Overcoming Deep Insecurity and Crushing Loss with Karen Patrick

What happens when you grow up in the church but secretly battle a paralyzing lack of assurance in your salvation?

In this episode, Karen Patrick—a pastor's wife of almost 40 years and writer for Women in Apologetics—shares her powerful story of battling lifelong insecurity and how discovering the intellectual side of her faith completely transformed her. We discuss the heavy weight of comparison, the profound impact of studying God's attributes, and the C.S. Lewis analogy that finally set her free. Karen also opens up about a devastating season of acute grief, where she faced her mother's severe injury, the loss of her grandmother, the dismantling of her husband's ministry, and the sudden death of her stepdad all in rapid succession. Discover how a robust biblical worldview and the tangible love of the local church sustained her through her darkest days.

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Intro: Meeting Karen Patrick

02:27 – Discovering apologetics and the "Youth Exodus"

04:51 – Hosting college students to study the evidence

12:49 – A lifelong secret: The struggle for salvation assurance

17:21 – The heavy burden of comparison as a pastor's wife

21:25 – How A.W. Tozer and the attributes of God cured her insecurity

24:26 – C.S. Lewis's "Meditation in a Toolshed" analogy

31:15 – A season of intense trials and sudden grief