A Saving Faith

Hello everyone, it’s Bailee here. Long time, no see. I haven’t written a blog since the beginning of last semester. Yes, I’ve been busy with course work, but most of all my head and heart were not focused on the Lord. This led to spiritual, physical, and emotional hurt.

This semester, however, I am committed to remain plugged into my life source- Jesus. This past week as we went over the syllabi of each class and began going over class content, I found myself in a place of both overwhelm and excitement. This semester is going to be busy and likely filled to the brim with extracurricular, academic, and social events. Initially, I was excited. I do quite well with a busy schedule that gives me little time to worry. However, I could very easily see myself spending this semester in auto-pilot. It would be easy for me to run myself into the ground and spend every minute of the day possible working on my professional and personal goals this spring.

But the thought of this hurt my heart. I can’t afford to spend another semester- or even one more day- disconnected from my faith. Sure, distraction can take away worries for a little while. That is- until things get quiet again.

Christian influencer Madison Prewett posted something on her story many days back that I still have in my screenshots because I felt like God was speaking directly to me.

I don’t want to just be distracted. I want to be healed. The world’s antidote to fear is to get busy. And there’s definitely truth to that statement. But I believe healing should come before the busy if possible. Or at least simultaneously.

A big mistake I made last semester was choosing to sit in my anxiety and make no effort to flee from its lies. I was busy, but I still wasn’t joyful or at peace because I was refusing to surrender to God. Sure, I would read His word every now and then, but there was no depth to it. I would read a couple verses, feel a twinge of peace, and then forget what I had read the minute anxiety sprung up again.

It was the same cycle over and over again. But I know deep down that God has so much more for me.

Fake Fruit

I never took the time to rest in the Lord or slow down so that I could truly hear His voice.

And I wondered why I couldn’t muster up enough strength to display the fruits of the spirit that a Christian is supposed to possess- love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

But I’m realizing now that my job is to abide in Jesus. If I’m doing this correctly, then the fruit should flow naturally from my habits and lifestyle. Does an apple farmer sit around and focus on the apple that they want to grow? No, they spend their efforts tilling the soil, planting the seeds, and growing the tree. If they do these things well, the result will be fabulous fruit.

The same is true in our spiritual lives. Love, joy, peace, and patience are FRUITS. They are the natural by-product of a life committed to Christ. Bad habits don’t yield good fruit- in agriculture or in our everyday lives.

If how you are spending your time is not producing these things, it might be time to re-evaluate how your spending your time. I know I had to.

And no- you can't outrun your problems. To uproot them, you must spend time working through them. And you can do this with Jesus.

The Lord actually wants to be the foundation of everything we do. But in order for this to be the case in our lives, we must consult Him about everything.

I'm challenging you to go deep with Jesus this week. Truly sit with the Lord. Talk to him, listen, pray, receive. Are you making time every single day to allow the Lord to prune you? Are you slowing down so that you can see God in the little things? Are your motives pure? Or are you doing things for selfish gain?

I want God to have reign over every part of my life- academics, nutrition, fitness, faith, friendships, relationships, family, free-time, etc- so I'm working on bringing Him all my fears, even the ones I wish I didn’t have. As I’m doing this, fearfulness is gradually losing its hold on me.

Challenge:

• When will you spend time with God each day? Whether it be in the morning, evening, middle of the day or all 3, commit to it this week. The way we get to know someone is by spending time with them.

• Work to acknowledge the Lord in an area you typically don't. For me this has practically looked like pausing, praying, and directing my heart towards Him before I workout!

Living for Today

And perhaps right now, you can only commit to a daily surrender because a lifetime of surrender seems too overwhelming.

Jesus knew this. I believe that’s why He gave us scriptures such as:

Matthew 6:34

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

James 4:13-15

Now listen,you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

It seems that Jesus understood that our human brains cannot live in the future while also fully abiding in Him. So, He gives us PERMISSION to focus on the day we are in. How freeing!

Hurry up and Heal

When it comes to healing, it’s easy for me to adopt my achiever mindset again. But when I take time to pause and acknowledge who God is and what He wants from me, I’m humbled by the fact that healing isn’t some final destination. But instead it’s a journey I have to choose every single day.

*Not to say that Jesus can't heal instantly- but even still, to stay healthy, we have to constantly abide in Him.

As some may know, I have struggled with a disordered relationship with food and exercise in the past and some last year. This negative relationship has led me to desire escape. In high school, this looked like quitting track. In college, it’s looked like regretting my major at times.

The enemy wants us to look for a way out of the pressure. But God wants us to pursue maturity over escape. Instead of giving us a way out, perhaps God wants to give us a way through.

Quitting track my freshman year of high school didn’t solve my disordered relationship with food and exercise forever. Instead, my anxiety attacked my academics and extracurricular activities and eventually food and exercise again. Evidently, the escape wasn’t the solution.

Because for the rest of my time on earth, I’ll have to face scary things and things that feel like a lot of pressure.

I remember in high school when I finally began to understand who Jesus really was. Of course, I accepted Jesus into my heart at a young age. I was a Christian, but it was in high school that I finally began to understand what I was saved from.

Jesus saves us from all unrightousness- fear, comparison, addiction, selfishness, unhelpful thought patterns, self reliance, etc.

What is He saving you from today?

I think this is one of the most important questions a Christian can answer. And we must come back to it every day lest we become wrapped up in what so easily entangles us again.

Jesus is teaching me this all over again as a sophomore in college.

Even now (especially now), I need Him.

Truly, a person could be at the best university, have the most money, be in the best relationship, have the best friendships, and live the most extravagant life, but it all means nothing if Jesus isn’t the foundation.

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

Matthew 7:24-27

Don’t buy into the lie that more is better. Jesus is best, and everything else pales in comparison. 

Fear of Freedom

Because I haven’t been living in this freedom, this idea scares me a bit.

The devil tries to convince me that I must hold onto all of my worries so that I can keep everything under control, as well as be able to relate to others.

But this is just like Satan isn’t it?

His goal is to keep me bound, and he often does this by disguising himself as light.

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

2 Corinthians 11:14

As I’m seeking the Lord again daily, He’s slowly but surely delivering me from all my fears. I’m a nutrition major and a psychology minor- the perfect educational path for someone who wants to have a career in helping people live a happy and healthy life. Yet, the devil wants to take what is good and use for evil. And that is what he did last semester.

The only way I have experienced freedom from my fears is by seeking the Lord. He saves me and calms me in a way that is hard to explain.

The truth is that some of my fears are based on feelings, and some are based on facts. The same is true for your fears. Even so, neither feelings nor facts can stop God’s favor.

In my future profession, I can’t promise my clients deliverance from all their fears. But I can point them to the one who can.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

Psalm 34:4

Don’t forget!

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

James 1:23-24

In today’s world, we do a lot of consuming content. With so much out there, it’s easy to be busy consuming and not sot so busy applying.

Challenge: In your quiet time or while your listening to a podcast, stop and write down some of the things that speak to you, You can do this in your notes app on your phone or in a journal. Take time to revisist this list daily. It stuck out to you for a reason. Don’t just to consume content or scripture to consume. Start applying! Maybe even brainstorm some ways you can practically apply it to your life. Here’s one of mine from the Whoa That's Good podcast featuring Ann Voskamp.

• Joy and pain are 2 arteries of the same heart of everyone who is fully alive. We talk about the good and the beautiful from the Lord, but we also talk about the pain and the suffering. This gives people the gift of letting them know that they aren’t alone in their hard story. Weakness and witness are gifts to others.

Prayer:

Lord, this life is inevitably full of ups and downs. We cannot escape this reality. Our pursuit of perfection doesn't protect us. Lord, please constantly remind us that You are in charge of our lives. May our highest priority be to pursue You. Show us how we can better do this amidst our daily lives. May the waves of life slam us into You- the Rock of Ages.

Amen.

- Bailee Chavez