Clinging to God

God Hears Her Podcast

Episode 62 – Clinging to God
Elisa Morgan and Eryn Eddy with Kim Cash Tate

Kim: I think when we’re watching for the Lord, we just…we pay attention to even what we may think are the small things that are happening, but it’s God moving in me. That’s what He does, and there’s nothing that’s too small, or nothing that’s random or coincidental. But when we’re watching and paying attention, it just calls us to see His faithfulness more, to see Him at work, to be able to thank Him for the little things that happen and praise Him and just know that He’s with us. And that is so comforting.

[Music]

Intro: You’re listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you, He sees you, and He loves you because you are His. Find out how these realities free you today on God Hears Her.

Elisa: Welcome to God Hears Her. I’m Elisa Morgan.

Eryn: And I’m Eryn Eddy. Have you ever read in the Bible where it says to cling to God? Did you ever pause on that verse and wonder What would that look like to actually do that? Today we are talking to Kim Cash Tate, a woman that was directly impacted by that phrase: Cling to God.

Elisa: Kim Cash Tate is the founder of Cling Ministries and the author of Cling: Choosing a Lifestyle of Intimacy with God, which we’ll include a link to in the show notes. Kim has a YouTube channel where she shares her Bible teachings and a YouTube series, “Cling.” She’s also a singer-songwriter, wife, and mother of two children.

Eryn: We are so excited to have Kim on the show to teach us what it means to cling to God on this episode of God Hears Her.

Elisa: Oh Kim, it is awesome to be with you. You are a powerhouse of all kinds of things. And, yet, I just want to say, too, you are a deep well, a deep, deep well.

Eryn: Mm.

Elisa: I’ve been following you. All kinds of stuff happening.

Kim: It’s a privilege to be here with both of you, so I am so looking forward to this conversation.

Elisa: Mm. You know, …eh… as I’ve been watching you and, you know, I’m kind of a voyeur. I’m unapologetic about it, but you know I…I like to follow after my friends and see what God’s doing. But as I’ve been watching you, I can see this thread of what God’s doing in your life. But I want to ask you, you know, if you had to like pick a word to describe, you know, what this season is like for you, could you do that? Because there’s a lot going on in your world.

Kim: My word for this season and this year, in particular, would be: rampart.

Elisa: Wh…whoa! That’s a big word!

[Laughter]

Elisa: And we hardly ever use it!

Kim: Yeah [laughing]…

Eryn: Can we break down that definition?

Kim: [laughing]

Elisa: It’s like an old English word.

Kim: It is an old English word, and it was not on my…

Eryn: I was about to pull this up _______ [yall?], my dictionary.

[Laughter]

Elisa: Dictionary!

Eryn: …I’ma look it up right now!

Elisa: Go, girl, go!

Kim: I tell you this word was not on my heart prior to 2021, but I started the year, January 3rd, to be exact, in the book of Habakkuk. And that word in chapter 2, verse 1, where Habakkuk says, “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart.”

Elisa: Mm. Mm-hmm.

Kim: And he talks about watching to see what God will speak. And…and it just…it just so captured me, because I thought Wow! God has just told him the enemy is coming. If you’re standing and stationing yourself on the rampart, you’re supposed to be looking for the enemy to see when …

Elisa: Oh wow!

Kim: …the enemy comes. But, no, you’re watching for what God will speak. And it just…

Elisa: Hm.

Kim: … God used that to call me to months of just seeking Him more deeply, and just being in His Word for an even longer time per day, and just…just taking it in. And I did not know… So you said, _______ [either “and listen” or “Elisa?”], all these things that have happened. I think it was God preparing me for all that would come the rest of this year that I didn’t know would come. And I…

Elisa: No. You didn’t know what was in store…

Kim: …I didn’t know the chaos was coming, so I had that …

Elisa: Yeah.

Kim: …concentrated time to seek Him. And I’m so grateful.

Eryn: Ah, Kim, you know something you said. I just love that perspective because that takes us from … when we are looking for the enemy, it’s almost like it’s on our own strength and…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: … our own self-sufficiency…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: And when we…when we look to the Lord, it’s … we’re suffic…we’re sufficient through Him…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …And that’s so easy to misinterpret that…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …when we look for the enemy to operate out of that.

Elisa: But it changes from a defensive posture…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: Yeah.

Elisa: …to an offensive…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: So we’re not focused on Him, like you’re saying, we’re… Okay, I…I want to … [making beeping sound of a truck in reverse] …

Eryn: Independent too…

Elisa: [still beeping] … back up. [Laughter] You know just…just cause, you know, you were… You were sharing this perspective of being a woman who watches for God. You know can you take us back to your story? You know just… what was your life like growing up?

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …um… How did…how did God become Someone you wanted to watch for? And then maybe anything else you want to fill in there, but we’ll pick up this “rampart” idea again…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: But would you bring us…scoop us back, and then forward, if you can.

Kim: Okay. Well, I spent most of my life not thinking about God at all. I was not raised in the church. My parents were not believers. My parents divorced when I was four. …um… My dad was still never far, about 15 minutes, away. So I saw my dad, but we were not believers. It wasn’t a Christian home, but I did go to a Catholic school. I was raised in the DC area, and in Maryland. My dad was an educator, and he felt – and my mom felt – I could get the best education at the Catholic schools. So I learned all the stories in grade school about Jesus…

Elisa: Mm. Mm-hmm.

Kim: …you know, that He could do miracles, that He was the Son of God, that He died on the cross and was resurrected. And I never doubted those stories. I just never knew what it had to do with me, but I never doubted… [laughter]…I just had a … I had a regard for Jesus…

Elisa: Wow.

Kim: …even…um… I remember in third grade we had the Easter observance, the stations of the cross, and we got to get out of class. And the church was part of the school building, and so we went to the church and had the stations of the cross. And we walked and followed Jesus as He’s carrying the cross. And I was just in tears, weeping, not understanding why this would happen to Jesus when He was just this kind man, and, you know, and…and Son of God. And why would He die on the cross? And I just was weeping, and…

Elisa: Mm.

Kim: …but still didn’t understand the gospel. And so, got older and went to college and law school in the DC area, and met my now husband when I was in law school. And his job… He was getting a PhD at the time, and when we both graduated, his offer… The best offer for him came from UW – Madison. So I did not want to go to Madison. I had planned to stay in DC my whole life. And…um…but God closed every door in DC, and…and opened the best door in Madison for me to clerk…

Elisa: And that’s Wisconsin. Right?

Kim: That is Wisconsin…

Elisa: Oh, okay. Okay.

Kim: …yes. And God opened a door for me to clerk for a federal judge in Madison. And so I went, and…um… I was miserable because I just – compared to DC – just could not … Madison was just not diverse enough. I just had complaint after complaint, but it was what God used.

Elisa: Hmm.

Kim: He…He got me to a state of discontentment so that I would cry out to Him. And…

Elisa: Ah, _______.

Kim: …I remembered…I remembered. Yes, I remembered those stories from Catholic school, as a girl, about Jesus and the miracles. And I said, If Jesus can do miracles, then He can get me out of Madison. [Laughing] And I started… [Laughter] … I started praying…

[All speaking simultaneously]

Eryn: Nothing wrong with that prayer. Nothing wrong with it…

Kim: Nothing wrong. No, no…I…

Elisa: _______ heart for something else…

Eryn: You just knew…

Elisa: Yeah.

Eryn: You just knew that there…

Kim: Yeah, God just knew…

Eryn: …was something else.

Kim: …God just knew that…um…that He had to get me in a place that was out of my comfort zone…

Elisa: Ah.

Kim: …and not what I was used to, and…and just out of my control. Because the way I was raised, you know, you get a career, you make your own money, and you call the shots. And here I was in a city that I didn’t want to be in. And why am I here? Following a man? It was … and nothing seemed right. [laughing] … But God just threw me into this area where, like, Now you’ll ga… you’re going to need Me. And so…

Elisa: Oh!

Kim: So I started praying to God. I was praying to get out of Madison, but I was praying. And I was talking to God for the first time. And so God used that, and over time I said Well, if I’m asking God to get me out of here, maybe I should go to church. [laughing] And so all these… all these little steps. And my husband and I were… at the time, he was… we were engaged and planning a big wedding back in Maryland. This was in 93, and we were living together, and I was convicted about that. And we decided to get married months early, privately. We still had the big wedding, but we got married early, and that was the …

Eryn: [laughing loudly]

Kim: …first decision…my first decision with the Lord in mind. You know I’m still not saved. I still don’t know Him, but I’m sensing that conviction. And I’m sensing this pull and wanting to please God for the first time. And…and so we got married, and …um… it was about a year later that we were invited …um… through my husband’s barber, invited to his church. And …um… and I just was weeping, heard the gospel for the first time, in the…in the pew. And…and…and so God didn’t get me out of Madison. We were there for eight years. And…

Elisa: Mm.

Eryn: Wow!

Kim: …But…but I came to appreciate it and see God’s hand in it, because He saved me in Madison.

Elisa: I’m hearing this little…this little drop of the theme. You know you began to watch God, instead of looking at Madison.

Kim: Yeah…

Eryn: Yeah.

Kim: …yeah, that’s right. That’s right.

Elisa: Kim…eh… it’s …um… it’s encouraging to me, a lot of us, whether we’re moms of young adults, or we’re women on the journey ourselves as young adults. You know we’re never too old to come to know God…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …eh…Because your stories… you know you were almost thirty…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …you know, when you went Oh, this is what I need!

Kim: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Elisa: And…and then your entire …the trajectory of your life began to shift, and…

Kim: Ab…absolutely…

Elisa: …but don’t…

Kim: …Sh…shift is a…is an understatement! [Laughing]

Elisa: Yeah, okay!

Kim: …lift upside down… [laughing]…

Elisa: Yeah, tell…tell us more about that. You know, as you began to…

Eryn: Yeah.

Elisa: …you and Bill, your husband…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …as yall began to do life with God.

Kim: Well, you know, as I said, for me, growing up career was everything. And it was my plan to go to law school and become an attorney so I could make money…

Elisa: Mm-hmm.

Eryn: Yeah.

Kim: …and be successful – “successful” in quotes – but after I came to know the Lord at 27, …uh… we had… I had my first child. A…our son was born when I was 30, and then I had our daughter at 32. So when our son was born, I was getting this pull, cause I was in civil litigation. And the hours and weekends and evenings – and so I started …um… reducing my hours. And by the time my daughter was born, the Lord moved me to leave that career all together; so I’m 32, and I’m now a stay-at-home mom, which I had never imagined. [Laughter] No one had ever said to me, “You should be a stay-at-home mom,” ever in life! And so …um…

Eryn: [laughing] Ever in life!

Kim: …So this was a whole new path. Then a couple of years later, I start homeschooling, after I prayed that God would never call me to homeschool. [Laughing] So He…so all these things were… but at…but once…once I started that path, I loved it. And it’s just funny how you can think that you won’t want to do something, and then God gives you the grace to do it…

Eryn: Yeah.

Kim: …and your…your heart changes. And…um…

Eryn: Oh honey! I love that!

Kim: And that was twenty years ago. My kids are now in their twenties. So that was twenty years ago. And…and God just starting this whole new path of: This is…this is My plan for you that…from the foundation of the world. These are the good works that I foreordained you to walk in. And that He would let me know what those are, because if He wants us to walk in those good works, He has to let us know what they are. And He’s faithful to do that. And so, over time, as I’m seeking Him and growing in His Word and growing in my relationship. Just as I think back, it’s…it was just remarkable how He was directing me in the path of those things He had called me to do.

Eryn: Oh! I have so many questions. …um… One of my questions is: how did…how you view yourself, and where you were finding your identity…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …play a part in all of that…

Kim: Mm.

Eryn: It’s coming from what you thought you were going to do…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …what you were doing…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …And in that process – even getting married and learning about the Lord and even having a separate identity from your husband…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: …now and then and learning who God is. And then, yeah, your career changing, and how… where… tell me about that journey of learning about your identity.

Kim: Yeah, that…that’s a huge question. It was a huge question for me, because when I first became a believer and started growing in the Word, and listening to my pastor and the sermons, the first thing God challenged was: I saw the world strictly as a Black woman. And that was… tha… in that order: Black person and then woman, which is why I was so discontent in Madison, because it wasn’t diverse. And so…and that was the first thing that the Lord just began to transform in me, in terms of identity, that…um… You have been bought with a price. You are in Christ, and…um… this is your identity from eternity. And this is the only identity that will last for an eternity. And so just transforming me to see the world as a person in Christ, just Christ being that identity. And then when He called me to leave my career, then I had to shift from seeing myself as an attorney to…

Eryn: Yeah.

Kim: …being ho…a stay-at-home mom, which was funny, cause I…I think that first few months – because, you know, everyone likes to ask Well, what do you do? And …um… so …

Elisa: Mm-hmm. Right.

Kim: …I would…I would…

Eryn: Ugh! Yeah.

Kim: …be in, you know, at functions with my husband, on campus, or wherever we were, and when they would say, “Well, what do you do?” “Well, I’m an attorney, but I’m not practicing right now.” And the Lord said, Cut that out! [Laughter] … I just felt that nudge from the Holy Spirit, just cut that out! [Laughter]

Eryn: That’s cute. That’s real…

Kim: And…and… and you just…just be comfortable saying you are a stay-at home mom. Nobody has to know…

Eryn: Right.

Kim: …that you’re an attorney. Like … [laughing] … Stop that!

Elisa: Oh gosh! You know this image is coming into my mind…

Eryn: True! For real…

Elisa: …Kim, of how we’re at these functions, and we’ve got a name tag…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …on. It’s like that Matthew West song, “Hello, My Name is…”

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …and…

Eryn: Yes.

Elisa: …you know, God’s going Rip that off! It’s not “My name is what color my skin is.” It’s not “My name is what I do for a living.”

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …It’s not “My name is who my relationships are.” It’s “My name is I belong to Jesus.” Whoa!

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: Yes.

Elisa: Whooaa!

Kim: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Eryn: But, man, our pride truly wants to hold onto those things.

[Laughter]

Elisa: Oh gosh!

Kim: Now…most people now don’t even know that I was ever an attorney, so I love that. [laughing] It just feels like another life. [Laughing]

Elisa: Yeah. Yeah.

[Music]

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Eryn: Now let’s get back to God Hears Her.

Elisa: Your life took another turn, because, you know, this is really helpful to look at. You know we’re…this is a decades-long story, as is all of ours…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …you know…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …And…and at the next layer for you, God began to…to turn you in a different direction. Right?

Kim: Well, yes…um… so as I’m home and homeschooling, wha…and one thing that I love that God did was: because I was home now, I got to be more grounded in studying the Word. So I started inductive study, and when the kids were taking a nap, I would just really spend a couple of hours just studying the Word. And it was during that time, I get to Deuteronomy, and that’s when I just discovered the word that really became life changing for me in ano…in a… just in a different way in that season. And that was “Cling,” when I saw that Moses was telling the people of God: This is what God wants from you. It’s in Deuteronomy 13:4, but he says, “Follow the Lord,” which makes sense. If you’re…you belong to God, you should follow Him and fear Him and serve Him and keep His commandments. And all of those made sense. Listen to His voice. But the last word was “and cling to Him.” And that one just seemed…it just didn’t seem to fit… [laughing]… because…

Elisa: Mmm!

Kim: …like Wow! God really wants us that close to Him? He wants that intimate relationship? And so I began praying, and this was back in 2001 or something, so about twenty years ago. I began praying, “Lord, help me to cling to You.” And…um… and it just really resonated with me, I think, because my parents divorced when I was young and not having a father in the home, and then seeing my heavenly Father wants me close. And I can call on Him anytime, and He’s there for me anytime. And…and it just resonated with me, so I just leaned into that. And so from season to season, through the trials and the storms and the heartaches and just through tears, just saying, “Lord, help me to cling to You.” And that just really took me, you know, as I’m raising my kids and as I’m at home … but during that time also, I’m writing. …um… I didn’t plan to go down that path. I wasn’t one who dreamed of writing books, but … but the Lord had moved me to write a book, really before I left my job. And then He led me to write Christian fiction, which was a surprise. But I love the Word, and I was able to put and to teach the Word through fiction, which …um…

Elisa: Mm-hmm!

Kim: …only God can do. So I was on that path and writing early mornings and homeschooling and…and…and clinging and…uh… And then in 2015 my agent said, “You know you’re doing these Bible studies and…and other spiritual topics, biblical topics on your YouTube channel. You should think about writing a nonfiction book.” And I thought, Well, what would I write about? And I said, “Well, I’ll pray about it.” And so I prayed about it and said, “Well, Lord, what would I write about?” And “cling” was right…

Elisa: There you go!

Kim: …And I just said, How can I write a book from one word that has been on my heart for – at that point – fifteen years?

Eryn: Wow!

Kim: But the Lord just gave me grace to develop that. And…and…and the subtitle is “Choosing a Lifestyle of Intimacy with God.” And Discovery House, Our Daily Bread Ministries, took… took on that book. And we did a DVD Bible study series, and it’s just… it’s just been a blessing. It came out in 2017, and since then “cling” has just taken over my life – in terms of all that the Lord has done with that one word.

Elisa: I know, and…and it’s rich stuff. I encourage everybody there is a lot for you. I mean …eh… here is a woman who grew and…and followed what she felt in her heart, and then discovered God. And then, as you fully immersed yourself – maybe I’ll say it that way – in your relationship with God in that season…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …He began to grow in you a new understanding. And…and so this word “cling” becomes your new identity, you know, your…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …name tag, if you will…

Kim: Yeah.

Elisa: …And…and then you – Boom! – you’re writing fiction. You’re doing Bible teaching…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …on a YouTube channel. You’re…you’re doing music – What?!!

Kim: Yeah, I know. Exactly. … [Laughter] … Exactly.

Elisa: Yeah. Now your kids are grown-ish. And I’m really interested, too, Kim – and…and this takes us back to how we were talking about the word “rampart,” a …

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …a word that you felt like God began to write in your heart in this current season of life. Your marriage, your family, is undergoing a shift. An…and I’m curious about how God prepared you. First tell us what that shift is, and how God prepared you for it, and how you see His hand in it, and also how it continues His word of “cling” on your life…

Kim: Mm. Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …and “rampart.” What do those two words have together? That’s a lot of questions there. Sorry… [laughing]…

Kim: Oh, that’s okay. So the current season… we just moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My husband was named President of LSU.

Elisa: And that’s Louisiana State University.

Kim: Yes, yes. And…uh…

Elisa: And he’s the first – what?

Kim: He is the first Black president of LSU and the first Black president in the SEC.

Elisa: What?!!

Eryn: Mm. Wow!

Elisa: That’s huge. Huge! Yeah…

Kim: Yeah, yeah…

Elisa: Yeah.

Kim: So, prior to that, we had …um… – and in…in what I call “The Rampart Period of 2021” – prior to that, he had been named Provost, which is the number-two person at a university, at the University of South Carolina, right as the pandemic hit. And so we were preparing to move to South Carolina last year, but it got delayed because of the pandemic. And so he was traveling back and forth to Saint Louis, where we had been for eighteen years, and… But I’m in Saint Louis. My kids are … my son has an apartment. My daughter was an RA, so she was on campus. So I was home a lot of the time by myself, as we’re in this limbo period; but it became a spiritual retreat for me, and I just know the Lord used it to give me that time to go deeper into the Word and seek Him. And I didn’t know any of this was coming, and as we got to about April, Bill found out he was… uh… of this year, Bill found out he was nominated for this position at LSU.

He didn’t …

Eryn: Wow.

Kim: …even intend to pursue it. He said, “Well, I just…

Eryn: Wow.

Kim: …got to South Carolina. I’m content there.” But he always… he always…um… felt a calling on his life to be president of a university. And…

Elisa: Wow!

Kim: …so I reminded him of that. I said, “Was your…was your…did you feel that your calling was to be the provost, or did you feel that …

Eryn: Oh!

Kim: …God was calling you to be president?” And so…so they asked him, you know, “Would you … We would love for you to get into the process.” And so we had to pray him into the process. And he got into the process, and within three weeks, he was named president. And so our whole world just kinda…

Eryn: Wow!

Kim: …shifted that quickly. And then it was Okay, now…now, instead of the move to South Carolina, we’re moving to Baton Rouge, and which was God’s grace that we didn’t have to move twice.

Elisa: Mm-hmm.

Kim: But now life is so different because of all the responsibilities and obligations. And we kinda went from zero to sixty. And so I’m just thankful that I had that time with the Lord, that concentrated time, which was months of just priceless time to just dwell with Him, because I really do think the Lord used that as preparation for this season, which is much, much more busy. [Laughing]

Elisa: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It’s such an active verb, you know, “cling.” It…it’s not like you do it once and you’re done, you know, it’s this ongoing, active, relational…um…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …you know I…I see you… This…this foundational verb of “cling.” And then God… God leads you almost to the edge of a cliff. That’s what I think about with “rampart,” you know, to this high place…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …to this edge of the tower. And He says, Okay, in your clinging relationship, now watch! Watch!

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …And…and so …

Kim: Yes. Yes.

Elisa: …how would you explain to us – if you can – in practical words what that watching looks like?

Eryn: Mm. That’s a good question.

Kim: I think, for me, what it looked like was …um… I’m…I’m in the Word, so I’m taking in, because Habakkuk said, “I will watch for what He will speak.” So I’m in the Word, and I’m… Let’s say I’m in …um… Nehemiah, which I have been this year. And you’re in Nehemiah or Ezra – I’ll use Ezra. And then you’re paying attention to the things that jump out at you…

Elisa: Okay.

Kim: …So, for example, I was in Ezra, and then also in Haggai, connected … a prophet who was during that time. And…and I start seeing how often it says, “God stirred up their spirit.”

Elisa: Mmm.

Kim: …He stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. He stirred up the spirit of those, the remnant that would return to Judah. He stirred up their spirits when they stopped working on the Temple because they got afraid. And He…He stirred them up to get back to the work. And…and so you’re watching for Him to speak, and…and you’re paying attention to Wait! This is resonating with me! And why is it resonating, and what are You stirring up in me, Lord? And then just that acknowledgement in the moment that this is how God works; because you know how so often we think we’ll miss God. And…

Elisa: Mm-hmm.

Kim: …And we’re praying for something. And Well, how will I know that He’s leading me this way or that way? And how will I know that this is the opportunity? And…and you see that in the Word, and you say, You know what? He is stirring inside of me! I…I do wake up in the night thinking about this, and…and when I wake up in the morning, it’s the first thing on my mind. And then you…you begin to see God more at work in your life because you’re looking and you’re watching for Him.

Elisa: Yeah, you’re paying attention…

Kim: You’re…yes….

Elisa: …You know what? I’ve been struck by the irony or the – I’m not sure what the word is – the juxtaposition of your saying you will “watch for Him to speak.”

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: Yeah. And…and that’s…

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Elisa: …that’s another pop for our God Hears Her. You know how does God hear us?

Kim: Yeah…

Elisa: You know…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …sometimes He…sometimes He says Listen for Me to move…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …or He says Watch for me…

Kim: Yes.

Eryn: Watch.

Elisa: …to speak.

Kim: Yes. Yes.

Eryn: Yeah.

Elisa: You know it…it may surprise you, but pay attention…

Kim: Yes.

Elisa: …is what I’m hearing you say.

Kim: Yes. Yes. I think when we’re watching for the Lord, we just … we pay attention to even what we may think are the small things that are happening, but it’s God moving in me. That’s what He does, and there’s nothing that’s too small, or nothing that’s random or coincidental. But when we’re watching and paying attention, it just calls us to see His faithfulness more, to see Him at work, to be able to thank Him for the little things that happen and praise Him and just know that He’s with us. And that is so comforting, you know, when…when life gets hard to just say Wait. I…I know that text from so-and-so, in this moment, had to be from God to encourage me. And then you just see Him at work.

Eryn: That’s so good, Kim. Kim, what would you…what would you tell the woman… and maybe they’re…maybe you can tap into you experiencing this for yourself. But what would you tell the woman that is really tired and struggling to see her identity in the Lord when she’s had a shift in her life?

Kim: Mm-hmm.

Eryn: What would you encourage her in on how God sees her?

Kim: Mm. I think it’s always important, when you’re weary, and life isn’t what you think it would be, that that is the time to just behold Christ through the Word. I mean that should…that should always be our posture, but especially in those times; because it’s like Hebrews 12:2, “fixing your eyes on Jesus.” You know, as you’re running your race, our eyes have to stay on Jesus, because then we’re reminded that our identity is in Him. We are to be becoming more and more like Him, and the only way we can do that is to behold Him through the Word and to spend time in prayer. And the more that we do that, we get our eyes off of ourself and what we’re going through, and we…we do begin to see ourselves as God sees us. And there is strength in dependency on Christ, because that’s how we become stronger, you know. In weakness we are made strong through Christ. And so whatever times we’re going through, when we fix our eyes on Him, when we go to His Word, when we just take a walk and talk to Him, you know, just take a walk and like Lord, I know You see what I’m going through. And just being able to bare your heart and…and cry and those things, then you…you just… That’s when you experience the supernatural. You get out of the natural mode of life, and you move to super…to the supernatural just by talking to the Lord who is supernatural. So you…

Eryn: Yeah.

Kim: …you…you… Just from talking to Him, just from going… The Word of God is supernatural. And so when we take ourselves out of our natural existence and shift – whatever shift has happened in the natural – we have to shift it to the supernatural, which sounds mystical. It’s not. It’s just opening the Word. It’s just talking to the Lord.

Eryn: That’s beautiful. Would you mind praying over that woman…

Elisa: Good…

Eryn: …right now?

Elisa: …Good, Eryn.

Kim: Absolutely…

Elisa: Yeah, yeah.

Kim: Dear Lord, we just praise You because You are the God who does hear us. You are the God who loves us. You are faithful and, Lord, we know because we have been there. We know there are people listening who are weary, who might be unsure of their identity in this moment, who are dealing with shifts in their natural lives. And, Lord, I just…I just pray that You would lavish Your grace upon her. I pray that Your strong hand would be upon her. Cause her to just lift up her gaze to Christ. Cause her to see the beauty of Christ in this moment, to see the hope of our Savior, the Light of our Savior. Lord, I pray that … that You would just cause her to cling to You by opening up Your Word. Show her where she can go in Your Word to find hope. Show her where she can go in Your Word to hear Your voice. And, Lord, You know exactly what she needs for her situation, and Your Word is truth, and Your Word is strength, and Your Word is comfort. Your Word is hope, and I pray that You would lead her to where she needs to go in Your Word, and that You would be faithful to speak to her through Your Word in her situation. Lord, make it real for her. I pray that You would just cause her to draw near to You and dwell in Your presence, Lord, if that means just stealing away and going for a walk or going for a drive somewhere, Lord, just…just the two of you. I pray that…that she would delight herself in You in that way, and just allow herself to just nestle in Your arms, know that You care, know that You love her, and know that You see her and hear her. I pray that You would just shower encouragement. I pray that Your faithfulness would be a shield about her, and that Your love would surround her. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Eryn: Amen.

Elisa: Amen.

[Music]

Elisa: How wonderful is it to know that when we start trusting and clinging to God, we can see Him working in ways we may never have imagined – I mean ever!

Eryn: I love how Kim reminds us to cling to Jesus through it all. Elisa, how great is it to know that we are never alone?

Elisa: It’s so powerful! Before we close out today’s episode of God Hears Her, we want to remind you that the show notes are available in the podcast description. The show notes not only contain the talking points for today’s episode, but also links to connect with Eryn and me on social, and a link for Kim Cash Tate’s book Cling: Choosing a Lifestyle of Intimacy with God. You can visit our website at godhearsher.org. That’s godhearsher.o.r.g.

Eryn: Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget: God hears you, He sees you, and He loves you because you are His.

[Music]

Elisa: Today’s episode was engineered by Anne Stevens and produced by Mary Jo Clark, Daniel Ryan Day, and Jade Gustafson. Today we also want to recognize Joyce and Linda for their help in creating and promoting the God Hears Her podcast. Thanks, yall!

[Theme music]

 Eryn: God Hears Her is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries.