The Glenn Beck Program Episode 266 | Max Lucado on Overcoming Grief in Dark Times
Date: September 13, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features Glenn Beck in conversation with Max Lucado—best-selling author, pastor, and a returning guest—exploring how to overcome grief, negative thinking, and overwhelming times. Their discussion centers on “resetting your mind to factory settings,” the power of thought and words, and the interplay between spirituality, personal hardship, and American cultural anxiety. The tone is candid, compassionate, faith-driven, and practical, providing insight and tools for listeners struggling with grief, change, negative thought cycles, and societal strife.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Choosing Your Thinking, Changing Your Life

• Power over Thoughts:
  • Max Lucado asserts that individuals have the agency to select and manage their thoughts, impacting their behaviors and life outcomes.
  • “Behavior is preceded by belief. So if you want to change your behavior, go upstream a bit and deal with your beliefs.” (Max Lucado, 04:14)
• Factory Settings Metaphor:
  • Glenn relates his personal winding road of change (children moving out, downsizing) and the necessity to “reset” his thinking amidst self-doubt and regret.

2. Negative Thought Patterns—Why Do They Dominate?

• Spiritual Dimensions:
  • Both attribute negative thought spirals to spiritual warfare:
  • “Satan placed the idea in the mind of Judas to betray Jesus...I do believe there is a great God, a loving God…But I believe there’s a malevolent force, the devil, who means us evil. And he places these thoughts in our minds.” (Max Lucado, 07:17)
• Psychological Roots:
  • Early authority figures (coaches, parents, teachers) “embed” negative messages deep in our psyche.
  • “In some ways, we spend all of our lives responding to the negative and positive voices that we hear in our youth.” (Max Lucado, 10:49)

3. Beliefs Before Behavior

• Paul’s epistles and broader Christian teaching emphasize belief systems before actions.
• “Really, the scripture always deals with belief before it deals with behavior.” (Max Lucado, 15:34)

4. Practical Tools to Overcome Grief and Pain

• Picky Thinking:
  • Take “every thought captive” (2 Corinthians)—stand at the “entryway” of your mind and filter out unhealthy thoughts.
  • True statements (“my back hurts”) shouldn’t evolve unchecked into catastrophizing (“I’ll never get better”).
• UFO Model:
  • U: Untruth (initial false belief, e.g., “God is punishing me”),
  • F: False narrative (e.g., “God is against me”),
  • O: Overreaction (e.g., despair, unhealthy coping).
  • “Starting with that untruth and treating it with truth is really how we interrupt that cycle.” (Max Lucado, 34:28)
• Purpose in Pain:
  • Reframe pain as purposeful; suffering can build character, empathy, or bring one closer to God.

5. Authority & Identity

• Choosing Authority:
  • Importance of a fixed, external authority—God—as the unchangeable “home plate” in life.
  • Without this, people become “weather vanes whipped about by the winds of fate and chance.” (Max Lucado, 45:58 & 48:34)

6. Humility as the Key Virtue

• Both agree that humility—accepting you’re not the center of the universe and remaining open to God and others—is the most crucial trait for mental and spiritual health:
  • “Bible says that God hates arrogance… because that’s what keeps us from him.” (Max Lucado, 51:13)

7. The Role of Dialogue and National Disunity

• Civil disagreement, learning from others, and seeking common ground rest on humility and shared principles, not just policies.
• “Can a pastor of a Christian church and a Jewish rabbi get together and do great things? Yes, because their principles are the same.” (Glenn Beck, 55:31)

8. The Power of Framing & Morning Routines

• Start your day with affirming, anchoring thoughts (prayer, scripture, reflecting on God’s truths).
  • “Maybe the best thing we could do when we wake up in the morning…is to say, okay, here’s what I know to be true about God and just reflect, meditate on that a bit and then step into the day.” (Max Lucado, 68:53)

9. Grace, Flawed Messengers & Public Figures

• God uses deeply flawed people for essential work.
• Example: David’s humility enabled greatness, but pride led to serious failings.
• Political example: Donald Trump may be used by God, but he “is not the authority.” (Glenn Beck, 73:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On selecting thoughts:
  • “Just because we have a thought, we don’t have to think it. We don’t have to believe everything we think.” (Max Lucado, 04:14)
• On pain and character:
  • “This pain has a purpose. It’s when we think our pain is random and meaningless that we begin to descend into a pit of despair.” (Max Lucado, 29:35)
• On reframing regret:
  • “I fell short as a father, but I trust that you’re a perfect heavenly father…I take that untruth and turn it into a truth.” (Max Lucado, 36:30)
• On humility:
  • “The most unhealthy thing is for me to live the Frank Sinatra song and say, I did it my way. That takes us down a path of destruction.” (Max Lucado, 50:48)
• On authority:
  • “The only authority that we should be looking for is God. The only authority that can…truly can change us should be that voice.” (Glenn Beck, 71:13)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [04:08] - Max Lucado introduces his thinking on beliefs and thoughts as the key to life change.
• [06:22-08:32] - Spiritual and psychological roots of negative thinking.
• [10:26-13:10] - The power of authority figures in shaping our mental tapes.
• [15:34] - Belief always precedes behavior (Pauline teaching).
• [17:37] - How belief in a loving God can literally lead to improved physical health.
• [18:23-20:41] - Glenn’s secular-turned-spiritual exploration of thought monitoring.
• [25:19-28:46] - Tools for managing physical and emotional pain through thought selection.
• [32:50-37:54] - Introduction and application of the UFO model (Untruth–False Narrative–Overreaction).
• [39:29-43:28] - Specific advice for young adults, generational hopelessness, and David vs. Goliath as a spiritual model.
• [45:58-48:34] - On fixed standards, authority, and the metaphor of baseball’s home plate.
• [50:48-53:45] - On humility and arrogance, and its impact at both personal and societal levels.
• [58:24-60:35] - Engaging those with radically different worldviews through humility and listening.
• [68:51-69:33] - Framing pain and difficulty by first reaffirming God’s truth before trauma.
• [71:13-74:39] - Discussion of flawed messengers, authority, and the David analogy.

Conclusion

Glenn Beck and Max Lucado guide listeners through practical, spiritual, and psychological strategies for overcoming negative thought cycles, grief, and life’s overwhelming transitions. They urge an intentional daily resetting of the mind, a return to foundational beliefs, and a commitment to humility—offering a roadmap for personal resilience grounded in faith and self-awareness.