God Gives Instructions, Not Explanations: Walking in Faith When You Don't Understand

But don't worry , I'm going to break it all down for you with scripture , real life examples and a little bit of coaching to help you navigate those moments when you're waiting for explanations instead of stepping into obedience . Plus , we've got some announcements you don't want to miss , so stay tuned , grab yourself a cafecito and let's get started .

Welcome to the Mommy on a Mission podcast . I'm Mariana , your host and the number one bestselling author of Mommy on a Mission a guide towards healing , self-discovery and walking in confidence . As a dedicated life coach , wife , mom yaya and , most importantly , daughter of the king , I am passionate about empowering multi-faceted women just like you .

In each episode , we dive deep into transformative topics that help you reignite your passion and purpose . My unique approach is designed to help you overcome the fear of external expectations and create the space and time you need for both increased job satisfaction and personal growth .

Join me on this journey of self-discovery and empowerment , as we explore practical strategies , inspiring stories and actionable insights . Together , we'll navigate the complexities of life and emerge stronger , more confident and truly aligned with our deepest desires . Welcome to the Mom in a Mission podcast , your go-to resource for living a more purposeful and fulfilling life .

So grab your Tazza cafe y vamos a platicar and let's talk . Okay , so let's get started with this foundational truth when God speaks , he gives directions , not a detailed itinerary . He requires faith , not full understanding .

You know , and I'm someone that , quite frankly , although I do have itineraries , I'm not as detailed , right , I'm that type of person that , like I always say , I'm gone with the wind , it's wherever the wind takes me , whereas my husband is a complete opposite .

He has to plan , he has to have schedules , he has to have I mean , like literally a detailed itinerary , and I don't , and that is what we're going to talk about . We're going to talk about how he requires requires us to have full faith in him and trusting in him , and not full understanding of what he has for us . So let's look at some biblical examples .

So we're going to talk a little bit about Noah . So Noah is in the book of Genesis , chapter six , and God told Noah to build an ark . And God told Noah to build an ark . Did he explain every single reason why ? Nope , he just gave the blueprint and expected obedience .

Noah had never seen rain before , yet he followed God's instructions with faith , despite the ridicule of others . So imagine this you are given instructions to create a huge ark , a boat right , and you live out in the desert . You've never seen rain at all , ever , ever . It's dry right , and you're being told to create something .

And you're being told to create something that will look insane to others , because they're like what are you doing , man ? Like there's no rain , we've never had rain . Like why are you building a boat ? Like , if you want to build a boat , go by the ocean , right , but not here . But he didn't care what they were saying to him .

He had full faith in God and , despite all of that , he still built the ark . And so what we know and what we've learned later on is that God ended up flooding the area for 40 days and it destroyed people , but yet he didn't know when it was going to happen .

He didn't know how it was going to happen , but what he knew was that he needed to be prepared for it . Another character that comes into mind is Abraham , who's also in the book of Genesis . And God told Abraham go to the land . I will show you no GPS , no trip itinerary , just go .

And Abraham left everything familiar , without questioning how it would all work out , trusting that God's promises would be fulfilled . God's promises would be fulfilled . Now that's crazy . That's crazy because God told him to go to this place and he didn't know where he was going .

But God was telling him to go and he said don't question me , don't ask , don't do anything , Just trust in me . Don't do anything , just trust in me . It's hard for me to do that because and most of us find it difficult like , can you imagine leaving everything and going off somewhere that you have ?

And , in matter of fact , I actually got to experience a little bit about that , right . How I ended up in Oklahoma City all those years ago , I have no idea , because Oklahoma City was not in my radar , but God knew that I needed to be in Oklahoma City . God knew that something was going to happen in Oklahoma City .

I didn't know what that was , I didn't know what that looked like , right , but God knew . And now , looking back all of those years , I see why I needed to be there . That is where God met me and started to heal my life , and that is when the transformation began .

I didn't know it then , but now I see it , and I see where God has fulfilled his promises for my life . What about Moses ? God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and demand freedom for the Israelites . No logistics were given , just an assignment , and Moses , feeling inadequate , tried to reason with God , but God reassured him that he would be with him .

Moses had to step forward in faith before seeing the miracle unfold . And then what do we learn ? Later ? We learn that God was with Moses and he delivered them out of Egypt . God even split the Red Sea and made it like two walls of water so that they could pass through , and when Pharaoh and the Egyptians were charging after them , god flooded them .

So God's instructions are designed to stretch our faith and build our trust in him . If he explained everything up front , we wouldn't need to walk by faith , right ? So now let's get into this situation that has been making waves .

Honestly , it's quite funny , but there was a church where the pastor instructed the ushers to lock the doors and told the congregation that no one was leaving until they gave $20 . So he was asking those that were in the congregation was about a thousand that he wanted to . He wanted each and every one of them to give $20 .

So he was asking those that were in the congregation was about a thousand that he wanted to . He wanted each and every one of them to give $20 . On top of that , he was asking online viewers to also give 20,000 . He was asking for a thousand viewers to give 20,000 , I mean $20 . And he was asking for those in the church to give $20 , totaling $40,000 .

But he asked the ushers to close the doors and not let anyone out . I don't know about y'all , but I'm pretty sure that's not biblical , like it's not the biblical definition of giving right . But let's see what the Bible actually says .

It says each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give , not reluctantly or under compulsion , for God loves a cheerful giver . So who was that written to ? The apostle ? Paul wrote this to the believers in Corinth , encouraging them to give generously and willingly to support the struggle Christians in Jerusalem .

He emphasized that giving should come from the heart , not from pressure or obligation . In Luke 638 says give and it will be given to you . A good measure , pressed down , shaken together and running over , will be poured into your lap . So who was Jesus speaking to ? Was Jesus speaking to ?

This was part of his sermon on the plane , directed at his disciples and the crowd , teaching them about generosity and how God blesses those who give sincerely . God's instructions on giving come from a place of love and willingness , not pressure or coercion . Man will often to a scripture for personal gain , but we need to have discernment right .

So , yes , although there's gonna be some instructions that are given , but if they're not given by God , and many people will argue and say , well , maybe God was speaking to him and told him to close the doors , let me tell y'all something If you believe that , then you will believe that a rock is soft . I don't know something outrageous , right ?

If you believe that ? Now you could say you could also argue the point well , noah was given instructions about him . People were telling him that he was crazy , okay , but there's a difference , and the difference is is that god directly spoke to I mean , I'm sorry to abraham ? God spoke .

Oh , my god , I'm getting , uh , these mixed noah , I tell you I think I need my coffee . Hold on y'all , let me . Let me sip my coffee because my brain is all over the place . When he gave Noah the instructions to build that ark again , people were calling him crazy , but what this person was doing Was forcing people to give for his own personal agenda .

You may not agree with me , but I will say this that if that was coming from a place of God , there would be no need to have the doors closed . People would willingly give why ? Because they would trust and believe by faith that this was coming of God or that this was coming from God .

Let me pause here for a moment because I would like to give a shout out to the Book Publishing Academy , the official sponsor of she's Bold Women's Conference happening May 2nd . So let me ask this Amiga , have you ever wanted to share your story but didn't know where to start ?

Or have you ever dreamed of becoming a published author and struggled with finding someone to publish you ? Well , the Book Publishing Academy is your go-to if you desire is to become a self-published author . Janine Hernandez , the founder of the Book Publishing Academy , has created modules that break it down step by step on how to successfully self-publish your books .

She also has a Facebook group where you can be part of a community of self-published authors , gain accountability and build connections to help you get started . So what are you waiting for ? Reach out to the Book Publishing Academy at wwwjaninehernandezcom and let her know that Mariana sent you .

The Book Publishing Academy is an official sponsor of she's Bold Women's Conference . All right , so let's break this down into practical tips . Here's how you can recognize God's voice and his true instructions . God's instructions align with his word . If it contradicts the Bible , it's not from him .

This means that any direction or teaching you receive must be tested against scripture . If it doesn't match God's word , it's not from him , no matter how convincing it sounds . If it doesn't match God's word , it's not from him , no matter how convincing it sounds . God's instructions bring peace , not fear or manipulation .

He may challenge and stretch you , but he won't use tactics of fear , guilt or manipulation . If you feel pressured , afraid or manipulated into making a decision , that's a red flag that it's not from God .

Okay , I have been in a marriage where there was fear , there was guilt and manipulation , where I felt pressure to continue to be in this ongoing battle of domestic violence , of seeing a spouse's life go through down the drain because of a drug addiction . I've seen that and I can tell you that that was not a God .

I was not to be following him because he was manipulating me and using fear tactics to manipulate me . Okay , those were all red flags even from the beginning , but I chose to ignore them . But when God started to reveal things to me and showing me and removing the blinder from my eyes , then I could truly see where God was in the midst .

God looks at the heart , not the amount . Your obedience in giving and in following his will is about your heart posture , not the size of the contribution . God values faithfulness and sincerity over the quantity of what you give or do .

So many people and I know a lot of you probably are going to hear this and you're probably going to be upset with me about this , but let me say this Just because a person appears or seems to be a good person and does all kinds of things that look and appear good , okay . All kinds of things that look and appear good , okay .

But if they are not believers in Christ , if they are not following Jesus Christ and if or she is operating from a position of self , many people in this world could appear to be doing very good and could appear to be doing a lot of great things and contribute in all of these things , and they probably do have a good heart .

But if they are not believers in Christ , then that is not . It's not the heart position is not for God , it's for themselves . That is not to say that God is not going to use those things and make it for good , because he will , because that's the kind of God that we have .

But we have to be mindful and pay attention to those things , because not everyone that appears good is good , if that makes sense . So I've got a question for you have you ever struggled with trusting God's instructions ? What's one area where he's asking you to step out in faith right now ?

And I want you to take a moment and journal on this , because there has been many areas in my life where I have struggled with God's instructions , areas in my life where I have struggled with God's instructions .

One of those areas is just was stepping out in faith , and starting this business was stepping out in faith and hosting my very first women's conference that he placed on my heart to do , on my heart to do . There's been a lot of things in my life where I struggled to step out in faith . But I did , I did . I was afraid . I was just scared .

I didn't know what was going to happen or what the outcome was going to be . But what I did know was that I needed to do it . And now I look back and I just see everything that I have been able to accomplish . And I wasn't alone , because God plays people in my life . God was in every step of the way and , yes , it was challenging .

Yes , it was hard . Yes , I've cried out to God like , are you sure that I'm the one that's supposed to be doing this ? And I could feel that peace in my heart that said yes , yes . So have y'all ever been in a situation where you're asking God for a full-on , like powerpoint presentation of your life ? And he's just like go .

I imagine Noah saying Lord , you want me to build ? What a boat in the middle of dry land for a storm I've never seen before . And god just nods like yep or abraham telling his wife babe , pack up the tent , we're moving . And when she asked where , he just shrugs his shoulders , I don't know , god said and he'll show us , wait .

What my response would have been like okay , whatever . I guess God's instructions don't always make sense , but they always serve a purpose . They always serve a purpose .

So , no matter what you're going through in life , amiga , no matter what hardships you're facing , no matter what struggles you have maybe you feel like you're stuck , maybe you feel like you're scared to take a chance on yourself Trust God . Trust that God is going to give you all of the things that you need , all the tools and the resources .

He's going to place the people in your life . Yes , people are there , are going to be people out there . That's not . That's not going to believe in you . That may think that it's dumb , that it's a dumb idea or whatever , but God's not speaking to those people .

God is speaking to you , and the people that he places in your life are the people that are going to help you get to where you need to get , because , make no mistake , god makes no mistakes . There's a character in the Bible Gideon . Gideon was like . He kept questioning and asking God , like , are you sure ?

Like , give me a sign , I need to be reassured , all of those things , and yes , a lot of times we're going to have that right . We're going to want that reassurance . We wanna know that this is really truly what God wants for us .

And if you're gonna do it , do it afraid , because the worst thing about not doing is never knowing if you could , if you stop yourself , if you convince yourself , if you stop and think long enough , you'll convince yourself not to do something .

And most of the times we don't accomplish what we want to accomplish because we allow for fear to take over , we allow for others to convince us not to , we allow for others to convince us not to , we allow for all of that negativity to feed into what we're already feeling .

But imagine if you didn't listen , if you didn't listen to that voice of fear , if you didn't listen to those people who are negative around you , if you didn't listen to those people who are negative around you , if you didn't listen . I would say ask instead of what if ? And ask why not ? Why not you ? What's the worst thing that could happen ?

Because if it's from God , what is the worst thing that can happen ? Right , I always say , if I take a chance and I go and ask let's just say , for example , ask for a promotion the worst that can happen is what they say no , you're scared . Yeah , you're afraid to speak and advocate for yourself .

You know it's easier to advocate for someone else than to advocate for yourself . Do you know , it's easy to promote a company that you work for than your very own company . And I say that because I experienced that it's easy for me to speak about an organization that I work for . I can go and speak about it and sell it and all these kinds of things .

But when it comes to mommy on a mission , it's the most scariest thing , because I and I'm gonna be transparent and I'm gonna be honest , because there are moments in my life that I feel like nobody's gonna care about my business , nobody's gonna care about this but me . But I cannot allow for fear to do that .

I've got to trust that God gave me a voice to speak . I've got to use my gifts , my talents that I do for other businesses to do it for my very own business that God has blessed me and God has called me to do .

Because Mommy on a Mission is something that God used me , from my life experience , to share with other women , to share with people like you , amiga , that have faced adversities , that have gone through some traumatic things in your lives and now that you are trying to gain your strength and that speed and stuff .

Now the next step is how do I turn all of that around and get myself on track to be on a mission , to accomplish the goals that I had set aside ? And that's why Mommy on a Mission is here , that's why I have this podcast , that's why I wrote my book and that's why I have this podcast .

That's why I wrote my book and that's why I have coaching sessions . Why ? Because I know . I know that God is using all of this to speak to you right now . Right now , you're probably sitting wondering is there any purpose in my life ? The answer is yes . Is there any purpose in my life ? The answer is yes .

Perhaps you're thinking about starting a business , but you're like I don't know if I can do this . Well , you know what you don't know . You won't know unless you try , because if you don't try , then you've already answered your own question that it's not going to work . But you'll never know . You'll always live with that . What if ?

But how about if we change that ? What if ? To ? Yes , I can , this will happen . And you need that push , because I mean you can accomplish whatever it is God has placed on your heart to accomplish . You are not just a mom , you are not just a daughter , a sister . You are not just a worker , you are not just a Tia , whatever . You are not just a .

You are who God has called you to be . And let me remind you , amiga , you are the daughter of the king , which makes you what . It makes you a princess , it makes you God's daughter . And when you are the daughter of the king , then you have everything you need . Then you have everything you need . I'm preaching today , y'all , and that was not my intention .

My intention was not to preach today , but God has placed it in my heart to speak to you because I think you need to hear that , because I think you need to hear that he loves you and that he wants nothing but the best for you , just like you would want that for someone else .

He wants you to shine , but he also wants you to glorify him and show people how good God is . And yes , you're probably living with pain . You're probably , you know , maybe you have experienced loss , maybe you haven't been able to grieve , maybe you haven't been able to yell , maybe you haven't been able to escape that abuser .

Whatever it is , amiga , god has you and he has a plan for you . I know that you don't know what that is yet , but trust me , he's got a plan for you . Trust in him . Trust in him . Let me pray , father God , in the name of Jesus , I'm speaking to my Amina right now . Father God , whatever it is that she is going through , father God , show it to her .

Demonstrate to her , father God , what plan you have for her at this moment . Father God , let her feel and believe in herself , father God , that she has the strength to walk away from what is causing her pain and hurt .

Show her , father God , that you have given her the intelligence , the will and the ability and the gifts and the talents , father God , to carry out the thing that she desires to carry out .

Maybe that's a business , maybe it's writing a book , maybe it's speaking in front of people , maybe it's that promotion , maybe it's the money that she's looking for , father God , whatever it is , father God , remind her that you have already planned it all out for her . She just needs to be obedient , father God .

Father God , allow for her to hear your voice , allow for her to take action , even though she's afraid . But your word clearly states do not fear , be strong and courageous . Your word also says be anxious over nothing but in prayer and supplication , make your request known to me . And so , father God , I'm praying for my and I'm praying for my amiga .

Father God , the one that feels like she is lost , the one that feels like she's stuck , the one that feels like she has no motivation , the one that feels like that she there's nothing else for her , that she's all she feels like is she's on survival mode right now .

Father God , I pray that you will release her from those chains and give her the strength to move forward . I thank you , father God . I pray for her finances . I pray over her life , father God , I pray for her family . I pray for her children . I pray for her . If she's single , I pray for her .

Father God , I lift her up to you , the Amiga that's listening to right now . Father God , I pray for her right now In the name of Jesus . Amen . Amiga , thank you so much for tuning in to Mommy on a Mission . If this episode blessed , you , share it with a friend . Let's keep walking in faith , trusting God's instructions and living victoriously .

And until next time , stay bold , stay faithful and stay on mission . See y'all next Saturday . See y'all next Saturday . Dive deeper into healing , self-discovery and walking in confidence . Be sure to grab a copy of my book Mommy on a Mission a guide towards healing self-discovery and walking in confidence , available now on Amazon .

Stay connected with me on social media . Follow us on Instagram at Mommy on a Mission Podcast , and on Facebook at Mommy on a Mission . If you're considering working with a coach but aren't sure if you're ready , send me a DM and I will send you a free gift to help you get started on your journey .

Until next Saturday , keep shining and remember the tower is within you . Adios , amigas .