WEBVTT
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.520
Hello everyone and welcome back for another guided meditation.
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:08.080
If you're listening to this one, chances are you're in one of the hardest places to be.
00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.519
Not because you know something is wrong, but because you don't know.
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.880
Waiting can feel like its own kind of suffering.
00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.000
The mind wants answers, certainty, control.
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.480
Instead, it finds silence and creating its own narratives.
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:31.920
So for the next few minutes, give yourself permission to stop searching for answers, to stop Googling, stop asking chat, and simply rest.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.000
Take a slow deep breath in through your nose.
00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.719
And gently exhale through your mouth.
00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.159
Again, breathe in.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:51.039
And breathe out.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.520
One more time, inhaling peace.
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.000
Exhaling fear.
00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:12.159
Now I want you to imagine you're standing on the shore of a beautiful lake just before the sun rises.
00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:16.640
The water is completely still, almost like glass.
00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:23.200
In the distance, there's a thick morning fog hovering over the surface.
00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.519
You can't see the other side.
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.120
Your mind desperately wants the fog to lift.
00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:32.879
It wants to know what's waiting across the lake.
00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:35.120
But notice something.
00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:39.120
Even though you can't see the other side, it still exists.
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:44.640
The trees are still there, the mountains are still there, the path is still there.
00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.120
Your inability to see what lies ahead doesn't change reality.
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.959
It only changes what you can currently perceive.
00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:55.599
This is what waiting feels like.
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:03.760
The fog is uncertainty, not danger, not proof that something bad is coming, simply fog.
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.200
Take another slow breath.
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:21.599
Imagine yourself stepping into a wooden boat, rising at the edge of the lake.
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.759
As you sit down, you notice someone else is already there.
00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:26.960
Jesus.
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.039
He isn't rushing.
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.759
He isn't panicking because of the fog.
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.960
He isn't scanning the horizon with fear.
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:39.439
Instead, he's simply sitting beside you with complete peace.
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.039
The boat begins to drift gently across the water.
00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.159
Notice that Jesus never asks you to steer.
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.960
He never asks you to clear the fog.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.879
He never asks you to predict what you'll find on the other side.
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.560
He simply invites you to stay seated beside him.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:04.960
Sometimes anxiety convinces us that we, that if we worry enough, we'll somehow prepare ourselves for bad news.
00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.879
As if rehearsing tragedy today will make tomorrow's hurt less.
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.840
But think about carrying an umbrella on a perfectly sunny day.
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.719
Every single day.
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.560
Because one day it might rain.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.759
Eventually, your arms become exhausted from carrying something you never needed.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:32.000
Anxiety often asks us to carry storms that haven't arrived and may never.
00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:41.520
Today let's set the umbrella down, not because we're pretending storms never come, but because today's weather deserves today's attention.
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.919
Look around your boat.
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.800
Feel the warmth of the morning air.
00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:49.520
Hear the birds beginning to sing.
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.319
Notice the gentle ripple of the water.
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:59.520
Life is still happening and it's so beautiful.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:02.319
Even while you wait.
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.879
Now imagine you're holding a tightly clenched fist.
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:12.159
Inside that fist is every single question you've been asking.
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:13.680
What if it's bad?
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.680
What if something changed?
00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.759
What if my life changes forever from what I find out?
00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:26.160
Notice how exhausting it is to keep your hand closed.
00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.519
Now slowly allow your fingers to open.
00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:36.879
Not because you received your answers, but because you no longer want fear to grip them for you.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.360
Watch those questions become tiny paper boats.
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.399
One by one, place them in the water.
00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.040
You don't have to chase them.
00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:51.199
You don't have to solve them.
00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.920
Simply watch as the current carries them farther and farther away.
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:06.160
The questions may still exist, but they no longer have to live inside your clinched hands.
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.360
Take another slow breath.
00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:23.360
Now imagine the fog beginning to glow.
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:28.319
Not because it has disappeared, but because the rising sun is shining through it.
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:30.959
The fog hasn't changed.
00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:33.839
But the light has.
00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.920
Hope works like that.
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.680
Peace doesn't always come because uncertainty disappears.
00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.839
Sometimes peace comes because light enters the uncertainty.
00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.439
You realize you don't need to see the entire journey.
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.519
You only need to see enough light for the next step.
00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:55.519
God has never asked you to carry tomorrow.
00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.800
He has always promised grace for today.
00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:08.959
Imagine him gently placing his hand over yours and saying, You don't have to know the outcome to know I'm with you.
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.879
You don't have to know the diagnosis to know I love you.
00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.360
You don't have to know tomorrow to experience my peace today.
00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:23.759
How beautiful is that.
00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.959
Take another deep breath.
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:39.279
Feel your shoulders soften, your jaw relax.
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.920
Allow your body to release what your mind has been gripping.
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.800
Waiting is not wasted time.
00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:49.519
It is where trust quietly grows.
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.160
It is where faith learns to breathe.
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.839
It is where we discover that peace was never found in having all the answers.
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.839
It was found in knowing who sits in the boat with us.
00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:07.600
As we close, silently repeat these words.
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.800
I release what I cannot know.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.360
I receive peace for this moment.
00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.079
The fog is not my future.
00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:26.079
I do not walk this waiting season alone.
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:32.160
Whatever tomorrow holds, God will already be there.
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:42.240
Take one final deep breath in and slowly let it go.
00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:54.399
When you're ready, open your eyes if they were closed, and gently return your awareness to the room around you.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.680
And remember this you don't have to cross tomorrow's bridge today.
00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:04.399
Today, simply rest in the boat, enjoy the ride.
00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.240
The one guiding it has never lost his way.
00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:10.639
See you next time, friends.
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.520
Hello everyone and welcome back for another guided meditation.
00:00:03.680 --> 00:00:08.080
If you're listening to this one, chances are you're in one of the hardest places to be.
00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:11.519
Not because you know something is wrong, but because you don't know.
00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.880
Waiting can feel like its own kind of suffering.
00:00:15.279 --> 00:00:18.000
The mind wants answers, certainty, control.
00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.480
Instead, it finds silence and creating its own narratives.
00:00:22.719 --> 00:00:31.920
So for the next few minutes, give yourself permission to stop searching for answers, to stop Googling, stop asking chat, and simply rest.
00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:36.000
Take a slow deep breath in through your nose.
00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.719
And gently exhale through your mouth.
00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.159
Again, breathe in.
00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:51.039
And breathe out.
00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.520
One more time, inhaling peace.
00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:02.000
Exhaling fear.
00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:12.159
Now I want you to imagine you're standing on the shore of a beautiful lake just before the sun rises.
00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:16.640
The water is completely still, almost like glass.
00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:23.200
In the distance, there's a thick morning fog hovering over the surface.
00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.519
You can't see the other side.
00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.120
Your mind desperately wants the fog to lift.
00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:32.879
It wants to know what's waiting across the lake.
00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:35.120
But notice something.
00:01:35.359 --> 00:01:39.120
Even though you can't see the other side, it still exists.
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:44.640
The trees are still there, the mountains are still there, the path is still there.
00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:49.120
Your inability to see what lies ahead doesn't change reality.
00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.959
It only changes what you can currently perceive.
00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:55.599
This is what waiting feels like.
00:01:55.920 --> 00:02:03.760
The fog is uncertainty, not danger, not proof that something bad is coming, simply fog.
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.200
Take another slow breath.
00:02:15.919 --> 00:02:21.599
Imagine yourself stepping into a wooden boat, rising at the edge of the lake.
00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:25.759
As you sit down, you notice someone else is already there.
00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:26.960
Jesus.
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:29.039
He isn't rushing.
00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.759
He isn't panicking because of the fog.
00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:34.960
He isn't scanning the horizon with fear.
00:02:35.280 --> 00:02:39.439
Instead, he's simply sitting beside you with complete peace.
00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:43.039
The boat begins to drift gently across the water.
00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:46.159
Notice that Jesus never asks you to steer.
00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:48.960
He never asks you to clear the fog.
00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.879
He never asks you to predict what you'll find on the other side.
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:56.560
He simply invites you to stay seated beside him.
00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:04.960
Sometimes anxiety convinces us that we, that if we worry enough, we'll somehow prepare ourselves for bad news.
00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:10.879
As if rehearsing tragedy today will make tomorrow's hurt less.
00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:15.840
But think about carrying an umbrella on a perfectly sunny day.
00:03:16.159 --> 00:03:18.719
Every single day.
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:20.560
Because one day it might rain.
00:03:20.800 --> 00:03:25.759
Eventually, your arms become exhausted from carrying something you never needed.
00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:32.000
Anxiety often asks us to carry storms that haven't arrived and may never.
00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:41.520
Today let's set the umbrella down, not because we're pretending storms never come, but because today's weather deserves today's attention.
00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:43.919
Look around your boat.
00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:46.800
Feel the warmth of the morning air.
00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:49.520
Hear the birds beginning to sing.
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.319
Notice the gentle ripple of the water.
00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:59.520
Life is still happening and it's so beautiful.
00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:02.319
Even while you wait.
00:04:02.960 --> 00:04:06.879
Now imagine you're holding a tightly clenched fist.
00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:12.159
Inside that fist is every single question you've been asking.
00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:13.680
What if it's bad?
00:04:13.919 --> 00:04:15.680
What if something changed?
00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:19.759
What if my life changes forever from what I find out?
00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:26.160
Notice how exhausting it is to keep your hand closed.
00:04:26.480 --> 00:04:29.519
Now slowly allow your fingers to open.
00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:36.879
Not because you received your answers, but because you no longer want fear to grip them for you.
00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:41.360
Watch those questions become tiny paper boats.
00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.399
One by one, place them in the water.
00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.040
You don't have to chase them.
00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:51.199
You don't have to solve them.
00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:57.920
Simply watch as the current carries them farther and farther away.
00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:06.160
The questions may still exist, but they no longer have to live inside your clinched hands.
00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:09.360
Take another slow breath.
00:05:20.399 --> 00:05:23.360
Now imagine the fog beginning to glow.
00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:28.319
Not because it has disappeared, but because the rising sun is shining through it.
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:30.959
The fog hasn't changed.
00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:33.839
But the light has.
00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.920
Hope works like that.
00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:39.680
Peace doesn't always come because uncertainty disappears.
00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.839
Sometimes peace comes because light enters the uncertainty.
00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.439
You realize you don't need to see the entire journey.
00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.519
You only need to see enough light for the next step.
00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:55.519
God has never asked you to carry tomorrow.
00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:58.800
He has always promised grace for today.
00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:08.959
Imagine him gently placing his hand over yours and saying, You don't have to know the outcome to know I'm with you.
00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:14.879
You don't have to know the diagnosis to know I love you.
00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:21.360
You don't have to know tomorrow to experience my peace today.
00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:23.759
How beautiful is that.
00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.959
Take another deep breath.
00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:39.279
Feel your shoulders soften, your jaw relax.
00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:43.920
Allow your body to release what your mind has been gripping.
00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:46.800
Waiting is not wasted time.
00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:49.519
It is where trust quietly grows.
00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.160
It is where faith learns to breathe.
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.839
It is where we discover that peace was never found in having all the answers.
00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:01.839
It was found in knowing who sits in the boat with us.
00:07:03.279 --> 00:07:07.600
As we close, silently repeat these words.
00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.800
I release what I cannot know.
00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:15.360
I receive peace for this moment.
00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.079
The fog is not my future.
00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:26.079
I do not walk this waiting season alone.
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:32.160
Whatever tomorrow holds, God will already be there.
00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:42.240
Take one final deep breath in and slowly let it go.
00:07:47.759 --> 00:07:54.399
When you're ready, open your eyes if they were closed, and gently return your awareness to the room around you.
00:07:54.560 --> 00:07:59.680
And remember this you don't have to cross tomorrow's bridge today.
00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:04.399
Today, simply rest in the boat, enjoy the ride.
00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.240
The one guiding it has never lost his way.
00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:10.639
See you next time, friends.
