True Wellness: Kelly, Pastor

What is true wellness? I think it varies from person to person. Personal stories, unique experiences, temperaments and personalities all meld together to create your unique story, what wellness looks like for you. Here’s a little bit of my story. Maybe you can relate.

I was (and still am) very fortunate growing up. I have two parents who love and respect each other deeply, who raised me to love and know Jesus, and who did their best to give me opportunities to flourish and to keep me from people, situations, and experiences that would harm me.

That being said, I am a unique combination of a rule-follower and people pleaser. I can also be fiercely stubborn at times and take pride in being capable and independent. While I never did head off and ‘sow my wild oats’ or rebel in any grandiose fashion (despite my dad’s lovingly good-natured rubbing that it was his goal to ‘ruin my teenage years’), Satan still managed to establish a pretty huge stronghold in my life.

A few months ago I began to realize what a huge part fear played in my life. I began to see fear as more than just a quirk of my personality, but as a real issue. As I dug into the issue of fear in my life and the things that it was rooted in, it all came down to one thing – authority. Whose control is my life under?

“They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.” – 2 Peter 2:19 NLT

If it’s under my control, and if I’m in charge, if my fate is my own… then every decision, every action, every possibly yes or no is subject to my whim, to my feelings, to my fallibility.

But if I am God’s and am under his authority, then it is his will that rules my life. And so every decision, every action, every possibility is subject to his authority – not just in a “rule-following” sense of the word but in a “he’s in control” kind of way.

Where that might seem a little harsh to some, to me it gives peace. Peace in knowing that I have a loving Father who sees farther than I can, who loves me infinitely, who walks with me in the darkest times and can use even the most difficult situations to bring beauty into my life.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33 NIV

I am truly well when I am walking with Jesus. When I recognize his place in my life, and when I am submitted to him, then I am at peace.

Find more True Wellness stories HERE