But With God...: 31 Day Christian Devotional

By Kaleigh Evans Young

If you are reading this, you have stumbled upon a devotional containing thirty-one stories of conquering fear, learning to love, finding joy, and living for Jesus Christ. You do not have to come to God after you tie up all of your loose ends. He wants you now. He wants the messy you. All He asks is that you follow Him.

Life is hard. Relationships can be complicated. Jobs can be overwhelming. Sometimes, depression just sets in and decides it wants to stay for a while. That is okay! It is okay not to be okay. You will never be alone in your struggles. There is a Savior that loves you more than you could ever imagine. This thirty-one-day devotional will provide you with day-to-day passages that offer guidance through prayer, encourage reflection, and delve deeper into the Word of God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639613892

Book preview

But With God...

31 Day Christian Devotional

Kaleigh Evans Young

Copyright © 2022 by Kaleigh Evans Young

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Fighting Fear

Citizens of Controversy

The Beauty of Mourning

Letting Situations Rest in Your Heart

A Forever Kind of Hope

Praise Report

Standing Still

His Form of Forgiveness

Scar-Stricken

Curiosity

Already Covered

Wormwood

Hurt People Hurt People

Green with Envy

A Broken City

Roar of a Lion

Conflict

Consumed

White as Snow

More

Temptation

I Believe in Jesus

Vessel

What Does Your Life Represent?

True Love

Yes, Christians Struggle

Faithless Generation

The Main Character

Walking Worthy

When Transformation Happens

Temptation Is Real

Fighting Fear

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

—Psalm 23:4

When I was around the age of four, I was scared of the dark. A few years later, my biggest fear was the possibility of a home invasion. Fast forward to a couple of years, I developed the fear of death. I was afraid that diabetes would defeat me. I was afraid that I would randomly acquire a brain tumor. I was afraid that a bug would climb into my mouth when I was asleep and eat me from the inside out. After I got over my paralyzing fear of death, I became afraid of rejection. I was afraid that nobody would accept me. I was afraid that the only person I had at the end of the day was me. And what was my next biggest fear? Me.

Stemming from my fear of rejection came my fear of weight. A body image problem is what some people call it. I was afraid to gain an ounce because I thought that it would diminish my worth. I was afraid of food. I was afraid to be seen by other people. I was afraid to look at my own body. I wanted to take all of the mirrors off of the walls and turn them around. I wanted my baggy T-shirts to swallow me whole and temporarily erase what I didn’t want other people to see. I wanted to feel hungry. For me, hunger meant progress.

Fear is a shape-shifter. It is always changing. It is always evolving. It drags us along behind it without our permission. It comes in the form of people, social events, insecurities, and opportunities…it never stops changing. We live in a world where people scream at the top of their lungs to be fearless. But we’re scared, aren’t we? People make Instagram posts with captions like Be yourself! It is the best thing to be. But do we always really feel that way?

Fear doesn’t take our strength, but it does try. If anything has ever made me stumble in my life, it has been fear. Oh, how many things fear took from me. Experiences. Opportunities. Hobbies. Dreams. Fear took these things from me like they were never even meant to be mine. But here is the deal…I don’t despise fear. See, fear lost this battle with me when I met Jesus.

All of our fears that seem so big tremble in the presence of Jesus. They can talk. They can puff out their chest and intimidate us, but they can’t intimidate God Himself. How much nerve do you think our fears must have to think that they could rise against the Creator of the whole universe?

I spent years fighting the fears that I felt raging inside of me. I spent years trying to control my anxiety. Within a split second, Jesus took care of it all. The things that I battled my whole life were put to sleep by the One who saved my soul. He loved me enough to fight for me. He loved me enough to rescue me from my fears. Psalm 23:4 says, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Fear can try to knock me down. It can attempt to take away my opportunities, hobbies, and dreams. But fear will never take me away from the love of Jesus.

Reflection points:

What is your biggest fear?

What triggers your anxiety?

Is your fear holding you back from doing what God has called you to do?

Citizens of Controversy

Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

—Hosea 4:1

Controversy. What does it mean? The word itself is defined as a situation where a debate is involved. When any kind of controversy is occurring, a battle is present. Now that you know what this word means, you can better answer these questions: Are you a citizen of controversy? Are you fighting an internal battle? Do you have an understanding of what is right but can’t seem to turn away the things that are wrong? Are you spending your life caught in a constant debate?

As humans, we tend to struggle with temptation. We might know that we should stay away from places like clubs and parties, but we find ourselves drawn to the music. We might know that a certain relationship will hinder our walk with God, but we still find ourselves enamored with the excitement that it brings. We live in controversy, making this decision: What is right, and what is wrong?

When my twenty-first birthday came around, my friends came up with multiple ways to celebrate. There was a very wide range of possibilities. Most of them were things like going to Starbucks, seeing a movie, or eating at Buffalo Wild Wings. But there was still one option that was thrown into the mix. What do most people do on their twenty-first birthday? I can guarantee that the answer is not staying home to read or having a nice family dinner, which I would have been completely happy with.

Was this a hard decision for me to make? Yes and no. Did I actually want to go to a bar? No. I never really struggled with that desire. But did I want to hang out with my friends? Yes. I didn’t want to be the one who ruined their fun, and I certainly didn’t want to spend my birthday without them. I fought this battle for days. I wanted to go have fun with them, but I could feel God telling me not to go. I knew that I didn’t belong there.

So there I was, dreading my birthday because I knew that I had to make a choice that would affect multiple people. In the end, I chose not to go to a bar. I had dinner with my family at my favorite restaurant instead.