Podcast

How Do We Embrace the Abundant Life? Dr. Tammy Smith

[00:00:00] 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 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.

Kelly: Hey friends, I am so thankful you’ve joined me today. My dear, dear, long time, beautiful inside and out, joy filled friend, Dr. Tammy Smith.

Is joining me today. She is someone who sincerely loves Jesus with all of her heart. And I’m not kidding you. She just exudes healing and freedom in everything she writes everything she teaches and she invites listeners to walk into the victory that is already ours in Christ Jesus. So that [00:01:00] we too can live whole loved, healed, and free.

I just want to say right up front, y’all have got to check out her website. Thousands and thousands of people have experienced deep and lasting soul transformation through Christ’s power as they have gone through Tammy’s soul healing curriculum. Her books, workbooks, and her teaching videos are incredible, biblical and transformative.

And they can be found on her website, Dr. Tammy Smith. Dot com D. R. Tammy smith dot com.

Tammy’s a professional counselor, an author, a popular conference speaker. She speaks to all ages, men and women and she is so much fun

Full of wisdom and life experiences. She’s also a competitive tennis player, and just came back from playing tennis. She’s an extremely talented musician.

She’s wife to Mike, whom she describes as amazing and wonderful. Mike is the pastor of Vista [00:02:00] Community Church in Northwest Columbus, Ohio.

They have two grown sons, Spencer and Schaefer. Tammy, I am so glad you’re here. My heart is absolutely full as I welcome you to the show.

Tammy: Oh, Kelly. This is so long overdue and so awesome. And I can’t, I just can’t with how long we have known each other and how many seasons the Lord has allowed us to see each other from a distance go through.

And so I just got to tell your listeners straight out of the shoot, this woman here. Is one of the most incredible faith heroes I have ever known. I don’t know that I’ve known as many people, hardly any people that have been as committed to holding onto hope and communicating that hope in, even in the face of great grief.

And great loss that Kelly is so committed and so prayerful and so real in the ways that she honestly wants you and everyone to know Jesus personally, and to [00:03:00] know his victory and his hope and his healing personally, it’s overwhelming how much this woman, I can clearly struggling to put it into words, how much this woman is not only a faith hero to me, but to so many, but it’s because of who she is in private, not who she is in public.

And so I got to tell you. If you’re hearing this right now, do everything you can to listen to this woman and sit under her feet, so to speak, , because of God’s wisdom and how he’s implanted in her. She’s amazing. And so I’m thrilled to be with you.

Kelly: Okay. I’m back here crying. And if you do see the YouTube video, that’s what you’ll notice.

Thank you so much, Tammy. You’re such a dear friend. I got to tell you guys, sometimes I will save her emails because I’ll just read them when I don’t feel that good about myself. And she makes me see myself through the eyes of Jesus. It’s so beautiful. And I also want to tell you a friend of mine texted me this morning.

She knew I was going to be recording with Tammy and she said, Oh my goodness. I love her. I hope you [00:04:00] guys just laugh yourself to freedom. That

Tammy: is so awesome. Oh, if only it took just laughter, but seriously, that is awesome.

Kelly: Yeah. No kidding. I wish that’s all it took. But laughter’s good.

Tammy: Oh, so good.

Kelly: Well, Tammy, is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself before we dive into your message?

Tammy: Well, other than what a joy to also have two daughters in law and now a grandchild, a very young grandchild, his name is Oliver. So those things are amazing as well. So yeah, what a joy.

Kelly: Such a joy!. And I’m joining you there.

My daughter in law loves to listen. I tell her okay, this one I talked about little Micah.

Tammy: That’s beautiful. What a gift, but a gift

Kelly: gift. Well, you speak about healing and freedom everywhere you go. You always speak about our identity.

Everything you write about is about soul healing and how to walk into the abundant life that Jesus has for us. So I’m wondering if you can [00:05:00] just speak about that, kind of summarize it, kick us off, maybe with a verse or a thought that. You think captures that message?

Tammy: Well, I mean, certainly it’s almost hard knowing we have such limited time to do it, but when I was thinking about Lord, what do you want the people that you’re directing to listen to this or view this?

What do you want it to know? And it’s today, it’s a sense of, and forever. We have everything we need in Christ. We have been giving the full inheritance. First Peter 1. 3 talks about that inheritance being imperishable and undefiled, and it’s not going to fade away and it’s reserved for us. And, you know, I don’t know if this is because I’ve recently gotten another inheritance because both my parents are now gone, but you know what that is, right?

Like I have. My dad’s car and it was his baby. I mean, he loved that car and that car sits in the driveway and do you know what Mike and I call that car? We call that our dad’s car. There’s a little account [00:06:00] that has, it was dad’s account and it’s now whose account is it now? Well, it’s mine. But you know what Mike and I call it?

Dad’s. And the reality is like, whose name is the title of that car in? And mine, it’s actually mine. And yet I keep referring to it as dad’s. And do you know, I think if dad were here, do you know what he’d be doing? Be like, drive the car, use the money because it’s yours now. Yeah. And I’m like, that’s the truth about us.

It’s like Jesus and God, there’s Jesus is so clear about, listen, I paid paved the way that all of what God has wanted is yours now. And Jesus is very clear about greater works than these. will, we do, right? And it’s because of the inheritance given us that we have complete provision, that we have the kind of love our hearts most desire, that we have complete power available to us.

Like these are the things that are real and actually Ours [00:07:00] in Christ, and yet so few of us can barely get over insecurity, let alone walk in what feels like victory or freedom.

Kelly: So

Tammy: is the inheritance is real. It’s yours. God did it. He says, it’s yours. Now drive the car, don’t just have it sit there and call it his, call it dad’s right. It’s yours. He said, I, I’ve done this for you to have. It’s yours.

Kelly: Oh, so beautiful. You have so many wonderful illustrations. That’s perfect. You know, so many times I’ll wake up in the morning and I’ll think, okay, Kelly, are you living in a scarcity mindset, a scarcity worldview or an abundant worldview? Are you really believing that everything Jesus said is yours is actually yours?

Tammy: That scarcity mindset is massive. So many people don’t realize they’re actually living from that mindset and it makes us small and it makes us tense and it makes us [00:08:00] anxious rather than realize like, God’s like, I actually want you to live from an abundance, abundance mindset, which is, it’s going to be provided for.

It’s going to be provided for, I’m going to provide for you. Now, if we have our, you know, Western lenses on about how God should do it. Well, just like the Pharisees missed the Messiah, we will miss his provision. Right. If we have those lenses on, but if we have the lenses of, no, he says he’ll provide for my soul needs.

That’s my truest me, my soul needs. Then we can trust. We have provision. We have help. We have hope. We have strength. He promises. Amen.

Kelly: That’s so good. , I saw a quote this morning and I’m not gonna be able to remember it, but it had something to do with trust is actually when we’re in the wilderness and we really believe that God will be enough, even when we can’t see anything that tells us that there is enough.

Tammy: Yeah. And so, right. I think that scarcity mentality is not believing that he’s enough and that in him, we’re [00:09:00] enough. So many people struggle with the enough thing. I’m not thin enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not intelligent enough. I’m not, I don’t have enough resources. I’m not rich enough. I’m not fast enough.

I’m not funny enough. It’s massive. It’s so massive. And that is shame’s vehicle, as I know you talk about for people, is that sort of enough. And it starts with believing, right? If God’s enough or not. Yeah,

Kelly: absolutely. So I’m wondering if you can help us. , one thing you often say along the lines of what you’re talking about is you’ll either spend your life chasing an identity or you’ll live from the one that has been divinely given to you.

And I know this is a huge topic, but you’ve already been talking about some of the lies, some of the false identities, some of the scarcity mindset that stand in the way of living in the truest sense of who God made us to be. Yes. Talk to us about how we can become aware of those things in our life. And then we’ll just talk about how to get free of it as well.

Tammy: So, right. [00:10:00] If we don’t believe Psalm 139, which is, I mean, I could, we can do the whole thing here if we want right now,

Kelly: but it is,

Tammy: you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I’m fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place when, your eyes saw my unformed body when I was in my mother’s womb, and all the days ordained from me were written in your book before one of them came to be so literally.

Amen. If we cannot understand that, we start there and then like add to that fundamental, he sees and knows us so intimately, more intimately than we can actually. Take in and that he calls that so good, like in his, even in the creation account and it was very good. You believe you’re very good, right?

Like this fundamental sense in God for his intention. You’re very good. Like it’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. And even so Ephesians [00:11:00] 2 10 says you’re God’s Workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do. Do you hear it? You’re God’s workmanship. Well many versions of the Bible.

I mean, you know what a workmanship is, right? It’s like I always think about Right guys, I’m old now and I never did it. Do you remember cross stitch? Remember what? Cross stitch? Yeah. Made me insane! People would be like, you need the purple 2B, not the purple 2A, and you have to go in this, every teeny tiny, and I think that’s what a workmanship is.

Every little stinking thread.

Kelly: Every intricacy of our beings was there. Thought about beforehand and woven together.

Tammy: That was much more eloquent than every stinking thread.

Kelly: You communicated the truth.

Tammy: That’s what it is to be a workmanship. Do you know many versions of the Bible call workmanship, translate the same word workmanship to be masterpiece.

Kelly: So [00:12:00] powerful.

Tammy: I mean, how many of us look in the mirror in the morning before we’re going right as we get up and go, Oh, masterpiece! Nope. It’s, it just feels like a joke to so many people when it’s, it’s literally the truth of our lives. That the God who created the grand Canyon, the God who created the biggest sunset, the most fascinating, incredible musical overture, whatever.

The God who created the Rocky Mountains, this God wove you together. You are just as stunning a creation

or

just as much a masterpiece as those things. Wow. If we can’t, Kelly, if we can’t live from there, here’s what we do. We shop horizontally for what’s been given vertically.

Kelly: Gosh, that’s so good. I love the way you put that.

We shop horizontally. So we look for everything in our environment that can comfort that longing rather than looking to God. Beautiful. [00:13:00] That’s so powerful.

So I’m wondering, , well, okay, I want to clarify 1 thing you said. So, as you’re talking about it,

I don’t know. You can tell me to name all the lies standing in the way. Are to name all the scarcity lies and false identities. Maybe where we start first is just looking at what’s true about how we were made and who God says we are. Like from Psalm 139, as you were just talking about that, it seemed like that alone could just the living water of truth could just wash away a lot of the shame.

Tammy: It’s true. Like if you, if we actually just, you know, if we could like blind, blind ourselves and, you know, cause ourselves to not hear for a period of time, we would be much more able to stay on the truth of like, that’s right. I’m not the one telling my heart to beat right now. I’m not the one deciding whether I process things, my neurological pathways are creative, you know, or if they’re more analytical, I’m not the one who decided that.

I’m not telling myself to breathe right now.

Kelly: [00:14:00] We

Tammy: are truly. Mechanisms, beautiful souls put in place by God’s intentional design. And if we can stay there, then comparison is a joke. And we see how it’s a hellish scheme from the very get go. Wow.

Kelly: Wow. So if you’re talking about shame, so let’s talk about shame for a minute, specifically, so people live in shame when they live in those kinds of lies.

Right. And shame can become a part of our thinking when we’re in childhood, maybe from something that happens but we develop coping mechanisms early on, which can be one of the things you mentioned was comparisons. Does everybody compare all the time?

Tammy: Honestly, I think it’s the pandemic because, you know, this is the luxury of being a counselor for over 30, whatever years I truly have had billionaires on my couch.

And I’ve had people that have been in food stamps on my couch. I’ve had people of tremendous influence on my couch. And I’ve had people who, you know, maybe have two, two people in their [00:15:00] lives, you know, everything in between. And Kelly, I’m not being hyperbolic when I say. Everyone is susceptible to the bait of comparison.

Kelly: Wow.

Tammy: Even the most quote unquote successful in our culture still compare and struggle with fundamental insecurity and fundamental actually feeling alone. It’s fascinating. No joke. Mm hmm.

Kelly: That is fascinating.

Tammy: Mm

hmm.

So here’s the deal. It’s like hell is not the powers of hell. They are not very creative.

Yeah. So, I mean, when we really get in places, and sometimes I get to be in the places where people are willing to be honest about the lies they’re hearing, and we’re willing to be vulnerable enough to share those lies, like the debate that we’re hearing regularly on the regular from the powers of hell within the places of our soul, when we can get that and put that out in words, people will weep.

Because they can’t believe it’s not just them, [00:16:00] that they’re not alone with it. And it’s all so similar. It’s all so similar. The lies that hell is trying to tell us are so similar, right? Some, some version it starts with, as you see in the garden, God’s not good. Is he questioning God’s goodness and you’re not very good.

Are you, you know, it’s like you’re kind of bad and God’s really not trustworthy and kind of goes from there. So, second Corinthians 10, 12 says when they measure themselves with themselves and they compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. Straight up. The devil says comparison is dumb.

Kelly: . I’m glad to hear that it’s everybody and not just a few people, it’s everybody. So another thing I know we do is we, we self promote or we self protect because we’re not dealing with those things that are really hurting us deep down inside. Now you have been counseling for 30 plus years.

And we won’t have to be specific about how many years over 30, but as [00:17:00] you have talked to people and you’ve noticed, , the shame that was written on their lives, do you see it most often coming from childhood wounding?

Tammy: Yes.

Kelly: What could that look like? Can you help us understand?

Tammy: Sure. Sure. So, and again, these are just my thoughts on it that, I mean, there’s wisdom all over the place for various conceptualizations of this, but let’s remember the backdrop though first is always right.

That there’s an evil one looking to steal, kill and destroy the beautiful creation and intended vessel of light and love that you were meant to be. Well, evil doesn’t really give a rip about you and I, so to speak, evil cares about the manifest glory of God. And when you are walking according to the truths of God and walking in the absolute security that is ours in every way, the absolute security that is ours, when we’re walking in that.

Evil hates that manifest glory of God, that God is getting much glory by our [00:18:00] secure, able to give freely, able to let things roll off our back, able to laugh at ourselves, able to be sacrificial, not to have to have applause over it when we’re walking in those ways. God gets much glory and that’s what evil hates right there.

And that’s what evil is trying to shut down. So that’s why we are so targeted and pummeled and attacked in the place of our spirits by insidious hellish suggestions about our value and about God’s trustworthiness. And so what happens is right during childhood, when evil can see God’s got a special plan or, there’s a tenderness towards God in some child.

I mean, it’s like target the children. Cause they’re beautiful. And Jesus said, you know, come to me. So also in human development, neural pathways are most formed in childhood. So why is it that when everybody goes to therapy, like even when they’re 60, we’re not talking about what happened when you’re 40, you’re still talking about what happened when you’re in childhood.

But yeah, [00:19:00] Because of the power of the formative years and what’s happening in the brain in terms of neural pathways then. So the powers of hell, if they can get us to believe lies when we’re young, then we don’t even know what’s happened. And we just think that’s quote unquote, just us

Kelly: for

Tammy: many years. So for instance, when a young girl, um, let’s just say, or boy, whatever goes to school and somebody, you know, butts them out a line and says, get out of here.

You’re so dumb. Okay. That’s what I call a wound of commission where somebody’s done something to you. And this is it right then is when hell likes to put a lie in the place where there’s a wound. Now, there wasn’t any weakness there before, but what happens is that wounding event, Causes there to be a weakness and opening is what I say.

And in that opening, I find that immediately almost evil wants to implant a lie in there. So for instance, a lie from that scenario could be what could be, [00:20:00] uh, I’m not good enough. It could be people don’t like me. I’m not lovable. I’m not, I’m always, I’ll always be alone, something like that. And so think about if that goes in when you’re like five, seven, nine, you form around it, Right?

We form around it, and it just becomes what we think is a part of us. Well, I’m just, you know, quiet. No, you’re not. You weren’t quiet until that happened.

Kelly: Wow.

Tammy: No, you’re not. Your intrinsic self before the wounding, you were like, whatever, right? So it’s, it’s just important to realize like, okay, when we have wounds, when we’re young, At any time in our lives, but particularly when we’re young, just think, what are the lies that came into my life that I started to believe then, and that have just grown with me because I’ve let them be in there living alongside.

Kelly: So, the kind of things that might trigger those lies to suddenly get to the point where they have to be dealt with what, what kind of things happen? Is it like we [00:21:00] suddenly start seeing anxiety in somebody’s life? What does a person see when they decide that it’s bad enough that they have to deal with that?

Tammy: Yeah.

It depends on right, the nature of the lie. Right. If it’s more like what went in was, you know, people can’t be trusted, which is what could happen. For instance, a child of divorce or something like, you know, I’m supposed to trust my parents. And unfortunately, You know, then I struggle with people can’t be trusted because that lie went in at that time, right?

So that’s going to go a direction of more isolation self protection never really Letting people know your heart and so maybe a constant feeling of isolation and then the things that come as a result of that So anxiety and depression can certainly come because of that if it’s more the direction of Uh, heartbreaking, but more in the direction of something like sexual abuse.

And by the way, Kelly, the statistics do bear out one in every four listeners, including males, one in every four has been sexually violated in some way.

Kelly: Shocking.

Tammy: yeah, and [00:22:00] it’s those statistics are, if anything, generous. , and so think about, right, the lies that go in at the time of that kind of wounding.

Okay. So there’s going to be the outworkings of that are going to be more things like self harm, self hatred, this overwhelming sense of never good enough, this overwhelming sense of even harm to one’s body. You know, there’s, that happens a lot, right? Suicidality. Why am I here? I shouldn’t be here. You know, those things will come, for instance, from that kind of.

So are you with me? It has to do with the nature of the wound, which lies get implanted. But yes, in general, you’re on it, which is anxiety, depression, patterns of living like OCD or self protective, or even, you know, all of them. Things like hoarding, like all of these things are indications that are like, uh, Something’s going on.

That’s a warning sign going off to go find out what the lies are and replace them with God’s truth.

Kelly: Yeah.

Well, [00:23:00] we talk about that a lot on this show, just simply being authentic with the Lord about what you’re dealing with. But, you know, I primarily am talking about. Grief and loss and the lies about who God is that go along with the ongoing hardships we might Experience in life, but when do you know when it might be helpful to see a counselor?

Tammy: Mm hmm. Okay. This is not because I am one. Okay, but it girl you can’t go wrong with it

Kelly: I know, I gotta tell you, I have said this dozens of times. We could all use a counselor, every single person on this planet could use a wise counselor in their corner.

Tammy: Well, here’s the deal, right? I see in my counseling practice, because I’ve been around so long and I’m old only Christian leaders. So 80 percent of my client load are pastors and most of those are male. And so, or leaders of some kind, leaders in ministries. I see other counselors, I see missionaries.

So this is who I have people that are [00:24:00] pretty healthy. Yeah. Right. And a lot of them come, which is awesome, proactively,

Kelly: so you don’t

Tammy: have to be a big old mess to go to counseling. In fact, there’s a reason for instance, that gyms, like how many of us have gym memberships? Why nobody needs a gym to be healthy?

No one on this planet. Why do gyms proliferate? Because there’s somebody there waiting. You’ve paid money. There’s a class waiting for you. There’s right. There’s an accountability structure built in. And even though you’re like, okay, I don’t feel like working out tonight, you know, Oh, I’m going, I have an appointment at the gym tomorrow.

It’s the same with counseling in many ways, which is like, okay, we just had a conflict at home. Woof. I don’t know what that’s about. Oh wait, I’m counseling in two weeks. We, there’s a place I’ll talk about it. It’s just right. So those are, those are for years in my sort of commercial that everyone can benefit.

But when you find yourself, and this is my phrase and this is just, please don’t. This is not a [00:25:00] doctory phrase. This is just a girl with girl phrase, but it’s very helpful to help distinguish when you are really in a spot that’s like, it’s acute enough that I need to go seek honestly professional help for sure.

It’s not just a good idea. And that would be, here’s my phrase. When you’re want to, can’t do what you’re want to, wants to do.

Kelly: Hmm. When you’re want to, can’t do what you’re want to, wants to do.

Tammy: I want to go to dinner with my friends. And I’m not gonna, I can feel, I want to be more forgiving of a spouse and I’m not doing it.

I can’t, I’m not doing it. I can tell I really want to go be a part of that public thing, but I’m having a panic attack instead.

Kelly: Yeah. Okay. So when your functional life stops being quite so functional.

Tammy: Mm hmm. Because of, right, things that are pretty much just in your head.

Kelly: Yeah. Right. Which we know that what’s in your head is in your brain and that affects everything.

Tammy: Yep. Including your [00:26:00] body. Yep. Yeah.

Kelly: Everything. Yeah. Susie Larson always says, what happens in our cells are my Texas accent came out. What happens in our cells happens in our souls.

Tammy: Yes. Yes. You know, and that’s another point here since we’re kind of in, in this space, Kelly, I think we have to always remember we are souls first.

Think about how much attention we give to our bodies. Like we make sure the teeth are brushed and we like eat the food and some of us exercise and we definitely put clothes on it that we like and try to make, we take so much care of the body, but we are actually, that’s just a vehicle for our souls. Our truest us is deeper than our physical being.

How much attention do we pay to our souls? You know, this is a quote attributed to C. S. Lewis. I don’t, I think it’s actually somebody else, but it says this. You don’t have a soul, you are a soul, you have a body. And even that is like, [00:27:00] Oh, so the truth about me, my vehicle, that’s not my truest me. So even if my vehicle is hated by society, it doesn’t matter.

That’s not my truest me. Even if my vehicle is lauded and adored by society, still not my truest me. I am a soul. And if we can start to think of ourselves that way and think, well, how have I exercised my soul today? How have I fed my soul today? How have I rested my soul today?

Kelly: Oh, I love that.

Tammy: It’s huge.

Kelly: It is huge.

You know, I, I love teaching, the life of Jeremiah because he was a world class wrestler, man. He endured through so many hard, hard things. I released an episode about him over the summer. But one of the things I said is in Jeremiah 20, we see him really wrestling through his deepest, deepest heartache, where he’s saying to God, I’ve been following you all my life.

I’ve been doing what you told me to do. And I can’t even believe you’re not supporting me [00:28:00] more. It seems like you could be behind this a little bit more than that. And he just really is at his lowest, lowest point, but it’s the most beautiful thing I ever heard in my entire life because it gives us the freedom to care for our soul.

And as I have taught that at women’s retreats, I have had some women come up to me just in tears that may have lost a daughter or a son or have a prodigal child. And they’re like, I had no idea you could talk to God like that. And they have, God just sets them free.

Tammy: That’s awesome.

Kelly: And I shared it right there because talking about soul health and grieving and paying attention to our losses is a hugely important part of that.

Tammy: Huge. See, this is the thing. Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. World equals. Trouble. So let’s do it backwards. Trouble equals world. So often we get stopped right there. Jesus said, in [00:29:00] this world you’ll have trouble, but take heart. I’ve overcome the world. Do you hear it? The take heart is live from your soul.

Live from within. This is how the overcoming happens when we live from within. Because why? Because trouble equals world. Don’t misinterpret what trouble equals. Trouble does not equal that I’m not faithful. Trouble does not equal that you’re not a good enough Christian. Don’t misinterpret the trouble. It just equals world.

World equals trouble. Jesus is like, can you stop being surprised at how hard the planet is?

Kelly: Oh my gosh. I’ve never heard anybody explain that the way you did just now. Can you just say the part about our soul once more?

Tammy: In this world. You’ll have trouble, but take heart. I’ve overcome the world. It’s the take heart part where the overcoming happens. World equals trouble. And so if we think overcoming equals no trouble, we’re thinking the wrong thing. Yeah, that’s not what he said.

Jesus didn’t say in this world, you’ll have trouble, but take, but I’m going to have you overcome it in a worldly way. He said, in [00:30:00] this world, you’re going to have trouble. Listen, that’s what it is to live on this broken planet until you see me face to face. It’s a broken place.

Yeah. Right.

Right. This world you’ll have trouble, but take heart, Kelly, live from within, be buoyed from within, live from a deeper space within the seat of your soul.

Take heart. I’ve overcome the world. I mean, that’s, that’s literally what we’re talking about here, which is how do you live from the identity that you’ve been given in God rather than thrown and dashed about by what’s going on in the world. Take heart. Live from within. Live from within, live from your soul.

Kelly: I love that so much., I think an example just from my own life that might be helpful is our family. There’s been a lot of sorrow, decades and decades of sorrow and unmet expectation. And right now our story is not wrapped up with a bow.

It continues to be unresolved. And I got to the point where that sorrow was almost paralyzing me. Like I was having a difficult time [00:31:00] even being in prayer groups because I could not hear one more unmet expectation. And, it was really breaking me. I had never experienced this before

I did see a counselor and she helped me process it in a way where I was able to hold it more lightly. So hold it in front of me, Jesus, here we are together and I am taking heart and I am placing my faith in you. I’m looking to you for my strength. I’m looking to you to actually take care of these problems.

I’m going to stop carrying them on my shoulders. I’m going to stop saying I’m the only one who can fix this. And as I was able to really, people say, give them to Jesus. But as I was able to really say. I’m not the savior here. You are. I’m going to let go of this entirely. He, God set me free from the paralysis of sorrow in my life.

And it was hugely transformative.

Tammy: That’s incredible. And I love, again, I love all of the messages God gives you to give to [00:32:00] the world. I love it. You’re such a beautiful vehicle, but I love in particular that you have such a heart to help people understand grief is a part of your life. Everyone’s life.

Everyone is grieving. That’s another thing. One thing Christians understand. Jesus said, in this world you’ll have troubles. Like, God was pretty clear even in the Word. There’s an entire book of the Bible called Lamentations for Pete’s sake. Like, if you don’t understand, lament. The first one third of the Psalms are psalms of lament.

If we don’t understand lament is to be a part of our everyday existence again, we’re going to misinterpret faith and maybe be angry with God or upset with God or feel disappointed with God for things that are absolutely just our misunderstanding. Cause he has said in this world, you’ll have trouble. We have to grieve.

He said, but take heart. I have overcome overcoming happens within and grieving is a part of that. So grief is just a normal and natural emotional response to loss. [00:33:00] Yeah. And everyone has lost from the smallest things from like, I thought we were going to go to that event tonight and it got rained out.

That’s a little teeny tiny loss, right? To the greatest losses, which is the physical loss of someone we love dearly, like, and everything in between. People grieve the loss of hair. People grieve the loss of vitality. People grieve the loss of a dog. Right. And we have to understand like, We are people who grieve because we were made for Eden and eternity.

And this is neither, this is what I call the middle of the story, right? The middle of every great story is up, down, all around, wonderful, awful, that’s where we live.

Kelly: That is so beautiful. One of the ways I know that God meets us in those places where we’re taking heart is we’re grabbing hold of the truth that Jesus can give me strength.

The abundance of Christ. We were talking about that at the opening of the show. When we live with an abundance mindset, Jesus, you have all that I need. Jesus, you have the strength I need. Jesus, you have the ability within you [00:34:00] to help me persevere and endure. Jesus, you have the ability to give me love for this person that is really driving me crazy.

You have the ability to give me patience so I only said that just to kind of clarify very practically some of the ways where we can take heart in that story. Tammy, before I close, is there anything else that you want to leave our listeners with to help them grab hold of that abundance and walk into deeper intimacy with Jesus?

Tammy: Oh my goodness. There’s so many things I’d like to say, but I think maybe the thing that’s deepest on my heart. No matter where you’re at, if you’re hearing the sound of our voices here, is that one of God’s names is Elroy. He’s the God who sees you. He’s the God who sees you that there is a God who is altogether love.

It does. You know, in the Bible, it doesn’t say God has love. It says, God is love. There is no interaction you can have with God. That’s not a loving interaction and he sees you and he’s, his seeing of you [00:35:00] is a delightful one. He is so delighted in you. Zephaniah three to 17 says it first John three, one says it like there is so much delight God has in you.

The you he made you to be. So when you’re trying to live according to culture wants you to be, you’re never going to be able to hear the delight of God and live in the love of God. But when you can know that I need to shut those voices down and instead keep believing, keep moving into, keep surrounding myself with the truths about who God made me to be, how he sees me and that he sees me.

Then we can honestly be people who live out of true security at the absolute security that we have. We can literally never again struggle with insecurity. So I just pray that for your listeners. I pray that for all of us that we will be so rooted and established as God says in the love of God that our relationships are different.

The ways we interact with people at work are different. Even in the ways we interact with strangers are [00:36:00] different because we are not looking horizontally for what’s already been given vertically.

Kelly: Amen. Thank you so much, Tammy. Before we close, I just wanna let our listeners know. Go to dr tammy smith.com. Check out her Soul Healing series. I encourage you to graba book, a workbook you’re not going to regret it.

Tammy: , We have the full video series for soul healing and soul satisfaction, on there as well.

Kelly: Perfect. Perfect. Well, Tammy, thank you so much. What a delight. Thanks for giving us all your time to be here.

Tammy: I’m so thankful. This is just such a joy. Let’s do it again.

Kelly: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

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, kellyhall. org and pick up some free resources while you’re there. Thanks for listening to the Unshakable Hope Podcast.