Finding Joy on the Other Side of Hard

0:00 · Both

The episode opens with a Church on the Rock word from Pastor John Miller: a chaplain in a Georgia jail shared the love of God, more than a hundred inmates prayed and dedicated their lives to Jesus, and forty-five were baptized. The sheriff said family in the room is accountability for a new path. Visit churchontherock.org.

1:22 · Zach

Hello and welcome to The Zach Rateliff Show. I’m Zach. This is Cole. What’s up, man?

1:28 · Cole

Hey, man. Thanks for having me on today.

1:32 · Zach

Cole’s been on three or four times. The first time was years ago, when the show was still a hobby after the radio. Chase Livingston loaned equipment and space. The church sponsored and helped. That’s what I get for saying if God wants it to happen, it’ll happen — because all of a sudden you’re looking up and you’re like, I didn’t put any of this stuff here. Over a hundred thousand downloads a month later, Cole is still standing for truth, honoring the Lord, and pointing people to Him.

3:01 · Cole

I thank the church and the staff for teaching the truth with love. That genuineness emanates from there. It’s not a fake type deal.

4:11 · Zach

I turned forty last year. I’ll be forty-one soon. People are almost overwhelmed — by the news, by their own circles. It’s easy to talk about the Democrats this or the Republicans that. We still have to pay attention to that. We can still find joy, and that’s provided through Jesus no matter the circumstance.

5:15 · Cole

The news cycle will frustrate you and depress you if you let it. I try to lean on the Lord. There is hope and joy and truth that can be found in Him that goes beyond our circumstances — especially when you recognize the era those truths were written. They had persecution. They had hardship. For them to find joy and hope and peace in Christ shows He provides a peace that surpasses all understanding.

5:50 · Zach

First Peter 1:3 — Christ is our living hope. The early church faced murder for the faith. That is a different kind of hard than an air-conditioned office.

6:26 · Cole

Happiness is a little more of a circumstantial feeling. It’s momentary. Temporary. I’ve got a couple of good things going on today, I’m happy. Joy comes from this undergirding truth that hey, no matter what comes, God is upholding me and He’s upholding our world. That’s how you have this peace even if times are hard.

7:10 · Zach

The divorce four years ago rocked me. Depression. I was driving down Richmond Road one day, maybe a year and a half later, just in tears. God, Jesus is my shelter. Ninety-first Psalm. I run under those wings every chance I get. God, I don’t want to feel this way. I hate this feeling. And then it was like God said you can be okay. That joy that hit me — I was still in the same situation. Still sad. But I promise you, if you’d passed my white truck on Richmond Road, you would have swore Jesus was sitting in there with me. Laughing and then crying out of joy. An overwhelming presence of joy and peace. Since then, no depression. Has everything been easy? No. But it’s been joy-filled. He gave me back my joy.

9:24 · Cole

We try to find those things in all sorts of things in the world. Christianity is pointing us to come and drink deeply of Christ. That’s where you find true satisfaction, protection, joy, and peace — and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22.

10:04 · Cole

Hardship and difficulty — God uses that in such a great way to refine us, to draw us to Him. In American culture we’re blessed. Things are easy, relatively. But God draws near in the broken moments. That desperation is what we see in the miracles. Desperate people crying out. He meets them there. He heals. He restores. He brings joy.

11:51 · Zach

The woman with the issue of blood had tried all the physicians, spent all her money, got to the point where she had no hope. She pushes through the crowd to get to her final hope. We often need to get to that place — the world doesn’t offer what I need — press through, get to Christ.

13:10 · Cole

She knew she didn’t have to stop Him. The anointing flowed. All she had to do was grab that tassel, and it poured into her.

14:33 · Cole

You minister to students the same way you minister to adults. Eras ago we did a kiddie version of church — games and pizza. These kids are facing self-harm, suicidal thoughts, sexual confusion. We’ve got to point them to Christ. Get them in an environment where they can encounter Him. My job is to point you to Jesus. Emphasize the power and goodness of Christ and the sufficiency of the cross. Fun night, yes — and then preach the gospel and the seriousness of sin.

17:20 · Cole

I preached the healing of the leprous man. Outcast. He asks Jesus, I know You can if You will. I will. Be clean — one word in the Greek. Jesus touches him. The cleansing reverses the uncleanness. One touch, one word. If you’ll pursue Him, He’s going to meet you and bring healing. Sometimes not instantaneous. Process. He’s faithful.

19:27 · Zach

As a maturing Christian you hope to be climbing. Mature Christian and baby Christian — depending on the day might depend on what I am that day. I hit a dip and I’m like, that was stupid. I’m sorry, God. I am still just a sinner.

30:15 · Cole

Going through seminary and studying discipleship — you can snap back to old habits relatively quickly. They used the human progression from baby through adult. At any point you can go back and start acting like a baby again: this is all about me, I’m depending on someone to feed me, I’m not producing anything. You can be a sixty-year-old Christian and still a spiritual child.

24:00 · Zach

We do a lot of politics. I get a lot of, what can we do? Is this the end of the world? I don’t know those answers. I do know there is an answer. Politicians are going to lie to you at some level. Jesus isn’t. He is the ultimate authority. All authority comes from Him. Governments are allowed to be by God.

25:12 · Cole

It’s easy to spin into a hopeless thing. I can get frustrated with almost anybody in office and want to disengage. The main thing is you’ve got to stay close to Christ and do what He’s called you to do. I don’t know that there’s going to be a true political solution. I even hate to say that. What we really need are a lot of believers who will stand for truth, live for Christ, proclaim the gospel, actually strive to be the church. We need more ministries in our city. We need folks reaching the lost — not just going to church on Sunday and living like a heathen the rest of the week. We need people who have deeply encountered Christ. That all flows out of a life-giving relationship with Him. I think we need to be involved in the political sector and in our local schools. But we really need some Christians to be Christians, too.

27:08 · Zach

Look at Israel wanting a king. We always strive for an idol. Football team. Phone. Political party. That’s my worry — that’s not even secondary to Jesus. When Peter gets out of the boat he’s good until he takes his eyes off Jesus. We can’t let whatever that distraction is pull our eyes off Him, even a little bit.

28:28 · Cole

You can’t let those things become a distraction. We do it unknowingly. That’s the scary part of idolatry. It can become your phone. I get screen-time updates on Sunday morning — three and a half hours, probably need to dial that back. Marriage is a good thing, but it can’t be your primary pursuit. Providing for your family — go make some money, but that can’t be where your heart and zeal is. Those things have to be subject to the King of Kings. Then you utilize them to honor Him rather than yourself. Christ remains our chief focus, pursuit, and purpose.

31:00 · Zach

We’re doing life groups. Church isn’t small — close to two thousand members, over three thousand on Easter — but it doesn’t feel that big if you’re leading or participating. Then you hear somebody say, I don’t really know anybody. How have you gotten involved? Once you take the step, you start connecting. Same way on the spiritual side.

31:23 · Cole

There’s a popular isolationist Christianity — I’m going to seek the Lord in the woods and my deer stand. You can. Natural revelation. The earth proclaims His goodness. But Scripture tells us not to forsake the gathering of the saints — not as a religious obligation, but because God knows we need communion, encouragement, sharpening. Sometimes you need people to have hard conversations with you. That’s an awkward part of being a pastor. You only get it in community, not in isolation.

32:15 · Zach

When I first found out I was getting divorced I called Pastor John. He said come talk to me. It wasn’t, oh Zach, you didn’t do anything wrong. It was, there’s probably some stuff you need to work on. I sat in the back of church crying. Later I saw other people with the same issues healed. God does a lot of good with bad. Even in hardship, He is using that to refine you and bring you to the place where you recognize your great need for Him.

35:33 · Zach

My daughter turns eleven this month. All her friends go to First Baptist, so that’s where she is currently. She said, Daddy, do you care that I go over there? Baby, if you’re wanting to be in church on Wednesday night — unless it’s something crazy — I’m not going to stop that. I drop her off there, then come on to church. She’s a year away from Powerhouse. They have their own little worries that aren’t insignificant in a world where kids are getting phones and know way too much.

36:45 · Cole

You minister the same way you minister to adults. We used to do a kiddie version. Not now. Point them to the power and goodness of Christ. One touch. One word. If they’ll pursue Him, He meets them.

42:00 · Cole

Most people don’t come to Jesus because a preacher on a stage asked. They come because a friend or a family member opened their mouth. Share the gospel personally. There’s a youth resurgence — Gen Z and Alpha showing up. Students surrendering to Christ. An eighty-year-old man answering an altar call — statistically rare, and God is still doing it.

45:00 · Cole

Father, for the one who is discouraged, who feels the weight of the world, who cannot see past the hard — would You meet them. You are living hope. You are the shelter of Psalm 91. Give them the joy that does not wait on circumstance. Draw them to Jesus. In His name, amen.