The Bite Size Podcast with Lorayne Michaels

Navigating Life's Stuck Seasons

• Lorayne • Season 2 • Episode 54

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Ever had that feeling in the pit of your stomach—the kind that makes your heart race not with excitement but dread? That was me when I discovered my husband's infidelity. Suddenly, everything I'd worked for seemed to collapse around me: the perfect home, the budding business, the life I'd rebuilt after my first divorce. I was stuck in a paralyzing space between staying to fight for my marriage or walking away to start over again.

This raw, honest episode dives into what it truly means to be stuck—not just in difficult relationships, but in unfulfilling jobs, challenging life circumstances, or periods of waiting that seem endless. I share vulnerably from my own story while offering profound insights about how these uncomfortable seasons often serve as preparation for what's next in our lives.

We explore why we naturally resist discomfort, always wanting to "skip to the good part" without realizing that the waiting itself shapes us. What if your current difficult situation isn't punishment but preparation? What if God is using this very moment to develop something in you that couldn't happen any other way? Through biblical examples and practical wisdom, I illuminate how God shows up in our stuck places, working through our pain rather than simply removing it.

You'll walk away with three powerful questions to reflect on during your waiting season and three practical steps to trust God's timing when everything in you wants to force solutions. Whether you're facing betrayal, career disappointment, relationship struggles, or simply feeling lost, this episode offers the gentle reminder that God has not forgotten you—not then, not now, not here, not there. Your pain is never in vain when surrendered to the One who can transform it into purpose.

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Email Me: LorayneMichaels22@gmail.com

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, former EMT and nursing assistant, now business owner and wild entrepreneur. I walked away from over 15 years in medicine to pursue my passion and my God-given talents. Now I get the honor of helping other women discover their passions and purpose. If you're feeling stuck in life, unsure where to go or what to do, welcome. If you're exactly where you want to be great, you're welcome here too. If you have faced any kind of hardship or setback, you have found a safe place here. In other words, no matter who you are or what you've been through or what you're going through, this is the space for you. On the Bite Size podcast, we'll discuss life, business and faith. There's something for everyone. So grab a cup of coffee and something to take notes with, because there will definitely be things you won't want to forget. Definitely be things you won't want to forget.

Speaker 1:

You know that feeling that you get in the pit of your stomach, not the kind that gives you butterflies, but the kind that makes your heart stop, the kind where your heart's racing, not in excitement, but because what you fear might be true is true. I had that feeling. I had that inner knowing for quite some time Weeks, maybe even months I was trying to fight off the feeling as best as I could. I was trying to pray it away. I was seeking counsel, I was hopeful, I was praying, I was trying to have open communication, asking if everything was okay, asking if there was anything that I could do, asking if it was something that I did, but I knew. I knew that my biggest fear was probably a reality. What I didn't know, however, was how bad it really was. I'll never forget the date. I'll never forget how I found out. I'll never forget the way it all unfolded. It was when I found out that my husband was unfaithful, and I'll spare you the details of it all, but it was probably the hardest time in my life, trying to navigate that season, that season of feeling stuck, not knowing what to do, not knowing whether to stay and work it out or to go and end it all. It all and start all over again Would be my second divorce and I would have to start all over again. I had bought a home. It was in the perfect area, it was a beautiful home and things were going great. I didn't want to give it all up again. The job was good. I was starting a business as well. Everything was seemingly perfect, everything that I had worked so hard for. And here I was, in this horrible space this season, this feeling of stuckness. Have you been there before? Maybe not this exact situation, but have you been there before feeling stuck?

Speaker 1:

I want to read to you an excerpt from my devotional this morning because I feel that it is very powerful and it is what I wanted to share with you to help you if you're going through something and maybe to stir a little introspection within you, but mostly I want to encourage you and to help you if you're in this season. So my devotional today. I'm just going to read a little excerpt from it. Do not be discouraged today if you too are there in a loveless marriage, in an underwhelming job, in a difficult ministry, in an uncomfortable town, in an uncomfortable town, discarded from that long-term friendship or what you hoped to be a lifetime relationship. Even there, god can do miraculous things in you and through you and all for his glory, he can align this timing and placement with his sovereign and pre-planned purposes. He can stun you in hindsight when you discover the careful orchestration of events in your life, when he intends to accomplish the thing that most bears the fingerprints of his spirit. It cannot be thwarted. So rest trust, he has not forgotten you, Not then, not now, not there, not here. And I just thought that was so incredible for my season, because I feel like I have hundreds of stories where I have felt stuck, whether it was in a relationship, a friendship, a marriage after a divorce, in a job where I was bored, or after getting a certain license that I was told, once I obtained, I would have promotion, not knowing in a season of trying to get pregnant. I have so many stories and I know you do too of where you feel stuck and I just want you to know that God is present with you, even in those hard places, and there's a couple of things that I wanted to talk about and kind of discuss with you.

Speaker 1:

So why we struggle in the unwanted seasons? Well, our natural tendency is to resist discomfort, no matter what. Our brains are wired for protection, and so that's what it does. So anytime that there is resistance, when you're working out and you're trying to do something new and different, or you're just starting to work out, your body doesn't like it because it's hard and difficult. So your body is naturally going to want to resist it. Your brain is going to naturally tell you don't do it and discourage you from getting up in the morning or going after work or whenever that time is. Your brain is going to naturally discourage you from it. But then you develop that habit and then you also have those endorphins when you work out. So then it becomes a healthy habit and you want to do it and you look forward to it. But naturally the discomfort you want to resist. So we also want to skip to the good part. So in the seasons of discomfort we're thinking about getting out of it as quickly as we can.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes during that waiting season the only thing we can think of is not being present in that moment, but what is coming. So for instance, when I was, you know, I got my licensing because I wanted to get that promotion. So the heck with the schooling and where I was at and getting the license and waiting. I didn't want to wait. I wanted that promotion, I wanted fruit of my labor. I waited for this. Or even when I was trying to get pregnant, I didn't want to wait through the infertility medications and I didn't want to wait to see when my next period was going to come. I didn't want it to come, I wanted to get pregnant, right. So we are always wanting to skip to the good part.

Speaker 1:

That reminds me of that song it was, I don't know, I remember it on TikTok. Can we skip to the good part? Do you remember that? And that's what I think of, because we just want to skip to the good part. Do you remember that? And that's what I think of, because we just want to skip to the good part? Right, but what if this season is the part of the preparation? So in all of the stories that I was thinking of opening this podcast with, in every story that I had, there's a common thread in it all waiting. I had to wait. So how do you wait? What is your heart posture when you're waiting? And then I started thinking you know that season, that time of waiting. What if it is preparation? What if we got every answered prayer? There would be no preparing, there would be no waiting, there would be no pruning. You, what if?

Speaker 1:

Just think about if you didn't train for, let's say, a marathon, if you didn't train for a marathon you woke up and you're like I want to run a marathon. You look it up, find a marathon, boom, go run it. You didn't train for it. You would have not grown in any way. You would have not learned anything. You would have not grown in any way. You would have not learned anything. You would have not experienced. You would have not met people when you were training. You would have not, you know, seen that the beautiful scenery when you were training for the marathon. It would. All of the in between of your start and your finish, there would be nothing. You would gain nothing from it. You wouldn't be prepared for it. You wouldn't have grown, you wouldn't be the person you are today if there wasn't that season of in between, the season of the hard.

Speaker 1:

Think about all the hard things that you have been through. What have you learned from it? What have you gotten from it? You know, hindsight is always 20-20. When I was going through my second divorce and having gone through abuse and addiction and losing, being a stepmom, having to give up my house and sell my house and give away all the things that I bought for these little girls, I would have never grown through that. I would have never learned who my support system was. I would have never learned how strong I was, I would have never learned the process of healing and forgiveness. I would have never come to this place of not having any bitterness or resentment or hate or anger towards my ex-husband, towards his ex-wife. I could look at that as an experience and I can look back at that as something that I've been through, gone through and now I can help someone else through and I don't have that burden of hurt or anger. Looking at it from a different perspective, of that waiting, that season, that hard time, is maybe a time of preparation. What is God preparing you for?

Speaker 1:

The second point I wanted to talk about is the biblical truth behind it. God sees you where you are. You know there's different stories throughout the Bible where God worked in a difficult place. God was present with people in a difficult season. Think of the story of Joseph Paul in prison. He had such a great attitude in it. He was in prison and he wrongfully so. He shouldn't have been there, but he had a mission and he had one thing on his mind and he didn't let that stop him from what he was called to do. And God was with him there and he still told the stories, he still tried to save people and he still was on mission and he still had that good attitude of, no matter where I am. You know, it's like that song I'm going to praise you in the storm, and I am not perfect at this at all.

Speaker 1:

When I'm in the hard seasons, I have to constantly remind myself that God is still with me and God is still with you. During this difficult season, whatever difficult season this is at for you, god is still there with you and I have to remind myself okay, what am I supposed to learn through this? How am I supposed to grow through this? How can I have a good attitude in this and worship him in this? Still, you know, when it's at a job that you don't like and you don't want to be at and you're wondering why am I here? There's a reason for you to be there.

Speaker 1:

And sometimes you just have to flip your perspective and when you wake up in the morning, pray that simple prayer of okay, god, bring me someone that I can help today. Show me whose life I can change today, who I can help today. How can I be a blessing to someone else today? And getting the focus off yourself and onto other people. And when you think of that, your whole perspective changes. You look at things and also, God never wastes anything. Your pain is never in vain and I have seen that through the years in my own stories. As long as we're willing to learn and willing to grow and willing to see it from a different light and learn from it, god will show it to you. And if I'm willing to be a vessel and I'm willing to share my story and be vulnerable and talk about the pain and the things that I've went through and how I'm different and I'm willing to help someone through it, then God is definitely going to use it. Of course he would. Why wouldn't he use something for his glory? I mean, that's my biggest hope is that I could, through my pain, through my story is to show how good God is.

Speaker 1:

I think about the story. I mean it's not a Bible story, it's a real life story with what's his name? Oh my gosh, carl Lentz. I always talk about him, carl and Laura Lentz, and how their story of infidelity and redemption is just so powerful. And he was talking about how people were like how are you not angry at God and why would a God do this to someone?

Speaker 1:

I mean, everyone always says that if there is such a thing as God, why would he allow the pain and suffering in the world? Well, because if you believe in God, then you have to believe in the devil. Right, you can't have one without the other. And so it's not just that. Why would a God allow this to happen? But there's evil in the world and also people have free will. So you know, people make decisions. I made poor decisions, people in my life made poor decisions and there were consequences. And so God has always been there. He has always been there waiting, and if we're willing, he is able.

Speaker 1:

So some reflective questions I just want to kind of drop here for you to think about, maybe journal about. What has this season revealed about my faith? Ask yourself that, whatever season you're in, if it's good, bad, whatever, but what has this season revealed about my faith? The second one is am I trusting God's timing or am I resisting it? The third one what is one thing that I can be grateful for in this season? Those are some really powerful questions that if you just meditate on and journal about, I guarantee you you will find something. God will speak to you and show you.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it is very, very difficult. I remember during some of the most difficult times, difficult seasons, and you know that question of what's one thing that I can be grateful for in this season. It was really hard. It was really hard for me to sit with and sometimes I would be like nothing. I am grateful for nothing. Right now this sucks, I don't want to be here. But then I really had to think about it and you know, to be honest, there were some people that were worse off than myself. So I was grateful that I wasn't as bad as it could be, because it could be worse. So I was grateful for that, and a lot of times you know that.

Speaker 1:

Second question am I trusting God's timing or resisting it? A lot of times I was resisting it. I didn't want to wait, I was trying to force something that wasn't for me, and I learned that the hard way. By forcing something that wasn't for me, I couldn't keep it because it wasn't for me. And so I want to also give you three practical steps to trust God in the waiting. The first, and maybe the most difficult, is surrender your timeline. Let go of the pressure to fix this season. Let go of it because you don't always have to fix it. Sometimes you got to just wait and just surrendering the timeline, because God is timeless. We want things yesterday. I've said this before we're a microwave society, we're a microwave culture, we want it now, we want it yesterday, and so that waiting stinks. But you got to be patient because it's God's timing and I have to remember this myself. I want it on God's time, not mine, because God knows better than me.

Speaker 1:

The second step, practical step you can do is to seek God's presence daily with prayer, scripture, worship. It will anchor you. I know that if I don't start my day in God's word, my day is screwy, louie, I am off the rails, I'm distracted, I get angry, I just I forget, I forget and I start doing the hustle and bustle and I start do, do, do, doing works and it throws me off. So, making sure to seek God's presence because I want to make sure that he is with me, I'm seeking his guidance, wisdom and I'm stepping in faith and I'm doing the things that he's wanting me to do because ultimately I'm going to reap those blessings and I'm going to be a blessing to other people.

Speaker 1:

The third thing is to find purpose in the present. Stop future tripping. You have to be content in the present moment. Ask God what he wants you to do right now and stop focusing on the future wants you to do right now, and stop focusing on the future, be content in the present. So, friend, wrapping up, I just want to encourage you. God has not forgotten you, not then, not now, not here, not there. He hasn't forgotten you, he's with you and he's in this moment, in this difficult season.

Speaker 1:

And also, I want to encourage you to pray for other people you know. Find out in your community, in your circle of friends. Are they going through something difficult too? Talk about it with them, be a support system and to pray with them through it. There's power in prayer and I want to challenge you to write down one thing that you'll do this week to lean into God's plan instead of resisting it.

Speaker 1:

What's one thing that feels difficult for you? What is that one thing? Ask God to reveal to you where are are you resisting? And to let it go to surrender. To ask God to walk you through it and give you the strength to lean on him, to lean on his strength, because that is the time that you can do it. Remember, friend, you were divinely created for divine purpose and I pray this episode has encouraged you today. Currently I'm available for booking, so if you're organizing a live event, I'd love to share my story. Your audience will walk away with tangible tools on how to overcome limiting beliefs, break down obstacles and discover their gifts, talents and abilities in order to live a life that God created them to live. It's not the size of the audience that's important. It's the connection and impact that I will bring. For more information, email me at Lorraine at TheBoldBeginningscom.