TRANSKRIP 🔗
WEBVTT
00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:01.840
Welcome.
00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:02.479
I'm Dr.
00:00:02.560 --> 00:00:07.440
Robin Revis Pike, and this is Reflecting Life, a Christian Woman's Journey of Faith.
00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.919
Here, you will learn what it truly means to live from your identity in Christ.
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:20.239
We'll explore how Christian women just like you navigate the in-between seasons using biblical truths and honest conversations.
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:27.199
This podcast is your safe space to pause, reflect, and remember who God says you are.
00:00:27.359 --> 00:00:28.640
So come as you are.
00:00:28.879 --> 00:00:32.000
You are loved, chosen, and created by grace.
00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:34.000
And I am so glad you are here.
00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.799
So let's start this journey together.
00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:38.880
Welcome! I'm Dr.
00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:43.280
Robin Revis Pike, and I am so grateful you're here with me today.
00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:59.119
This month we've been talking about what it means to be courageously called, to recognize that God has entrusted each of us with a life, a voice, relationships, experiences, and opportunities to be used for his purposes.
00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:11.519
In our last episode, we spent time with Esther and considered how God had positioned her long before she understood why, and I keep thinking about that word, positioned.
00:01:11.840 --> 00:01:21.359
Because when we look back over our own lives, we can often see that God was at work long before we recognize what he was doing.
00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:25.120
So today I want to do something a little different.
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:38.079
In this season of reflecting life, I plan to invite women to sit with me and share their testimonies, their pilgrimages of faith and the way God has shaped them into the women they're becoming.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:45.439
But before I ask other women to sit in that chair, I thought perhaps I should be willing to sit there first.
00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.920
So today I want to share some of my story with you.
00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:57.920
Not because my story is extraordinary, but because God has been extraordinarily faithful.
00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:04.000
And perhaps somewhere in my story you'll recognize a little of your own.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.200
You see, mine is a story about searching.
00:02:07.439 --> 00:02:09.520
It's a story about belonging.
00:02:09.840 --> 00:02:12.719
It's also a story about resistance.
00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:18.319
And if I'm being completely transparent, a little rebellion along the way.
00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:26.639
But most of all, it's a story about a faithful God who was leading me home long before I realized I was lost.
00:02:26.879 --> 00:02:31.919
You see, my story with church began when I was a little girl growing up in Claremont, Florida.
00:02:32.080 --> 00:02:35.039
My family attended First Baptist Church of Claremont.
00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:41.199
I attended Sunday school and church, and on Wednesday nights I attended Girls in Action.
00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.800
Our attendance wasn't always consistent.
00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:53.360
Summers were a little more irregular, while holidays and the fall and winter months brought us back into a more regular rhythm.
00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:56.080
But something about church drew me.
00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:59.599
Even as a little girl, I loved being there.
00:03:00.080 --> 00:03:03.120
I couldn't have explained that feeling to you then.
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:05.599
I didn't have the language for it.
00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.759
I just knew there was something there that I wanted.
00:03:10.240 --> 00:03:12.319
Something felt different.
00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:17.439
There was warmth, community, there was a sense of belonging.
00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:23.039
And looking back now, I can see something that little girl couldn't see.
00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.479
God was already planting seeds in my heart.
00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.479
I didn't understand what it meant to have a relationship with Christ.
00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:32.879
I didn't understand abiding.
00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:40.960
I didn't even fully understand Christian fellowship, but I knew I was drawn to something I experienced there.
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:46.560
And as I grew older, I began searching for that same feeling and other places.
00:03:47.039 --> 00:03:49.360
I was searching for belonging.
00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:58.000
There is something deeply human in our desire to be known, appreciated, cared for, and loved.
00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:00.000
I wanted those things.
00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.879
I wanted to belong, I wanted to be accepted, to feel valued.
00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:12.639
What I didn't understand then was just how much that desire could shape the choices I made.
00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:17.439
I wasn't asking, is this who God created me to be?
00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:22.000
I didn't yet have the spiritual maturity to ask that question.
00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:28.079
Instead, without realizing it, I was asking questions like, will I be accepted here?
00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:30.480
Will this make me feel valued?
00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:33.439
Will I finally feel like I belong?
00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:46.639
And sometimes those questions led me into relationships, friendships, experiences, and adventures that left me feeling even more uncertain about who I was.
00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:53.360
And growing up in small town Claremont, there wasn't exactly an abundance of activities or excitement.
00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:57.680
So my friends and I occasionally decided to create our own.
00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:04.160
Let's just say some of those adventures demonstrated considerably more enthusiasm than wisdom.
00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:12.319
There were poor decisions, there were consequences, there were moments I certainly wouldn't recommend as a model for
Load full transcript
young women today.
00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:16.639
But underneath it all was something I couldn't identify then.
00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:18.000
I was searching.
00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:26.399
I was searching for something or someone to tell me you matter, you are accepted, you belong.
00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:31.199
I wish I could go back and sit beside that younger version of myself for a moment.
00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.839
I would tell her you don't have to work so hard to be accepted.
00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:40.639
You don't have to become who other people want you to be in order to belong.
00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:47.120
There is belonging waiting for you that you cannot earn and no person can give you.
00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:49.360
But I didn't know that yet.
00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.600
So I kept searching.
00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.399
And all the while God was there.
00:05:55.199 --> 00:06:00.319
Thankfully, I eventually matured beyond some of those younger years.
00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:04.079
Well, perhaps it took a little longer than expected.
00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.680
Although I certainly wasn't known for making all the best life choices, God continued to be gracious.
00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:15.839
He blessed me with a beautiful marriage and three amazing sons.
00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:23.120
And eventually our journey led us to a decision I did not particularly welcome, a move to Miami.
00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:25.920
Our little family was living in Central Florida.
00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:29.759
We had family nearby, we had friends, we had community.
00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:31.360
We belonged.
00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:33.759
Or at least I thought so.
00:06:34.480 --> 00:06:39.279
So Scott moved south ahead of us while I stayed behind to prepare a home for sale.
00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:45.680
And as embarrassing as it may sound, I made a little agreement with God, or at least I thought I did.
00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:51.600
I agreed to move if our home sold, because deep down I didn't really think it would sell.
00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.360
And then I thought I won't have to move if our home doesn't sell.
00:06:55.839 --> 00:06:59.439
Scott would return and all would be well in my little world.
00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:10.079
It was around 1995, and it wasn't an ideal time to put a home on the market, so I felt rather confident that moving to Miami wasn't a part of our future.
00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.680
I thought I was safe.
00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:16.000
And then our home sold within two weeks.
00:07:16.560 --> 00:07:20.480
Apparently God had not agreed to the loophole I had created.
00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:26.000
Looking back, I can smile about it now, but I can also see a pattern in my life.
00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.639
God would lead, I would resist.
00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:35.279
God would open a door, I would stand in the doorway wondering whether I really wanted to walk through it.
00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:44.560
I longed to belong, yet sometimes I resisted the very path God was using to lead me toward deeper belonging in him.
00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.120
Perhaps you understand that.
00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:52.560
Sometimes we pray, Lord guide me, just preferably somewhere familiar.
00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:56.639
Use me, Lord, just please don't make me uncomfortable.
00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:03.519
Your will be done, although I do have a few suggestions, and yet God is patient.
00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:15.839
He was certainly patient with me, patient with me through my rebellious teenage years, as I sought to find acceptance and belonging and everything but him.
00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:21.040
So our move to South Florida was amazingly smooth.
00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:25.360
And then God placed two people in our path, George and Margie.
00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:32.559
They were the broker realtors who had the listing on the home we purchased, and they were also members of Miami Shores Baptist Church.
00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.320
You may remember me mentioning this in an earlier episode.
00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:38.720
George was a deacon.
00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:40.960
Margie was the church organist.
00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:46.159
We were new to the area, and they did something incredibly simple.
00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:48.320
They invited us to church.
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:49.440
That's it.
00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:56.080
There was no complicated strategy, no grand gesture, just a simple invitation.
00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:01.600
And that invitation changed the trajectory of our family.
00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:07.519
We began attending Miami Shores Baptist Church, and over time it became our family.
00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:09.759
Our family served in different roles.
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:12.159
Scott eventually became a deacon.
00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:19.919
I taught the pre-K IV class and then I served as the financial assistant among the other volunteer roles we had.
00:09:20.240 --> 00:09:25.360
But something much more significant was happening because I had been in church before.
00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:27.360
I knew what it meant to attend church.
00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:30.559
I knew what it meant to participate, to volunteer.
00:09:30.879 --> 00:09:39.519
But gradually I began to understand that Jesus wasn't inviting me simply to attend church and volunteer.
00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:42.720
He was inviting me into a relationship with him.
00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:47.519
And it was there that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.
00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.960
Scott and our Boris also came to know Christ.
00:09:51.360 --> 00:10:09.200
The very thing I had spent so many years searching for, the belonging, the acceptance, the love, the sense that there had to be something more, I was finally beginning to understand it wasn't a feeling, it wasn't a place, it was another person's approval.
00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:10.960
It was Jesus.
00:10:11.279 --> 00:10:23.519
Jesus was what my heart had
been searching for, and perhaps even more beautiful was realizing that while I had been searching for him, he had never stopped pursuing me.
00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:29.679
When I look back over my pilgrimage now, I certainly don't see a perfectly straight road.
00:10:29.919 --> 00:10:37.360
I see detours, resistance, roundabouts, immaturity, pride, poor choices.
00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:43.279
I see a young girl who didn't know what she didn't know, who never finished college.
00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:50.240
I see a young mother and wife who never quite felt like enough, and a woman searching for somewhere to belong.
00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:53.120
But now I see something else.
00:10:53.360 --> 00:10:55.519
I see the faithfulness of God.
00:10:55.840 --> 00:11:01.279
He was there with the little girl who loved being in church, even though she couldn't explain why.
00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:08.399
He was there during the years when I searched for belonging in places that could never truly satisfy me.
00:11:08.639 --> 00:11:10.799
He was there in my marriage and family.
00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:14.320
He was there in the move to Miami that I resisted.
00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:18.480
He was there in George and Margie's simple invitation.
00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:27.360
And he was there when I finally understood that what I had been searching for wasn't a feeling, it was a relationship with Jesus Christ.
00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:33.840
And Psalm 139 has become a beautiful picture of this for me.
00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:36.720
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:44.399
You know when I sit and when I rise, you perceive my thoughts from afar, you discern my going in and my lying down.
00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.360
You are familiar with all my ways.
00:11:47.759 --> 00:11:55.679
Those words mean something different to me now, because before I knew how to name what I was searching for, God knew me.
00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.159
Before I understood him, he knew me.
00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.200
Before I understood who I was, he knew me.
00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:06.720
You see, coming to Christ wasn't the end of my pilgrimage, it was just the beginning.
00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:13.919
Over time God began teaching me the difference between simply attending church and abiding in Christ.
00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:19.200
Jesus says in John 15 4, Abide in me and I in you.
00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:23.039
Remain, dwell, make our home in Him.
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:31.919
I had spent years trying to find somewhere to belong, and now I was beginning to understand that my deepest belonging was already settled.
00:12:32.080 --> 00:12:33.440
I belong to Christ.
00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:43.519
I don't have to perform to belong, I don't have to build an identity around other people's approval, and I sure don't have to become the woman the world tells me I should be.
00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:51.039
Because when I know whose I am, I can allow him to continue forming me into the woman he created me to be.
00:12:51.519 --> 00:13:00.720
And yes, I am still becoming, I am still learning, I am still being formed, but now I know where I belong.
00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:07.600
And this is why women matter so much to me and my calling.
00:13:07.840 --> 00:13:12.720
Because when I look back on my story, I can see another thread much more clearly now.
00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:25.679
For many years, as you may know, I worked in private school admissions, and I was blessed with a long and meaningful career helping families navigate the process of finding the right school for their children.
00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.039
And isn't it interesting that so much of my career centered around one word?
00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:32.639
Acceptance.
00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:39.919
In admissions, acceptance was something families hoped for, worked toward, and waited to receive.
00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:47.840
There was an application, a process, and a decision, and ultimately someone decided whether to accept the applicant.
00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:55.120
Looking back, I can see how God used those years as a training ground for the work he would later call me to do.
00:13:55.360 --> 00:14:07.440
Because today, as a biblical mentor and spiritual formation coach, I still find myself talking with women about acceptance, but from an entirely different perspective.
00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:14.399
I had the privilege of reminding Christian women that the acceptance they are searching for is not something they have to earn.
00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:20.159
In Christ, they are already accepted, already chosen, already loved, already his.
00:14:20.720 --> 00:14:28.639
There is no application to complete, no list of accomplishments that will make us more worthy, no striving that will make God love us more.
00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:32.320
Our identity begins with belonging to Him.
00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:43.919
And perhaps this calling is especially meaningful to me because I remember what it felt like to be the younger woman, quietly asking, Who am I?
00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:46.000
Where do I belong?
00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:47.840
Am I enough?
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.240
What does God want from me?
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:52.960
Can He really use my story?
00:14:53.360 --> 00:15:11.600
When I look back on those years, I realized just how much I would have benefited from having a spiritually mature woman by my side, not someone who had all the answers or who would tell me exactly how to live my life, but a woman who would gently and faithfully point me towards Christ.
00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:15.840
Someone who could remind me where true belonging is found.
00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:24.879
Perhaps that's one reason mentoring women matters so deeply to me today, because the Christian life was never intended to be lived in isolation.
00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:26.960
We need one another.
00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:31.200
We need women who have walked a little farther down the
road.
00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:40.720
We need women walking beside us, and eventually we need to turn around and extend a hand to the woman coming behind us.
00:15:41.039 --> 00:15:48.720
That is part of the beauty of Christian community and part of the beautiful responsibility we have as women of faith.
00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:54.639
We receive, we grow, and then by God's grace we help another woman grow too.
00:15:55.120 --> 00:16:00.080
So I ask you, what has God been weaving through your story?
00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:06.559
As we come to a close today, I want to leave you with three questions to reflect upon.
00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:12.960
First, where can you now see God at work in a season when you couldn't see him then?
00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.080
Look back.
00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:16.000
Where did he show up?
00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:22.399
Where was he quietly leading, protecting, redirecting, planting seeds or placing people in your path?
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:30.000
Second, where have you been searching for belonging and something God never intended to carry that weight?
00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:36.159
Another person, achievement, approval, possessions, even ministry?
00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:45.200
And lastly, what has God entrusted to you through your story that might now become a gift to another woman?
00:16:45.519 --> 00:16:48.639
Because our stories are not simply about us.
00:16:49.039 --> 00:17:00.240
Even the difficult chapters, the wandering, the mistakes, even the seasons we wish we could rewrite, in God's hands, those places can become places of ministry.
00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:04.400
Sometimes kingdom influence looks remarkably ordinary.
00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:09.359
Sometimes it looks like two people inviting a new family to church.
00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:14.400
Sometimes it looks like an older woman coming alongside a younger woman.
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:18.000
Sometimes it looks like simply showing up.
00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:23.599
George and Margie probably couldn't have known where their invitation would lead.
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:24.880
But God did.
00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:35.119
And decades later, here I am sitting behind this microphone telling you about Jesus because two faithful people made room for our family.
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:41.119
So never underestimate what God can do through simple obedience.
00:17:41.680 --> 00:17:54.799
And if something in my story resonated with you today, perhaps you're searching, discerning, or simply wondering what God is doing in this season, I want to encourage you to spend some quiet time with Him this week.
00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:07.920
Look back over your pilgrimage, notice the people, the moves, the unexpected changes, the disappointments, the closed doors, the invitations, even the moments of resistance.
00:18:08.319 --> 00:18:11.519
You may be surprised by what you begin to see.
00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:23.920
And if you're longing for a woman to walk alongside you as you discern what God is doing in this season, that is part of the sacred work I do through Christian coaching and mentoring.
00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:32.240
You can find more information in my show notes, but I want you to know whether we ever sit across from one another or not.
00:18:32.559 --> 00:18:39.119
My prayer is that you will make space to hear from God, because He is still forming you.
00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:43.359
Your pilgrimage isn't finished, neither is mine.
00:18:44.319 --> 00:18:46.400
We are still becoming.
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:48.240
Will you pray with me?
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:51.200
Father, thank you for your faithfulness.
00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:54.559
Thank you for knowing us even before we knew how to search for you.
00:18:54.799 --> 00:19:03.519
Thank you for pursuing us when we wonder, patiently leading us when we resist, and reminding us that our deepest belonging is found in you.
00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:14.240
Help us look back over our stories with eyes of gratitude, not because every chapter was easy or every decision was right, but because you were faithful through it all.
00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.000
Give us courage to recognize what you have entrusted to us.
00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:24.240
Show us the women you are calling us to encourage, mentor, serve, and walk beside.
00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:37.839
And when we are tempted to believe that our story is too ordinary, too messy, or too insignificant to matter, remind us that you are the one who redeems our stories and gives them purpose.
00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.079
Help us to abide in you.
00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:48.720
Help us to remember whose we are, and continue forming us into the women you created us to be.
00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.119
May our lives reflect you well.
00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:53.279
In Jesus' name we pray.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:54.240
Amen.
00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:59.200
Thank you for allowing me to share a little of my pilgrimage with you today.
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:03.759
Perhaps this week you'll share a little of yours with someone else.
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:08.160
And until next time, continue making space for God.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:12.319
Continue becoming the woman He created you to be.
00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.400
And keep on shining.