Anchored Voices

‘Bold’ is never a word I would use to describe myself. As a child and teenager, I was prone to anxiety and shied away from anything that would create conflict and make my stomach turn to knots. I remember my mom telling me several times throughout my adolescent years that I needed to learn to be more assertive.

Nothing could be more terrifying to me.

As an adult, not much has changed in that department, if I’m being honest. But what has changed is a desire to be bold in my relationship with God. And I’m learning I can be audacious in my faith without being extremely outspoken or outwardly assertive.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul addresses the church in Corinth and says that because they have hope in the Spirit, they are bold. He goes on to say because of Christ, a veil is lifted from our faces and the Spirit of the Lord is revealed. 

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. When we know Christ, we have hope in him. Because we have hope in him, we can be bold and feel freedom in that. 

Something I’ve been practicing recently is being bold in my prayer life. This might seem like a no-brainer to some people, but I have often struggled to be daring in my conversations with God out of a fear of asking too much of him or hearing an answer I’m not ready for. 

God, who created the world and every living and breathing thing in it, can handle anything I bring to him. Without question. Why beat around the bush? As long as we’re praying according to God’s will, then God will answer our prayers.

Often I’m simply at a loss and don’t know what to pray for, or I’m worried that my desires and prayers won’t align with what God wants for me. When I get to that point of uncertainty in my conversations with God, Romans 8:26-27 always pops into my mind.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

What an assuring truth. Even though we don’t always know God’s will when we pray or know what to say, the Spirit himselfintercedes—speaks for us. And since the Spirit always prays according to God’s will, God will always answer the Spirit’s prayers – which are for us – in the affirmative. 

As I become bolder in my prayer life, I hold firm to that truth. The Spirit of God truly does bring me freedom and because of it, I’m more willing to step out of my comfort zone to be courageous in other ways. If I’m feeling conviction or a sense of urgency in a situation in which I normally wouldn’t step out in faith, I can pretty much guarantee it’s coming from the Spirit.
 

He is a God of boldness, and since we are made in his image, we, too, can become bold – in faith, in prayer, and in love.

God, I pray you would give me a heart of urgency to act bold in my faith. You have promised me a spirit of power, love, and self-control. Give me the wisdom and desire to live that out so others can see you.

Sarah Moreau is a twenty-something who loves hiking, camping, reading, and going on adventures with friends. She works at a homeless shelter for women and children where she teaches, helps women obtain GEDs, guides them in pursuing education or careers, and walks with them through the difficult path of recovery from addiction and life struggles. Sarah has been writing since she was a kid – both for her own enjoyment and for others to read. On her days off, you can find Sarah reading, spending time with her 2-year-old nephew or close friends, hiking, or coming up with a new recipe in the kitchen. You can read more of her work at Problems 31 Women.

He is all I need
Heavenly Bread on which to feed
Sustains me when spiritual hunger pains
Deeply mire my soul in chains

He is all I desire
Divine Light when darkness is dire
Illuminates the path of truth
Redeems me from sins of my youth

He is all I seek
Holy Gate a beacon to the weak
Beckons sheep who’ve gone astray
Into safety and out of the fray

He is all I hear
Good Shepherd‘s voice music to the ear
Bids me follow His lovely call
He will forever lay down His all

He is all I crave
Resurrection beyond the grave
Promises heaven-bound eternal Life
A final escape from this worldly strife

He is all I want
Way and Truth from a sweet font
Gives Life everlasting in arms of love
Leads me home to my Father above

He is all I know
True Vine into whom I grow
Supplies every strength I need
And grants mercy for which I plead

Before the patriarch Abraham was born
The Great I AM created the first morn
Jesus as man for my sin did atone
All I need as He reigns on His throne

***

This poem is based on the I Am statements of Jesus found in the Gospel of John. In these statements, Jesus revealed two important things. First, He is all we need. Second, He was God incarnate, referring to Himself as “I Am” just as God did to Moses from the burning bush.

Jesus said:
I am the bread of life (John 6: 48). 
I am the light of the world (John 8:12). 
I am the gate for the sheep (John 10:7). 
I am the good shepherd (John 10:11). 
I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). 
I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). 
I am the true vine (John 15:1). 
Before Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58). 
 

Linda L. Kruschke is the author of My Name Is Beloved, winner of the Unpublished Memoir category of the Oregon Christian Writers Cascade Writing Contest, as well as a self-published author of two poetry books. She is a wife, mother, active member of her church, former Bible Study Fellowship leader, and recovering lawyer. She works as the Director of Legal Publications for the Oregon State Bar. But her real passion is sharing God’s healing grace with others, especially those haunted by sexual trauma and abortion. She struggled with major clinical depression for many years, but through the power of forgiveness has become a fearless follower of Christ, living in the assurance of her salvation and God’s love. She blogs at Another Fearless Year and Broken Believers.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror.  The image that stared back was different than the one other people seemed to see.  Inside, behind those eyes, was more…so much more.   I knew I was plain.  The world had made that perfectly clear, but the problem wasn’t my reflection so much as my inability to self- identify.

Over the years I had heard over and over again that our identity was found in Christ Jesus; that purpose came from living for God and bringing him honor.  I didn’t doubt it.  But that wasn’t the problem either.  My problem was that I didn’t know who I was, or at least I didn’t know how to explain who I was, even to myself.

My friends could describe themselves in ways I could not.  I never had favorites.  “Favorite” is a term I’ve adopted to describe my current loves, but I don’t have true favorites.  I don’t have a favorite color, a favorite animal, a favorite book, a favorite band, movie, author, subject, food…I don’t have favorites.  I might as well try to pick a favorite star in the sky!  On any given day I may say my favorite color is crimson red, or purple, or yellow.  I might tell you that I love pizza best, or taquitos, or baked potatoes.  I might tell you my preferred creature is a ladybug or a turtle. It’s possible I could tell you that my favorite hobby is painting, snowboarding, reading, drinking coffee, or perhaps writing. I might tell you that what I like best is being with people…except for when I need to be alone.

I can’t tell you what I am specifically passionate about either.  If you ask me what my passions are, I am overcome with the endless number of possible answers, but what I can tell you is that…

I don’t know.

Deep inside is, actually, an eclectic love of many things.  I don’t know what I am most passionate about, but I’d be excited to talk with you about black holes, the lifespan of a turtle, the fact that ladybugs are opportunists, the law of gravity, puppy training, and Jesus (to name a few things.)  I can’t tell you what I like best to eat, but I can tell you that what matters is that I get to eat with you.  I may not be able to tell you my favorite color or my “life verse”  from the Bible, but I am excited by the opportunity to tell you about  God and to share how he is at work in my life.

I can tell you that I love coffee, but I can’t tell you what type or flavor I like best.  I can’t tell you who or what I am because…

What I kept deep inside, for so many years was that I am all of it.  I am a jack of all trades and a master of none.  I am a multipotentialite and an avid learner.  I am passionate about everything; all of it, at the same time.  I am dedicated to painting when painting is called for, reading when reading is called for, building when building is called for, creating when creating is called for, helping when helping is called for, and researching when researching is called for. Nothing is out of reach and yet…everything is.

And there I am, gazing into the mirror, wondering what actually defines me, when I can’t even tell you what my favorite things are.  A crisis of identity arises in the swirl or thoughts while the face in the mirror furors her brows.

And then in the quiet, a gentle whisper breathes, “You are mine.”  And there is rest in that.  Rest in knowing that my identity truly does come from someone deep enough and vast enough to see and hold the entire universe in his hand.  And even if I am a builder,  writer, student, wife, mother, researcher, minister, gardener, and a teacher on any given day, the one thing that always remains true is that I am a Christian.  Even if my favorite color is different today than yesterday, my faith in God is not.  Faith is the anchor of my soul, strengthened by other anchored voices of hope, and that is who I am.  That is my identity: I am a believer, I am a vessel of hope, and I am God’s.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”  Ephesians 2:10

JACQI KAMBISH IS A CHRISTIAN MOM TO THREE SPIRITED CHILDREN STRIVING TO BALANCE THE DAILY DEMANDS OF PARENTING A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND MEETING THE NEEDS OF TYPICALLY DEVELOPING SIBLINGS WHILE WORKING FULL TIME AND WRITING.  SHE EARNED A BACHELOR’S OF SCIENCE IN BIBLE THEOLOGY AND YOUTH MINISTRY FROM WILLIAM JESSUP UNIVERSITY.  JACQI LIVES WITH HER FAMILY IN THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO AND ENJOYS REFLECTIVELY WRITING ABOUT PARENTING, FAITH, AND THE JOYS AND TRIALS OF LIFE WHILE LEAVING HER READERS WITH HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT.  HER BLOG THE PRESUMPTUOUS LADYBUG CAN BE FOUND AT AND YOU CAN CONNECT WITH HER ON FACEBOOK.