Revive Our Hearts

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Revive Our Hearts is brought to you in part by the Revive Partner family. That's a group of generous friends. And we heard from one of them recently. This is Haven.

Guest (Female): One of the reason I'm a Revive Partner is because I've been listening to Nancy since 2008. Over the years, I've grown so much through this ministry. It truly feels like I started as a baby in my faith and have grown into maturity alongside it.

I didn't have a close Christian community of like-minded believers. So much of my Bible study and spiritual growth came through Revive Our Hearts. God has used this ministry in a powerful ways in my life. Because of it, I've become a better wife and a better mother.

I truly believe in this ministry because of I've seen first-hand how it changes lives. Above all, I give glory to God, who has used Revive Our Heart to impact so many women including me. I've been a Revive Partner since 2017, I believe. And I am so thankful to be part of a what God is doing through this ministry. Thank you.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Thank you, Haven. Now, today on Revive Our Hearts, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth reminds you, run to the Lord with every problem. It's a broken world. And there's no promise that all those problems will be fixed when we run to trust in God our refuge. But there is a promise that our hearts will be safe. That we will have the help and the grace we need to endure even in the midst of that storm.

This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, co-author of You Can Trust God To Write Your Story, for June 18th, 2026. I'm Danna Grasch.

Nancy's been taking us through a verse by verse study of Psalm 46 over the last couple of weeks. And what a sweet thing it's been to remember that God is a mighty fortress, not just for those people back in the Old Testament, but for us, for me, for you.

Now, if you've missed any of the series, you can find the whole thing at ReviveOurHearts.com or wherever you listen to podcasts, including my favorite, the Revive Our Hearts app. Now to give you a few refreshers, Nancy talked about the value of singing to the Lord even in the storm. And she showed us how God's goodness is like a river. She's explained what it really means to be still and to rest in the Lord.

Now, some of our guests today will refer to these points as they share how this series encouraged them and challenged them. They were part of the audience when Nancy recorded this series. We'll start with our friend Leslie Bennett.

Guest (Female): As I was meditating on this before I came also, I could not get past the first three verses. And I want to just read part of it to you the way God spoke it to me in my heart. The promise of verse one, God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way, and of course it goes on, the earth, the mountains, the waters roar, the mountains quake.

Therefore, we will not fear. If I stand on my own, and as a leader, especially, I'm so tempted to withdraw in my life where there's trouble and trials. My faith will falter. I'm not meant to be alone. And so what I saw was a corporate declaration that we, we will not fear. And I need my sisters. And God made the body of Christ to come alongside each other. I need to borrow your faith when I am weak. And so I praise God for this, and to those in the NIV, it doesn't matter what it is. It does not matter for we will not fear, because of who God is and his promise that we can claim and believe. So I praise God for that. Therefore, we will not fear.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: And we have those plural pronouns in Psalm 46 verse one. Not just we will not fear, but God is our refuge. You know, we talked about this a number of years ago in the series on the Lord's Prayer, Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. There's not one singular pronoun in the Lord's Prayer.

And here you have it same in Psalm 46, God is our refuge and strength. Not just God is my refuge, He is that, but we're so independent minded in our faith today. We do, we try to do life alone, and we're not intended to do life alone. And so I need your faith when I'm in trials and troubles, reminding me that God is our refuge.

God is our strength. God is a very present help when we are in trouble. But you need that for me when you're in trouble. And we need each other we need to come alongside each other when we're struggling, when we're being bombarded, and remind each other, God is our refuge. Not just mine, not just yours, but ours. Let's go together to Him.

And as we get on our knees together and we, we pray together, we cry out to the Lord on each other's behalf. We've done some of that here today, praying for lost husbands, praying for burdens that people are carrying, as we go to the Lord together. We're saying, oh God, together as a community of faith, we're coming to you and we're saying, God, you are our refuge. This was a hymn for the Israelites to sing together. Not just one Israelite, of course you can sing it on your own. But what a thing, as we're singing it today, in a sense, in community with each other and saying, I know it's true. It's true for us collectively. We run together to Him. And therefore, we as a body of believers will not be afraid.

Guest (Female): Well, as I've, I was reading this 46 before I came, and I kept stopping at cease striving. My Bible says cease striving. And so I had already in my heart confessed that I was striving and lay it down. But I just made the connection that because I was striving where God dwells is happy and holy and safe and secure. And they can't go together. And so when I cease striving and trust Him and lay it down, the anger or whatever, then because where He dwells is happy and holy and safe and secure. Yeah. And so

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: So when we're striving, we're not safe and secure or happy or holy, right? We think we're in control. You know, if we could just strive, we're just, you know, holding on to the bitterness. And I've had so many moments recently of just, you know, you mull things over in your mind again and again, people who did this and did that and you think that you can maybe get some sort of justice in the situation by holding on to anger or bitterness. But all you do is destroy yourself, right? And then miss the presence of God. Better to let it go. Cease striving and have and be happy, holy, safe and secure.

Guest (Female): Every day, as I am tuning into the Today Show or some of these news shows that we get 24 hours a day, I'm just amazed at how I'm addressing the heathen rage and how things have turned in my lifetime from being a nation under God. And I just learned this year that we are a nation that embraces evolution. And I didn't know that it was so understood that we are not a nation that believes in the creation anymore. You know. And a gentleman said on one of the news shows that he thought that that matter had been settled at the Scopes trial.

See, when I hear things like that, I get raged. And I have to pray and ask God to help me to keep my eyes focused on the Lord of hosts. And I love to think about my God as being that military man. And when I praise God, I worship God in the mornings, there's a song that I can never get through without crying. You know, I sing like six or seven songs before I pray. And one of those songs brings me so much excitement. And it is He is Lord.

You know, He is Lord. You get down in there and it says, every knee shall bow. And I just keep saying it. Every knee shall bow. And every tongue they're going to confess that Jesus Christ, they're going to say it y'all, is Lord. They're going to say it. They don't want you to mention his name. You can say the man upstairs, you can say all this foolishness. But when it really comes down to Jesus, they hate him. So you know what? They hate me. But I love how you ended it, Nancy. I love it.

We win. I walk in light of the fact that we win. I am the most scariest person that you would ever want to meet. I'm scared of everything. But when it comes to taking a stand for the Lord, I don't know, I just have this modem attitude. And that is not me. When I say that, I'm like, who said that? But it's like I love God so much, and I'm ready to defend him because He is Lord. And how dare America announce on my behalf that we are no longer a nation that believes in the creation?

I love this Psalms because it has shown me the military God that we stand behind. We don't do anything, we just watch. We just watch. I just love this Psalms. She put me to sleep on the plane, my sister here, by reading that to me. I don't fly. I don't fly. Nancy has me in the air flying and I'm trying to figure out, okay, how are we going to do this? But my sister, we studied it, we prayed as we came each morning and she just began to read. I have never gone to sleep on anybody's airplane.

But I slept. Did I not sleep? I slept. And they said, we're here. And I'm like, look at God, use that that psalm to to even strengthen me. Now if somebody had said something against Jesus, I would have been awake. I would have been awake and I would have been talking to them. But now these earthly things God knows. Pray for me in that area, but He is strengthening me and I just go do what he wants me to do. He is our refuge.

Guest (Female): I just love what a a faith marker, a faith builder that this psalm is. And how God, he uses the contrast of the fact that, yes, he brings judgment. Yes, he brings destruction. Yes, he brings the wind and the storm. But he's also the God who merely utters his voice and the earth will melt. And he chooses to inhabit us. He chooses to dwell with us. And when I think about the power of that God, how can I fear? And yes, those fearful things hit us. And our first inclination may not be to run to the safe place, but as soon as we reflect on and acknowledge who he is. He merely has to utter his voice and the earth will melt. We have no need to fear.

Guest (Female): I was just thinking about verse 10, be still and know that I'm, I'm God. And I love that, I've always loved that verse, but it's just implying it to us and ourselves, but it struck me and I'm so thankful to you Nancy for bringing it out today, how merciful God is, for him to say to his enemies, be still. Don't you realize who I am? And, um, to people who want to say that we are a nation of evolutionists, don't you realize who God is?

And that ultimate mercy just gives me a softness in my heart for people who don't know. I was one of those people. I was a chemistry teacher. And God's brought me all full circle all the way around to say, absolutely not. God is the God of the universe and the God Almighty. But he was, he took that time through people to say, don't you realize who God is? And it just makes me think of in Job where, you know, where he kind of talks Job down and goes, don't you realize who, who I am? Do you want to hold back the ocean? Here you go. Here, try it. And so it's just another reminder of his just incredible mercy to us and to even his enemies on Earth. Just really appreciate that.

Guest (Female): When you came to the first, end of the first one about the song, I just want to share with you that singing and giving thanks, I think is the best thing you can do when you're down, when you're discouraged, when it looks like everybody else is winning to sing and to give thanks is a blessing.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Yes, I agree with that Sue, and I've found it so many times in my own life that when my heart was heavy, when the clouds seemed oppressive around me, the storm seemed to be beating up against me, if I would sing, if I will sing, this is why I love having a hymnal around. It's amazing how the clouds can start to dissipate. And I have at times, you know, I have my hymnal open, I'll be singing leaning on the everlasting arms. And at first, I'm crying so hard that you couldn't even understand what I'm singing. But if I will keep pressing through to sing God's truth back to Him, it's amazing how He really will so often settle our hearts. The power of singing. And that's probably why in the Psalms, so many times we're told to sing to the Lord.

Guest (Female): I was reminded of the passages in the New Testament that talk about when the disciples are with Jesus at the last supper, and they are leaving there and going to the Garden of Gethsemane, and Jesus knew the battle that he was about to face. And he led them in singing a hymn. And it's just a few short words in there, but um that was brought to mind, and I just remember that if he sang, as he faced the greatest torture of the world, then certainly I can sing and praise him for facing that for me and and taking the battle and having victory over it.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Amen. Great insight, Ruth Anne, and that little phrase, when they had left the upper room, where they had the Last Supper, after they sang a hymn, they went out. Where did they go out to? To Gethsemane and then to the cross. You know, we're told that probably what they sang at the end of the Passover was the Psalms 115 through 118, part of which is this verse, This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Can you imagine Jesus singing that as He is heading to the place where he's going to lay down His life for the sins of the world. Great illustration there in Christ. Yeah, great pattern.

Guest (Female): I particularly was um encouraged by your talking about God being the river that flows through us and his life. And I have been going through some physical struggles for the last few years and um I've had an affliction where I feel like I constantly can't get my breath. And so doctors have been really trying to figure this out and what is causing it. And but um, you know, I was reading in the scripture one time and it it says that my sighing is not hidden from you. It and God's presence has just been a theme in my life that he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. And so this was just another reminder of his presence and he is with us. And that is the encouragement. In his presence is fullness of joy. I loved what you said that God's presence and grace through us makes us fruitful. And we can't always see that, but just that trust and abiding in him, if that can glorify him. That is the encouragement that so thank you.

Guest (Female): I love what we heard today because for me, it is future preparation for future, um, storms. But I'm also sitting here just praising God because I'm coming out of a huge storm. And, um, two years ago, I was at the Time Times of Refreshing. Let's just get it out there, I'll cry. Times of Refreshing, uh, Women's Ministry Director Retreat. And, uh, we weren't expecting Nancy to step in and she did. I think on our Friday night when we were together, there was only about 10 of us there. And she popped in and just said hello to us and, um, it was just so sweet because we circled up around the piano. I'm sure you don't remember this, but, uh, what you shared, or what you said that night was you said, I just kind of want to share with you ladies what's on my heart currently. And it was people in ministry and their prodigals. And I was one of two that raised my hand. And I love your example to us to just pray. And, um, you stopped, you prayed for Ben. And, um, it was just so sweet. And I've seen that over and over and over again in this ministry. Um, but to God be the glory, uh, Ben, the prodigal returned last July. And, uh, he literally walked in the door and said, I've sinned against God, I've sinned against you. And so we are now praying and fasting with him, not just for him, but with him as for his future. So he is that help. And the other thing too is his word, I would not trade, I would not trade my time in his word through those years. And the number of scriptures that I have his name and dates written next to because God used those words to just penetrate my heart and I had that promise of Fall of 2007. He gave me the promise from his word through Isaiah that he has seen Ben's ways and that he would heal him. And I clung to that over and over and over again. And I wouldn't trade that. Um, he really was and is my help. And in all that trouble, everything we went through, he, he never ever left me. To him be the glory.

Guest (Female): Back in April, we were just outside of Tupelo, Mississippi. And if you remember when the tornadoes came through down there, a little town called Smithville was leveled, practically leveled by an F5 and we were about 45 minutes north of there. And so the night before that storm system came through, there had been a couple nights. We were awoke awaken in the middle of the night by sirens going off. So the first night when the sirens went off, we got up and turned on the TV to check to see what was going on. And the announcer on the TV said, if you are in a mobile home, and you can't get more mobile than an RV sitting on a church parking lot. So it said, if you're in a mobile home, you need to go to a safe place. And so we did. We got up and went in the church and tried to get as safe as we could and and you said a little while ago, God is our safe place in the midst of the storm. And that really struck me because it was the same words that that man had said, go to a safe place because trouble is coming. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that when when I see trouble coming, I don't always run to that safe place. I I give into fear. And I give into temptations to doubt. And so that was very convicting to me that when trouble is coming, to run to God, to run to that safe place, just like we did that night to avoid tornadoes. Um, so it's like that when you hear that siren going off, when you see that trouble coming, think of those sirens going off, and that's your cue, get to that safe place and run to God and not let fear take over.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Yeah. And remember this is not to say that there won't be times when we, you know, people do lose their lives and have lost their lives a lot recently in tornadoes and earthquakes and storms. It's not to say that your physical life will necessarily be preserved. But that as our soul takes refuge in the Lord, nothing can harm or damage us in that in that place of eternal refuge. Um, that we will still be safe and protected. The body they may kill. God's truth abides still. His kingdom is forever.

So to say you trust in the Lord, and I know you weren't applying this, Laura, but as you read a passage like this, you think, so if you trust in the Lord, does that mean you'll, you know, you're you won't lose your house in a tornado? No, there are believers who've lost their homes in earthquakes and tsunamis and tornadoes. But remember, God brings desolations on the earth for at least part of His purpose in bringing desolations on the earth, is that his splendor may be seen, his glory may be seen, his power may be seen, and he may bring peace into the hearts of men, may bring people to a place of repentance and rightness with him, reconciliation in their relationship with Him. So God's looking at the end game. The eternal, big picture.

And we get so absorbed in the immediate picture. I was reading some news this week about one of the recent tornadoes, and a request was made to pray for the people in this area, and one of the commenters with language, I won't repeat in the way they said it. Basically, this was a secular news website. One of the commenters basically said how foolish it was to pray to a God who would do something like this. A lot of people think that way, people who don't know God. Don't know that actually these earthquakes and tornadoes and they are severe mercies, intended by God to bring about redemption and salvation and warnings and repentance for the ultimate good of our souls and even more than that, for His greater glory.

So run to the safe place, who is Christ the rock, God our eternal refuge, but don't think that means necessarily that your circumstances are going to improve. That doesn't mean your husband's going to get saved. He may, we've heard some neat stories about that today, and God certainly can do that. It doesn't mean your house is going to be spared. It doesn't mean you're going to find the job you need. It's a broken world. And there's no promise that all those problems will be fixed when we run to trust in God our refuge. But there is a promise that our hearts will be safe. That we will have the help and the grace we need to endure even in the midst of that storm, even in the midst of great loss. These are tension truths that you have to kind of balance when you're dealing with a passage like this.

Let's face it. We are all going through storms. Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth has been giving us practical advice about how to weather them. She's been walking us through Psalm 46 for the last couple of weeks. This has been a series called A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. You can find the whole thing at reviveourhearts.com or on the Revive Our Hearts app, or really wherever you listen to podcasts.

Do you have a heart for ministry? More specifically, do you have a heart for the pastors' wives and the women's ministry leaders in your area? If so, you might love becoming a Revive Our Hearts ambassador. These are servant-hearted volunteers. They connect, encourage and equip, meeting with women's ministry leaders and pastors' wives. They cheer them on in the work that they're doing. To learn more about what it looks like to join the team, just visit reviveourhearts.com/ambassador. And if you are a women's ministry leader hoping to connect with an ambassador in your area, you'll find information for that too. Again, that's at reviveourhearts.com/ambassador.

Now, before you go, don't forget about our offer this month. When you make a donation of any amount, we're going to send you Nancy's freshly updated devotional, Dwell, 30 days with God in the Psalms. This is one of her most favorite classic resources. It's really a lovely Christ-centered addition to your bookshelf. To give and request your copy, visit reviveourhearts.com or you could call us at 1-800-569-5959.

Well, we're coming up on Father's Day weekend. So tomorrow, we'll hear from Nancy and her late husband, Robert. They're going to share about the legacies of their fathers. Whether Father's Day is a joyous occasion for you or perhaps a tender or a painful one. I think you'll be blessed to hear the things Nancy and Robert talked about. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness and fruitfulness in Christ.