Faith Meets Academia
Welcome to Faith Meets Academia!
Struggling to connect your faith with everyday life, career ambitions, or academic pursuits? Hosted by a university professor and ordained minister, Dr. Adrian Reynolds, this podcast will help you translate your faith-based values into personal growth, professional development, and academic success. Faith Meets Academia emphasizes that faith and work can forge a mutually sustaining partnership.
Each episode breaks down complex academic concepts into everyday language and connects them with timeless spiritual principles for transformational learning and development. By the end of each episode, you will be equipped with practical tools to set the tone for a purposeful, productive week.
Join the journey today!
Your host, Adrian Reynolds (Ph.D.), is an ordained minister, learning coach, and assistant professor of medical education at an R1 university. He is on a mission to merge educational innovation with biblical wisdom. Dr. Reynolds brings over two decades of teaching experience across the educational continuum: from working with underserved, high school students as a state-certified instructor of Spanish to coaching students in graduate and professional degree programs in evidence-based teaching skills and the science of learning.
Dr. Reynolds’ work is located within the rapidly growing field of applied learning sciences and is driven by both socio-cognitive and sociocultural approaches to learning and teaching. His preventive model of academic coaching has been published in journals such as Medical Teacher and Clinical Teacher. He has held over 1,000 (one-on-one) academic coaching sessions with medical students, residents, fellows, and pre-med students. Dr. Reynolds has developed numerous peer-teaching programs for medical students in addition to courses in the science of learning for residents, pre-med and high school students.
Dr. Reynolds has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 10 years both nationally and internationally. He has long been recognized to seamlessly intertwine academic concepts with biblical principles: His approach to preaching and teaching the word of God is centered around growth mindset (Philippians 4:13), transformational learning (Romans 12:2), and reflective, mindful practice (Philippians 4:8, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:97).
As a missionary ambassador, Dr. Reynolds has embarked on transformative journeys that bridge cultures and continents, bringing tangible support and hope to those in need. Most recently, in the fall of 2023, his dedication to humanitarian causes led him to Mozambique: From the bustling streets of Maputo to the serene countryside of Inharrime, through the unwavering support and sponsorship from faith-based leaders and communities, Dr. Reynolds has played a pivotal role in the allocation of humanitarian aid and educational resources, providing essential support to elevate community wellbeing.
Earlier that year, he engaged in a mission focused on cultural exchange and relationship-building in the Maputo province to better understand and address local challenges. Through these missions, Dr. Reynolds exemplifies the true essence of a missionary ambassador, integrating service, education, and faith into impactful action.
Faith Meets Academia
Episode 31 - From Inspiration to Action: How to Shift Your Focus and Reframe Your Story
In this episode, Dr. A breaks down how to transform inspiring quotes like “My God is bigger than my problems” into real, actionable steps for everyday life. He introduces practical strategies such as cognitive reappraisal and cognitive shifting, using the cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) method to help you manage stress, reshape your thoughts, and stay focused on your faith during tough times. Learn how to apply these techniques to align your emotions and behaviors with your beliefs, whether you're facing financial challenges or other stressors. After listening, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or a comment on Spotify to share how these strategies worked for you.
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DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely my own and do not reflect or represent the positions, policies, or opinions of my employer, any organization or academic institution with which I am affiliated. This podcast is a personal initiative, and is not connected to my official/ formal duties and responsibilities as a university professor.
Hello, hello, welcome. Welcome back to Faith Meets Academia. I'm so excited that you have chosen to spend this time with me and, after you have listened to this episode, you certainly will leave with some practical tools that you can use immediately to help you shift your focus and reframe your story right. We are trying to take you in this episode from inspiration to action. How can we reframe our stories, our narratives and shift our focus? Yes, this is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it, and for me, it's always a time of rejoicing, recording these episodes as I'm rejoicing in the word, with you, bringing this content to you, as I share my thoughts with you from one week to the next. I am also encouraged, I am uplifted, I am inspired to improve and to transform my life to higher heights.
Dr. A.:So, yes, I am doing this for you, but it's also for me. Remember it's stated clearly in the book of Proverbs, proverbs 11.25, the generous soul will be made rich and he who waters will also be watered himself. I strongly believe that any type of discourse or sermon or podcast episode lesson that I deliver should first minister to me, and if I can do that, then that puts me in a better position to be able to effectively minister to you. Let me ask you this question how often have you heard people say Let me ask you this question how often have you heard people say focus on the solution, not the problem.
Dr. A.:Or how about this one, my God, is bigger than all my problems? You've probably heard that one too right. Then there's another quote that expands on that one and it says don't tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is. Quotes, declarations, statements like these often produce a resounding amen from the congregation. Right, but here's the question After the band stops playing or the choir stops singing, and after the preaching has ended and you leave the walls of that place of worship, how exactly do you put into practice any of these inspirational, uplifting, encouraging, motivating quotes? How do you tell your problems how big your God is? What does that actually sound like? How does it feel to be able to do that?
Dr. A.:These inspirational quotes should go beyond just words. I believe they should inspire real-life transformation. Paul says in Romans 12, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. That means to fully appreciate and understand and live out God's will, and live out God's will. Transformation must take place.
Dr. A.:Yes, these inspirational quotes must go beyond the emotional reactions they evoke, whenever or wherever we hear them. Yeah, they do have the power to make us feel motivated and encouraged and uplifted. But we have to ask, one has to wonder what practical strategies can we use to turn these statements, to turn these quotes, into real changes in our behaviors or habits? And that's what we're going to delve into today.
Dr. A.:Have you ever heard of the CBT triangle? Have you ever heard of the CBT triangle? Cbt meaning cognitive behavioral therapy, and this is the notion or idea that our thoughts, emotions and behaviors are all intertwined, interconnected, right? So, in simple terms, what you think influences or impacts how you feel, and how you feel drives or shapes what you do. So, for example, when you say my God is bigger than all my problems, that's a way of reshaping your thoughts.
Dr. A.:Hold up, hold up, wait a minute, wait a minute, time out. When you go home to a pile of unpaid bills, how does my God is bigger than all my problems come into play? Yeah, when you go home to that pile of unpaid bills. Does that make you feel overwhelmed and anxious for the next three, four hours, and then hours might turn into days, so that your ability to focus on doing other important tasks or activities is impaired Important activities like maybe doing homework with your kids or being engaged in their after-school extracurricular activities, right? So do you find your mind wondering about how you're going to pay the bills or how you're going to make the next car payment or next month's mortgage, while you're sitting there at little Johnny's football game or Sally's music recital? How do we tap into our faith during some of life's most challenging experiences?
Dr. A.:After allowing ourselves to sit with the discomfort of the experience see episodes 22, 23, and 24, a three-part series on getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, right? So, after allowing yourself to feel whatever emotion you feel, even if it's one of sadness, you might have to shed a tear. Shed a tear if you feel it coming. No, no, no, don't fight it back. You were created to do that. So, after sitting with that discomfort for a moment, what do you do next so that a moment doesn't turn into a month of worry and stress and anxiety?
Dr. A.:You could turn to your favorite Bible story or maybe read some scriptures that inspire you. You might try some mindfulness or meditation exercise, like the one from episode 14. Yeah, remember that one. If you haven't listened to that one, you should check it out. Breathe in, stress out, mindful journey through breath counting. Or you might pull out episode 15, see it to achieve it Guided visualization for personal success. Or perhaps you might just listen to your favorite music or a sermon to lift your spirits, to lift your mood. You might even pull up a TED talk that speaks to your current situation. Before you go to a TED talk, I'm sure you'll probably be able to find an episode from Faith Me to Academia that could help as well.
Dr. A.:So in this scenario, you see, the cognitive behavioral therapy triangle right highlights the interconnection between your thoughts, emotions and behaviors. So your thoughts like God is bigger than my problems can help shift your emotional response. But let's be honest, the anxiety might still creep in when the stressors of this life those unpaid bills, those health challenges, grief, the stressors of this life stare right back at you. The stresses of this life stare right back at you and that anxiety could make it really hard to stay focused. But by shifting the behavior we're shifting the focus. So, yes, in that moment of doubt and fear and anxiety, reading that scripture, practicing mindfulness or meditation, you can positively impact your emotions, which then leads to more productive actions.
Dr. A.:Changing the way you interpret a situation is what the psychologists call cognitive reappraisal. You can use cognitive reappraisal to reframe the narrative, to reframe your story. It was Dr Dwayne Dyer, world-renowned motivational speaker in the realm of personal development and spirituality, who once said change the way you look at things and the things you look at. Change. Let me say that again Change the way you look at things and the things you look at. Change.
Dr. A.:In addition to cognitive reappraisal, there's another method that I know you'll find tremendously helpful, and it's called cognitive shifting. Redirect your focus to thoughts that are more uplifting, positive, hopeful, inspirational, you name it. It could be a walk outside. Of course it could be and should be praying. We always want to start out with that right, taking deep breaths.
Dr. A.:Cognitive shifting is this mental strategy or technique that involves deliberately changing your focus or perspective in response to a situation, a thought or an emotion, and it could really help you move from negative or unproductive thoughts to more positive thoughts. So, if you're feeling stressed about a situation, instead of staying stuck in that place of stress. With cognitive shifting you can intentionally. With cognitive shifting, you can intentionally redirect your attention to more constructive, calming thoughts, activities or solutions. And as I mentioned the word solution, I wouldn't want you to think that this is about running away from addressing the problem.
Dr. A.:But guess what? Let's keep it real when you're confronted with a problem or challenge, sometimes you just sort of need some respite, you need a little break before jumping to solutions. Before we get to the solution, we need to make sure that we can get there with a clear mind. But to develop solutions with a clearer vision and mind, there are some steps that we have to take to bring about that clarity, get the connection. So these steps might involve focusing on gratitude, gratitude, journaling right the focus, so that you can approach resolving the situation in a more productive and meaningful way, rather than trying to address it while you are upset, while you're stressed, while you're angry.
Dr. A.:Yeah, so you could shift the focus to gratitude, recall positive memories, happier times, better days, and this is a powerful way to regulate your own mood, your own emotions, your own behavior. You see, friends, there comes a point in life when you have to start living out these quotes, these declarations that make you jump up and say hallelujah. So let me share a few personal experiences with you where I've used techniques like cognitive reappraisal and cognitive shifting to refocus my thoughts.
Dr. A.:I recently had a surgical procedure and it was my first time under general anesthesia. You know that medicine they give you where you're out, like a light in a couple of minutes and in one moment you're in that operating room and the next moment you're in the recovery room. Now, naturally, you know there were moments of doubt and fear, but I made every effort to not let those moments turn into days of worry and despondence Leading up to the surgery. On my way into that operating room and out into the recovery room, I somehow found a way to reframe the experience and shift my perspective, and every time a negative thought would pop up in my head. I would tell myself hey, I know I'm going to have a testimony once this is all done, after this test, I will have a testimony. I know I'm going to get a sermon or two or three out of this experience.
Dr. A.:I kept repeating Jeremiah 17: 14. Heal me, o Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall be saved, for thou art my praise. Oh yes, I ministered to myself with Psalm 118: 17. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. Oh yeah, I wasn't prepared for anything else but life, and life more abundantly.
Dr. A.:I wasn't just quoting these scriptures, but I also use something else. I'm trying to practice what I teach here. I use guided visualization. Yep, that's episode 15. I used guided visualization to see myself sharing my testimony, to see myself recording this podcast episode that I'm recording right now. Recording right now. I saw myself doing this after the surgery. These thoughts replaced all those what if? Thoughts that were running through my mind. Well, what if this doesn't go well? What if that happened? What if this happened? Well, what if the surgery doesn't go well? What if the outcome isn't favorable? Yes, seeing myself strong through guided visualization replaced feelings of doubt and fear with confidence and resilience.
Dr. A.:Let me offer you a scripture that supports cognitive shifting. It can be found in Philippians 4.8, one of my all-time favorites. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.
Dr. A.:Now back to the surgery experience just for a minute. I imagine the physician who performed the surgery. He probably had to do some cognitive shifting himself, because after the surgery, what he told me was, when he began the procedure seizure he saw something totally unexpected, something he had never seen before in his entire career. What he had gone in to remove wasn't positioned in the way that he anticipated, based on the CT scan and this is a guy that has been in medicine for decades, I mean thankfully, he didn't throw his hands up in the air and was like hey, never seen this before, there's nothing I could do about it On the spot. He had to tap into his creativity and come up with a solution so that the procedure could have been successfully performed.
Dr. A.:And now here I am today bringing you another episode. Ain't God good? Yes, indeed, god is good all the time. All the time. God is good To God. Be the glory for all the great things he has done. But hold on.
Dr. A.:It didn't stop there. My wife and I were headed to a follow-up appointment with a surgeon and yep, hey, listen. I did say. This podcast is about transparency and let me say to all you preachers you know ministers out there, if you want your message, your sermon, to have a real impact, then the congregation needs to hear your story, your lived experiences. I believe your preaching is in vain if you can't be transparent enough to share your testimony. I really wouldn't want the congregation to be looking at me saying, well, what have you been through? I mean, you preach about praising your way through the fire. Praise him when you're up, praise him when you're down. Well, what do your down moments look like? And how do you use that praise to pull you out of them? So back to the point.
Dr. A.:Yeah, as we were on our way to that follow-up appointment, I found myself worrying about the biopsy results. Then my wife suggested that we listen to a sermon by Sarah Jakes Roberts God bless her and the sermon is titled Shift the Weight. You can look it up online. I'm not going to get into the specifics of what the sermon covers. You can look it up Shift the weight. For the entire car ride it was about an hour and 15 minutes or so we focused on that message and it completely shifted my attention from worrying about potentially bad news to anticipating a positive outcome. Yes, one way to shift the focus in that instance was I could have rehearsed a thousand scriptures in my mind. I could have rehearsed a number of scriptures in my mind to refocus my thoughts. That's just one way.
Dr. A.:But my wife came up with this idea of listening to the sermon, which is also an effective cognitive shifting method. I must admit, initially, when she suggested that, I wanted to respond by saying I think I might rather listen to some praise and worship music, some of our church songs or maybe some contemporary Christian music. But I didn't. I said, okay, we'll listen to the sermon. And it really worked. You see, it's one thing to say my God is bigger than my problems, but what are you doing to magnify God when those problems show up? For me, listening to that sermon, it was a simple move but powerful shift. A simple move but powerful shift I mean that could be an episode in itself. All I did was listen to the sermon and engage with the insights the speaker was sharing. It inspired me, it motivated me, it brought new perspectives to my attention. No-transcript, so I might as well just shift the focus.
Dr. A.:There's another example of cognitive shifting I experienced recently that I want to share with you. You see, I want to share some real life experiences with you so that you have some practical tools or models that will inspire real change. I was blessed to witness our son using cognitive shifting. He might not even know that's what it's called, but he was on it. He was on it the day before his college placement exam and he's 14, by the way. The day before his exam, instead of stressing about it, he was marching around singing, watching church videos, just praising God, as if he had already passed the test. I mean, I'm his dad, but I'm also a learning coach. My area of work is academic coaching. And so I said to him hey, the day before the exam, it's your chill day, right, you know? I said, you've put in the work, you've done the practice tests. Based on those results, you can confidently say that you're ready for this exam. So now it's your time to just relax. Take the day off if you will.
Dr. A.:And he took that advice and found his own way to shift his focus from the test itself, which, for many students I've seen this, I've seen this they spend the day before the test, the night before the test, studying, staying up late studying. Oh, let me get one last study session in. Let me just do a few more practice problems Like no, no, no, no, no. You definitely don't want to do that the day before the exam or the night before the exam. You don't want to be up studying for hours and hours and hours. His focus illustrating that he really trusted, that he had confidence in the preparation that he had already done and in God's plan for the outcome. And you know what he went into that exam confidently and boldly, even on our way to the testing center. Even on our way to the testing center, he was singing in praise to God. After the test he was still in praise mode I mean, he usually is, but it was really turnt up, as they say, and you know what he did pass that test. And you know what he did pass that test. And at 14 years old, he will start taking college level courses.
Dr. A.:You know, as a dad, I can't explain to you the feeling of seeing my child tap into his faith as a strategy for academic success. This is a classic representation of faith meets academia. Because, let me tell you, test-taking anxiety is real. I struggled with that when I was in high school and I wish I had a podcast like Faith Meets Academia to get me through that struggle. But you know what that struggle wasn't in vain, because now I can speak to you from a place of experience. I can identify with and relate to the test-taking anxiety that you or someone you know might be experiencing and, with the word of God and evidence-based scientific research combined, tapping into my faith, I am able to bring to you, through these podcast episodes, practical tools for change, for real life transformation. Hey, so there's one final method of cognitive shifting that we really don't talk enough about, and I want to mention it here. How about this? Have you ever tried encouraging someone else, or comforting them, or praying for them, extending an act of kindness to them when you yourself are going through a storm, when you yourself are in your valley of despair, when you yourself are climbing up the rough side of the mountain? Have you ever tried that? It works? It works because the word of God says it does.
Dr. A.:Read the book of Job and, as you read it, pay close attention to the 42nd chapter of Job, particularly the 10th verse. Here's what it says. Here's what it says. I'm going to give you some time. Find it, find it, and I want you to read it with me. This is good, this is good. This is good. It says and the Lord, hallelujah. And the Lord restored Job's losses. Reading from the New King James Version and the Lord restored Job's losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed, the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Dr. A.:Can you imagine that, shifting the focus from your own situation, your own circumstance, to pray for someone else, to reach out to someone else, to call a friend and say, hey, I'm just checking on you to see how you're doing, and your friend might even say I'm concerned about you, how are you doing? It's a total game changer, friends. Total game changer. I've tried it and I know it works. As we wrap up this episode, let me say this In order for statements like my God is bigger than all my problems, focus on the solution, not the problem. In order for statements like those to inspire real change let's not forget there has to be some work attached to it, right? We know what James 2.26 says, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, so there has to be some work attached. What's the work In this case? The work is in the form of cognitive reappraisal and cognitive shifting. That's how we can take these powerful statements and turn them into real-life change.
Dr. A.:So think about one practical step that you can take this week to reshape your perspective and shift your focus when life's challenges arise. What strategies work for you in addition to prayer? Have you tried cognitive shifting? Have you tried cognitive reappraisal yet? If not, I want to challenge you to test it out this week. If not, I want to challenge you to test it out this week. When those negative thoughts pop up, see how you can redirect to them and notice the difference that it makes. And if today's episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it.
Dr. A.:After you give cognitive reappraisal or cognitive shifting a try, head over to Apple Podcasts, leave a review or drop a comment on Spotify. They have a comment section for each episode. You could leave your feedback there. Let me know how it worked for you and what shifts you notice in your behavior, in your mood, in your habits. Your feedback will help others find Faith Meets Academia and take advantage of all these resources that I've been offering over the past seven months. Let's keep the conversation going. Hey, thanks for tuning in today. Stay focused, stay faithful and keep walking in your purpose. You now have some tools to make real change in your life. Start using them today. Numbers 6, 24-26 the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.