Podcast

Living in Christ’s Unshakable Victory. Judy Dunagan

Kelly: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Unshakable Hope Podcast, where real life intersects redeeming love. I’m KellyHall, 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 mine? 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 prayer is that God would renew our hope in His Word and His love through these conversations.

. Hey guys, I’m so excited for you to meet my friend, Judy Dunagan we’re going to be drawing from her powerful book, The Loudest Roar. I love the title. The subtitle is just as good, Living in the Unshakeable Victory of Christ.

If you’re walking through life right now with your head bowed down under the weight of ongoing hardships. This conversation is absolutely packed with the hope of the [00:01:00] Lord.

He is the lifter of our heads. And I pray you’ll sense him not only lifting your heads, but lifting the load, empowering you to walk more confidently in who God says he is. As he reminds you, he’s got you. And he will carry through whatever you’re walking in right now. . I’d also encourage you to stick around as she prays for you at the end of our discussion.

Judy is an acquisitions editor for women’s Bible studies and books at Moody Publishers. She is a wonder seeker of God and his word. That description always fills me with the joy of the Lord, that’s available to us right here, right now. Before I begin this conversation, I just want to share a special memory of something we shared many years ago.

We were both women’s ministry directors at our respective churches. I was praying one morning, asking the Lord who he wanted for our speaker for an upcoming women’s retreat. And he immediately spoke Judy’s name in my spirit. I love how God is so [00:02:00] faithful to do things like that, to answer our questions, to meet us in our needs.

And it ended up being such a special, impactful time for our women. You’re gonna enjoy getting to know her. So, Judy, welcome to the show. I’m so glad you’re here.

Judy: Oh, Kelly, it’s so much fun to be with you. Thank you for inviting me.

Kelly: Judy, why don’t you start by just telling us a little bit about your family and also I’d love for you to share what breathes life and joy into your soul.

Judy: Well, Kelly, I love talking about my family. I’m going to be married 40 years this summer to my beloved husband, Rick, and we have two daughters who are 34 and 36, both married.

And between the two of them, we have five grandchildren under the age of seven. And a baby is on his or her way later this year. So we’re going to have six right now. We have five boys and a little girl right in the middle and they call me Momo of all the Things and what brings me joy [00:03:00] in life is my family for sure.

And I know I there’s nothing more than how much we love our grandchildren. My husband, Rick and I are having such a blast being grandparents. And of course, then the Lord brings me such great joy and life, just the personal relationship with him. I’m so grateful.

Kelly: That’s beautiful. I love that. I’d love for you to talk to us about how you came up with the title, the Loudest Roar.

I I also want to inject that I recently saw a picture of you you were speaking at a women’s retreat and all the women at the retreat had shirts made that matched the cover of your book. That was amazing.

Judy: It was amazing. That just happened this last week in Indiana. And there are about 300 women are going through the book.

There’s questions in the book and they’ve done some supplement questions. It’s a in depth Bible study they’re using for seven weeks. It was so much fun, the event too. And they did have those t shirts, which was a surprise to me and a lot of fun [00:04:00] on the t shirt. It had the lion and then it said unshakable, which I love.

Yes.

So the title came about mostly because I have known ever since. Since I was a little girl, you know, God’s word tells us that we have an enemy and it tells us to be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, resist him firm in your faith.

And that’s first Peter five versus. Eight and nine. And my father, Mark Bubeck has written books about our victory in Christ and how to fight the enemy. And so I really grew up knowing that and teaching on it, but it was probably about six, seven years ago in my women’s ministry. I was counseling a woman who had asked to meet with me and Kelly shed one of the hardest stories I’ve ever heard.

It’s obvious that the enemy was coming at her. She was even considering leaving the faith and not believing in a loving God [00:05:00] because of all the storms that hopefully I was able to encourage her. I gave her some resources. I prayed over her and said, I’d love to meet with you again. But after she left, I remember walking back to my office at the church and my head was almost down in defeat and I just cried out to the Lord.

I said, why does the enemy have so much power? Why is his roar so loud? And I’ll never forget. It was it. The Lord said, yes, Judy. But I’m the bigger lion with the loudest roar. I’m the lion of Judah. I’m seated on the throne and Satan is a defeated foe. And I remember Kelly, I just like was filled with joy and I’m like, yes, I know that I can’t forget it.

And I just felt. Passionate that more women and men need to live in the victory that Jesus has already won for us through his death and resurrection and ascension. Instead, we so often live defeated almost as if the enemy has more power than our mighty God. And so that’s why I wrote the loudest roar and how we came up with the title.

Kelly: I love that [00:06:00] there, there was a season when our family was going through a great deal of spiritual warfare, and I didn’t really understand what was happening. It was primarily focused against 1 of our twins, 1 of our daughters but I remember a First of all, just verses in the Bible where Jesus says, I saw Satan fall like lightning from the heavens.

And that kind of a verse gave me hope. But I had a conversation with you and you recommended your dad’s book, the adversary, and you explain some of the things you had been through as a middle schooler and how your dad’s prayers had just shown, Hey, our God is the one with the loudest roar.

And that book those prayers. Really helped our family walk out of that place into the victory of Christ. So I’d love for you to talk a little bit about that in particular, maybe what you experienced in middle school

Judy: yeah, I’d love to share. Before that, when I was a little bit younger, my father had such a burden for revival.

He was a pastor in a church in [00:07:00] Colorado and he would walk the church early in the morning and just. Really groan in prayer for revival to come in his own life, our family, you know, his church and our world. And he sent the Holy spirit telling him that you’re going to have to understand how to fight the enemy because he will try to thwart any movement towards freedom, any revival in people’s lives at all costs.

And dad didn’t know much about warfare at that time. It wasn’t taught. There were a few books out and they weren’t biblically sound. And it was at the time when the theaters were full of, Scary movies about the enemy. And so he was obedient and started researching. He could, we then moved to Chicago and he started connecting with some mentor pastors who taught him.

And then during that time I started to really come under attack. And part of the reason Kelly is I had gone to some slumber parties. I had a friend who dabbled in things like levitation games and seances and Ouija boards. And I very. Very naively [00:08:00] went along with that at these slumber parties, and that gave the enemy a foothold.

And so I started to have nightmares. I started to have such severe anxiety that it was making me ill physically. And of course, my dad first approached it, like, wondering what was going on in terms of if it was a health thing too, but then he began to really. Pray warfare, even quietly over me. And what I mean by praying warfare is praying the armor on me and Ephesians six and just standing in the victory that Jesus has won for us.

And so he, in many ways was teaching me while he was praying over me, teaching me how to stand firm in the faith. And so I began to memorize scripture with him. Psalm 91 is a powerful Psalm. And that was just kind of my heritage and I’m so grateful. And so his first book, the adversary came out in 1975, it’s been out many years.

And then the followup book has just been renamed to Warfare Praying: Biblical Strategies for Overcoming the Adversary. And that book especially has [00:09:00] all the tools, all the different ways you can pray scripture and use the armor for your protection. And I highly recommend that book by my dad. His name is Mark Bubeck, B U B E C K.

Kelly: That’s so good. In your book. You talk a lot about your battle with fear and anxiety and how, especially when you were a young mom living overseas with babies and toddlers. I know many of our listeners could relate to a time like that when it seemed like they weren’t in a safe and secure place.

And so I’m wondering if you could share that story and how you wrestled through that fear with the Lord and how he met you and strengthened you in that place.

Judy: Yeah. I love to share that story. I’ve been prone to anxiety all my life. I like to joke that.

I think it goes so far back that right after I was born, I worried if I did that right, even it’s a little girl. I was anxious. And then when I became a mom of littles, it really stepped up partly because we moved to third world countries. We first went to Brazil and [00:10:00] then we were in Beijing, China when our girls were just three and five.

And especially moving to China, I was just gripped with fear before even moving there. It was also quite bitter. About going, I didn’t see it as what it ended up being was a beautiful calling on my life from the Lord. But that first year it was just a lot of fear. And our youngest daughter, Kelly, ended up with a severe illness and the international clinic didn’t want to give her antibiotics.

They didn’t think it was bacterial. And I knew she was prone to strep. So anyway, one night it was almost. like a dark night of my soul. I was, my fear was just escalating. It was about three or four days into the illness, high fever, even kind of, so she couldn’t move her neck. And so of course I’m thinking meningitis and I need to explain there was nothing like 9 1 1 or urgent care.

And even the clinic or hospital was two hours away and she had finally fallen asleep in her room because of the Tylenol. But that I was just escalating like I thought we were going to lose her that night. And I want to [00:11:00] clarify. I don’t believe that the enemy causes anxiety all the time. You know, we can be prone to it.

There can be medical reasons that you’re really just struggling, you know, serotonin, not sleeping. Anxiety can rear its head, but he knows where we’re most vulnerable. And so it’s like a roaring lion. He’s going to seek out prey. That’s a vulnerable and he knew I was weak. In that. And so I think I know he was stepping up as a tax on me that night.

And thankfully I woke Rick up and he prayed over me. We even called my dad in America. It’s 3 a. m. My time, 3 p. m. His time. He prayed over us and I called the pediatrician to just get his opinion and he got on the phone and said, I can’t diagnose her, but go to the clinic tomorrow and pretty much demand antibiotics if she’s prone to strep.

So I still had to make it through the night. And Kelly is to this day, one of the most profound times I’ve ever had with my God. After Rick had fallen back to sleep, I couldn’t sleep. And I just I knew I had to get a grip and mother my child, but also just trust [00:12:00] in my God and cast my anxiety onto him, God’s word tells us to do that.

And so is this, if I had Kelly in my arms and I lifted her in prayer and I said, Lord Jesus, you love her more than I do. And I trust that you will heal her if that’s your plan for her. But if not, I’m going to still love you. No, you’re faithful. And it was a huge breakthrough. I didn’t do that in my own strength.

And I realized at the time that I had made an idol of my children. It’s almost like you can do anything in my life, but don’t touch my babies, you know? And thankfully then peace just washed over me. And I love to share the verses from Philippians four that says, do not worry about anything instead, pray about everything.

Tell God your needs and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, the peace of God, which goes beyond all human understanding will guard your heart and your minds. You should trust in Christ. Jesus is so full of promises, to cast your anxiety, to turn your worries into prayer.

[00:13:00] And that he will guard your heart and mind, and he’ll give you a piece that goes beyond human understanding because the circumstances didn’t change immediately. Sure enough, this mama bear the next morning went to the clinic and said, I need antibiotics. And they gave them to me, to Kelly. And she turned a corner within a few days, but I’ve had to go back to that story often.

Even her little boy who was. Is three was severely ill last winter. And I found myself again, just thinking the worst, you know, so many kids were being hospitalized with RSV and things. And I remember, I remembered I have to run to scripture and pray scripture and he calmed my anxious heart with that.

And so I encourage the listeners if they’re struggling with anxiety to run to him in prayer and God’s word. And he will calm your heart.

Kelly: Amen. That’s so good. I know that many times our family has been in crisis. Our loved ones have been in crisis and the stress was so intense.

I couldn’t even sleep, but I have so many memories of [00:14:00] either listening to the Psalms to help me fall asleep. Or running downstairs, opening my Bible and pray. I would say, God, show me where you did something impossible. And I would take that whole scenario and pray our situation into it. And it’s so helpful as I saw that God is the one who does the impossible nothing is beyond his reach.

And I love the scriptures that say the battle is the Lord’s, he will fight for you. It’s not up to you. Another story you share, because we’re on the topic about being fearful about our families and how that can control us because we often do make idols out of our children.

Could you tell the story possibly about Christie and what she went through when she was over in Africa doing medical work

Judy: I love that you asked that. I’ve not been asked that before on a podcast and it’s sweet to share that story.

Yeah. She went to the Ivory Coast [00:15:00] and was about, I don’t know, 22 at the time. And of course it’s very fearful to send your daughter to the other side of the world. And they had a lot of. Unrest politically probably at just a few years before, and we were told it was safe. And so while she was there, I had to really pray and again, cast my anxiety for her onto the Lord.

And what’s amazing, our God is so good that she went so deep with the Lord. She started blogging and. Wash the different experiences. And she helped deliver a baby one time, but then there was another baby who they knew would die because it had been given too much medicine at that where the mother lived and she held his little hand and, you know, it’s just pouring into the people there having to tell someone her age, that she had AIDS and all of that.

So she went deeper with the Lord and she’s very brave. She’s got a lot of tenacity. And of course she didn’t tell her mom everything that was happening until she got home. So [00:16:00] when she got home, she told the story that right before she knew she was leaving, she would drive a little motorbike to work every day and that she lived with an African family.

And so the. The father of that home would always be with her on his motorbike. Well, one morning he couldn’t go. And there was a new guard at a checkpoint, military police. And he stopped her and he was very harsh with her. He asked for her papers and she showed one of them and he was saying something in French she didn’t understand.

And she just got on her motorbike and went through and he let her. Oh, he wasn’t happy about it. And so she gets to work and this is what I love. She tells all her African coworkers, summer pharmacists, there’s a doctor and nurses, and she told them the story and they’re so worried about her. They said, Christy, you can’t go back through that checkpoint by yourself.

When you leave today, we’re going to follow you. So she did that and she was kind of ahead of them enough that military guy was there again and stopped her and he was angry and he was [00:17:00] motioning for her to go into a different room to go into the building and she knew that wouldn’t be safe. And so her French was, you know, she knew a few words.

Well. All of a sudden, her army of protectors come up on their motorbikes and they surround her. 1 of them gets off his bike and he goes up to her to the military guy. And he says, I basically was saying, you’re harassing her. She has her paper. She’s been here for 6 months. You can’t do this.

And they let her go. And so she didn’t tell me that story until she got home two weeks later. And Kelly, I had such a picture of what it’s like, how God protects us. You know, his word tells us in Psalm 139 that he hems us in from behind and before and you get this picture that he’s hemming you in from all sides.

And that’s what the armor of Ephesians. Fixed us, it covers us from the top of our heads to the tip of our toes. And I believe the armor is who Jesus is, and we can talk about that too. But I just had this picture and it was just so beautiful that even if you [00:18:00] can’t protect your loved ones or you’re not with them, your God loves them again more than you do.

And he’s always guarding and protecting. And just that picture of those guys coming up on the motorbikes, like, Ooh, we’re here, we’re surrounding you. We’re hemming you in. And then thankfully she got to come home two weeks later and didn’t have to deal with that guy anymore. But yeah, God is so good.

Kelly: I love that picture of his protection of his surrounding her.

One of the things that helps me so much when I am weary and I can’t see God breaking through in an area that I’ve been praying for a long time is to write at the top of my journal. I remember. And then I just begin to remember all the ways the Lord has been faithful in the past, but I also love to remember other people’s stories.

And this story about Christie is 1. I’m going to add to my remembrances. I love it. It’s so empowering.

Judy: I’m so glad how God can use our stories, right?

Kelly: Yes. I’d love for you to say [00:19:00] more about Jesus as our armor.

Judy: Well, the armor is spelled out in Ephesians six verses 10 through 18. And I have dwelt in that for many years, partly because of the story I shared from middle school.

And maybe 10 years ago as I was going through it, it dawned on me, this is Jesus. This is who he is because I’ll have friends who say, Ooh, I didn’t pray my armor on today. The enemy is coming at me as if it’s up to us to pray it on or be aware of it. And there is an active part, and you’ll see that in that passage where it says, take a stand, stand firm, take up the, sword of the spirit.

Judy: But as I was studying for this book, I realized that Jesus is the armor. It’s his righteousness. That’s like a breastplate that we wear. It’s his truth. The truth of he’s the way, the truth and the life. And the word of his truth is our belt that holds this armor in place. It’s his salvation that covers our minds.

That’s the whole idea of keeping your thoughts captive to God’s truth. [00:20:00] There’s like a shield based on our salvation as followers of Jesus Christ. We’re covered in this armor. And then there’s the shield of faith. And yes, we do have a part. You think about a shield, it has a handle, right? So you have to hold it and you have to have the faith that your God is protecting you and that your God is the bigger lion in protecting you.

But we’ll see in Psalm 91 that it says the shield of his. Faithfulness. And I love that his faithfulness shield you. God’s faithfulness again, covers you from all sides. And then we have the sandals of peace too. We can walk in peace. It says the readiness of the gospel of peace.

You can share the love of Christ and salvation and the gospel in peace with loved ones who don’t yet know. And, but I also see that as walking in his peace that goes beyond our human understanding that I’ve already talked about. And then the offensive weapons are mighty roars. We have the sword of the spirit, God’s word.

And you know, when Satan came [00:21:00] at Jesus, when Jesus walked this groaning earth, he had been fasting for 40 days in the wilderness. He was alone. I’m sure he was tired and exhausted and hungry. And the enemy thought he was vulnerable enough that the enemy thought he could make the son of God. Sin. And so he came at him with three ferocious temptations.

And you gotta read that in God’s word, because it’s so powerful. He’d come at him with a big temptation. And Jesus just said, it is written. And he would quote a truth from God’s word. Three times each time. That’s what he says. It is written. It is written. It is written. And then the enemy had to flee.

And I share this in my book. When you read that, it’s almost like you sense it was like hand to hand combat and they each had a sword. Satan sword was filled with lies. Twisted truths and temptations. And our Lord Jesus’s sword was the sword of the spirit, which God’s word is called in Ephesians. And, you know, when we read God’s word, when we memorize it, when we pray it, like you shared, you pray scripture the enemy has to flee, has to leave us [00:22:00] alone.

And then the other offensive weapon is prayer. And a lot of people don’t realize that’s part of the armor. It’s verse 18. And that verse is so powerful about prayer. And the enemy tries to keep us from prayer because it’s such a threat to him. And sometimes we’re just busy serving Jesus. And so we don’t pray because we’re you know, I know when I was in a ministry leadership position, I thought, well, I have a prayer team.

They’re praying about this big kickoff or this Bible study. And I kind of put prayer aside and God showed me no, it’s all about relationship with him and going to him with our sorrows and our requests and our worship in prayer. So that’s the armor.

Kelly: I love it. Thank you. So empowering. I could listen to that again and again.

I think as I have my Bible open to Ephesians six, because what you share just adds some richness and imagery to that familiar passage. I love seeing it as Jesus. Over us.

Judy: Yes.

Kelly: In your chapter called the roar of prayer.

You included a quote that [00:23:00] resonated so much with me. And so I’m going to read it. ‘ I often thought about what my greatest surprise will be when I go home to be with the Lord, after much pondering, I have concluded that it will be the tremendous power and

peace that was available to me through prayer on this side of heaven and how infrequently I used it.”.

Judy: Yes. Can you believe that quote? And I heard that I read that when I was so busy in ministry and it really stopped me in my busy ministry tracks. And I felt very convicted because I was taking the joy, the lavish gift of prayer for granted. And I think a lot of us do that. And I’m not talking about putting guilt on someone if they’re not praying, but God’s began to show me, and I’ve been teaching on this, that it’s a lavish gift that he died to give us.

You know, when we see in the gospel, when he was on the cross. It says, as he was dying, basically the curtain in [00:24:00] the temple was torn from top to bottom. And that curtain was such a symbol of almost separation from God at the time. Only the high priest could go behind that curtain into the holy of holies once a year.

And he would, cry out for repentance for the people and that’s what Jesus, when he died, that was torn. And I feel like God, the father, he was just like, Oh, that was part of it is finished. You know, this curtain is coming down and we can go into that throne room. We’re told us that you will find grace and mercy there.

And for those listening who feel like they’re in deep sin, that they can’t even approach a holy God. That is not of. Yeah. God, that’s a lie from the enemy. You can run to him no matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done. And you will find mercy and grace there and such a loving God. And he wants us to come to him with our sorrows, our hard questions, our lament.

And why wouldn’t he like, if you have a loving earthly father, and I know not everyone does, but if you do, [00:25:00] you know, you could go to him with anything. And here we have our loving Lord Jesus that wants us to come to him.

Kelly: That’s

so beautiful. I heard a quote once also that said, prayer is simply paying attention to the deepest reality to the ultimate reality.

And that is what you’ve described the throne room of God and his incredible, tender, unstoppable, relentless love for us. We don’t have to have particular words to pray. He, even when we just open our heart to him, he meets us in that place of sorrow and Jesus is interceding for us and the Holy Spirit is praying for us.

We have a lot of helpers in that space.

Judy: We do. Yeah. I love how Romans eight says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the throne of God interceding for us. And in that same pastures, the Holy Spirit groans and we don’t have any words. And I know you’ve been there, Kelly, as if I were, it’s hard to [00:26:00] pray and to just step back and know Holy Spirit’s groaning in prayer for me.

I mean, that should just alone take our breath away. It’s just beyond that. The triune God is so aware of what we’re going through that he, God prays for us.

Kelly: One thing I would love for you to talk about Judy is Psalm 91. You include this in your book and it’s so impactful. So many of us deal with fears and anxieties.

We are all so many of us in situations that seem to be out of our control and we need to remember that the Lord is our keeper. We don’t have to keep ourselves and Psalm 91 and what you share in this book is very impactful. Could you elaborate on that?

Judy: Oh, I’d love to. I mentioned when we were in China, how we started praying that when Kelly was so sick.

So I’ve done this really, I prayed that prayer so much and Rick has with me that we ended up memorizing it without even trying because we’d read, go to the word and read it out loud. And when your mind is [00:27:00] escalating with. Deep sorrow or depression or anxiety reading God’s word out loud can bring such a comfort.

And this psalm really is like a warfare psalm. What’s so interesting that scene of the enemy coming at Jesus, remember I said how Jesus quoted scripture? Well, the enemy finally quoted from scripture. As part of his temptation, and that shows you how crafty he is. And so he quoted from Psalm 91 that talks about how the angels will lift you up.

So you don’t even strike your foot against the stone. And that’s how he twists even the truth of God’s word. I mean, I, to me, that shows me it’s not as smart as. People think but I’ll just quote the first probably four verses and then I’ll just share a little bit about it.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the most high will rest in the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord is my refuge and my fortress, my God, and whom I trust. Surely he will save you from the Fowler snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover [00:28:00] you with his feathers and under his wings, you will find refuge.

His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. And just those four verses have like four names of God. I teach on this. I won’t take the time now, but and calls him our fortress, our refuge our rampart, a rampart is that again, that idea of being hemmed in. It’s like a. Protective barrier that goes all around you.

But what was the beautiful part of the story years later, when our daughter was falling in love with her husband. This was before they were engaged. We found out that when he was born, he had meningitis. His parents didn’t think he’d make it and they. Prayed Psalm 91 over him. Wow. And then they, when they finally got to bring him home and he was okay, they just put a placard up, Psalm 91 over his bed.

And so while we were warring for Kelly’s protection, really throughout her life, using Psalm 91, her future in laws were doing the same for her beloved husband. And that’s just such a sweet story and [00:29:00] confirmation of the power of praying scripture. so Yeah, I encourage anyone to just dwell in the end of that.

Psalm has all these, I will statements of what God will do for you in that protection. And it’s so powerful. So yeah. Thank you for this word.

Kelly: Yes. Thank God. I know that’s one of my friends, favorite prayers. . I would love for you to also share if you wouldn’t mind just a little bit about another time in your life when your marriage was in a season of disrepair and you and your husband were wondering if you were going to survive you talk about how the Lord led you to a place of healing and victory

Judy: it was about 20 years ago. And I remember when we were going through it, we knew the enemy was coming at our marriage. And I remember right before writing this book, just a few years ago, I said to my sweet Rick, I said, if we didn’t understand warfare and how the enemy was attacking us, do you think we would have made it?

And [00:30:00] he said, no, and I agreed. And so that’s why the stories in the book to provide a story of hope to those who are struggling in their marriage. And also to just proclaim. We have to use the sword of God’s word and the, and prayer. To survive. And so we are going to celebrate our 40th anniversary this August and God is just so kind because where we are today, it’s a marriage beyond our dreams and we are closer than we’ve ever been.

We love the season of being grandparents. Our grandkids call him Papa Rick and he walks on water and hangs the moon according to them. Neither, none of our kids live near us. So whenever we get to. They’ll see me and they’ll go, Oh, hi, Momo. And where’s Papa Rick? I love it. Honestly, Kelly, there’s nothing more romantic to then see my man playing with our grandchildren.

And it’s fun to have these little boys. He loved being a father of daughters and he loves having a granddaughter, but all the boy things, you know, several of them ride motorcycles at three years old, like he [00:31:00] did and four years old. Yeah. And so it’s just a story of redemption and beauty. And I want listeners to borrow our hope because it’s never hopeless and we did all the things we got great counseling.

We had friends praying for us. But we really, we would dwell in God’s word together. And I know that not everyone has that story because It’s up to both of the spouses to want to fight for their marriage. And I have many friends who are going through such deep sorrow because their husband made a different choice.

And what I love to speak over them is our Lord God, our Lord Jesus is their husband, and there’s a scene in revelation where there’s a writer on a white horse. And you know how the romance movies, it’s the guy who comes in on the white horse and Jesus is on a white horse. And we’re told in that. Seen that his name’s written on his thigh, which I don’t know it.

It’s just something we’ll I’m sure see one day are faithful and true. And so any spouse who has felt [00:32:00] or seen that their spouses and faithful are being true to them, just think, remember that Jesus, your mighty King of Kings and Lord of Lords, your savior, redeemer, your Emmanuel rides a white horse and he is faithful and true, no matter if your beloved spouse spouse is not and has left. So it’s all about Jesus. Isn’t it Kelly?

Kelly: It’s all about Jesus. He’s our joy. He’s our everything. Yes. Judy, thank you so much for this time. I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind just praying just briefly over people who are experiencing anxiety and fear and just really need a sense of God’s presence in their lives.

Judy: Yes. Oh Lord Jesus, we’re overwhelmed by your love for us. Oh, the deep love of Jesus. We’re overwhelmed that you chose to walk this groaning earth and to be tempted in every way we are, to suffer hunger, to suffer [00:33:00] rejection and betrayal, and most importantly, to die for us, to take on the sin of all of us onto yourself, to hang on that painful cross, the humiliation of it, and you did it all for us, Jesus, and we thank you that you rose again.

The tomb is empty. You conquered the grave. You’re our only hope. And this life is but a breath, Jesus. And we know that one day if we’ve chosen to put our trust in you as our savior, that we will be with you in eternity and all tears, all fear, all depression, all addiction, all sorrow will be wiped away and we will spend eternity with you worshiping you.

You are holy. You are great. I am the great I am. And yet you’re also our Emmanuel, our God with us. We thank you that you intercede for us and the Holy Spirit groans for us in prayer and Lord, you know, those who are listening and write what their stories are [00:34:00] right now. I pray your protection over them.

May they cling to the truth of who you are through your word and not let the enemy come Then with lies, it’s one way we know he comes at us lies about who we are in Christ and who you are. Help us to be strong women who abide and stand strong in the armor that covers us from all sides. And we love you and we worship you together.

We trust you and your holy yet very personal name. We pray. Amen.

Kelly: Amen. Judy. Thank you so much. God bless you. My friend.

Judy: Oh, thank you, Kelly. It was a really sweet time together.

So good. You can connect with Judy at judydunagan.com. And again, the name of her book is The Loudest Roar: Living in the Unshakable Victory of Christ. I’ll have links in the show notes.

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 [00:35:00] review. I’d love to hear from you. You can reach out through my website, kellyhall. org, and pick up some free resources while you’re there. Thanks for listening to the Unshakable Hope Podcast.