By Erin Elizabeth Austin

I have a weird relationship with seashells. Living less than three hours from the beach, I manage to travel to the ocean at least once a year. Even as a little girl, I remember my family loading up the car early in the morning, complete with a cooler packed with our meals for the day, and we would spend our day at the beach, arriving back home just in time for bed. Because of that, I’ve always enjoyed searching the beach for the best and most unique seashells. It’s my version of a treasure hunt. For as long as I can remember, God has used seashells to teach me lessons on topics I struggle to understand without His little object lessons.
​
Imagine my surprise when I recently made my yearly trek to the ocean, and there were no seashells to be found. The only seashells around were jagged, broken things bearing little resemblance to a seashell. Ironically, my oldest nephew asked me before we reached the beach what it would mean if there were no seashells. I jokingly replied, “That wouldn’t happen. It would mean we made a wrong turn and ended up at the lake instead of the ocean.”

When we got to the beach, it was as beautiful as always. However, it was also different. Rather than seashells, there was seaweed as far as the eye could see. Lining the shore was miles of the brown, slimy plant. My family was baffled. None of us could remember a time when we’d ever seen so much seaweed. What could cause it? Thirty-six hours later, we had our answer – Tropical Storm Alberto.

To those who live nowhere near the ocean, a tropical storm sounds horrifying. However, it’s just like any big storm. The only difference is it involves the ocean. That’s when it hit me. Even though the weather was beautiful Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday, the ocean was already feeling the effects of the storm. The waves were bigger. The current was stronger. The ocean was responding to the storm, and it was bringing things to the surface that would have remained where they were without the storm.

Life can be like that. We see a storm coming, and we get frustrated. Who wants a tropical storm interrupting their perfectly planned vacation? I certainly didn’t! However, just like Tropical Storm Alberto, sometimes we need life’s storms to stir up and help get rid of the detritus in our lives. That fear we constantly struggle with, the tendency to worry, or the desire to plan and be in control of every event that happens is like pieces of brown seaweed that need to be uprooted from our lives. As it says in James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
​
God doesn’t allow the storms of life to come our way because He’s mean. God loves us! And just like any parent who wants the best for his child, God sometimes says no so that we may obtain life’s best.

Storms have a purpose. God has promised us that when we love Him, He can and will turn even the worst things that happen to us for our benefit and His glory. Far too often, we’re so busy fussing about the storm and lamenting the fact we have to deal with the wind and rain, that we miss the transformation God wants for our lives. We should always leave the storms of life different from the person we were going into it.

Are you in the middle of a storm? Ask God to use it to transform you into someone who is whole and complete in Him. Don’t fight the stirring of your soul when God challenges you to let something go. Remember, He wants more for you than you can begin to imagine.

The storm will eventually pass. The question is, will you leave it changed?

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Peter 1:6-7       ​

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

There are moments in life when the unexpected happens, when a tragedy or problem comes seemingly out of nowhere like a summer storm, and we wonder how we’ll make it through. These moments are life-changing. It’s impossible to come to such an impasse and not be changed. The question becomes, “Will it make me better, or will it make me bitter?”

Last week, I talked about my recent life-defining moment (See Slaying Dragons). If I’m honest, for almost a month I wrestled with the question of how to respond to my personal tragedy. True, no one died, yet for me, such a huge, unexpected sickness had me questioning what God was doing in my life. For four years everything seemed to indicate that God was slowly healing me. Dealing with a brain infection went against what I believed God was doing. I was expecting good to happen in my life and instead, I got pain and drama.

I couldn’t help but think of Job as I struggled to respond to God in absolute trust. Job went from the height of success to living in desolation, and although he didn’t walk away from God like he was tempted to, he did question what God was doing. It isn’t until Job 40-42 that he finally learns an important truth. Knowing God is in charge is completely different than resting in His authority.   
​
One of the most quoted verses in the Old Testament is Psalm 46:10, which says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Most people think that “be still” means to “be quiet.” However, the original Hebrew root for this phrase means something completely different. What God is actually saying in this verse is “let go.”  

Let go and know that I am God. 

I’m not very good at letting go. I like order and plans. I like knowing what’s going to happen next. So, to come to a place where I can take a step back, throw my hands up in surrender, and say, “God, this is yours,” is incredibly difficult for me to do. Yet it’s one of the most vital things a believer can do, to come to a place in life of absolute surrender where we can honestly say, “God, I need You more than I need to be healed. I need you more than I need this problem to be resolved. I need you more than I need my family and friends. I’m letting go. Help me know that You are God!”

God, in His infinite wisdom, has a plan for each of our lives. No matter what personal tragedy you’re facing, God can reach into the mess and turn it into something glorious. He’s not overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of your problem. He’s not questioning what He can do to fix it. God is present. He is with you, at this very moment, inviting you to surrender everything to Him. Can you hear Him?

It’s time to let go!
​
“Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” ~ Psalm 46:10 (NASB)

© April 25, 2018

[1] https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/718319.William_Ernest_Henley

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

Worship.

I heard God whisper this after I asked Him what to do for the twentieth time.

​Worship Me.

If I’m honest, I didn’t like the answer. You see, I didn’t feel like worshipping God. It turns out that because my organs didn’t work for years, they held onto bacteria and viruses. When they started working, they suddenly realized that all the bad germs needed to leave and began attacking everything at once. Like a broken dam after a flood, my blood showed twelve different bacteria my body was trying to fight at once, two of which had the potential to be fatal. Awful doesn’t come close to describing how I physically felt for five months. I didn’t have the mental clarity to hold a conversation half the time, and yet God wanted me to worship Him.

After telling God I thought He was crazy, He showed me numerous times in Scripture where worship was the key to tearing down strongholds, winning fierce battles, and triumphing over giants. My favorite passage is 2 Chronicles 20 where three different armies decided to come together and fight Judah. Everyone came before God crying out for help, and His answer was, “You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you,” (vs. 17). The next day, the people gathered together and they began to worship God. Even though God said He would deliver them, it wasn’t until the people began to worship that the enemy was defeated.

For the past five months, I’ve saturated myself in worship music. Throughout the day, I keep worship music playing in the background, and an amazing thing has happened through this. When I first started, all I could do was sit in silence and surrender. But more and more, worship has become a source of joy and encouragement. It’s become an anthem for my soul, and I’m starting to see God do things I could never have imagined. What I've learned through this is that worship connects us to God’s dynamic power.

Do you have a giant in your life that seems impossible to overcome? Or maybe you have a dragon that needs to be defeated. If you have a relationship with God, there’s good news. God is the dragon slayer! It’s time to shout your battle cry and worship Him!
​
“As they started to sing praises, the Lord set ambushes against the Ammonites, Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir who had come into Judah. They were defeated.”  ~ 2 Chronicles 20:22 (GW)   

*Note: If you’re looking for a good place to start worshipping God, check out the music group Rend Collective. They have quickly become one of my favorite bands.

​​​Do you have a favorite quote that regularly motivates and encourages you? If so, please share it in the comment section below. You might just see it in a blog post.

by Katy Kauffman

​Do you feel “chained”? I did. You wouldn’t have been able to hear the clanging links as I walked by or seen the chain that was metaphorically wrapped around my heart and mind, but for years, I struggled with chains of my own making. When I realized they were hindering my walk with God, I wanted to be free. I just wasn’t sure how to do it.

Have you been there? Even children of God battle bad habits or detrimental ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Jesus died to set us free from sin’s power in our lives, but we can still walk hindered. We can let fear, anxiety, anger, loneliness, and so forth hinder what God wants to do in our lives and how we relate to Him and other people. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We can break free and stay free. The strategies to do it are in our new book.  

I am excited to announce the recent release of Breaking the Chains: Strategies for Overcoming Spiritual Bondage. Published by my family’s ministry/publishing company, Lighthouse Bible Studies, this compilation features the insights and strategies of 20 contributing authors—all writing about how to break spiritual chains and walk in freedom. Six members of the Broken but Priceless staff and writing team have contributed to the book—Erin Elizabeth Austin, Josie Siler, Lauren Craft, Tessa Emily Hall, Rosemarie Fitzsimmons, and myself—as well as three past guest writers—Ron Gallagher, Cherrilynn Bisbano, and Jeannie Waters.
 
This is what our book is about:

Just like God’s people in the Old Testament longed for freedom from captivity and oppression, God’s children today long to be free from spiritual bondage. Powerful enemies such as fear, anxiety, anger, and loneliness war against our souls, but Christ empowers us to break their chains. Freedom doesn’t have to be a distant dream. It can be our reality.

Does your soul long to be free? Twenty authors have joined forces in this compilation to offer strategies for freedom by sharing personal stories, meaningful Bible verses, and chain-breaking principles. There are even some short stories.

Discover the strategies you need to break free from spiritual bondage and to form your own battle plan for victory. With God’s work and our cooperation, strongholds can crumble, chains can be broken, and freedom can usher in God’s peace and joy.

Our Contributors

The contributing authors come from all walks of life—a pastor, an engineer, an adjunct professor, a CFO, an ESL teacher, editors, novelists, nonfiction authors, ministry leaders, mothers, grandmothers, and one biker chick! (You can guess who that last one is.)

The “Chains” to Break

The first section of the book discusses how to overcome 25 forms of spiritual bondage. Could any of the strategies to overcome these chains help you or someone you know?
 
Fear
Guilt
Anxiety
Hopelessness
Loneliness
 
Enslaving Thoughts
Pride
Unforgiveness
Bad Habits
Legalism
 
Anger
Negative Thinking
Spiritual Depression
Indifference
Complaining
 
Rebellion
Prejudice
Low Self-Image
People Pleasing
Lust
 
Worldliness
Self-Reliance
“That’s Just the Way I Am”
Prolonged Emotional and Mental Pain
Idolatry

Our Short Stories:

I have always believed that fiction can teach truth. The second section of the book includes five short stories that illustrate a particular spiritual chain and the struggle to break free.

Breaking Free and Staying Free:

The final section of the book gives valuable examples of how believers have broken free from bondage and how to stay free.
 
Help us spread the word about Breaking the Chains and its freeing principles by sharing this post. Overcoming spiritual bondage and winning the victory is possible because God makes it possible.

​Order your copy of Breaking the Chains here.

By Josie Siler

“You can do it!” I scream as I bounce up and down in my chair. “Go, Go, Go! Just a little more! Yay! You did it!” As I start cheering out loud I realize I had been holding my breath. I don’t quite know what to do with my hands. They’re shaking a little, so I squeeze them into fists and jam them into the air in victory, trying not to cry.

Who knew a TV show could get me so worked up? Before you laugh at me, let me tell you something. This isn’t just any TV show, this is American Ninja Warrior!

It’s a show that’s encouraging and inspiring people all over the world. Contestants compete one at a time on the mother of all obstacle courses. Each course has several obstacles contestants need to get through. They start out at one of the city qualifiers. If they complete every obstacle and hit the buzzer at the end, they automatically advance to the city finals. However, even if you don’t finish the course, you have a chance of making the city finals. The top thirty from each city go on; after the finishers are counted the rest of the spots are filled with the contestants who made it the furthest the fastest. After city finals, winners go on to national finals in Las Vegas where they will face an incredibly difficult four stage obstacle course. If they complete all four stages, the contestant will win $1,000,000! This course is so difficult that no contestant has ever won the prize money.

What I love most about American Ninja Warrior is the stories of the contestants. Like many other reality TV shows, many of the contestants are highlighted and their stories are shared before their run. Almost every contestant has overcome great obstacles on their journey to be the next American Ninja Warrior.

Most inspiring to me are the people who have overcome great physical challenges and now are fulfilling their dream to be a Ninja Warrior. Just last week I watched Ryan Ripley’s amazing run. Ryan has Cystic Fibrosis. When he was born, his mom was told he wouldn’t make it past five years old. Now he’s competing on one of the most physically demanding courses in the world. Watch his inspirational run below to see how he did!

Are you hooked yet?! There are so many life lessons you can learn from American Ninja Warrior, I want to share a couple that apply to those of us who are chronically ill or care for someone who is ill.

One Warrior’s success does not make the other Warriors failures. Each contestant runs the obstacles alone; it’s the course they are fighting. At this stage, one contestant can finish the course, hit the buzzer, and go on to the next round…and so can the next contestant!

It’s the same way with chronic illness. We live in a competitive world and sometimes we take things too far. Let’s be honest, how many of us have had negative thoughts about our chronically ill friend who just got good news from their doctor? (Please tell me I’m not the only horrible person out there!) We think it’s not fair. Why are they getting good news while we feel miserable? But friends, this shouldn’t be! Their good news does not make us failures. Next time the good news could be ours, and if it is, don’t we want our friends to celebrate with us?

Everyone is trying to win, yet they cheer for their fellow competitors. I love this. This is biblical. Romans 12:15 (ESV) says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” Ninja Warriors have an instant connection with each other because they all want the same thing. They make friends quickly, and when their friend is running the course they’re right there alongside them, cheering them on. They cheer, jump up and down, and scream when their friend hits that buzzer at the end of the course…or they are ready with a hug, a pat on the back, and encouraging words when they fall.

How much more should we rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep? As people who love Jesus we have an instant connection with each other. As people who live with chronic illness, we share a special bond. So let’s be there for each other, really be there, in the good times and in the bad.

We’re all at different places in our journey with chronic illness. We will all have victories and falls as we walk our paths toward diagnosis and maybe, just maybe, healing.

Your success doesn’t make me a failure. My success doesn’t make you a failure. Every victory, no matter how big or small, needs to be celebrated with gusto! So what do you say? Do you want to be a Chronic Illness Ninja Warrior? I do!

What victory can we celebrate with you? Share it in the comments and let’s cheer for each other! If you’re struggling right now, share that too, and let us weep with you. 

By Josie Siler

If you have read the headlines, you are aware of the state of the world in which we live. It seems as if the whole world is at war, or soon will be. The truth is we are all at war. We battle sickness, other people’s misconceptions of us, and the greatest enemy of all, Satan. We even battle ourselves. Some of us feel as if we’ve been fighting for so long, we don’t have the strength to fight one more minute, yet the battle rages.

In the second season of Downton Abbey we find the characters in the midst of the Great War. Some are fighting on the front lines, others struggle to find their place at home in a world that is rapidly changing. The lines between classes are beginning to smudge and for a time there is a sense of equality in that the war affects everyone in one way or another. At one point the characters are living in a state of tension as they know the war will be ending, yet it still rages on. People still get hurt and lives are still lost, even though they know the victory is theirs. As the war comes to an end, the characters – both upstairs and down – struggle to find their place in a world that can never be what it once was.

In so many ways, that’s the reality we are living in today. It’s the reality of the Kingdom of God. You see, the Bible tells us that the Kingdom of God is here, yet it is still to come. Matthew 4:17 (ESV) says, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Jesus was clear that the Kingdom was here on earth.

Just a few short chapters later in Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray. He says, “Pray then like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”

The Kingdom of God is at hand, yet Jesus tells us to pray for God’s Kingdom to come. We are living in a time of biblical tension. God’s Kingdom came when Jesus came to earth as a baby. It will also come, in completion, when Jesus returns in glory.

So what do we do in the meantime? For one, we tell other people the amazing news that God sent His Son Jesus to die on a cross for our sins. When we believe this, ask God to forgive us for the ways we have sinned against Him, and submit our lives to God, we will be saved from hell and live for all eternity with God in His Kingdom. Now that’s good news! Matthew 24:14 says, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” So we preach His Kingdom.

We also admit that we are living in tension. Life will be hard. We will suffer. Even as we look forward to healing, either here on earth or in heaven, we live with the reality of today’s suffering. We know how our story will end. We’ve read the back of the Book. We know that when the war ends we will be victorious, yet we are still in the midst of the battle and we can’t let up – not for a moment.

We need to remember that ultimately “…we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore [we must] take up the whole armor of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Lastly, we live in grace. We extend to ourselves the same grace that God extends to us, and that we extend to others. Our lives aren’t perfect by any means. We will mess up, we will fail, and we will sin. God forgives us when we ask Him to, so why do we so often live in guilt? Why do we live with regrets? Let’s forgive ourselves and accept the grace and forgiveness that God freely gives us. When we do, we will live in the freedom of Christ, experiencing His Kingdom here on earth.

Like the characters on Downton Abbey, and the generations that came before us, we also struggle to find our place in a world that will never be what it once was. However, as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll be okay.

© September 17, 2014

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

Sadness. Despair. Depression. Suicide. Our world lost a comedic legend this week to suicide, and with his death, many questions have been stirred up about depression, mental illness, and suicide. Many have wondered how someone so funny could struggle with depression and commit suicide, and as always, there have been those who claim a person who’s depressed is simply weak. Yet over the years, I’ve learned that even the strongest of Christians are not immune to despair and thoughts of suicide.

I used to think a Christian dealing with depression was an isolated event, like an eclipse, but it’s not true. The fact is more people than not have dealt with depression at least once in their lives. According to the CDC, one out six Americans has a mental illness, which includes depression. So why aren’t we talking about this? Better yet, why aren’t Christians talking about this?

I was only twenty-one-years old when I realized I needed help. I was driving down the interstate when the thought crossed my mind that I could have an “accident” while driving and kill myself and no one would ever know. Thankfully, I made it back to my college campus safe and sound, where I promptly signed-up for counseling. Of all the decisions I’ve ever made in my life, that was the smartest thing I’ve ever done, next to asking Jesus to save me from my sins.

Counseling became the place where I realized I was drowning in my emotions, where I was finally able to admit I hated my life. For the first time, I could say I hated being sick with multiple illnesses, having numerous doctors’ numbers programmed into my phone, taking a ridiculous amount of medicine, and staying home while all my friends went out and had a good time. And it became the place where I finally understood that Jesus cared about more than my sins and many failures. He cared about ME.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t ever struggle with feelings of sadness or discouragement, but with grace, you know where to go when you are faced with despair. And for those dealing with depression or a mental illness, it doesn’t mean you don’t need treatment. Personally, I think God was cheering me on when I signed-up for counseling. Sometimes, it’s necessary, and it doesn’t make you less of a person for needing it. So don’t be ashamed to ask for help. God’s not ashamed of you!

Whatever you’re going through today, know that God doesn’t judge you for being sad or discouraged. Rather than hide from Him, run to Him with your feelings and overwhelming emotions. He’s the only One who can turn your pain and despair into hope and joy.

Thriving is possible for everyone, but you have to be honest with yourself and God. Let His grace take the broken pieces of your life and turn it into a priceless treasure. If you do, you will never be the same, and that is amazing!

“Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bands apart. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! For He has shattered gates of bronze and cut bars of iron asunder.” ~ Psalm 107:13-16

*If you missed the last devotion in the series “Learning to Thrive,” use this link http://www.erinelizabethaustin.com/blog/a-mighty-roar  

© August 13, 2014

By Kathy Sebright

Our family of four was in crisis mode tending to only the most critical of wounds, which happened to be our one-year-old son, Emmett. Everything else was prioritized accordingly and tossed to the back-burner, including our marriage, until everything we piled up back there and forgot all about threatened to pull us apart.

Out of the blue, my husband suggested we go out for what would be the first time since our son Emmett’s first seizure and the harrowing turn of events that followed. It also just happened to be less than two weeks before Emmett’s first skull surgery. While we waited for a table to open up, we wandered into the shoe section of a department store. Totally exciting, I know! I was mindlessly walking through each aisle when the thoughts I had been working so hard to keep out infiltrated my mind. What if he has a seizure on the operating room table while they are cutting him open? What if he doesn’t wake up? What if I never see him alive again? Surrounded by flip flops and other unassuming shoppers, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. “I don’t want him to die,” I blurted out in a voice entirely too loud for Friday night department store shopping. I tried to hide my face from the curious onlookers as the tears began to fall. My husband put his arm around me and I began to cry even harder. “Get me out of here; I don’t want to be here; I have to get out of here,” I gasped through sobs. My husband grabbed my hand and started a half walk/half run towards the nearest exit, while people stared after us. When we got out to the car, I sobbed into my purse until all of the makeup I had worked so hard on streaked into one big messy pile upon my face. “So much for a nice night out,” I thought. I just wanted to go home. I wanted to touch my sweet baby’s head, see him asleep in his crib, and know that he was ok. We gave up on dinner and hightailed it back home. Even though the night hadn’t gone the way we intended, we were brave enough to try.

Nobody tells you the effect that a diagnosis will have on your marriage. Of course, it impacts your daily life, your faith, your schedule, your finances, and you personally as a parent, but your marriage? For me, that was completely unexpected. A diagnosis can drive a deep and immediate wedge right in between you and your spouse – the slow, drifting apart that you’re too stressed to care about at first, but then, stop noticing and it can finish off your marriage altogether. There is a higher divorce rate among couples with special needs children. There are many different theories as to why: the extreme rollercoaster-like ups and downs, disappointment over the way the other has handled the situation, the constant stress and worry about the future, the astronomical cost involved in taking care of your child, and most importantly, disagreeing about medical treatment for your child, which can rip to shreds even the most loving of couples. Take all of that emotional baggage and then add to it the regular, ho-hum, every day demands of a marriage and it is no wonder why we feel ready to break at any moment. This is really, really hard. The life you knew, gone. The marriage you thought you had, on the brink of destruction. 

It’s hard to prioritize your marriage when you are knee-deep in this life. If you have a special needs child – money, schedules, medical needs, and a babysitter that you can feel confident in all became an issue, among other things. It seems ridiculous to be concerned with a date night when there are serious problems you face every day, but what I have realized is that if we are to have any hope of surviving, we need God and we need each other. Our marriage is now as important as ever in the wake of this turmoil. We need to be there for each other and our children. We have to work twice as hard as everybody else to keep this sinking ship that is our life afloat. And although it seems like one more injustice in our lives, it’s important and worthwhile.

You don’t even have to go outside of the house to prioritize your marriage, although it’s nice. We turn off the TV after the kids go to bed and actually talk to one another, and not just rattle off schedules and a brief synopsis of our day in between commercial breaks. Once a week, we do a half hour marriage devotional. It helps us keep God in our marriage, brings up good conversation points, and reminds us that nothing is impossible with Him on our side. We pray together each night as well. We have a date nearly every Friday night. On date night, there is absolutely no medical talk; it is not allowed. We stay in most date nights, but we eat a nice, or not so nice depending on the day we’ve had, dinner after the kids go to bed. We play a game, watch a new movie, have a fire in the backyard, etc. We also try to get out of the house together once a month with just the two of us. It’s not much, but all of that together helps cement the fact that we are in this together. We are intentional about keeping our marriage together, about keeping God in it, and not allowing anymore drifting apart.

I’m here to tell you from experience that your marriage can not only weather the storm but thrive in the storm when you are both committed to making it work. My prayer for you today is that God blesses your marriage/relationship, wherever you are in it.

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” ~ Ecclesiastes 4:12

© July 14, 2014

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

This may come as a shock to you, but I’m stubborn, a bit hard-headed, and when pushed, I can be downright obstinate. Call it the Irish in me, but it’s a family trait, as evidenced by my screaming nine-month-old nephew when he doesn’t get his way. It’s one of those traits my family knows we have, and we daily ask God to help us not let our stubbornness get in the way of being the person God created each of us to be. To be honest, I never thought having the tendency to be stubborn was a good thing, that is until I was diagnosed with lupus.

I’ll never forget the moment my doctor told me I had an autoimmune disease and what that meant for me. At first, I was in denial, but as I began to process what I had been told, I went from grieving the loss of my health to turning downright stubborn. I pictured myself acting like a character in one of my favorite movies, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, who wraps her feet and hands so tightly around the legs of the chair she’s sitting in, her teacher can’t throw her out of the classroom. I refused to believe what my doctor was telling me. Now don’t get me wrong. I understood I had an incurable disease and a severe case at that, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t live. My doctor made it sound like I was doomed to live the remainder of my life wishing I would hurry up and die. Yet my stubbornness awakened a sleeping giant within me, and I determined that no person, and certainly no disease, would take away my right to enjoy life. I may not have been given the life I wanted, but I could decide how I was going to use the time God gave me, whether it was ten years or one hundred.

It took awhile for me to reach that conclusion, but I’m so thankful I did. For a time after the doctor informed me I had lupus, everything in my life seemed to stand still. Everyone I knew continued to live as if nothing happened, but for me, life came to a screeching halt. I still went to school, spent time with family and friends, and said and did the things that were normal, but inside, I was frozen in time. Years later, while taking graduate courses on how to counsel people, I learned this is a normal response. We’ve all heard of the fight or flight response, which is the body’s automatic response to stress. Either a person chooses to stay and respond to the situation (fight), or he chooses to run from the problem (flight). But there’s a third response most people don’t know about – the freeze response. This is actually very common among victims of abuse. When an emergency situation occurs, rather than address the issue or flee from it, the person does nothing. The problem with the freeze response is that unlike the fight or flight response, the body has a hard time regulating itself and returning to normal once the emergency passes. It remains in a heightened state of stress and continues to act as if nothing has changed. 

I can’t help but think a lot of Christians are walking around frozen and have no idea they’re spinning their wheels. Unexpected problems arise we never thought we’d be expected to face – the doctor says the tests’ results aren’t good, a family member suddenly dies, a spouse loses his job, or the bills keep piling up. We immediately have to change gears and fight a battle we never wanted to face. Our lives become consumed with trying to deal with this problem. Yet there comes a point, even if the situation hasn’t been resolved, that we must find a way to move past our problems. Otherwise, we’ll only be surviving when God intended for us to thrive. 

So how do we do that? How do we move on with our lives when our circumstances haven’t changed? How do we move past the unbearable grief of losing a child? How do we enjoy life when we have no money to spend? How do we keep going when the doctor says there is no hope? In a word – God. 

I’m not talking about the picture-perfect God we learned about when we were kids in Sunday School, the One who sat in Heaven viewing our lives from afar. I’m talking about Jesus, the One who came to this earth to walk among us, comfort us in our weakness, and pull us out of our despair.  He gave us promises to cling to and apply to our lives, but few of us ever do. We see His promises as something that applies to everyone but us. And so we sit, frozen by our problems and fears, and we never truly understand what it means to thrive. We make it through each day and wonder if it’s even possible to have the abundant life God promised.

Over the next several weeks, we are going to take a look at what it means to have an abundant life and learn some practical ways we can break out of survival mode and begin to thrive. God has great things planned for your life. It’s time to start living!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” ~ John 10:10

© July 10, 2014

By Erin Elizabeth Austin

Defeat. It’s a word which immediately conjures images of loss and discouragement. We've all experienced it. From losing an anticipated football game to the death of a loved one, we have all gone through various losses over the course of our lives. But what happens when defeat becomes more than a passing event in our lives? What if defeat is something we experience day-in and day-out? What do we do then?

Unfortunately, I’m all too familiar with defeat and its lasting effects. After being molested as a little girl, defeat became my traveling companion for all of life. I knew I was hideous and would never be attractive. When I contemplated trying new things, defeat reminded me I would fail, so I shouldn't even try. My heart knew trying to make new friends was pointless because no one would like me. And when I was diagnosed with lupus at seventeen, my failing health confirmed what I already knew to be true – I would never succeed at anything in life because my body wouldn't let me. Life was hopeless, or at least, my life was hopeless.

Defeat truly is a beast. A person can have the best of everything – health, money, friends, homes, cars – but if he is defeated in his thoughts, he will never accomplish anything in life. Yet if a person takes control of his negative thoughts, there is nothing that will stop him. I have seen this truth time and time again in my own life.

Maybe that’s why I love inspirational movies. They remind me what happens when a person chooses to persevere against all odds. Victory IS possible. Maybe you won’t become famous or a grand champion in a famous sport, but you CAN experience victory in life. It’s why Jesus went to the cross. His death and resurrection defeated sickness, suffering, pain, sadness, defeat, and death. His victory becomes our victory, when we allow it. Will there still be hard times? Absolutely! But going through difficult situations doesn’t mean we are defeated. Defeat happens in our hearts and minds, and the same is true for victory. When we walk in the truth and power of God’s promises, we ARE victorious! When we cry out to God and lean on Him throughout the circumstances of our day, we can accomplish more than we ever thought possible.

Below is my favorite scene from a movie called Facing the Giants. Whether or not you've watched this movie, I encourage you to watch this clip now. God is cheering you on today. He is walking right beside you, shouting for you to keep going, to not quit. Yes, what you’re going through is hard, but don’t quit! You are a champion! And if you've been walking in defeat, choose to walk this day in victory. Let today be a new beginning.

© May 7, 2014