#68 S3 EP 29: Unlocking the Secrets of Inner Joy: An Authentic Dialogue with Yvette Walker

We counsel any assignment of the enemy that will be sent back into the picture where it came from , for it has no power , no authority over us . We pray in the name of Jesus , hoping and praying that your listeners will get the concept of what they need to know that they are a diamond in the rough .

We pray in the name of Jesus for the ones who have no desire to know who you are , that your touch would just be enough to change and transform their mindset . We pray in the name of Jesus for just being who you are and knowing who we are in you . We pray in the name of Jesus and thank you and we say amen , amen and amen .

She's also an author . She got a lot going on in her life . So you want to add to that and just tell us why joy seems to be really your gift I mean expressed to us a little further .

But in 2019 , it occurred to me Now I've got a career as a communicator . I've been working in the field for a long time and occurred to me you know , years later , that I had never used my communication skills . In his honor , in his glory , right . So I said why have I not been doing that ? I need to do that . So I began to .

He began to inspire me and I began to to write , and I have a newsletter and all those things . But in 2020 , of course , you know , as the pandemic came , I was sitting at my dining room table and I said , okay , I'm going to , I'm going to do a podcast . I've been wanting to do a podcast and I want to do a podcast on hair and beauty .

That was what I was going to do and Laura stopped me in my tracks and said you're going to start a podcast , but it will be on joy , and I'm obedient . So I said , okay , lord , but what does that mean ? And I really did not know Exactly what he wanted me to say .

But he's revealed to me since then that he and a good thing is is I'm not the only one talking about joy . I really believe that he has put a mission on people's hearts , not just me . I'm seeing more and more people talk about joy . What I try to focus on is what real joy is , what true joy is . Right , we're getting twisted .

They get it confused and they think that being joyful is being happy all the time , having all these you know , wonderful things , everything going well , right . I do think that God does want good things for us , but he didn't promise that everything was always going to be okay . That was not his promise .

He'd be faithful to us , and so I have been , since that time , focusing on that . Focusing on , even if you are going through some mess , the God is in the middle of that mess , with you and you can .

It's based on our faith that we're going to make it , and I like that concept .

We have this idea , but what does that really look like and how is it attached to joy ?

I'm not sure he knew that and it's a very difficult disorder . I'm not blaming him , but it's a very difficult order to handle and you really do have to have talk , therapy and medication and exercise and eat right .

I mean , it's almost a holistic thing , but if you're not doing that it can be very difficult to manage and for the marriage failed and I was having a real problem with that . What I learned during that time , it wasn't the fact that I was unhappy , but it was the fact that I wasn't walking that out with God . I was not leaning on him .

You know , proverbs 3-5 says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding . I was not leaning on him , I was leaning on my own understanding .

I didn't know why things were going on and even if , whether or not I had stated the marriage or not , I think that if I had understood more what I know now that , as you said , joy is not a feeling , it is faith . I would deal with that because I have been . I've been a Christian .

I was raised Catholic , I went to Catholic Elementary School , baptized as a baby , the whole deal . I've been going to church forever , but there was a time , at least during that time , especially when I I like to say I was numb in my faith . I had faith , definitely a believer , but I wasn't a seeker and I like to characterize this as a seeker .

I just don't believe , but I want to know more . I want to develop a close relationship . I think that's really important for us to do . You can go to church every Sunday . It was almost like I was sleepwalking through my faith . I had a very numb feeling and that all came out after .

I didn't really realize until after the marriage had failed , the first marriage and I think that , oh , I know that God uses the worst times in our life to bring us completely to Him and we it's almost . For me , I feel like it's a transition .

We go from religion just doing all of the right things and going all of the right places , you know , in a timely matter and whatnot , and then we switch over to this religion , I mean , excuse me , relationship . It's like it becomes intimate . It's like now I want to know . It's like now I can .

It's like God saying to us now I can show you what you really need to see . You know what I mean . I just I've put you in position , I've got you in a place where you can now hear me .

You're not distracted , you're not compromising , you're not doing any of that , because right now it's like it's like it's like being in surgery and your heart is wide open . He's able to deposit what it is that he wants you to have , not what the world says , but what he wants you to have .

But if you just completely open your mind and let that doubt go and take in everything that he's giving you , now I don't want to say it's not hard , because it certainly can be hard , but there's not a whole lot of steps and scripture that I like to use for , especially for the podcast . It's in John 15 and it's under the vine and the branches .

One Sometimes you got to read a little . You can't just read those one things , you got to keep going . That's right Is . This tells us exactly what to do . We are supposed to abide in his love and do the fathers . Then we feel completely with joy .

I believe that people are searching for joy in lots of different ways and they may find fleeting happiness , but it's not going to be this joy that I'm talking about . People are chasing joy in other people . They're chasing it in substances , alcohol , addictions . They're chasing it just in trying to climb up the corporate ladder .

They're chasing it lots of different ways . You can't be a professional or you can't . You know . I mean , I was kind of person , I really enjoyed being married and I am remarried . God sent me a wonderful , but we are not . We know that we are not chasing each other . We're facing one person and it's not even person . We're chasing God .

That is the fine , that's reported Amen , amen .

But one thing I realize now is that , you know , sometimes we have to go through those bad spots in life to get where God really attended on us being , because you know , if it wasn't the fact that the bad marriages happened , we would take everything that happened for granted .

That's right , yes , but at the same token , you know we and I made the statement yesterday that you know you can't be so serious that you don't allow the laughter to hit , because sometimes we can be stuck in that mode of this is how it's got to be , this got to be this way , it's got to be at this certain time , it's got to be done at this certain time

. But at the same time , when we get in that mindset of it's got to happen this way and no other way , you do not have the chance to allow God to move .

So one time in the middle of this , my ex-husband my husband at that time , who has since passed on , by the way asked me if I had made a mistake in marrying him , and I told him I don't believe in mistakes . I believe that this was what was supposed to happen .

You know we're supposed to . We should be leaving an imprint Michael has said that many times leaving an imprint into this world . We really need to leave our mark . You know , leave it . Don't just be here to be here , be here and do something and as . I mean that's not talking about you know , being works based type of thing .

It's talking about you know , making a real impact if it's not just for the one making an impact using your life as like you're using your life , all of the tests , and turning it into a testimony . Because , you know , I believe that a lot of people's joy is stolen through being ashamed of the things that they've been through .

I believe , that I truly believe that .

You know , things can sometimes not go the way we want to , or you know , we're seeing a situation we're in and we're only scratching the surface , as you said , not icing what is there for us . You know that he's , that he's put in our path . I mean , a lot of times we , you know , will come to an area in our path and it's not what we expected .

I'm calling myself Paul , but look what happened to Saul , that his past , and that happened . Right , he did not happen . That was very difficult for him , I'm sure . I mean difficult , I mean he was persecuted , he went to jail but , as we know through his writings , that did not stop him and he found a different kind of joy .

That's another big but , as I said , I've been Christian for a long time , raised Christian , but in the church I went to , we went to church , we read scripture , but I wasn't really encouraged to read the Bible at home . Again , no blame is the truth .

And after that time , that kind of revelation when I just wanted to know more , right back in 2019 , bible war . The funny thing about reading the Bible is I only got into it because I heard of something called Bible journaling . Now , I like and I'm like what is Bible journaling ?

And it's an exercise where people are reading the Bible and they are creating artwork and they are , in a sense , catbooking to the Bible verses . And that's what got me back into the Bible . I started reading the Bible in a way I had never done before .

So , again , I never know how he's going to bring you in and I'm certainly not a Bible scholar , but I have read more in the last you know , let's say , five years , than I have the entirety of my life , and I can't do his will without knowing what his will is , and it's in my right here .

So we need to jump in his word , we need to stay in his word and it's an interview show , my podcast and everyone I talk to and it's you know , they have an interesting experience that they want to share , but they are in the word .

They have learned from the word that affects or relates to whatever their , their situation is , and so that is a big piece of it . So those two things to abide , dwell , live in his love and to do his will .

Now , my , my words per se is not obedience , but I think obedience has a lot to do with us finding joy in our lives and situations . So I said I was sitting at that dining room table and I was going to do this podcast on hair and beauty , and he said , nope , it's going to be on joy .

So in the very beginning I said , okay , I'm going to call it the finding joy podcast . Well , I hadn't done any research , I didn't realize that there were a million finding joy podcasts out there . But I kind of came back to the Lord and we got to pick a name Lord , what's this going to be ? And and I clearly heard him say positively joy .

And the reason why I know it was him is because I'm I'm a journalist , I'm a bit of a word nerd and the name positively joy is not grammatically correct . And I told him I'm like Lord , that can't be right . If that's not grammatically correct . It should be joyful or joyous . And he was like what I say , right , right .

I mean , we changed the name three times , three or four times , trying to get the right one , and just finally , god just said catch me to it , god's , because the first it was diamonds in the rough . Several other podcasts the same name and then , but none said God's , diamonds in the rough , amen .

And then we had one person say , oh , you need , you spelled rough wrong . And Michael said nope , that's the way it's supposed to be . You know what I mean ? She's supposed should be our OUGH . Nope , that's the uniqueness Cause it does rough . That rough get will bark on it . That bark , yeah , that rough will bark .

So you know , and definitely we all belong to God . We are surely sure enough a part of him . He meant as much as people like to deny , they want to deny . Oh , I , you know , I don't have no part . He , when he blew breath into dirt , he didn't excuse people . He , all his people , was made out of dirt . We go back to it when we leave this earth .

A man and I'm just , I'm just so , so excited about what God is doing in this season through people who really have a heart for him , a man that really have a heart for him . And you know you speak the same language . We speak Everything that you say , we say , we said it , so you know .

This is why that if we are reading this this is my whole thing If we're all reading the Bible , we all ought to be saying the same thing , absolutely . Different ways different , you know different translations yeah , yeah . It all sounds the same , though you know we ought to be saying the same thing .

I think that you know the worst thing we can do is come up with our own gospel . You know what I ?

It's on Amazon , you'll see that , and it's just an opportunity to communicate what he has been given to me to communicate you know , I am an average person . A lot of times I say I suffer from imposter syndrome because I don't have some big life story . I mean , I've been divorced . That's the story that we all can not all listen , let's do it .

But there's not a so-called miracle . But I would argue that miracles happen . Small miracles happen every day , and so I think it says these opportunities , the writing , books and the podcasts to get in a way that can get people to their on their level . But it doesn't . This is important , doesn't reflect back into the word . That's right .

And that's a powerful word because you know we , we sit there and we go day to day trying to look like somebody else . God does not want that . He wants to original you . When you try to be a carbon copy , it has no value .

You have to be , you have to be real with who you are , no matter what you've been through , what you're going through , what might come up , because those things that we go through in life , it works for a reason .

If we , if we try to put blame and put claim to something that you know , things we go through in life and say is ours , it's not , it's just a tool used to get with you where God wants you .

I just want to say that we appreciate you being here , we appreciate you sounding like us , we appreciate you for real having the same language that we got , because it's so hard for people , it seems so hard for people to come together to do the same thing because one wants to be bigger than the other , one wants to shine brighter than the other .

When the reality is is that when we come together , we shine brighter together . Amen , hallelujah . And especially when you put diamonds together , they all sparkling in their own unique way . Come on somebody .