Episode 413 - Igniting Spiritual Awakening with Zach Meerkreebs

The Nothing Is Wasted Podcast

Davey Blackburn and Aubrey Sampson

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2026

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does suffering offer us when it comes to spiritual awakening? How can we experience a movement of God after walking through a season of pain?In 2023, Pastor Zach Meerkreebs was an ordinary pastor serving at a local seminary, still walking through the emotional pain from the loss of his infant daughter, Esther, three years prior. On what seemed like an ordinary day, he delivered a chapel message at Asbury University and stepped off the stage, feeling as though his words had fallen flat. Little did he know, God would use that moment to ignite a movement of the Spirit, launching over two weeks of continuous revival at a small university in rural Kentucky. Through that experience, Zach came to see how God can use anything—and anyone—to bring revival. He tells this story in his book **Lower: Igniting Spiritual Awakening Through Radical Humility.**In this episode, Davey and Zach talk about what God does in our wrestlings after pain, how He works through our weakness, and how to faithfully steward our encounters with Him.If you’ve ever wondered whether God will move again in your life or community, this conversation will remind you that when we humble ourselves, we position our hearts to encounter God in ways we never expected. Website: zachmeerkreebs.comInstagram: instagram.com/zachmeerkreebs Facebook:facebook.com/zach.meerkreebs Book: Lower: Igniting Spiritual Awakening Through Radical Humilityhttps://amzn.to/3KzDI8a Stories matter. They inspire, uplift, and remind us we’re not alone in our pain. Hope in the Valley: 42 Days of Healing Through the Psalms After Loss, Grief, and Tragedy is a new devotional featuring real stories from the Nothing Is Wasted community—offering strength, comfort, and hope in life’s hardest moments. Order your copy today at: www.nothingiswasted.com/hopeinthevalley Looking for help in navigating the valley of pain and trauma? Our Nothing is Wasted coaches can help: www.nothingiswasted.com/coaching Want a pathway through your pain? The Pain to Purpose Course can lead you through all you've been through: www.nothingiswasted.com/paintoppurpose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Nothing is Wasted podcast, where we meet you in your pain and help you discover a pathway through.
0:09.6	No matter what you've faced or what you're walking through now, we believe your story isn't over.
0:15.0	Each week, you'll hear powerful conversations with people who've partnered with God to reclaim their stories of trauma, loss, and heartbreak, and we'll chat with Christian experts who offer wisdom and
0:26.2	practical tools for healing. This is a place of hope, redemption, and the reminder that
0:31.5	even in your darkest moments, God is still writing your story, because with him, nothing is wasted. I'm your host, Davey Blackburn.
0:46.1	Hey friends, welcome back to the Nothing is Wasted podcast. I'm so grateful that you're joining me for yet again another great conversation.
0:57.8	Let me start with a question that might feel a little bit uncomfortable.
1:02.3	Okay, here it goes.
1:04.5	What if the thing you're begging God to remove is also the place he's trying to meet you most personally.
1:13.4	What if you're asking God to take something from you and he's saying,
1:17.0	this is the place that I have you because I want to impart something into you.
1:24.0	Because if you've ever walked through trauma, tragedy, or major life transition, you already know this.
1:31.3	Suffering doesn't just hurt.
1:34.3	It rearranges you.
1:36.3	It completely dismantles what you thought you believed about God, what you thought you could handle, what you thought
1:46.7	was supposed to happen if you were faithfully following him. And that's where a lot of us get stuck
1:53.7	because we don't just lose what we lost. We also feel like we lost the map that we used to have for moving forward.
2:04.1	I know that's where I was when I lost my wife, Amanda, back in 2015.
2:09.5	I had this unspoken agreement with God that as long as we were in the center of his will,
2:16.2	we were building his kingdom.
2:17.3	We were following after kingdom. We were
2:17.5	following after him. He was going to put a hedge of protection around my family.
	...

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