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If we go through life without any sort of pushback, any sort of tension, storms, or struggles, our faith will not grow stronger. Rather, it will collapse under the pressure down the road because it hasn’t been conditioned to handle the hard parts of life. The difficult moments we face, the heartbreaking circumstances that come our way, those are the things that the Lord uses to mature us, to grow us, and to develop us so that we can learn to remain standing through it all.
Read MoreNot too long ago, one of the health and fitness accounts I follow on Instagram started posting a lot of content aligning with the phrase “Choose Your Hard.” The posts centered around this theme that no matter which path you take when it comes to your health, fitness, and wellness, it’s going to be hard. The more I thought about that phrase, “Choose your hard,” the more I realized how much it applies to every single area of our lives, not just health and fitness.
Read MoreStress is an inevitable part of life. When we find ourselves in stressful situations, particularly like the ones we’re experiencing now across our nation, God wants us to come to the place where we learn to handle stress in a healthy way. Of all the ways we can deal with stress, both good and bad, I believe the best way to handle stress is to practice the right disciplines
Read MoreIn the midst of my bad day, my best friend Melanie texted me to see how I was doing. And instead of giving her the normal answer of “Oh I’m doing pretty good!” I unloaded on her. I told her everything. And as I talked about all the stuff on my mind, I also explained that I was blasting worship music and trying to remember every Bible verse about trusting God and finding peace in Him and praying when my heart is heavy. In other words, I was doing whatever I knew to do to try to make things better as quickly as possible. But in true Melanie fashion, she responded with a mix of empathy and truth. And her reminder is one that I won’t soon forget. She said, " I know it’s so hard, but it’s okay that it’s not just a quick fix of remember what’s true and then voila it’s all good again!”
Read MoreHeartbreak is quite possibly the worst feeling you can feel on this earth. Heartbreak over loss. Heartbreak over disappointment. Heartbreak over rejection. Heartbreak over abandonment. Heartbreak over unmet expectations. There are so many reasons for which our hearts can break.
Read MoreIn the midst of all of that, my best friend Melanie texted me to see how I was doing. And instead of giving her the normal answer of “Oh I’m doing pretty good!” I unloaded on her. I told her everything. And as I talked about all the stuff on my mind, I also explained that I was blasting worship music and trying to remember every Bible verse about trusting God and finding peace in Him and praying when my heart is heavy. In other words, I was doing whatever I knew to do to try to make things better as quickly as possible. But in true Melanie fashion, she responded with a mix of empathy and truth. And her reminder is one that I won’t soon forget. She said, " I know it’s so hard, but it’s okay that it’s not just a quick fix of remember what’s true and then voila it’s all good again!”
Read MoreStress is an inevitable part of life. When we find ourselves in stressful situations, particularly like the ones we’re experiencing now across our nation, God wants us to come to the place where we learn to handle stress in a healthy way. Of all the ways we can deal with stress, both good and bad, I believe the best way to handle stress is to practice the right disciplines
Read MoreWhen I first heard about this study of the trees in Biosphere 2, I couldn’t help but smile at the metaphor it creates in relation to our lives as followers of Jesus. If we go through life without any sort of pushback, any sort of tension, storms, or struggles, our faith will not grow stronger. Rather, it will collapse under the pressure down the road because it hasn’t been conditioned to handle the hard parts of life. The difficult moments we face, the heartbreaking circumstances that come our way, those are the things that the Lord uses to mature us, to grow us, and to develop us so that we can learn to remain standing through it all.
Read MoreThis morning I was reminded of a conversation I had with my dad last year where he gave me some great advice. And I thought his advice was worth sharing with you. He and I were talking about my writing and these daily devotions, and how a lot of my content is geared towards helping people navigate the tough and unexpected circumstances in life. As we were talking, my dad said, "Kristen, I think it's great that you're writing to teach people how to stay close to God in the valley, but it's just as important that we stay close to Him when we're on the mountaintop."
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