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Welcome to our Bible study tonight. I'm Vicki, as you know, and this is Mercedes. You should know her by now, but we are honored to be in the home of Miss Kim McCowan tonight, and we're very honored to be here, by the way.
It's our first time here, because they just moved here not long ago. It's lovely. Look at this. Decorations. Do you recognize most of those things on the wall? Oh, I do recognize most of those things.
They came from my children. That's so sweet. I'm sorry. Kim and her husband were youth leaders in our church for quite some years when my grown kids were in the youth. So, anyways, tonight Kim has chosen two different verses she would like to study with us, and Kim, what were those two verses?
So, it's 1.
Corinthians 1, 27 through 29, and then Isaiah 61, 1 through 3. It said,.
God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is an insignificant and despised in the world, what is viewed as nothing, to bring nothing, to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in his presence.
But it is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us, our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written, the one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of our God's vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair.
And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him. All right. Now Kim told, or not told us, but informed us earlier that she links these two verses together. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna let her explain to us.
So Mercedes and I are probably gonna learn something tonight. And I'm excited because I'm ready to take some notes.
Down. So take it away Miss Kim. Okay. So I'm gonna rewind about, it's been right at about three years. People who know me and our family know what happened about three years ago, but David and I were about separated.
And just a lot was going on. And it was just really rough. I realized that a lot of things, but realized that I had not trusted him with a lot of stuff. I grew up not in a good house at all. I always felt just very lonely, insecure, unloved.
It was just, it was bad. I didn't know how to cope with things or deal with things. And I didn't realize that at that time. So our marriage was crumbling. He stepped down from his position as pastor, but I realized it wasn't just our marriage.
Like I've grown to kind of despise every, not despise, but grow sick of ministry, people, just stuff. But it was because I wasn't right. Like it just, I don't know. Like I was a Christian. There's no doubt about it, but there's just something not there.
Right. So anyway, I realized I need to work on like everything. Like God said to me, you just gotta, we're just gonna go right back down to everything, to the basics, because you got to learn this stuff.
So my sister-in-law had been on me for a few years to do her abortion recovery class that she taught. And I was like, I'm fine. I'm good with it. Nobody, like it was when I was 16. It wasn't my choice.
But finally I was like, you know what? We're just gonna do this. We're just gonna make it better. So that was the first step, was meeting with her. And I was not coming to church anymore. I wasn't really welcome at that point.
Dave and I were kind of talking a little bit here and there, but Angie and I met every single week and did this study. And I realized so many things through that, that I had not dealt with it. I had not processed it.
That I had all this grief that I didn't even know was there. And she faithfully worked with me through that. During that time as well, I started meeting with Corinne Angwin and just digging down deep, finding roots of all kind of stuff.
And can I interrupt for just a.
Second? Because you know Kim, honestly, I've known you for many, many years now. And you didn't show any of, I mean you didn't show, you had on a good mask I.
Guess. Oh yeah. I didn't feel like I was okay to share that. Like I felt so insecure and insignificant and that I had to portray a certain thing to be accepted. But it was killing me. Like because I just felt like I could not be me ever.
I didn't even know who me was at all. And so Gwen and Corinne started meeting with me every week. And we met every Wednesday up until just a few months ago. And throughout all this time, Dave and I were trying to work on each other, trying to figure stuff out.
But these two verses, especially the first one, I love it because it's God speaking and saying, I choose what people see as insignificant. And I heard it in that, it's in the book that we did. And I heard it and I read it and it just kind of clicked up here.
And you know kind of hung on to it. But it was really just some dark times through there. A lot of fighting. And then just one thing after another after another kept happening. Lexi left for college. Dave, you know, after he left the church, didn't have stable work.
We ended up losing cars, losing our house, being like homeless last year for almost the whole summer. And through that time, I didn't stop working. I mean I cried. I asked God, why? Like why? I'm working.
I'm actually doing what you want me to do. So why does this keep happening? And he revealed himself to me that, you know, I had to get you to a point where all you did was lay on me. And I wanted so bad to get back in ministry.
And I missed it. And I was like, gosh, the things that I complained about. And it was hard because I lost so many relationships. And rebuilding those and just feeling so worthless having the church take care of us for months.
And you know just feeling like a failure because I couldn't provide for my kids. And just all those things. And I started going back and reading this because slowly things started getting better. And every week Karina would tell me, Kim is not always gonna be like this.
And some days I'd be like, okay. And then some days I'm like, I'm so tired of hearing you say that. You're a broken record. It's not getting better. And it wasn't. And she would tell me, it's, yeah, it sucks.
Nothing that you're going through is easy or good or fun. Moses wandered the wilderness for 40 years. And I said, well, then kill me. I told her literally one day when she said that, I said, then you can shoot me now because I'm not doing this for 40 years.
And then things just kind of started falling in place. And I'd call her and give her a glimpse of how this happened today. And there was still some really heartbreaking things. Lexi going to college and, you know, just different stuff.
And, um, but I kept coming back to this, that, and I have notes in here. I used to have to write. I mean, all of this is filled with writing, but I would have to write. I'm not defined by my past. I don't have to be afraid.
These are all my verses that I had to, like, in those moments, just repeat over and over and over again. And, um, this one, I felt so insignificant and small and then going back and reading this and knowing that all of it was for a reason and God's using it and he's going to continue to use it.
And, um, then when you go back to Isaiah, um, it says he's gonna provide comfort and give us beauty instead of ashes. Um, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And both of those just, um, are so personal to me that, you know, I can see how I've been used, how I can help people and it helps me.
And also to know that, you know, God still is gonna use you because I felt like I was never gonna be useful again ever. Um, oh, and you are. And I, I never thought that I was gonna teach again or be taken seriously again or that they're always gonna be these little whispers, you know, and, and it's hard.
I still struggle with it sometimes, but I do teach now and again, and I'm building relationships again with people that were broken. And even at one point, I remember dad feeling like such a failure as a husband and a father and sharing the verse in Corinthians with him and telling him you are useful and you have a purpose.
Um, and I just think it's so beautiful how God uses people and the broken things.
Yeah, because, um, in my study Bible, it, um, states he has sent me to comfort the broken hearted and to announce that captives will be released and.
Prisoners will be freed. Yeah, and that's, that's what I was for a long time. Just a prisoner of my own self and feelings and thoughts of unworthiness. And, um, so many just amazing things have happened since finally just realizing, look, I am what God has chosen me to be, and he's working through me and just reactions are different.
And I'm thinking more, you know, and whereas I just, I didn't know how I had to learn all that stuff. And, um, stripped you of your identity. Yes. Mm hmm.
And you want to speak up, babe? Sorry, I forgot that we're not. Yeah, I apologize. Yeah, I've been stripped of my identity before. It kind of sucks. Oh, it really hurts. It does. It's worse than ripping off a bandaid.
It's worse than.
Ripping off a bandaid. It's a bandaid made out of duct tape. Yeah. Yeah. That's sore. Yeah, it really is. Um, I just, I can't even put into words the, I was telling someone one day, probably about a year or so ago, said, this has been the fastest, longest two years of my life.
Yeah, if that makes sense. And she said, I can't believe it. Um, but now I mean, it's I'm working. David's working. Um, kids are doing well. Um, Lexi and I are talking. Um, and I get opportunities to feel helpful and useful with people.
And, um, that's what makes me happy.
Just goes to show that even when bad things happen, good will come out of it. Yeah. And it's hard to see at the time. It really is. You're like, how can anything good come of all this, whatever is going on?
And then you sit here, fast forward, you know, however many years later and you're sitting here and you're, you're given this testimony and you're, you might be able to reach somebody who's going through something so similar and you wouldn't have been able to do that had you not already gone through it, gone through, gotten to that finish line with it, saw the light at the end of the tunnel and now you're able to share it.
Well, you know, I had to be broken. Um, I myself have been broken. Um, and the thing is, and it's been that the terms have been used so many times before. God has to break you to mend you to who he wants you to be.
And, um, it's that potter and the potter's hand. I mean, it's that clay in the potter's hand. That's the whole thing. And, um, I recall all of the issues that you and and David were going through. Um, it was heart wrenching, but I can also recall when this one back here got broken.
Uh, wasn't too long ago. It was not just a couple months ago. And, um, we don't understand why the Lord. Okay. At the time, you don't understand why the Lord is putting you through whatever he's putting you through.
I mean, you know, you think, okay, okay, Lord, I fell down. I skipped my knee. Let's heal it up and let's get back to it. Let's get back to living. It's not that easy. It's I fell down, skipped my knee, got drugged 20 miles down the road on a gravel road by my toes with a pair of shorts on.
And then you go through some rubbish and some stickers and some thorns and all this other stuff. And you're like, is it ever.
Gonna stop? Yeah, that's where I was. I mean, I just, I guess I just, I remember telling Karina every week, like, because it was, it was literally something every week. And there was nothing good for a while.
I mean, a while. And, um, I did not see any kind of light at all. I was in the darkness. Um, just, I was still studying. I was still working. I was still doing what I needed to do. And that's what made it so bad is because it just kept getting worse.
And, um, you know, right after we moved in here, I remember calling her and telling her, I'm starting to see light. That was a really long chapter in this book, really long. I think a new one is about to start and it has.
Um, but I couldn't see it then at all. Well, the question.
I have for you then, Kim, and this is not going to be a hard one, I don't think. Okay. But do you think that if you hadn't gone through all that you went through and all of the heartache, all of the unsureness, all of the questioning, all of the bruises, all of the scrapes, do you think that you would feel that you are the, do you think you would be in the position that you're in now in Christ?
No, not at all. So Kim, from what I'm gathering, you're about as.
Hard-headed as I am. A little bit. I'm a little slow. I have to repeat the grade a few times. Yep. Yeah. Because I wasn't, I mean, I wasn't getting, I wasn't getting all of it. Gotcha. And when it says in John I've come that they may have life and have it abundantly, I didn't have an abundant life because so many things were just so deep-rooted and buried that I didn't even know it.
I had no clue. And I really truly believe that for God to use me the way that He wants to, that He has and continue to, I had to get all the way. Drive down the gravel road. Every single bit because I can remember at certain points like throughout our marriage and, you know, just different things, little things coming up and kind of working on it a little bit, but it was never getting down to the root causes of those.
And so I'm a slow learner because I wasn't getting it. I'm like, okay, we're good. And then, you know, something else would come up and I'm like, well, where'd that come from? But, I mean, I'm nowhere near where God wants me, I know, but that's the whole process.
But it took getting.
Everything taken. Everything. And it sucked. And look at you now. You're well on your way back up. I think.
You're in the coasting level right now. And I don't want to be in the.
Coasting level. Right. But it's like, yeah, it's breathing. Yeah. Yeah. Because, you know, this is the problem I have and I don't know, maybe y 'all know, but I'm pretty sure you do. But, you know, as soon as you get through that and as soon as, no matter how many miles you've been drugged down that gravel road and no matter how long it's taken you to heal or whatever the lesson was that the Lord had for you to learn, as soon as you take that plateau to go, it seems like before you can exhale, it's something else.
Yeah. And it.
Was that way after we moved in here too because David started working with Marty, doing really well and making good money and we were doing good. And then it got to be cold and rainy and work was like nothing at all for weeks.
And David been applying and applying and nothing. And I'm like, are we really gonna get back to that point again? I was terrified. Right. Like, we just got here. I'm not doing this again. And then he got a phone call from a friend of Marty's and has a new job now and doing great at it.
And we've been able to finally get things caught up again. And so I think that was just like a little, a little test thrown in there. Like, okay, I got you here. You're gonna keep, you're gonna keep.
Trusting. What's, what's cool about this 27 through 31, verse 30. Are we in Corinth in here? In 1 Corinthians, yeah. Thank you. Verse 30. But it is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, positional, sanctification.
You're positionally placed who became God-given wisdom for us, our righteousness, our sanctification, and redemption. Going through all of that, you are still in Christ. Plain and simple. You can't be taken out of that at all.
You know, in my Bible, I actually looked at verse 26 in 1 Corinthians. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, a few of you were wise in the world's eyes. That's, that's the, we have to get out of the worldly state of fixating on the world.
And honestly, Kim, I mean, my upbringing was completely different than yours. But I've been through two marriages, and they have not been perfect. And I have seen some pretty grave ugly things. And I've been drugged, probably down that same road you were drugged down, just in different types of gravel.
Yeah. So, and yes, I believe all of us, probably a lot of people that are watching have probably been drugged, or possibly could be being drugged as we speak, and going through some trials. But the one thing I have learned in the last four, three or four years, is that without the test, you don't have a testimony.
Exactly. And without that test, the only thing the test does is just draw you closer to Him. Make you realize that you cannot do it without, without Him. Because if we could, we.
Wouldn't, we wouldn't read. Yeah. And that's like, I was kind of laughing, I can't remember which, what it was on, I think the other day, or just regular posts, but, about being in control. And that's where I was, like, in my head, I had everything under control.
My post? I.
Think, because you said you had to learn to give up control. Oh honey, that was the.
Hardest lesson for me. Right, yeah. Because I thought that my, how I acted, how I did things, how this, you know, all of that, was me having control of things. And it.
Wasn't at all. It was God going, okay, sit down. They're there. Right. They're so cute. Yeah. I don't know, I don't know if y 'all have experienced this, but, you know, I've had to learn how to give up control, and then something else will happen, and I'll have to re-learn how to do that again, because apparently I forgot.
Yeah. Can I leave a ring on your table? It's fine, I'm about to paint it. And hearing you talk about that, and hearing, where you were, and all of that, the insignificance that you felt, and the insecurities, and you lost you, you lost who you were, throws me back to Galatians 4, 7.
Therefore you are no longer a slave, but God's child. And since you were God's child, you're also, you've also been made an heir. That's, that's who you are. You know, that's who we are. We are God's children.
Oh, but at that time you sure.
Don't feel that now? Nope. And I was looking at my notes over here. I wrote this probably like three years ago, but I don't have the reference written down, but this was another one of my favorites, and I've shared it with quite a few people, but it says, do not remember the past events.
I had no attention to the things of old. Look, I am about to do something new. Even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and river and desert. And I remember Karina sharing this with me.
You don't see it, but it's there. It's gonna come. And we don't see it, and not that I'm saying I can't remember the right verse, but what I love so much is everything. It's past tense, it's present tense, it's all the tenses, because it's every tense.
It still means the same thing today, and it doesn't matter, like this verse was written to the Israelites, but it still can pertain to.
Our life. Present tense, like right now. It can pertain to Kim, Benjamin, or Samuel. What's fun too, is if you go to Luke 4 18 and 19, it says the exact same thing that it says in Isaiah. Isaiah's Old Testament, Luke's New Testament, you know, however, there's a lot of years in between Isaiah and Luke, and Luke 18 and 19, the Spirit of the Lord is on me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And this is, if I'm not mistaken, let me see, this is after the temptation of Jesus, and this is, is that in red?
This is Jesus talking to, to um, who's he talking to? The Nazareth? The people in Nazareth? The Galileans. Okay. Yeah. The, the who? The Galileans? Yeah. Galileans. Galileans. Um, but so Jesus is quoting scripture from the Old Testament in Isaiah.
So it is past. It is past for Him, it was present for Him, and it is future for us. Yeah. So cool. Thank the Lord He knows no time frames. All right. Well, Kim, wow. No, we're fine. We're fine. Nobody comes after us.
Okay. So if we, if we go over, nobody's supposed to be anywhere till seven o 'clock. That's why we picked this spot. But, um, this has been, okay, it's, it's been exciting. It's been exciting for me. And the reason why it's been exciting for me is because for one of the women of our church to be able to open up and allow trust, one of the biggest problems I think women have is trust.
Oh yeah. Yeah. Especially when it comes to another woman. Um, but you know, in, in our church, I think that we have a, a nice group of women, a nice size group of women, many age range. I mean, the age ranges.
Yes. But I will have to say that, um, that I'm very, I feel, I'm very humbled that you shared tonight. So thank you very, very, very much. Um, we've gone over, I'm sorry that we went over. Oh, half my face was on there.
Sorry. Um, but, uh, I hope that you all have enjoyed this evening with us. Um, again, Kim, I cannot thank you enough for inviting us over and, um, she cooked for us. I was like, what? She got dinner and dessert.
And dessert. Dessert. Dessert. So, um, we can't tell you what she made, but, uh, but, um, I think now we're going to go have dinner with Kim. So, uh, I want to thank y 'all for being here. I want to thank you again.
I love you. Um, I want to thank y 'all. Um, really, we might come back, you know, um, not a lot of people during this COVID -19 are allowing us in their house. Well, you can come whenever you want. Well, there you go, everybody.
I've heard it. We can come back. So, uh, you got anything? Nope. All right, go ahead. All right. This has been a wow moment. Thanks guys. Thank you. Y 'all have a great evening.