What happens when your trust in God gets shaken, or even feels completely broken? In this honest conversation, Dot and Cara sit with Psalm 13 and David's raw prayer of doubt and praise, and open up about seasons in their own lives when trusting God felt like being led off a cliff. They talk through the real difference between a faith that's shaken and one that's severed, and why struggling with God is not the same as walking away from Him. Pull up a chair, grab your Bible, and lean in with us.
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Let us know! Episode Recap
- Intro (00:00)
- Write this down: Psalm 13:1-6, David's raw, honest prayer that swings from "how long, O Lord" to pure praise (00:00)
- Dot wonders if David has a split personality, until Cara points out the psalm is a perfect picture of being honest with God (01:32)
- Today's real conversation starter: a dear friend admitted out loud that her trust in God had been broken, and how rarely we say that in Christian spaces (02:15)
- Cara opens up about a season where she felt like she trusted God all the way to the edge of a cliff, and He let her fall (08:08)
- Dot's pool illustration, her husband Howard catching the grandkids mid jump, even in the split second before he lets them go under (10:05)
- The difference between a faith that is shaken and a faith that is severed, and why struggling with God does not mean walking away from Him (17:16)
- Dot shares how she prayed, even before knowing the details, that Cara would never mistake her hard season for proof that God did not care (26:57)
- Cara looks back at Psalm 13:5, written in her Bible years before this season, and how her past tense trust became her present hope (30:01)
- Dot tells the story of Jacob wrestling with God all night, and how whatever your circumstances are saying, the cross already proved God is for you (32:26)
Are you interested in having Dot come and speak to your community? Email us at
hello@dotbowen.com.
This Episode’s Scripture Verse
Psalm 13:1-6 (ESV) — "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death, lest my enemy say, 'I have prevailed over him,' lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken. But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me."
What is Write this Down! with Dot Bowen?
Bible teacher, author and founder of Cup of Joy Ministries, Dot Bowen, teaches listeners what it truly looks like to know, love and follow Jesus. Each week, Dot invites you to sit down with her and her daughter, Cara, to have an authentic conversation about Biblical Scripture and God’s Truth. Their honest and thought provoking conversations are full of wit and wisdom which will have you diving deeper into God’s Word.
Whether Dot is teaching, speaking or simply grabbing coffee with a dear friend, she can often be heard saying with excitement, “Write this Down!” Her heart for the listener is to take the things she asks you to write down before the Lord and ask Him to open your eyes to His Truth and love. John 8:32 says, “and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”
By the end of each episode, you’ll find yourself grabbing a pencil so that you can Write this Down! with Dot Bowen.