

Sarah: And in that moment, I knew that God was reaching out to me,

Sarah: I had given my life to him when I was six years old with my mom. That God had never actually left me. My shame separated, my, separated me [00:12:00] from him in the way that I removed myself from him, if that makes sense. But but Jesus was there all the time.

Sarah: He never left me. And he was reaching out to me the entire time saying, come back just in. Yes. Stay, stay with me. Have this relationship with me so from then on, from that day on, I said, yes, Lord, I am. I am going to follow you wholeheartedly, and I’m going to step back into relationship with you and thank you for never leaving me alone.

Sarah, that just

Kelly: brings tears to my eyes. That’s so beautiful. I love the truth that God never leaves us. He is always speaking to us. He’s always calling to us. And then the way he just so tenderly. Orchestrated that story, that particular story, that particular time with your husband, your two B husband, sitting beside you.

Kelly: That’s so beautiful. I

Sarah: love that

Kelly: statement.

Sarah: I find it so interesting [00:13:00] that I was afraid of men, but he used a man to draw me back. To him,

Kelly: you know,

Sarah: used a man to introduce me back to relationship with him. Yeah. And eight months after that moment, Sherman and I were married. Wow.

Kelly: I can’t get over how beautiful it is as you just stepped back into a shame-free relationship with Jesus.

Kelly: Yes,

Kelly: yes. He is so good.

Kelly: Well, y’all married quickly and we did the adventure began

Sarah: It really did. So we had never. Just to paint a picture here, we were young. We were 21 years old, both of us. Sherman turned 22, about a month after we were married, and I had never, back in the day when we wrote checks, I had never written a check. I had never shopped for a household. I had never owned my own car.

Sarah: I have never lived alone, and Sherman hadn’t either. Wow. He had his own car, but his dad helped him get [00:14:00] it and it was, do you know what I mean? Yeah. We were two young punk kids who thought that we were gonna embrace the world and that we could do it all on our own. But three months into our marriage it was like hit with a whammy when, , I had an early miscarriage.

Kelly: Mm. And

Sarah: We were actually taking precautions, so this was surprising and I was scared at first, but then after we talked it through together, I was like, oh, this is exciting.

Sarah: And just as soon as I discovered I was pregnant, we, we lost the baby. And that was very hard for me to process through. And it took me a lot longer than I thought I would need to process that loss.

Kelly: You were still processing the loss of what had happened to you when you were 15? Like now?

Kelly: Yes. Another loss On top of that, at such a young age, you did [00:15:00] not have the tools, the skills,

Sarah: to no system, nor did we have. Really the relationship yet to carry us through. Sherman and I dated and married within nine months of our first meeting. Wow. And then the miscarriage happened and then fairly quickly after that, while still using precautions, I got pregnant again.

Sarah: With our lovely Victoria who. It is just a, a delight and we love her so much. I was sick as a dog the entire time, which actually put a lot more pressure on our marriage again, because I was sick from beginning to end and it was brutal. You were trying to work and help support the family, weren’t you?

Sarah: Yeah, I had just gone back to work and then I got pregnant and then it was like, no, , this is not gonna happen. I’m just too sick like nine, 10 times a day sick. Right up to the very end. And so Victoria came along and that put on a lot more [00:16:00] pressure because then I, we decided that I would be a stay at home mom.

Sarah: . And then our son came along 17 months after our daughter, and again, a really difficult pregnancy, but our son was born with something called Highline Membrane Disease. He was only three weeks early, but with that Highline membrane disease, it’s, it’s totally curable.

Sarah: But the hospital we were at didn’t really have the necessary things that he needed, and so he was sent by emergency ambulance to a, a neighboring hospital and I couldn’t follow him, and they gave us very grim chances that he might make it. And so thankfully he did. And we walked through that season and then began the season of, now I’m gonna be a stay at home mom.

Sarah: Because we, we made that decision because after childcare, I was only bringing in $200 a [00:17:00] month and we thought, you know what? I’ve always wanted to be a stay at home mom, and I’ll just, we’ll eat the cost somewhere else. And so that was a choice that we made for our family.

Kelly: Yeah. Well now let’s talk about how fear played into all this.

Kelly: You said it was stressful, of course. Your youth made it more stressful. Y’all didn’t know how to process all this, but how was fear playing into this, and how did God meet you? Mm-hmm.

Sarah: Well, I think I was really afraid of being alone.

Sarah: Sherman worked full-time. He was also trying to build a business at the time as well, a side income, and it just made it really difficult. I was really afraid of being alone at that time. And so being a mama and. Facing this time, we didn’t have a tv. We didn’t have a computer, we didn’t have, I didn’t have a car and I lived in a really seedy area of town, so, so I didn’t walk anywhere, so I was really lonely.

Sarah: Yeah. You were [00:18:00] trapped yes, I was trapped.

Kelly: Well, one another thing you mentioned where there were huge financial difficulties later on as

Sarah: well, massive financial difficulties where it felt like my husband couldn’t keep a job for some reason. He would just get a job and then he would lose a job.

Sarah: And I was at my wit’s end. He was at his wit’s end. We didn’t know what to do. And then one day he came to me and he said, I think I have this idea to start up my own business. And I was like, what do you mean we’re a single income family? You wanna start a business? But I felt God say that this is what I was a, what we were supposed to do.

Sarah: I just felt he was leading us that way. And so I said, okay, if we’re gonna do this, let’s downsize. So we downsized to a two bedroom, 800 square foot, basement suite with no laundry and two little kits. Wow. Yeah. And Sherman went to start building his business. And there were seasons in there where I really [00:19:00] didn’t know how we were gonna pay bills.

Sarah: I didn’t know how we were gonna put food on the table. I just didn’t know how God was gonna do what he was gonna do. But we saw Miracle After Miracle during that season of his provision. Sometimes it would be somebody slipping some money into our pocket, into Sherman’s pocket.

Sarah: Sometimes it would be somebody dropping off food at our door when we didn’t even know. People knew that we were struggling and God just took care of us because we continued. To trust him with our finances. Even if we didn’t have a lot, we would still put a little bit into into our tithe. That’s not saying that God will always provide just because you put money into the tithe.

Sarah: Sure. That’s not what I’m saying. Yes. The way God provides, there’s always. There’s always a different avenue for how he provides. Yeah. Sometimes it’s monetary, sometimes it’s by a friend just coming by to help you clean your house. Sometimes it’s just his provision of food. There’s [00:20:00] always a provision, but he, he is the good provider.

Kelly: Well, this is a big test for someone who feels fearful and it feels like she has to control everything. Mm-hmm. I mean, it was really a test of faith where like Peter’s stepping out on the water. God is saying, yes, Sarah, trust me. Come on out into this very uncomfortable, uncertain place where nothing seems possible because you had friends telling you, this is crazy.

Kelly: I mean, what are y’all thinking? Yeah. Like you have no money and your husband’s starting a business. And so,

Sarah: yeah. And what do you mean you’re staying at home? And we, we had people saying like, you’re not even contributing to the family, so why are you, you know, like you should get out and get a job. But as a team, we’re like, this is what God is asking us to do right now. This is where he’s asking me to be. And that. Obedience and being where he asked me to be turned out to be something that really pointed us in a good, I was in the right place at the right time when our son walked through a really difficult season

Sarah: of when in his, , later teens.

Sarah: And my children gimme permission to talk about [00:21:00] these things that I’m bringing up about them today. But when my son walked through a season of addiction, I was in the right place at the right time for us to just be really present for him. Yeah. And for my daughter as well.

Kelly: Mm-hmm. Yeah. When you described that, I know that it floored you, it crippled you.

Kelly: You were, at times, groaning on the floor, so heartbroken and scared. Yeah. I was terrified

Sarah: for him. It was literally debilitating. I had not felt that kind of debilitating fear since my teen years because I, while I didn’t walk a road of addiction, I was around a lot of people who walked that road of addiction in my teen years and watching my son walk through that, it felt like I was looking at the mirror image of some people who I knew could offer so much more to the world, but the addiction was keeping them down. Yeah. It felt like, it honestly felt like I was [00:22:00] losing my son.

Kelly: Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Sarah: So it was a really, really, and like you said, I ended up having a nervous breakdown during that season. Because we just had everything coming ahead, you know.

Sarah: Um, my daughter was recovering from major surgery on her legs both legs needing reconstructive surgery, my husband, uh, he had already been running his business for a while, and my husband lost every single one of his clients. Unbelievable.

Sarah: Unbelievable. Mm-hmm. It was terrifying. All for a different reason. It wasn’t like, oh, we’re all, you know, it was all for a different reason. And then within the week of my husband, , this was all in about a six year segment ’cause my daughter’s two surgeries. And then near the end of the six years was my husband losing those, clients.

Sarah: At the same time. My daughter was recovering from her second surgery and then our son. , We found out he was battling addiction and, and it felt like [00:23:00] everything was falling apart.

Kelly: Yeah.

Sarah: And so I remember running away thinking, I need to get out of the house. I just have to get out of the house. And so I went down to a coffee shop just to read, just to try and regroup my mind, my thoughts, and, in walks my mom.

Sarah: Into the coffee shop. And I remember asking her, how did you find me? How did you even know where to look? And she goes, well, I just knew you’d be in a coffee shop. So I, I looked in every single coffee shop till I found you. And which reminded me of the lost lamb. How Jesus leaves the 99 to look for the one.

Sarah: And so even when we’re hurting, when we’re afraid, when, when something terrible is happening in our lives, God never leaves. And even if we run, even if we try to run from him, he never leaves us alone. He’s always letting us know somehow that he is there with us, even in those traumatic or [00:24:00] those difficult seasons.

Kelly: Yeah.

Kelly: Mm-hmm. Oh my goodness. I, that just makes me think of times when that were just too overwhelming. Like the hardest times in my life where you just think how many more hardships can pile onto this one place? I remember saying to God, do you remember who I am? I’m Kelly Hall.

Kelly: Weak faith. I can’t take one more hard thing. And God said to me, I remember you, Kelly. Do you remember me? And that was, oh my goodness. So sweet and eye-opening as I just began to recount and rehearse who he is to me. Yes. Yes. Is a rescue. It was a heart rescue for me.

Sarah: Wow. That is beautiful.

Sarah: Wow. What a beautiful reminder.

Kelly: I’m wondering how you would recommend to someone, or how do you help people learn to pray through their fears? What are some practical ways that you hand people when you’re talking to them or even mentoring them.

Sarah: Sure. Yeah. I, there’s a couple ways. The first way that comes to my mind is when I am feeling [00:25:00] weak, I always first remember my God is strong.

Sarah: When I’m weak, he is strong. That’s when he shows his strength the most sometimes is when we allow him to. Just walk before us. He already is walking before us. But when we mentally give him permission to do that, when we go, I am actually gonna take a a step back and I’m gonna let you take control of the situation.

Sarah: I’m gonna let you be strong. I’m gonna let go of my control. That is the first way. So, this prayer of letting go of control. And the second way is then putting on that full armor. Putting on our full armor, right? So the belt of truth, the body armor of God’s righteousness, the shoes of peace, which is, the good news and the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation.

Sarah: And the sword of the spirit, which is obviously the word of God. When we take up each one of those things and spend time with. Our Heavenly Father spend time in his [00:26:00] feet, spend time in his word. That’s the beginning. That’s the beginning , of allowing him , and just sitting in his presence and knowing, building the trust that he’s going to carry us through.

Sarah: And then the other thing that I have done many times is sometimes when we’re in a place of fear and worry, we don’t actually have the words to pray. It feels like we’re floundering. And in that, in those moments, I will turn to the Psalms or I’ll turn to a verse and I will turn that into a prayer to God according to my situation.

Sarah: Like I think of Psalm 25 where I, I would pray that over my son. Many times David in, in Psalm 25, is talking about his enemies and how they’re coming after him and to. Send them away. And, and I would take the word enemy and I would put the word addiction in there. And I would say, God, I’m giving this to you.

Sarah: I’m giving my son to you. I pray just that all [00:27:00] the people who are trying to keep him in that state of addiction, that they would just be blocked from him. And I would just continually pray scripture.

Kelly: Yeah. That’s so powerful. Well, there’s several things I wanna talk about there. I wanna get to the verses that really anchored you to God’s heart.

Kelly: But first of all, when you are talking about that process, I think it’s so, so important to just a question we can even ask to put on the armor of God. Is this, what do I know that’s true. Yes. I, I know my situation is true, and right now my situation is louder than the truth of God. Mm-hmm. So what do I know that’s true?

Kelly: And then just declaring out loud everything you know to be true about the character of God and the promises of God, and, and then in that way you’re putting on truth and you’re holding up your shoulder of faith and you’re swinging the sword of the spirit. That is a way that putting on the armor of God becomes very practical for me when I ask that question, what do you know that’s true?

Sarah: So

Sarah: good.

Kelly: Then you talked about praying scripture and substituting your [00:28:00] circumstances, your people into those scriptures.

Kelly: I’ve done that so many times. Sarah, second Chronicles 20 is one of my favorite places, so it’s an impossible battle. And there’s a verse. Where he’s praying. And he says, this is too big. This is a massive. Army or like you would say, addiction or whatever coming against us. And it’s too big for us to fight.

Kelly: So we look to you, we don’t know what to do, we look to you. And then later in that story there’s a prophet and he says, you’re not gonna have to fight this battle. The battle is the Lord’s not yours, and that is such a freeing thing. I don’t have to be responsible for removing these friends from my son’s life.

Kelly: I don’t have to be responsible for saying the exact right words to my hurting child. I don’t have to be responsible for setting up success in their lives. I can just say, God, the battle is yours, so I’m gonna surrender this to you because you are fighting for them in ways that I can’t.

Sarah: That’s right. And you said something in there that was just [00:29:00] amazing. That reminded me. Of the time when I believed a lie that my, that if my son, he ended up in, in detox and if he left detox, that he would be lost to me forever.

Sarah: And how, how, when we trust God and when we trust who he is in our lives. And when we do pray about swinging that sword that, that God is with us and he is able to carry us through those seasons. But when I believed that lie and my son left detox early, it just, it floored me.

Sarah: And that’s when I had my nervous breakdown. But that’s where God could actually take and, and bring me to a place where he could actually show me what was true, mm,

Sarah: and,

Sarah: and what was right, and, and that he was in control and that I could actually let go of control.

Kelly: So many times it’s not until we’re broken that we’re able to release the control.

Kelly: God breaks that hold in our lives, and there’s this wonderful verse in Psalm 1 21 that says, the Lord is your keeper. And that [00:30:00] just reminds me, I don’t have to keep myself. The Lord is keeping me. The Lord is keeping my loved ones. I can trust him to take care of them.

Kelly: That is so encouraging, and that’s the story that you share throughout this book. So I mentioned I really wanted you to share some of your favorite scriptures, if you could,

Sarah: yes, of course. So actually my , favorite one.

Sarah: Is the one that you mentioned earlier, which is Proverbs three, five and six. It’s, it’s my current life verse, and I say current because I feel like life verse has changed depending on the season God has us in. Yeah. But it, it’s been my current one for the last, I would say 10 years because he’s just had me on this trajectory of knowing him and following his path and. Letting go of the control of my path and following his path. So that, that has been a big one for me. That’s good. Yes. And so some of these other ones here of course , is the Lost Lamb.[00:31:00]

Sarah: And it’s always just really, really good for me to be reminded of who I am in Christ and that he’s won the battle. But that the enemy is afraid of us and so will always try to attack us with things that might make us fearful or, or want to control a situation.

Sarah: And so in, Ephesians one, verse three where it says, all praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united in Christ and just when we when we remember and we remind ourselves, and when Holy Spirit reminds us that we are united with him, there is nothing that can stand in our way because our God is clearing the path before us that he wants us to go and he will direct that path.

Sarah: He will guide our way and just. To put that one step in front of the [00:32:00] other. Something that I’ve said to myself in the past, and I said it so often that my friend actually created , a plaque for me that says, you don’t have to be fearless to be faithful. Now, there’s more to that.

Sarah: You don’t have to be fearless to be faithful, but you do have to have the courage to step out in obedience and follow where God is leading you. Amen. And what I have found is yes, I might be afraid, but when I start and I take that first step of faith, that fear, it dissipates. It does it, it loses its power.

Sarah: And so just taking that first step and, and God will do the rest, god has already given us all we need. To live out whatever it is that he has called us to do, whatever assignment he has given us, whoever he’s called us to share about him with, he’s already given us the words, he’s already given us the tools, he’s already given us himself.[00:33:00]

Sarah: So that is, that’s the beauty of following God’s path.

Kelly: That is so good. You said so many excellent things in there. I’m gonna step into one. You alluded to the fact that he is with us in all of his power and he’s already gone before us. Mm-hmm. And I love that reminder because it tells us God lives outside of time.

Kelly: So where we feel panicked by time limitations. That is also a lie because God is in control in a place that’s outside of time and he can multiply time in ways that we couldn’t imagine. He could do more in one moment. We could do in a lifetime we do not need to be afraid of time because our God who goes before us.

Kelly: Lives outside of it. And I love also what you said is that when he goes before us, he, these aren’t your exact words, but he’s putting into place solutions and provisions for what we need and we just get to walk forward and discover what gifts mm-hmm. What beautiful provisions he has placed for [00:34:00] us.

Sarah: Exactly. You, you said it so perfectly. Yes. That’s so true.

Kelly: It’s also good. Well, thanks for those reminders of those scriptures. Is there any other part of your story, Sarah, that you feel like speaks to this journey of faith over fear that you might wanna share with us?

Sarah: Sure. Actually this one’s a bit of, a bit of a funny one. Give us a bit of lightness. So when I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband and I had our very first disagreement he said that he wanted to homeschool. And I said, over my dead body, will I ever homeschool My children were my exact words.

Sarah: I didn’t say it so calmly because I had very limited knowledge of what that looked like and those who I had met, it wasn’t the family dynamic that I envisioned for myself so I feel like God has a sense of humor because when my daughter was in her younger years, she [00:35:00] actually, went through a season where we needed to homeschool.

Sarah: We were talking with her pediatrician and he was like, she’s got too much work right now and not enough play. And it was like someone else said the words. And said, what about homeschooling? Like, it was like it came outta my mouth. It’s like I couldn’t pull the words back fast enough because I was so afraid of messing up my children.

Sarah: I was so afraid of doing the wrong thing, of not giving them the right experiences I was too afraid and I wanted to. Have that control, but it ended up being the best thing for my daughter. And we brought them both home. Victoria was homeschooled from grade three all the way through grad.

Sarah: , She almost went back in grade 10, but that’s when her second surgery had to happen. And when she was recovering from her surgery, she would have to be in a full leg cast from. Thigh to toes and she’d be in a wheelchair with her leg straight out. And she’s like, I can’t imagine going through a [00:36:00] high school like this.

Sarah: Like this just sounds awful. So she decided to stay at home and my son was from grade one all up until grade six, and I’m really grateful that all the things that were starting to go wrong, or grade seven, sorry, started to go wrong, the summer before he went back to school.

Sarah: Because if God hadn’t allowed me to see it before my son went back to school, I would’ve blamed school as the reason why my son was doing all these things. Yeah. But school was the exact place where he needed to be because he needed more structure than I could give him.

Sarah: And also it ended up being a teacher. Who actually got him into the recovery house, who set him on a trajectory of sobriety. Yeah. And he’s doing great today. He is doing great today. Yeah. It’s been eight years sober from drugs. Yeah., And now he’s a dad.

Sarah: He and his wife gave us our second grand baby who is now four months old.

Kelly: [00:37:00] Sweet. So, yeah. Well, I love that a teacher was used by the Lord to rescue him. Mm-hmm. And I, I just love how God orchestrates our past. I think of Isaiah 30 21, I think, where it says whether you turn to the right or the left, you’ll hear a voice behind you saying.

Kelly: This is the way walk in it. And so when you didn’t know what to do, when you would’ve thought, oh, he needs to be home, God showed you very clearly, no school is where he needs to be. And he put a teacher in there at just the right time that he used to rescue your son. Mm-hmm.

Sarah: Exactly. Yeah. And God points us in these directions and all we need to do is step in and say yes.

Sarah: Yeah. Just step in and say, yes, this ’cause. Honestly, my husband didn’t want my son to go back to school. Simply because my husband worked from home, I was at home. The freedom that we were losing by my son, being in a structured environment and not being able to pick up and just go or do something fun as a [00:38:00] family for a field trip or whatever.

Sarah: It, it was gonna dramatically change that. But both of us decided as, as a unit that it was the right trajectory that God was leading us to send Anthony there.

Kelly: Well, praise God. How he orchestrated and redeemed. So as we close, maybe you could just think of that person who is being held back by fear and just speaks the, a nugget of truth that, you know, maybe even what you’ve learned about God that you didn’t know in the beginning that you wanna pass on to somebody else.

Sarah: Yeah. You know, I, I think about how. So many times I thought that the way to get past fear was for me to believe in myself enough that I could actually step into whatever it was that I felt God was leading me to do. But every time that I more into self, the more I found my find myself exhausted, frustrated, fearful.

Sarah: [00:39:00] Because it’s all dependent on me.

Sarah: But it’s when I relinquish that control and I say, God, I don’t know if what I’m doing is your plan for me. So I’m gonna open my hands and I’m going to let go of control. And if this isn’t where you want me to be, then change my direction. Change. Open my eyes to where it is that you want me to go.

Sarah: And he always does. He always opens my eyes to that. And also it allow, it allows my mind to say, I am not the one in charge. God is, he’s, he’s my hero. He’s the hero of my story, not me. He is the one who will guide me through. And so it’s when I. Give him that proverbial wheel, so to speak, and let him guide my path.

Sarah: Yeah. And follow that road. Yeah. That’s so good that all good things come.

Kelly: Mm-hmm. All good things will [00:40:00] come. And what you talked about was an absolute God was setting you free. You talked about a journey of freedom as you surrendered. You know, I think the pause is so important. So when you told the story, you paused and you are saying, God, I don’t know what to do.

Kelly: What do you want me to do? That is what opens our heart, like you were describing, to stop striving, to stop driving, to stop feeling like it’s all up to us to make it happen. Yes. And that is a surrender. When we ask the question, God, what do you wanna do? What do you want me to know? That is a surrender, a place of surrender where you have, it’s suddenly placed yourself in a position of curiosity and mm-hmm.

Kelly: Receptivity to God’s voice.

Sarah: And I also would like to, to speak to the, maybe the women in there who are in, or, and men who are in a season of Wait. Yes. Because sometimes God’s has us waiting. Waiting is actionable. [00:41:00] Waiting is an action. Yes. Waiting for God’s guidance. Is perfectly acceptable because we don’t wanna step ahead of him.

Sarah: And also, I, I wanna correct something that I said before that everything will be good when we follow God. God is always good. All the time, God is good. Right. But it doesn’t mean everything will go according to our plan. It doesn’t mean that bad things don’t happen. Absolutely. It doesn’t mean that hard things don’t happen.

Sarah: It just means that our good God is working it all out and we will see his goodness in this place. Yes, that’s exactly right. , And so just because hard things are happening doesn’t mean that you’re not in the center of God’s will.

Kelly: Yes. Oh, that’s so true. We could talk another 30 minutes about the fact that waiting is actionable.

Kelly: Those are, there are actions that you take. First of all, it’s refusing to go ahead of God. It’s refusing to take things into your own hand, and it’s actively choosing to be in his word and keep seeking his face, and as you wait on God’s perfect timing. Yeah.

Sarah: [00:42:00] Yeah. ’cause I was so afraid in the season of wait when I was a mom, a stay at home mom, that somehow I was gonna miss out on what God was calling me to do.

Sarah: And that fear kept me always striving to do, figure out what I could do, what I could do, what I could do, and or how I could be better. And so that’s why I just wanted to encourage mamas who are fearful of in this waiting season, or women who are in this waiting season, men who are in this waiting season that, that you’re exactly where God has.

Sarah: Asked you to be

Kelly: right. Just keep seeking him and he will let you know. He knows how to speak to us in a way we can hear him. Yeah, and sometimes too, if we look at waiting as a

Sarah: season of preparation.

Kelly: Yes. That helps.

Kelly: Well,

Kelly: sarah, this has just been so much fun. Thank you so much for being here. Really, it has been a blessing. I think I could have talked to you for three more hours.

Kelly: So why don’t you let our listeners know how they can get in touch with you?

Sarah: Sure they can get in touch with me on my socials at Sarah Griffith Hu, which is [00:43:00] S-A-R-A-H-G-R-I-F-F-I-T-H-S-H-U. They can reach you. There are a lot of words in there that are hard to hear, aren’t they? I know, yeah.

Sarah: Because Griffith has an s and two F’s and then that’s also my website, Sarah Griffiths Hu.com. And so they can also reach me through there. Sure.

Sarah: That’s great. And I highly recommend the book, as I said, already pick it up. You’ll be so encouraged to surrender and place your trust in the Lord and the way she writes is really easy to read and it will just take you through this journey that truly does help you see how Sarah was able to let go of fear and be led by trust in God. Thanks, Sarah. Thank you so much.

If you were encouraged in your faith today, it’d be great if you’d help get the word out by subscribing, sharing with a friend, or leaving a review. I’d love to hear from you. You can reach out through my website, kelly hall.org and pick up some free resources while you’re there. Thanks for listening to the Unshakeable Hope [00:44:00] podcast.