Where We Go From Here

Hey everyone, welcome back. I'm Melissa, and this is My Question for You. This is a space where we slow down long enough to ask the questions that actually change things. Not the questions that have easy answers, but the ones that actually make you stop, that can cause you to rethink what you know about God, what you know about your faith, things that you believe, things that you've trusted over time, maybe to look at that same passage of scripture that you've read dozens of times a little bit differently and see things a little bit differently and to actually take the time to go deeper and to draw closer to God. We ask the types of questions that make you sit with God a little longer than it may actually be comfortable for you sometimes. So if you're new here, let me just stop and extend a very special welcome to all of you who are joining us for the first time. And I want to say that you found us at exactly the right time because we are about to jump into season number three. And if you've been here since the beginning, if you walk with me through season one and through season two, I just want to say once again, thank you so much for being so loyal and showing up and asking the hard questions with me week after week after week. It means so much more to me than I can even express to you. So now let's continue our journey and get ready to transition into season number three. Okay, so before we do anything else, I want to stop here for a second because I think we actually need to acknowledge what we just walked through together. Season two was not a light season, and I I don't want to just move past it without giving it its moment. We started season two with a quiet, honest question what comes with you into this season? Not what you hope to leave behind, not who you wanted to become, but what is actually here right now coming with you? And that question set the tone for everything else that followed in season two. We asked what might be growing in us even when we couldn't see it. We sat with what faithfulness actually looks like in the slow, ordinary middle. And we asked whether we were letting God set the pace, or whether fear, comparison, and the pressure to perform were setting it for us. And then we went somewhere a little more personal. We walked through the unstuck series together. Five weeks of asking hard, honest questions about what it looks like when faith feels stalled, when you're doing all the right things, and still feels like you're living mostly in your head instead of in your life. We talked about the difference between thinking about your life and actually being present for it, about what keeps us stuck longer than we need to be. We talked about what happens after the leap, when the adrenaline fades and the real quiet obedience sets in. And we finished season two with the language of faith, asking whether the words we reach for when life feels uncertain are actually reflecting what we believe about God, or if they're quietly working against us. That was a full season. We did a lot of work in season two. And if you stayed for all of it, even the weeks when it felt a little heavy, even the episodes that asked something uncomfortable of you, if you stayed through all of that, that that matters. I don't take it lightly that you stayed, and I'm so grateful that you did. And here's what I want you to understand season three didn't come from um a content calendar, it came from season two. It came from something that I kept noticing as we walk through all of those questions together. So let me show you how we got here because I think that it just might change how this new season lands for you. Okay, so as we move through season two, I kept noticing something. Every question that we asked had a quieter question underneath it. So when we asked, what comes with you into the season, the deeper question was, am I willing to be honest with God about what I'm actually carrying? When we asked, are you letting God set the pace? underneath that question was, do I actually trust God's timing is better than my urgency? And when we asked, Where are you stuck? Is it in your head or in your life? The real question underneath it was, am I willing to move before I feel ready? We asked, are you being realistic or being faithful? And what we were really asking was, is my picture of God big enough for what's in front of me? Every surface question had a deeper question underneath it. And so I started wondering, what if that's actually where the real conversation with God begins? Not at the question we say out loud, but at the one we haven't quite been able to name yet. And that's what season three is. It's not a pivot, it's not a new direction, but it feels more like the natural next step from everything we've already been talking about and walking through in these first few seasons. It's an invitation to go a level and a layer deeper, to stop at the surface question just long enough to ask what's really underneath this? What's really driving this question? What do I really want to know? Season three is a series that we're gonna call the question behind the question. Each episode, we're gonna take one of the questions we all carry, the ones we pray out loud, the ones we whisper in the dark when no one is around, and we're gonna follow it all the way down to the real question, to the question that's actually driving everything. Because here's here's what I believe. When you can finally name what you're really asking God, something shifts. The conversation starts to get honest, the walls come down, and that's the space where God actually meets us. Now, I'm not going to go deep into a passage today. That's what the rest of the series is for. But I can't talk about asking God to search what we're really carrying without going here, because David did this first, and I think he said it way better than I ever will, but it's so relevant. So I want to just touch on this because I really think it sets the tone for season three. If we look at Psalm 139, David says, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there's any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. But David isn't giving God his best thoughts here. He's asking God to go past them. Past what he's saying out loud, past the polished version of that, and past even what he knows about himself. He's saying, God, find the question that I'm actually living in. That prayer is the heartbeat for season three. Okay. And I want to be honest with you before we close today because I think this matters. This series didn't just come from a whiteboard, it came from my own life. And I think you should know that going into this season, I've grown between seasons too. I listen to and replay my own podcast, my own episodes. And I know I've shared with many of you that I listened to my own words for encouragement in my own life. So I've been growing through these messages, writing these messages and sharing it with you just the same way. There were moments in this last season, moments I wasn't recording, um, moments that no one heard where I was sitting with my own deeper questions. That's where I realized I was asking God one thing out loud, and I was carrying something completely different underneath. And God was patient with me in that. He didn't demand that I get to the real question faster. He just kept making space until I got there. So that's what I want this series to feel like for you. Not pressure, not a checklist, just space. Just space to just sit still, to sit with God, space to follow your questions all the way down and find God already there, waiting for you. I want to leave you with a question. Not a big question, just something small that you can carry with you into this week. This week, I want you to pay attention to what you're asking God. And then just gently ask yourself, is there a question underneath that one? Is there something deeper that's really at the heart of what I'm asking God? Am I being honest and transparent and open with God in this question, or is there something more? Don't try to answer it. You don't even have to fully name it. I just want you to notice what comes to you as you sit with that question. Because sometimes the most important thing we can do is stop long enough to hear what we're actually asking. So that's my question for you today. I'll see you next week, and I can't wait to dive into season three. But until then, I want you to keep asking, keep listening, and remember, maybe one question really can change your direction. Before you go, if today's question stayed with you, I'd love to keep the conversation going. Each week, I send a short email called This Week's Question a Quiet Invitation, and it's a simple reflection to help you stay grounded, to pay attention, to dive deeper into God's Word, and to walk with God throughout your week. You can sign up at myquestion for you dot com, bringing you encouragement for your spirit and wisdom for your walk.