by Scarlet Stearns | May 16, 2024 | Being Planted, Bible Reading / Study, Career & Future, Hope, Life Advice, LO Library, Perspective, Purpose & Calling, Waiting
It’s that time of year again, when school finals roll around, maybe your grade goes south or you do a little better than expected but second guessing what God has called you to still seems to come so easily. Summer hits and the new year’s goals aren’t going as planned. You’re stuck in the mundane trying not to forget the miracles God is doing or possibly feeling like God isn’t doing any at all. Moments of life can feel like an aimless wander through what we have heard before as the wilderness.
Today I want to share with you encouragement on what it looks like to walk confidently with God in the wilderness, even in a season when the world brings reason for confidence to be shattered. Not letting a bad grade sway your view of who God called you to be. Not letting a missed goal define you as a failure. I want to share with you from the Bible about who God is to his people in the wilderness. I want to share with you from the Bible about who God will be to you in your wilderness. Are you in a season where you wonder what God is doing or wondering how he could do anything at all with the little that you have? God can use your C to get the degree, I can personally testify lol. God wants to use the best shot you can give him and turn it into the dream you are believing for, even through a season of what can feel like the wilderness.
I have recently been reading through Leviticus…. A book that can feel like you are in the TRENCHES of God’s word. This is often the spot where bible plans go down the drain, you skip a day, try to catch up, and then months go by and you just give up on the old testament all together. But nonetheless it is a book that reveals the character of God’s heart, his care for details, and his longing for closeness with his people. It’s also a book that revealed the power of the wilderness to me. A wilderness that was set apart for growth, for miracles, for learning, and for the presence of God.
As the Israelites journeyed from Egypt to Canaan, they were guided by a cloud during the day and a fire at night. If either of those moved, so would they. If either of them stayed, so would they. The average travel time from Egypt to Canaan should take about 11 days but at this point in the story the Israelites had been in the wilderness for over a year. It would be naive to believe that they didn’t understand what God was doing, how he was using their season, and wondering what they did wrong to keep them on this journey for so long. I would think it was an “easier said than done” type of season, believing God was doing something but not fully convinced. Because if I had been on a hike that should take 11 days but we are on day 365, I would have to stop and say this math… is not mathing.
Can I be honest? I think it’s ok to have a moment to recognize that life just straight up feels like the wilderness. God loves when you are honest with him. He wants to hear about the good day, when you got the position on Exec that you wanted so badly. He also wants to hear about the bad day, the breakup when you feel unseen in your hurting. I also believe that in our moments of honesty, we can’t stay there, we must let God reveal his truth to our heart and let that be what fuels us further. The end of a semester can feel like the wilderness. It can feel full of hunger for that which really satisfies, call it an internship, call it a summer vacay, call it a date but maybe really call it purpose, call it love, call it the assurance of God in this season. Does it feel slow moving? Like you are on a journey that should take 11 days but you’re on day 365. Does it feel as if you are being held from the promise ahead of you, being forced to wait to fulfill your potential. Have you begun to second guess the journey? I know the Israelites did. I know I have. Believing that what was behind them was better than what was before them. Wishing they had what once was instead of believing in what God had in store.
It can be easy to miss the days we used to have, blind to what we are now blessed with. But in doing this we miss the miracle that God has been providing all along. I think about how manna wasn’t a one time miracle, but a daily miracle. Because the Israelites were discontent with what was in front of them, a moment we read as a miracle soon became not enough. As they lost their awe for the miracle of manna they began to crave what could be next. Missing the potential purpose of the wilderness season they were in. God didn’t take them through the wilderness because they were forgotten. The wilderness wasn’t a long journey because God thought they weren’t enough. It was in the wilderness God gifted them with time. Time to learn. Time to grow. Time to depend. Time to watch. Time to receive. Time with God. It is in your “wilderness” that God has gifted you with the same.
Let’s make this practical, what does “the wilderness” look like for us. It can look like forgotten purpose. It can look like a wardrobe malfunction on Bid day. The wilderness can be a breakup, a messed up CFA order, or a dress that doesn’t fit the way you want it to. The wilderness is a moment that you just want to look at God and say “are we serious???” Do you feel like you are in the wilderness? Did the bad test grade make you second guess the major you chose? Did your bad day at work make you feel like you aren’t enough? I believe this season you find yourself in (or save this post for when you are in it) is full of the same purpose that it was for the Israelites. I believe it is to strengthen, to grow, to learn. I believe God is teaching us to receive, to watch, to depend on the One who breathes true purpose into your life in the middle of the wilderness.
How can you optimize the wilderness you are in? Find ways to learn. Listen to a podcast, try a new workout studio, I have been doing a personal challenge each month of 2024. Last month was not eating out, this month is no diet coke 🙁 I will survive lol! Learn more about you, learn about God, learn about your friends. Another way you can optimize the wilderness is to receive. Receive more of God’s word, spend consistent time with him, try a new devotional. The third way you can make the most of the wilderness is to depend on God. What is something you are believing for this month that only God can do? Is it an opportunity you’re believing for? Is it enough money for school? Is it a restored relationship with your parents or for your parents? Believe in what God desires to do in your wilderness season.
God sees you and he cares about you enough to turn his head and listen to your desires. Don’t let the wilderness shake what God has built inside of you. Instead shake the wilderness with who you are and what God is doing through you.
Believing with you,
Scarlet
by Scarlet Stearns | Nov 16, 2023 | Friendship, Life Advice, Relationships
If we were sitting together right now, you would see me admiring the cheap Christmas decorations I just bought from 5 Below to decorate my apartment for my first post-grad Christmas. If we were together I probably would’ve made some hot chocolate and cookies but since it’s just me, it’s my girl dinner that consists of cheese, crackers and popcorn. I really wish we were together so that I could have the first choice! Holiday season has begun and the social calendar has started to pick up. I feel like everyone has had a birthday, engagement, or festive get together recently. Like they say “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” As I sit to write this blog I can’t help but to think about the girl that just doesn’t quite feel the warm and fuzzy feelings this season can bring. You may feel included, maybe you are the hosting queen! Or maybe you feel excluded or a little less important than the typical social butterfly.
If you got left out of the plans, recently weren’t invited to something, this is for you. First I want to say I’m sorry, it’s never fun. Never good timing to be left out of the group chat, not invited to the birthday party, forgotten in the head count. It leaves a feeling of insignificance, a feeling of loneliness, and oftentimes those feelings make a home in your heart that take a little too long to leave. It is interesting how the lack of an invite can create the kind of bruise it does in our hearts. How the scroll on instagram, that reveals how they hung out without you, can create a sort of bitterness that pushes apart a relationship that was once so special. Can I share a little bit of my heart with you today? It won’t be anything that fixes the sting but it may comfort it.
There is a story in the bible where Mary and Martha felt forgotten by God. If you flip to John 11 you will read the story of Lazarus and how he became ill and Jesus “didn’t show up.” Because Jesus didn’t show up when Mary and Martha thought that he should, they felt unseen, lonely, and like they had missed an opportunity for a miracle. Verse 5 shares that “Jesus loved Mary and Martha so when he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was at for two more days.” As I read this I thought how interesting that Jesus loved them but didn’t come to them when they expected. But we see in verse 15 that Jesus says, “For your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe.” The moment they felt forgotten led to a moment where they experienced Jesus in a new way. Lazarus had been dead for 4 days when God raised him to life and exceeded the expectation of Mary and Martha. When Martha told Jesus “If you had been here, Lazarus would not have died” Jesus said I had a plan all along to use this experience as a way for you to grow closer to me. As a way for Mary and Martha to know God in a way they had never experienced before. Know him as Father. Know him as a healer. And know him as their closest friend on a day that couldn’t feel more lonely. God is not just using their season of loneliness for his glory but he is using yours too.
The amount of invites you get does not determine the amount of value inside of you. I know that doesn’t seem accurate today, it doesn’t feel true today, but how powerful it is to choose to believe it. It can feel like the invite number equals the number on the value scale but thank goodness it doesn’t. Could you imagine? If our worth was built on an invite, I think we would all be lacking, because we have all been left out. I’m so grateful that the number of invites you have received doesn’t correlate with the amount of value you withhold because even if you do get a lot of invites what happens the moment one doesn’t come? Our value would come crashing down. Our value is not based on who you are, what you do, or where you come from. Better said, your value is not based on what they called you, the things you do with them, or the things they didn’t do for you. Your value is based on the one who instilled value inside of you, Jesus.
Maybe they didn’t call you friend or really they didn’t act like a friend. Thankfully you have the biggest friend, the best friend, and his name is Jesus. He doesn’t just play the role of friend but he also comes as a Father. A protector, a healer, a source of peace. This means when they swing, he protects. When they hurt, he heals. When they fill your heart with so much anxiousness you can’t stand to be near them, he fills your heart with peace to walk confidently not just in their room but in every room. Having Him on your team means that you never walk without a friend but always have one right beside you. Every moment, every hour, he is a friend to you.
Just because they didn’t send the text doesn’t mean they don’t like you. Just because you weren’t invited doesn’t mean you were supposed to be there. What the world tells us is earthly “rejection” is often heavenly protection. There have been many “invites” I was too busy to make, that have guarded my heart for the roads I am walking now. The missed event wasn’t accidental because God doesn’t create accidents in people or actions. He creates purpose. Pain is on purpose, because there is not one thing wasted for the one who is a child of God. The timing of Jesus’ arrival as Mary and Martha prayed for Lazarus’ healing was on purpose because of the glory God would receive in the end. The nights you spend alone in your room are purposeful for the realization of who God wants to be to you.
At the beginning of our conversation I shared about the hosting queen, social butterfly, maybe it’s you? It is me! The one who loves to be around people, go to dinner with girlfriends, host the friendsgiving. God created a role for us in the invitation too. Jesus lived a life that impacted more people than we read stories about. Jesus also lived a life not waiting to be invited but inviting people in and we get to do that too. Recently I was asked what advice I would give to someone looking for community. I shared with her to never wait to be invited but be the one who invites. If you are looking for a community and feeling like you’re at the bottom of the invite list then invite girls into your life. One of the biggest ways the enemy likes to isolate is by telling us “they already have their friend group.” I have met a lot of girls who looked like they had their dream friend group when in reality their hangouts were full of gossip, shallow conversations, and relationships that left them feeling lonely.
Is it not fun to be the one not invited, we know that, so why would we not invite. Let’s be the “inviters” (is that even a word?? I’m not sure but I want to be one!) High school girls, invite a new friend over to your house for girls night. College girls invite a friend from class to go on a walk with you before your class tomorrow. Young adult girls, invite a friend over to chat and fold laundry with. Mommas, invite a neighbor over for dinner. Let people in on the joy of your life, even when you don’t get invited into theirs.
It’s the holiday season, the most wonderful time of the year and as much as it feels like there is a weekly event to not get invited to, there is a weekly opportunity to be the “inviter.” Being left out hurts. Felling unseen and unwanted hurts. If we know how it feels to be that girl then let’s be the girl we always needed. I challenge you this week to love the people around you, walk with Jesus as your Father and Friend, and invite people into the joy of this season.
XX Scarlet
by Scarlet Stearns | Jun 27, 2023 | Life Advice
Hardships and life are two things that we don’t love to see paired together but ultimately are destined to happen. We can hope for a smooth road of life but then our hearts are devastated when brokenness comes in. Growing up what I viewed as a happy childhood was actually a childhood full of family brokenness, searching for hope and love. My mom came from an emotionally abusive home, beginning her journey with drugs and alcohol at a young age. Suffering from addiction and mental health issues, her hardship rolled over into my life as well. Our “happy” home life looked a lot like being the only child surrounded by adults under the influence of drugs and alcohol, it looked like late nights caring for my mom instead of the other way around, it looked like abandonment and a little girl’s heart crying out for love.
At the age of 8 my Aunt and Uncle rescued me from the brokenness I was living in. Nurturing a heart like mine and working to put broken pieces back together, out of protection they placed me in a children’s home at the age of 10. Life’s hardship didn’t stop there but soon would come the transition from one family to another, learning to see God’s faithfulness on days it would be so easy to miss it. At 16 I lost my mom to the battle of addiction, learning to trust God’s purpose in pain. Little did I know I was right around the corner from 2 more family moves but through those God would restore the definition of love in my heart. From there I moved in with who I now call l my “forever family” and have never looked back.
If life’s hardship has taught me anything it’s that there is always a way to harvest something good in them. God promises that he will take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good. Sometimes we see that fulfilled on this side of heaven and other times we are called to live a life trusting in God’s sovereignty. If you are in the middle of a hard day, this is for you. If you just came out of a hardship, this is for you. If you are about to enter into a hardship, this post is also for you.
Today we are talking all about how to harvest during hardship. When hard days come, although we are physically and emotionally worn out, the first place we get to turn is God’s word. Today we are gathering biblical encouragement on hardship from Jeremiah 29:10-14. Within this passage is one of the most famous verses Jeremiah 29:11. Many times we see this verse on a bumper sticker but we don’t realize the context of the hardship Israel was experiencing when God spoke this promise to them.
This passage was spoken to the people of Israel during a season of exile. The people of Israel have been exiled from their homeland, even with some people still there. Those of them still there were defiant to how the Lord was calling them to live. Not only was this time tough but God told them this would be their new reality for 70 years before they would get to experience his promise. They were removed from their comfort, from their homes, some from their families and removed from their normal. Oh how hardships will make you feel stripped from everything good. This passage in Jeremiah gives us 5 steps to focus on during a difficult season, how kind of the Lord to equip us with words that build our strength on the hard days.
The first step to harvesting in hardship is to begin with faith. Verse 10 shares, “When seventy years are completed for Babylon I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.” My encouragement to your heart today is that God has a promise on the other side or your hardship. Let this promise fuel the faith in your heart to believe that your bad days won’t last forever. When my mom passed away my sophomore year of high school, as we sat in her hospital room preparing for a reality without her, my grandmother said “I know God would not bring us through this without something good on the other side.” For days, weeks, and months to follow I held on to those words. After hoping that would be true I can tell you today it was true. The “good,” that “promise” comes out everyday as I get to share God’s faithfulness with friends like you. God’s promise will prevail despite the present circumstances you see, but the only way to get to the promise is by living from faith.
The second step is to remember God’s commitment. God reminds the Israelites of who he is and his heart for them. “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.” God reminded them that he held the plan. Even when the “plan” got tough, it was never meant to hurt you but it leads to hope. There is no better place for a plan to be than in your Fathers hands. He had a plan for them and that plan would not fail. He has a plan for you and that plan will not fail. When you are in a waiting season, a hard season, remember God’s commitment to bringing you a good thing. We know he never withholds a good thing so why would he break that promise to you? When we remember God’s commitment, his plan, we can reap a harvest of his benefits in the process.
The third step is to pray. A simple but mighty step. Verse 12 says, “then you will call on me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.” God hears the cry of the broken hearted, not only does he hear you crying out to him but he chooses to listen to every word you have to say. What a friend we have in Jesus that he promises when we draw near to him that he will draw near to us. In the most intense time, this generation of Israelites is called to draw near in prayer. When we come to God with honest hearts, he listens because you are his most prized possession and he longs to see you have a prosperous life. Your prayer is the phone call God delights in answering so don’t be afraid to reach out. When you don’t have words to say, tell him that. When your heart is full of anger and frustration, please let him know. God isn’t afraid of your brokenness but he’s been waiting for you to reach out for healing.
Step 4 in harvesting during hardship is to seek God with all your heart. Verse 13 says “you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Not only does God love to talk to you but he longs to be with you. In your hardship He is near. God wants us to seek him with all that we are. The best part of this promise is that we will find him. God isn’t hidden because he doesn’t want to be found, but he is hidden in a way that when we do find him we realize he was never far away. God loves to be sought after by you and but most importantly he finds joy in revealing who he is.
As God reveals himself to you he then does what he does best, restore. The last step in harvesting during hardship is to receive restoration. Verse 14 shares, “ I will be found by you and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, declares the Lord and I will bring you back from the place from which I carried you into exile.” Through all of the hardships God’s plan was always to restore. Your brokenness is not beyond restoration, in fact that is what God was planning for all along. Receive the healing that comes your way, receive the guidance that is offered, receive the promise God has had waiting on you. I think restoration is God’s favorite way to begin a story. Restoration isn’t the end but it is the beginning of walking in the purpose he has for you. It is something he has always been good at. Restoring people, restoring places, restoring stories. Bringing beauty from ashes, giving joy in hard circumstances, and reaping a harvest in hardship. Next time you enter into a difficult season, a waiting season, an unexpected season, remember God’s promise to you as you harvest during hardship.
XO Scarlet
Scarlet Stearns is a speaker, writer, and podcaster from Birmingham, Alabama. Growing up in a local children’s home and defying the odds, she is passionate about sharing her story and telling of God’s faithfulness. Scarlet has a girls ministry called Feel The Smile that gives biblical encouragement for practical struggles. Scarlet seeks to share the true heart of Jesus with people everywhere through her blog, podcast, and social media platforms. In her free time you can find her spending time with family, friends, speaking, and writing for the LO Sister app!
