A Little UnSteady

A Little Unsteady: 5 min read by Chris Rea

One year ago today was probably the worst day of my entire life.

I had a mental breakdown that began as a series of severe anxiety attacks and a trip to the ER which resulted in 5 of the most miserable weeks of my entire life.

How’s that for a heavy way to start a blog post?

Why did I start that way? To tell you this: If you’re walking through anxiety or depression HEAR ME:

You’re not crazy. My heart is with you and I KNOW there are brighter days ahead of you.

Now, back to me.

You know that song, “Unsteady,” by X Ambassadors? That was my life. I didn’t know which way was up or what each hour, let alone day would be like. Everything became unpredictable. And as a person who’s normally very confident, it was terrifying. I remember continuously crying out to God and needing my wife to, just like the song says, “hold onto me, cause I’m a little unsteady.”

And yet, it was in the darkest time of my life God revealed how I ended up in this place. And showed me the way to a freedom I didn’t even know existed.

Now, I don’t know about you, but my Christian experience has appeared like a roller coaster at times; thrilling extreme highs followed by plummeting, discouraging lows. I’ve experienced incredible “mountaintop” times with God, never doubting He is with me and working in my life.

But then there have been other times, seasons when I lost hope, and lived in despair.

I am no stranger to the pain that makes you feel so small it causes you to question if God is even there, or if He cares about you at all.

But that was then.

Fast forward one year. This morning, I was praying on my way to work and I felt like the Lord dropped this phrase in my heart. I love when He does that.

One little phrase and it was this: “Steady Faith.”

Something clicked in my heart when I realized, “Steady Faith” is what most Christians long for, but can never quite achieve. But I say this to you as someone who has ridden every inch of that emotional roller coaster, because I believe God has better for us. So much better than just riding the ups and downs of our faith. And I believe He not only longs to bring peace and steadiness to our lives-even when they feel crazy-but I believe He has the ability to do it.

[bctt tweet=”God has so much better for us than riding the ups and downs of our faith. ” username=”NoSmallLife”]

If you’re longing for the “Peace that surpasses our understanding” (Phil 4) to be the defining characteristic of your life, can I tell you a few things I learned last year?

 

Because it was in my darkest moment that God not only met me, but set me free.

And throughout that time, I found 2 keys to having a Steady Faith:

 

1. Getting your soul healthy

During my emotional breakdown, the Lord showed me two things about myself I didn’t know.

The first, was that my soul was not healthy.

I can’t even tell you how shocking that was to me. I didn’t know it! I thought I was healthy. I thought I had forgiven everyone there was to forgive, yet I found myself in a season full of stress and toxic thinking.

I felt like God revealed to me that getting inner healing for my soul would be the key to unlocking and releasing all the anger, anxiety, and toxicity I was feeling.

 

So I want you to take a minute. Right now. Stop what you are doing. And ask yourself these questions:

Do you get angry easily? Do you feel guilt and shame often? Do you struggle with insecurity? Do you often feel like you are not enough? Do you find yourself easily getting an attitude with people? Do you struggle with a particular sin? Do you struggle to have a consistent time with God?

If the answer is yes, chances are you have a soul problem, not a behavior problem. So often we try and try to correct behaviors, but we completely ignore the root of the problem. Behavior is what we see, but the root cause of behavior is hidden in your soul.

For more on that, here is a 3-part audio series I did called, “How to kill a spider.”

GET IT NOW

It teaches and walks you through how to get your soul healthy and how to get to the root of your problem.

And I promise, pushing through any hesitancy or temporary discomfort you may feel towards facing your pain and getting your soul healthy, is 110% worth your freedom.

[bctt tweet=”Pushing through the hesitancy or discomfort you may feel towards facing your pain and getting your soul healthy, is 110% worth your freedom.” username=”NoSmallLife”]

Without a healthy soul, you will never have a steady faith, you will never have complete peace and you will never have consistent behaviors.  You are adored by the God of Heaven and He has so much more for you than the broken pieces you’re desperately trying to keep together.

 

2. Prayer

Prayer is usually one of the first things to go in the life of a Christian. It’s so interesting to me because when we first became Christians, we would pray and read God’s word and it was like a revelation every time we did it. But over time, as we experience life disappointments or we just get busy, prayer is the first thing to go. Others avoid prayer because they just don’t know how to do it.

 

We overcomplicate prayer a lot of times, don’t we? Prayer connects us to the Father’s heart. It is the key to understanding who He is and it is the key to having a transformed heart.

 

If you have been married for a while, people will begin to say to you, “You and your wife think alike, you say the same things, you act the same way.” Some people even start dressing alike.

FYI: Your matching sweatshirts MAY be crossing a line.

But the point is this:  The more you live with a person and communicate with them, the more you become like them.

Prayer helps us to become more like Jesus. Because we get to connect to His heart. When we become more like Jesus, our faith becomes steady and we’re able to love people better because we can love them with and through God’s strength. Not spending time in prayer severs our lifeline. We’re basically spinning our wheels trying to do life on our own, without being connected to our source, and it doesn’t work so well.

 

When I was “a little unsteady,” the Lord put Psalm 1 in my heart.

I’m paraphrasing a bit, but the essence of that chapter is this: If we meditate on God’s word and His ways, we will be like a tree planted by the stream of water and whatever we do will prosper. But the key is to be planted by the water.

When you spend time in prayer, God becomes your source and several things happen.

 

You have peace.

You prosper.

You avoid the temptations of this world.

Your heart is transformed.

You care more about what God cares about.

 

If you find yourself with an unsteady faith or if the lyrics, “Hold onto me, cause I’m a little unsteady,” are resonating with you. Try these two things. Get your soul healthy and spend time in prayer.

 

Fair Warning: When you begin the process of inner healing, it can drudge things up. Sometimes, you can actually get worse before you get better. Be prepared for that. It’s normal, but not your new normal. The end result will be a freedom like you have never experienced. You’ll actually feel as light as a feather. Your joy comes back. You look forward to things and you began to laugh again. If you are in the Detroit area and are looking for a recommendation for someone to walk you through a process of inner healing, send us an email @ nosmalllifebooking@gmail.com and we will point you in the right direction.

Megan and I are praying for you today friend; your life is not small and we believe there is great freedom ahead of you if you’ll allow it.

Here’s the link to that 3-part series; it’s totally free and it’s going to help.

GET IT NOW

Until next time,

Chris

 

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