00:00hey everyone today I'm drinking out of a really great coffee mug that says the struggle is real
00:16and so is God because indeed the struggle is real and I'm so glad that we have God to lean on
00:25especially in times like these as most of you know by now there was a shooting a mass shooting
00:34yesterday last evening 19 kids were killed at an elementary school two teachers it's devastating
00:41I've cried I've wept I've tried to reason within myself and I think about all those parents who
00:47dropped their kids off or who dropped put them on the bus and they said they love I love you dear
00:54love you son love you daughter and never see them again and then on top of that hearing reports that
01:02they're literally having to swap for DNA from the parents so they can identify the kids let you know
01:08how bad it was it was basically kids being slaughtered so I've been emotional and it's
01:16almost hard for me to even record today but I just I feel I need to do this I feel like the Lord has
01:21given me a message and actually it was a few weeks ago when I was flying home from California
01:27and I felt the Holy Spirit nudging me and I pulled out my phone and I always know when when God is
01:34trying to speak and I just begin typing feverishly like crazy and um I wrote a lot down but so I'm
01:42going to be looking at my computer a lot during today's segment reading it all um I think it's so
01:48important to address facing the pain that we feel inside um I'm thankful that our culture our society
01:58is now highlighting how important your emotional health is your mental health is and all these
02:04things that are going on inside our minds and our hearts and even the religious or the church work
02:09has jumped on board and eight nine years ago I was advocating for this it's been something I've been
02:15very passionate about and I'm seeing it starting to happen and I'm so thankful for that because
02:22there are people everywhere that need to know that they are not alone that need to know that
02:27they don't have to stay there permanently that they can get the help that they need but today I want to
02:32talk a little bit about facing your pain we all have things inside that we need to address and I call
02:41it you got to face yourself in the mirror and say all right girlfriend it's time to face what's going
02:47on inside if you really want to move on if you really want to do all these dreams and all these things
02:51you're going to have to face what's going on inside because really when we don't face it we prolong our
02:57true happiness we prolong what God is trying to do inside of us because we won't face it heal and let go
03:03and give it to God so um like I said I may be reading a lot um because I wrote all of this down
03:11but um your mind plays tricks on you when you're in pain you lash out at others you make rash decisions
03:19you hurt those close to you and you put walls up and I I've been there so I am definitely speaking
03:28from experience on this I have been there I'm sure many of you have been there some of you are there
03:32right now don't let the pain you're in keep you stuck on yesterday's trauma don't let the pain
03:38that has wrapped its tentacles around you keep you tied to that specific event that ended up breaking
03:45your heart don't allow the pain to continue to make your decisions don't allow the pain to be the
03:55pain that keeps you paralyzed for the rest of your life face your pain I know it's not easy it's not
04:04comfortable doing it I remember when I had moved to DC Washington DC to I had this passion for politics
04:12and I remember moving there and I was all excited I was offered this incredible job on K Street and the
04:19government relations office so I was going to be working with the secret service um and um actually
04:27homeland security more is more who we worked with and it was all wrapped up in that bubble called
04:33politics and so I really was enjoying it I was loving it but I threw myself into my career there
04:39and I began to work around the clock 24 7 I mean it was all the time I became what you would call a
04:49workaholic then on top of that I would meet all my girlfriends we would usually meet for dinner around
04:558 o'clock sometimes 9 30 or sometimes we just meet at 10 30 and just go out for the night but we would
05:02start clubbing around um this is when I was partying away and I was probably running from God but we would
05:09start clubbing around 10 30 11 I wouldn't get home till like 2 2 2 2 30 sometimes 3 a.m then I would
05:16sleep real quick for a few hours get back up around 6 ish jump in the shower get dressed real quick and be
05:21back at work grab some coffee I always had to make coffee get back at work and work all day again it was
05:28this is what I did this was my life but I was numbing my pain I was self-medicating myself thinking if I
05:37just work work work work go out out club dance have a blast with all these friends meet all these guys
05:43and have fun it's gonna heal me it's or more likely I was thinking in my mind it's going to help me
05:50forget I'm fine I moved out of that physically I moved on but I was still all messed up I mean I was
05:58literally numbing my pain and that's what so many people do today but numbing the pain won't bring him
06:10or her back numbing the pain won't make everything normal again numbing the pain won't bring you peace
06:16and joy it won't bring you satisfaction the satisfaction that you're looking for it will only
06:21bring you anxiety sadness regret wishing and can cause you to even spiral into a pit of depression
06:28and I wrote this thing down to that I think is so needed you will never become comfortable in the
06:36silence while you are numbing your pain right when you numb your pain you only prolong your true happiness
06:43you only prolong you moving forward when you numb your pain I want to zone in on this right here
06:50it affects your close-knit relationships it affects your marriage it affects your family
06:56your children it affects your job the ministry that you're involved in it affects everything you
07:02touch everything you do affects what you are tied to so it's easy for us to throw ourselves into our
07:10careers our hobbies our ministries everything that we're passionate about to numb our pain we self-medicate
07:18by throwing ourselves into things that we think are going to help us move on and to forget because
07:23we don't want to face the person in the mirror and I understand it's not easy it's a process
07:30when you numb your pain you take the risk of sabotaging all that God has for you
07:35numbing your pain can push you into doing things that you thought you would never do right here listen
07:41to this it can cause you to become codependent on things that will destroy you and push you into
07:48the arms of people who will lead you down a path of destruction when you numb your pain here it is
07:55your spiritual intuition becomes distorted when your emotional health is off it can also affect your
08:03spiritual health face it today and become whole Psalm 34 18 says the Lord is near the brokenhearted
08:11and saves the crushed in spirit Proverbs 3 5 and 6 trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not
08:17lean do not lean ladies on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make
08:25your path straight I encourage you if you've been numbing your pain I'm not knocking you because I've
08:33done my pain more than once I encourage you to face your pain to face the person in the mirror and say
08:39girlfriend it's time to face it it's time to address it it's time to get help it's time to unlock all the
08:46things that are in my mind in my heart and start discarding them start giving them to Jesus and I encourage
08:53you to go see a Christian counselor talk to your pastor a safe friend join a support group find people that you can
09:00talk to do not fight this alone you can get through this if I can get through it I held on to it for years
09:08self-medicating and all these things that were not healing me at all but there came a point where I had to
09:15face myself in the mirror and say all right Stephanie we're done doing this we're done playing this game
09:19it's time to face it and to get serious about your purpose in life you need to heal so you can move on
09:27amen all right ladies that's the word for today I hope you all have a blessed day God bless you
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