Let’s be real.
Sometimes life doesn’t just get uncomfortable.
Sometimes it gets scary.
People will bully you. People will misunderstand you. People will take your kindness for weakness. You may find yourself in situations you never imagined having to navigate.
Someone may threaten to sue you.
Someone may come after your hard-earned money.
Someone may try to tear down a business you worked years to build.
Someone may take advantage of the fact that they have more money, more influence, more resources, or more connections than you do.
People may slander your name, challenge your position, threaten your job, disrupt your livelihood, or try to destroy your reputation.
And in the most serious situations, you may even find yourself afraid for your safety or your life.
Fear is real.
But so is God.
And sometimes faith is not walking around pretending that you aren’t scared.
Sometimes faith sounds more like:
“God, I am scared. I don’t know what is going to happen. I don’t know how I’m going to fix this. But I trust You to walk with me through it.”
That is faith too.
Everybody Will Have a Job Experience
I’ve come to believe that everybody has some kind of Job experience in this life.
Some are harder than others.
There are seasons when you can do everything you know to do and still watch things fall apart.
You prayed.
You worked hard.
You treated people right.
You tried to make wise decisions.
And still…
Here comes trouble.
That’s the part nobody likes talking about.
Faith does not mean you will never experience adversity.
Sometimes you can’t pray your way around something.
Sometimes you’ve got to pray your way through it.
And there is a difference.
Because walking through something requires a different kind of faith.
The kind that says:
I don’t know how this is ending, but I’m still trusting God.
I don’t understand why this is happening, but I’m still trusting God.
I don’t have the resources they have, but I’m still trusting God.
I’m hurt. I’m worried. I’m tired. I’m frustrated. I’m angry. I’m disappointed. But I am still here.
And sometimes, baby, still being here is the victory.
No Weapon Formed Against You Shall Prosper
Notice something.
The promise isn’t that weapons won’t form.
They will.
The attack may form.
The lawsuit may come.
The rumor may spread.
The opportunity may disappear.
The relationship may end.
The door may close.
The finances may get tight.
People may walk away.
The thing you feared may actually happen.
But your faith has to become bigger than the weapon.
I hold close the biblical promise that no weapon formed against me shall prosper.
That does not mean nothing painful will ever happen to me. It means I refuse to believe that what comes against me automatically gets the final say over my life.
God gets the final say.
So breathe.
Pray.
Get quiet.
Get wise.
Get counsel when you need it.
Take the practical steps you need to take.
But don’t let fear become your decision-maker.
Sometimes Being a Conqueror Looks Like Being Still
We love the image of the warrior.
The fighter.
The person charging into battle.
But what if being more than a conqueror sometimes looks like standing still?
What if your next move isn’t another move?
What if it’s prayer?
Discernment?
Patience?
Restraint?
There are battles where God may give you the strength to fight.
There are battles where He may give you wisdom to negotiate.
There are battles where He may tell you to walk away.
And there are battles where your assignment may simply be:
Be still.
Not because you’re weak.
Because every attack does not deserve your reaction.
Every accusation does not deserve your response.
Every threat does not require panic.
Every person coming against you does not get access to your peace.
Sometimes you’ve got to stop, breathe and pray:
“God, show me what to do next.”
Not what fear wants me to do.
Not what anger wants me to do.
Not what pride wants me to do.
What do YOU want me to do?
But What Happens When the Rescue Isn’t Timely?
Oh, that’s the hard part.
What happens when you pray…
and nothing changes?
When the answer doesn’t come when you thought it would?
When the money doesn’t suddenly appear?
When the situation gets worse before it gets better?
When you’re doing your best to believe but secretly wondering:
“God… where are You?”
Hold on.
You can be disappointed and still believe.
You can cry and still believe.
You can have questions and still believe.
You can need help and still believe.
You can have moments when you’re exhausted from being “strong” and still believe.
Hold your head up.
Your current circumstances are not proof that you have been abandoned.
Sometimes the miracle isn’t immediate rescue.
Sometimes the miracle is the strength God gives you to survive what you thought would break you.
You Don’t Have to Figure Everything Out Today
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5
That Scripture hits differently when life stops making sense.
Because our natural instinct is to figure everything out.
How do I fix this?
How do I protect myself?
What are they going to do next?
What am I going to lose?
What if this doesn’t work?
What if they win?
What if I chose wrong?
And before you know it, your mind has created 47 different disasters and you’re suffering through situations that haven’t even happened yet.
Breathe.
You do not have to know the entire road.
Ask God for wisdom for the next step.
“God, help me discern what is true.”
“Show me what deserves my attention.”
“Show me what I need to document.”
“Show me who I should seek counsel from.”
“Show me when to speak.”
“Show me when to be quiet.”
“Show me when to fight.”
“Show me when to walk away.”
“And God, please don’t let fear make decisions for me.”
That’s wisdom.
Double for Your Trouble
I believe restoration is possible.
I believe God can rebuild what adversity damaged.
I believe He can replace what was lost.
I believe He can restore confidence after humiliation, peace after chaos, provision after financial hardship, purpose after disappointment, and hope after a season that tried its best to beat the hope right out of you.
Your “double” may not always arrive looking exactly like what you lost.
Sometimes restoration looks different.
Sometimes what gets restored is YOU.
Your confidence.
Your peace.
Your courage.
Your voice.
Your boundaries.
Your wisdom.
Your discernment.
Your ability to sleep at night.
Your ability to laugh again.
Your willingness to dream again.
Your capacity to trust again.
And sometimes you come out of the fire realizing:
I thought God was only going to restore what I lost. I didn’t realize He was rebuilding me too.
This Is a Healing Season
If you’ve been living in survival mode, hear me.
You deserve to breathe again.
If you’ve been fighting battles nobody knows about…
If you’ve been protecting your family, your livelihood, your business, your reputation, your future, or simply trying to hold yourself together…
Breathe.
We are entering a season where we are READY.
Ready to be healed.
Ready to be free.
Ready to be comforted.
Ready to be restored.
Ready to be elevated.
Ready to reconcile with peace.
And no, that doesn’t mean every problem magically disappears.
It means the problem no longer gets permission to own your spirit.
Have Faith Anyway
I don’t know what weapon has formed against you.
I don’t know what letter came in the mail.
What phone call you received.
What someone said behind your back.
What threat was made.
What opportunity was taken.
What relationship broke.
What money was lost.
Or what you’re quietly afraid might happen next.
But I know this:
Fear does not get to prophesy your future.
Take wise action.
Seek good counsel.
Protect yourself where necessary.
Keep your receipts.
Pray for discernment.
Don’t make permanent decisions in temporary panic.
And then remember who you are.
You are not powerless simply because you’re uncomfortable.
You are not defeated because you’re afraid.
You are not forgotten because the rescue hasn’t arrived yet.
And you are not finished because somebody decided to come against you.
Sometimes being more than a conqueror isn’t about winning loudly.
Sometimes it’s standing there, tears in your eyes, heart pounding, knees shaking, whispering:
“I still believe.”
So pray.
Breathe.
Believe.
Stand.
Be still when God says be still.
Move when God says move.
Get wisdom.
Trust the process.
And above everything else…
Don’t let adversity convince you that God stopped being God simply because life got hard.
The weapon may form.
But it does not get to write the ending.
This is your healing season.
Your restoring season.
Your peace-reclaiming season.
Your getting-your-life-back season.
And after everything you’ve been through, perhaps your greatest testimony won’t simply be:
“I survived.”
Maybe it will be:
“I went through it, God carried me, and somehow I came out with my faith, my peace, my purpose, and myself still intact.”
And THAT is what more than a conqueror looks like.
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