Redefine Success

What if the most successful thing we ever do is found in the still, quiet moments of life that only the Lord sees?

Would that be enough?

To be honest, I think my answer to this question could easily change at any given moment of the day. The battle of wrestling for contentment in all seasons isn’t for the faint of heart. A friend and I were recently chatting back and forth about calling and value - how they’re two totally different things, but when properly understood, compliment one another.

As God’s children, we all have a specific calling - a unique role that only we can fulfill in this world. Whether we’re called to open doors for others, breathe hope into hopelessness, bring freedom to those in bondage, speak to the nations, or shepherd the wandering…our callings and how the Lord leads us to walk them out are as unique to us as our DNA. And yet, whether or not we ever fulfill the calling upon our lives has nothing to do with the value we carry.

Value was determined on the cross. When we understand we are valued because of who we are as God’s children, we are able to walk out our calling with great humility, confidence, joy, and peace - all with nothing to prove to anyone…not even ourselves. But if we don’t understand that our true value is rooted in Christ alone, we’ll spend most of our lives chasing worthiness through striving, performance, fear of failure, perfectionism, aggressiveness, comparison, competition and the like as we run the hamster wheel of chasing value through our calling. We’ll work hard, but at the end of the day, we’ll never feel value from our calling. We’ll feel behind, like we’re not doing enough, like we can’t rest….I’m thinking I don’t need to go on. I can sense this is starting to click.

So what does success look like? Is it measurable? Is it indicative of tangible followers and influence?

To me, success looks like following His Voice - whatever He asks and however He leads. It could mean setting down my phone to look one of my children in the eye; it could mean rearranging my schedule to speak life into the heart of a weary friend; it could mean canceling my calendar for the day to rest in His presence; it could mean traveling across the world to unreached nations….when our value is established in Christ, success becomes very simple to achieve (for the record, I don’t really like this word, but another one isn’t coming to mind).

Success in the Kingdom of God is simple surrender to our trustworthy Shepherd. However big or seemingly unimportant the adventure or ask may be.

I’m curious…what would it look like for you to be successful today through the eyes of the Kingdom? I’d love to know!

Many blessings to you,

Hannah

Small Steps Create Big Shifts

A few years ago, my confidence was totally shattered. To the point where there was no evidence that it had ever existed at all. I retreated from pretty much everything outside of our family and going to church on Sundays. It was a breaking I never imagined I would recover from. And yet, it was a breaking I can now look back on and see I desperately needed.

My foundation had cracked. At first I didn’t notice the fracture. Over time, it grew as it deepened. Until one day, I woke up and realized something was majorly off in my life and I needed to make some pretty drastic decisions to come back into wholeness and health with Jesus. I won’t get into the nitty gritty of all that led up to that “a-ha!” moment in my walk with the Lord, because I want to focus on something else. I want to focus on the power of small beginnings when partnered with consistent and intentional small steps forward.

In a season where I didn’t know my value - or if I even held any at all - I started going to the Lord. I’d spend about 10-15 minutes reading the Bible, and each day I started my prayer time with the Lord with a simple question: “Lord, what do You want me to know?” I would journal whatever He impressed upon my heart. Sometimes, we would spend a few short minutes, and other times I would get completely lost in what He was saying to me. The point isn’t the length of time we spent together - the point is that this small step of asking the Lord a question and writing down His response started to heal my heart.

As He answered my question of “Lord, what do You want me to know?”, something inside of me started to shift. I found myself no longer being easily defined by others’ opinions of me - good or bad! They were just…well, opinions! Kind of like coffee is best black, or coffee is best with mostly milk. Neither is wrong or right or really holds any eternal significance. And so began my understanding of others’ opinions of me…they were just information that I got to take to Jesus to see what He thought about it.

That was a next small step that created a big shift within my heart. Taking the words and opinions others had spoken over me to Him. I’ve become what one of my mentors has coined as “a holy tattle-tale.” I process best through writing, so when something comes to my mind that leaves me feeling less than amazing, I’ll whip out my journal and write “Lord, did You hear what so-and-so said to me today? What do You want me to know about that?” You better believe He will reveal SO MUCH through this exchange. It’s my way of coming boldly before Him (kind of like when my kids fling open my door when I’m working because they just have to get something off their chest or they’ll burst!). Oftentimes, Jesus will reveal to me WHY what someone said was painful for my heart, where I was misplacing where my value comes from…and usually, He will lead me to forgive and move on.

Forgiveness is one of my favorite spiritual disciplines, weapons, liberations, freedoms, and way of living a gospel-centric lifestyle. The Lord has done many big shifts in me through moments of forgiving others, surrendering the pain caused by others to Him, and then receiving from Him. I feel like forgiveness is a topic for another day, but I’d love to challenge you with this thought: If forgiveness and letting go is difficult with you, it is quite possible you haven’t experienced the love of God for you in a relational way. And there’s nothing wrong with you if that’s the case - it just means there’s an opportunity for you to get to know Him in a deeper way.

All of that to say…small steps, when done with consistent intentionality in partnership with Jesus can lead to incredibly big shifts in our hearts, our mindsets, our relationships, and our general overall well being. Having Him as our Shepherd is truly the greatest gift there is. Today, I’m a different person than I was a few years ago. I know who I am, but more importantly, I know Whose I am. I am still growing in confidence…and I pray I spend the rest of my life doing so…not settling for the lie that I’ve arrived and have it all figured out. I pray this encourages you in your journey towards fuller freedom and deeper healing.

Many blessings to you,

Hannah

Turn Intention Into Abiding

A lot of us make new year’s resolutions…and well, not a lot of us are still sticking to them at this point of the year. I used to be majorly into goal setting - especially SMART goals. And while there is nothing wrong with a good goal, I think where can get it wrong as Christians is when our goal sounds something like, “This year, I’m going to work on being more patient.” For many years, that was my goal along with having more joy.

But a few years ago, I read a book that changed my entire philosophy on how we can go about producing thing like joy and patience in our lives. It was interesting to see how I had turned “becoming a good Christian” into a measurable goal - one that really is only measurable by standards I create in my own head. Already, this should have been a pretty good warning sign that striving was at work and not grace. But the Lord is truly so gracious to us and led me to see things in a different light.

Scripture says that when we remain and abide in, dwell and linger with the Lord, we will bear much fruit (John 15). It also goes on to say that we cannot bear any fruit apart from partnering with Him. When we look to Galatians 5, we see what fruit in the life of a believer looks like…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This kind of fruit though isn’t fruit we can produce by our own effort or through behavioral modification if we want it to remain healthy, nourishing, and God-honoring.

It’s the kind of fruit that is produced through sowing seeds into our relationship with the Lord. Not just remaining consistent in spiritual disciplines…but truly and intentionally seeking to get to know the Lord as we would an earthly best friend. What would it look like to throw striving out the window - the ideal perfect quiet time out the window - and learn to just BE with the Lord?

Listen, I am a former striving perfectionist. I am ever learning to not paint things in extremes but rather, how to walk the path the Lord has for me. And I think I’ve learned something - intentional discipline is great…putting in those spiritual reps in the spiritual gym are important. They help us steward hard and holy moments with grace, confidence, and humility.

But being spiritually disciplined isn’t everything. It’s part of something greater. It’s intended to foster safety and intimacy within our relationship with the Lord. In our home, we have rules and expectations that keep everyone safe and on the same page. We have things we regularly do as a family that draw us together and foster conversation within our home. What if spiritual disciplines are intended to do the same? Not to be used as a measuring system for how well or poorly we are doing in our walk with the Lord?

If I had the whole Bible memorized, but yet did not understand God’s love for me I think we would all say that I’m missing something. But if my pursuit of time in the Word comes from a heart that yearns to know Creator God more deeply; the heart of my perfect Father more intimately, the ways of Best Friend more thoroughly, and the mind of the greatest Counselor more fully? Suddenly, it’s not just a spiritual discipline to cross off of my to-do list. The same goes with prayer, or scripture memory, or doing good works that point to Christ.

When we seek to spend time with Him just to be with Him, things change. When we intentionally set aside a portion of our day just to hear His voice, our hearts begin to transform. When we look to the Word as our compass for what is true, our mindsets have grounding unlike anything this world has to offer.

When we learn to enjoy the Lord’s presence, and we stop making it a check-list item, it’s impossible for fruit to not grow. And when we find we’ve fallen into making it a check-list item, we can simply ask Him a few intentional, heart-seeking questions and journal His response:

• Lord, is there anything in my hear that’s getting in the way of wanting to spend time with You?

• Lord, is there something about our time together that needs to change? What does that look like?

• Lord, are You generating a new wineskin in this season? What old things are You asking me to let go of? What new things are You inviting me to receive from You?

• Lord, what do You want to say to me about what our time together is like?

If our heart posture is to intentionally abide with Him, we will see change that isn’t measurable by anything other than the power of His Spirit at work within us it overflows from us.

May we all lean in to more fully live from the overflow of His presence.

Many blessings to you,

Hannah