Our Guest Karen Schatzline
SID: Someone you know, if you said, “It ain’t over” and they said, “Not for me.” What would you say to them?
KAREN: Well I think I would say to you today when the world looks at you and says it’s over, when people say to give up on your children, when people say to give up on your marriage or on your health, when they say it’s over that’s when God steps in and he says, “It’s not over.” He’s just giving you a launching pad for your destiny to launch you into a place of freedom. Because what you go through is a good indication of who you’re called to be. And what you may call a tombstone on earth, God says that’s not a tombstone, it’s just a mile marker of where he’s taking you and the destination he has for you.
SID: I like what you say about scars.
KAREN: Yes. Because I really believe that scars on earth are testimonies in heaven, because no matter what you go through, don’t let the scars that you have keep you hidden and bound, because what we have to realize is that our scars are proof that we have survived, that we didn’t die where the enemy tried to take us out. That when I look in the mirror and I see the scars that the enemy has tried to take me out with, I can say, you know what, that’s where I survived. That’s where God stepped in and took me out.
SID: Karen, explain true bravery to me.
KAREN: Okay. Well bravery for me was something that I thought that I could never attain. I thought it was something that was out of my reach. But true bravery, and what I had to come to realize is, true bravery is not the absence of fear. That’s where most people misunderstand. It’s not the absence of fear. It’s the realization that fear has no hold on you when you reside in the presence of the Almighty God.
SID: There are a lot of people that feel totally rejected and you like to talk about a woman that felt the same way. Tell me about her.
KAREN: Yes. Well there is the woman that I mentioned, the Samaritan woman in the Bible who every day walked this walk of shame to the well. And I find it so amazing that God met her at a well. But what I love is that she was rejected. She was rejected by her community. She was rejected by the people. She was rejected by other women. She was rejected by everyone. But here Jesus was. He showed up at the well with nothing to drink the water with because, here’s why. He wasn’t there for himself. He purposed and set out that day to meet her at the well. He knew there would be a woman coming who was rejected by society. And so many of us, we think we have to earn our way into the presence of God. And God says I’m already there waiting for you. I’m waiting for you in that secret place to meet you. I’m waiting for you, for you just to turn around and see me. So for you that may feel rejected today, that you may feel like that the world has turned their back on you, I want you to know that God would never leave you, never forsake you, never walk out on you. And he’s right there in the midst of whatever you’re going with, and he will never leave you.
SID: Now, that’s what God spoke to you about, his desire for these intentional supernatural encounters.
KAREN: Yes, that’s right.
SID: Dig deep and pray as God directs, right now.
KAREN: Lord, I just pray right now for every viewer, for every person that is watching this show, today I pray that right where they’re at, right where they’re sitting, if they’re at work, if they’re in a car line, if they’re at the grocery store, no matter where they’re at, Lord, I pray that you would touch their life right now. Make yourself real to them. Make yourself known to them. Let them see you. Let them hear your voice and let them feel your all-consuming power and your love surround them. Lord, I pray that right now as they’re sitting there watching, Lord, that whatever they’re walking through, whatever they’re facing, Lord, that they will hear you call their name, that they will hear you say, I’m right here with you, and that they will take you by the hand, and they will walk out a journey to freedom as you bring healing and hope, and fulfillment back into their life.
SID: Three more words: It ain’t over.
