Trusting the Lord in the Midst of Tragedies

Summary

Podcast Summary: Trusting the Lord in the Midst of Tragedies

Podcast: Focus on the Family with Jim Daly
Episode Date: October 6, 2025
Guest: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee
Main Theme: Holding on to hope and faith in God through profound loss, family tragedy, and personal trials.

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Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Jim Daly and John Fuller sit with Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, discussing his journey through personal tragedy, grief, and redemption. Governor Lee shares candid reflections on enduring overwhelming loss, raising his children as a widower, and the transformative power of trusting God amid suffering. This episode offers encouragement to anyone facing adversity, underscoring the reality that faith can anchor the soul during life’s darkest valleys.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Governor Lee’s Unlikely Path to Leadership

[03:29]

• Lee reflects on his unexpected transition from business and nonprofit work into state government.
• His involvement in prison reentry and youth outreach ministries opened his eyes to public policy needs.
• “It was a really hard decision… But it was born out of my interest in business and also the sort of nonprofit work I was doing…” – Governor Bill Lee [05:04]

2. Lessons from the Farm and Early Family

[05:54]

• Stories from his youth, especially picking blackberries, illustrated the link between struggle and later joy.
• “To the degree that you've experienced brokenness, you can experience wholeness. To the degree that a man has felt pain, he can feel joy.” – Governor Bill Lee [07:20]

3. Navigating Parenting Challenges and Early Loss

[08:16]

• Lee recounts dealing with a frightening misdiagnosis during his wife’s pregnancy and their resolve to trust God regardless.
• “We sat on the back porch and said, you know what? If this is what it is, it's what it is. This is what God's, you know, this is what He's called us to be and do. And we'll be the best parents to that child… And then, you know, a week later they came back and said, well, that's not the situation. Your baby looks healthy.” – Governor Bill Lee [09:08]
• The Lee family endured multiple miscarriages and a stillbirth, followed by the blessing of twins.

4. The Tragedy of Losing a Spouse

[10:58]

• Lee recalls the day his wife, Carol Ann, died in a horseback riding accident.
• “I found my wife lying beside a horse and never spoke to her again. It was a horrific experience that turned my life completely upside down.” – Governor Bill Lee [11:07]
• He describes the overwhelming responsibility of raising four children, ages four to fourteen, alone.

5. Fatherhood and Grief: Lighting the Darkness

[12:16] – [13:39]

• Lee shares a poignant exchange with his 9-year-old son, who likened the experience to being lost in the woods in darkness.
• “He said, ‘Dada, I feel like it's dark, and I'm in the woods, and I'm lost.’ …I said, ‘Here's the thing. It's so dark you can't see me, but I'm standing right beside you and I am not lost because Jesus is standing right beside me… in a little while, it's going to get light.’” – Governor Bill Lee [12:34] & [13:39]

6. The Hiddenness of Suffering and Perseverance

[14:32]

• Lee discusses the jarring feeling of the world carrying on amid his personal chaos.
• “The world moves on. When your life falls apart, everyone else is just fine… and you have to stop and deal with this event that stops your world.” – Governor Bill Lee [14:40]

7. Intentional Parenting Through Pain

[16:14]

• In mourning, Lee prioritized spending one-on-one time daily with each of his children.
• He found these were both the “most excruciating weeks” and yet filled with “powerfully wonderful things.”
• “I remember my teenage daughter even saying to me, I feel like something is happening really good in our family…she’s kind of right. Like something was happening that was powerfully good.” – Governor Bill Lee [17:55]

8. The Role of Hope

[18:54]

• Simple affirmations of hope, such as ensuring his children they would vacation again, became crucial steps in their healing.
• “One of the things they [his kids] needed to know was there will come a day…” – Governor Bill Lee [18:54]

9. Ongoing Suffering and Mental Health

[19:42] – [21:31]

• Lee recounts his daughter Jessica’s suicide attempt a year after her mother’s death, highlighting the compounded pain and the ongoing struggle with mental health in families facing trauma.
• “It was a tough thing for a 14-year-old girl to lose her mom…a total miracle that she lived. But another life flight, another phone call…more pain.” – Governor Bill Lee [20:27]

10. Resurrection, Remarriage, and Redemption

[21:36]

• Lee reflects on how God stripped away the “things that seemed to be so important,” magnifying what truly matters.
• He eventually remarried Maria, and sees God’s “multiplication of the goodness” even after loss.

11. Reflection on Spiritual Anchor

[23:40]

• Lee compares enduring storms to being in a boat anchored safely, affirming the reliability of faith as an anchor.
• “There's a certainty that comes with the endurance of riding out a storm in a boat that is anchored…for the next storm, the anchor will hold.” – Governor Bill Lee [23:40]

12. Closing Encouragement for Listeners in Dark Places

[24:14]

• Lee addresses listeners in the midst of tragedy, sharing that his only hope was found in his relationship with the Lord before the crisis hit.
• “There's only one thing that was hopeful for me, and it was because I knew him, and I knew him before it happened…and I already had put my life and I already decided to follow him, but I had no idea that he would be that for me. …I didn't know he'd save my life on earth and save me from chaos. …those first nights alone, there was only one hope. And I knew what it was.” – Governor Bill Lee [24:14]

13. Redefining “Abundant Life”

[25:37] – [25:48]

• Lee shares how his understanding of abundance has shifted from material blessings to inner joy and peace despite circumstances.
• “I used to think abundant life was joy and happiness and peace and prosperity. I've come to believe that abundant life is joy in the midst of sorrow and peace in the midst of chaos and prosperity in the midst of want. …Abundant life transcends our circumstances on life, and he alone has that abundance for us.” – Governor Bill Lee [25:48]

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “To the degree that you've experienced brokenness, you can experience wholeness.” – Governor Bill Lee [07:20]
• “It's so dark you can't see me, but I'm standing right beside you and I am not lost because Jesus is standing right beside me.” – Governor Bill Lee [13:39]
• “The world moves on. When your life falls apart, everyone else is just fine…” – Governor Bill Lee [14:40]
• “There's a certainty that comes with the endurance of riding out a storm in a boat that is anchored …for the next storm, the anchor will hold.” – Governor Bill Lee [23:40]
• “Abundant life is joy in the midst of sorrow and peace in the midst of chaos and prosperity in the midst of want.” – Governor Bill Lee [25:48]
• “I didn't know he'd save my life on earth and save me from chaos. I didn't know he'd do that, but I found it out.” – Governor Bill Lee [24:14]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Becoming Governor & Calling to Service: [03:29]–[05:22]
• Blackberry Picking Analogy: [05:54]–[07:48]
• Navigating Misdiagnosis & Early Loss: [08:16]–[10:15]
• Losing His Wife & Supporting His Children: [10:58]–[13:39]
• Managing Suffering in a Moving World: [14:32]–[15:37]
• Parenting through Mourning: [16:14]–[18:15]
• Encouragement after Trauma: [18:54]–[19:41]
• Jessica’s Struggle & Mental Health: [19:42]–[21:31]
• Finding Redemption, Remarriage: [21:36]–[22:35]
• Certainty Amid Storms: [23:40]
• Direct Encouragement to Listeners: [24:14]
• Redefining Abundant Life: [25:48]

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Tone and Takeaway

The tone is earnest, warm, and candid, reflecting a journey from deep pain to genuine hope. Governor Lee’s faith and vulnerability underscore the assurance that God brings meaning, endurance, and even joy through suffering. Listeners are reminded that redemption and abundant life aren’t dependent on easy circumstances but on a deep, abiding trust in Christ.

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This summary captures the essence, key lessons, and heartfelt encouragement of the episode “Trusting the Lord in the Midst of Tragedies” with Governor Bill Lee.

Transcript

[Narrator]

God is at work and he's calling his people to rise in truth. Truth Rising is a powerful new documentary from Focus on the Family and the Colson Center. See how ordinary Christians choose courage in a culture that needs truth. Watch Truth Rising today and find out how you can become an agent of restoration and hope. Visit truthrising.com today. That's truthrising.com.

[John Fuller]

The story of the Prodigal son is one of the most powerful depictions of God's grace and unconditional love. Now you can bring that moment home with the Prodigal, a breathtaking print by award winning artist Morgan Weisling. With your gift of $150 or more, you can receive this special edition print or make a gift of $300 or more and Morgan will personally sign your print. Visit focusonthefamily.com print today.

[Governor Bill Lee]

This program is sponsored by FOCUS on the FAMILY and is made possible through the gifts of generous friends like you.

[John Fuller]

This is John Fuller. And please remember to let us know how you're listening to these programs on a podcast, app or website.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And I said it is dark, so dark we can't see, but in a little while it's going to get light.

[Jim Daly]

What hope.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And you just need to remember I'm right beside you and I'm not lost.

[John Fuller]

That's Tennessee Governor Bill Lee recalling his reassuring words to one of his children as they walked through a very dark valley in their family. You'll hear their story and more encouragement on today's FOCUS on THE FAMILY with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller.

[Jim Daly]

John Everyone experiences tragedy and loss at some point in life. It's inescapable. And I'm often reminded of the story of Job in the Bible and the testing the Lord allowed him to go through and how he remained faithful to God through many trials. In modern times, there are people who've experienced a lot of suffering and sadness, and yet they serve as great examples to others. Our guest will encourage us to hold on to Jesus through the storms of life. And I'm speaking of my friend, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee. He has an inspiring story to share, a story of hope. So stay with us.

[John Fuller]

Yeah, he's written a book called this Road. I'm on the Power of Hope in the Face of Adversity. And we have that here at the ministry. Governor Lee is the 50th governor of that state. He began his term in 2019. And Jim, you had this conversation at the Tennessee State Capitol. And so let's go ahead and hear that conversation now on FOCUS ON THE Family with Jim Daly.

[Jim Daly]

Governor Lee, it's great to have you. I'm focused on the family.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Thank you.

[Jim Daly]

Welcome.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Proud to be here.

[Jim Daly]

This is a great state.

[Governor Bill Lee]

It's the best state in the country. We have long history of fiscal stewardship. I'd say that. And that makes for a stable environment and good for the people. We have very low taxes and very low debt and sort of financial principles that have set us up for success from an economic standpoint. So yeah. Plus it's just a beautiful place and the people are remarkable. My family's been here for seven generations, so I don't know any other, any other state, but I think it's the best place in the country.

[Jim Daly]

What's fun about watching you is you're unlikely to be governor. You're a business guy, you weren't in politics before, never even on the school board. What in the world sparked you to get involved and to become governor of Tennessee?

[Governor Bill Lee]

You know, we all have a long arc of history in our life, right? That trajectory that leads us and we can kind of see it all come together when you look back. But it was not likely that it would turn out that way if you were looking forward in my life. But I got involved. The short answer is I got very involved in some issues. I worked in a prison reentry program for 25 years, a ministry, and I got really interested in how Department of Correction works and how, you know, the criminal justice system operates in the state. And as such, I got interested in the policy and the public policy around that issue. Also worked in the inner city in an at risk youth program and mostly for very underprivileged kids and boys in particular. In this one program I was involved in, I saw some real disparities in the way education opportunities were available to children in this state. And I got really interested in education and especially for the underserved and education reform and got involved in public policy there. And I ran a business, I cared about business issues. So as I born out of my interest in business and also the sort of non profit work I was doing intersected with and touched government and public policy. And that's what sparked this idea, hey, maybe I should get involved in public policy and government.

[Jim Daly]

You gave me the impression it wasn't quite a happy tone like that. It was more like maybe I should get involved.

[Governor Bill Lee]

It was a really hard decision because.

[Jim Daly]

It needs to get stronger.

[Governor Bill Lee]

It was a really hard decision.

[Jim Daly]

Let me ask you this. You have a farm, you have had your own share of chaos in your life. And I Wanna turn into that. Now you speak about how picking blackberries taught you so much about life. You gotta share this with the rest of us so we could learn from it. How does picking blackberries help you?

[Governor Bill Lee]

I kind of forgot about that chapter till you brought it up. It's been a bit away. Yeah. As a little kid, we used to. I picked blackberries on the farm and loved it. I sold them. You know, we pick them and put them in jars and sell them to people in the city that couldn't pick blackberries. And it's a terrible job. I mean, there it's. It's in the middle of July. Hot snakes. It's hot. There's chiggers you have to put weep at gasoline all over our body, which you wouldn't do anymore, but we did to keep. It's a terrible job. There's thorns. BlackBerry bears are filled with thorns. It takes a tremendous amount of, you know, struggle to pick blackberries, but there's nothing like them. And I remember my mom used to make BlackBerry cobbler only on days when it would snow in the winter, because it would. We loved snow. Was such beautiful. But it would remind us of the hottest days of the summer and what we had to go through to get that BlackBerry. So to enjoy the BlackBerry cobbler in the winter. It's a little bit like life, at least my life, my life's experiences. What I have come to believe about my own life is you can only fully appreciate what you are, what you have. Or maybe better put, it's to the degree that you've experienced brokenness, you can experience wholeness. To the degree that a man has felt pain, he can feel joy. And sometimes hardest things in life, if we lean in and allow God to use them, can create a breadth of understanding in our life that we could never have had before.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, and that's a big benefit. Carol Ann, your first wife, she's passed away, but we'll talk about that in a moment. You struggled to have children. I believe Jessica came along. And even Jessica, the pregnancy with her was, from the doctor's perspective, maybe something you should reconsider. I believe I have this story correct. Speak to what happened there and the profound nature of a misdiagnosis.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah, we were. She had tested positive for a fetal anomaly. And we kind of had to make. Go through a weekend, a week of thinking that that's what we were dealing with. And the doctors obviously said, you know, you have options here. And we didn't think we had an option, but we still had to process what this was going to be like and what might happen if that were true and then it was a false positive and we weren't going to do anything about it otherwise. But it was quite an eye opening experience to go through that.

[Jim Daly]

But speak specifically in the book, you said something like, okay, this is what it is. We will be the parents of that child. That's right before you got the re diagnosis.

[Governor Bill Lee]

That's right. We sat on the back porch and said, you know what? If this is what it is, it's what it is. This is what God's, you know, this is what he's called us to be and do. And we'll be the best parents to that child that they could have possibly had. And I remember making that decision. And then, you know, a week later they came back and said, well, that's not the situation. Your baby looks healthy.

[Jim Daly]

Well, that gives you an insight into the risk associated to misdiagnosis. Right. You could have easily said, okay, well, let's abort that child. Not easily, but you may have been that couple that said, let's abort the child. And the child was actually healthy.

[Governor Bill Lee]

But even if we weren't. Yeah, even if we weren't the couple with the healthy child, we knew for us that that would be the right thing to do and that there would be some redemption in that. We see it all the time.

[Jim Daly]

So you went on to have four children, you had twins.

[Governor Bill Lee]

We had four miscarriages and a stillborn in there before we had. We had a lot of pregnancies, a lot of grief, trouble, a lot of difficulty, a lot of grief, but a lot of blessing too.

[Jim Daly]

But you had twins. What's that like being father of twins? I've not had that blessing.

[Governor Bill Lee]

When you had babies and you couldn't and you kept having one pregnancy after another and then all of a sudden, you know, there's two of them playing in the same bed. It was incredible blessing.

[Jim Daly]

So moving to that day still is.

[Governor Bill Lee]

They're 33. They're 33 now.

[Jim Daly]

Oh, that's good. Hopefully as rambunctious as they were, one.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Of them has four sons, the other one has two daughters and two sons.

[Jim Daly]

So is it true that grandparenting is really you and your grandchildren having a comm enemy? You're just adult children.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Much better than being a parent.

[Jim Daly]

Let's speak to the really difficult day that you had. I think it was in 2000. What happened on that day.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Waved to my wife and my 4 year old as they rode out across the creek and on horseback. On horseback.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And I was coming home from work and the next, you know, within a short period of time I heard my 4 year old crying and way off in a distance and found my wife lying beside a horse and never spoke to her again. It was a horrific experience that turned my life completely upside down. And I had a life most men only dreamed of and it felt completely shattered all in one afternoon. Very dark season, very, very tough. Four little kids, four year old, two nine year olds, 14 year old. And we had to start life over.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

One of the comments you made in the book that really caught my attention. I believe you're talking to Jessica Then you're 14 year old or. And just, or maybe it was your, your son actually where you said, we're in a dark place.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

We're going to need to stand here for a while. I'll stand with Jesus, you stand with me.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Well, he, he was scared of the dark. And before any of this happened, he, he was scared of the dark. And I knew that he never wanted. And he was also scared of the woods. He was nine.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And we live out in the country in the woods, but he had a. He was afraid of the dark. He's afraid of the woods. And in the middle of the night we all laid in the same on the floor and pallets for a few weeks after that happened so we could all be sleeping together, me and the four kids and until one by one they got tired of it. But he. At two in the morning or three in the morning, he just. I knew he was awake and it was just a couple of nights after his mom had died. And he said that, he said, dada, I feel like it's dark and I'm in the woods and I'm lost.

[Jim Daly]

Wow.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah. And I remember a little nine year old kid, the greatest expression of his grief would be those are the worst things he could think about. And that is what he felt like.

[Jim Daly]

It seems odd, but it just hit me. I was 9 when my mom died.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah.

[Jim Daly]

And that's an awesome way to express that.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah, that was, that's the best way.

[Jim Daly]

He could put this, especially at that age.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah. And I told him, I said, you know, here's the thing. It's so dark that you can't see me, but I'm standing right beside you and I am not lost because Jesus is standing right beside me. And I said, it is dark. So dark we can't see, but in a little while it's going to get light.

[Jim Daly]

What hope.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And you just need to remember I'M right beside you and I'm not lost.

[Jim Daly]

That is so good. When it happened, she was airlifted. You were on your way to the hospital, you had to stop for something, and somebody asked you a question. What was it? How did it get you to think about? Your reply, Yeah, I stopped by a.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Little store and the guy said, how you doing?

[Jim Daly]

And you're in the midst of this chaos.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And I kind of looked at him and I was like, doing fine. And I remember thinking, my life is in utter chaos. My wife is in a helicopter. My kids are, you know, my life is in utter chaos at the moment. I'm terrified. I'm driving to the hospital by myself. And the disconnect of the rest of the world from my life was so evident in that little conversation I had where a guy's like, how you doing? I said, I'm just fine. I couldn't possibly stop to explain to him how my whole life. And interestingly, the world moves on. When your life falls apart, everyone else is just fine and world is moving on, and you have to stop and deal with this event that stops your world. And it's a hard adjustment for people to make.

[Jim Daly]

It is. It is. I'm thinking of the benefit, the beauty of you being there for your children. I mean, not every child has that benefit. I have a loving father, blessing of.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Heaven, an unusual relationship with my kids that most dads don't get to have. Now, most dads didn't go through that either, but most dads don't get to have a relationship with their kids that was as intense or as unique and special and marvelous and extends even to this day, my relationship with my kids.

[Jim Daly]

You did something in that environment that really caught my attention. You have a business, so it allowed you to be perhaps a little freer to spend the time with the kids that you wanted to. But you made a purposeful decision to spend an hour a day individually with each of your children during this mourning period. What sticks out in your mind about that kind of quality time?

[Governor Bill Lee]

What sticks out is that it was remarkably painful. The weeks following that were some of the most excruciating weeks of my life. And part of it was because you. You wake up to what's really happened, and you particularly wake up and watch it start to unfold in your children.

[John Fuller]

And you.

[Governor Bill Lee]

You realize you're in pain, but you realize just what agony this is for your children. And you spend individual, one on one time with them. And they will talk about it eventually, some more than others and some so they were Remarkable times with my kids, so poignant and so filled with. But they exposed and revealed to me just how hard this was going to be for my kids and for my family going forward. It was a sweet time. It was bittersweet. I mean, I talk about in my book about bittersweet and, you know, it's bittersweet. There's. It was the worst time of my life and some of the most powerfully wonderful things were happening in my life at the same time. I remember my teenage daughter even saying to me, I feel like something is happening really good in our family. And I remember thinking, that's one of the most offensive things I could think of because we've lost this important part of our family. But she's kind of right. Like something was happening that was powerfully good.

[Jim Daly]

And it's hard to see when you're in that, that bottom floor when those circumstances occur, it's when you start feeling it. Yeah.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And the Lord comes with hope. It's a powerful.

[Jim Daly]

You know, I interviewed John Lennox, who was the professor emeritus at Oxford in mathematics. An unlikely Christian, really. He would say of himself, yeah, rarely do I meet people in my profession that believe in God. But he said that the difference for him was hope. In all of his colleagues, profession of life, he said, what they're missing is hope.

[Governor Bill Lee]

I saw that so much through that season, especially with my kids. One of the things they needed to know was there will come a day. I remember one of my sons saying, well, we'll never go on vacation again, will we? I can remember, Yeah, I can remember how that felt. That's why I can't. That's why it still brings back that.

[Jim Daly]

I love the tenderness, but I remember.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Saying, you know what? We will go on vacation one day again. We will, and it'll be fun. And we won't this year, but we will next year. And just little reminder, they just needed to have hope that, you know what this is, we are going to move forward. And for me, who, who my hope was in the Lord, you know, it was real hope. And then I could convey that to.

[Jim Daly]

Kids, and that's what it's about. Governor Wright, near the end here, we only have a few more minutes. That wasn't the end of the pain, though. In the book, you talked about Jessica, something that our family's encountered. My wife, she's lost two siblings to suicide, and you had that dark day where she made an attempt in that regard. Talk about that briefly. And then, yeah, that was.

[Governor Bill Lee]

That was maybe a more. Almost a more traumatic day. For me, because it had come on top of so many other things.

[Jim Daly]

But how many years after?

[Governor Bill Lee]

Just about a year.

[Jim Daly]

And just a year after your wife passed away.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Yeah. And she had. It was a tough thing for a 14 year old girl to lose her mom.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah.

[Governor Bill Lee]

And then a lot of other circumstances around it. But mental health is a struggle for teenagers in the first place. And then a trauma in the middle of that. A total miracle that she lived. But another life, flight, another phone call.

[Jim Daly]

Another reliving all of that, oh, my.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Goodness, one year later, going to the same trauma unit and the same floor and just reliving that nightmare all over again and thinking, not knowing what the outcome was going to be. I mean, I showed up at the hospital when the helicopter was landing and I didn't know she was alive or not. And it's crazy. Yeah, there was more pain. But you know what? There was also this hope of a redemptive nature of God somehow. This feeling that all of these things were working toward something good. It's really hard to explain that other than, you know, that that's how God works.

[Jim Daly]

You started singing, right?

[Governor Bill Lee]

Well, just. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. You just.

[Jim Daly]

I mean, on the way to the hospital, it's almost.

[Governor Bill Lee]

The more you're forced to rely on the Lord, the. The more everything that matters is stripped from life on earth, then the things that really do matter are magnified in your life. He was magnified in my life because a lot of the things that seemed to be so important were gone. And when that happens, this whole hopeful, redemptive, bittersweet, wonderful taste stuff becomes real and more and more evident in your life. And then you actually see it start playing out. I mean, like Maria and the next chapter of my life and redemption and wholeness. Wholeness and multiplication of the goodness of God. It's a wonderful thing.

[Jim Daly]

That is so good. And you and Maria now have been married for how many years?

[Governor Bill Lee]

You shouldn't ask me. 15. Almost. Almost 16.

[Jim Daly]

We'll leave it at that. I won't press you anymore. And of course people are listening. Jessica today, how is she?

[Governor Bill Lee]

She's 37 years old and she has three kids. And she's a remarkable woman of God. And she's a deep, rich person who understands the complexities of life and wouldn't say everything's perfect and easy. And it hasn't been for me. It won't be for her. It's not for any of us in many ways. But there's a certainty that comes with the endurance of riding out a storm In a boat that is anchored, there's a certainty that comes with that. And for most of your life, when the sea is calm, everything's fine. But there's also a certainty that for the next storm, the anchor will hold.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah, Governor, here at the end, there's probably 2 to 3 million people listening. There's bound to be people in there that feel like they're in that storm today. Right now, they're experiencing it. Your story is very, unfortunately, very much like Job, things taken from you, but you didn't become bitter toward God. What would you say to that person that's going through a dark time in life where, as you described earlier, everything is dark. You're in the woods, as your son said. What would you say to them to have hope?

[Governor Bill Lee]

There's only one thing that was hopeful for me, and it was because I knew him, and I knew him before it happened. And I was really glad I did, because when it happened, I already knew him and I'd already trusted him and I already had put my life and I already decided to follow him, but I had no idea that he would be that for me. I understood enough about the cross and that he would be my savior for eternity. But I didn't know he'd save my life on earth and save me from chaos. I didn't know he'd do that, but I found it out. And that I would just say that there is at least all I can talk about is my own experience. I can't ever say to other people, this is what's going to happen, or this is what you. I don't have any certainty for you, but I know for certain for me that those first nights alone, there was only one hope. And I knew what it was. And yet without it, you know, I don't know what you do.

[Jim Daly]

Well, you have lived John 10:10, which is, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. You've experienced that. But it goes on to say, but I've come that you might have life and life more abundantly.

[Governor Bill Lee]

It's really funny you say that, because I used to talk after this and give. And I would say, you know, I used to think abundant life was joy and happiness and peace and prosperity. I've come to believe that abundant life is joy in the midst of sorrow and peace in the midst of chaos and prosperity in the midst of want. That abundant life transcends our circumstances on life, and he alone has that abundance for us. No matter what life on earth is doling out to us at the moment, we have access to that abundant life. And it's a good thing.

[Jim Daly]

Yeah. Governor Bill Lee, governor of Tennessee, thank you, sir. I think you're qualified for leadership for so many reasons, beyond just good judgment, just your entire life, God has looked after you, and in turn, you have looked after others. Thank you so much.

[Governor Bill Lee]

Thank you, sir.

[John Fuller]

Well, this is Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. And I hope that this conversation today has given you hope and peace in the midst of any storm you might be going through or maybe it's encouraged you in some other way.

[Jim Daly]

John, I want to refer back to something Governor Lee stated a moment ago because it bears repeating. He said, I used to think abundant life was joy and happiness and peace and prosperity. I've come to believe that abundant life is joy and in the midst of sorrow and peace, in the midst of chaos and prosperity, in the midst of want. He said that abundant life transcends our circumstances in life. I so agree with that. It's a profound statement that was born out of painful experiences. And there are some deep spiritual lessons for us in those words. I'm thankful for Bill's great example and his love for the Lord. And I'm also thankful that God has restored so much in his family's life. If you need counseling to help you address a hurt in your soul, please know that we have caring Christian counselors who will speak with you and pray with you. I just need you to call us to schedule an appointment. I also encourage you to get Governor Lee's book with more of the story. It's called this Road. I'm on the Power of Hope in the Face of Adversity. And I think it's one of the strongest lessons about being a faithful Christian and walking this life out regardless of your circumstances. You can make a gift of any amount monthly or one time. We'll send you a copy of the book as our way of saying thank you for helping other families.

[John Fuller]

Yeah, invest in the lives of others and donate today when you call 800, the letter A and the word family, 800-232-6459 or online. You'll find us at focusonthefamily.com broadcast. Well, thanks for joining us today. For FOCUS on THE FAMILY with Jim Daly, I'm John Fuller inviting you back as we once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.

[Narrator]

God is at work and he's calling his people to rise in truth. Truth Rising is a powerful new documentary from Focus on the Family and the Colson Center. See how ordinary Christians choose courage in a culture that needs truth watch Truth Rising today and find out how you can become an agent of restoration and hope. Visit truthrising.

[Jim Daly]

Com today.

[Narrator]

That's truthrising.

[Jim Daly]

Com.