Kimberly Jones, aka Real Talk Kim, knows about being stuck. She had to restart her life at age 38 when her 17-year marriage ended. And even in the past year, she’s endured multiple personal trials, including the death of her beloved father. But this Spirit-filled, faith-talking pastor and bestselling author refuses to get stuck in her pain.
“If I ask people on my Zoom or I ask people at a conference, ‘How many of you feel stuck?’ probably 80% of the people put up their hand,” Jones tells Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. Jones teaches people the raw, unburnished truth about how much God loves them and how they need to take responsibility for their own issues. As her most recent book puts it, we need to Shut Hell Up.
Through her trials, God has given Jones powerful, practical answers. “People just need to realize that every single thing in their life is going to be greater than what’s behind them,” she says. “So often, we can’t get to the blessings of God because we’re mad at our ex. We’re mad at the pastor who didn’t use us. We’re mad because our venture didn’t happen. We’re mad because people didn’t support our books. And so before we know it, we’re stuck. And we’re only stuck because we stopped moving. … as long as you ain’t dead, God ain’t done.”
“For a majority of my life, I beat myself up,” Jones says. “From the time I was in kindergarten, when I could start recognizing the difference between smart people, dumb people and kids who have to go out to a special ed class, I would just always beat myself up. … I just became like a victim in my own story. And then I found myself jumping ahead of God, creating my own storms and being mad at God when it rained.”
But Jones says one powerful moment with the Lord helped her move forward. Forced to move back home with her parents when her marriage ended, she says, “I was devastated. And I remember lying in bed one night, and … I remember God spoke to me, probably the first time I ever heard Him so clearly. He said, ‘I can’t take your pain away from you. You’ve got to get up and walk away from it.’
“And that taught me something,” Jones adds. “You’ve got to get up, and you’ve got to move forward. You can’t wait for somebody to do it for you.”
For more from Real Talk Kim on how to Shut Hell Up (including exciting news about her new 7-week e-course, which includes personal interaction in video format), listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here, and be sure to subscribe to Greenelines so you don’t miss the challenging, inspiring content from Dr. Steve Greene and his guests. {eoa).