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Judy: You’re listening to Encounter. I’m Judy Redlich. Jamie Radtke is my guest. She is the Chief Growth Officer for Global Media Outreach, a ministry that reaches millions of people a year for Christ. Before the break, Jamie, you talked about detours in your life. And how many of you feel like God’s got you on a detour? And you’re wondering, What is my real purpose now as a Christian? And where do I stand, and why am I on this detour in my life and feel like I don’t have a purpose, and I don’t have direction, and I don’t know why God’s got me here?
Jamie: Yes. Well, my word for the year, we try to pick out a word each year in our family, individually, and my word for the year has been “surrender.” One of those easy words to do, Judy.
Judy: Us women who are so controlling, a lot of times we run our family, we run our household, we run the ministries we do, or the business that we do. And, yes. So talk about surrender.
Jamie: Well, one of the things that God’s really been showing me is that, number one, God’s sovereignty demands surrender. God, can’t be sovereign in your life if you’re trying to control your life for yourself. And so, in order for God to be sovereign in your life, you really have to be surrendered to Him. And that there’s actual strength and clarity in surrendering. And a lot of people think, well, how can there be clarity because He hasn’t answered all my questions, and He hasn’t told me what to do, and I don’t, I can’t control it. But the clarity is knowing that our purpose is greater than ourselves. The clarity comes from knowing that we’re focused on God and what God’s trying to accomplish versus our own problems. And one of the things that’s been sort of the “aha” moment for me is that if I’m trying to control things, which we always are trying to do (we are actually human), but if we’re trying to control things, it means that we’re responsible for the outcome because we’re in charge. We’re in control. But if we surrender, that means the only thing we’re responsible for is our actions. And I have found that incredibly liberating as a businesswoman, as a mom, as a wife, as a caretaker of the elderly, as someone who’s adopted a foster child. That I’m not responsible for the outcome; if I’m surrendered to God, I’m only accountable for my actions. So that has been something that I’m really trying to hold tight to this year.
Judy: What are the points of surrendering that you have seen God put in your life to help you realize that surrender is so important and what it really means?
Jamie: Well, one thing we were talking about in the earlier segment is that God is even sovereign in the detours, and that’s been a powerful message for me. Sometimes detours are for correction. Sometimes they’re for refinement, but they’re always for God’s glory, regardless. And I have seen that in my life. If you had told me that, you know, I would spend over 20 years in politics, and then I would be in digital evangelism. That was a detour I didn’t see coming. If you would’ve told me I’d be an adoptive parent, I didn’t see that detour coming. If you had told me I’d be taking care of my mother-in-law, who lived with me for eight years, I didn’t see that coming. But what I’ve seen in the detours has been my growth. And it has helped me understand that I really don’t have to be responsible for the outcome. And so that’s been very liberating for me, to embrace detours. Because we often want to fight the detours that God has in our life. That’s the natural response — to try to get us back on the road we think God wants us on, not realizing that this detour was part of God’s sovereign plan.
Judy: You know, isn’t that true? I know I’m on a big detour right now because I have cancer, and a lot of you all who listen to my show every week don’t know that, but it is a challenge, and I’m every day having to say, OK, God, how do I get through this? And God is helping me through this. And I’m learning more about who He is and what His Word says. And how I can depend on God’s Word, even in the midst of the challenges. And I am finding that every time I go to the doctor, I get a chance to witness to someone or two or three or four. And it’s like God, I have hope, and so many people out there who have cancer don’t have that hope that I have found in Jesus Christ. And so sometimes, it’s a real joy because I get to share the Gospel. Sometimes it’s a real pain because I am taking some chemo as well, and that’s a real pain. And if you’re taking chemo and in that challenge, then you know what I’m talking about. But as we look at it, we are building blocks in our own lives, and we are on a detour. What does God have in store? And why are we going through these things? Jamie, what have you learned as you’ve been going through the detour? What are some steps that you can give those of us who are in detours to get us through?
Jamie: Well, one thing that I’ve learned is to trust God’s promises and not trust what I see. And that’s been really important because it’s really easy to get overwhelmed by your circumstances, or by the stress, or by just by life, right? And really trusting on His promises. One of the verses that’s been forefront on my mind is Psalm 46:10, where it says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” And as I was researching that a little bit more, they were saying that actually, “be still” makes it sound so calm (and/or easy to go through, or meditate and be still), but it’s really God saying, “stop it, just cut it out.” “Cease striving” is another translation, “cease striving, and know that I am God.” And He talks about if you do that, there’s basically four things that will happen if we’re still and know that He’s God.
He’ll be a shelter; He’ll be a safe place for us. He’ll be our strength, which we all need. He will help us in our times of trial to make things easier, and He’ll be with us. And so, that’s very liberating. I really leaned into this idea that I don’t have to be in control of the outcome. I am in control of my actions and the journey I’m on. And that’s sort of what you were sharing, right, with your cancer?
Judy: Right.
Jamie: It’s how are you going to let God use you in the journey, not be responsible for the outcome. And I think that’s very liberating when we can surrender that way.
Judy: Well, and I think as we ask Him to use us, He liberates us by showing us ideas. You know, even if it’s in a split second and you see someone right next to you when you go, ”Hey, how are you doing today?” And they start talking. You say, “You know what? Jesus loves you. He loves you for who you are. He wants to be first in your life, and He can handle those detours that you’re going through in your life.” And just asking for ways to serve in the midst of the detour. And that gives me joy. As God opens up the ways for me to serve. It is liberating, isn’t it? And that’s all in Psalm 46, isn’t it? Those four points.
Jamie: It is. It is. And you know, I guess my life verse has been 1 John 3:18 that says we should not love in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth. And really learning to love well in whatever circumstances God has us in. That is what He says it is, right? The greatest commandment is to love Him with all your heart and soul and to love others. So, how do we love well?
Judy: Yeah, How do we love well?
Jamie: Yeah.
Judy: How do we love well? So what prayer paths could we use to see God’s glory in the detours and go through these? What are some ways that we can pray that you would recommend?
Jamie: Well, there’s a couple of things that I’ve done, which is first of all, to really be broken by what I see, the people that God’s put me in front of me, or the circumstances. It’s really wanting to be sensitive to what I see happening around me. The second thing is making sure that there’s not sin in my life, like praying and saying, am I on this detour because of sin?
Judy: Right.
Jamie: I mean, certainly the Israelites wandered for 40 years because of sin. And so, is there sin in my life I need to confess? And I think that that is really important. I think the other thing to pray is to pray God’s promises. There’s something very powerful about what we tell ourselves, The messages we’re feeding ourselves. And we often have a lot of negative self-talk as women.
Judy: We do.
Jamie: And it’s not what God calls us to. He calls us to live in His promises. And so really leaning on those and then really praying for who you can love. Because what I have found and what I’ve been most encouraged about is that when I can take my eyes off my own circumstances and that magnifying glass of my daily life, and I can get the aerial view from the plane of what God’s really doing and keep my eyes on Him, my whole perspective changes. And all my actions and all my motives change. And so constantly, not just once a month, not just once a day, but multiple times a day, asking myself, what is God trying to do now? Versus keeping the focus on myself. And that’s really been my prayer these last few months.
Judy: Those are really valuable insights. Jamie Radke is my guest. She is the Chief Growth Officer of Global Media Outreach. She is from Virginia. She and her husband and four children live on a farm. Can you believe that she gets to watch her fruit trees grow and see how God uses their growth as examples in her life and can share those examples with others? Yeah. I have found that, too. That keeping our eyes off ourselves helps us to see the greater picture, the bigger picture of who God is. Not only in our own lives but how he can change other people’s lives through our actions and our reactions. And even in our families, leaving a legacy, even though we might be going on detours. God can use the strength that we are finding in Him to speak to those people in our families and our relatives about who He is not only in our lives but who He can be in their lives as they look to Him. That’s what I’m praying about my legacy. So Jamie, we only have a couple of minutes left. Give us a little summary of Global Media Outreach again, just a few sentences, and then tell us how people can get more involved. Just any other little tidbits that you’d like to share.
Jamie: Well, you could go to Globalmediaoutreach.com to learn more. There you can learn how you can be a part of a movement of what God is doing to leverage technology to share the Gospel right from your home, either through financial giving or through volunteering. You can learn to connect to people, answer their spiritual questions and lead them to a relationship with Jesus where they’re surrendered to a sovereign God. I encourage you to look at Globalmediaoutreach.com so we can give everyone on earth multiple opportunities to know Jesus.
Judy: Don’t forget Matthew 28:19-20 should be that opportunity we look for every day, every hour, every minute, every second.
Globalmediaoutreach.com. Jamie Radtke has been my guest. I’m Judy Redlich. This is Encounter. Thanks for joining me today. Tell a friend about Encounter, won’t you? And join me next time. I’m Judy Redlich.
This has been Encounter with Judy Redlich, informing listeners on local Christian events and matters that affect your lives. Spread the word and invite people to listen to Encounter on KSIV or online at Botradionetwork.com.