Mrs. PIE

Finding Joy in Life's Brokenness

• Shelley Jeffcoat • Season 4 • Episode 145

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This episode explores finding joy and healing when life breaks you, focusing on exchanging beauty for ashes as described in Isaiah 61:3.

• Taking necessary spiritual breaks and resets to avoid exhaustion
• Responding to betrayal dreams with the oil of gladness instead of fear
• Wearing a garment of praise rather than a cloak of bitterness
• Understanding that turbulence often precedes elevation in life
• Letting go of our controlling nature to let God work
• Changing our perspective to see God's removal of people as protection
• Exchanging our ashes for a beautiful headdress through praise
• Finding smaller spiritual communities for deeper connection
• Trying different spiritual practices like Afro gospel music for refreshment

Join us for more Joy-focused teachings throughout July as we continue to explore how to maintain joy through life's challenges.


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Speaker 1:

no-transcript. Well, I took a break last week, so that's why there was no live teaching or live videos, because I needed to take just a short vacation just to get recharged, and I loved it. So I'm back. I'm excited still about the month of July, about what we're going to talk about. This month. We're going to focus on being joyful, finding joy, and today we're actually going to talk about healing when life breaks you. But it's not just like healing when you're mourning or healing when you've had great loss, just healing even when you've gone through any form of disappointment whatsoever, right, so that's where we are. There's so much going on right now, y'all and I'm also going to share a personal example of just something that happened to me this here fine week in July that I want. I want us. Even even if bad things are happening, there's still good things that's happening around us. So, lord, we just thank you for giving us the opportunity to see another day. Father, I thank you for blessing us with this awesome Thursday. I know that better and better is coming for all of us, and so we're believing that this morning that wherever we are in our lives, whatever is going on, that better is still coming. We thank you for the blessings today. We thank you for the open doors, we thank you for forgiveness, we thank you for peace and we thank you for joy in our hearts. Despite everything that's going on, we know that you're still in control of everything and we love you, lord. Amen, because you got to start there, all right. So I'm going to pull up this verse. I think, again, a lot of us we probably know this verse. So, good morning y'all in the chat. I'm going to show the comments on the stage, this verse here. Let me pull this up real quick. It's a little bit long, okay, but we like this, right? Thank you, dr Tracy.

Speaker 1:

I had to hit that reset and even even though I hit it, I'm still not. I'm still enjoying the calmness y'all Okay. So Isaiah 61, verse three it says to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteous necks. Oaks are again. I want y'all to go back and research an oak tree. You know the power that it carries. The planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified, okay. And so I want to talk to us about even this mini reset that I had to do.

Speaker 1:

Let me stop sharing so y'all can see me but even this mini reset that I had to do mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually because even if you're someone who is teaching, leading, praying for others, even if you're volunteering at your church or you're leading whatever it is, you end up exhausting yourself Spiritually. You can exhaust yourself and you need time to pull back and hear from the Lord about where you're supposed to go, what you're supposed to teach. He's dealing with us in our own flesh, our own things, right. You're supposed to teach. He's dealing with us and our own flesh, our own things right. One of the most incredible things that I've watched the Lord do over the past few days again just sharing my personal business with y'all is I had this dream on Monday.

Speaker 1:

I had this dream on Monday. It was a betrayal dream. So, y'all, when you get dreams, it's not the enemy isn't attacking you in your dreams. Again, I walk with the Lord, so the enemy doesn't have access to me, okay. So stop, stop pulling those things into your life. But I had this dream. He was showing me something in this dream on Monday, and it was a. It was a typical betrayal dream.

Speaker 1:

Betrayal dream is sometimes when you have these dreams and you dream that it's someone who's familiar to you, but it's not always that person. So you might dream I'm just making this up for y'all you might dream that your child betrays you or your boss betrays you and you wake up you're like, oh no, that person's coming to me. No, it's just a warning so that you can pray against that thing or you can ask the Lord to give you wisdom and show you how to respond. You know if that thing comes about. So I had the warning on Monday and then on Tuesday it happened. On Tuesday, I had, uh, I had, uh, I saw this thing play out, where it was a betrayal, um, and then on Wednesday I saw the Lord turn that thing around and bless me in a way that was just, it was one of those, in spite of that, because of my response to that. So how I responded and again, just my personal testimony we're learning together. You might do it a different way. This is how it worked for me when I got that dream on Monday, rather than going into the. When that? When I got that dream on Monday, rather than going into the oh Lord, I'm under attack. My response was first of all, it was actually tied into Isaiah 61.3. So it's very, very timely for me.

Speaker 1:

But I started to take on what we call the oil of gladness. I went into praise. I was praising God for his blessing. I was praising him and thanking him for his protection. I was in Jeremiah, I believe 30, verses 19 through 21. Y'all can look that up. And I started to declare that better and better is coming for me. I mean, I literally you know there's a part in that Jeremiah 30, where it talks about Thanksgiving spilling out of your windows. Y'all can look it up, right, spilling out. So I started to thank God like Thanksgiving is spilling out of my windows, thanksgiving is spilling out of my doors. There's laughter in my house.

Speaker 1:

I started to declare, in spite of what was coming, in spite of what was coming on Tuesday, where I dreamt on Monday I was preparing this oil of gladness, I had this garment of praise, meaning I wasn't going to take on the burden of a betrayal or a loss or anything like that. You understand, I started to sit in that thing and so when it happened to me on Tuesday, I wasn't in a place where I could. Even I was disappointed, but I wasn't shooketh because I was wearing that garment of praise. Right, I was planted in that. So when it happened it was like, oh, but thank you, god, that you're going to deliver me out of this. And the next day he did. And he did it in a way that that, even if I couldn't have imagined it myself, right, god, doing greater, bigger, above all else, as the word says. Right, going before us and preparing things for us.

Speaker 1:

So what does this mean for you? So we're talking about beauty for ashes. There is an exchange that we make. So I'm exchanging beauty for ashes, I'm changing things. Beauty for ashes, I'm exchanging, I'm changing things out. This month I am, I am, um, I am spiritually putting on a beautiful headdress. I'm not wearing a cloak of shame, I'm not wearing a cloak of worry, I'm not wearing a cloak of doubt. Y'all can keep that right. I've even, I've changed. I've had to reposition where I go physically. You're not going to find me everywhere. You know what I'm saying. I've had to put on the oil of gladness and, again, it doesn't mean that life isn't lifing and people aren't people. And, like I say all the time right.

Speaker 1:

But my response to that situation when life starts to break you or things start to come for you or you start to feel real loss, not just loss in mourning, but loss in like business, loss in friendships, loss in partnerships and something else I want to share with you all that a lot of us are asking the Lord to build us up and to establish our causes, our business or all the things right. Or maybe you're asking for the Lord, maybe you're asking for a promotion, maybe you're asking for a job, a new job, you're asking him to restore your relationships, your marriage, your relationship with your kids, all the things. But when you ask for elevation in any form of way, like I think I shared this example before like just like when a plane is taking off and there's a little bit of turbulence before things get smooth, that's life that will happen to you, right? But while you're going to that little bit of turbulence, don't freak out. This is when we put on the oil of gladness. This is when we start to do the things that make no logical sense. We start praising God, I start praising him for the blessings that I know are coming my way and I start to receive all of those things.

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If I don't, if, when things aren't going my way, right Again, it makes no sense. It's not going the way I planned. If I start to just sit in that and put on that cloak, y'all, then the things that God has for me won't come to me. If I, for example, if you go through any form of betrayal and you sit in that seat and you become bitter and you'll miss out when God has new doors open for you. He has to show you certain things. He has to show you things about people. People are going to talk about you, people are going to dog you. All the things. Okay, that's a part of life. But you can't sit in that seat of bitterness. We want to sit in that. We want to put on again the oil of gladness, the garment of praise. We don't want to have faint spirits this month of July. We're going to, in the same way we turn things up in June. We're going to keep it moving forward, right, and that's just the way it is. We want to have again the oaks of righteousness planted in the Lord so that what he will be glorified.

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When people look at my life, they see him. They don't see me because they know I'm not doing anything right. They see my obedience. He can, you know, when you look at, and this is what the life I want, I want when people see me, they see him in me. They want that. They see Christ in me. Where, on the job, in the community, in the car, in the store, wherever I am. I want people to see him, not me.

Speaker 1:

So that also means that there's some things that you're going to have to let go of that. You know. Maybe you thought no, then the Lord told me to do this, blah, blah, blah. And it's your desire, right, but it was a desire for a moment. So something else we're going to have to do this month, as we're finding joy, is we're going to have to let go of our thinking. We're going to have to let go of some of the things that are stale. It's broken If it's not working. Y'all, we got to let some things go so that we can move into the next phase of our life. What was really cool for me that he showed me just yesterday is my mindset had to be changed. As successful as I think I am right he had to. He had to change my mindset, and I was talking to one of my mentors just again. Everything was just played out. So I happened to have this conversation with one of my mentors yesterday and he was sharing with me about things that happened to us.

Speaker 1:

As we continue to grow whether you're growing in your career or your, you know your relationships just growing as just growing in general, okay, and that as God's desk starts to move things around you right, move, people start to move these things around you A lot of us tend to look at it in a negative way. Oh Lord, why is that happening to me? You know what I'm saying. We go through all the things and we actually count that as a loss and we the truth is, we should be counting it as a game, because if you really truly believe that God is in control, if you really truly believe that you gave your life to him, if you really truly believe that he is in you and you're in him, if you really have taken on his mindset, then you will have wisdom and you will come to understand that these changes have to happen and sometimes it's painful. It's painful for a moment, right, but don't let that break you. When the Lord is moving, moving these plates, moving people, when he starts to give you wisdom and he starts to say, okay, now you got to let go in order for you.

Speaker 1:

My husband and I were talking about this yesterday and he was sharing how he was coaching someone who works for him and was explaining to him that you actually get more when you give more. So if I hoard all of my gifts, if I hoard this platform, if I hoard come out of the wilderness ministry, if I hoard three pranks, if I hoard that and make it all me and all about me, it will never grow. So I do the opposite, right. I release it. We have incredible women who are doing the work. If I hoarded all of this thing, it would die right. So that's a part of us being called to be strong oaks of righteousness planting of the Lord so that he'll be glorified not me, right, his work, his will be done right.

Speaker 1:

So when life breaks you, you will have to go through that mental change. That's the mental change I had to go through, a change of not being controlling and letting things play out. Let things play out, let God be God, right. And in doing that y'all, while I'm releasing, while I'm letting God be God, you know what I'm doing Back to the garment of praise. Thank you, god. You're so amazing. I praise you. I'm so grateful for all that you're doing. I know that you're going to bless everything that I touch and everyone around me. I even thank you for those you're removing from me, because where I'm going, they can't go. Y'all.

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I have the craziest prayers ever, right? I thank you that every day is getting better and better, that everywhere I go, everywhere I place my feet, I'm blessed. Lord, I even bless those who curse me, right? I'm just telling you, right, I bless those who curse me. I thank you, lord, that you'll even use this as a prayer for y'all, even those who might consider themselves an enemy, that they'll end up being advocates for me and me for them. Lord, I thank you that your love covers me, my family, my friends, all of the ministries, all the work that we do, that you show up and I thank you, god, just going into prayer, that you'll heal all of us, all of us who've been disappointed, disappointed that things aren't working out the way we want them to. Maybe they're disappointed in people, disappointed in colleagues, disappointed in spouses, disappointed in children, disappointed in communities, disappointed in government. Whatever we need to be healed from that. I'm asking, lord, that you'll heal us this morning.

Speaker 1:

And, lord, we want to take on a garment of praise in every situation of our lives, the kind of praise that makes no sense, but it's also the kind of praise that opens doors for us, that we're standing in agreement with what heaven has for us, that with this praise it's open and unlocking doors for us. This praise puts us back in alignment with what God has for us, and we know, lord, that anything you have for us is better than we could ever imagine. So that's what we're calling into this day. We're exchanging, lord, god, the headdress instead of ashes, a beautiful headdress, the covering that we have, the covering on our jobs, the covering in our productivity, anything we do with our hands. We're asking, lord, lord, god, that it's a beautiful headdress, that wherever we go, the legacies that we create for our children, for our grandchildren, for our great grandchildren, they will come to see us, lord, god, as those beautiful headdress, wearing aunties, uncles, mamas, daddies, all the things right, and planting us and establishing us so that you will be glorified. So bless you, lord. I thank you for all and every family represented under my voice, for anyone who's standing in need of just a healing word this morning, that you'll just speak to their hearts and that they'll receive this word and that they'll praise you right where they are. Lord, we thank you for all. We know better and better is coming, but we're just grateful for what you have for us this morning, giving us this portion of praise, asking you to give us wisdom in this day. Help us to change our perspective. We want to change our perspective so that we can get the best out of what you have for us. We don't want to be stubborn and unwilling to move and unwilling to do things differently, so that you know we can take on what you have for us. So we thank you, lord, for all of these things, and all of these things we say in Jesus name. Amen Y'all. Thank you so much for watching.

Speaker 1:

I wanted to share real quickly something else that I started listening to Afro gospel. I didn't know nothing, I didn't even know Afro gospel existed, but I've really been enjoying it. It's upbeat and there's a change. I wanted to even change the music that I was listening to. You know, typically I listen to, like you know, typical American gospel, but I started listening to Afro gospel, so I have that. It's upbeat, um, it does. It's like a. It's a good mood shifter for me. It's, it's a change. Um, I also like wednesday nights. Um, there is a church it's called saint john's baptist. It's back in uh tennessee. I'm gonna give them a shout out. They'll probably never know this, but when we were uh first married so 20 something years ago, we were members of this church and this pastor, pastor Bell, pastor Robert Bell he still since the pandemic he was doing Wednesday night prayer. It's a small church, y'all Okay, and every now and then I'll and it's on Facebook, I'll go on and I'll sit in and watch, if you will one of his teaching.

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It's just sometimes you get to a point where I don't want to hear the band, I don't want to see the production in the lights, I don't want to be entertained by church. I just want a solid, good, old-fashioned Bible study, you understand, and so I'm going to encourage y'all to try to do that, if you can. I'm not asking you to abandon your church. Don't hear what I'm saying. I'm saying that some of us have to go back to the very basics of where we're getting our word and where we're tapping in and what I loved about it. I came on in the Facebook live and that pastor called me out and blessed my family. You know what I'm saying. So I think we need to get to some of that.

Speaker 1:

So, for those of y'all who are really in a season where you're feeling like you're going through a lot of hurt right now, or you just you know, listen, life is lifing right now I want to encourage you to really tap in. If you're going to a larger church, hopefully that large church has a small community, because you need to be able to connect with people when you leave, when you get to the parking lot, you understand. So I'm urging you, if your church has a small group, that you join your small group discipleship groups. I go to Perimeter Church here in Georgia. It's a large church, but we have a small group disciple group by communities, right.

Speaker 1:

So I'm just urging you to find a smaller group now. Why? Because you want to be around people who see you, where you're not just a member, okay, but you're tapping into. You really need to tap in a little bit differently, and that's what I'm doing now. Again, just another change. Why is this? Because y'all, we need to not be entertained right now. The Lord is speaking to us in a different way and a lot of us can't hear because of all the noise and distractions even in our churches. So, while I appreciate all of the things, I'm not for a. I'll come off my box. Just find a. Just find a smaller community. Obviously, we're still here to pray with you on Thursday, but I just want to keep encouraging you to tap in a little bit, go a little bit deeper. Smaller groups and um and tap into your church so that that church again is called St John's Baptist. They have a Facebook page.

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Pastor Robert Bell. Every Wednesday I believe it's 7 pm he does a live. He does it straight from his church. It's a small group and it's good, old fashioned, back in the day type Bible study, where you feel like you're a part of this incredible group, feel like you're a part of this incredible group and I just love him. So I just wanted to give a shout out to Pastor Bell because, again, those old pastors are still out there. Okay, all right. So I hope this blessed you. I'll be back next week. Y'all take care of yourselves, take care of each other. As I always say, I love you, but Jesus loves you more. Have an amazing rest of your day. Take care.