Do you struggle with worrying about tomorrow? Are you in fear of things that are out of your control? Listen to Matt and Melissa's latest "Faith" episode to be encouraged today!
@puzzleisreal
@missjean21
@mateopisani
www.mattandmelissapisani.com
Do you struggle with worrying about tomorrow? Are you in fear of things that are out of your control? Listen to Matt and Melissa's latest "Faith" episode to be encouraged today!
@puzzleisreal
@missjean21
@mateopisani
www.mattandmelissapisani.com
Welcome to the puzzle's real podcast where we will be discussing faith, family, and relationships hosted by Matt and Melissa Pisani. This is the puzzle real podcast. When you know, you know,
Speaker 2:All
Speaker 3:Right, welcome back. We are here and it's been a while since we have done an episode,
Speaker 2:Oh boy,<laugh> life gets in the way sometimes, you know,
Speaker 3:<laugh>, that's the beauty of podcasting. It's not contractual, you know, it's not like, oh, well you, you had to have X amount of episodes ready to go. It's like,
Speaker 2:Hey, no, it's kind of like running your own business.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Got done.<laugh> so, Hey, we have a really cool episode tonight today, this morning. And if you've listened in before you know that we address all time frames, cuz we never know when anyone's streaming this when anyone's listening, but I really hope that it just encourages you inspires you Melissa. And I really thank everyone for staying connected to us on Instagram. If you haven't been on there already and you are on the Instagram world, check us out. The puzzle is real. Instagram is just puzzle is real, all one word. Or if you are a fan of N the bulldog, our children's book, check out Nola's Instagram page, which is a lot of fun official N the bulldog. So, yeah, jumping right in today's topic. Fear
Speaker 2:Who doesn't struggle with fear who hasn't battled with fear. We all have something that I think fear has held us back from. And as we know in the Bible, it says it every day, 365 times in the Bible do not fear. Um, so God has commanded us to not fear, but we're human. And there's times that we question our ability or our purpose, or if we're gonna fail, or if we wanna keep a certain standard, if we don't wanna disappoint our family, there's all sorts of things that I think keep us from pursuing what God really has for us, because we're fearful of the possible outcome.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think I feel inadequate sometimes about things that we're responsible for and I can feel fearful and I can even feel like a little like insecure about what's gonna happen next. And we were talking before about just success versus failure. And, and, and there are a lot of times what we'll see, feel like, oh man, I'm afraid that if I don't follow the family business professionally, that my family's gonna be upset with me. Or maybe you're a student and you're studying in one specific field. And you know, now it's like test time and you don't know if you're gonna pass and you don't know if you're even called into this specific profession, but yet you're still trying to pursue it. And there's a fear there. Like what if I don't go down this road and I tried something else. So I feel like sometimes there's this success versus failure pressure that we all deal with. And hopefully this episode will just encourage everyone to have that weight lifted off of them and to really trust in what God has for them, which has been really helpful for us as we've taken a lot of different leaps of faith, if you've listened to past episodes and caught up yeah. From moving to Charleston, South Carolina, to Melissa quitting her job, six figure job, you know, almost what two years ago now.
Speaker 2:Yeah. This September will be two years that I have not worked for them.<laugh> which is yeah. Crazy and amazing at the same time. Best decision ever.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So whether, you know, you're dealing with a fear of a relationship right now, it could be the fear again of, um, or
Speaker 2:Being other people, fear of being alone, you know, because you're so reliant on that relationship because you're with that person every day, but you know, it's not a healthy relationship, so you're like, oh no, I'm gonna be alone. Oh no, I'm gonna have to do this by myself. I think people have all struggled with that with loneliness.
Speaker 3:Yeah. There's like a, um, a really big gap between, I believe fear and God's love for us. Right? There's there's this gap that says, okay, um, I can fulfill maybe the comfort of, you know, not feeling fearful by keeping myself busy with other things. But I really believe that when you sit with God, when you sit with the father and you can even just rest in him, his perfect level will cast out that fear. And it's even just an opportunity to say, all right, the areas of my life that I'm vulnerable to fear is where we really have to continue to surrender it to God. And the verse that I really thought was important for us to lean in tonight is Isaiah 41 10. And I'm just gonna read this so that some of you, I don't expect you to have your Bible app out right now, but Isaiah 41 10. So do not fear for, I am with you do not be dismayed for, I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. And once again, this is all about that idea. If you are following Jesus, if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and, and you're following God's plan for your life and some of you that listen, aren't there yet, but you're on the spiritual journey trying to figure that out. We've abided in that promise in that truth by saying, all right, God, I am not going to fear. I'm not submitting to this spirit of fear. I'm submitting to the spirit of truth and the spirit of your love and your faithfulness and your peace. And in that it allows us to really have a serenity over our mind and our thoughts.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Once you give the control over to God and to trust him and to know that he has a perfect plan for your life, that he's created you for such a time as this and for a purpose and that your life has value and worth. And I think that, you know, like me and Matt were saying throughout this whole episode is just fear is dangerous because it can just lead you down this dark hole if you're constantly fearful. And so we just have to be reminded when we do step into that fear realm to just get back in the word and to look at what God is saying to us about fear. And one interesting thing is when we were, we go to a church here in South Carolina, Cico shout out, um, they did a message on fear and they were saying that the root of anger is actually fear. Mm. So people who have these like anger issues or who get really upset, it's really from fear, fear of, you know, expectations, fear of loss, fear of control. Um, so I thought that was really interesting. So fear can really overcome you, but it, and it can consume you, but that is not of God. So we just have to be reminded of his promises. And one personal thing that we'll talk about is, you know, Matt and I have two kids and we were like, all right, we're done. We're good. We have a boy and a girl. And I always wanted a third. That was always my number in my mind when I was younger and all throughout adulthood. But then once we had our two, I was like, all right, I'm good. And the, I think the reason why I said, I didn't want another one was be from fear because I had such traumatic labor deliveries and ended up in emergency. Um, you know, I was fearful of going through that experience again, because I was like, you know what, even though a child obviously would be worth it, I just couldn't wrap my mind around having that experience again. And then God obviously had another plan. And here I am pregnant with our third baby, which is a total blessing and surprise. And, um, you know, I think I wrestled with fear when I first found out, cause I was like, oh no, I have to do it all over again. But I found this amazing doctor and she just kind of gave me peace about the situation. And I just feel really just peaceful about this whole process. So we can't let fear stop what God wants to do.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And I would just encourage the male listeners, not to feel fearful about that surprise edition if you're a dad and you're like, oh man, how can I afford to have another kid? I know that that wasn't a concern for us, but it is a concern for a lot of people that can think about provision. So, you know, just knowing that if, if God is going to provide that, that opportunity for you to father or mother and, you know, parent another child, like he's gonna make the way he's gonna provide. And, and we've seen that with both our son and our daughter, and now we're super excited for baby P number three,<laugh> coming soon coming in this Christmas and Christmas, excited to share that with everyone that listens and hoping that it really just is, um, just another testimony of God's goodness, his faithfulness. And obviously just our missing puzzle piece of us meeting each other has now led to a legacy. And it's just an awesome thing to see. And it always goes back to when you go into agreement with fear, it definitely distorts your whole perspective on life and even just, um, how to handle things. So we just are gonna pray with you guys tonight. We just pray God that you will just break a spirit of fear or this morning, or this afternoon, if there's something that you were wrestling with before you put on this episode that you felt like, man, I am anxious. I feel like uneasy. And I'm just getting hit from all angles. Like we just wanna see that thing come off and, and be broken and throwing back in the pit of hell. So in Jesus' name, we're just believing that this is gonna be an episode that you'll listen to and you'll feel the presence of God. You'll feel a joy and a peace come upon you. And you'll know that this isn't just Matt and Melissa speaking a, um, a catchy episode. This is a God ordained, just word into your heart and into your mind and into your soul that you are breaking that spirit of fear and you are walking in freedom to the power of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 3:Love you guys.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening. And, uh, we will know who listened because we had some big news in this episode. So if we hear from people, we'll be like, yes, you were listening.
Speaker 3:<laugh> yeah, reach out. We got so many more fun things to share and update you on. And we just can't wait to continue to encourage you through this podcast of family, faith relationships, and ultimately just sharing our journey with you. And we hope that you have a great, great, great day.
Speaker 2:Talk to you soon, guys. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1:Hey guys, thanks so much for listening to the puzzle is real podcast. Please subscribe today and share with the friend. See you soon.