E13: Practical Steps To Address The Hinderances That Get In The Way Of A Fulfilling Life

SHOW TRANSCRIPT:

Jennifer Cudmore (00:57)
Hey everybody, thanks for joining again. This is Jennifer. I am going to continue the conversation regarding hindrances. And when we back in episode four had addressed that scripture, it’s in Hebrews 12 verse one, let me read that to you again. And this is gonna be from the King James version. So.

Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that’s set before us. So we had discussed that a little bit in episode four and it’s been on my mind because I feel like there are some more things that we could discuss about it. And so I’ve been pondering it for a couple of weeks and

sat down this morning and thought, you know what, there’s just some other things about this verse and this concept of hindrances that I wanted to dig into, dive into. it’s, you know, when we talk about hindrances and stripping away every weight, I wanted to dig deeper into that specific word. And so I did a little bit of a deeper study on that specific word and it’s in the Greek. It is ongos.

I’m probably not saying that correctly. That’s my closest version. But the direct translation and they’re what I was reading in the Strong’s Concordance was saying that it is difficult to find a direct translation, but it’s something along the lines of a burden or an encumbrance. So a hindrance or a weight. And these are the things that get in our way and cause us to not run our race well.

So our previous question had been, what is hindering you from running your race well? What are you carrying that’s keeping you from living your best life? And so to answer that question, we had dug into, well, first you gotta know your purpose. You need to understand what race are you supposed to run? What are you called to do? Why are you on this planet? What are you meant to accomplish? And so we talked about the difference between just drifting through life and just showing up every day.

taking what comes at you or being intentional. And by identifying our purpose, we have a direction to go so that we can aim a certain way and go after a specific thing, a specific future, a specific assignment, if you will. And so I believe that God gives every human a calling, gives every human an anointing and gifts and skills and talents and…

things that they can do for him and for others while they’re on this earth. And it’s a matter of taking the time to work that out and solidifying what is our purpose and what is that gonna look like? So it’s gonna be a little bit different for each person. And so the other thing to consider along with that is gonna be that in different seasons of life, our purpose is going to change. I don’t believe that there is one specific goal or.

or dream or desire that we are all meant to go after. I think there are several, for examples, you could go, if you have somebody mentoring you, then at some point, you should finish that training, right? Hopefully you eventually glean it and get it and start living it. And so then,

there will be a switch where you will become the mentor instead of the mentee. And you’ll be able to start giving back to other people and helping other people become the best version of themselves, right? There’s also what if you change jobs or you move into a different field? I know that when we moved from Alaska to the Carolinas, my husband stayed with the same company, but he switched roles within the company. And so he had to learn an entirely different way of looking at the job. And

So these different roles are gonna change. I also was thinking about how my nephew who graduated high school last year, when he was in the student ministry as more of a consumer or participant, but now that he is officially an adult, he’s been helping out and he is now in charge of a group of students. And so his role switched. So in different seasons of life, I just wanted to give some practical examples of what that can look like.

Another one would be when you are a newlywed or a new parent, your role is shifting, your lifestyle is shifting. And so your purpose in life is going to look a little bit different, right? So another thing to consider is that we all have gifts and talents, but we also have the ability and the opportunity to learn new skills or to hone the gifts and talents that we already have. And so that is going to affect our purpose.

in life and in each season. Another thing being our passions can, I don’t want to say like come and go, but our passions can maybe just be altered a little bit depending on seasons of life or new information that we are given. For example, the more I began to understand the power of prayer, the more I grew a passion for it. I wanted to know more about it. I wanted to learn how to better

how to do intercession better. And so my passion grew out of the more I learned, the more I wanted to learn. Another example being when you become aware of a need that you never saw before or an injustice that had never been necessarily a part of your daily life. And that comes to light for you and that becomes very real. And then you’re gonna shift your focus and you’re gonna move your purpose more directed towards something like that. So there’s just a different.

areas of our life in different seasons of our life that is going to affect the direction of our purpose. And along with that, once we have defined what is our purpose at this point or at this season, once we’ve defined the direction that we’re going, how do we know when we’ve completed that mission or how do we know when we’ve reached that desired end? We have to know what the goal is that we’re looking for.

What are we striving toward so that we can measure our progress, measure our success in those areas? So what will it look like to walk out this purpose? What actions and behaviors do I need to take in order to get to go towards that purpose? And then, you know, once I’ve completed step one or task number one, then what is step two? What is step three? And what does it look like to walk it out essentially? And then

along with that being, okay, there’s gonna be hindrances, there’s gonna be things that get in the way of me trying to reach this goal or trying to reach this purpose. So how do I get around them? So we need to develop awareness. What is getting in the way? What’s blocking my progress? What are some practical things that are easy? So like if I lack skills to be a good mom or to be a good leader, then you go.

find that information, right? You find the information, you learn the information and begin to practice the information. Something like that is easy. But what about other things that are maybe not so easy to identify? We can tend to think that hindrances are external forces, right? Circumstances that needed to be overcome such as time or money or car trouble or all sorts of different things.

But really the biggest issue is the internal forces that get in our way. We got to look inside our own hearts and minds. We’ve got to become aware of those places where there is self-sabotage that we haven’t noticed before. And so all of these things I’ve touched on in other episodes, if you’ve missed those, you know, feel free to go back and look through all of those. There’s a lot of good content in there and hopefully inspirational content as well. But

We have to learn how to pay attention to our habits, pay attention to our patterns. Is this thing that I’m doing every day or multiple times a week, is this actually helping me reach my goal and accomplish my purpose? Or is it actually getting in the way? Like one of the things I’ve talked about a couple of times is hitting the snooze button, how easy it is to stay in bed because it’s comfortable and we’re still tired, right?

But staying in bed, hitting snooze actually can be detrimental for us. It can actually harm us because it keeps us from doing those things that we ultimately want in life. and another thing that came to mind is the scripture in Romans 12, one where the Bible talks about being transformed by the renewing of our mind. Just having awareness around the fact that there’s gonna be some thought patterns and some mindsets that are out of whack that we need to

pay attention to and begin to address so that we can think bigger and think differently, think in ways that are going to lead us to success and lead us to happiness instead of living under restrictions. So that’s going to be the three L’s that I keep talking about, recognizing hindrances in our mindset and perspective with where it relates to what

lies that are disabling us, labels that are shaming us and condemning us, and then limitations that are stopping us from even trying to do certain things, trying to make our life bigger, better, whatever direction we’re trying to go, whatever our purpose is. so side note, I am still working on designing a worksheet that’s going to help you go through those steps so that you can begin to become more aware in your own life.

of where you’ve got lies, labels, and limitations that are hindering you. So I’ll tell you more about that. Hopefully here within the next week or two, we’ll get that out for everybody. So that is kind of like a recap of some things that I’ve already brought up, but I wanted to just lay a foundation in case you hadn’t done some of those other episodes. The question I want to pose today with regards to weights that we carry or hindrances that get in our way.

It’s when you know that there are some hindrances, when you recognize what’s going on, when you’re seeing those patterns that are causing you trouble, causing you harm, what do you do about it? How do you know what your next step is? How do you know how to address it and get past it and overcome it? So here are a couple of things that came to my mind. I think first of all, we need to have a willing heart.

We need to choose to be strong, choose to be courageous, to face these things that we know are going to be uncomfortable or even at times painful. It takes a little bit of work to make change in our life. And so if we’re not going to be intentional, then we’re not going to change. We’re not going to get that better thing that we’re going after. We’re not going to reach our purpose.

it comes to a place of sometimes it’s just surrendering to God if he’s giving you a task or calling and you’re just not really wanting to do it. Like when he told me over a year ago to start this podcast and I was dragging my feet. Sometimes he does give us some grace for that, you know, to let us kind of get to a place of acceptance, but ultimately we have to just do it. So reaching a place of willingness and acceptance of change being necessary. I had talked before about the concept of

functional fixedness and how that’s a psychological term that basically means if Unless a situation is super painful for me. I am NOT gonna change Typically, I won’t change for somebody else. I have to change for myself. Although sometimes someone else’s pain is motivational enough for us But most of the time it’s not we have to make that choice for ourself in whatever the situation is and so coming to that place of

of willingness of saying, how badly do I want this better life? How badly do I want this better future? More happiness, more success, whatever that is going to look like. we have to make that choice. We have to make a decision and then stick to it. What are you committed to is a great question that I’ve been learning to ask myself. Am I committed to staying in bed and hitting that snooze button or

Am I committed to getting out of bed and doing those responsible things that need to get done so that I can accomplish the mission that I believe I have on this earth to go after that purpose that I believe that was given to me? those are some good questions to ask ourselves to help us get to a place of willingness, a place of acceptance of, yes, I really need to make some changes in these areas. And

and becoming determined that I’m going to do it, making that decision being intentional. Part of that being also that a lot of times there’s a cost involved and we have to be willing to accept that cost. have to, we can’t avoid it or ignore it. Maybe it’s going to be time that you’ve got to invest. Maybe it’s money you got to invest. I mean, there are so many different ways that there could potentially be a cost to you or a sacrifice

it really depends on the specific areas of your life and the purpose that you have. But ultimately, start asking yourself those questions. And I also just wanted to reiterate that quote from Einstein about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again, but you’re expecting a different result. If you want your life to be better, if you want change,

You have to actually implement it. You have to actually take the steps. It’s not just going to fall in your lap. You need to be proactive about it. coming to a place of willingness, say, is after awareness, that is the next important step. Now that you’re aware of it, you’ve got to be willing to work towards finding a change and making your life better. And then the second thing that came to mind as far as what do I do when I recognize a hindrance?

You gotta go get the information. You gotta be resourceful. You’ve got to figure out where you’re gonna get the help that you need in order to overcome that situation. So for me, I definitely recommend prayer. And that’s where I try to start is that I don’t always know exactly what I need or how to get it, but God does. And he can point me in the right direction, whether it’s asking a mentor.

or finding a mentor maybe in that area or asking a mentor where I can get the information. It might be a book, it might be a video, it might be a class. There are so many different ways you can get it depending on what the topic is, but I guarantee you there’s going to be a book or a video somewhere that’s got the information that you’re looking for to help you overcome that situation, overcome that hindrance. So,

For me, here’s an example. I remember when I was first starting to really develop a passion for prayer and understand, wow, prayer can make a huge difference in my life. I had always prayed over my family, but I wanted to become more intentional and I wanted to learn how to pray more powerful prayers. I didn’t really know anybody. I didn’t know any groups or whatnot. I just started praying as a Lord.

I don’t know where to get the help that I need. I don’t even know how to ask this question. I don’t even know exactly what kind of more powerful prayers I’m looking for. But I need you to bring me somebody or some resource that is going to start pointing me in the right direction. And he absolutely did. in roundabout ways, I would learn about certain books that were just exactly what I was looking for. And he brought a couple beautiful women into my life that were…

pretty big prayer warriors that I’ve just gleaned just from watching them and listening to them and being in their presence. I learned so much that way. So there’s definitely different opportunities out there, but when we are not sure what to do, get God on your side, get him to help you figure it out. That is my first recommendation by far. But then part of that, let’s get some practical things. There may be a group that you could join.

There could be like a physical meeting somewhere or even if you went online to social media, know Facebook has a lot of different groups for different topics. And so just being in a group and just sitting back and listening and watching can be really helpful because you’re witnessing what others are doing in that area where you’re wanting to get better or you’re wanting to learn more. So that is an idea. And I think for me, because I wasn’t finding what I wanted.

in that season within my own church, I ended up branching out and going to some other ministries and some other churches to try to find the teachings that I needed that were specific. I’m still on the topic of learning how to pray more powerful prayers because at that point, my church didn’t really have any classes that were teaching prayer. They didn’t have any sort of mentorship programs or anything like that. And so I was like, well, where can I get it?

I was able to get that from some other churches, other ministries within my community. So find a group that you can not just learn from, but like do life with those people so that you are living it out together and doing the daily steps together. And there can be sometimes some accountability in that as well to help you stick to it, what you’re trying to put into practice.

And I would think another piece of this that I would recommend is that you gotta be okay with the process not looking the way that you thought it should or you wanted it to look. I know that was definitely me. I would have wanted to learn how to pray from my direct leaders within my own church. And at that moment, that just wasn’t available. And so it’s not a big deal to branch out into other areas, into different groups. It’s not disloyal. That was one thing I worried about is I didn’t wanna be disloyal.

to my church by getting my needs met somewhere else. So I didn’t leave my church. I didn’t stop serving there. I did all the same things I was always doing. I just added to by going to these other meetings and these other areas to get the help I was looking for. So something to keep in mind, don’t let that be a limitation or a lie that holds you back from getting what you need and going after your purpose and finding change.

I would also say that along with resourcefulness is you really need to remember that you can’t walk life alone, right? So it is really helpful if you’ve got some sort of mentor or friend or could be your spouse or a close family member, somebody that you can talk to, somebody that’s gonna help you see the full perspective of what’s going on.

not just somebody that’s gonna take your side all the time, but someone who’s really gonna push you to help you think outside the box. Sometimes we just need someone to listen as we try to process the things that we’re learning or as we try to understand now, wait, how is this thing that I’m doing, how is that actually hindering me? when we’re learning something new especially, it can be really helpful to talk it out and walk through it a few times because we need the practice. We don’t know how to do something.

Definitely recommend finding a safe person that could be friend, mentor, family member, pastor, ministry leader, whatever works for you. Get someone else on your side that can help you as you’re learning to walk through getting free of the hindrances and letting go of that weight that you’ve been carrying. And then the third thing when it comes to what

what are the practical steps I can take to start getting rid of this hindrance. Remember that there’s gonna be work involved. There will be discipline required. Anything worth having is worth putting effort into. And I think that our culture especially, I mean, I know this was extremely difficult for me is I like everything done quickly. I don’t want a slow process. I wanna do A, B, C, D and boom, I got my answer. I’ve got my reward. You know, we live in,

what a lot of people have called a microwave generation where we get answers so quickly, especially like when we’re looking for information. There’s so many things that are now at our fingertips, but there are certain realities to life that change can have certain things, change included can happen slowly and it’s meant to be to go slow and we need to be okay with that. So willing to put in the work.

I remember, in fact, like just recently, God’s been giving me this phrase of tension in the change. There’s been a lot of change in my life over the past year, a lot, and that can create tension. And so learning to just sit and rest in that and be okay with things not being comfortable, be okay with there being a little bit of pain in your life that takes a while to resolve. And so I think that part of that is maturity. We have to practice that.

but just recognizing that with discipline is gonna come a little bit of pain and discomfort. that’s just the way it is. And we’ve got to accept that and we’ve got to embrace it instead of resist it. I think of how easy it is to fixate on the things that we don’t like or focus on the things that didn’t go well.

And so just remembering that we’ve got to keep our focus on the prize, right? Instead of, you know, sitting here wallowing in the self pity of the moment, remembering that there’s an ultimate goal that I’m after and that this pain, this discomfort is temporary. It’s always temporary if we keep pushing through. So am I going to keep whining and complaining that it’s hard or am I going to keep reminding myself that the end result is worth it?

And that’s where it’s important to make sure you’ve identified and defined your why. Why am I doing this? Why am I trying to change? What am I after? How is this going to make my life better? And don’t I want that more than I want this place of safety and comfort, Because ultimately where I’m at now is actually not a great place. It’s just comfortable because I’m here.

It’s comfortable because I know it. The unknown is always scary. And so I would rather stay in a place, even though it’s uncomfortable and I know it’s not good for me, I’m going to stay here instead of doing the work to get out. So it takes commitment. if it was easy, everybody would do it. Everybody would have their life together. Everybody would be doing the responsible thing, doing the work, getting the things done, living their life.

to the fullness, to the best of their ability and being the best version of themselves. But unfortunately, not everyone’s willing to do that. And so are you gonna be one of those people that says, you know what, this is too hard, I’m gonna settle for what’s easy? Or are you gonna push through? Are you gonna be able to be proud of what you overcame because you didn’t give up and you kept doing the work you chose discipline over whatever in the moment. So.

And remembering that along with discipline is we always make time for what’s important to us. So if you choose that this is important for you, if you really want to get past your hindrances, if you really want to stop carrying around this extra weight, you’re going to make time to do the things that discipline requires.

keep a positive mindset in those moments where it’s really difficult and in the moment you don’t feel like doing the work. So, I already kind of mentioned this, but sacrifice, discipline is gonna require sacrifice. You’re gonna have to give up some things. It could be sleeping in, it could be TV. For me, those were the things I had to give up. I remember learning how to, I always thought 6 a.m. was.

early and then learning how to get up at 5 a.m. was just a bear. It was so difficult for me and now I’ve been doing it for so long. I just it’s really difficult for me to sleep past that unless I’m exhausted. So there’s different things that we have to do. I know just the other night I was thinking man I really don’t want to get up and do the dishes. I would rather just sit here and keep watching TV because I’m tired or whatever was going on in my mind at the moment and and I had to check myself and say no.

I am a person of discipline. I want to keep my house clean and I’m going to take 10 minutes of my life, of my evening to go load the dishwasher and turn it on. It’s that simple. It’s these, it’s these day to day moment by moment decisions where we choose discipline and we do the thing that’s going to propel us towards the future we want. Or we fall back, like I said, into what’s comfortable, what’s easy and what ends up ultimately sabotaging us. So what do we want more?

Are we going to sacrifice and do the thing or not? And it really is a developing that the habit or the practice of letting go of short-term pain to get the long-term reward. A lot of times like we want that quick result. want that fast answer instead of waiting patiently in the long-term to get the outcome that we ultimately were after. So

Those are the thoughts that have been on my mind with regards to weights and hindrances and how we can live a better life and have a better quality of life. So as we go about our week, let’s explore the depths of this final thought. Have you defined your purpose? Do you know what you want? Do you know what you’re called to do? Have you practiced awareness around that? Are you aware of what’s getting in the way of your success and your happiness? What’s blocking you from reaching your purpose? And then,

Where can you become more willing, more resourceful, and more disciplined? So I’ll leave you with that. Keep joining us each week as we venture into the depths to find treasures and throw off every weight that’s been holding us back.