Why Does It Feel Like God Is Blessing Everyone But You?

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Have you ever wondered why it seems like God is blessing everyone else... but you're still waiting?

In this video, I share one of the biggest breakthroughs God has ever shown me about His provision. For years, I believed I was waiting on God to move—until I discovered that the real issue wasn't His willingness to provide. It was a hidden blockage in my own heart that Scripture calls double-mindedness.

Together, we'll unpack James 1 and discover what the Greek word dipsychos ("double-minded") really means—and why understanding it can completely transform the way you see God's provision, your creative calling, and your identity as His child.

You'll learn:

• Why God's provision isn't usually the problem.
• The surprising meaning of "double-minded" in James 1.
• How fear and faith compete for your attention.
• Why many believers struggle to receive what God has already promised.
• How to recognize the provision God has already placed in your life.
• Practical steps to move from fear into confident faith.

If you're a Christian artist who has ever felt stuck, frustrated, overlooked, or wondered, "God... what am I missing?" I believe this message will encourage you and help you move forward with greater peace, confidence, and expectancy.

Key Scriptures:

• James 1:5–8
• Mark 11:24
• Ephesians 1:3
• 2 Peter 1:3
• 2 Corinthians 9:8

If this podcast encouraged you, please like, subscribe, and share it with another artist who needs to hear this message.

I'd also love to hear from you in the comments:

Have you ever realized you were living from two different stories at the same time? What did God show you?

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Transcript

Why Blessing Feels Out Of Reach

SPEAKER_00 1:13

For years I couldn't understand why it seemed like God was blessing everybody but me. So today I want to show you exactly what he showed me so you can identify the hidden blockage that might be keeping you stuck, just like I did, and remove it from your life so that you can get positioned to receive God's abundant provision for your life like never before. So let's jump in. So, as a professional artist for more than 30 years now, and somebody that's had the privilege of mentoring thousands of Christian artists all over the world, I can tell you 100% this struggle with, you know, understanding how God provides for us through through money, through resources. Listen, this is not just my story. It's one of the most common struggles that I see, especially with creative people who love Jesus. People, again, who genuinely love God, who are trying to be faithful in everything that God's called us to, but you know, who believe the Bible, know what the Bible says about God's goodness. And yet somehow we always feel like we're on the outside looking in. That's the way life was for me for years. And it seems like we're doing that while everybody else seems like they're experiencing breakthrough. And that is super frustrating. And listen, if that's where you are today, I just believe that God's word has the answer that can change your perspective. And I just believe that God's got you here by divine appointment to hear this today. Because, see, when I was struggling with this years ago, one of the passages that God brought to me that changed everything for me was that one in James chapter one. And here's what it says it says, but he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts, listen, is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that person ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. Listen, being a double-minded man, unstable in all of his ways. Like that was one of those like wow moments, right? Because if you're anything like me, you you probably read those verses before, and you know, so they might not be new. And you thought, well, great, you know, he's saying I need more faith. I just don't have enough faith. Like, this is not very helpful, Matt. This is more frustrating, right? Maybe you've wondered if somehow you've disqualified yourself from God's blessing. But listen, that is not at all what James is saying in this verse. In fact, just a few verses earlier, if you read a little bit earlier in that chapter, he says that God gives generously to everybody without finding fault. So the problem isn't God's willingness to give you everything you need in abundance. The problem is, now, listen, I

James 1 And The Receiving Problem

SPEAKER_00 3:40

want you to get this. The problem is our ability to receive. And those really are very, you know, two very, very different things. For years, I thought that, you know, God was probably holding something back for me. I'd sinned too much, I disqualified myself, I wasn't good enough, whatever. I I kind of thought I was waiting on him, right? But James says something incredibly important in that scripture. He says, it's not that, you know, God's refusing to give. He says that the double-minded person should not expect to receive. And listen, when that hit me like deep, that really changed, completely changed my thinking because I suddenly started realizing maybe the blockage wasn't in heaven. Maybe God is what not the one withholding. Maybe the blockage is happening in me. Maybe all that stuff that I've been telling myself all these years about it not being the right time or not being good enough or doubting if my calling as an artist was actually God's will. Maybe all of that stuff was the thing that formed the blockage inside of me. And see, once I saw where the real blockage was, it started raising another question. And that is, well, if if double-mindedness is the blockage, then what exactly is double-mindedness? How do I get rid of it, right? Because I don't think it means what most Christians think it means. So I love to, you know, do word studies. And so I dug into the Greek word that James uses here for double-mindedness, and I discovered something that really completely under changed how I understand the passage. He uses this word in Greek called dipsychos, and it looks like kind of a word that a lot of theologians think that James just kind of coined, right? It literally means two souled. So it's not somebody that just has questions, and it's not somebody who you know occasionally struggles with with doubt and everything. Listen, this is what it is. It's somebody trying to live from two competing and two completely different realities at the same time. I mean, when I saw that, that was like, wow, that is so huge. In other words, one part of you believes that that God's your provider, right? Maybe in your head, but the other part still believes that you're on your own deep down. One part of you prays, oh, Father, I trust you, I love you, I believe your plans for my life. But the other part deep down has already started planning for God's failure. I mean, can anybody relate if we if we get honest? I I know I can. I mean, for years, I was living exactly like that. I believed all the right verses. I was reading God's word, going to church, doing all the stuff. But deep down, if you if you really got serious, I lived like everything ultimately depended on me. And so what is James saying, you know, the is the deal with this kind of divided life? Well, he's saying that it makes us unstable. And the word that he uses for unstable literally means like restless or unsettled

Two Souled Faith Explained

SPEAKER_00 6:32

or being pulled in different directions. I mean, if that isn't exactly what fear does, I mean, I don't know what it is, right? One day you're full of faith and then the next day you're like, it's all over, I'm ready to quit. I mean, just flip, flop, flip, flop. One day you're convinced that, you know, God's called me, things are going to be great, he's got a plan for my life, and and the next day you're wondering if you missed him altogether. And listen, James says that's what happens when we try to live from two competing stories living on the inside at the same time. See, one story says, maybe in your head, yeah, my father's a generous provider. God's word says that I believe it. And then deep down it says, I better fend for myself. Maybe God might not come through like he didn't come through last time. And see, here's what struck with me, and maybe it's gonna really stick with you today. James isn't describing somebody who's intellectually confused. He's describing somebody whose heart has never been fully settled. He's talking about somebody who's never understood what story they're gonna live from, right? And for me, and for my wife, too, because we went on this journey a long time, that was a big kind of come to Jesus moment. We we had had, you know, unknowingly, this kind of flip-floppy faith all these years, wondering if, you know, what was going on in our life financially. And God brought us to this kind of moment of dependence on him that was hard. But it was one of the, you know, it was one of the deepest, darkest moments of our life if I look back on it. But in that moment, I can remember the Lord asking me who we were going to trust, ourselves, what we could see, or or his promises. And and that one moment for us, as hard as it was, when we chose to put our full allegiance in his promises rather than our own ability to figure it out or make it happen on our own. Listen, that changed everything. And it literally started opening the doors of provision to flow in our life like never before. And and the cool thing is this the more that I've taught this to my students over the years in our coaching community, the more they experience the same thing. See, I always love to remind you guys of this. You know, God doesn't play favorites because we're all his favorite, right? We're all his favorite child. And if it worked for me and it's worked for my students, he wants to do the same thing and even greater for you because his word is true. See, this topic always makes me think when I get into thinking about this whole thing. I love to think about Peter, right? I mean, you know, as long as Peter's eyes were fixed on Jesus when Jesus said walk

Single Hearted Trust Changes Everything

SPEAKER_00 9:08

on the water, you know, Peter was able to do, you know, what seemed like it was impossible. But the moment his focus shifted to the wind and the waves and the things that he could see, what happened? He started to sink. The storm didn't get stronger, right? Jesus didn't get weaker. Jesus' promises and his plans for his life didn't change. No, Peter, listen, Peter just started living from a different story. And if we're honest, so many of us have spent years praying things out of our mouth while agreeing with fear in our hearts. I mean, I mean, no, no wonder James says that that we will struggle to receive. But see, here's the really, really good news I want you to get today. The opposite of being double-minded isn't pretending that you'll never have another fearful thought, it's becoming single-hearted, settled in the truth that your father and his word, he's exactly who he says he is. He'll do exactly what he'll say he's gonna do. And once that settles in your heart, you start to recognize his provision in ways that you never could have recognized and received before. And so that's really what I want to show you next. See, for me, and again, for so many of my students, I love this because I get to see this multiplied in people I work with every day. This is probably one of the biggest breakthroughs of all. Because for years, when I would pray for provision, I was almost exclusively thinking about money, right? I need money for this, I need money for that, right? And I'd I'd be praying those prayers. Really? I mean, sincerely, God send the money, God meet this need, God make something happen, you know? But here's the deal. When I started looking at scripture around God's provision, here's what I noticed. It was a completely different pattern. Sometimes God sent money, and that's great. You know, you think about the one with the fish and the gold coin in the in the mouth of the fish. But usually he started by asking people to steward what was already in their hand. I mean, think about Moses when he needed to confront Pharaoh. God asked him, what? What's in your hand? And it was just a little staff. When David, you know, faced Goliath, God used a sling that David had in his hand. When Jesus fed more than 5,000 people, he multiplied a little boy's lunch with just what? What was in his hand. When the widow needed provision in the Old Testament, right? God multiplied the oil that she already had sitting in her house. When Peter needed a

Provision Starts With What You Have

SPEAKER_00 11:33

financial miracle, right? Jesus filled the empty boat that Peter already owned, that he was already fishing in. I mean, again and again and again and again, God multiplies what was already present. And see, that's when I started realizing something. I thought that this whole time I was waiting on God to provide, for God to show up, for God to do something, for God to send the money. But the issue was that I wasn't recognizing what God had already provided for me. Maybe God's provision was already showing up in my life as things like ideas and relationships and skills and creative gifts and wisdom and favor and open doors and opportunities to serve. This was a big shift. And I hope it is for you right now. Maybe money isn't the starting point with God's provision at all. In fact, I've seen over and over throughout the years in my own life that money is often the fruit of faithfully stewarding what God has already provided, what He's already put in your hand. And the more faithfully that you steward what's already in your hand, the more God will entrust to you as you walk with him. And of course, that includes money as well as resources and opportunities and all the stuff. Listen, when I got that, everything changed because it shifted my prayers from, you know, God, why aren't you providing? Why aren't you doing this? I need the money to Father, thank you that you're my provider. Now show me how to steward what you've already placed in my hands. See, that's exactly what Paul and Peter tell us, right? I mean, Paul writes in Ephesians 1, 3, he says, we've been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. And Peter, I mean, I love this whole section of scripture. 2 Peter 1, 3 and 4 talks about God's divine power has given us everything we need, everything we need for life and godliness. And notice the language right there. It's not God's gonna give you like you're waiting on him. No, God has given it to you. See, see, the issue is not whether God is generous. Of course, God's generous. The issue is whether we're living and seeing life through the eyes of faith that recognize and receive what God's already made available fully by his grace for us through Christ. Now, listen, before I start to show you how to practically remove this blockage from your own life, I want to just pause for a second because if you're starting to realize, like I did, that this really isn't not just about money, it's really about learning to partner with God and renew your mind to what his word actually says and steward what he's placed in your hands and start to build your creative life, your whole life, on biblical truth, I want you to know that's exactly why I created the Thriving Christian Artist Pathway. It's the step-by-step discipleship journey that's helping thousands of Christian artists all over the world move from confusion and frustration in their life to having clarity and confidence and creative momentum with God in their creative calling. Listen, if that's the kind of transformation that you've been looking for in your life, I want you to know there's a link right here in the description below. And it'd be my honor uh to help you take the next step on your creative journey. All right. So double-mindedness, right? If that is the blockage that we're dealing with, you know, how in the world does the Bible say that we're supposed to get rid of this, right? Well, I can guarantee you the answer is not by trying harder, right? No, oh, I got a white knuckle, right? No, the answer is not pretending that you're never going to have another fearful thought. That's unrealistic, right? It's learning to consistently agree with what God says in his word until his truth becomes more real than the circumstances that you see and experience. In

A Pathway For Christian Artists

SPEAKER_00 15:22

fact, Jesus said it this way in Mark chapter 11. It's one of the most powerful scriptures that Jesus says, He says, Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, get this, believe that you have received them, and they'll be granted to you. That's Mark 11, 24. Now, again, notice something super, super interesting. Jesus does not say in that verse, believe it after you see it, after you see the results, after you see it show up. No, he says what? Believe that you have already received it. Pray as if it's already yours, as if you already got it. I mean, that is huge because walking by faith always precedes

Renewing Your Mind Over Fear

SPEAKER_00 16:02

walking by sight. And that's why fear is so dangerous. See, fear continually rehearses everything that could go wrong or is going wrong, but faith continually rehearses in our inner man what God has already promised in his word. And listen, whichever voice that you rehearse the most, that will eventually become the reality that you live from. I mean, that's why Paul tells us so much, and especially in Romans 12, right? How we're transformed is by the renewing of our mind. And that is, listen, that's not about toxic positivity and positive thinking. No, it's about aligning with kingdom thinking, aligning with his word. It's replacing the lies that fear has repeated to us for years with the truth of God's word. And for me, you know, that looked like intentionally thanking God for his provision before I could see it. It looked like refusing to let negative thoughts dictate my emotional state all the time. It looked like, you know, in instead of asking God, why aren't you providing? Why aren't you doing something? Don't you see I need it? No, I just started praying with gratefulness. Father, thank you for what you've already given me. Thank you for your promises. God, show me what you've already provided so I can faithfully steward it. And again, that one little shift changed everything because suddenly I started noticing things that I'd overlooked before, right? A conversation, right? A coincidence, an invitation, a creative idea, a relationship with somebody, maybe an artistic skill or a business skill that I'd overlooked before, an opportunity that was kind of hiding inside of something that looked like an obstacle. And as I faithfully stewarded all those things with faith, guess what happened? God showed up and God started multiplying them. And that's how this pattern works. That's we see that all through scripture, right? He multiplies what we surrender to him. Listen, as we walk by faith. So listen, I want to leave you today with three questions that I hope are going to help you dislodge this blockage from your life. And the first one is this where has fear been louder than faith in your life? And look again, this is an opportunity to be honest, not be filled with condemnation and shame. And just let the Lord show you that. Where's fear been louder than faith? And number two, what is God already placed in your hands that you've maybe been overlooking? And that could look like, again, all the things we've been talking about: a gift, a relationship, a skill, an opportunity, and an open door, kind of this flash of revelation that you've given you. Maybe an idea that you've been afraid to act on, or maybe you've been asking God for something new while He's inviting you to steward what's already there, maybe what looks like not as the exciting thing, right? Just ask him to show you that. And number three, ask him this God, what would change this week if I could truly believe that you were a generous provider instead of somebody that I was trying to convince. You know what? If if you do that, I think your prayers would change. I think the peace in your heart would change. I think your decisions would change. I

Three Questions To Dislodge The Blockage

SPEAKER_00 19:12

think your your outlook would change. I think probably your your willingness to be generous would change. And I probably I think your creativity would change as well because you know that you're partnering with God, who's already given you all things. Not creating from scarcity and lack, but creating from his abundance. Listen, my friend, I want to leave you with one final promise from God's word today, because I think it really captures the Father's heart so beautifully. It's Paul writing in in 2 Corinthians 9 8, and it says this in the New Living, and God will generously provide all you need, and then you will always have everything you need, and get this, and plenty left over to share with others. Listen, that that is worthy of putting on the wall, right? In your studio. I I love that because that verse reminds us that God's provision isn't just barely enough to survive or to get by. It's always more than enough for us to fulfill everything that we've been called to do, to give you the desires of your heart and to make you a conduit of overflow and blessing and life and light to others. That's what abundance in God's kingdom looks like for all of us, and especially for artists. And again, you don't have to beg for God's provision. It's already yours fully in Christ. My friend, listen, I hope you've started realizing today that your heavenly father loves you. He's not trying to keep good things from you, kind of dangle them out there. He's he's inviting you today, even right now, into a place of deeper trust with him where you can receive and faithfully steward everything that he's already made available to you through Christ. And that's really that's my prayer for you today, is that you'd be able to step into that. And this video has been able to help you do that. Listen, if this video encouraged you, uh, would you do me a favor? Of course, subscribe to the channel, but uh, make sure you like it, make sure you share it, leave me a comment. Uh, make sure to share this with another artist. And if you're leaving a comment, let me know what's one area that you're choosing, faith over fear, this week in this area of provision. Listen, I read every comment, and and I love to hear what God's speaking to you in your life and on this journey. All right. I love you, my friend. Thanks so much for being with me today. And remember, until next time, you were created to thrive. Bye.