Maintaining a strong commitment to our Christian faith can be extremely challenging in a world where trends come and go as swiftly as the wind changes direction. We are bombarded daily with shifting cultural norms and constant pressure to conform to the latest fads. C’mon, sister, we’ve all watched the latest viral video and tried that new hairstyle, outfit, or even that diet! How do we remain rooted in our beliefs and unwavering in our faith in an ever-changing world?

Every day distractions tend to rule our priority list but… Where does God fit into your life + where does He rank on that list? Does God bring you joy? Have you taken time to declutter your everyday life so that you can truly make room for Him?

I didn’t grow up in a family where intentional prayers for one another were a regular practice. Praying was considered deeply personal rather than public. While both personal and public forms of prayer hold value, the art of praying for others remained an uncharted territory for me. The fear of judgment and the pressure of saying the "right" words in an encouraging manner kept me from praying out loud in front of others. However, as I grew more spiritually mature in my relationship with Jesus, he taught me that powerful prayers stem from the heart, not using eloquent lofty words but with sincerity and filled with scripture! When I got engaged to my now husband, I wanted to take praying for him seriously.

Have you ever struggled with trust? I know I have. It’s so easy to lose our trust in others while also breaking someone else’s trust in us. We are all quite capable of failing each other, and often, we fail each other daily, just not always in trust-shattering ways. Simply put, the word “trust” means to rely upon the integrity, strength, ability, and surety of a person or thing…no pressure. For this reason, I’m incredibly grateful we serve such a trustworthy God! He has never and will never break our trust. He is completely reliable!

Sister, you may have come to this post with a heavy heart, and a burden of worry on your shoulders. Your soul may feel weary right now, and the future foggy. Amidst your troubles you know what the Bible and fellow Christians say to do… Trust God. However, that may not be so easy for you right now. When you see other Christians seemingly overflowing with faith and hope for tomorrow, you are struggling to understand and accept your current circumstance and perhaps even wondering where God is during this time. Why has He not come through for you? Or how could He possibly even fix the mess piling up around you? Trust does not come so easily at the moment for you

How much time have you spent fretting about what will happen next? Maybe you’ve wondered how your current situation will play out exactly. Or how you'll overcome the anxiety and fear of a particular challenge you're facing. Sis, let me remind you of this one simple yet crucial truth… when we allow fear and anxiety to reign unchecked in our lives, we give the devil a foothold and enable him to rob us of our joy and weaken our faith.

I had been waiting my whole life for this one moment. I had dreamed about what it would be like since I was a little girl. There he was, on one knee, with my family and friends surrounding us. We were celebrating my 30th birthday, and now my engagement! I said yes! It was such an exciting time. Fast forward 353 days, two months and two days before the wedding. It was the night before my bridal shower. We ended things and I was crushed. I can’t say I didn’t see it coming, but I actively fought against it throughout our entire relationship. I thought, “Relationships are tough. Love is a choice. I don’t give up on the people that I love. It’ll get better.”

As we discuss the topic of healing this month on the Worthy of Grace Ministries blog, the first thing that can come to our minds is physical healing. In the Gospel narratives, we read many great stories of Jesus healing ailments of all types. The stories of the blind seeing for the first time, the infirm finally walking after a lifetime of immobility, and many more miraculous accounts touch our hearts as Christians today. The truth is that the Lord continues to perform physical healing in our day.

When the pain of your hurting heart becomes overwhelming, and the light at the end of the tunnel seems impossible to see, it's natural to become overwhelmed and question where to begin your healing journey. I've been there too. I’ve questioned my faith in God's comfort when the pain clouded my mind from thinking clearly, making it hard to see any good. Maybe you've felt this way too. Have you ever wondered and said things to yourself like, “Will I hurt like this forever?

Are you currently in a season of doubt? I think every Christian has gone through a time when they doubted God. The battle between spirit and flesh is constant, and, at times, the challenge to continue believing in things not yet seen can get the best of us. Whatever you are doubting in your Christian walk right now, you are not alone. Here are two encouraging reminders to help you overcome your season of doubt!

In the Bible, we often encounter remarkable heroes of faith, individuals who gazed upon seemingly insurmountable odds and yet, with unwavering trust, believed in God's capacity to perform the extraordinary. Their triumphs continue to serve as a wellspring of inspiration for us all. However, there are moments when the tides of doubt swell and engulf us. It's natural to think, "Well, that's great for them, but my mind doesn't function that way. I desperately need God to hear, respond, and provide answers for me—right now." I've experienced those moments myself. The challenge lies in that, even in ministry, we grapple with our frail human nature. We are sinners, susceptible to wandering and wrongdoing, just like anyone else. 

Doubt seems to take down the best of us. When we find ourselves struggling in our Christian walk, our faith usually takes the first hit. You may be doubling down in your prayer time, reading more in your Bible, blasting those Christian songs day and night, yet amid all your effort to stay encouraged, you still feel the ache and debilitating effects of doubt. You wonder if your current situation will ever turn around, if you can overcome your obstacle, or if there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Waiting patiently for something is not an activity I do well…not even close. Waiting on my email to load, awful! Waiting on my food order, the pits! Waiting on God…the most challenging part of my journey of faith! We live in a hustle-and-grind culture where waiting is seen as lazy or not the best use of our time. However, when we have unanswered prayers and questions about which move to make next, the waiting we must endure seems horrific. If you’ve grown up or around the church, you probably remember being told things like not to worry, take heart, and similar cliche Christian phrases because there is a plan, a reason for this season, and even God is having you wait for something better.

At the end of May, I completed a three-day fast. It was my first ever fast from food. For over a month, I had sensed the Lord pulling on my heart to undertake the spiritual discipline of fasting. But to be honest, I was very intimidated by it. I didn’t know how I would be able to give up food for three days straight. How would I deal with the hunger? Would I have enough energy to go about my daily schedule? What symptoms would I experience? Despite my hesitation, I knew I couldn’t ignore what the Lord wanted to teach me.

Have you ever chosen a word to focus on throughout the year? It's funny how certain words can take on a whole new meaning depending on the season of life we find ourselves in. For me, “perseverance” has become a word of profound significance. Its relevance has never been more apparent, especially considering the whirlwind of challenges that have unfolded in my life during the past few weeks. 

Perseverance is a much-needed virtue in so many different areas of life. However, as crucial as this virtue is in our Christian walk, it’s the first many give up or fail to practice when a situation becomes too challenging or unmanageable. Are you one to throw in the towel when life gets tough, or do you push onward to the finish line? As women of faith, the Bible urges us to trust God wholeheartedly as we stay the course set before us, grow in godly character, and finish our race strong, but the question inevitably arises, how? How do I keep going when it seems futile? 

Are you in a spiritually dry season? Every Christian will face ups and downs in their spiritual life. At times we’ll feel like we’re on top of the mountain, with our faith stronger than ever, experiencing God’s presence like never before, and feeling secure in the journey the Lord has called us to follow.

Do you feel like you're in a spiritually dry season? As followers of Christ, we usually refer to the different stages in our Christian walk as seasons. For example, we might be undergoing a season of waiting at some points in life, while at other times, we might be experiencing a dry season. But regardless of what season we find ourselves in, there’s hope in God’s Word! 

“You can’t control your thoughts, but you can control your actions.” Have you ever heard someone say this before or something similar? I think many people believe that their thoughts have a will of their own and can’t be controlled, and as long as what’s in their head doesn’t come out in the open, then it’s not hurting anyone else. While this line of thinking may be true in some sense— thoughts can be hard to control, and no human can actually read your mind— this isn’t the attitude taken by our Lord concerning our thoughts. 

When you hear the word purity do you cringe a little? Do you immediately think of sexual purity? I know I do but I want to take you down a different path of ideas of what purity in the Bible means. I want to look at 3 ways that purity is essential to our walk with the Lord?