Scripture: Luke 8:25

Mountain moving faith is available.

As a young single mom, I worked two jobs (1 full-time and part-time) and attended college at night, all while having two toddlers. I often, jokingly, say that neither of them slept until they were three years old! I was exhausted most of the time. I battled stress, overwhelm, sexual immorality, depression, chaos, pain, finances, and worry regularly. I was barely treading water. And yet, I was in church every Sunday – clinging to the garment of Jesus, begging Him to set me free from the hard life I was living. 

The story in Luke 8:22-25 reminds me so much of that season of my life. The disciples are in a boat with Jesus when a storm suddenly comes. Out of fear of drowning, they awaken Jesus. In an instant, Jesus rebukes the wind and the rain, and everything is calm. He then turns to them and asks, “Where is your faith?” What a profound question! Think about it. The disciples had been walking with Jesus, seeing firsthand his miracles, and listening to his teaching daily. Yet, when pressed with difficulty, they panicked. 

Momma, my deepest prayer is that you will be positioned for your faith to rise – to believe God for the exceedingly, abundantly more. It will take faith to believe light is coming when darkness is everywhere. It will take faith to pray for healing when the doctors have given up hope or to parent your children for many years alone. It will take faith to press for the promise in year 99 and to get up and fight. Faith involves action based on what God has told you and what He has already done. Faith is confidence in God’s character that He who has promised will do it. 

There are three phases of faith. 

The first phase is what I like to call “basic faith.” It is the entry point. It is salvation. And it is necessary! But God is calling us to move beyond our basic level of faith and into new levels. Enter the next phase of faith – growing faith. 

Growing faith is what I like to refer to when I think of times when I knew the Lord, but I still trembled in my boat. I still was easily shaken by life’s circumstances. I still struggled to run my race with endurance. I had to evaluate the fundamentals of my Christian journey again and again. I returned to sin more often than I wanted. But my growing faith gave me the push I needed to endure when exhausted. It taught me to suffer well. Those difficult seasons of growing in my faith sharpened me in a way nothing else would. You see, nothing grows your faith like a hardship. Romans 5:3-5 tells us, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.” We can celebrate the problems, knowing we are growing fully in our faith. 

And the final phase of faith is mountain-moving faith. Mountain-moving faith is the faith some of our grandmothers and their grandmothers before them had. It is the type of faith that remains immovable despite life’s storms. It’s the faith that will allow you to stand in the storm-riddled boat and demand the storm to stop, as coheir with Christ Jesus. 

An atmosphere of faith positions us for victory. Faith can’t be based on our circumstances or our feelings. Our God will never disappoint us, forsake, or leave us. It is time for this generation of believers to take the reins and lead our children, families, friends, coworkers, and communities well. 

Points to Ponder:

• How will your faith grow when you are pressed on all sides? 
• Who is counting on you to have mountain-moving faith? 
• What example of faith are you reflecting to your children? 

Scripture: James 1:5-8

We serve a God who speaks.

Have you ever wondered if you are in alignment with God’s instruction? Have you wondered if that little voice in your head was God? Have you heard something in your spirit, then second-guessed whether it was God? Or maybe you’ve wondered whether you were in God’s will? Some of us have even cried out to God in our journey with questions like, “Where are you? Do you hear me? Do you even care?”

As you navigate through parenting alone, discerning the voice of God is critical in every part of your journey – finances, parenting, life partner, employment, kids’ schooling, name it. Here are five principles of learning to hear the voice of God in your life:

1. Don’t be double-minded. Your faith cannot be in your job, relationship status, the pastor, or church. It must be in God alone. Those things change. Our God never does. The problem with some of us is that we inadvertently put our trust and hope in something or someone beyond our God. We serve another master. We often don’t mean to, but we do. Then, we expect to be able to sit and hear the voice of God. No. We’ve been listening to the voice of others instead. Your faith must stand in God alone. He knows your heart. He knows the real you. Seek to honor and obey Him, even when you stand against the crowd, culture, or other distractions.
2. Practice obedience. Sometimes, we struggle to hear the voice of God because we’re operating in disobedience. Evaluate your life. Are there sins in your life that you know are not honoring the Lord that you continue to chase after? If we don’t lay down sin, it clouds our view. We must remove any barriers to communication in our lives. The second component of obedience is obeying new instructions by the Holy Spirit. For example, how can we clearly hear God’s instruction for a future mate if we’ve given ourselves sexually to him outside of marriage? We’ve muddied the waters of hearing clearly from the Lord about this future relationship. And the same is true in many other areas. Disobedience breeds chaos, not clarity.
3. Practice Spiritual disciplines. Spiritual disciplines create clarity. If we sacrifice a meal, for example, and spend that time in prayer, willing to lay down comfort and convenience to hear from our Lord, this honors him. It displays our desperation for His presence and instruction. Prayer. Fasting. Praise. Worship. Tithes and offerings. Church attendance. Bible study groups that sharpen us. These are all examples of spiritual disciplines that allow for more clarity in seeking the Lord.
4. Humble yourself. Live a fully surrendered life to the Lord. Live in child-like faith. Do not operate with a religious spirit. Do not think you know everything about this Christian journey despite how long you’ve walked with him. Do not think you have arrived. Do not think you have heard it all. We are all growing in our faith. The ways of God are mysterious. God is always moving in new ways. We must humble ourselves before the Lord and lay down all pride, self-righteousness, arrogance, and piety. It’s a humble spirit that the Lord works with, not a haughty one.
5. Pray for an increase in spiritual gifts. Ask the Lord to increase in you a discerning of spirits and wisdom. This will allow you to know when a lying spirit or a spirit of fear is present. Further, it will allow you to operate in wisdom beyond your years, education, or knowledge. The more we use our spiritual gifts, the more clearly we’ll discern God’s voice

Points to Ponder:

How to practice listening to God:

1. Wait and be still, removing all distractions.
2. Listen.
3. Be specific about the sin that the Lord reveals.
4. Ask forgiveness.
5. Write down what the Lord says.

Scripture: Psalms 42:1-2

No one wants to wander in the wilderness!

As a young girl, I lived in rural Mississippi on a farm and have fond memories of hunting, fishing, and growing our vegetables. My sister and I would spend all day outdoors playing in the wooded area behind our house. We loved being in the wilderness and playing house, school, or whatever else our imagination desired. Hanging out in the wilderness proved to be great, all-day fun, and it left me with such wonderful memories. I loved it and often wished my children could have had that experience. But while reflecting on that time, the Lord reminded me of something. Being in the wilderness isn’t always fun. The wilderness can get dark. You can get lost. It can be lonely and isolating.

Some of you find yourselves in wilderness seasons today. Those are seasons when we wander, certain that we’ve been forgotten. We feel alone and contemplate if the Lord has plans to prosper us and give us a future and hope. But do you know what I’ve learned about wilderness seasons? Those seasons are the perfect times for refining, testing, growing our faith, and strengthening our resolve. Wilderness seasons are hard, yes, but they aren’t always bad. We learn much in the challenging parts of our lives.

Are you facing a difficult season right now? Here’s the good news. The God who got you through the prior hard season is the same God who will get you through this one! Here are some things you can do while you are in this season, though:

1. Lean on the power of Scripture. Take a look at Luke 4:1-13. What did Jesus do every time He was tested? He quoted Scripture. You must be in the Word regularly to know what power you have. The Bible strengthens us to endure battles. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” Most of us don’t even walk in all the power we have received because we do not know what it is! We must plant in the Word of God during testing times. His Word reminds us that He will not leave us or forsake us. He will not let us drown or burn from the refining. He holds us up with His victorious right hand. I don’t know about you, but I need to remember this when I feel like I’m drowning.
2. You must pay attention. Think about the difference between a driver and a passenger in a car. Passengers can be completely disengaged. They can be scrolling through their phone. They don’t have to know what turns to make or what other cars are doing. They don’t have to be safe and wise. However, drivers steer the wheel. They must be keenly aware of their surroundings. They take responsibility for the car. While you are in the wilderness season, what is God trying to teach you? What lessons are all around you? How might the Lord refine you in this hour, such that you will be stronger, once you leave this season? Do not disengage. Be wise. Be aware. Even this trial, pain, and adversity can be used to glorify God.
3. Know this season will end. There will be rest when you come out of the wilderness season, out of this season of testing and hardship. There’s peace. There’s hope. Look at Matthew 4: 11. “Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.” After Jesus’ testing, the angels nursed him back to health. God has not forgotten about you. Take the time to rest in Christ’s eternal peace, knowing He hasn’t left you. One of the fruits of the Spirit is hope. You received hope when you accepted Christ as your Savior. Some of you have experienced a temporary setback. It could’ve come in the form of abuse or divorce or an unwed pregnancy, or death. But for whatever reason, you’ve had a setback. I want to remind you that God has given you every tool you need to survive the setback, and it will end.

Points to Ponder:

• Have you ever asked God why? Why am I here? Why am I wandering? What do you think God is trying to teach you during this time?

Scripture: Esther 4:11

There is future beauty on its way.

When I was 19 years old, pregnant for the 4th time outside of marriage, living on food stamps and welfare in the projects, it didn’t matter to me that somehow, some way, God could use my story. When I was being beaten and sexually assaulted and raising those kids alone, nothing in the middle of my story provided evidence that that chapter of my life would end well. It didn’t occur to me that one day I could encourage and inspire single mothers. I just wanted God to pluck me from my misery.

But God is in the miracle-making business. He is in the restoring business. God is in the redeeming business. That’s what He did in my life and will do in yours. Understand that your God is working things out on your behalf, but there is always an interim period between the beginning (the promise) and the end (its fulfillment). While you are in the middle of difficulty, pain, development, and perhaps even shaky faith, there are some things you need to know:

• Fear must fall. You cannot be bound by fear. Christ paid for you to be free from it. Fear must fall in your heart, prayer life, and home to endure the pain of the war you face today. Do not be shaken or moved by what you see around you. Be strong and courageous. Nothing God has called you to will be easy. Satan will not sit idly by for you to fight for your family, for you to establish a sound financial future for your grandchildren, or for you to take territory for the Kingdom! What fear in your life is holding you back? If God is for you, who can be against you? Whom shall you fear?
• Your voice saves lives. Look at our Scripture today. God called Queen Esther for such a time as this. Her voice saved many lives. But what if she hadn’t stood firm and fought well? You have been called, moms! You have been appointed as heads of your household this season until God sees fit to bring you a husband. You cannot sit silently when the world attempts to alter the truth to fit a narrative. Your children need to know the Word of the Lord. They need to know that as for you and your house, you will serve the Lord. Don’t think the enemy’s lies aren’t coming to your home. Be the mother that stands for the truth of God, the Word of God, and the things of God – for such a time as this.
• Sacrifice will be necessary. Honoring the Lord will require sacrifice. It’s a temporary sacrifice to lay down sin to reap a full reward. At the moment, it can feel impossible to lay down something that doesn’t honor God. It will be a sacrifice to tell the guy no when he asks you for a date, and you haven’t been out in a while. It will be a sacrifice to cut ties from the friend group that doesn’t edify you. It’s a sacrifice to adhere to your spiritual disciplines when you are a tired single momma. It is a sacrifice to read the Word on a busy day or set yourself apart when culture is pressing you to raise your children differently. But the sacrifice will be worth it! Be willing to sacrifice for your faith.
• Be ready. If you want to be victorious in your season, it’s time to suit up for the fight. It’s time to put on the full armor of God in Ephesians 6:12-18. You need to know your authority in Christ Jesus, what is true about the situation, and the strategies necessary for this war. You must be well-equipped in this fight through our full armor. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you. Pray. Pray without ceasing. Pray with the power of the Holy Spirit. Operate with the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. You are a for-such-a-time-as-this mom, and you will make it through.

Points to Ponder:

• What is your for-such-a-time-as-this moment?
• What has God called your hands to?
• Whose life can you change?
• How can you step into your calling?
• What are you anointed to do? And what is holding you back?

Scripture: Isaiah 45:5-7

God will sustain you.

To the mom who feels like you are drowning amidst the battle;

To the mom who feels like she can’t go on another second in this season;

To the mom who feels like you are suffocating with the weight of the world;

Let me remind you, the Lord sees you. God is on your side, and because He is with you, you cannot fail.

It may feel like the pressure might crush you but cast your burdens onto the Lord because He cares for you. Understand that the same God who has rescued and sustained you in past seasons is the same God that will rescue and sustain you in your current season. He is a redeemer, restorer, provider, protector, deliverer, and so much more. He has already moved mightily in your life. Sit back and count the ways. He will do it again. You only must trust Him. Hold onto your faith during the battle, and He will strengthen you. Here are some things you need to know about the strength He is developing in you while you wait:

• Strength is about pushing through when everything inside you says quit. Strength is fighting when it seems there is nothing to fight for, when it seems impossible, and when it seems you are the only one or when you want to quit. Strength is about allowing the power of God to rise inside of you so that you don’tquit. For every small victory, when you fight through difficult moments, He is strengthening your resolve and faith.
• Strength is developed through hardship. None of us want to hear that hardships grow our strength. We would rather experience strength without challenges. However, true strength rises when we face obstacles. Strength is not developed on the mountaintop when everything your feet touch is blessed, but in the valley when all you have are promises of God. You will go through some things that will build your character, strengthen your integrity, and test your faith. Strength is birthed out of desperation. God is developing your strength deep in the depths of your soul. The hardship will be worth it.
• The strength you possess is about who possesses you. You can’t fight the battle you are facing with your strength. You will fail. The good news is it is not by our strength or might but by His spirit. Strength is not about legalism, traditionalism, or a set of rules that none of us can fully follow. It’s about having an encounter with our King. Strength understands the God we belong to, who set the sun in the sky, the stars in the night, and commands the sea with the sounds of His voice, and speaks peace to the storm. That same almighty God has given you strength through His spirit.
• Strength doesn’t always look like we think it should. Strength will come in unpredictable ways and at unexpected times. Maybe you have been praying about a situation for days, weeks, or years and often become weary. But suddenly, in a day, in a moment, God shows up on the scene and does the miraculous. Some of you today need to know that God sees you and that He will work things out for your good, in His timing, His way.

Points to Ponder:

• Strength is about obeying what God has called you to do. How does obedience build strength?
• Where does your strength come from currently? Do you draw strength from the support of other people, or do you rely on the Lord?