S8.9 | Gratitude in the Hard Stuff: Finding God's Manna in Life's Challenges
In this episode, Carla shares a personal experience of encountering a medical emergency and delves into the powerful lessons she learned about finding gratitude in difficult times. Join Carla as she reflects on her journey through unexpected health challenges and provides insightful perspectives on embracing gratitude in the midst of struggles.
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Key Takeaways
Gratitude in Hardship:
Carla encourages listeners to seek gratitude not only during mountaintop experiences but also during challenging times, unanswered prayers, and struggles. She emphasizes the importance of finding gratitude even in the midst of hardship and pain.
God's Provision:
Through her own experience, Carla highlights the presence of God's provision and fingerprints in the midst of trials. She reminds us to look for the "manna" in our lives, reflecting on the daily and fresh provisions that God offers, even in difficult situations.The Role of Active Participation in Overcoming:
Praising and Worshiping in Hard Places:
Carla challenges listeners to lift up their voices in praise and thanksgiving even during tough times. She prompts them to find ways to honor and worship God, acknowledging His unwavering presence and love, regardless of life's challenges.
Connect With Carla:
Inquire about 1:1 coaching ---> carlaagreswellness@gmail.com
Renewing Hope Course —-> https://www.carlaarges.com/renewing-hope
Come hangout on IG with me @carlaarges
Check out the blog
Resources:
5 Steps to Building Resiliency
Affirming Truths Facebook Community
5 Tips for Overcoming a Negative Body Image
Who You Say I Am Biblical Affirmation Cards
TRANSCRIPT
Carla Arges [00:00:08]:
Carla Arges [00:00:02]:
Hey, friends, welcome to this episode of why can't I hear myself? Hello, hello. Hey, friends. Welcome to this episode of affirming truths. I am your host, carla, and this episode is light. I normally do my Monday episodes. Well, I try to get them done during the week, but I had this one planned to record on Saturday, and I had an emergency. And so we're just getting around to recording this episode now, and I'm actually not going to record it on what I had planned. I'm going to tell you a little bit about the medical emergency I had and what we can learn from surprises in terms of God and growing in our faith.
Carla Arges [00:01:18]:
So I was at a conference just at a local church this weekend on the Friday and Saturday night, it was all about ministry and how to come alongside people with their trauma, with a biblical worldview, but also with brain science. And right up my alley, this is what I do with my clients. This is the basis of my business, too, in terms of working with women of faith in overcoming trauma, in dealing with their mental health struggles, bringing both science and proven methodologies alongside biblical truth. So it was right up my alley. We did the Friday night, and then Saturday at about 11:00 a.m. I started to feel chest pains, and I started to have this fluttering heart, and I was out of breath and dizzy, and I thought, this is weird. I'm not someone who's prone to anxiety, so I didn't believe I was having an anxiety attack, although we had just done a session talking about trauma, and I was wondering if on my subconscious level, I was having a reaction to trauma triggering my own trauma. And so I didn't think much of it.
Carla Arges [00:02:41]:
I was there with two girlfriends and just kind of interestingly said, oh, I feel funny. My heart is racing, and it's weird. But as time progressed, this didn't go away. We even went out for lunch, tried to distract myself. The whole time I'm having this chest pain, this fluttering heart dizziness. Like, I couldn't even walk a step or two without being out of breath. You would think, why don't you get yourself some medical attention? But I was just like, oh, my body's having a weird reaction. This is weird.
Carla Arges [00:03:17]:
Hours passed, and it wasn't going away, and it was getting worse. So I ended up leaving the conference early and coming home, and I took my heart rate. I have a blood pressure monitor that does heart rate. And at the time, my resting heart rate was 129 beats per minute, which is really high for a resting heart rate. And so I talked to my husband and I said, I think I should go to the hospital. So we went to the ER, and I've never not had to wait in an ER. I've always had to wait. But they rushed me in and brought me to the critical care area and got me all hooked up on monitors.
Carla Arges [00:04:02]:
When I got to the hospital, my resting heart rate was 145 beats per minute. And long story short, I'm not going to say this word right. I had an atrial fibrillation, or also known as an afib. Apparently they're quite common, so maybe some of you have experienced that or know someone who has. Mine lasted 6 hours before they got it under control. I had to get iv and fluids and all that jazz. And it's interesting, the different things that went through my mind while this was happening. I wasn't afraid of dying or anything like that.
Carla Arges [00:04:48]:
Although it did feel like I was having a heart attack. It was really painful. I couldn't breathe. I was dizzy. I was a little bit worried, more so about Caleb being worried about me because we had to leave my son. My parents came and took him out for dinner, but I was worried about how he would be worried because my son does have anxiety and he does have OCD. But I just kind of thought, God, this is so funny. Like, your timing is so funny.
Carla Arges [00:05:21]:
Not in a ha ha way, but in a are you for real way. I'm supposed to be leaving the country on Thursday with my son on a special mother and son adventure, and I just thought, oh, this timing is just. And I've been coming off. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I was coming off some burnt, being burnt out and run down, and I didn't realize how taxing becoming a caregiver for my parents would be. And I realized that I had to pull some things off my plate. So I've pulled some things off my plate work wise. I canceled the patreon and my prayer and connect and my weekly devotion. I have limited my volunteering at church to just doing one thing for women's ministry instead of also doing nursery and other things and trying to take a real slow pace and not put pressure on myself.
Carla Arges [00:06:26]:
But I just thought, God, your timing, like, things have been hard for me and I'm looking forward to this trip. I'm doing so many medical stuff with my parents now I'm going to have to go see a cardiologist and do all this. And in that moment of like, are you serious? God. I decided to flip the script to gratitude. To gratitude. And oftentimes when I talk about gratitude with my clients, because it is something that I get them to start a practice around, is that it's very easy to be grateful for the big things. I'm grateful for my home. I'm grateful for my family.
Carla Arges [00:07:16]:
I'm grateful for God. Right? Those things are easy. But what I often challenge my clients and what I challenged myself with during this whole heart issue, and I was back at the hospital yesterday as well, and I'm still having residual chest pain. But what I challenge is like, where's the gratitude in the heart stuff? How can we be grateful in the hard stuff, the stuff that we want to say, why God? The stuff that we want to be like, I can't take one more thing. The struggle, the unanswered prayer. Where can we have gratitude in those moments? It says in the word that we are to give thanks in all circumstances. It's easy to give thanks when we're on the mountaintop. It's easy to give thanks when we see prayers answered in the way that we expected and hoped for.
Carla Arges [00:08:19]:
That's easy gratitude. It's easy to be grateful for a sunny day. It's easy to be grateful for a vacation. It's easy to be grateful for a happy marriage. But what about giving thanks in all things in the valley, in the hard stuff, in the unanswered prayer? Because here's the thing, friend. God is still at work for you. God is always working for you, for your good. Now, the problem with our vision on this side of heaven is we only see the back of the tapestry that God is weaving.
Carla Arges [00:09:05]:
It looks messy and chaotic. It doesn't make sense. We can't see how anything good will come from it. It's not really going to be until we get to heaven, till we see the front of the tapestry and the beautiful picture he's woven in through our lives. So how can now, today, in your struggle, in the prayer that God is not answering the way you want to, in the medical crisis you're walking through and struggling through, in the marital crisis that you're going through, where you're sitting with your trauma, a broken heart, a broken life, where can you give thanks to God? Because his fingerprints are there. Even in the hard stuff, there is provision. There is manna. Now, the Israelites didn't love all the manna.
Carla Arges [00:10:04]:
It was boring. It only lasted for the day. It was just sufficient for the day. But God provided in their wilderness something to eat, something to sustain them. Sure, it wasn't a steak dinner, but God's fingerprints and provision were there. Where is the mana in your struggle? Where is the manna in your hard time? Right now? I really want to encourage you to start changing your focus and looking for the evidence of manna in your life because it's there. And when we see the manna, our hearts can leap with joy and renewed hope that my God hasn't forgotten me. My God hasn't forsaken me.
Carla Arges [00:10:57]:
For reasons I don't understand, I'm going through this struggle, but my God is providing for me. In the midst of it, I have a huge phobia of needles and in the last 48 hours I've had to get two ivs, which may not seem like a big deal to you guys, but when I say phobia, I'm not exaggerating. It's really hard for me. And yet, in the hardness, God provided kind nurses. God provided ease in finding my veins.
Carla Arges [00:11:35]:
God provided.
Carla Arges [00:11:37]:
When I was at the hospital, God provided peace. God provided my parents to pour into my son.
Carla Arges [00:11:48]:
God provided.
Carla Arges [00:11:51]:
God provided people to pray for me.
Carla Arges [00:11:55]:
God provided.
Carla Arges [00:11:58]:
When I was hungry, my husband brought me something to eat.
Carla Arges [00:12:02]:
God provided. God provided.
Carla Arges [00:12:07]:
When I got to emergency the second time, I had to go. There was a parking spot that I didn't have to pay for right up front by the front door. That never happens.
Carla Arges [00:12:18]:
God provided.
Carla Arges [00:12:21]:
There was Manna. Throughout this struggle, God's provision and fingerprints were there. Now, he didn't prevent this afib from happening. He didn't stop it immediately. When it started, it lasted 6 hours. He hasn't shielded me from all the repercussions. I still have chest pain and some shortness of breath. You might be able to tell from my speaking I'm panting a little.
Carla Arges [00:12:54]:
But he has been there and he has been providing. We are so quick sometimes to look at how God's not doing things our way. We are so quick to look at why God is doing things in aggravation and misunderstanding of God's heart. I want us to become a people that are quick to see the manna, quick to rejoice for his daily provision. And remember the manna was daily. God provides fresh every day for you. Where is the manna in your life? Where in your heart space can you give God gratitude? Because he is still worthy of honor and praise. He is still the holy of holies.
Carla Arges [00:13:45]:
He is still our loving father. How can you lift up his name and praise and worship even in your hard place? How can you sing a song of thanksgiving even in your hard place? How can you say this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it, even in your hard place. That's my challenge for you guys this week. Look for the manna in your life. Not the mountaintop experiences, but in the hard. Where can you see God's fingerprints? Because I'm telling you, they're there.