Nikki Humphrey (00:00)
Hi, I'm Nikki.
Hope Mangiafico (00:01)
Hi, I'm Hope. Welcome to Equipped Fellowship, where friends become family through Christ. We're two Jesus-loving friends on a mission to share personal stories, resources, and real talk about our triumphs, breakthroughs, struggles, and setbacks. Why? Because we believe you are called to live victoriously, and we're here to equip you with Holy Spirit-led tools and strategies to strengthen your faith, transform your mindset, and walk boldly in God's promises.
Because here's the truth, you have been given great and precious promises by God. So grab your coffee, lean in and let's grow together. It's time to step in everything that God has for you.
Nikki Humphrey (00:42)
That's right. ⁓
Hope Mangiafico (00:43)
That's right. Amen,
sister. ⁓ man. I'm excited. I don't know how today is going to unfold, but I, ⁓ the way this one kind of dropped in me is we were in the Book of Colossians and I decided to flip to the next page and just bam, it just like popped out of the page of talking about discussing the question that people have so often, which is what's God's will for my life?
Have you ever asked that one, Nikki?
Nikki Humphrey (01:13)
Whoa, yes, lots, lots and lots.
Hope Mangiafico (01:16)
And know, as humans, feel like we overcomplicate everything and I love how simple, well you say that all the time, don't we? How simple the Bible makes it. So I'm looking forward to diving into that and if you're good, we'll jump straight into the scripture that was highlighted to me on Sunday. So it's 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18. And it says,
Nikki Humphrey (01:33)
for sure.
Hope Mangiafico (01:40)
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Nikki Humphrey (01:46)
I it.
Hope Mangiafico (01:47)
That's it. And you know, it made me think about how often in our conversations you, and I highlight you because this has actually been a growth opportunity for me, you talk about gratitude a lot and the game changer it's been for you. And that actually for me has been a place of contention because anytime a word is overused, I push back and the whole world talks about gratitude. And I was like,
I'm feeling it Lord, I mean I'm being honest, but you have this beautiful display of it and I now can have, I have my own testimony of it now, but you just, you've highlighted it so many times and it shows how important that is and obviously why it's part of God's will, right?
⁓ So it's so, so good. so, yeah, I don't know, I guess kind of taking it apart in different orders. Speaking of gratitude, like for you, like I said, you've mentioned it a couple of times in different conversations, but how transformative has that been for you?
Nikki Humphrey (02:47)
It's an immediate, and we've talked about this in other episodes, but it's one of those immediate thought disruptors. It's an immediate resetter for your life, almost your circumstances, what you're just feeling at that moment. And we, my daughter and I actually had to do this today. I'm not feeling very well. We got some things going on in the house that aren't.
great some things that we're dealing with. And we just took a moment and we put some anointing oil in her bedroom and we were just grateful for her room and her space and God looking over it and Holy Spirit entering the space and just this posture, this attitude of gratitude. And it doesn't always have to be, you know, like the worldly gratitude that you're talking about.
Hope Mangiafico (03:26)
That's good.
Right. Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (03:42)
is just like, I'm grateful because I have this and I have that and I have this acclaim. And no, this was just pouring out being grateful for all that God is doing in our life and what we're talking about today, the seen and the unseen and the expectation that even though this might be a hard season, we are walking lockstep with God, Jesus, Holy Spirit.
Hope Mangiafico (03:46)
Ugh.
Hmm.
Yes.
Nikki Humphrey (04:11)
and we are going to make it through the other side.
Hope Mangiafico (04:15)
I feel that. I feel that of like that being the root of why he says part of his will is to have that gratitude puts you right back on track of what matters.
Nikki Humphrey (04:26)
Yes, yes.
Hope Mangiafico (04:27)
⁓ that's, ⁓ I love how you did that already today with Josephine. That's beautiful. And that's one thing that's really great. I'm reading from the ESV, but it says give thanks in all circumstances.
Nikki Humphrey (04:38)
Yes. Yes. And
I had the NIV and it says the exact same thing.
Hope Mangiafico (04:42)
Okay, perfect. Awesome. And you know, as you're speaking and talking about what you guys are walking through and you know, you and I briefly just chatted right before recording, like it's not easy and it's distracting because there's some pain attached, right? There's some physical pain, there's emotional weight. ⁓ And that's when it can be so hard, but God knows what will change that mindset, cause you to pause and
and turn and for a moment like as soon as you start having that authentic gratitude which I almost feel like that's the appropriate term is authentic gratitude ⁓ you get peace you can breathe again and he knows that he knows that breath is life right he knows the peace will reset your body
Nikki Humphrey (05:23)
Mm-hmm.
And just as you're talking, like the breath of life I feel has been distorted.
Hope Mangiafico (05:33)
Ugh.
⁓ yes, you're totally right about that.
Nikki Humphrey (05:40)
You know, like all the yoga breathing and all of that. And it's just like, God gave us the ability to take a breath and we need to honor him and give gratitude for that breath in our lungs. I mean, there are so many scriptures and songs about that, putting you up.
Hope Mangiafico (05:57)
Yeah, my head, I'm singing
one in my head right now.
Nikki Humphrey (06:00)
It's going, right? But it's so true. You have to focus on the godly meaning, the godly principles of these things.
Hope Mangiafico (06:12)
Yeah.
And you know, I think I first learned about gratitude not from scripture. And that is where my pushback was, as you were saying about like hope. Like you understood what I was saying because it is like, thank you for my home, which is not bad. But it was like I was missing the heart connection. And honestly, I don't know if you can have it without him because he is love, he's everything. And so he started working on my heart.
Nikki Humphrey (06:29)
Right.
Hope Mangiafico (06:40)
I was misaligned with his will, so I couldn't give the authentic gratitude.
I don't know. That just, that made sense for me. Yeah, right? Yeah.
Nikki Humphrey (06:47)
It makes a lot of sense that way.
Hope Mangiafico (06:50)
Oh man. And you know, it's interesting too. It makes me think about conversations we've had before, even about like when we did Sacred Imagination and you share how you, you you work up to the gate to enter and meet Jesus, which if the listeners haven't listened to that, it's such a great, such a great episode. But, you know, you enter with thanks or praise and thanksgiving, that's a proper term. And he
He knows why, like there's a reason why he has a start all things with praise and thanksgiving.
It sets you up for six- he's just- he's so good. and- and as I was reflecting on the scripture as a whole, and I know I'm kind of- I'm zooming back- back out when we were just zooming in, but I think about these three things, which we'll dive into the other two, when you get these three things, the, God, what's your will question gets answered, not just because this is what the scripture says, but because
Your purpose unfolds, your alignment unfolds. All of those things unfold and you no longer have those questions.
They just fall into place.
It's a beautiful thing.
Nikki Humphrey (08:02)
Yeah. And thinking about that, I wrote a note that God's will isn't first about direction. It's about devotion.
Hope Mangiafico (08:09)
⁓
Ooh, that'll hit. That's good. I like that.
Nikki Humphrey (08:14)
Yeah. And
then I went on, it's like, when you're waiting for answers, rejoice anyways. When you're uncertain, pray continually. When you feel stuck, give thanks. And that's part of the reason why I was doing that with Josephine today, because I was feeling, I was waiting, I felt uncertain, I was feeling stuck. And I was just like, okay, but this is what we're going to do. This is what.
the Bible tells us to do, so we're going to do it. And I wasn't even connecting it to this at the time. I was just doing it, but it isn't about direction. It's about our devotion to Jesus and our heart, like you said earlier.
Hope Mangiafico (08:43)
⁓ wow.
I love that, Nikki.
And we so badly, or I'll raise my hand, want direction because we think that's the direction we need to go in, right? We think that's the next step because next steps are often taught in a directional sense.
Nikki Humphrey (09:07)
Mm-hmm.
Hope Mangiafico (09:08)
Whoa.
That just hit me like a load of bricks. ⁓
Nikki Humphrey (09:10)
That
did something in my mind. was like...
Hope Mangiafico (09:14)
Yeah, and our devotion. And you know, that leads me to that one part of pray without seizing. You know, I remember reading this in the past in our Arab, even like, maybe even debates online, I don't know. But it's like, what does that mean? What does that look like? Because it's like, we got life to live. And my initial thought now after my devotion to Jesus has grown is it's what you and I have shared so often. It's just chatting with the Lord.
Nikki Humphrey (09:40)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (09:41)
putting your mascara on like we said you know tons of episodes ago maybe in the intro episode just talking to them it's not this like on your hands and knees all the time you know doing this with your hands you know crossed and eyes closed and you bow down ⁓ that's not what it means
Yeah, because Paul, I think Paul was a great reflection of pray without ceasing as a non-Jesus figure, as like an all fully human person. And you see his life and what he walked through and went through and he was always prayerful in an alignment. And I always remember, I can't recall if someone taught me this or it just came to me when I was reading, but like when you read the journey of Paul in scripture,
He knew God wanted him to make it to Rome and nothing would happen to him until he got there. He knew that the whole time and he went through so much stuff. There was only one way to know that, to know God's will for his life and that was through constant prayer or communion.
Nikki Humphrey (10:47)
Hmm? Mm-hmm?
Hope Mangiafico (10:48)
So the direction unfolded because of his devotion.
Nikki Humphrey (10:51)
Yeah, yes,
I had a note about that, but it'll pop in ⁓ when it needs to come.
Hope Mangiafico (10:58)
About like Paul specifically or
Nikki Humphrey (11:03)
Yes, I think so.
Hope Mangiafico (11:04)
Wow, that's cool.
He's such a good character to study. would encourage listeners if you haven't, just, I don't know, even just study Paul as a whole, but read a lot of the smaller books in the New Testament where he's writing to the churches and stuff. It's just, it's so good.
Nikki Humphrey (11:21)
Yeah, and so I was saying about that, wrote, God's will is not a destination, it's a daily invitation. And that's what Paul did so well.
Hope Mangiafico (11:31)
Wow, yes.
Nikki Humphrey (11:32)
no matter what came came in, he wasn't just focusing on getting to Rome safely, but he was inviting in, just like you said, God into every aspect of his life, daily, all the time.
Hope Mangiafico (11:44)
Yes. And you know, I'm getting this like thought. You and I have been blessed abundantly by this podcast because we come on here and we get to talk about the Lord. We get to share what he's done in our lives and encourage other people. And that's what Paul was doing. And when you're stepping out and you're just talking about him as well, you're able to keep that going and that alignment. And Paul's external life
helped push his internal, feel like, as well. Just like any outside influence can push you towards God or away from God. feel like Paul, continually being on that mission, was encouraging him further to keep praying without ceasing.
Nikki Humphrey (12:27)
That's right. That's right.
Hope Mangiafico (12:29)
I don't know. I feel that you and I, we've not had easy lives, but since this podcast has started, we've had different challenges. And that's very Paul-like, to be honest. But through that, it has only caused us to press in more, to have more gratitude, to pray more, to pray in a different way as well. Again, that's that communication, but the way that communication looks can change depending on
the pressing that's happening, the pressure. talked about, it might have just been the last episode, I can't remember. I can't remember. But it's where you're pressed on all sides, right? And you're not defeated and you have all of this coming at you in those moments. It's when what's in you comes out. And that's where if you're aligned with him and you're seeking him above all else, the gratitude comes out.
praise comes out, the prayer comes out. It's the only way it comes out is through that pressing.
Nikki Humphrey (13:28)
But it took us a long time to do that because when we were oppressed before we turned to victim and we talked about that a lot too. And so if you feel like you're in that victim mindset right now, rest assured.
Hope Mangiafico (13:36)
gosh, yes.
Hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (13:42)
that you can turn it around. Step by step, we always say simplicity is best. Doesn't mean you have to do that all the time or be cognizant all the time, but just open the door for opportunities to give gratitude, big or small in your life. Maybe it's just once a day for now.
Hope Mangiafico (13:58)
You know, that's probably another layer as to why I appreciate gratitude exercises beforehand. Because my mind, whether I would want to admit it or not, was so clouded by the negative or what I didn't have or what happened to me because it felt so heavy, right? And so I let that, there was like a balance, right? I let that be the more important, the heavier, the heavier item.
Nikki Humphrey (14:22)
I remember way back, maybe not way back, but maybe three or four years ago, I used to put sticky notes around the house. Like, are you checking in with Jesus? This is that reminder for me to like, hey, just have that conversation, whatever I'm doing, invite him in to what I'm doing. Cause I needed that. I needed that external checkpoint. Cause
Hope Mangiafico (14:31)
⁓ that's good.
Nikki Humphrey (14:46)
Like you said, I didn't like the gratitude before, because it was so ritualistic. Like you had to sit down and write out five things you're grateful for, and follow it, be in different categories. And I'm like...
Hope Mangiafico (14:50)
Yes. Yes. Yes!
steps. We like checklists. We like those things. But you can feel when you're disconnected from it.
Nikki Humphrey (15:05)
Yes, yeah.
Hope Mangiafico (15:06)
And it's yucky. It is so yucky, even though it's like I needed help. What I needed help with was getting out of the victim mindset so I could connect with what God was actually doing in my life. I didn't need to come up with more gratitude. I needed him to work on my heart.
Nikki Humphrey (15:20)
Right. But when you do gratitude the right way, you can't be grateful and in a victim mindset at the same time. It's impossible.
Hope Mangiafico (15:25)
No.
That's the truth. Girl, don't I know it. And I like, so what I like about your Post-It Note idea is that even if you're walking in victimhood up until you see that Post-It Note, it's that check in not only to speak to him, but then also like to do a heart check. And you know, similar to you, I change the background on my phone a lot depending on the season that I'm in where I'm noticing a struggle. So ⁓ like,
Nikki Humphrey (15:44)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (15:55)
I won't go into great detail, but I was on a trip and I noticed that I wasn't being present. And I put, and the reason was because it felt like nothing was going how I wanted it to be. And so I put right here, like, let what is be. And it's like kind of the oddest way to put that, but it made sense to me. So every time I saw it, I'm like, wow, God, I'm missing what you're giving me right now. I want to be present.
Nikki Humphrey (16:00)
Mmm.
Hope Mangiafico (16:22)
And I have to honestly, I've said before on the podcast, sometimes God just tells me to breathe. It still is the case oftentimes. So I just breathe because he's the breath of life and that is that's so life giving. And it would reset me. And now what I have is first Thessalonians 5.23, which is later down the same chapter we're talking about where I was struggling with somebody.
And I'm like, God, I can feel this tension inside of me and I don't like it, but I don't know how to handle it. I don't know what to do. And I feel a little this is this gives you permission as a listener. We've talked about the voice of God's, you know, sacred imagination. But sometimes you're so distraught that it's extremely difficult. I'll be honest, right? Like we make it simple. It is simple. He makes it simple. But when you're that stirred up.
whether it's in anxiousness, victim mindset, hard feelings towards someone, there's probably another route you can take. And for me, the scripture came up to pray over this person. As like, know, in scripture it says to pray for your enemies. Well, this person's not an enemy, but I still want to pray a blessing on them while I'm sorting through what is this tension I have in me. So every time I see my background,
I'm praying may the God of peace himself make you perfectly holy and may you entirely spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Because I'm speaking wholeness over them while I'm dealing with me, God can deal with them and help them get whole. Because at the end of the day, that's what we all want for, there's what we want for everyone, it's what he wants for everyone. And through the wholeness, you get that alignment of his will.
So anyways, it's very similar to your post-it, I just, since I'm looking at my phone all the time, right? ⁓ It gives me that check-in.
Nikki Humphrey (18:14)
Right, yeah. And if you're listening, think about what that checking could be for you. Is it a post-it note? Is it changing your screen? Is it a reminder? Is it a playlist that you put on that just changes your mindset? I have playlists for everything. I'm like, praise and worship, and then I have joy playlists. And you can cultivate those things to fit your needs.
Hope Mangiafico (18:40)
That's yeah, it's so good. That's so good. And I like how you just talked about a joy playlist because that third part of his will is rejoice always. And I want to ask you, you might have a note on this. How would you define joy?
Nikki Humphrey (18:50)
Hmm?
That is difficult to answer.
Hope Mangiafico (18:59)
Hahaha!
Nikki Humphrey (19:01)
Because
for me...
I did a post about this one time. Joy isn't like that, whoa! Yeah, like, da, da, da, da, da. Like, you think like joy, like most people think joy. Like for me, joy is, this is gonna sound very new agey, but it's not. It's like the illuminating essence of the Holy Spirit emanating out of me to be a blessing to others.
Hope Mangiafico (19:25)
Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.
Nikki Humphrey (19:28)
Like
it's that quiet joy, like it's that still small voice of God, but it's joy. And it's envelopes me. My posture changes, my face changes, the way I communicate with others changes, the way I handle hard situations. I don't think joy is reserved just for the good times. You can be in that joy
Hope Mangiafico (19:31)
Hmm.
Mm.
Yes.
No.
Nikki Humphrey (19:56)
filled posture and still be going through difficult seasons of your life.
Hope Mangiafico (20:02)
Yes, because it is a deep thing. remember hearing one time it being said that ⁓ joy is not based on happenings. Happiness is based on happenings. And I think through the world's lens, we pursue happiness.
It's that worldly identity that you often talk about happiness as being connected to what's happening in the world and around you, whereas joy is that deep. I I love that you use the word essence actually because he made us. We're filled with everything that he designed. So it should be that essence. You should be illuminating that Jesus glow, right? ⁓ That is noticeable to the world. And I like how you also called it quiet because I used to
Nikki Humphrey (20:45)
Mm-hmm.
Hope Mangiafico (20:47)
person comes to mind when I think of a joyful person and they were very extroverted. So then I was pursuing that. But that's goofy because that's also pursuing things that are outside of God anyways because that's not what God told me to do. That's funny. ⁓ But you know what came to my mind after this ⁓ scripture came to mind? Rejoice always.
The next thing that came to mind, which I don't know where it is in the Bible, is the joy of the Lord is my strength. So he makes his will based on him and he provides the joy. That's mind blowing actually when you think about it. That he's like, hey, here's my will and don't worry, I give it to you. I give you the joy. I...
I commune with you, so that's why I ask you to pray, because I'm going to show up. Right? And I'm such a good father. You know, there's scriptures about, like, if your earthly father does these great things, how much greater is he? So he's like, I give you things to be grateful for. I give you all of these things.
Nikki Humphrey (21:53)
It me think about when you say the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Hope Mangiafico (21:53)
I... Go ahead.
Nikki Humphrey (21:59)
and the enemy wants depression, yuck, negative mindset. That's like your kryptonite to the Lord's, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And so you think about joy comes from God. All that other nastiness is from the enemy.
and to combat it, we have to anchor into that. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Hope Mangiafico (22:17)
Yes.
And because he's so good, ⁓ again, we're making a lot of scriptural references and I did not plan on that, so I don't know exactly where it's at. But it's like, ⁓ one, his mercies are new every morning, but then also like joy comes in the morning. So if you're like really struggling with it every day, he's like, here's a new day. I've got it for you. Let's realign. Let's realign.
Nikki Humphrey (22:52)
you
Hope Mangiafico (22:54)
back into that place of joy. He gives us multiple opportunities all the time and I think that shows his love so well because he knew that it wasn't going to be easy.
So there might be mourning in the night. Mourning? I always... There might be hardships and tears in the night, but joy will come in the morning. And I'm sure that that means something different for everyone. But I guess I just want to remind people of that, that the page will turn.
because it's his will.
Like you said, Nikki.
The enemy will do things to distract us from that, to take our eyes off of what God designed us for and how He designed us so He could be our strength.
and
That makes me think of yet another script. No, I'm driven over.
Nikki Humphrey (23:54)
We got the words,
we got the issue with the words today. God will make it right.
Hope Mangiafico (23:59)
Yeah, another scripture of... I just lost my train of thought.
Oh, um, oh my gosh. You're going to fix me on this. It's in my weakness that I like he's made his strength is shown in my weakness. Where is that? Do you know what I'm talking about?
Nikki Humphrey (24:16)
I do.
Hope Mangiafico (24:17)
For what I am weak, then I am strong. That's at least I know that's right. And I believe that was also Paul. But that also is an encouragement. When we do feel like we're in this heavy place and that we're distant from the Lord or away from his will, he's going to show up with his strength.
And that's exciting because the joy of the Lord is my strength. So then you write back into his will.
you're feeling weak right now, rejoice in that because that means you're going to be led straight into his will.
that make sense?
Nikki Humphrey (24:50)
It It makes a lot of sense.
Hope Mangiafico (24:51)
my head I see this like beautiful kind of diagram thing, but...
Nikki Humphrey (24:55)
I did, I saw like a circle with the arrows, how it's like feeding into one of another.
Hope Mangiafico (24:57)
Yeah!
Yeah. And it... ⁓
Nikki Humphrey (25:02)
And it doesn't matter
where you're at in that cycle. And even if you don't complete the whole cycle, we'll call it a joy cycle. But just know the more that you tap into it, just like all the other tools and resources we've given you in our other podcasts, the more you do it, the more it doesn't seem so strange or like you don't doubt it as much. Like you know the fruit of it by tapping into that joy cycle. And so.
Hope Mangiafico (25:20)
Mmm.
Mm.
Nikki Humphrey (25:28)
Don't be discouraged. If you're in and you're out, you're in, you're out. Keep moving forward with it.
Hope Mangiafico (25:34)
That's good. That's really good. I love that. And one other thing, I, if someone were to like go into the Bible, there's one other place and I wanted to share this, where Jesus mentions the ⁓ will of God. And it's ⁓ John, John 640. And it says, for this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on this son,
aka Jesus, and believes in him should have eternal life, and I raise him up on the last day.
And I'm like, wow, God, like, we make so much out of trying to do the right things, to be in alignment with you, to fulfill a purpose, to, I don't know, to be a good neighbor, to be a good steward, to show up and serve and all these things. And your will is to choose Jesus. And through choosing Jesus, we can rejoice and pray and have gratitude.
That's the will. That's the full package. I mean, someone, I hope if anyone has ever done a study on God's will and has more to elaborate on, but those are the two things that came up when I did my research. I'm like, it's that well-packaged, that simple, and all we have to do is accept it and know that the rest follows, and we have to stop resisting that simplicity. We hate the simplicity.
I hate this simplicity oftentimes. That's so simple.
Nikki Humphrey (26:58)
same.
Hope Mangiafico (27:01)
I just, I-
Nikki Humphrey (27:02)
I almost write out the exact same thing.
Hope Mangiafico (27:04)
Really?
Nikki Humphrey (27:04)
Yeah, that's what I wrote. ⁓ While we're asking God, what do want me to do? God is saying, I want you to know me, trust me and live forever with me. The ultimate will of God is this, that you would look to Jesus, believe in him and receive eternal life. Everything else flows from that.
Hope Mangiafico (27:24)
and that puts my last scripture on top of that as this beautiful bow. Matthew 12 50. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.
brings us into the family and makes us co-heirs. And when you're a co-heir, you've got nothing you need to, like there's nothing you need to worry about. You have full provision.
Nikki Humphrey (27:42)
us.
That's right. And there's nothing you need to prove. I think
that's where people get stuck in the proving that they're worthy. You don't have to. You're the child of the most high. You don't have to prove anything.
Hope Mangiafico (28:03)
Okay, okay, that's gonna be, so, this is like stirring in me. And I'm actually on my own journey right now in our lovely journal with the Lord that he highlighted about a week ago and I'm taking it slow processing with him, but he's been highlighting perfectionism to me.
And that term is another term that I've pushed back on because everyone talks about being a perfectionist and I'm like, what's so wrong with it, Lord? ⁓ And it's a big problem on so many levels. And if you have ever deemed yourself as a perfectionist that comes from a place of self-hate and needing to prove yourself, it is not a good trait. It is not you showing up in bigger and better ways and
and being this elaborate person, it's coming from so much pain. And God does not ask you to be a perfectionist. And I did talk, we did talk about this on a previous episode, because I talked about that he's the master of the life, of this life. So when you deem yourself a perfectionist and needing to prove yourself, you are not under full submission under our master who has every perfect thing for you.
Nikki Humphrey (28:53)
Yes.
Hope Mangiafico (29:17)
through Jesus.
I release you from that. And like I said, I'm working through that myself because I did not realize, so someone said it to me a couple months ago that I was a perfectionist and I blew it off and I'm like, I didn't feel good. What's wrong with that Godin? Boy.
is deep and it comes from exactly what you just said, Nikki, about feeling like you need to prove yourself.
Nikki Humphrey (29:37)
because in an earthly sense, our perfect will and God's perfect will for us are usually different. That's why we need to be in complete alignment with our Father to figure that out. What is our perfect world? What is the Father's perfect will for us?
Hope Mangiafico (29:46)
⁓ yes.
And if you keep revisiting the scripture of 1st Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18, you'll always be back in that alignment because if you start with those three things, it will unfold to that perfect will. I once heard that God has a perfect will and a permissible will. I never want to be in the permissible will. You'll be blessed to a degree and it may look good, but I want the perfect will of God.
Nikki Humphrey (30:27)
That's right.
Hope Mangiafico (30:27)
not permissible. I don't want to see, you know, a bigger house or more money or even, gosh, even more stages, right? More people in the audience, more listeners, more subscribers when he wants it to look differently.
Nothing to prove.
Nikki Humphrey (30:44)
I was writing, I also had a note here about that last scripture that you said, Matthew 1250, for whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. And then I wrote.
Hope Mangiafico (30:54)
Mm-hmm.
Nikki Humphrey (30:58)
Surrendering to his will often means releasing our own, which we just covered, and that's tough, especially when his timing doesn't match our expectation. But here's the truth, delayed answers don't mean denied purpose. God's wait is just as purposeful as his go.
Hope Mangiafico (31:18)
That is the truth. You have no idea what he's cultivating inside of you in that waiting process. And that's something I'm really starting to understand is we've talked about the
Nikki Humphrey (31:28)
We struggled
with that for so long. We're like, we're going. And God's like, no.
Hope Mangiafico (31:33)
He's like, no girl, you ain't ready. What's your character like? You so selfish. You so...
Nikki Humphrey (31:38)
that.
Hope Mangiafico (31:39)
Right? You
don't know till he reveals it
Nikki Humphrey (31:42)
Right.
Hope Mangiafico (31:42)
I mean, we have so many stories. It's so funny of like, very few people really know how much we walked out together in regard to like looking for purpose and a thing to do a, I'll call it a job, right? Or whatever, like a new business idea, a new product. Like, we, it,
What I also want to emphasize through that is like, the good news of that, if you're finding yourself in that wrestling as well, is you are showing a glimpse of wanting more and of wanting to pursue more and to pursue goodness. And so he's going to redirect your path in that waiting like you're taught, like in that waiting. So keep pursuing the more of
Even if it's wanting to serve him and it's now becoming a service-based thing, which is not of God, he'll redirect you and you just have to be okay with, dang, I thought I was gonna be here.
You'll get to where he wants you and I promise you and I think Nikki and I can both attest to that. Everything is so much sweeter with his time.
Nikki Humphrey (32:46)
it.
Hope Mangiafico (32:47)
Even with the complaining that happens along the way, wall kicking moments. And I'm in the middle of one right now. it's just like, dang it, Lord, like I really thought now was the time. Now was the breakthrough. I've been waiting. I've been waiting years now.
and then I see, I get a heart check.
And then a breakthrough, a personal breakthrough. I ain't even gonna say a breakthrough and a business idea or anything, right? It's a personal breakthrough.
I love your little like, I'm gonna call them one-liners. Sometimes they're multiple sentences, but they're such sucker punches. I love them. They're so concise. They're so good. We need to like make stickers out of some of these things that you say.
But that's, I think, I think that's everything that I have.
Nikki Humphrey (33:34)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So my one last nugget here, when you're in a season of waiting, questioning or wondering, here's what you can do. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in everything, look to Jesus, surrender and obey.
Hope Mangiafico (33:38)
Mm.
I love it. As you said that, it just popped in my head. don't know if you want to do it or me. ⁓ I'm down for either. Just to pray a blessing over people to be able to surrender and obey so they can fall into that beautiful cycle that we were kind of like talking about where I love it because it's never ending, which means he's always going to show up. But I don't know, just to kind of pray a blessing over the listeners.
Nikki Humphrey (34:17)
Yeah, you can do it.
Hope Mangiafico (34:18)
All right. Lord. Thank you. That's what we're to start with. Thank you. Thank you for being Abba, for sending your son, for loving us, for pursuing us, for showing up all the time. And it makes me think of what someone says is, God is good all the time, all the time, God is good. And that is the truth, Lord. And I pray that every listening ear that is tuned into our podcast right now,
Nikki Humphrey (34:24)
That's right. Thank you Jesus. Thank you.
Hope Mangiafico (34:47)
will believe that to their core lord. And I ask for your assistance in helping them surrender, Lord. Anything that Nikki has talked about in the past, having her hands so tight that she couldn't open, couldn't be in that posture of surrender, Lord. And I ask for your assistance if the listener is willing.
We do not want to pray a prayer that isn't misalignment with their hearts either because we want it to be a move of your spirit and them coming under that. Lord, that they are willing to open up and surrender their plans, what they think is the perfect will for them. And by doing that, they can obey your will and fall into the place of rejoicing, which comes from you. You are that strength that enables a tru-
rejoice in every situation. And then they can pray without ceasing, which looks like simply, Lord, chatting with you. May there be an open door for them to just communicate with you regularly of in the shower, washing dishes, cooking food, driving in the car. ⁓ Through a worship song, Lord, that obedience opens that door. And then they see all of your goodness.
every area of their life and they can't help to praise you and to be grateful like we started in the very beginning that they even have breath in their lungs because there is no coincidence that people have shown I've read it in many places that our breath our inhale and exhale is Yahweh it sounds just like your name in Hebrew and may our breath be a reminder
Nikki Humphrey (36:23)
Mm-hmm.
Hope Mangiafico (36:30)
we surrender, we obey, and then we get to rejoice and pray and be grateful and we can do all of these things because of your son Jesus in which we said yes to him being our Lord and Savior and through that we thank you for allowing us to be co-heirs. So today Lord may we step into that identity as a co-heir with Christ and believe it.
the depths of who we are. Lord, bless every person listening and meet any needs that are needed right now, Lord, and it may not look as they're expecting, but may they see you show up in an area that they're needing just to reiterate who you are. Keep their eyes peeled, Lord. Help them see, as Nikki has also talked about ⁓ when we talked about leaning into your voice.
Keep their eyes peeled for things that are unfamiliar or different on a daily walk or a run or a drive and see you communicate with them so they can stay in this beautiful cycle of you showing up and being in your will. We love you so very much and say this prayer in your beautiful son's name, amen.
Nikki Humphrey (37:40)
Amen. That'll do it. That was amazing. And any of you who are listening, if you know somebody out there who would be encouraged by this message, please share this podcast with them. Let them know that you thought of them and that this could be a tool in their tool belt to use in their time of need right now.
Hope Mangiafico (38:07)
Until next time, be blessed.
Nikki Humphrey (38:06)
until next time.
Bye bye.
