How to Hear from the Lord with Rachael Groll

You are going to love today’s amazing conversation. Rachael Groll wants you to know how to hear from the Lord. She wants you to connect and really have that deep understanding of His goodness and His kindness.

It’s this knowing that we are the body of Christ and each of the things in which we’re being equipped and called to train others up, they’re all connected. So I know you’re going to love hearing today’s conversation with Rachael Groll. 

 

About Rachael:

Rachael Groll is a pastor, missionary, and author. Her latest book, She Hears: Learning to Listen to Jesus helps women learn how to hear from Jesus by taking a look at 6 women from the gospel of John.nnRachael has a top 3 (Globally!) ranked podcast for Christians, the Hearing Jesus Podcast, where she helps women learn how to hear the Lord more clearly in their lives.

 

Where to Find Rachael:

https://www.instagram.com/she_hears/

https://www.facebook.com/SheHears.org/

https://shehears.org

 

Where to Find Tamra:

Let’s Connect! Book a Call today to see how I can help you share your message! https://calendly.com/sharon-tamraandress/45min

Work with us! https://tamraandress.com/

TEXT Me (yes, it’s really me!) at 📱757-906-3734

Free Virtual Training? Yes, please! http://tamra.live/

Looking for your own revival in your heart? Come with us to the Dominican Republic in September to revive your own fire! https://tamraandress.com/wellness-retreat

 

Show Notes: How to Hear From the Lord

rachael groll.mp3

Speaker 1 (00:00:00) – There’s nothing better than talking and sharing and just being with people on a podcast. It’s one of my favorite reasons and why we love to bring other podcasters into the industry to start their show, to get their message out to the world, because it’s so critical that what God has laid on your heart is heard.

Speaker 2 (00:00:19) – And I know today’s guest shares that same desire because, well, she’s been doing it for such a time as this.

Speaker 1 (00:00:27) – And her name is Rachel Grohl, and she has an amazing company and podcast called She’s Hears, helping women hear Jesus. Because while I might be the agent in which people can hear podcasting or publishing your book through our Fit Press company and publishing house, she allows you to do the work as the precursor in order for your message to be rooted and founded in Christ. So what does that mean?

Speaker 3 (00:00:52) – She wants you to know how to hear from the Lord.

Speaker 1 (00:00:55) – She wants you to connect and really have that deep understanding of His goodness and His kindness. And what is that message that’s on your heart and how do you put it out into the world? That’s my job. So it’s a team effort. It’s community over competition. It’s this knowing that we are the body of Christ and each of the things in which we’re being equipped and called to train others up, they’re all connected. So I know you’re going to love today’s amazing conversation.

Speaker 3 (00:01:20) – It’s going to help you to overcome barriers. It’s going to help you to experience spiritual growth.

Speaker 1 (00:01:24) – And ultimately learn how to hear from God in your daily life, which will put you into the catapult of activating your faith unlike anything you’ve ever done. Our mission at Fit and Faith, the whole reason behind this podcast, behind our conferences, everything that we do is to obliterate shame and activate purpose.

Speaker 3 (00:01:41) – The obliterating shame is the part where the Lord can whisper into your ear, daughter, woman, and call you higher.

Speaker 1 (00:01:47) – And that’s what Rachel has unlocked and teaches other women to do. So I know you’re going to love her. I know you’re going to want to follow her podcast and know you’re going to want to get on her social and see what she’s posting on a regular basis.

Speaker 3 (00:01:57) – She has coursework and resource books and blogs and all the things.

Speaker 1 (00:02:01) – You guys know that we are a community of activators. And so I want you guys to get in. She also has this really cool resource about the desires of your heart. It’s a seven day devotional that you can get on her site. It’s just shehears.org backslash resources and a bunch of other ones.

Speaker 2 (00:02:16) – So I know you’re going to love it.

Speaker 1 (00:02:18) – Stay tuned, listen in. And if you’re ready to activate, you know who to contact, both her and I. Let’s go. Listen up. For such a time as this, we must grow our faith and business muscles. The self-help industry is trying to own spirituality and well-being. The entrepreneurial space is becoming flooded with business pursuits focused on success instead of sustenance. But the only one who can make us fully whole, fully free, and fully alive is Jesus. So I’m ecstatic you walked into this hypothetical gym today.

Speaker 1 (00:02:53) – I’m your trainer, Tamara Andress, also coined an entrepreneurial rabbi, teaching the pursuits of God, which unveil our purpose and ultimately unleash our desired provision. This fit acronym is for founders, innovators, and trailblazers. Here, Marketplace ministers conversate and educate to build others from the inside out while also sharing their testimonies of endurance. So while it’s not a fitness broadcast, I do surely care about your mental, physical, emotional, relational, financial, and spiritual health. You’re going to hear all about it.

Speaker 1 (00:03:24) – If you’re passionate about your becoming journey, leading others to greatness, and living a life of abundance and joy, then you’re well on your way to being fit in faith. Let’s hydrate.

Speaker 2 (00:03:37) – All right, all right. Welcome to the show, you guys. I am so excited to introduce to you a new friend who we’ve just recently got connected, but officially I’ve been following her. I’ve been scoping her out. It’s not weird anymore to have fan girls, right? So I’m totally a fan girl of Rachel Groll. She is a pastor. She’s a missionary. She’s an author. And her latest book is something you’re going to want to get your hands on. And it stems out of, I’m sure, a huge well, perhaps a pitfall like mine.

Speaker 2 (00:04:08) – But more so importantly, you guys got to know that she has an incredible top tier podcast, and it’s called the Hearing Jesus Podcast. So Rachel, I want to get, I want to excavate your soul for a little bit because I know being on the other end of the podcast, you’re usually teaching, you’re interviewing, you’re teaching other people about your relationship and what God has revealed to you. But I want to know you, and then we’ll get into the God revelations. Thanks for being here.

Speaker 1 (00:04:33) – Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:04:34) – Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:04:35) – I’m excited just to serve you and to serve your audience and just to get to know you a little bit as well today.

Speaker 2 (00:04:41) – Well, I’m going to keep you in the hot seat as much as I can, but I also love to share. So I want to know where did your relationship with the Lord start? And did you always have the connectivity to be able to teach the way that you do now?

Speaker 3 (00:04:55) – You know, I became a Christian at a very young age, at age 15. But one of the things that happened very early on is the same week, I actually got saved at a youth convention with a bunch of other teenagers, like 20,000 of them. But that same week, I really felt the Lord calling me to full-time ministry at the same time. So I really got the call for ministry within days of just coming to faith in Christ. And essentially, it’s kind of just been there ever since.

Speaker 3 (00:05:24) – So it’s almost this symbiotic relationship between what, for me, what it even means to be a Christian is also to have this calling to lead other people. You know, that evangelistic discipleship calling has just been part of the DNA, I guess, of what it is to be a Christian for me. I agree.

Speaker 1 (00:05:43) – And I think a lot of people are in this like searching place of what is calling? How do I discover my calling? And it was such a breath of fresh air when I landed on your website and you were talking about that exploration journey for yourself, but more so the fact that all of us are really attuned to the same calling. There’s not a lot of searching to do.

Speaker 3 (00:06:02) – When your searching is in the Word, He reveals how your purpose is unveiled, but ultimately we’re all called to the same thing. Yeah. And I think we overcomplicate that, right? I mean, we already know what He’s called us to do. It might flesh out differently. You know, we have different audiences or we have different specific things that God’s gifted us with, depending on our personality or temperament or just the giftings He’s given us. But ultimately, our calling as believers is to know Him and to make Him known.

Speaker 3 (00:06:33) – And like I said, that looks a lot differently for different people, but ultimately it’s all stemming from that same root.

Speaker 1 (00:06:40) – Absolutely. As you were growing, not only in your faith, because I know what it feels like to be like a wobbling baby giraffe in your Christian belief systems and understanding who Jesus is. Did you have any divine encounters in the process of the revelation of, this is 1000 percent where I’m going to go?

Speaker 3 (00:06:59) – And how did your pastor journey unfold? Well, you know, I think it’s a process, just like sanctification is a process. I think coming into the confidence of knowing that God has called you to lead something is a process. Because I think maybe, I don’t know if you struggle with this, but as a woman in the leadership space within the faith arena, there’s a lot of voices that try to discredit you.

Speaker 3 (00:07:24) – And for me, I started off that journey in almost like the parachurch way, just because I didn’t necessarily know if other people were going to accept the calling that I knew that I had had. So I had been, like I opened up a Christian daycare and preschool and I was teaching in that capacity and really ministering to moms and young families. And then that kind of morphed into a full-time children’s ministry position.

Speaker 3 (00:07:51) – But then within that role, again, serving families, there was just this deep desire to do outreach and missions and birth all these extra programs that were really centered around reaching the least of these. And honestly, I was in Africa the first time I really kind of felt like, okay, this is what I was created for. And I was teaching at a school in Africa and I had spent the whole week with them. And then I was just doing a message and we had thousands of kids come to Christ that day.

Speaker 3 (00:08:20) – And I remember just sitting there and my husband was there and we had like this cow walk through the middle of our, we were doing like this session with these kids and this cow just walked through. And on the periphery, what I could see was all these moms that had come to gather as well. And I was like, this is what God has created me for. And my philosophy of missions has changed over the years. I am still involved in missions. It looks a little bit different.

Speaker 3 (00:08:41) – But I knew at that moment, it doesn’t really matter what anybody else has to say because I need to hone in on what God is saying. And what God is saying is, this is what I’ve created you for. And I think that is what I want for women is to get so confident in that voice from God that the outside voices from the world just kind of fade away because they’re not as strong as that voice that the Holy Spirit gives us.

Speaker 1 (00:09:02) – Yeah. And I think that this is a consistent conversation, but the louder the world gets, the more it feels like God is being drowned out. And yet that’s totally not the case if you’re in that element of wisdom, if you’re in that seeking, right? Seek ye first the kingdom and his righteousness and all the things that you need will be given to you. But it’s the seeking first that I think we get mis-prioritized.

Speaker 1 (00:09:26) – We mis-prioritize it even in our calling, especially as we become moms and we’re living in that like what can feel like wild world of quote unquote busy. I say that because I cannot stand when people call me busy. I like to live my life intentionally and I’ve worked the hustle hard culture. I did all that in the past. So it’s the rhythms of grace that I want women to exist in as they are revealed to what it is that they’re intended to do.

Speaker 1 (00:09:51) – I don’t think, as you’re explaining the missions piece, that God was not already planning and orchestrating that this conversation would happen when it did because I just had my first missions trip to the Dominican Republic last week. And my heart is just like, we got these stickers, actually, they’re right next to me, right before we went that said, part of my heart is in the Dominican Republic. And I remember seeing it and be like, yeah, we’ll see because I go, I get to travel all over the world with my family.

Speaker 1 (00:10:18) – And this was the first time that I did it in this capacity. My heart is stolen. How in the world do you come back to missions? And I want to hear about the missions evolution and what that means to you now, because I know that there are so many people in my community who want to do this more proactively. And whether it’s individually, whether it’s as a married couple, whether it’s as a family, I can see the massive impact that it can have.

Speaker 3 (00:10:42) – Yeah, you know, what’s funny is I was in the Dominican two weeks ago on a mission trip too. So we might have passed each other in the airport. That’s so funny.

Speaker 2 (00:10:51) – That’s amazing.

Speaker 3 (00:10:52) – Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:10:52) – Yeah.

Speaker 3 (00:10:53) – So I primarily work in five countries right now and the Dominican is one of them.

Speaker 2 (00:10:57) – And so, you know, I think for me, I had served in Kenya for a long time.

Speaker 3 (00:11:03) – That was the first international missions place that we really just sunk our teeth into. And we had kind of done it the way that many churches do it. And we gathered, our team gathered flip flops because they were cheap. They were like a dollar at Old Navy or something. And we took over like 500 pairs of flip flops. And we were working in this garbage dump in the slums outside of Nairobi. And of course we had said, okay, we brought these flip flops to you in the name of Jesus as an expression of his love, all those things.

Speaker 3 (00:11:32) – And then we’re passing out the flip flops and we get to the last pair and there’s one little boy standing there. There was not enough flip flops for him.

Speaker 2 (00:11:38) – And it just broke me because I thought, what does that express to this little boy? You know, we’re sitting here saying, okay, Jesus sent these flip flops for you and now, okay, what happens to him? And I was like, there’s gotta be a better way to do this because not only that, we put the flip flop man out of business that worked in that community. And then flip flops don’t last very long.

Speaker 3 (00:12:01) – So then we’ve created this dependency because it’s like, well, when are you coming back to give us more flip flops?

Speaker 2 (00:12:05) – And I just found ourselves in this cycle of just creating this dependency.

Speaker 3 (00:12:11) – I’m like, this is just not, I don’t think this is it. It was unsettled into my spirit. And of course we’re still sharing the gospel and all of those things, but as far as the sustainability piece, it was really missing. And so now what we do is I work with an organization called Children of the Nations where the baseline of everything that we do is sustainability. And so there’s a really good book I would recommend called Helping Without Hurting for anybody that wants to kind of dive into this a little bit deeper.

Speaker 2 (00:12:40) – But essentially what we do now is like, for example, in Malawi, we will have like a widow’s program where we, instead of like taking a bunch of things, we would take material and sewing machines and supplies and teach them how to sew and maybe get them a business license so that they could sew in the market.

Speaker 3 (00:13:00) – So then they can then of course buy more material, buy more supplies. And now we’ve had like this little micro business we’ve started. So instead of teaching them to expect us to come back and hand something out, we’ve given them an opportunity to start standing on their own two feet. And so that sustainability model is now in everything that we do.

Speaker 3 (00:13:18) – And I think even spiritually, I mean, when I say I work in five countries, really what I’m doing is I’m going and I’m training and empowering and equipping local leadership so that they can go out and impact their own communities. There are believers in all of those countries. And so for us to go in and just think that we’ve got the answer, we’ve got the corner of the gospel and they need to do it our way, it’s so ignorant. But yet we see these people that have a heart to serve in their communities, but they need a little extra help.

Speaker 3 (00:13:47) – And so my role really is to go in and empower and equip. And so like when I went to the Dominican, there is a Spanish version of CEF, which is Children’s Evangelism Fellowship. Many people know it. There’s a Spanish version called Appen on that island. And so we made a connection with Appen and we brought them in for a training for all of our teachers and principals.

Speaker 3 (00:14:07) – And then after the fact, we went to all of our schools and met with the teachers and principals to just kind of make sure to help them assimilate the information and answer questions and pray with them.

Speaker 2 (00:14:17) – And then of course, some amazing things happened.

Speaker 3 (00:14:19) – We saw a little boy that was healed miraculously when we prayed with him who had had a stroke and was really struggling. And we saw gang members come in off the street and pray and ended up giving their lives to the Lord.

Speaker 2 (00:14:33) – And we just saw God move in such a great way, but it’s not dependent on me. And I think one of the things that I learned over COVID when we couldn’t travel was there are some organizations that are solely dependent on us going and doing instead of us empowering the local leadership.

Speaker 3 (00:14:51) – And so I just wholeheartedly encourage people to go after an organization that serves in a way that empowers the local leadership.

Speaker 1 (00:14:58) – Yeah, that’s so incredibly rich and something I noticed too. I think I love the way that you said it. We don’t have a cornerstone of the Bible. It’s not just Americans know God and nobody else does. That was one of the biggest revelations. I knew this, right? I know that there’s revivals happening all over the world right now. And I have tons of friends in the mission space that are going to Ukraine and going to Uganda. And they’re everywhere, India.

Speaker 1 (00:15:23) – But I was thinking specifically when I went into these orphanages or I went into these schools and to experience that I was going to be bringing Jesus, right? These kids are sold out for the Lord. They know Jesus so well, maybe more intimately than I do because of the struggle that they have and the reliance in which they have and the lack of comfort. The comfort is the comforter, not a cozy down comforter that I’m currently watching because my daughter peed on it last night. Right? Like that’s absurd. I don’t know what that is.

Speaker 1 (00:15:54) – And so I shared this story this morning with my community about one of the little girls that I was holding. She was probably two-ish years old and she had this little grape in her hand. She was eating it like tiny, tiny little nibble at a time. And I at the time was just thinking like, wow, like she’s really savoring this grape. And like, is this common? She said she takes her time with it and every other kid just pops it in their mouth and then they want another one. She knows that they’re only going to get a certain amount of grapes per day.

Speaker 1 (00:16:24) – And so she just extends it out. And I thought about what if we did that with our experience and our relationship with the Lord, not to mention we did the exact same thing when we were there fully present. What does it look like for us to extend our love even when our feet can’t be present where we’re at? And a part of that, sure, could be a financial contribution.

Speaker 1 (00:16:43) – But I think more so importantly, this conversation you’re having about equipping and provision is totally different, right, of what our mindsets are, at least what mine was, going into what a mission trip is actually for. It’s not about you coming and being a hero. It’s about you actually loving on the heroes that already exist and equipping them further to be able to sustain all the babies and all the generations that are to come thereafter with as much protection, safety and awareness that they need. And supplies is surely one of them.

Speaker 1 (00:17:12) – So I love that you’re doing that. Do you guys do that as a mission with your church or is it a separate entity?

Speaker 3 (00:17:19) – Is it with She Hears?

Speaker 2 (00:17:22) – Well, we’re going to be actually taking a She Hears trip through Children of the Nations, but Children of the Nations is separate.

Speaker 3 (00:17:27) – It’s a separate missions organization that I’m partnered with. But yeah, I think I’m going on four years of partnership with COTN and I just love everything about that model. To bring it back to the She Hears issue, it doesn’t matter what part of the world I’m in, I would constantly hear the same echo of women, whether they were in the bush in the middle of Africa or in New York City or here in the local church. I would hear this insecurity that women had that they just were not confident that they were hearing the Lord’s voice.

Speaker 3 (00:18:01) – And I thought, man, this isn’t just a US problem. This is a global church problem where for whatever reason, the enemy has kept this barrier in between women and having confidence in hearing the Lord’s voice.

Speaker 2 (00:18:15) – And so that’s kind of why I started even to begin with studying with the She Hears Bible study.

Speaker 3 (00:18:21) – It started off with me and my own personal journey to really get to a place of being able to answer that from the pages of scripture, not just experientially, but really what does Jesus have to say about this? And so what the Bible study started out was just my own personal journey to just examine six women in the life of Jesus and what he said about them and how he empowered and equipped them and gave them a voice. And I knew when I started sharing that within my own circle of influence, when women started saying, okay, this is a bigger issue.

Speaker 3 (00:18:53) – You need to share this with other people, not just us. I knew that it tapped into an insecurity that was really common that a lot of women were really struggling with.

Speaker 1 (00:19:03) – Well I think all the way back to Adam and Eve and how she must have felt in her own shame associated to like sin, right from the gate. And then to know like hierarchy that was established and no kingdom concepts, right? It was more manmade, flesh made. And I say manmade sometimes, most times, especially even in other countries, still truly male versus female. And that has been something that we’ve had to release as an identity element of saying like there is an equality that was established in the garden. There is a servant leadership.

Speaker 1 (00:19:36) – There is a servant love that transpires there as well. It’s the representation of the bride and the bridegroom, but it can feel, again, I shared it earlier, but like the muddiness or like the loudness of everything else. Even in the Christian world, there’s incredible women, you know, speakers, evangelists, mission leaders, authors, podcasters, insert however anyone receives information.

Speaker 1 (00:20:00) – And they feel like, oh, that person’s already done it. Or, I’m not capable of doing that. They couldn’t imagine themselves on a podcast right now, and here they are listening, but what if they’re meant to have the mic way more often, right? Is this understanding that God has this promise for you too? We’re not exclusive. Our gifts and talents might look different, but I think the hearing is just like the miracle you mentioned. People don’t believe in healing.

Speaker 1 (00:20:26) – They don’t think that they have the capability to heal someone, but it says literally, greater works will you do than Jesus Christ himself. And the Holy Spirit is our steward to be able to do that. When you’re like, I won’t say, how else should I say, when you’re simplifying the She Hears concept for people and you’re teaching them to answer this for themselves, like that you hear the Lord, helping them have that personal experience and encounter with the Lord’s voice.

Speaker 1 (00:20:53) – Are there specific tactics or training methodologies that you help them to uncover or maybe scripture that you point them to?

Speaker 3 (00:21:00) – Well, yeah, because the primary way that we hear God’s voice is through his word. I’m not discrediting dreams and visions and prophetic words and those kinds of things, because I absolutely have experienced them and it’s a huge part of my life. But yet those things will always be in line with what scripture has to say, because the character and nature of God doesn’t change. And so what God reveals to us through his word, his character, his nature, the way he loves us, the way he pursues us, that does not change.

Speaker 3 (00:21:29) – And so one of the things that I teach in the She Hears Bible study is the color method, which is just a really simple inductive Bible study that just helps women understand what the scripture is saying. Because one of the common problems I would hear from believers here, from women here, they would say, okay, I’ll read my Bible and I’ll get to the end of the day and I’ll check off my little box. And then number one, I don’t remember it. Number two, I don’t realize what I even read.

Speaker 3 (00:21:55) – And number three, I have no idea what it has to do with me in my daily life. And that’s a real problem because if the scripture is just in our head, but it’s not in our heart, what’s it going to do as far as changing our lives or changing how we live our lives? And so really what I teach in the Bible study is how to meditate on a passage of scripture.

Speaker 3 (00:22:13) – Because when we meditate on a passage of scripture and we study that over and over to the point where we understand what it says, it’s not so much like how is this passage of scripture reflecting my life today? Instead what it’s doing is it’s showing us about the character and the nature of God. And we know that that doesn’t change. And so we can have confidence in the way he dealt with women in scripture is how he deals with us today.

Speaker 3 (00:22:38) – And you know, there’ll be times where I’m like laying in my bed praying for somebody and God will bring up a scripture that I’ve read and just remind me like, Rach, this is who I am. You can trust me if I am faithful and I’m trustworthy, I will be trustworthy in your situation too. And I think that, you know, I hate to sound like a Sunday school answer like the Bible, but that’s really it. And so many times when women are struggling and I asked them like, well, what are you reading in scripture?

Speaker 3 (00:23:03) – It’s like, well, I just don’t really understand it or I don’t really have time for it. And that’s kind of been the evolution of the show of the Hearing Jesus podcast. Funny enough, I actually started off as the She Hears podcast because I did it along with the book and it really kind of flopped like it went nowhere because that’s so ambiguous she hears what does that even mean? And I wasn’t good enough of an author at the time for people to be searching for my name.

Speaker 3 (00:23:27) – And so as I was praying about it, the Lord said, you know, you need to treat this like you would a church. And I said, well, if I was treating this like a church, it wouldn’t be about me. It’s about you. And so I changed it to the Hearing Jesus podcast. And initially all I did was redrop episodes and it took off like that. And then what I started hearing from women within my audience was I really want to know more about the Bible. I want to have time to study my Bible.

Speaker 3 (00:23:51) – I just am so busy or I don’t have time where I’m in this stage of being a mom and I just don’t have half hour to sit down. And so that’s kind of why we’re doing the Psalms study now. Like we kind of changed it into this devotional style reading because a lot of women have time to listen to podcasts, even if they’re in a season where they don’t have time to sit down and read their Bible. And so, you know, I don’t necessarily want to take the place of that, but I do want to, you know, give them something to kind of inspire them to get in their Bibles.

Speaker 3 (00:24:20) – And I think breaking it down, especially with like the history and the culture and helping them understand like what this is actually saying, it’s been so helpful for so many women.

Speaker 1 (00:24:29) – Well, and I think this is like the tangibility of what the Bible is intended for and can be. And there was so much context when it was written because it was happening around them. Right. You read it and you’re like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or they weren’t far removed from the scenario. So it didn’t feel like completely like another world or they didn’t even have America. Right. Like it didn’t even exist. So it’s like you can’t picture yourself in some of those places.

Speaker 1 (00:24:57) – And especially if you’ve never seen something miraculous or supernatural occur when Moses splits the Red Sea, you’re like, yeah, I don’t know how accurate.

Speaker 1 (00:25:06) – that is, right? But when you actually find out what happened, what results, what proof is still there in that area, in that region that proves that this is true. It’s why like scientific people who are atheists or agnostic go on this hunt to uncover and then they become Christian because they’re like, Oh wow, there is so much more proof.

Speaker 1 (00:25:28) – But I love the contextual element because no different than when you’re reading a history book or you’re reading a nonfiction book, if you’re reading it and you don’t know the context of where they exist, how they exist, what this means in their culture, what was the original root word of this, what they’re saying, it changes everything. So I kind of have this in my quiet time methodology where I’ll read it, I’ll read it in another translation because I love different translations of the Bible.

Speaker 1 (00:25:57) – And then I’ll actually go to Google and I’ll just ask the questions, not based on what the sidebar commentary in the Bible says or in my study Bible says, but really my question, what does this mean? Why was the tabernacle so intense? Why did he give them those exact plans? What is the tabernacle? Right? The questions that you might be afraid to raise your hand and ask your pastor in church in front of everyone, I ask those Google questions.

Speaker 1 (00:26:25) – And instead of just receiving it from one source, which is what I think is really important and what you were saying too about your podcast, you’re like, I’m not trying to replace the Bible. I’m not trying to be Jesus, but I am trying to give you an element of character and also these con contextual elements. It just brings to life when you reread it that second time, you’re like, Whoa, it becomes a visual image. It becomes more tangible and then relationship relate a bowl to what it is that you’re walking through in that season.

Speaker 1 (00:26:55) – I love bringing the Bible to life that way. And I love pastors who do that because otherwise it feels like it’s going over your head and you leave the scenario and you’re like, I don’t know if I feel smarter or dumber in that situation.

Speaker 2 (00:27:06) – I feel further removed from what it was that they’re trying to say.

Speaker 1 (00:27:12) – Yeah.

Speaker 2 (00:27:12) – And I think there’s a danger too when we assert or we put our own meaning on the text. You even mentioned it earlier, like what is a comforter? Well, to us, it means one thing, but when it talks about it in scripture, it means something completely different. And we all have a lens that we read through based on our own experiences or how we’ve interacted with God or what part of the world we’ve lived in and those kinds of things.

Speaker 2 (00:27:36) – And so to say that there isn’t a level of our own interpretation, regardless of what translation we’re reading is an ignorant statement because we all bring to something to the text. And so there’s a danger in that because while scripture was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. It was written to the original audience at the time it was written that they had a whole different set of experiences than what we’ve had. Even just the basic level of, they lived in an agrarian society where they grew most of their food. Well, I mean, I tried gardening.

Speaker 2 (00:28:07) – I cannot grow my own food. Like I can go to the store and buy it. That’s about the extent of hunting and gathering I’m able to do. But yet there’s something so rich when you understand what it means to till the ground or to plant a seed and all of those elements that if we don’t consider those experiences that the original audience had, we’re missing out on so much. You’re so right.

Speaker 1 (00:28:28) – And that’s like a very bold statement that I don’t think a lot of people are willing to share. I think they think that the lens in which we perceive the Bible or understand the Bible is it’s God’s handiwork to present it to you in that way. But that’s why it’s so critical that we actually go further and research. And also this is where I like to reference multiple voices who have taught this in the past, right? Specifically kingdom concepts for me and learning from people who are much wiser.

Speaker 1 (00:29:00) – I want to be in that wisdom category, not in that foolish category. And there can be pastors, there can be teachers, there can be social media experts that are Christians that are just, they’re just pouring out of their own knowledge and it’s not bad, but there’s so much more and it’s actually inhibiting people from having that full individual intimacy with the Lord because it doesn’t feel relatable to them. And relatability, while Jesus is surely relatable, it’s not his goal, I don’t think.

Speaker 1 (00:29:31) – But I do think that there is a need for us to go the next layer and understand how he will intimately relate with you through what it is that he’s written.

Speaker 3 (00:29:43) – Yeah, and you know, I think what happens is with a lot of women there’s this intimidation factor because it’s like well I’m not gonna go to Bible school. So, you know, I I’m never gonna understand it.

Speaker 3 (00:29:54) – So I you know There’s there’s feels like there’s a disconnect there and I I think one of the goals that I have is to kind of remove that Barrier and that’s why even with the color method when you’re meditating on the same passage of Scripture By the time you’ve read that scripture five times, you know at the end of the week you have a different understanding Then you did at the beginning of the week when you started reading so just from a basic comprehension level, you know understanding, okay You know what?

Speaker 3 (00:30:21) – I what I’m reading when I read it the first time Yes there I don’t want to discredit the work of the Holy Spirit and he can impart to me the wisdom that he wants to but How much better can I understand the Holy Spirit’s message when I actually understand the words that he’s saying?

Speaker 1 (00:30:33) – Yes, it’s so good It makes me feel like you know When people like text you and you people naturally I say people I’m inclusive of this We naturally put its own flavor of inflection We naturally assume where that person is when they sent it.

Speaker 1 (00:30:49) – We’re creating like the Brene Brown We’re creating the stories of what this person actually means and it’s not until you generally are having that one-to-one Conversation to say did you mean this or I was really offended when you said such-and-such I was like that’s not what I meant and I think that that’s really like where the Holy Spirit is Don’t just check your box because if you’re just checking your box and you’re doing that He’s gonna constantly be like, oh man That’s not what I wanted her to get from that at all and I want to have a conversation They he wants to share his inflection with you He wants to share the truth behind it and that’s where that pursuing him matters And it’s so much more fun than I think Church gives us credit for or church presents I think and it’s not limited to Pastors, it’s not limited to people who talk about God for their job It’s not limited to social influencers It’s for everyone and you said at the beginning like your passion and the the revelation and how God Continued to put moms in in your line of sight even things like that occurring like there’s no coincidence in that We always say hindsight is 20 20 But what if we walk into every second of our day even just like this conversation where it’s a forethought it’s a forethought to what God could reveal in that moment and there’s an expectation and a hopefulness and a Reliance, you know you say that the word never changes.

Speaker 1 (00:32:13) – He is always gonna be there. He’s always a step ahead He’s predestined you for good works.

Speaker 1 (00:32:18) – But if you’re focusing on little G gods versus the God you’re gonna go wayward It’s gonna be hard for you to get back and yet he’s still waiting for you Yeah, and I think one of the things that I’ve learned is there’s always more there’s he always has more for us And so, you know, perhaps I can still receive on the surface level what God wants me to receive in that moment but there’s always more of him that we can uncover and that process of intentionally studying and Understanding and comprehending and even understanding the different genres is this history or is this poetry?

Speaker 3 (00:32:53) – It helps us understand these different aspects of scripture that just make it so rich and so alive to the point where it starts to Change how we live our lives in the day to day and I know even as a mom there have been things that I have looked back and I’ve misunderstood and I’ve had to go back and reteach my children and you know My daughters are teenagers now and they would say, you know, mom like I understood this Bible story I understood what that meant now then but when you explain it now this changes my perspective on things And I think that’s been so helpful for me And that’s really my heart to serve other women to kind of just open their eyes to see that there’s always more in Scripture There’s always more of God and and I think that is one of the things that I think is so Heartbreaking for me is when women say oh, I just don’t have time to spend time in God’s Word I’m like, but you don’t have time not to spend time in God’s Word you know if we’re investing in these little people that God has given us charge over or even in our circles of influence at work or Within our marriages or whatever.

Speaker 3 (00:33:53) – It is the people that God has given us to steward We can’t afford not to do this but yet I’m trying to make it in a way that it’s accessible and easy for women to kind of grab hold of something that They can pray and meditate on throughout the day Well girl you are doing it and you’re doing it with such grace and I love The element of presenting the women the six women that you did I’d love to know which of the six I need to get my hands on this But there’s so many women even today this morning.

Speaker 1 (00:34:18) – I was something I grazed by so many times I don’t hear talk from the pulpit very often is the story the parable that happens right before the parable of the talents Which we hear constantly and it’s about the ten bridesmaids and I was thinking about all of those women And I was thinking about my own bridesmaids and what exactly was transpiring with the wedding and the reunion that was happening with the groom At that point it’s so different than what our weddings and our bridesmaids look like But there was five of those women who were deemed wise and there was five of those women who were deemed foolish And you’ll have to go check out Matthew 25 I’m not gonna give you and go through the whole story here But Matthew 25 the very first 13 verses and go in and look deeper Because when I finally looked deeper and I understood more of the context I initially was like man I feel like they’re not doing what I would do because God would tell me that I need to be generous they didn’t give away their oil and because they didn’t have enough to get through the night of being with the groom which obviously this is an element of being with the Lord and The other girls who were fools who didn’t come prepared who hadn’t put the due diligence in to understand how much oil they were gonna Need to burn or didn’t even maybe have it because they were focused on other things.

Speaker 1 (00:35:30) – They missed the party They missed the opportunity to sit with with the groom in that moment or Christ in that moment And I think about how applicable that is for us, but it wasn’t the oil.

Speaker 1 (00:35:41) – It was like the spiritual well Like as much as I love you Rachel as much as I feel like in simpatico I can’t have your spiritual life unless I was well, there’s no unless I can’t have what you have I can’t flex that muscle because that’s not the time or the energy and how I’ve put into it mine looks different However, at least we’re on the same path if people understood that like this Is not something you can give away we can teach but the intimacy the revelation that we’re talking about Has to be yours and that’s the beauty is yet you’re invited you’re invited to the party But how are you gonna show up?

Speaker 1 (00:36:18) – Are you gonna show up empty-handed? Are you gonna show up not prepared?

Speaker 1 (00:36:22) – Are you gonna show up because you’re gonna use somebody else’s crutch on their spirituality will take me into heaven That’s not the way it works And I felt like when I read it that it was not about the prodigal son where I feel like there’s patience I feel like there’s the peace there’s the gods waiting for you with the ring in the robe when you come back He’ll be there this felt like such urgency like oh my gosh I missed the party and I feel like with the revival and the things that are happening in the world There has to be an urgency to this to this desire to know him Well, and I think it goes back to this context of relationship like, you know You can’t make my relationship with my husband healthy, you know, I have to do that You know and and as much as you could want that for me You have to show up in your relationships and it’s your relationship with God is no different I mean you have to show up to be part of that relationship or it there’s gonna be evidence and the consequence of that is Feeling distant and far from God just like our human relationships.

Speaker 1 (00:37:23) – That’s so good, especially with our kids, too It’s like our spouses and our kids are perfect examples. I felt like I really got to know who God was when I was became a mom In a way that I couldn’t really conceptualize even as being a daughter to my own parents, right?

Speaker 1 (00:37:38) – It just wasn’t the same you there’s a love that that’s so much different an understanding of of acceptance That’s so much different where you might feel that chasm between your parents like as the parent That’s not at least for most of us We we know different especially through the missions realm that that’s not my heart. That’s not how I feel And so it’s been a really big revelation for me Yeah, so I love to see that example in Scripture of how just Jesus interacts with different women and how that Informs us in our relationship with him too.

Speaker 1 (00:38:12) – I love that Yeah, and this is the part where like you guys are hearing you’re learning I told you you’ve got to get and listen and subscribe and review her podcast But I also know with your book and your courses that are coming to be How do you intend from a business perspective because this is a faith and business podcast It’s one of my favorite things about it is a little bit different is is how have you? Developed this brand. How have you developed this this roadmap for other people and why? Podcasts then book or book then podcast then courses.

Speaker 3 (00:38:46) – Tell me about the evolution of the business side well, initially the podcast was just to sell books because you know I think one of the Fallacies of becoming an author is you think like your publisher is just gonna do all the marketing for you And then you know, this isn’t my first book But I learned the first time like oh I have to put some effort in and so, you know was during COVID We couldn’t really do like a traditional book tour So I’m like, well, we’ll just start doing podcast tours and I started guessing a lot of podcasts and I was like, alright I think I can do this like and it initially was gonna be six episodes just to go along with the six chapters of the Book and that’s all I was gonna do But then I started just really understanding that this was its own thing like God was doing something unique and special and Calling me to use my voice and you know one of the things that we joke about in our home is my husband will always say like your spiritual gifting is talking and I Was like, I don’t think that’s on the list, but you know, it’s just what God has given me you know to use my voice to help lift up others and so the podcast like once I changed and I rebranded it to the hearing Jesus podcast to kind of just really showcase like my heart for what I want the what space I want the podcast to speak into I started hearing from women and.

Speaker 2 (00:40:00) – What I was hearing from women was when they got to the end of the Bible study, they needed something more. And so things kind of evolved to the point where what we’re doing now is I’m not just doing the, of course we have the podcast, we have the She Hears Bible Study, but I’m doing life coaching with a lot of women. And that has been so wonderful to just help women just get from point A to point B. Like they know where they want to go. They’re just kind of stuck and they kind of don’t know how to get there.

Speaker 2 (00:40:25) – And so what the course does, and the course is almost finished, but the course kind of takes a look at some of the common themes that come up in life coaching, some common barriers that keep women stuck. And it just kind of addresses those from a very biblical standpoint where it’s kind of like life coaching your pocket, so to speak, you know, where you can kind of just access, you don’t even have to go in order.

Speaker 2 (00:40:47) – I mean, you can kind of just go through and get to a place where I’m kind of, I don’t want to say handholding, but just kind of guiding women through this whole process. And the other thing that we started doing, which has been really popular is, you know, we’re at, I don’t know, a couple hundred podcast episodes now, and we’re going through the Psalms. There’s 150 Psalms. Some people join me right now. Some people are way back, you know, starting at the beginning. And so what we started doing was audio devotionals linked to guided journals.

Speaker 2 (00:41:18) – And that’s been really cool because we do just like a key verse that comes from that episode or that chapter of scripture. We do some journaling space and some journal prompts to kind of help women just process and get the information from their head into their hearts. And then they’re linked to the audio devotionals as well. And those are only $5, but they have been phenomenal for so many women to just kind of keep them going down the right path and keep them accountable.

Speaker 2 (00:41:42) – So you know, as far as the vision for what’s to come, I want to keep doing that because that has been so helpful for so many women. But really the life coaching has been my favorite, like even more than writing books, because I get to interact with the women that I wrote the books for. And for me, that is such a rich experience when I can answer questions live in real time and help walk them through and help point things out or help teach them what their identity in Christ is and to retrain their brains from all the lies the enemy has spoken over them.

Speaker 2 (00:42:13) – That has truly become my favorite part out of everything that I do.

Speaker 1 (00:42:17) – That’s so awesome. Do you do one-on-one end group?

Speaker 2 (00:42:19) – Yeah, I do. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (00:42:21) – Have you done—well, you said you’re going to do a She Here’s Mission strip, right?

Speaker 2 (00:42:25) – Yeah. Yeah. I just mentioned that it went out in my newsletter that went out on Monday. I just was like, okay, guys, and we shared it on my Facebook group too. If anybody’s interested, this is what missions look like. But I have to use the caveat of this isn’t like your typical go feel good missions trip. This is like we’re going to go and you’re going to see some stuff. And we’re going to do some stuff. And it’s not about us. It’s about what God wants to do and how we can support the in-country workers that are already there.

Speaker 1 (00:42:54) – So good. We’re doing with our company and you should totally consider jumping on the bandwagon of this element because I’ve been hosting international retreats because I’m so passionate about women getting out of their mundane and getting out of their normal and getting out of their environment. One, because it does give you scope of, wow, my pace is wild, my situation is so blessed, like everything that’s around you. So we would go to Mexico and they would see those places, but we weren’t infiltrated in.

Speaker 1 (00:43:23) – They’ve gone to Puerto Rico, they’re going to Costa Rica, they’re going to see all of that, but there’s something totally different than interacting. And so with vision trust, they’ll be able to go and do that for three days and still have the RNR, the reflection, the rejuvenation elements in a more fancy fun arena thereafter. And so it allows for both because I realized after I just came off this mission trip, I still had like my regular work day, if you will, the next two days. And girl, I’m still in process reflection mode.

Speaker 1 (00:43:55) – And I think people need to give themselves space, especially if it’s your first one. I mean, I’ve been re I’m wrecked. I just need, I need to figure out after these personal revelations, after these encounters, what does that look like moving forward? Because I think if people are doing again, just like they would read their Bible, if they’re doing the checklist to go on a missions trip with you, and then they just go back right back into their rhythm, those things like start to go away and you don’t have that same, you have to do it again.

Speaker 1 (00:44:24) – But the Lord is like, how can we cement this into your soul? How can we cement this time together? And so I know your resources are going to be a part of that cementing process because it’s basically discipleship. It’s giving them access to consistently growing and knowing. But I’m so excited to see all the different places that you guys are going to go and the development that you’re going to provide for the church. And this is the church mobilized y’all.

Speaker 1 (00:44:47) – It doesn’t have to look like a four walls, right?

Speaker 1 (00:44:50) – You’ve broken that you’ve broken that down and said I’m gonna look to this podcast like it’s church and what that does for the community Is so incredible so kudos and thank you Thank you for everything that you do and I want to give you space there anything else that is just like pressing on your heart for the community to share or that we’ve tapped on to Well, I did just want to make a comment about the missions trip because I think you know realistically we’re all on mission whether we’re in country or we’re we’re at home and One of the things that I love is the ability to travel with our families Like I’ve taken my daughters in country and so with my 15 year old daughter It was her first time in the DR this last time and I think there’s so much importance So what you said like giving yourself time to process Because when we came back it wasn’t just about me But it’s just her 15 year old brain seeing up close poverty for the first time and you know Coming from middle-class America that was like a shock to her system Like she’s never had a day where she could only eat rice and beans like that was the only option Before you know even just something as simple as the food and so giving her space and time to just help Help her process and answer her questions and help figure this out Like what this is gonna change the trajectory of her life And so I love that aspect of it that we the trips that we do we can take our children along I mean we’ve had as young as eight years old go and I’ve seen it completely change families And so that’s the invitation the invitation is not just for us But for us to invite the Holy Spirit into our family in a way that we can serve together as a family I think that’s there’s something so beautiful about that.

Speaker 1 (00:46:30) – It’s so rich because Generally, especially in this arena. It does feel like we’re being segregated Which is this whole conversation of that?

Speaker 1 (00:46:38) – We’re having this whole time about the voice of a woman the the access of a woman to to who God is and It’s no different than men and it’s also a part of our lineage And so to be able to break those chains off of our children so much sooner I mean, I’m 36 to have just had this encounter It I want to gift it I want to gift it to so many people and I think that you’ve been doing it for so long and to hear it how It’s evolved through your testimony and the places that you’ve been able to go.

Speaker 1 (00:47:04) – It’s just really dynamic I know that God is like really just looking down.

Speaker 1 (00:47:09) – Well done my good and faithful servant and there’s so much more ahead You know, that’s the most exciting part Well, thank you so much It’s been an honor to just have a little bit of time to share and just talk through some of these things You know, these kinds of conversations are so life-giving So I just appreciate you know, the ability to kind of just have fellowship even through podcasting and how God does that agreed agreed It’s one of my favorite things like sometimes that we just want to jump on a call and like us chat But right when we get on conversations, I’m like wait, we need to record this.

Speaker 2 (00:47:37) – This is so rich. This is so good So it gives us an opportunity to now do that afterwards and be like, oh, I love you I want to get to know more I know that there’s more to excavate and share and I’m just so grateful for your candor today and your education I mean you could say that you’re you have the gift of gab But you could also just say that you’re a really good teacher and that you’re just introducing people to the word And and that’s some of my favorite teachers.

Speaker 1 (00:48:00) – That’s what they did is they just reiterated what was already written So thank you for doing that for us today Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (00:48:09) – All right, y’all I already gave you so many to do’s But I don’t do it out of works do it out of desire Go tune in to the hearing Jesus podcast with Rachel go follow her on all the social get her book be Tuning into her course and maybe go on missions with her it regardless of what you do.

Speaker 1 (00:48:25) – I know you’re gonna love it I appreciate you for being here.

Speaker 2 (00:48:32) – I Hey y’all, it’s me again before you go Let’s solidify the flame that was ignited within you today by sharing the spark with your own community whether it’s mentally physically Emotionally relationally or spiritually I would love for you to take the step right now by declaring your takeaway Snap a pic of the episode and share it on your stories or posts and you can tag me and the guests and we will Surely feature you on our insta’s.

Speaker 2 (00:48:58) – Hey, you might even unlock a new accountability buddy in me or them We’re totally in this together and we appreciate the extra step taken I would be so grateful if you even took the extra step Come on, give me that extra sauce and leave a review on iTunes for the podcast listening app.

Speaker 2 (00:49:14) – That is of your choice I’m going to be featuring your thoughts in fact, and this will be so fun in upcoming episodes So you’ll not only hear your name on the show But maybe even your passion project or whatever big shout out you want me to make so please as a fellow writer Leave some words that I can attest to and I can’t wait to read what you have to say Thanks again for being a loyal listener and I hope to meet you in person soon at one of the events that we are speaking at or Hosting and I say we because the fit and fake team could not do this without you until next time blessings over your joy Health wealth and wholeness.

Speaker 2 (00:49:47) – This is a fit and faith way.