Everything for God

God Hears Her Podcast 

Episode 220 – Everything for God with Masey McLain 

Elisa Morgan & Eryn Adkins with Masey McLain 

[Music] 

Masey: Even yesterday I was praying and, like I… I asked the Lord, I was like, make me more present with Your Holy Spirit, like, keep me present with Him. So, like, when these decisions and these gray areas come and it’s not black and white, You’ve got to help me navigate it, you know? But it takes us being present with the Spirit… 

[music] 

Vivian: You’re listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you. Join our community of encouraging one another and learning to lean on God through Scripture, story, and conversation at godhearsher.org, God hears her. Seek and she will find. 

Eryn: Hey friends, we now have a study guide to go along with our podcast episodes that you can download or print to fill out when you listen. Make sure you get yours on our website to follow along with the episode. Now, let’s dive into this conversation. Elisa, today’s guest, I can tell, just by, like, this person’s eyes, that she’s, like, just genuine, and authentic, and I would imagine, and we’ll unpack it further into the podcast episode, but I would imagine that it’s been a fight to that. And especially in the industry that she’s in, you can just tell that her faith is important to her. 

Elisa: I love how you started out with her eyes. I agree. When I look into Masey’s eyes, there’s a softness, and a clarity, and a kind of don’t mess with me kind of thing happening on too… [laughter] which I love. I love. 

Eryn: And I… I can’t wait to learn that side. 

Elisa: And so, here’s… here’s us giving all this feedback when she’s an actress and she could probably look at us and give us a lot of feedback. But any who, yes, Eryn, go on. 

Eryn: So, I welcome Masey McClain to the God Hears Her podcast. 

Masey: Thank you. You guys, I’ve never wanted to cry after an intro on a podcast, also cry and laugh in the same breath…. 

Elisa: That’s good. That’s good. 

Masey: …just wow, thank you… 

Elisa: That’s our specialty. I’m glad you got it. Good.  

Eryn: Yeah, that’s our little sweet sauce. Masey, would you share with us, first off, where are you… where are you coming from? 

Masey: Yeah, I live around Atlanta, I live in the greatest town, with the greatest community of friends and believers and just people that really sharpen you… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … and are there in a second, and you can actually knock on their door and ask for a cup of sugar if you need it. So, was living in LA before I moved here, and I just never in a million years dreamed that God would put me here. But it is exactly what I needed, and I just don’t want to be anywhere else in the world.  

Eryn: Were you part of the move from when LA started coming to Atlanta? 

Masey: Yeah, I… So, I… I’m a Georgia girl. I grew up in Georgia… 

Eryn: Okay.  

Masey: Yeah, so… 

Eryn: Oh, okay. 

Masey: … a lot of people think I’m in… I’m LA, but I think if they spend a little more time around me, they’re like, oh, you’re Georgia for sure. Like, you’re a little bit… like, you got the little… enough redneck in you to, you know… [laughter] yeah… but… but, yeah, I… I grew up here and I moved out to LA, lived out there for a while when I was filming a show, and then when me and my husband got engaged, we actually had no idea where we were going to live… LA or Georgia. He’s a Georgia boy, too… 

Eryn: Oh. Oh. 

Masey: … and I was determined to live in LA, cause I was working on a TV show. I loved it. And he really felt like we were supposed to be in Georgia. Long story short, I was actually at church and this little old man tapped me on the shoulder and he was like, I don’t want to creep you out, but the Lord has just been speaking to me and I just need to share it with you. I don’t know why, but I was a little bit… this was my don’t-mess-with-me, I guess, like little thing that came out but I was a little bit…  

Elisa: There it is. 

Masey: … just, like, so, like, over it and I was… I was just like, oh my word this… this sweet man is going to say, like, “you need to give your life to Jesus.” And I already do. You know… 

Eryn: Well, I’m already there… 

Masey: … I don’t know why I was just a little skeptical that day. And then… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … and… and… I don’t know. And so, I went down there and he just said, he’s like, the Lord is about to move you somewhere where your community is going to be, like, unlike anything you’ve ever had… 

Elisa: Oh, wow. 

Masey: … And he… he was like, you’re going to be, like, able to walk wherever you go. And he basically described this town I live in and… 

Elisa: That’s amazing. Wow. 

Masey: … it was wild. And I left and I called my fiancé, and he actually said when I walked out, he was like… you know, what about this town? And then we went and saw it, and it was everything the man had said. I was like, God, what? So… 

Eryn: That’s amazing. 

Masey: … But in His kindness, because I would’ve been so stubborn and… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … I would’ve forced us to live in LA. And then COVID actually happened a few months later. So, we moved right before COVID. 

Elisa: So, you needed that validation in the midst… 

Masey: I did. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … of COVID that this wasn’t a mistake. Yeah… 

Eryn: That’s amazing. 

Elisa: … Don’t mess with me, God. Yeah.  

Masey: Exactly. 

Eryn: Yeah. So, you know, you said you grew up in Georgia and your husband is a Georgia boy. I’d love to learn just, like, little bit about little Masey and where your faith was. Did you grow up in a Christian household? Kind of take us back… 

Masey: Yeah. 

Eryn: … to you being a little girl and learning about that… 

Elisa: Backstory, yeah. 

Eryn: … yeah, backstory. 

Masey: Aw, I love that question. So, I… my dad’s a pastor, so, I grew up in… a PK… 

Eryn: Yep. 

Masey: … I have three other siblings. So, there’s six of us in all… 

Elisa: Wow. 

Masey: … in a family. And we’ve all just always been so close. And, like, my sister’s always been my best friend, and… I mean, we definitely, you know, as a family we weren’t perfect at all. Like… But I’m so thankful to have been blessed with… I don’t know, I love my parents and my siblings. Like, we’re still just all so close, and everyone loves the Lord so much and is constantly sharpening each other, and… 

Elisa: Precious, yeah. 

Masey: … it’s just… yeah, it’s really special. 

Eryn: So, that was something you grew up with, was just all of that unity? 

Masey: Yeah. I mean, there were definitely times of disunity, I would say, for sure, and just growing pains, especially being in the ministry, and all that entails and the toll that can take… But God… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … definitely just kept us, I would say. And now we’re all closer than we’ve ever been. I grew up like that, and when I was in high school, I ended up auditioning for a play, and I fell in love with acting, and I felt like… you… you know, in Chariots of Fire when, if you know that movie, when he says, “When I run I feel the Lord’s pleasure…” 

Elisa: Yes. 

Masey: … I felt that when I was… when I was on stage and I could just disappear into this character and move an audience, I felt that feeling for the first time. It was like the pressure was gone and it was just, I felt free. I was like, oh, this makes me come alive… 

Elisa: That’s so precious. Oh. Yes. 

Masey: … like this actually makes me feel like I can fly a little bit. And so, I ended up pursuing that and got into… I ended up loving TV and film more than the stage… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Masey: … which actually my… my mom was, like, a big musical theater, like, one of the best dancers in the country. Like, she was performer. And then my dad’s… 

Eryn: Wow, okay. 

Masey: … a pastor, so just this pastor and performer got together and… and so, I think that’s where I get, like, my… 

Eryn: Totally makes sense. Yep. 

Masey: … my love for the arts is from my mom. Yeah. And, yeah, and they’ve always, when I was young in my career, they were with me in everything and helped me navigate decisions, but always also let me choose… you know, they… they didn’t tell me what I had to do with choices. They were like, all right, let’s pray through this and see what this is and where this leads. But it’s been a journey, it’s definitely been a journey since I started when I was fifteen… 

Eryn: Oh, wow.  

Elisa: You know, there’s a whole concept, and at least maybe this is portrayed in the media, that you have, like, arrived if you’re in entertainment, you know, like, that’s the pinnacle, you know? And I love hearing you say that when you were on stage in one of your first experiences that you felt God’s pleasure. You know, I think a lot of us are still waiting to hear God say, I’m pleased with you, to… to feel that pleasure that we are in the… the sweet spot of our gifting that comes from Him. How can you tease apart that, if you will, the world’s understanding of being an entertainer versus God’s pleasure with you, Masey, for being in this sweet spot? 

Masey: Yeah, you know, I think with my relationship with the Lord, I have to always be careful of not to perform for Him in the sense of I have to earn something from God, or… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … that’s in my natural bend of wanting to please God, wanting to be good enough. You know, I want to hear at the end of my life, well done, good and faithful servant. But I’m… especially the past few years finding, I think that freedom that comes with the… the phrase of, like, you feel His pleasure, it’s just who God is. Like, He’s created you, and when you’re doing something He’s gifted you with, and you just feel the freedom in that… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … I was actually on a call this morning, with a mentor of mine and we were talking about, like, God is not over there. God is here. And when you’re you’re just operating, and gifting, and, like, He’s inside you, yeah, for the listeners I’m pointing to my chest… Yeah, He’s inside us and it’s just when you do things with God rather than, it’s like that verse co-labor with Him rather than trying to perform for Him, it’s just a different shift… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … of mindset. And that’s freedom. 

Elisa: Wow. I appreciate that, the concept of freedom and, you know, just to help us all let that sink in a little bit. You know, Eryn, think for a second about when you have felt God’s pleasure in what you’re doing. And I’ll go first, too, so that everybody listening feels included here. I mean, I for sure have felt God’s pleasure in different moments when I’ve been leading and an idea came to me. Or when I’ve been speaking and I felt kind of an anointing over my words, but I’ve also felt God’s pleasure in my grandmothering. You know, when I just delight in my grandsons…  

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: … whether they’re twenty-one years old or two years old, you know, I feel God’s pleasure. So, that… I just kind of want to reflect that back for all of us, wherever we’re called in life… What hits you, Eryn? 

Eryn: Oh, I… I mean, what immediately came to mind was becoming a stepmom… 

Elisa: Yeah, yeah. 

Eryn: … and there was a lot of uncertainty of if I was equipped, and then in the moments of sweet and deep connection with my stepdaughters. I got to experience some of the things that I endured and went through in my past, and how it prepared me in that moment. And I felt just the Holy Spirit… 

Elisa: That’s so good. 

Eryn: … in the moments of connection that, like, the words that come out of my mouth were not of me, but the Lord knew how to guide me and to be becoming a safe space as you blend a family. So, that’s the first thing that immediately came to my mind. I think with work, I have a hard time with that because there’s been seasons of my life where I have… so, maybe this can… maybe you can help me, Masey, with this, because there have been moments where I have experienced what I thought was pleasure, but then I felt like God did a necessary ending to it. So, then I felt was that an experience with the Lord, or was that my flesh, or, like, confusion on, like, I guess I’m putting the ending of something as maybe God didn’t want me to do that. Does that make sense? 

Elisa: That’s good. Yeah. 

Masey: Oh yeah. I, oh my goodness. I… I feel that… I feel that deeply because I’ve had many experiences like that… 

Eryn: Okay, I’m not alone, I’m not alone. Okay. 

Masey: … No. And I’ve been thinking about this actually a lot, cause I know I can tend to do this, of… have these things in my head that I’m like, oh, I’m… if I get to this point, or if I do this, or this project worked, or… I just had a project, I mean, I poured my entire heart into… and it all of a sudden just came to an abrupt end. But I felt God so much in it when I was doing it… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: Yes. Yeah. 

Masey: I… I still don’t understand what that was about, but I am learning… I don’t know, I think I’m just learning it’s so much of the journey, and I don’t want to be cliche about it, but it’s so much of, just it really is all about everything in Him, through Him, and for Him, right? So, even if the result is not tangible, even if the result… cause even that thing I did, it might lead to something else, like… 

Elisa: Yup, always. 

Eryn: And it did something inside of you, 

Masey: You never know… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … Yeah, it did. And God actually taught me so much when I was doing it… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … and part of me wonders, too, sometimes with our gifts, sometimes I look back on all the years of being in entertainment and I’m like, God, you have used my gift as almost the biggest means of sanctification. So, our gifts, I mean, our gifts really aren’t just for the… to edify and for to put out there in the world, but really, I feel like God has used them to sanctify me. So, I’m like, okay, God, I don’t know what You’re doing, but… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … we’re in it together… You know? 

Elisa: You know, I think that’s it, Masey, and what you’re bringing up Eryn. I… I think that’s it. When we look at Hollywood, we think, oh, there’s all these trials and temptations and, what a lifestyle and, you know, I’m doing the whole Sarah Bernhardt mannerisms here, and for sure, I mean, there’re serious temptations in the Hollywood world. Yeah. But what you’re bringing down to earth, and I love this Masey, is that no matter where we are, and Eryn, your… illustration, no matter where we are, our very calling is also God’s tool for our sanctification. And so… 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: … all of us, wherever we’re feeling and sensing God’s pleasure of being in a sweet spot that He’s gifted us to be in, we are probably going to face some struggles… 

Masey: Oh, yeah. 

Elisa: … We’re going to face moments… or do we believe this? Has He shifted it? Am I missing…? 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Am I in the right spot? Because that’s what walking with Jesus kind of looks like. Right? 

Masey: Right. 

[Music] 

Jade: Hey, friends do you want some resources to help the young women in your life? Truly You and God Hears Her for Girls are helpful resources for the next generation of women to learn how to be bold in their faith as they grow and experience the world around them. Learn more and check these out at the link in our show notes. Now, back to the show. 

Eryn: Masey, well, speaking of that, I mean, I would imagine you’ve been faced with that battle of what your flesh wants to do, and what could be easier, and getting you off a course… or… maybe that hasn’t been your case, but I’d love to… for you to pull back the curtain maybe a little bit on your journey and being in Hollywood. 

Masey: It’s definitely a journey. The most difficult part is when an area is, like, gray and it really takes, like, even yesterday I was praying and, like I… I asked the Lord, I was like, make me more present with your Holy Spirit, like, keep me present with Him. So, like, when these decisions and these gray areas come, and it’s not black and white, You’ve got to help me navigate it, you know? But it takes us being present with the Spirit. So, that is always my prayer, and when I’m making decisions of what to be involved in in Hollywood and what not to. I had a situation where I was speaking at an event, and it was to, kind of, the next generation. It was all about being an actress in… in Hollywood and navigating convictions and I spoke really strongly on… on navigating convictions, and as soon as I got off stage, my manager called me and a show I auditioned for that’s a really big show, it was, like, me and another girl, like, down to the wire, and I was so excited cause I was like, oh my gosh, this would be a dream, you know? 

Elisa: [singing] I have arrived! Yeah. 

Eryn: Yup. 

Masey: Yeah, it was… I felt so good about the audition, I was like, this is fun… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … and he was like, so there’s one caveat... 

Eryn: Oh no. 

Masey: … He was like, they… they want to know if you’re okay with nudity. And I was so bummed. I was just like, honestly though, it felt a little comical… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … because I had just stepped off stage talking about convictions… 

Elisa: That’s awesome. 

Masey: … and then my manager called and is like, hey, will you do this role? All you got to do is be okay with nudity. And I was like, oh my gosh. I was like, this is of course Sa- You know, I was more annoyed. I… that was like, when the don’t-mess-with-me came out, I was just annoyed. I was like, of… what? You know…? 

Elisa: Oh, gosh. 

Masey: … but I also laughed because I was like, of course that would happen. So, anyways, and… and I have the best manager in the world. When I signed with him, I actually didn’t know he was a believer, and he’s in LA, but he has always stood by me no matter what decisions I have made, and no matter how much money he’s lost by me not taking things. He has never… he’s always been… I mean, he called me one time, he was like, I’m proud of you. Like, yes, do you what you need to do. And I was like, okay. So, it is things like that, but, I mean, I think you have to just keep heaven as the goal. Like, if the end of my life is… the goal of my life is heaven, and that’s where I’m going, then these decisions, it’s becomes easy because it’s just not who I am or where I’m going. 

Eryn: Yeah, that’s good. I love that visual. 

Elisa: Now, I’m not sure, so forgive my ignorance, but have you done some work with faith-based entertainment? 

Masey: Yeah, so, the first movie I did, which was funny, I actually… do you know the TV show Nashville? Okay, so, I actually booked a series-regular role on that TV show. And I went and filmed in Nashville, that was, like, my freshman year of college. And it was a dream. I was, like, playing a singer, songwriter, country star, whatever. And then I got a call two weeks later that they canceled my character, because, they said… they were just like, your character’s too similar to someone we already have, and we’re so sorry… 

Elisa: Oh. 

Masey: … It was devastating… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … but anyways, right after that, I almost quit and God, through a crazy story, kept me in it. And that year I ended up booking a movie called I’m Not Ashamed…  

Elisa: Yes.  

Masey: … and it’s the story of Rachel Joy Scott… 

Elisa: Yes. 

Masey: … and I got to play her. And that role was unlike anything I had ever stepped into. It was an actor’s dream, really, to play that role. I mean, it was the most… the biggest range you can think of emotions to experience as an actor, and a story to navigate. It was such a dream. 

Elisa: And for those who don’t know, she was a Columbine High School shooting victim. 

Masey: Yeah, it was, oh man, that… that movie wrecked every single one of us on set. I mean, all of us were changed by it… 

Eryn: Wow. 

Masey: … And then after I did… I did that film and after that, God just opened a lot of doors for me to travel and… and speak at a lot of places around the country. And through that, I didn’t know I love teaching. I love the Word of God, and I love talking to women, and encouraging them. So, I got to do that, and youth, all around the country. And then I ended up doing a show called The Baxters, and that is based on Karen Kingsbury’s book series, which I read all throughout high school… 

Eryn: That’s awesome. 

Elisa: Nice, nice. 

Masey: … I… I… I loved these characters so much that I would accidentally pray for them, like, at night… [laughter] in high school. And I told the casting director that, I was like, you don’t understand. I… 

Elisa: I love it. I love it. 

Masey: … have to… like, there is no other person. So, I’m booked with my favorite character… And all of that was such a… 

Elisa: They’re so real. They are real.  

Masey: … God feel… 

Eryn: I love it.  

Masey: They are real. 

Elisa: Okay, so you come off speaking about values, and you get a call, would you be in this really amazing opportunity, but you have to do nudity? What kinds of temptations have cropped up? What have you faced in faith-based entertainment? Yeah, I know, cause we think, oh, golden… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Just go to a Christian college. Just go to a Christian school. Let’s just… 

Eryn: It’s true, yeah. 

Elisa: …  go to a church. Everything’s going to be roses. And it’s human. And human filled.  

Masey: Yeah. In Christian entertainment, I would say, I mean, I am selective about what I’ll be a part of, so there always is a temptation just cause you want to work… if something isn’t good quality to… 

Eryn: Right. 

Masey: … just go do it because you’re, like, oh, it’s identifying, you know…? 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … There’s always that temptation of like, oh, do I want a paycheck? And then, do I want to work? You know? 

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Masey: But I… So, I’ve had to navigate that… 

Eryn: That’s a real one. That’s one. 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … of like, okay, I want to do excellent work, and I want the things I put out there to be good. But the thing faith entertainment has, I mean, gosh, the level that it’s at now is just really excellent and amazing. And the people that have paved the way for that, they’re doing amazing work. I’m working with a lot of those production companies now in different projects. So, it’s been fun to hold out a little bit for… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Masey: … for that arena, I guess, if that makes sense…? And walk alongside them. But, okay, so, I would say a temptation you have to be careful about probably in Christian entertainment is not using God to get to a means. I think it can be really easy to want to stamp God on some… or want to almost use your faith so that you can be greater… 

Eryn: Yeah, yeah. 

Masey: … It’s… yeah, it’s… you have to really check your heart because, I mean, I’ve thought about that a lot of like, am I using God to get to a level that I want to be at? And that’s just a constant heart check you have to do, so… 

Eryn: That’s good. Yeah. 

Masey: … I mean, you promote your movies… 

Elisa: Yeah, 

Masey: … and that’s what you have… that’s fun, and that’s what you want to do, but I think you just have to be careful of it not becoming a brand. Like, God has to be so real and your faith has to be so real, so, it’s not just like, oh, that’s your branding. Does that make sense? 

Elisa: Yeah, yeah… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … I mean, you know, anybody who’s serving the Lord on a… any kind of public platform, even if it’s in your local church and you get to get up and make announcements, I mean… 

Masey: Yeah, anything. 

Elisa: … you got… you got to just check your heart, you know, what is my motive here? And am I so excited about the outfit I got? Or… you know…  

Masey: I mean, I just think every day is a constant heart check… 

Elisa: Yeah, yeah. 

Masey: … every moment of the day. It’s just, we have to. One thing that was actually really hard to navigate, I was supposed to play a role that I… I prayed, and prayed, and prayed about, and I for some reason was sick to my stomach, and I believed in the message of it. I believed in the story. It was really weird because I was like, this is good, but I have a pit in my stomach about this… 

Elisa: That’s powerful. 

Masey: … so, how can something good give me a pit in my stomach? I had to go sit down with the producers, and they had already kind of used the words like, God told us you were supposed to do this, and like, you are the one. And kind of used some language around that, that I was kind of like, okay, you know, let me pray about it… Like, I need God to tell me, too, like, not just that…. 

Eryn: Yeah, yeah. 

Masey: … He’ll tell you. Exactly. When I told them that it wasn’t mine, like, I was like, I… I can’t explain it, but I’m not supposed to play this role, I just know from the Lord I’m not your person, they told me I was disobedient to God, and that I was afraid and I was scared of Hollywood. I didn’t have courage. And it was brutal. It was pretty brutal… 

Eryn: That is brutal. 

Masey: … But I walked away from it being even more sure of my answer, cause I was like, I don’t want to be… Anyways, but the person that ended up playing it, the role, she was handpicked by God to play this role, and her story of how… why she was the person was just, oh, she called me and even told me the story of, like, what God did and, like, with this role and her doing it. And I was like, this is why God gave me the pit in my stomach, cause I wasn’t the person. But sometimes you have to just go against believers of… 

Elisa: Yup. 

Masey: … they think God said something, and God’s got to speak to you, too. 

Elisa: Thank you.  

Eryn: Gosh, what… and… I know, thank you for being so… 

Elisa: That’s vulnerable, so good. 

Eryn: … sharing that. It’s so crazy how a bold decision that you believe is led by God can also be told that it’s disobedient. 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: Totally. 

Eryn: That experience just builds upon your faith, I would imagine, for more opportunities that you’re faced with like that. 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: Yeah, and I just want to say to all the girls listening, listen into that. Let God’s voice be louder than those who are pronouncing disobedience over you. I mean, because I think that’s just a really… 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: … nasty little tool that gets used in our world against the… 

Masey: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Lord, and against our confidence in who we are as His daughters. So, Jesus speak. Yeah.  

Masey: Yup, amen. 

Elisa: One of the things I’m so impressed with in this conversation is here’s Masey, who is really in the cutting edge of the public world of entertainment, and is a believer, and honestly, when I listen to you, and your own work, and your own walk with Jesus, it’s very much like all of ours. It is this desire to let God have His way in us, and to sanctify us by His work. I’m hearing this commitment in your heart to your God, and that’s what I’m taking away from this conversation, is that God loves you so preciously and individually, and yet has granted you a place that He’s pleased with you on this platform, in this spotlight. But that pleasure is no different than His pleasure for us, me cleaning my toilets or taking care of my grandkids. And I need to be true to that, and I need to honor in obedience His call on my life to fulfill His pleasure in me. So, Masey, maybe could you give an example of what it might look like, I… you don’t have to, you know, mention any names here or films, but, you know, what might it look like for you to be tempted to… to kind of use your faith or use your relationship with God? 

Masey: Yeah, I think it’s something that’s really relevant, whether you’re in entertainment industry per se, or you’re just… whatever job you have it’s because really, I mean, social media especially, I mean, you can make any video and you can put a Bible verse on there, or you can make it, you know, all about God but it’s not for God… or not because it’s coming out of an overflow of your heart and you want to edify… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Masey: … people. It’s actually because, oh my gosh, this is going to go viral, or this is going to, like, get to where I want to go, or people are going to love this. I just think there’s such a… a temptation, whether it’s in entertainment, or whether it’s in social media, or whatever, to use God. And then… 

Elisa: That’s good. 

Masey: … God’s just becoming a branding, or becoming something we stamp on it, because we want to use it for our gain rather than, no, I’m actually just wanting to edify, or I’m actually wanting to encourage, or God actually put this on my heart to share. But I… I think it’s a temptation for every single one of us. It can be in the industry too, of, like, oh, I want to do this movie because it’s going to get me where I want to go. And I just think it’s, again, like we said earlier, just always comes back to the heart. Always. 

Eryn: Masey, what advice do you have for the woman that’s in spaces that aren’t faith-based? Maybe they’re… they’re in the worldly space… I’m using air quotes, worldly spaces… what advice do you have for her in that? 

Masey: So, Roma Downey is one of my favorite people, and she plays my mom on The Baxters, and I’m actually working with her, producing something with her right now. And she has a quote that she always says… it’s… I love it. It says, “It is better to light a candle in the darkness than to curse the darkness.” And I think so many times we can be like, oh, stay away from that space, or, oh, that’s too hard. But it is better to light a candle in the darkness. And I think in order to do that, I think it comes back to being present with the Holy Spirit, because I think He’s going to lead you in every single moment of every day, and it really just takes a relaxing into Him, and trusting in a conversation He’s going to give you the words to say, or in a moment He’s going to give you a thought that you didn’t have this morning that you’re actually going to share with a coworker. He’s going to embolden you, like I… I mean, I… I pray all the time when I’m in spaces of, Lord, give me courage to… to act on Your voice. And even in Hollywood, if someone goes into Hollywood and they’re like, I’m going to go change Hollywood. No, you’re not. Like, you’re probably going to get swallowed by it. Like, I think… and that happens so often, or I‘m going to go be a light, I’m going to go do this. I really think it’s just walk with God, and then all that stuff will just flow out. But if you go on a mission to do it yourself, if you go into your workspace to go change it, anything in your flesh, I think, is going to be futile because… 

Elisa: This is so good. 

Masey: … we… we can’t operate like that. It’ll… it… it’s just going to… it’s not going to be good. So, I… I… I really think it’s… it’s so much more simple than we make it. Just walk with God, and those moments will be an overflow of what He does. 

Eryn: That’s good. That’s good. Thank you. 

[Music] 

Elisa: Well, friends, be sure to check out our website to subscribe to our email list, read the newest blog article, or check out the God Hears Her books and devotionals. Find all that and more at godhearsher.org. That’s godhearsher.org. 

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 Jade Gustman and Mary Jo Clark. 

Mary Jo: We also want to thank Geri and Sarah for all of their help and support. Thanks everyone. 

Eryn: Our Daily Bread Ministries is a donor-supported nonprofit ministry dedicated to making the life-changing wisdom and stories of the Bible come alive for all people around the world. 

[Music]  

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