Podcast Summary: "Glory in the Changing"

The Potter’s House Podcast
Speaker: Sarah Jakes Roberts
Date: January 18, 2026

Episode Overview

In this powerful sermon, Sarah Jakes Roberts explores the concept of finding “glory in the changing”—the work of God in our lives during seasons of transformation, challenge, and uncertainty. Drawing on Exodus 31 and the story of Bezalel, Roberts encourages listeners to embrace change as an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed, to renew their minds, and to offer God even the residue of past struggles as building material for something new. The message is deeply personal, practical, and prophetic, offering both spiritual insight and actionable steps for listeners undergoing transitions of any kind.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cognitive Flexibility and Spiritual Growth

• Illustration with the Duck/Rabbit Image ([04:50–10:00])

  • Sarah introduces the concept of cognitive flexibility using a visual illusion where people see either a duck or a rabbit.
  • The key is not what you see first, but how easily you're able to see the image in a different way—paralleling the importance of flexible thinking as we adapt to life’s changes.
  • Quote:

    "It’s whether your mind demonstrates the cognitive flexibility to be able to see something differently than the way you saw it the first time." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (09:28)

• Applying this Spiritually

  • Spiritual growth requires mental flexibility—to see ourselves, our circumstances, and even God in new ways.
  • Change is not just external; it’s internal, beginning with renewed thinking (Romans 12:2).

2. The Battle of the Mind: Taking Thoughts Captive

• Bringing Every Thought Into Captivity ([13:00–16:00])

  • Sarah unpacks 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 on spiritual warfare in the mind.

  • Healing isn’t about eliminating certain thoughts entirely, but learning to recognize and challenge them with truth.

  • Thoughts contrary to God’s promises should not “roam free” but must be confronted and replaced by scripture.

  • Quote:

    "You have a default processing system. That means your initial response... may put you in this default way of processing. Lord, help me say it real good." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (12:13)
    "That word 'captivity'... is a Greek word. And that Greek word literally means 'prisoner of war.'" (15:19)

• Practical Steps

  • Recognize when thoughts are not aligned with God’s truth.
  • Verbally declare God’s promises out loud, shifting the “battlefield” from your mind into the atmosphere.
  • Quote:

    "When the enemy wages war in your mind, you can change the battlefield... I dare you to decree and declare right now in the name of Jesus, out loud, I shall live and not die. No weapon formed against me will prosper." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (18:02–19:15)

3. Knowing God for Yourself

• Faith vs. Borrowed Revelation ([23:05–26:34])
  • True transformation comes from a personal encounter with God, not just inherited faith.
  • Don’t rely solely on others’ testimonies or revelations—press in for personal experience.
  • Quote:

    "Sometimes we try to skip the process of intimacy with God and we try to take His promises and make them our own without full awareness of His ability to perform that which we are speaking." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (23:13)

4. God’s Presence in Every Season: The Tabernacle Analogy

• God Dwelling With His People ([46:06–53:53])

  • In Exodus 31, God isn’t just giving the Israelites instructions; He’s teaching them what it means to have His presence dwell with them in transition, not just blessing them from afar.

  • The tabernacle was mobile—a clear sign that God is not tied to one place or way of doing things.

  • Quote:

    "I, as the one true and living God, I don't want to build something where you have to come to me. I want to go to where you are. I want to dwell with you... in the wilderness, in the place where anyone else would be afraid. God says, that's where I'm going to dwell with you." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (50:06–50:46)

• Old Patterns vs. New Season ([51:34–53:18])

  • The Israelites, uncomfortable with newness, built a golden calf—a throwback to old, familiar patterns.

  • God calls us to trust Him through unfamiliar territory and not revert to past coping mechanisms out of fear or impatience.

  • Quote:

    "Because they're so uncomfortable with the new, they start building something that looks familiar... because you are building from the old paradigm when God's trying to bring you into a new way of thinking and a new way of engaging." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (52:17)

5. Your Past as God’s Building Material

• Residue of Affliction as Material ([64:23–67:23])
  • The gold and treasures carried out from Egypt were symbolic of past affliction—the “residue” that God would repurpose for His glory.
  • God specializes in using what we deem as shame, scars, or leftovers to build something new.
  • Quote:

    "You see it as shame. He sees it as material... When you begin to recognize that I am His workmanship, that means everything I've gone through is an opportunity to be material for His glory." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (67:12–67:23)

6. God Uses Both the Precious and the Common

• Gold and Wood—Humanity & Divinity Combined ([68:39–71:36])

  • The tabernacle’s construction required both gold and common acacia wood.

  • Our ordinary and extraordinary, weakness and strength, come together as God’s dwelling place.

  • Quote:

    "There is something about what is common and what is divine coming together, that allows Him to build the tabernacle. God is not just going to use what you think is valuable... He has this way of taking what's valuable and what's gold and combining it with what's common." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (69:14)

7. Embracing and Submitting to Change

• Change as a Prerequisite for Glory ([74:35–76:48])

  • True transformation requires submitting to the process, even when it feels like “nothing is happening.”

  • God uses “competing materials” and unexpected methods so He gets the glory, not us.

  • Quote:

    "And there is glory in the changing. You have to be willing to allow certain seasons to change you for His glory. Because the Lord is trying to build something. And the materials He uses... won't make sense to you. But I hear God saying there's glory in the changing." —Sarah Jakes Roberts (74:35–75:11)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On the necessity of repentance:

  "Repenting is to change the way that you think about something. You repent from a very deep place of recognizing that the way that I have been thinking does not align with who God is." (35:57)

• Encouragement for those feeling “on pause”:

  "What God wants to do in your life is so elaborate, it feels like you are on pause, but in reality, God is just making sure that the blueprint is set out so fully that once it starts rolling, it cannot be stopped." (54:03)

• On laying down what hinders transformation:

  "The glory is not in the staying the same. The glory is in the changing." (85:00)

• Corporate altar call—standing in faith for personal & communal breakthrough:

  "Do not let the enemy convince you to stay where you are. It's a way of thinking... it is something that is keeping God from getting the glory in your life." (84:34)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Cognitive flexibility and mental renewal: 04:50–13:00
• Thought life & spiritual warfare: 13:00–19:15
• Declaring God’s truth aloud: 18:02–20:54
• Personal encounter vs. borrowed faith: 23:05–26:34
• God wants to dwell with you—tabernacle analogy: 46:06–53:18
• Pause, waiting, and God’s elaborate plan: 54:03–56:31
• Experience as “material” for God’s work: 64:23–67:23
• Gold, wood, and divine construction: 68:39–71:36
• Altar call and prayer for transformation: 82:05–99:09
• Prophetic prayer and closing declarations: 99:09–end

Conclusion

“Glory in the Changing” is an invitation to embrace God’s work in seasons of transition, challenge unhelpful thought patterns, and surrender the remnants of pain or shame so God can build something beautiful. Through personal anecdotes, scriptural insights, and prophetic encouragement, Sarah Jakes Roberts makes a compelling case that the greatest move of God in our lives often comes amid change—if we are willing to submit to the process.

Listeners are left with:

• A challenge to engage honestly with their thoughts
• Permission to grieve and let go of old patterns
• Encouragement that God will use their entire story—including its “leftovers”
• A prophetic call to embrace change as the doorway to God’s glory

Notable Quote to Remember:

“The glory is not in the staying the same. The glory is in the changing.” (85:00, Sarah Jakes Roberts)

For further reflection:

• Read Exodus 31 and the surrounding passages for deeper context.
• Take inventory of “residue from affliction” and ask God how it might be used for His glory.
• Consider what changes you’ve been resisting and how surrender might open the way for God’s presence to dwell with you more fully.