3 Key Principles of Making Positive Progress
Summary
Tamara K. Anderson shared her personal journey of overcoming adversity through faith in God's help, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and seeking support from others. She discussed the role of Satan in causing resistance and doubt, and how God can strengthen and empower individuals to overcome these challenges. Tamara also shared practical principles for finding hope and faith in challenging situations, including praying for miracles and opening one's eyes to see the blessings in everyday life. She launched a new podcast focused on exploring Jesus Christ's teachings and women's stories in the Bible, and encouraged listeners to subscribe and follow her on YouTube for more content.
Outline
If you want to move forward with something positive in your life, expect resistance from the adversary. Things don’t always go you planned, even if you’re inspired by God.
God can strengthen us to do ANYTHING! Importance of learning to level up, bring in more light and get rid of things that drag us down.
God sends angels (both seen and unseen) to help us and support us in difficulties.
Bonus principle:
“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes.” —2 Kings 6:16-17
New Podcast: Bible, Women & Bathrobes
Applying biblical teachings and women in the Bible.
Tamara Anderson and co-hosts discuss lessons from Jesus' teachings and women in the Bible.
Podcast covers modern applications of biblical teachings and historical background on women in the Bible.
Subscribe to the Bible, Women & Bathrobes podcast for more inspirational stories and connection.
She emphasizes the importance of God's love and support in difficult times.
Transcript
Tamara Anderson 0:00
Have you ever set a goal to do something and then it's like all hell broke loose to try to stop you from accomplishing that goal? And you wonder, why did I try this to begin with? Why is this so difficult? If you have, you're not alone, I'm going to share with you three key principles of making positive progress, including overcoming the adversary in my personal journey and give you an update of everything that's been going on for the past year as I promised I would stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 0:37
Welcome to Stories of Hope in Hard Times, the show that explores how people endure and even thrive in difficult times, all with God's help. I'm your host Tamara K Anderson. Join me on a journey to find inspiring stories of hope and wisdom learned in life's hardest moments.
Tamara Anderson 1:03
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Stories of Hope in Hard Times. I'm your host, Tamara K Anderson. And I'm so excited to be with you today. I promised you that as I paused this podcast to launch Women Warriors of Light, the group that God has kind of been nudging me to start for several years now, that I would give you progress updates. And it's been about a year since I've done that. So I apologize that I haven't done that sooner. I have been feverishly working towards this goal. And I am so excited to tell you that we launched that women warriors of light launched on March 28, we had our official launch virtual launch.
Tamara Anderson 1:49
And it was wonderful. And I am so happy that it's finally started. But it's the beginning of the beginning. People are like, aren't you glad it's done? And I'm like, oh, it's the beginning of the beginning. And I have to tell you guys, I started a new podcast. And I'll tell you about that at the end of this episode.
Tamara Anderson 2:09
But first, I want to talk you through some of the struggles that I've experienced over the past year. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever felt that they needed to act on something only to have the adversary just open up the gates of hell, and just try to stop you. That is really what I've gone through this past year, year and a half a lot of fear. He's thrown at me a lot of negativity in my mind. Like you can't do this. It's too big. It's too much. And yes, it it is. It has been very big. And it's been too much for just me, but God has blessed me.
Tamara Anderson 2:53
There have been times that I wondered if I would make it and, and I wasn't sure. Because it was hard. And it was heavy. There were nights when I cried and cried to my husband and just said I don't know if I can It's too hard. I'm struggling with things that I've never struggled with my entire life, you know, and and just the discouragement and the fear factor that Satan throws at you when when you're trying to make positive progress was heavy and oppressive and overwhelming.
Tamara Anderson 3:35
And there were times I really wanted to give up, I'll be honest. And so I guess the first thing that I learned is that anytime you want to make forward progress in your life, Satan, it and his are hosts of devils is gonna want to stop you. You know, it's not any surprise when I pause and think about it that what God wants for us is eternal life. He wants us to come home to him.
Tamara Anderson 4:08
And what Satan wants is he wants to stop our progress. Because that's what being damned means. It means having your progress stopped. If you think about a dam, stopping the progress of water. That's what Satan wants. He doesn't want us to move forward and our progress. And so as I moved forward and it felt sometimes it felt like I had big concrete bricks on my feet. Oh, one little baby step at a time. And sometimes it felt like I would take those step forward and something would pull me back. I learned that when we are making forward progress, whether it's with a goal, or we're moving out of perhaps an addiction or something, anything that moves our life forward in a positive way. Maybe you're going back to school Maybe you're trying to help someone in need that maybe it's a child, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a parent to expect opposition expect that things aren't just going to open up. And it's going to be easygoing.
Tamara Anderson 5:17
And the reason I've pondered that and said, Why is it so hard and, and things from the scriptures popped into my mind, think of the two gardens that are talked about in the Scriptures, the Garden of Eden the Garden of Gethsemane, Good Things were moving forward. And both of those places, and yet Satan showed up. And they became places where it was tough and tough decisions had to be made. And, and so it shouldn't surprise this since from the very, very beginning of time. It's been hard when we try to make more progress, because we have an enemy here on Earth. But I've also learned, and this is one of the key points to kind of counterbalance that is that God helps us line upon line, precept upon precept, she just told us. There are also growing pains, because where we want to go, isn't who we are yet. And so as we grow to become that newer, better person. It requires a little bit of refining in us.
Tamara Anderson 6:32
So I guess what I learned is that anyone making poor progress, whether it's Adam and Eve, whether it's Jesus Christ is going to experience hard times moving forward, it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be seamless. And I think something in the back of my brain have thought, I am doing God's work, he's calling me to do this. Things will be things will flow, things will be easy. And certainly there have been moments where that happened. But there has been so much resistance. And it just helps me realize that you know, the adversary is alive and well and, and is trying to stop the work of God from going forward as he always has. And he just like he wants to stop God's work from going forward. He wants to stop you from moving forward and me from moving forward and doing good things.
Tamara Anderson 7:33
I loved what one of the gals said at the launch that I had for Women Warriors of Light, she said, Don't doubt in the night, what you learned in the day. And I thought that is so true. That's one of the key things I learned as I tried to push forward was that Satan always tries to make us doubt these impressions that we get these thoughts that pop into our head that are good things that move us forward that allow us to help someone. But and so doubt is one of his biggest tactics, and also discouragement and negative thoughts, those are key things to us. So key principle number one is if you are going to move forward in your life, expect resistance, don't expect that it's going to be smooth sailing. Trust me, it won't.
Tamara Anderson 8:33
But the good news is principle number two, God can strengthen and empower you or me to do anything. I kind of go back to my mantra that I learned years ago, when my kids were diagnosed with autism, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I can were there days of weeping. Absolutely. The joy to come in the morning as the scripture promises. Yes. There were times when I was trying to work out complex technology stuff on the back end of our website that we've been building. And I went to my husband and I was crying. And I'm like, This is too hard for me to figure out. I had a website gal that was helping me but you know, it took a labor of love and lots of people working to get this thing off the ground. And I had to help things that were beyond my capacity. I had to learn how to do and there were times that I prayed for technology angels to be with me because oh my goodness, it was hard. It was super, super hard.
Tamara Anderson 9:45
I also learned so another thing that I loved was that God does send angels to be with us. Just like an angel comforted the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was going through I'll be the hardest thing that has ever been witnessed on this earth, suffering and pain for our sins. An angel went and comforted him. And I know the angels came and comforted with me. And were with me in those times, because I needed help. I couldn't do it by myself. Other times, they were people who showed up in my life and just said, I feel like I'm supposed to be involved in this organization, how can I help you? I just thought, Oh, thank you, because I can't do it on my own.
Tamara Anderson 10:31
So God sends angels, and also sometimes he sends angels within our own family to help and strengthen. I know that my kids were angels at times they came, and they, you know, my husband said, Okay, you guys got to help make dinners because mom is super busy right now. And so they would take turns making dinners on certain nights for the week. Was it consistent? No. But it was less that I had to be thinking about and doing as we got ready and launched women word of white. So sometimes the angels can be people in our own family. Or maybe it's we don't have angels in our own family. Maybe we need help from the outside. And I did have help from the outside, I had some key people stand, step up and say, hey, I want to help with this. And others, I had to ask and say, Hey, can you help with this? And they said, Yes, I would love to help with this.
Tamara Anderson 11:23
So God strengthens us to do anything. But sometimes those strengthening people come in the form of both angels seen and unseen. The third principle that I learned for making positive progress was that if I'm going to do something bigger, then has ever been required of me that I need to level up. And so I had to make forward progress as a person, getting rid of things that were holding me back, especially in that battle, that constant battle with Satan. Over the last couple years, I had to eliminate things that were dragging me down, that perhaps brought darkness in and bring more things into my life that were adding light and positivity. And Heavenly Father, God inspired me to know what those steps were, you know, stop watching that kind of thing: Stop reading that kind of book, you need to be reading the scriptures, you need to be doing things that bring light into your life.
Tamara Anderson 12:39
Also, with all the added stress, I had to start an exercise program that was better for me. And, and I did, I had to walk more I started strength training and stuff like that things that I needed to do physically, but I was leveling up in several areas of my life. And because when when we're stressed, it takes a toll on our bodies. And I'm not saying that I didn't have bowls of chocolate ice cream, sometimes I sure did. But I had to level up in several areas of my life, getting rid of things that drag me down, that brought darkness into my life, and adding things that increased my life or adding them with more frequency.
Tamara Anderson 13:31
I remember one particular day, I was really feeling the weight and the pressure of launching women warriors of light. And I was driving to a place where I could feel God's peace and God's holiness because I needed it more in my life. And as I was driving, I often I will put on uplifting music that will calm and inspire and lift me up when I feel the forces of the adversary attacking with greater frequency. And I had a song pop up that wasn't on my playlist that I had never heard before. And it is an old Christian hymn about standing on the promises of Christ, our Savior, and standing on the promises of God. And that song resonated with me. And it buoyed me up and it was like God kind of peeking into my heavy weight and saying, Hey, remember, you're doing what I asked you to do, and I'm going to fulfill my part. I'm going to fulfill my promise that I will help you with this. And so it was little moments like that, that kept me going.
Tamara Anderson 14:58
Sometimes it was a When talking to a friend and talking to a friend about a dilemma that I was facing, and, and sometimes just bouncing it off of people helped me solve the problems. But what I realized in this third principle about how I needed to level up in all areas of my life is that God helps me as I moved forward just inch by inch, and line by line and precept by precept forward. He blessed me with the people that I needed, he blessed me with an amazing advisory board that are all over the nation who have been awesome. He blessed me with an amazing co founder, Wendi Christiansen who has been super instrumental and I could just name several people who I could not have gone come this far without, we had two amazing teams of interns from a local university that helped us with several key pieces. And so I am thankful, I guess I'm here to tell you that even though it's been hard, it is it has been a good growing experience for me. And I'm not saying that I'm done growing, because the resistance hasn't stopped. So I know that forward, progress still needs to be made.
Tamara Anderson 16:17
But I've learned those three key principles to expect resistance. And that even though we're doing good things, Satan doesn't want us to make progress. But number two key principle is that relying on God and the angels that he sends, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. And he does send the right people at the right time. And then the third principle is that if we're leveling up, we've got to increase the light coming to us and eliminate things that are dragging us down. Because that's what's required. As we level up and make positive progress in our lives. There's a favorite scripture that I know I've shared with you before that, that I felt.
Tamara Anderson 17:06
We're gonna take a quick break. But when we get back, we'll have more lessons, tips and things you can apply to your life. Stay tuned.
Tamara Anderson 17:14
Hey, guys, have you started thinking about Mother's Day yet? Every Mother's Day I am looking for a card or something a gift to give my mom, my sisters, my friends. And it's hard for me to sometimes find those gifts. And so today, I'm so excited to tell you about this booklet, The Mother's Mite it's a perfect simple, inexpensive gift you can give your friends, your family, your sisters, anyone that you want to share this story with. And it will be meaningful. It's not just a little piece of candy that they eat and forget. It's something they can read over and over again. Because so often we as women feel alone and overwhelmed and burdened, and like there's so many things weighing on our shoulders. And what I love about this story is that it points us to Jesus Christ in our times of trouble, that he understands us. He loves us knows what we're going through, and he is more than willing to help us bear that burden. And I love that about this story that it gives not only me hope, but it will convey that sense of hope for all of you. So get your copy of it today. TamaraKanderson.com/store, you can order one to 10-20 however many you want, and we will get those to you so you can get them distributed by Mother's Day. All right now on to our show.
Tamara Anderson 18:46
There's a favorite scripture that I know I've shared with you before that that I felt many times and I had to learn to pray for angels and to cast out Satan on a regular basis. Daily surely. But I love this verse in Kings Second Kings for chapter six verses 16 and 17. Is this is when Elijah and his manservant we're looking at the city in this attacking army had completely surrounded them. And sometimes we feel like that in life we feel like we are surrounded by the enemy and his hosts and it's overwhelming and we're like I we're going to die I can't move forward and here's what he likes shoulda told his servant fear not are they that be with us are more than they that be with them. Lord, I pray the open his eyes.
Tamara Anderson 19:45
And so I guess that would be maybe a bonus principle is that when we're feeling down and discouraged and like things aren't not gonna go well, that we pray that God will open our eyes to see you The miracles and the angels around us. There were times when I woke up and I could just feel, I just felt heavy. And I would go and I would write about how I felt. And then I would say a quick prayer and say, God helped me to write things I'm thankful for helped me to see the miracles that are happening, despite all this heaviness. And I would end up journaling, like two or three pages of things that had happened that were miracles.
Tamara Anderson 20:26
And, and so sometimes we need to pray when we're feeling heavy, that God will open our eyes to the angels and to the miracles that are around us. Ah, how's that for three key principles plus the bonus principle of making positive progress in our lives? All right, I promised I'd also give you an update. Well, let me tell you, I have launched another podcast with some amazing people who are connected to women warriors of light. It's called Bible, Women & Bathrobes. And seriously guys, we do record this in our bathrobes at like 6am. It is crazy. But it's a lot of fun. And there's usually two or three of us on there.
Tamara Anderson 21:13
And we are focusing on two things. We're launching two episodes a week, once on Tuesday morning, and once on Thursday morning. The Tuesday mornings we are talking about lessons from the teachings of Jesus Christ. And we started the Sermon on the Mount a couple of weeks ago. And so we've been just taking them just a few verses at a time. And we're pulling from it lessons, we can learn that and apply to ourselves today. So modernizing terms, what does being meek mean, you know, and it's been so much fun. I have some amazing co host, Bonnie Randall. And she has been awesome. And we brought on women from our advisory board, Women Warriors of Light advisory board to be on there. And then on Thursday mornings, we are talking about women in the Bible. And we have started with Ruth. And we've just been taking it just a little bit at a time as well. We will be launching episode three this week. So Ruth chapter three, and we're kind of going through her story and, and helping explain it but also drawing principles from the story that we can apply in our lives.
Tamara Anderson 22:25
We've been blessed to have had there'll be more, who is an amazing author. And she wrote a novel about Ruth several years ago. And it's been fun to have her on for the historical background. She writes lots of historical books. And so it's been fun to have her on for the last several episodes. And it's just been wonderful to get behind my microphone, and the video camera again and record podcasts. I have missed it so very much.
Tamara Anderson 22:58
So I'm excited that I'm back. You're probably wondering, Well, are you going to launch more episodes of stories of hope? Probably sporadically. I will I'm not going to promise anything since I'm already launching two episodes every week with Bible, Women & Bathrobes. But I would encourage you to subscribe to Bible women and bathrobes and join us on this journey as we explore and apply the teachings of Jesus Christ and also as we talk about the different women in the Bible, so you don't have to join us live. You don't have to wake up early. You can listen to the podcast or view them subscribe to us on YouTube, they will go live there as well. So follow Women Warriors of Light on YouTube. You can check out our website womenwarriorsoflight.com, we are getting more and more things up and running there every day every week. And I'm just excited that this forward progress has been made.
Tamara Anderson 23:59
I'm sorry, you had to pause the podcast again. And it's good to be back. And we will be launching more podcasts for Women Warriors of Light and probably the back half of the year. One of the podcasts that they requested when we did a survey was modern women warriors, which is very similar to what we've done on Stories of Hope. So don't worry, we will be launching more and you will not hear the end of me especially if you subscribe on Bible, Women & Bathrobes. But thanks for joining me and thanks for being a support and a follower of this amazing podcast. Thanks for understanding while I had to take a break to do this big endeavor.
Tamara Anderson 24:43
And just remember that those same principles that I learned apply to you that even though you may feel some pushback from the adversary that God is with you and can strengthen you to do anything that you're called to do in life. And we'll see And angels and people to help you. So level up, move forward and pray that God will open your eyes to see those angels and miracles in your life. Thanks for joining us, guys.
Tamara Anderson 25:13
Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's show. If you like what you heard, subscribe so you can get your weekly dose of powerful stories of hope. I know there are many of you out there who are going through a hard time, and I hope you found useful things that you can apply to your own life in today's podcast. If you'd like to access the show notes of today's show, please visit my website storiesofhopepodcast.com. There you will find a summary of today's show, the transcript and one of my favorite takeaways. You know, if someone kept coming to mind during today's episode, perhaps that means that you should share this episode with them. Maybe there was a story shared or quote or a scripture verse that they really really need to hear. So go ahead and share this podcast. May God bless you, especially if you are struggling with hope to carry on and have the strength to keep going. When things get tough. Remember to walk with Christ and He will help you bear the burden. And above all else, Remember God loves you!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai