448. Yesterday Is Not Prophecy: Don’t Limit What God Can Do
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Release Date: 09/11/2026
459. You're Growing More Than You Think | Before You Quit, Day 13
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
You're Growing More Than You Think | Before You Quit, Day 13 Have you ever wondered why you're not further along in your relationship with God? You've been a Christian for years. You know what the Bible teaches. You've set spiritual goals. You've tried to change. But you're still struggling with some of the same weaknesses, habits, and temptations. And you start asking yourself: “Why am I not growing as I should?” In Day 13 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner addresses the discouragement that comes when our spiritual growth doesn't match our expectations....
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458. Are You Faking Your Faith? It's Time to Take Off the Mask | Before You Quit #12
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Are You Faking Your Faith? It's Time to Take Off the Mask | Before You Quit #12 Have you ever looked like a strong Christian on the outside while feeling spiritually empty on the inside? You still attend church. You smile. You give hugs. You say the right things. People may even look up to you as a mature, faithful disciple. But deep down, something has changed. Your prayers have become inconsistent. You've stopped spending time in God's Word. You're struggling with sin, carrying guilt, or feeling ashamed of what's happening in your life. And instead of telling someone, you keep pretending...
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457. Feeling Lonely at Church? Don’t Walk Away Yet | Before You Quit #11
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Feeling Lonely at Church? Don’t Walk Away Yet | Before You Quit #11 Have you ever stood in a crowded church and felt completely alone? Everyone else seems to have their people. Their conversations. Their plans. Their friend group. Meanwhile, you're standing there wondering: “Does anyone even see me?” In Day 11 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner addresses one of the biggest reasons people quietly consider walking away from church: Loneliness and isolation. Last summer, Rob and Pam met a young woman who had recently moved to Boston and joined the church....
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456. Retirement, Faith, and 2,200 Miles: Phil and Robbyn's Appalachian Trail Adventure
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Retirement, Faith, and 2,200 Miles: Phil and Robbyn's Appalachian Trail Adventure What would you do if you retired and suddenly had the freedom to pursue a really big dream? Most people picture retirement as a time to slow down, relax, and take it easy. Not Phil and Robbyn Paradis. After more than four decades of following Jesus, Phil retired from his career in civil engineering and decided to take on one of America's most demanding hiking adventures: the nearly 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail. There was just one problem. He had never backpacked before. And he was already dealing with serious...
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455. When God Doesn’t Come Through the Way You Hoped | Before You Quit #10
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
When God Doesn’t Come Through the Way You Hoped | Before You Quit #10 What do you do when you've prayed for something good—and God doesn't come through the way you hoped? In Day 10 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner tackles one of the most painful sources of spiritual discouragement: Disappointment with God. When COVID hit, Rob's church in Tucson was averaging around 200 people on Sundays. Like churches around the world, they temporarily moved online. When they finally gathered again, a little more than 100 people remained. Rob wondered: Where did...
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454. You’ve Got One Job: Stay Connected to Jesus
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
You’ve Got One Job: Stay Connected to Jesus There are a thousand things competing for your attention every day. Your career. Your marriage. Your kids. Your health. Your finances. Your goals. Your phone. Even your ministry. But according to Jesus, there's one thing you absolutely cannot neglect: Your connection with him. In John 15, Jesus gives one of the simplest and most powerful pictures of the Christian life: “I am the vine; you are the branches.” In this episode of the Rob Skinner Podcast, Rob explores why successful people can be especially vulnerable to spiritual self-reliance, why...
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453. When Following Jesus Costs You Something Real | Before You Quit #9
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
When Following Jesus Costs You Something Real | Before You Quit #9 What happens when following Jesus costs you something—or someone—you genuinely love? In Day 9 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner talks about a part of Christianity that can be painful to accept: Obedience can cost you something real. When Rob became a Christian during his junior year of college, one of the first people he wanted to tell was his best friend from high school. This was someone Rob could completely be himself around. They had taken road trips together. Made memories...
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452. God Loves You—But Do You Believe It? Is Your “Truster” Broken?
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
God Loves You—But Do You Believe It? Is Your “Truster” Broken? What if one of the biggest problems in your relationship with God isn't that God doesn't love you—but that you have trouble believing that he does? Years ago, two young children in Rob Skinner's extended family were adopted from Korea. Their new parents gave them a loving home, security, opportunities and a family that poured love into them. But the children struggled. There was anger. Mistrust. Rejection. As a young man watching from the outside, Rob couldn't understand it. Why couldn't they see how much they were loved?...
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451. Following Jesus Feels Too Hard? Don’t Quit Yet | Before You Quit #8
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Following Jesus Feels Too Hard? Don’t Quit Yet | Before You Quit #8 What if one of the reasons you're thinking about quitting Christianity is something you rarely say out loud? “It's just too hard.” In Day 8 of Before You Quit: Hope for the Christian Who Feels Done, Rob Skinner begins Week Two of the book: Why People Quit and Don't Say It Out Loud. People rarely walk away from their faith in one sudden moment. A disappointment here. A conflict there. An unanswered prayer. A broken relationship. Little by little, discouragement accumulates until someone quietly begins drifting away. And...
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450. Stop Saying “Not Yet”: It’s Not Too Late to Change
The Rob Skinner Podcast: Helping You Make This Life Count
Stop Saying “Not Yet”: It’s Not Too Late to Change What have you gotten so used to that you don't even see it anymore? From 2004 to 2012, Rob Skinner worked as a realtor while planting a church in Ashland, Oregon. Whenever someone bought a fixer-upper, he gave them one piece of advice: Fix the problems right away. Why? Because human beings have an incredible ability to get used to almost anything. The cracked tile that drives you crazy when you first move in eventually becomes your cracked tile. You stop noticing it. Rob shares an unforgettable illustration from John Kotter and Dan...
info_outlineYesterday Is Not Prophecy: Don’t Limit What God Can Do
Have you ever looked at an area of your life and thought:
“This is never going to change”?
Maybe you've been single longer than you expected.
Maybe your marriage has been difficult for years.
Maybe you've prayed for one of your children to come back to God and nothing seems to be happening.
Maybe your finances are stuck.
Your career isn't moving.
Your ministry isn't growing.
You haven't helped someone become a Christian in years.
And after enough disappointment, it's easy to start turning your history into a prediction:
“This is just the way it's going to be.”
In this episode of the Rob Skinner Podcast, Rob looks at one of the strangest—and funniest—stories in the Old Testament: 2 Kings 7.
The city of Samaria was starving.
An enemy army had surrounded it.
Food was gone.
Prices were out of control.
There was no visible way out.
Then the prophet Elisha announced something outrageous:
Within 24 hours, everything was going to change.
One of the king's officers couldn't believe it.
Even if God opened the floodgates of heaven, he argued, how could something like that possibly happen?
From everything he could see, his conclusion made perfect sense.
But he made one critical mistake:
He left God out of his forecast.
Then four starving men with leprosy walked toward the enemy camp expecting they might die—and discovered that God had already caused the entire enemy army to flee.
Suddenly there was food.
There was silver and gold.
There were clothes and supplies.
And within 24 hours, the famine was over.
Exactly as God had said.
Yesterday Is Not Prophecy
We often do the same thing as that officer.
We take our present circumstances.
We combine them with our recent history.
Then we project both indefinitely into the future.
“I'm single now, so I'll probably always be single.”
“My marriage hasn't changed, so it probably never will.”
“My child walked away from God, and I don't think they're coming back.”
“My ministry hasn't grown, so maybe it never will.”
“I've always struggled financially. That's just who I am.”
But your past is not prophecy.
Your disappointments are real.
Your current circumstances are real.
But they do not necessarily tell you what God will do next.
Rob shares two personal reminders of this.
His son spent approximately ten years far away from God. There were times Rob couldn't imagine how that story would change.
Then it did.
His son returned to God and was baptized.
Rob also remembers being single and thinking he had practically met every eligible Christian woman around him.
Then Pam flew into town from Cairo, Egypt.
Rob never saw that coming.
They recently celebrated 36 years of marriage.
Leave Room for Black Swans
Rob also explores the idea of a “black swan”—an unexpected event that challenges everything we thought we knew.
For centuries, Europeans assumed all swans were white because every swan they had ever seen was white.
Then explorers arrived in Australia and discovered black swans.
Their conclusion wasn't foolish.
Their experience was incomplete.
And so is ours.
Just because you've never seen something happen doesn't mean it can't happen.
Just because God hasn't worked in a particular way before doesn't mean he won't.
Faith isn't pretending your problems aren't real.
Faith doesn't guarantee that you'll get married this year, every illness will disappear, every financial problem will vanish or every child will immediately return to God.
Faith says:
“I don't know what God is going to do, but I refuse to limit God to what I can currently see.”
So ask yourself:
What have I quietly decided can't change?
Your marriage?
Your singleness?
Your health?
Your finances?
Your career?
Your ministry?
Your relationship with your children?
Your fruitfulness?
Your spiritual life?
Maybe it's time to pray again.
Invite someone again.
Study the Bible with someone again.
Work on your marriage again.
Reach out to your child again.
Apply for the opportunity.
Ask for advice.
Try something new.
Dream again.
Don't confuse:
“I don't know how”
with:
“It can't happen.”
And especially don't confuse:
“I can't”
with:
“God can't.”
Take the next step and leave room for God to surprise you.
Because sometimes the difference between famine and abundance is only 24 hours.
Make this life count.
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