The Still Small Voice

Sharing my journey navigating faith, motherhood, friendships, and singleness

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    Anchored

    The Freedom of Becoming Who God Made Us to Be

    So often, as humans, we tend to be blown about by every wind.

    We live in a world that reminds us daily that we must achieve more—more success, more popularity, more status, more influence.

    We are inundated with images of curated perfection and often quietly wonder if we will ever measure up.

    The pressure to be “enough” by the world’s standards can feel crushing—even paralyzing. And in response, many of us have become chameleons or people-pleasers. We desperately want love and acceptance. We want to belong. We want to be enough.

    And in trying to meet these expectations, we often reshape ourselves to match the world’s definition of worth. We overfunction, over-apologize, over-accommodate.

    We try to earn worldly love by remaking ourselves in its image—and in doing so, we often lose ourselves.

    The truth is, this posture is not only spiritually precarious—it is exhausting.

    A verse in Ephesians speaks directly to this:

    “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind…” — Ephesians 4:14

    I pray we can read that and respond with a resounding yes and amen.

    Because our God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). And the peace we long for—the deep, soul-level love we crave—will never be found in the world’s version of validation. It will come from being anchored in Jesus, in truth, and in the clarity of who we truly are.

    “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17

    The presence of God is not confusing or constraining. It frees us. It steadies us. It speaks in stillness and confirms in peace.

    And it is a peace that transcends all human understanding (Philippians 4:7), an all-pervasive, radical peace that can exist even in the midst of circumstances that make zero sense to the world.

    As C.S. Lewis once said,

    “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become—because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be.”

    We must learn to trust that chaos can never compete with God’s voice.

    We are not here to mirror the expectations of others: we are here to reflect the image and glory of our God. We are being made brave. We are learning to walk upon the waters, where our feet may fail, but His grace abounds.

    We are stepping into places where trust is without borders—not in our strength, but in His calling.

    And we are learning something else, too: we can choose joy. We can choose to live in laughter, in truth, in peace, wholly and unapologetically
    ourselves—an act of radical faith.

    Darkness does not have the power to strip away the peace we’ve been given in Christ—nor the joy that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

    In His image, we are steady. We are no longer blown about.

    We are anchored.

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    A Grateful Heart

    When God is working on our hearts, he will crack them open.

    This process of refinement is painful. It involves loss–the death of our own desires–and a willingness to follow Him even when he is leading us away from everything we thought we wanted.

    Our hearts can’t crack open unless they break.

    But inside such a heart, there is invaluable treasure. If God is cracking your heart open, trust Him. Wait on Him. He has a plan for you that is good.

    I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. -Ezekiel 26:36

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    The Power of the Word

    Words matter. There is power in every word we speak, in every word we write. Our words contain the power to impact the world–the opportunity to build others up or to break others down. We must never underestimate the power of our words:

    “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” -Proverbs 18:21

    Like everyone, I have at times misused my words. I pray now for wisdom: that God will use me as his instrument–to use my words to glorify him and to accomplish his purposes, not my own.

    I pray that my words may be life-giving and reflect the grace God has shown me.

    We must not forget the degree to which our words may change the world: it takes only a moment to speak life, light, and encouragement into someone’s life.

    “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” -Proverbs 16:24

    The world itself was spoken into existence by words, the first creative act using language modeled by the Creator:

    “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” -John 1:1-5

    So let’s return to the truth: words matter. They create, restore, heal, and reveal. Let’s not waste them.

    Let’s choose to speak and write with care, whether in passing conversation–or in the quiet spaces that no one sees.

    May our words reflect something true: not to impress or persuade, but to build, to bless, and to light the way.

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    You Are Loved.

    This post isn’t for everyone—but maybe it’s for you.

    I wrote this for anyone who feels far from God. For anyone carrying a quiet ache, regret, or shame. For anyone who has silently wondered, “Is it too late for me?”

    If that’s you—read on. There’s a love bigger than your failure, and a freedom deeper than your fear.

    I know that you have a past. I know there are things you have done in your life that you deeply regret–that you are deeply ashamed of. I know you may appear to have it together but struggle with self-doubt. I know that you have made mistakes. Perhaps you even wish that you could turn back the clock. Perhaps you feel all is lost–or even that it is too late.

    I know this because I, like you, am human. I have also made a multitude of mistakes throughout my life, experienced spectacular failure, struggled with self-doubt, and often battled the specter of shame.

    However, no matter where you are in your journey of life–no matter what you have done–Jesus offers forgiveness.

    “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” -Isaiah 43:25

    I know you have heard this before, but really hear it this time. Jesus died so that you can have true freedom. So that you might experience life to the full. So that you might, at long last, find the deep hunger in your soul satiated and shame eradicated.

    Many people in our world today are turned off by Christianity because they view it as a club for the self-righteous. They may feel alienated by religion and jaded by what they perceive to be a world history in which, as they see it, faith has caused nothing but trouble. They may consider religion to be the opiate of the masses. They may feel that Christians are judgmental or hypocritical.

    I am sorry if you have had an experience with the church in which you felt marginalized or judged. This is not reflective of the character of Jesus.

    The Christian faith, at its core, is built on the foundations of radical love. Jesus made many people angry when he associated with those whom the religious leaders of his day rejected: tax collectors. Prostitutes. Lepers. Others who were socially stigmatized.

    Ultimately, the envy of religious leaders and suspicion at the way Jesus threatened the social order were among the reasons he was crucified. However, the crucifixion was a culmination of a plan much bigger than any scheme concocted by man: it was the divinely orchestrated apex of God’s redemptive plan for all humanity.

    Jesus’s love for the world was radical. He came to eradicate shame. He came so that the voice of the accuser of our souls, the devil, would be silenced forever.

    “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” -Isaiah 1:18

    No matter what you have done, no matter how far you feel from God–and I realize you might feel very, very far–no matter if you are a prodigal son or daughter who feels there is no path back to him, ever–know that God loves you deeply.

    “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.” -Isaiah 61:1

    As spiritual beings, we all know in our hearts that there is more to life than the physical realm, and we long, whether consciously or subconsciously, for connection with something greater than ourselves.

    What we are longing for is communion with our Creator–and the freedom he offers: freedom from the weight of our sins, freedom from the shackles of shame, freedom for those enslaved to their own addictions and hang-ups, freedom from ourselves–to become who he created us to be.

    He will love you radically–if you let Him.

    I can tell you that the simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating experience of free falling into a life in which you relinquish control and choose to trust Him, while scary, is the best feeling in the world.

    Knowing that the Creator of the universe considers you his treasure and the apple of his eye (yes, you), that he numbers each hair on your head, that he knew you before you were conceived in your mother’s womb, that he has had a plan for your life since time immemorial… living life really understanding these truths and fully surrendered to your Creator… what could be better?

    If your wandering heart has been searching for true love your whole life, look no further:

    “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38

    Not any human being, nor any darkness, not any scheme, not a single one of your sins, not any of your addictions, none of your secrets, not even death itself can separate you from the redemptive power of God, whose banner over you, dear reader, is love.

    I share this not to preach, but to witness. These truths have changed my life. If your heart has been wandering, I just want to tell you: there’s a way home.

    Consider receiving the love he’s always held out to you.

    Step into the life you were born to live.

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    Abiding Joy

    Perhaps the most profound joy we can experience comes in the midst of our deepest pain. Only then are we truly able to surrender—our expectations, our dreams, our longing for control—as we free fall into the grace of God.

    Let us thank Him for being a good Father. For wanting good things for His children.
    Let us praise Him even when our world feels upside down.
    Let us trust Him, even in the valley of the shadow of death, or fear, or grief, or loss.

    “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”
    — Lamentations 3:22–23

    Never forget: He is good and full of mercy. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Creator of heaven and earth, Jehovah Rapha—the God who heals.

    He can take a heart of stone and make it flesh again.
    He brings beauty from ashes.
    The rainbow after the storm.

    Fear not. What can mere man do to you?

    Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.”

    No matter our circumstances, no matter what fiery trials we walk through, may we have the courage to surrender and to rest in our good Father.

    And may we rise above whatever we face that feels frightening or unknown.
    Amen.