What You Nourish Yourself With Will Make You Thrive

Listen to this week’s podcast, Be Well and Thrive Wrap-Up, by clicking here!

A MESSAGE FROM SARA:

It is Friday afternoon and I have the house to myself! The kiddos have been dropped off with friends at the local water park and I have the silence of the house to sit down and prepare, write, read, or whatever my fancy desires.

But today my fancy has to be on Be Still Be Free. Sometimes I just don’t know where time goes. Especially this summer. School has started for crying out loud! But I am so super excited it is raining outside with thunder. First of all, I am excited because we recently planted quite a few things in the yard and it hasn’t rained in over a week.

Secondly, I am excited because I love studying and writing when it is raining outside. As I sit here and write, I am reminded that even the grass, plants, trees, flowers all have needs. If they do not get watered they will die. And that is exactly how we are. 

We have to be fed or we will shrivel up and eventually die. And this just is not in the physical sense, it’s in the spiritual sense, too. As we have spent the last weeks talking about Be Well and Thrive, I cannot help but be reminded at how important it is that we put the right kind of nourishment in our hearts, bodies, and minds.

When we starve ourselves from the truth, we will begin to feel the effects deep down in our bones. And if we starve ourselves for too long, we will be in the bondage of confusion. Once we hit that place of confusion, it is hard for us to think clearly and to make sense.

As a nurse, I have seen the physical aspect of someone that is malnourished or dehydrated. Truly, they cannot think clearly and have a hard time communicating. They are often agitated and irritable. 

And so it is with us when we are facing struggles in our lives. It is so easy for us to be so focused on the finding a solution or being bitter that we have this “thorn”, that we forget to fill our hearts and minds with the nourishment of truth. Sometimes and all too often our thoughts are lies then we give those lies legs and then life. And what do we say over and over at BE?

Our thoughts will direct our beliefs which will drive our behaviors. 

We might always struggle with the same “thorns” but we can take away the legs and take away the life we give those struggles by filling our minds with the truth. Remember girls, AND THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE! That’s the THRIVE part!! Just because we have issues doesn’t mean that we can’t be victorious and thrive. If I were to go out to those newly planted trees, plants, and flowers that have gone without water for a while and decided to pour Coke on them, they would not survive. Or how about if I poured acid around their roots? Okay, well then maybe some milk? Girls, they would die (my husband might think that’s what I do because he says I kill most anything I plant)?

The same is with us. What are you pouring on your garden? Addiction? Anger? Bitterness? Isolation? Affairs? Debt? Gossip? Depression? Lies? Sleep? Or any other fill-in-the-blank? There is a reason that Christ is the Living Water! He will water us with water that never ends. Water that sustains us, nourishes us, gives us life. Girls…we have to learn to go to God first and not grow weary in so doing. He is the way, the truth, and life! If He is the way to the Father, He is the way to victory. No, He does not promise a life without difficulty. For remember, we have an enemy that is on the prowl and wishes us nothing but defeat.  But if we can only grasp that this world is a supernatural battle field and we are soldiers in the army. Don’t let life’s adversities take you out of the battle! 

Come unto me all you that are weary and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life. (John 4:14)

Whatever your despair, whatever your thorn, bring it all back to Jesus! Give it all to Jesus! Commit it all to Jesus! And water yourself with the truth! 

And thrive friends…THRIVE!