A conversation with Katherine and Jessica Ruonala about dealing with discouragement.

today I am here with my beautiful daughter Jessica Rinella and we wanted to have just take some time to have a chat about how everybody's coping and to to talk about some of the strategies that people have been putting in place to to really make the most of this time and also deal with what is an unusual level of change and stress but we would love if you are jumping on we'd love to hear where you're watching from and love to hear what what country or city you're in or what time it is there if you have any questions for us too feel free to pop them in the comments and we'll do our best to try to answer them let me just pray father I just thank you for everyone watching today and I'm asking Holy Spirit that you'd encourage them that you'd speak to them that you'd refresh them in the name of Jesus amen you know this has been such an unusual time and I I want to I just want to say I've been so blessed to see the way people have been rising up to love on each other and joining in with our services each week on Fridays and Sundays I've been loving watching the community and the interaction but we are in a time where we're not able to gather physically in the room as church and put our arms around people and check up on people see how they're going and there's a lot of people who are also hearing all the news and all the things that are going on and the level of sense of isolation the sense of stress people who've it's jobs and work have been impacted people concerned about health people concerned about when's is ever gonna end his life going to get back to normal a genuine concerns and you know even for myself my life changed so much just with this crisis at the moment I'm supposed to be in Europe I'm this week I'm supposed to be in Switzerland next week Germany the week after Portugal for some big Stadium events and I've not been able to do that and and that's a disappointment cuz I love to be able to preach the gospel I love to be in a room and see the power of God go and heal people and and so um but no we have to adapt and I have good days and I have days that are a little harder sometimes where I have to really work a little harder to stay rejoicing when I hear the news of however long it might not be until the vaccine comes that we're allowed together again and I as a pastor my mind goes and you know being um having your your joy or your peace or your life in the hands of other people like governments and things can be a really stressful feeling you're out of control but praise God as believers we're not out of control we know that our hands are our lives are in the hands of God who is trustworthy and who wants to make all things work for good but we wanted to talk through just the day-to-day coping how people are doing hey Jess how you doing it's great to have you with us we were talking about how many people are really you know having a hard time during this this situation talk to me about what your your take on on how this is all looking for people yeah so it's really interesting I'm very passionate about mental health and it's something that it's thrown around social media and it's thrown around in the media as well at the moment because it is such an essential thing and it's something that's affecting us so many more people than we've ever really imagined and I think it's really important that we have the opportunity to actually share and to talk about it especially with all the changes that are happening right now with covert because it's something that we've just never in my lifetime your lifetime that we've ever experienced before and nobody has the answers to try and navigate this so trying to look after yourself and just finding those strategies and things that we can do to actually just make sure we're okay and if you know so we can then share with other people because there's so many people in our community that are struggling with loss of jobs even just worrying about their personal health and their family's safety so things like that are a bit scary but yeah I read a statistic this morning in the paper that 40% of people even in Australia we have not very many cases worried and concerned about about catching the virus or or things like that and and that the level of anxieties is genuine in society but as believers you know we have access to a peace that passes understanding we have access to a hope that is not not a vain hope not something that is subject to sickness or situations we have one who's promised that all his promises are yes and amen one who we can run to as our faithful God that we can trust in and so we have a hope that we can share but at the same time on the everyday level for people waking up and thinking well you know I had I had this plan or I had that plan I that's not gonna be able to happen now and and you know I'm missing I'm missing community and I'm missing friends and family you know how how do we how do we help people like that Jess I'm just wondering what what's your thoughts on on what people can do when they wake up just feeling really flat yeah it's really interesting with the strategies that we can put in place but before I touch on that I'd just like to explain maybe my personal journey when it comes to mental health and why I'm so passionate about that when I was about 16 I left home and I got involved in a pretty difficult relationship that just tested me in a lot of ways and it put me in some really tricky situations and it's something that no one should have to deal with let alone a 16 year old girl who's still trying to find her identity in herself and with with God so it was quite a challenging situation and all well and good fast forward to 26 now I'm in a wonderful relationship and it's fantastic but at the same time some of the things that happen and some of the trauma that I experienced in that time has actually caused me to have anxiety and impasse depression and just struggle with those mental health issues even though I have worked through and I am totally fine and I'm totally safe but it's really interesting because the thought of anxiety it's actually something that it's a body reaction so it's not something that you are controlling in your own mind and you're choosing to be anxious so you're choosing to do this it's something that your body is actually reacting to because it's put in a state of stress and your body is just trying to protect you so when we talk about that that's really interesting because at the moment it might seem like we're safe we're putting in strategies we're putting in our social distancing and things like that but something that so many people aren't aware of is that we're receiving a constant influx of messages saying that we're not safe you're in danger and things aren't going well and then when we have things on top of that like a loss of job or even a loss of income percentage-wise it's quite a big strain and it actually is a physical attack on our body which causes an emotional response and it causes us to actually go into that fight-or-flight mode so for me it's really interesting because so many people are thinking why am I freaking out and why am I so anxious right now when nothing is happening to me physically so for me it's really important to recognize that it's just that watching consistent watching of maybe activity as well that really puts us into that state of just constant stress and constant anxiety so four strategies one of the most important for me was just to really focus on what I was what I was letting in and what I was watching in that way because we have 24/7 access to everything so when this whole covert thing started I was on my phone all day every day watching horrible things and it's a it's a horrible virus and it's horrible what's going on but at the same time I was spending hours and hours and hours just letting it soak into my soul essentially and freaking out and so I'd constantly be on edge thinking I'm gonna die I'm going to lose my job I'm going to my family's not going to be safe the people around me that I care about aren't safe and it was so stressful but I found the second that I took a step back and you know looked at the information and I understood what was going on but at the same time look to other areas like watching live videos where it's talking about what we can do to help or what is the positives coming out of this or things like that it just really helped to settle me and you know get rid of my anxiety I think you're it's a really important point there you know what what we feed on is what will be what is what we think about you know and in the Bible in Philippians 4 it says be anxious for nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving make your requests known to God and the peace of God will guard your heart and then it says to think about things that are pure and lovely and of a good report whatever is praiseworthy whatever is noble think on these things and this is actually a biblical mental health strategy what they're saying is okay be vulnerable be honest be real with God don't don't put on a religious face and pretend that there's nothing wrong and that's what I saw a pre-shave about you Jessica that the willingness is to be vulnerable and open and authentic because that's how we actually get help opening our hearts and saying look I'm not coping very well with this or I'm having a bad day you don't have to pretend because you're a Christian that you know you're fine if you're not you can be real and you can talk to God and you can talk to your friends and say I'm struggling I'm struggling today I'm really concerned I'm feeling anxious but the Bible says don't be anxious about anything instead out in everything with prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving make your requests known to God and what he's saying is he's saying don't pretend that it's not there don't just try and say oh I'm not I'm fine I'm okay be vulnerable say Lord I'm concerned about this I'm worried about this this is worrying me I'm feeling this I'm thinking this I'm concerned about that help me with that ask him for help bring the concerns bring the anxieties bring the worries to him and say help and then thank him in faith thank you that you're gonna help me with that thank you Jesus for your encouragement thank you for your help but then I think it's really important that you change the channel that instead of continuing to feed the anxieties instead fix your mind on something that's pure lovely praiseworthy noble of a good report something happy and and and replace the thoughts so it doesn't mean that we don't you know need to stay informed with that the latest rules but you don't need that just before you go to bed you don't need that 24/7 instead process with the Lord process with a friend is really important that's what community is for reach out to someone talk to somebody and talk at be vulnerable and say I need some help with that I need some encouragement I need some prayer but then and and talk to the Lord and he's your is your best help and then thank him that it's going to be good and one of the ways that I shift the channel for me because I I do have days where I feel discouraged and thing when this is ever going to end and you know am I am I going to see all the promises that God's God's God and you know is-is-is things shut down you have these thoughts and um instead of pretending they're not there recognize that the concerns and the fears talk to God about it but then replace it in one of the ways that I replace those thoughts is I start opening my mouth and speaking and so say I'm one concerned that you know oh that the church isn't going to go well because we're not meeting every week I might be having that thought I can say I can talk to God bless our church protect our church build our community look after our people thank you Lord you're going to do that but then to go a step further to go into warfare that what I do is I begin to make a declaration thank you lord I declare our church is prospering and thriving our community is getting even stronger during this time we're discovering innovative ways to look after each other our church is doing really well or you know and by calling and making declarations speaking live I find I switch the channel and it's it's not just a mental thing but actually opening my mouth and speaking I'm actually I'm actually going from a defensive mode to an offensive mode survival says the weapons of our warfare are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds we can they're like a sword the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God it's us speaking and activating what is saying that can really cause us to and and making some declarations I God's promises to me of yes and amen I I speak in stadiums and thousands of people get healed and saved and delivered and whatever it is that you're dreaming of churches on and everybody's in the building and loving Jesus and worshiping and our city is safe you can start to make declarations like that so I was reminded by something recently it was really interesting and it almost challenged me as well just to understand how anxiety really works and it was a like a circle and it just was connected and it went thoughts feelings thoughts feelings and it just went round and round and round and there was an arrow that continually started so for example anxiety you don't need to like anyone is can get anxious it's really normal and it's very natural but it starts from that little tiny thought and that thought might be I didn't do that work today or somebody in my office lost their job then it goes to a feeling it's oh my goodness what would happen if that happened to me and then it goes into another thought actually no this is this could happen to me goes into another feeling and then you end up in this cycle that you make worse and worse and it's not you in your head that's you know coming up with this thing it's your body that's reacting to something that's genuinely scary and it's very overwhelming a lot of the time and so I find what's really important is just to try and recognize that thought recognize that feeling see it with that feeling take it to God and then just bring yourself out of that cycle to try and move on to something else and some ways that I do this I've been loving especially because I have that tiny tiny bit more time at the moment I've actually been loving journaling and I hate journaling when you always used to say I Journal today I'm like what a waste of time but it's so good it just gave me that second and that start of my day to really just sit down and I would use the prompts of things that just three good things that happen to me today or three good things that I saw or something that just sparked happiness just for a second and it caused me instead of to look you know the big day or the Mountain day or even after the day how it all went and all that was so horrible and then the thought spiral of I can't believe I said that I can't believe I did this or what did this person mean when they said this to me instead it made me look back and reflect on what actually happened well and what was good about it and it was nice because instead of just thinking of things that oh I'm grateful for my beautiful family which is important but it made me get really specific about something that someone had done to me or something that you know mum said something really incredible to me today and it really resonated with me it just made me reflect on that and it kind of shifted my focus from being anxious and winding myself up and staying in that circle rather than just putting it down on paper and being like actually you know what this little glimpse and I'm okay I'm good I love that and you know I think um this whole concept of changing the channel is is a really it's important that you do something and you you were doing it as a writing thing I'm doing it as a declaration thing but actually an action then is not just a mental battle but actually doing something to change the channel of the thoughts is it's really really important I remember when I was years ago really I was really struggling with depression I think it was post a depression actually after I look at that after my third baby and it was really really hard and I was actually concerned about being on my own because my thoughts would get dark and spiral down but what I found is I had to fill the space and so I would put on podcasts or I'd put on you know someone a message of hope and and I'd fill the space and I helped pull myself out of it by recognizing I need I need to be hearing something other than the negative thoughts I need to replace those sorts the Bible says take captive every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and that is any thought you have about yourself that doesn't line up with who he is and the truth of what he says about you but it's also every thought that doesn't line up with his will and purpose and we can know his will and purpose for us he says my plans for you out of prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future and now that we're supposed to be living lives that live by faith and so in order to grab ahold of these promises we have to activate our faith and say look this is what I believe I'm not ruled by what I feel I'm not I'm controlled by the thoughts that are coming i this is what I believe I believe that God has good plans for me so and and begin to make declarations about those and you can start to shift things but I love what you said about Thanksgiving actually making a note I even sometimes in my journal if someone sends me a nice encouragement a nice text message or a nice encouragement I actually write them out in my journal that might sound funny but I'm a words of affirmation person and I write those those messages out in my journal so that if I'm having a hard day I can go back and remember them or if if the Lord has spoken to me like I had I had a nice dream last night actually and well it didn't start out a nice dream in the dream I was in a big meeting and then these demons came in and they were trying to grab people and then this really big demon came in and said I'm getting I'm good I'm gonna take Peter and then she grabbed me and I think in the dream Peters was representing the leader or the spokesperson and I was trying to get away from this demon and every effort I'd make this demon was there as smugly and I couldn't get away and then in my dream I started singing an old chorus that I learned at Sunday School in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus we have the victory in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus demons will have to flee and I was singing this in my dream as I'm walking out of the building and this demon couldn't grab me anymore and I woke up feeling so good now that's a very personal dream and might not make any sense to you but for me it was a key from God God was speaking to me saying Katherine when you're feeling discouraged or when you're feeling under attack use the name of Jesus and those things won't be able to grab you they won't be able to latch on to you so that's the sort of thing I write in my journal so that in a a few days time if I'm discouraged I can go back and go hey God gave me a key use the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus I don't have to be taken by that feeling in the name of Jesus I don't need to I can I don't have to become captive to discouragement or fear or anxiety so writing down your little personal encouragement from the Lord to is a really big deal yeah I think it's really interesting like a what you said about just words and speaking out it just makes such a difference to how we're feeling and how the people around us are feeling I found it really interesting that I would get anxiety about talking about my anxiety like it was just such a foreign concept to me because I always felt so ashamed by it or I'm a weaker person because I'm anxious or or something in me is broken because I have anxiety and when in reality it was the complete opposite it was that stronghold over me in that belief that I created that I am lesser than because I was experiencing panic attacks or things like that earlier in life and realizing that I can actually change the narrative and just bring it to God and talk about it and talk through it journal with myself just helping me take the thoughts out of my brain and just recognize what what actually is really going on and I thought it was really important what you said by actually just speaking it out because not only if we're speaking it out you know with ourselves like in the car oh I'm gonna feel this way today or I'm feeling really positive and just emitting that positivity and just bringing what God has has for you and just speaking it out over your life but at the same time it's really important how we share with others I find if I am constantly coming and telling a particular person about how horrible things are and that's my only narrative I feel worse and I continue to go down that path and I continue to go through my thoughts feelings thoughts feelings thoughts feelings because I'm constantly just regurgitating that negativity and things like that now I'm not saying that you shouldn't talk about negativity because it's really important to to process and it's really important to find that person that has support for you and you can actually just you process what's going on but at the same time instead of you know if you don't have time to journal you might be able to just come to someone and say hey I had this really great thing that happened today or I thought this about you or even saying something nice about them just so that they you have are talking and you are affirming you know who you are and how God is and how He loves you because it's just so important that we are actually speaking it and then we will be thinking it and then we will be feeling it and that's just such an important way to break this cycle and to even just open up the communication lines and things like that so you know for me I've been even very intentional about what I what I focus on before I go to sleep so I mean it's so easy for people just to you know every night watch a movie or Netflix or whatever but for me um before I go to bed I've been reading I've been reading the Bible I've been reading at the I'm reading Smith Wigglesworth and some of the testimonies and you know some of his preaching just transcripts of his preaching and I find that by setting my heart and my mind on on that which is pure lovely of a good report testimonies of miracles the word of God's faith I find then that I have encouraging dreams I find that during the night because if you wake up in the night time I find that nights are more difficult where everything seems scary or in the dark I've had nights where I've been feeling you know thoughts about my past and you know feeling sorry for myself and you can get into it a pretty ugly track if you're not careful but bye bye before I go to sleep filling my mind with things of faith and hope and great testimonies the Word of God I find that when attacks come I'm much better equipped and I'm in a much better place because I've been filling up on things that are edifying things that are encouraging but if I've been filling up on a you know a sad love story or a you know a drama then drama is much more likely to be the thing that I struggle dealing with so it seems like a pretty basic pretty simple thing I but I think it's so important that we are diligent to guard our hearts the Bible says guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the Wellsprings of life I appreciating some of the comments I'm seeing here and I'm not someone Desiree I see you watching we love you we're praying for you and for your husband for his healing in the name of Jesus but Desiree's saying she's a hugger and she's really struggling and in the words of affirmation person and I I really miss coming into church on Sundays and giving everyone a big hug those days are coming back I declare there's a lot of people who I mean I'm blessed I've got my family hmm but there are a lot of people who live on their own who don't have family who can give them a hug and church when it's on and happening it's often the only place that they get physical contact all week and with that not happening it's a real thing but let me encourage you with this God is not out there intangible he is someone that has a genuine capacity to fill all of our needs and that includes our need for affection our God is an affectionate God and you can actually go to him for a hug you actually can I I do it all the time and he genuinely does and he wants to do that for you too he is loved and he's not just part of love he's loved personified he is our comforter he is our counselor I'll ever present help in time of need and he's able to give us all the love and the affirmation that we need yeah definitely it's just so wonderful that in all of this we the one thing that we can take out of it is we have so many tools for connection at the moment like we are so fortunate to be able to at the drop of a hat send a message to someone all the way across the world just to check in with them and I've been loving absolutely loving face times just so we can have that face-to-face connection and for someone like me who is so big on connecting and even just that physical and that emotional contact with another human being and just checking in on other people around me like it's just made such a big difference to not only my mental health but I think everyone around me to know that I'm checking in on my friends and my friends are checking in on me or my family and I think it's just so important that we have that time where we are recognizing hey I am I'm not able to contact somebody or I'm not able to go and do my usual routine or go for that coffee but we find ways to maintain that connection without you know just losing it it's just really important but we've been having people over to play Bible trivia that's been fun to have some conversation but I think too the only other concern well there's lots of things that can trip people up but one of the things in seeking connection sometimes people can get so caught up in social media that they're seeing people's newsfeeds and they're comparing themselves to their lives and forgetting that on social media people put their best foot forward and they're not telling you all the struggles that they're having and it can easily become an another mental health pressure this whole comparison thing I mean you you would have seen that oh so many times and to be honest I do it myself I found it so interesting especially I think around my age it was really interesting because I was watching these instagramers or things like that or even just things that would pop up on my newsfeed and I would you know without a passing thought without even consciously thinking about it internally I would be feeling oh I I don't look like that oh I ate 10 bars of chocolate this week while I was in isolation like my body doesn't look like that or I don't have that thing or I don't have this and oh my life isn't really as great as it's all cracked out to be because it's I'm seeing this constantly through everybody else and so it was really interesting because I think it's just important to not only feed your self through your interactions you know when we are back to normal it's when you have a day with somebody who is just so- or if you consistently just hanging out with the wrong people or things like that you come home and you feel what you just don't feel that great whereas if you go somewhere where you're sparking your passion or you're really excited and someone is supportive of you you come home feeling fantastic and I think we forget that when we're sitting on our couch scrolling through social media because that's exactly what's happening if we're focusing on the things that we don't have and the things that we aren't because this filter has been presented over somebody's life or their highlights reel has come out I think that we forget to appreciate what we do have and recognize that we're not here to compare with anybody else and we're not here to get that instant gratification of those likes or those messages of oh you're so beautiful and those things are amazing and they're so lovely but at the same time it shouldn't determine your self-worth and I think it's really important when we talk about focusing on social media if we're talking about a realistic strategy something that I did is I just looked at what was making me question myself and what was targeting my insecurities or things like that and I did the whole unfollow and I've replaced it with something yeah edifying and it's just so simple and it's such a simple action but until you recognize what you actually feel through some of these photos and some of these you know accounts and things like that you don't actually recognize that it's affecting you internally and I'm not saying go and unfollow anyone that is nice or you enjoy watching but it just is what you take from that and how it makes you feel because ultimately while you're sitting at home and you're focusing on your mental health in your just your overall happiness I think it's really important to reflect on what you're reading and what you're watching is making you feel so I love it well I think probably this summer you know in a nutshell I think Thanksgiving yes a really big key even if you just right now you can comment if you like comment and and name five things that you're grateful for what you're doing by doing that action is actually changing the channel exactly and that's a really powerful thing what's today what am i grateful for five things and and going to name it I'm you know I'm so grateful for my church I'm so grateful for our church family even though we can't gather this way I'm so grateful for the way everyone interacts I'm so grateful for my husband he's kind is lovely I'm grateful for our lovely sunny weather in May I love my Mother's Day and my birthday and you know by actually starting to makes it I'm so grateful that I have healthy back and knees and legs and I can do exercise thank you God for that it was a couple of quick things you're grateful for I'm grateful that we can be here and actually spread this word and just be grateful that we can check in and we can talk about this kind of thing I'm grateful that we can go outside and go for a walk that's something that's really really important to me and I'm grateful that I can still connect I'm so grateful that I can connect with people without having to be in the same room and things like that and I'm grateful for my family I'm grateful for my beautiful friends but I love it when you're grateful for something that you're really specific about because it just feels so much more real and it really just makes you focus on that so yeah I'm thankful that I'm forgiving thank God for that that's just uh I could start every day loved so we give thanks we speak live call those things that be not as though they are make declarations praise the Lord my book is a best-seller as one of my declarations and if you've actually if you read read mine your book supernatural freedom we talk a lot about I took a lot about strategies for walking in joy and peace I'd love to hear your testimonies and and making declarations like I'm fit and healthy and I'm I encourage people everywhere I go I'm a soul winner thousands of people are getting saved and healed and delivered through our television program every week and online Church and I declare I'm on television all over the world every day yes praise the Lord yes so you can stop making declarations whatever is in your heart calling those things that be not as so they are because you you become creative when you when you declare so we've got Thanksgiving we've got declarations we've got changing the channel through journaling through speaking through good company that's actually going to encourage you and not drag you down and just finding that support as well I think is really important just finding finding support finding support from somebody finding your comfort in God going and having a cuddle with the Lord and actually intentionally taking time to let him love you and undo the nights make you lie down in green pastures and restore your soul something else we need to know I think it's just really important and I loved some of the comments around things that you have been struggling with anxiety and I have been struggling with it so it's so powerful that we can actually speak that out because then we allow ourselves to heal and we allow ourselves to get that help that we need from God and from others and just to really recognize and just focus on our own feelings and I just think it's really important that we do all of that and I just love that we can get together and talk about this so it's been really wonderful I encourage you just to take some time with the Lord today talk to him tell him about your anxieties your worries your concerns thank you that he is your help make some declarations do some journaling read the Word of God let him encourage you remind yourself of some of the kind things the encouraging things that is said to you and maybe go over some of the things that you can be grateful for today we're grateful for you so thankful that you are able to tune in today if this has been a blessing would you like it and share it so that we might be able to encourage more people I know Friday night marks going to be sharing it's going to be absolutely wonderful Chris Turner is going to be ministering as well and some words of knowledge and healing and then God willing I'm going to be ministering on Sunday Mother's Day the Lord and I have a word of encouragement for you but we love you very much don't forget to nominate someone for our virtuous church we've got out we went through our core values on Sunday if you didn't get to see it please have a look mark and I really enjoyed talking through those things and we're nominating people each week for who this week it's who exemplifies faith we've got our memory verse and we've got lots of pot we've got the podcast happening each week the television program you can go to the customer another website to watch the latest program there or YouTube we've got online Church and many many ways that you can get good material to feed you and encouraged you thank you for all your encouragement we love you and I'll see you later

Channel: Glory City Church

Views: 908

Rating: 4.8000002 out of 5

Keywords: God, Jesus, bible, Holy, Spirit, prophecy, prophetic, healed, Katherine, Ruonala, worship, Brisbane, Australia, church, miracles

Id: 6zoRGjy-cBc

Length: 41min 14sec (2474 seconds)

Published: Wed May 06 2020