The Proverbs 31 Ministries Podcast

Kaley Olson: Hi friends. Thanks for tuning in to the Proverbs 31 Ministries podcast, where we share biblical for any girl in any season. I'm your host, Kaley Olson, and I'm here today with my co-host, Meredith Brock.

Meredith Brock: Well, hey, Kaley.

Kaley Olson: Hey.

Meredith Brock: We just got done recording potentially one of my favorite podcast episodes ever.

Kaley Olson: I kinda feel like I'm still, like, recovering from it.

Meredith Brock: Truly. There were tears shed.

Kaley Olson: There were.

Meredith Brock: It just is beautiful. It was a beautiful, really significant podcast, I think, and it will it's gonna be really significant for our listeners. I'm gonna give you a little bit of a teaser here. Mhmm. But the content is all about the prodigal son, but not about the prodigal son.

Kaley Olson: Not in the way you've heard it before.

Meredith Brock: It's actually about the running father. Yeah. And so, I can't wait for our listeners to dive into this one.

Kaley Olson: Yeah. I'm so pumped. Before we let you guys listen to today's episode, though, we do want to kindly ask you to leave us a rating and a written review on the podcast platform you listen on. For example, if you listen on Apple Podcast, and it's really easy to click the stars to rate the show, and then click write a review to tell us how the Proverbs 31 Ministries podcast has impacted your life. Here's the deal. We have about 4,500 ratings, which is a lot, but Meredith, there's like thousands upon thousands of people who listen to this show every single month.

And if you have a moment after today's episode and you have not done this, we would be so grateful if you'd help us out by leaving a review so this podcast can reach even more listeners, because there are so many women who need to hear the messages that we produce.

Alright, friends. Let's dive into today's episode with Lynn.

Meredith Brock: We're excited to welcome our friend, Lynn Cowell, to the show today. Hi, Lynn.

Kaley Olson: Hello. We are so excited that you're here, Lynn. For those of you, our listeners, who don't know her, Lynn is an author and a speaker and a longtime friend of Proverbs 31. And, Lynn, you're someone I've known for over a decade now, which is kind of wild to say. I'm in that season of my life where I can look in decades.

But, you know, maybe that just, like, we can call them, like, wisdom decades. I'm, like, working Yes. Working towards that, you know? But I think we first met when we were roommates at our She Speaks conference in 02/2014. I don't know y'all.

Lynn has, like, she's got her mouth open. She's like, really? Yeah. But I've been here at Proverbs for ten years, and my first conference, for my first She Speaks conference was in 2014. And you and me and a teammate who's not with us anymore on staff were roommates, and I remember that.

Oh, funny. It was a marked moment for me. It was great. But something I really admire about, Lynn is her humility and kindness and her heart for helping girls and young women build a solid foundation of faith. She has done that through several books and devotionals she's written, but most recently in her latest devotional titled Strong and Secure, a hundred devotionals for young women.

And, Lynn, I'm gonna give you an opportunity to talk a little bit more about that at the end of the show. But for now, you're here to talk with us and our listeners about the moments we feel like God may be disappointed in us. And I know, you're gonna be able to speak to that in a very tender way, and so I can't wait to hear you share about that. So, take it away.

Lynn Cowell: Well, very recently, I had a situation that started with a messed-up text message.

You know, one of those misunderstandings. I know that you know what I'm talking about. And in my eyes, she was wrong. She knew my heart. At least I thought that she did.

But obviously, she didn't, and that was evident when she overreacted and attacked my character, calling me selfish, irresponsible, and did that ever sting, as in for, like, days. So why when I was when hurting, was God asking me to apologize? Mhmm. Now I felt like Father God, and I were in a wrestling match. He asking me to say I'm sorry, but I was struggling to do so.

Was he mad at me? Was he disappointed with me while I struggled to do the right thing, to surrender to his way instead of remaining stuck in my own? I really wish that I could say that the wrestling only lasted for a few minutes or even a few hours. But to be honest, it was days until I surrendered, obeyed, and made the hard phone call. And while it took me a bit when I did, I felt a release.

The wrestling to obey was over. But since that time, I've been wrestling with something else. I've been mulling over stories and scenes in God's word when others in their humanity also wrestled with trusting our heavenly father and doing his will his way. And I've been looking at their actions and at Father God's. The first scene popping into my mind was that of Queen Esther.

Lynn Cowell: My friend Amy Carroll and I wrote an entire bible study on Esther, and I was shocked the first time this hit me. When Esther received the message from her cousin Mordecai in Esther four, when he asked her to speak to the king and save her people from genocide, her answer was no. No. Esther actually said no, you should check it out, Esther four ten and eleven. In her queenly way, she said no way.

Shocking, isn't it? It was for me. The Bible doesn't tell us how much time passed between Esther's no and Mordecai's for such a time as this right back at her. Maybe Esther wrestled for minutes. Maybe it was hours.

Maybe it was actually days. Imagine the struggle that could have been taking place in Esther's heart wrestling with herself, with Mordecai, and with God. Esther finally got to the place where she did surrender, choosing to obey and do the hard thing. And then there's the story of Father God's own son, Jesus, and his humanity wrestling in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew twenty-six thirty-nine tells us, going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, my father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.

Yet not as I will, but as you will. Though Jesus wrestled, though he asked the father if it would be possible for him to not have to die, Jesus chose obedience. Jesus was surrendered to his father. He would always father follow his father's ways. In John five nineteen, Jesus said, the son can do nothing by himself.

He can only do what he sees his father doing because whatever the father does, the son also does. But neither of these stories really addressed my notion that father god's not disappointed in us, not mad at us when we do wrestle to obey him. I needed more evidence. Plus, both of those stories end with Esther and Jesus doing the right thing. My mind reminded me of another story.

You've probably heard it called the story of the prodigal son or the lost son. I heard it called the story of the running father, and I find that beautiful. The focus of the story is on the good father instead of on the actions of his son. Jesus begins his parable in Luke fifteen eleven. There was a man who had two sons.

The younger one said to his father, father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. The younger son wants his share of his father's estate, but it's not time for that yet. The son's request is strange and might I add rude. An inheritance is given after a parent dies.

Lynn Cowell: His father is obviously still living. With his request, the son is telling the father he values his father's stuff more than their relationship. The loving father doesn't argue with his son what the son wants. He knows his son is not ready for this level of responsibility, but he also must sense that his son is unwilling to listen to him. If the father starts to explain the weight of such a request, the father's words may not be received and instead create resentment and bitterness in his son's heart.

The father doesn't want broken relationship with his son. As parents, we want loving, close relationships with our children. Out of love, the selfless father provides the selfish son with his desires. The good father holds his thoughts and holds in his hurt too. He watches his son pack, and he watches him go.

The father doesn't try to talk him out of going in love. The father releases his son to go. Back to Luke 15 verse 13. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living. When everything he had was gone and he was now homeless and without food, verse 17 says, when he, the young man, came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death?

As the sun sets off for home, he prepares a speech for her his father. I'm going back to my father, and I'll say to him, father, I've sinned against God. I've sinned before you. I don't deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.

And he got right up and went home to his father. But while he was a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and against you. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to the servants, quick, bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. You know, if there's one thing that can really set me off, it's when someone says, I told you so. You know, there's nothing quite like having someone rub a mistake in your face. In this story, the father had every reason to say, I told you so, and yet he didn't.

The father had provided his son with what the son wanted even though it wasn't for his best. The father not only let the son go, but once he was gone, the father didn't chase him down. He allowed whatever would happen to happen. The father allowed tough circumstances to bring his son to his senses. A good father doesn't intervene at the wrong times.

Pure love let the son go, leaving the father brokenhearted. The father got out of the way so his son could learn his way. If the father had begged the son to stay or come home, the son would have remained the selfish person he was. Allowing the son to suffer didn't make the father a bad father. It made him a wise and loving parent.

Lynn Cowell: He was willing to let his son go on so the son could become who he was meant to be. The father let the son go so the son could experience all the blessings of being deeply and unconditionally loved once he returned. I can't help but believe that the father had faith that the son would come home. The son's words as he prepared to head home show that he failed to see and understand his father's love. The son was prepared to say, I'm no longer worthy.

He doesn't get that he is unconditionally loved. He doesn't understand the love of a father that sees beyond past choices and character flaws. Yet we see in the story that the son is worth everything to the father. We know that because of Luke fifteen twenty, so when he, the son, got up and went to his father, while he was a long way, what did his father do? He was filled with compassion.

He ran. He threw his arms around him. He kissed him. In ancient Israel, it was inappropriate for an adult man to run because to do so would have meant that he had to pull up his tunic, which is like a long dress. In that time period, it was humiliating and shameful for a man to show his bare legs.

And yet again, the Bible tells us that's exactly what the father did. What kind of father feels compassion of all things for a child who has treated him the way this son has? A father who's mad? A father who's disappointed? No.

A father who loves purely. A father who believes his child is worthy of love even when the world wants that child to think differently. A father whose love is not built upon how he's treated, but who loves unrestricted, arms wide open. I think Jesus was very intentional with every detail that he added to his beautiful story of the running father to make sure the hearer’s heard father is not mad at you. He's not disappointed in you.

Like the father in the story, when we are not close to father God, when we are not in his arms and near enough to hear his voice, with our head on his heart so we can hear his heart beating for us, father is looking for us. In fact, the story of the lost sheep, which is the story just before this story, the story where the shepherd leaves behind the 99 sheep who were doing exactly as they were told to go and get the one who wasn't, that's who our God is. That's who our father is. Like the father in the story, Father God is anticipating that we will come. All it took was for the son who had chosen to leave to show he wanted to return.

I love what pastor Rich Velotis pointed out in a March 2025 Instagram post. The son does not return home out of renewed love for the father. He comes home simply to survive because he ran out of money and is starving, and his father is perfectly fine with that. Our motives don't have to be holy before God welcomes us. The father of Jesus is glad we are home.

Just come home. God wants you home. With all that he had, the father showed the son he wanted him to return. The father ran, embraced, and kissed him. He didn't wait for the son to say the right words.

He didn't wait for the son to say he was sorry. His father acted, demonstrating perfect love. The father was happy to have his father home. And I don't see any disappointment, the father. I don't see any anger.

In fact, he says, bring the best robe and put it on and put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Whenever I read the word but, I pay close attention because whatever comes after that word is more important than whatever came before it. According to Merriam Webster's but means on the contrary. The word nullifies or wipes out whatever was said before it. Say you're having an argument with a friend, and she asked for your forgiveness and you reply, I forgive you, but and you go on to tell her how she hurt you.

Are you really forgiving her? Or are you looking for an opportunity to tell her why you're still mad at how much pain she's caused? Well, this but in Luke fifteen twenty-two is the best kind. But the father said to his servants, quick, bring the best robe put it on him. This but means that the father is moving.

He is excited to carry out his plan of restoring his son. He doesn't need to hear the son's words because he already has his reply ready. What the son has said doesn't affect the father's love either way. He's ready to show his unrestricted love on his son. Bring the best of what I have is all the father wants to say or do.

The father backed up his words of love with actions of love, his gifts of the bathrobe and the family ring. These gifts are outward signs from the father telling everyone, my son is welcomed back into this family. The father was sending a clear sign that his son should be treated with love and forgiveness. When we read the entirety of this story, Jesus told the father, and the son never had one of those conversations. You know those conversations where you find out just how much trouble you're in?

Yeah. There wasn't one of those between the lost son and the running father. His father doesn't get it off his chest, all that the son cost him, using weighted words to make him feel guilty or shame. The father never expresses anger or disappointment with the son who has cost him so very much. The father doesn't replay the day that the son was demanding and left.

The father doesn't keep score or record of the son's previous wrongs. None of that. Just like Psalms one zero three twelve tells us, he has removed our sins as far from us as the East is from the West. In fact, before the father even knew why the son was coming, he was running. He didn't even wait for the son to get to him.

After all the sons had done, the father withheld nothing. There was no side eye, no eyes on him out, not putting the son on mute for a few days. Instead, he poured out on his child the best of what he had. The father didn't wait to hear the son's story or feel the need to tell his own. Father moves straight to celebrating.

He does not withhold anything even though his son took all he could and did as he pleased. The father doesn't even wait to see if the son's actions changed or show that he's really sorry. The father just wants the party to begin. If you, like me, grew up hearing the emphasis of this story placed on the son, on his mess ups and ours, or all that he did against the father, I think we were taught wrong. I don't know.

Lynn Cowell: Maybe our teachers taught us this way out of fear, hoping we'd be scared into making right decisions. Maybe it was their way of trying to prevent us from ruining our lives like the son in the story. All I know is that your heavenly father, your good, faithful, flawless father wants you to know no matter what, you are wildly loved. He is your good father, and his desire is to show you his healing, his peace, his protection, his provision, and his presence every day of your life because you are his child. Through this story, Jesus shows us that father god is not a god of retaliation, not the god who makes you pay for your mess ups.

Instead, he's the god of the second chance, the third chance, the fourth, or as Jesus said, the 70 times seventieth chance. Father god proved his unconditional love not based on my actions or yours when he proved the same love for you and me. Romans five eight tells us, but God demonstrates notice that the tense of this word is it's still coming. God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus did not come for us once we got it together, begged, came back to him. No, while we were still sinners, he came for us. And when we didn't want him, he came for us. Even then, father god demonstrated his love by sending his son Jesus to sacrifice his life for us. Right now, his arms are just wide open.

No matter what you've done, no matter what you're doing, no matter with what you're wrestling with wanting to do, his arms are open. Just come home.

Meredith Brock: Wow, Lynn. I'm gonna have to go back and listen to this over Mhmm. And over. Yeah. Mhmm. It's beautiful.

Kaley Olson: Me too.

Meredith Brock: And true and wildly hard to really believe. Mhmm. You know? And as you were sharing, I was sitting here thinking about the first time. I remember, you know, I didn't become a believer till I was like 17, 18 years old. Came from a really broken family, very absent father. And so, when I read this story, it was I was focused on that son because I didn't even have eyes to see the father.

Yeah. You know? And you sharing this from the perspective of the father's desire to be in relationship with his child is genuinely life altering. Mhmm. You know?

And the way to see our he's not angry. He's not disappointed. And for me, I don't know that I ever wrestled with feelings of anger and disappointment with my earthly father. It was aloofness. I didn't exist.

Wow. You know, and so for me when I think about God the Father, and I picture myself in that moment, I picture myself walking up to the house and my dad not even seeing me, and not even caring, and just turning.

Kaley Olson: Or almost like business as usual, like I didn't even miss you.

Meredith Brock: Yeah, or like you don't even matter enough for me to come running. Yeah.

You know, and so what a, man, I just, right now as you're, as you were teaching, and as I was processing this, I was envisioning our listeners, these sweet ladies, and one of y'all is driving and hearing this for the first time, and you're, I pray that you're able to see that your Father, God the Father, is running to you with complete and utter joy because he loves you. Yeah. So deeply. Mhmm. You know?

Yeah. And so, Lynn talk to me about this, because this is one of the things that I think for me and I, you know, have gone to a lot of therapy, and even got my master's degree in counseling. But I know when I was wrestling through really receiving the love of a thought, like a father God. You know, not just the like he's God in control, omnipotent, all that kind of stuff clicked real fast for me. You know, like of course he is, he created the universe whatever, but the biggest stumbling block for me in my faith that held me back and honestly propelled me into some of the worst decisions that I had ever made, was my inability to truly believe that God loved me just the way that I am.

Yeah. You know, and so I know for me I had these two battling voices, where I would read what it says in scripture and be like, okay, I know this logically, but internally I have no picture, I don't know how to, I don't even know how to engage with a father on this side of the earth, you know? How do I possibly receive that from a God, Father God, you know? And so maybe speak to the girl who's wrestling with that Yeah. Dichotomy of like, I know this logically, I know, I believe what the Bible says, and I've heard this, but I can't get past this barrier in my own heart because I've never experienced that before.

Even this earth side. Yeah. You know?

Lynn Cowell: You know what you described, Meredith, of your interaction or lack of interaction with you that you had with your earthly father. I think that a lot of us, our misconceptions of God do come from our interactions with our earthly father.

My story is not quite like that. I'm one of eight kids. And so, my dad was physically present, but just working all the time, just not available. And maybe he would have engaged with me if he had time. I don't know.

He's no longer, you know, here. He died when I was a young woman. But that deep need inside of me to be seen by a father, to be paid attention to, to have a father, that cared about the little stuff, you know, that noticed when you're dressed up today. Yeah. That didn't exist.

And those things sound surface, but they're not because a father has such the ability to plant inside of us belonging. Mhmm. A father has the potential to teach us what home is. Mhmm. And so, if we don't have that, then how do we connect to this God who says he is our home, that we mean everything to him?

Because we've never seen it. It and it doesn't even feel like it could exist. And that was why Michelle and I wrote, Strong and Secure is because both of us in different parts of the world experienced the father heart of God when we were 19. We both encountered a teaching that revolutionized how we saw God. Like, salvation got that part, got the forgiveness.

But the fact that he wanted to be with me, that you want to spend time with me, that you make space for me, that I make you laugh, that I make you smile. I can't even remember what happened yesterday, but something happened. And I felt like he was smiling at me. And I was like, wow. What a feeling.

And so that's why we focused on the attributes of God. Because I don't think you know, we can hear the things, you know, you're enough. You've got this. You know? Yeah.

And those are good things. I'm all about woman empowerment, you know, especially Christ confidence. But they only go so far. Only so far. And so that's why we're focusing on not who we are, even not even who we are in Christ, but who he is.

Amen. It that he is the healer. He's the protector. He is peace. And then on those days, which for me, I'm gonna be honest, are most days when I don't have what I need, it doesn't really matter because I've got a father who's got it all.

And he's beside me. He's in me. He's working through me. So that was a long answer to your question, Meredith, in that I think that it comes down to knowing who he is. Amen.

Truly knowing who our father is.

Meredith Brock: I think you're so right, Lynn. And I also think it's it is I've and I hate to admit this, but I think it's just true of our Western culture. Yeah. That we hear something like this, and you logically hear, okay, I need to I need to fix that in me.

Yep. I need to Yeah. And so, I'm gonna get it done. And you go set about, this is heart change that takes time. Mhmm.

It takes, there's this song by Christian Stanfield that says, it's gonna take time. But it's all about like healing takes time. It's not gonna be something that you check this box and all of a sudden, you're gonna know God the father as a good father. Yeah. He, and at least in my life, I'm 44 now, almost, next month.

And this process started for me when I was 17, 18 years old, and I can see the slow growth of the assurance, the strong and secure. I knew I was, I'm secure in the love that I have received from God as my father, but it didn't happen overnight. And so, to give yourself grace, if you're listening to this and saying, this is, I am so broken there. Yeah. I'm so broken there, and I desperately need to be fixed because, you know, when you have that, what I will call love void, you find things to fill it.

Kaley Olson: Yeah.

Meredith Brock: You know, and it will propel you into some poor life decisions. And if you're listening to this right now, like, oh my gosh, this needs fit, this, I've got to get this fixed in my heart. I want you to hear us say, God wants to fix it. Give yourself time, give him time, and give yourself grace.

He will send, I look at my own journey in this area, and he has consistently sent people into my life to, even if it was just for a season, show me what a good father looked like Mhmm. In ways I had never seen before and how deeply it impacted. Yeah. You know? And so, he will send those things.

You just got to say, Lord, heal me.

Kaley Olson: Yeah. You know? Well, I think what's interesting about that, and Lynn, you at the beginning of your teaching, you mentioned Esther wrestling, Jesus wrestling, like lots of lots of examples of wrestling. And I think for the woman listening, Meredith, you say, like, it takes time, let God heal you.

Yeah. But I think people are kinda like, okay, well what does that look like? Yeah. It looks like wrestling. Mhmm.

And I think when you wrestle, like wrestle, there's benefits to it, and there's such a negative tone that we attribute to wrestling, but I think wrestling means, I have a question, and when you wrestle the right way, it's like, God, can you show me what you mean? This is confusing. And then when you are leaning into, like a questioning spirit, a healthy questioning spirit with the Lord, he will show you. Mhmm. Like, he showed you what a father looked like because you asked.

Mhmm. But if we constantly wait for God to show up and never ask him, if we constantly, like, that's not giving him room to work. He's not just gonna plop the answer in your lap. I think it comes through that wrestling.

Meredith Brock: And the awareness of your need.

Kaley Olson: Yeah.

Meredith Brock: You know, like if he's gotta lead you, I love that you said, the son didn't come home because he was like, I wanna be in relationship with my dad. Yeah. It was because he was hungry. He was and he was sure that.

To sleep. Yeah. And so sometimes you have to get to that place of deep awareness of your lack, of your inability. I love that you even said, like, I'm all for like women empowerment, like in Christ. Mhmm.

But holy cow, that's a lot of pressure if it's about if you're the one who has to make it happen. It is. I'm like, no, I want that's on Jesus. Mhmm. That's on our Father, to carry, not me.

I'm just here to be available to you.

Kaley Olson: Yeah. I mean, okay, so we're talking about wrestling, we're talking about like, if you have a father void in your life and how hard this might be, but Lynn, you, you said something about a third of the way into your teaching, and I wrote it down because I thought, there's people like me who are listening to this, who didn't grow up with father issues, and there's a lot of like, there's a lot of us like that.

Meredith Brook: Oh, yeah. Praise God.

Kaley Olson: Yes. Thank you, Jesus. Praise the Lord for that. Doug Winstead, we love you. He doesn't listen to this podcast but thank you.

And so, the way that I approach this is Okay. So, you said, in terms of the prodigal son, you said the father got out of the way so the son could learn his way. And I thought, this is where I struggle with this, because you're talking about how God leads the 99 to find the one, and I know God, in His heart of hearts, does not want us to fail, He doesn't want us to be far from Him, but you said the Father got out of the way, so the Son could learn His way, and that scares me, because I'm like, what does that mean? You know, like, I know God has a perfect plan, I know God wants me to be obedient, but why does he get out of the way when he could when everything could be okay? Everything could be perfect if he just fixed it.

Like, what do you mean when the father gets out of the way?

Lynn Cowell: Meredith, are you still feeding your son every day? Do you take a spoon and hand and put food in his mouth?

Meredith Brock: No. Thank goodness.

I'm so glad I don't. Now I just make him a sandwich. Yeah. Honestly. I long for that.

And now my 13-year-old makes his own sandwich.

Lynn Cowell: That's great. But at some point, you got out of the way. Yeah. Yeah.

And it wasn't because you didn't love him as much as you loved him before. Yeah. It wasn't because, I don't know. You know, what it was about is you knew that he was capable, and you wanted him to grow into being this man that he is being formed into growing every day. Mhmm.

And I think to some degree, that can be what it is with the Yeah. With the father. My family has been through a lot of really hard stuff the last few years. And I've sometimes I've been like, hello? You know, why are you allowing this to happen?

I know you're a good father. What in the world is going on? Mhmm.

Kaley Olson: That's what I mean.

Lynn Cowell: But you know what?

I'm learning that I've that I at a level I never had to know before, and that is trust. My friend and I have been talking about the difference between faith and trust. Mhmm. Faith means, oh, yeah, God. We got it.

We're going. Trust means, but I trust what you're gonna allow to happen in my life for me to get there. Mhmm. That's hard. I don't know if that really answers your question.

Kaley Olson: It does because I think people are listening, and they're so that God is a dynamic Father, you know? He's like, He is a Father who's gonna run after you, but I think there's a powerful parenting principle that you brought to, what you just said about God. Like, the more He can trust us, the more I wonder if He allows that opportunity for us to be, for the allows room for us to say yes. And it's not as easy as it was the first time because maybe we've grown closer to him.

Lynn Cowell: And in this story here with Jesus, the story right before the story of the running father is the story of the lost sheep.

Yeah. And in that one, Jesus went after the sheep. Yeah. Yeah. And this one, the father doesn't go out.

I mean Yeah. It shows you that dynamic engagement Yeah. Where, you know, the trinity Yeah. They all know what we don't know and that is what we need when we need it.

Meredith Brock: Yeah.

That's right. I loved that you that I thought this was really profound even to this point, is that if the son would have stayed home, which feels safer, guys, this feels better. Yeah. Like none of all those terrible things would have happened. Yeah.

He would have stayed the selfish son. Mhmm. You know? And so sometimes I think he does allow us, releases us to our own desires so that he can get a hold of our heart, so that he can create the true heart change, not just behavioral management Yes. But the true heart change that he longs for.

Yeah. Even though sometimes it comes through something painful. Mhmm. Yep. That's hard to accept.

Gosh. Yeah. Lynn, I'm so glad you came today.

Lynn Cowell: Me too.

Meredith Brock: This was awesome.

This was really, really great. As we wrap up, we have just a few announcements we want our listeners to hear. Okay? So, first, I think a lot of you were just like, holy cow, I needed this message. I wanna encourage you, go pick up Lynn's new devotionals, Strong and Secure, 100 devotionals for young women.

Lynn, as the author, what excites you most about this new devotional?

Lynn Cowell: Again, I the part that it doesn't focus on you. Mhmm. You know, there's an again, there's a lot of materials out there that you're awesome, you're so cool, you, you know, you are enough. This doesn't do that.

Mhmm. It looks at him. And when we know who he is, then we know who we are. Mhmm.

Meredith Brock: Amen.

Well, be sure to grab your copy using the link in our show notes. This would be honestly a perfect gift for any young woman in your life right now. It's May. Yeah. These young ladies are graduating.

Mhmm. They're going off to college, and I think this sounds like the perfect graduation gift for my mind.

Kaley Olson: Yes. Absolutely. We've linked that for you in our show notes, like Meredith said.

And lastly, don't forget to leave us a rating and a written review on the podcast platform that you listen on, like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Doing so helps us ensure messages like this reach as many women as possible. And I want everybody to hear this message.

Meredith Brock: Amen. Right?

Okay, guys, that is all for today at Proverbs thirty-one Ministries. We believe when you know the truth and live the truth, it changes everything.