Sara Soenen
Sara Soenen
  • Home
  • Fuel
    • Book Review
  • My Story
Browsing Category
Spiritual Warfare
Anxiety•Depression•Faith•Redemption•Spiritual Warfare

What I’m leaving behind: Ten Lessons Learned from 2020.

January 2, 2021 by Sara Soenen No Comments

At the end of every year we try to look back and evaluate the good, the bad and the ugly. This year put a strain on our lives that none of us good have predicted. While we strive for our old way of life, things still look quite different. For instance my kids have been able to play quite a few sports, but there is no handshake at the end congratulating your opponents on a good game. Yes we are meeting for church but whether it’s outside, or inside with masks, there are many who still aren’t ready to darken the doors. It is a year of mixed emotions within ourselves and with each other. Friendships have been stretched and pulled. It is year I hope we never have to experience again.

Why we must spend time reflecting on lessons learned from 2020.

One thing 2020 has forced me to do is take a closer look at myself and the world around me. If our goal is Christ we must keep running the race towards Him as well as reflecting on where we have been and what we need to leave behind.

  1. The world is more broken than I ever realized. Between riots, social media wars, the election, and the overall degradation of our culture the pandemic has exposed the brokenness of our world. The ONLY thing good in this world is Jesus and anything good in the world comes from Him.  [Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17]
  2. Being a Christian on Sunday only is over. The pandemic has exposed everything especially the superficial Christian. You can no longer skate by as Sunday only Christian. The church will forever be changed by the Pandemic and our culture will continue to watch and judge as this unfolds. The brokenness of the church has been exposed to everyone not just congregants. [For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7] 
  3. What does it really mean to be empathatic.  For most of us there has never been a time in our life when everyone around the world is being shaped by one event. COVID is happening everywhere to everyone. How we experience and our affected by it is vastly different but it is everywhere. We are joined by our humanity. As believers we should be leading the way in showing true empathy and compassion. [Be happy with those who are happy and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15]
  4. You’ll never make everyone happy. No matter what you do someone is upset and people pleasing is for the birds. I’ve struggled with this my whole life and go through seasons where it’s more prominent than others. COVID exposed all too often that my desire to please others is sometimes significantly greater than desire to please God. [Obviously I’m not going to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:10]
  5. Boldness comes from the Holy Spirit. Speaking without thinking isn’t boldness. I’m great at speaking “off the cuff,” but true boldness requires courage, intention and vulnerability. Boldness is a learned characteristic that is developed over time and always proves to be challenging. I have much work to do in this area. [For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7]
  6. It is impossible to find JOY without Christ. That people can talk all the want about trying to see the positive and find the joy, kindness and goodness, BUT unless you have Christ you’re never going to find it. Many of us were pushed to the edge to find this in our daily lives.  [You love Him even though you have never seen Him. Though you do not see Him now; you trust Him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 1 Peter 1:8]
  7. I’m remembered who I truly am not what depression tells me I am. That I’m an extrovert who is fueled by being alone, but loves people. That I have strong opinions and I need to work on my delivery. That medicine is powerful. That no one knows me better than Jesus. That I can trust my gut and I do know what’s best for me, but only through the lens of TRUTH. [If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and will know the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32]
  8. That I am brave. Courage doesn’t mean you aren’t scared, it just means you do it anyway. I’ve spent 2020 stepping out of my comfort zone and listening to what has for me no matter how uncomfortable it makes me. Launching Hope and Laughter has been one of my biggest acts of faith. I’m completely trusting in Him. [Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6]
  9. That I can’t go through this world alone. Isolation, the lock down, etc., reminded me how important relationships are. They are a necessity to survive as much as food, water and sleep. We are created for relationship. [Since God loved us we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another God lives in us and is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12]
  10. Grateful. Never have I been more grateful and understand the hope that we have in Jesus. There is no other hope without Jesus. Jesus is hope and love. I’m so grateful I know Him and He knows me. [I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:18]

Your fellow warrior,

Sara

Share:
Reading time: 5 min
Anxiety•Depression•Faith•Spiritual Warfare

How do we do battle with an invisible enemy?

September 30, 2020 by Sara Soenen No Comments

Spiritual Warfare is a silent war we are waging in our mind. Maybe you aren’t even aware the battle you are fighting with an invisible enemy every day. The definition of warfare is an armed conflict between two massed enemies, especially when vicious and unrelenting. Just the definition alone should strike a little fear in you. This is the struggle of the Christian life, with or without the struggle of mental illness. If that feels heavy then you are listening to the enemy. The devil wants us to see this as hopeless, but Jesus has won the war and given us the Spirit to do battle. 

What is warfare?

           Warfare is described as armed conflict. Yes, the enemy has weapons. Jesus describes our enemy as without truth and a liar. We are on the side of truth and the truth sets us free. God doesn’t just prepare us for battle, he arms us with the Spirit.

We have the weapons of truth (God’s Word Eph. 6:14), righteousness (through the sacrifice of Christ we are a new Creation, no longer enslaved to sin, but made righteous in Christ Eph. 6:14), our faith (which will extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one Eph. 6:16). We have the helmet of salvation (Eph. 6:17) which protects our mind, the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17 ) and our final but most powerful weapon, prayer.

Prayer is probably the least used weapon and yet the easiest one to use. Pray at all times, be on the alert, pray on the behalf of other believers and ourselves (Eph. 6:18-19). I’d say we are pretty armed for battle, wouldn’t you? What gets in our way? We don’t FEEL armed, but God says we are. If we wait for our feelings to catch up with the truth of God’s Word we will never fight. 

We mustn’t trust our feelings when we prepare for battle.

            Secondly, we are two massed warriors. Massed here refers to numerous. There are numerous enemies, but we are also a large army of believers. God says that we are joined with other saints who are fighting the battle with us, not just the people we know but saints all over the world. Jesus defeated our sin and won the war when he rose from the dead. We are victors my friends and we out to live that way.

            Lastly the enemy is described as vicious and unrelenting. We know the Spirit of God is ready to go to battle with us we just have to ask Him. Do you ask God to prepare you every day for the battle of your mind? We have a warrior who is ready to arm us and. help us defeat the enemy one battle at a time. 

Don’t believe the lies of the enemy.

            While my desire is not to focus on the gravity of the battle that we are in, all too often we walk through life completely unaware that a war is waging all around us. That the enemy desires to see us fail and would have us believe the lie that there isn’t even a battle going on. We are armed my friends and the devil would love to see our depression win and our flesh fail us. There is a battle and we have the hope of Jesus and the Spirit of power because of Him. 

Your fellow warrior, 

Sara

Share:
Reading time: 2 min

About Me

Wife, and mom to a 8 year old boy and a 5 year old Priscilla. My husband and I live in the great city of Austin, Texas. We love sports, traveling, cooking, our church and down time with the family.

Subscribe

Join our Email List

Select list(s) to subscribe to


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Sara Soenen, 7809 Meloncon Cv, Austin, TX, 78735, https://sarasoenen.com. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Popular Posts

What I’m leaving behind: Ten Lessons Learned from 2020.

What I’m leaving behind: Ten Lessons Learned from 2020.

January 2, 2021
What is Depression

What is Depression

April 30, 2017
It’s More than Just the Baby Blues

It’s More than Just the Baby Blues

May 10, 2017
Depressions’ sister, anxiety.

Depressions’ sister, anxiety.

May 17, 2017
On the outside looking in.

On the outside looking in.

May 24, 2017

Categories

Instagram Feed

Follow on Instagram

Tags

#postpartumanxiety #postpartumdepression #sahm anger anxiety arm ourselves with truth battle battle of the mind depression faith father of lies fear God grief healing hope hopelessness mental health my story pandemic redemption Scripture spiritual warfare the invisible enemy therapy the truth will set you free truth warrior we are armed in the Spirit we are at war

Hope



Follow on Instagram

© 2020 copyright Sara Soenen // All rights reserved