Latest / High Level Wife Podcast with Chelsey Holm / Discipline is a Gift: A Warning About Complacency
Transcript
- 0:33SPEAKER_00: And I am back today with new content.
- 0:37SPEAKER_00: And I wanted to share a little bit about how we transitioned from Illinois to Kentucky.
- 0:45SPEAKER_00: Um, and honestly, backing it up, it was July 5th of this year when Zach learned about this position um in Kentucky.
- 0:54SPEAKER_00: And within three days, we decided that yes, he was gonna take the position, and then all sorts of like we I had peace about the him taking the position, but then at the time, the way that we were gonna do that, like the kids and I were gonna stay behind, and he was just gonna go like no peace, like immediately when that when we made our decision, like I had no peace, and I was a mess.
- 1:21SPEAKER_00: Um, I go back, there's an episode on that.
- 1:24SPEAKER_00: You can you can learn more about that, and then how the Lord corrected me and my husband, and we are now both all of us, our family and us were in Kentucky, and that you know it entailed us going from us just staying behind and him finding a place to us renting our house and buying a new house um in Kentucky.
- 1:48SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, it was a it was a wild ride.
- 1:50SPEAKER_00: God taught us so much.
- 1:53SPEAKER_00: Um, but during this time, like like it was literally weeks that felt like years had transpired.
- 2:03SPEAKER_00: And I remember it hadn't even been 30 days yet.
- 2:06SPEAKER_00: And my mom was like, Oh, you didn't even tell me you're moving to Kentucky, and I'm like, Oh my gosh, you're right, I didn't.
- 2:11SPEAKER_00: And then I was like, it's only it's not even been 30 days yet.
- 2:14SPEAKER_00: Like I just couldn't believe how quickly God was opening doors and shutting doors and like making a way for us in our in in being obedient to him, and like every point was or orchestrated perfectly by him.
- 2:31SPEAKER_00: It wasn't always in our timing in our or in our way, but he led us each step of the way.
- 2:37SPEAKER_00: And like we just kept telling people, like, all along the way, they're like, Oh, how is this whole thing like transpired so quickly?
- 2:42SPEAKER_00: And we're just like, God, that's it.
- 2:45SPEAKER_00: You know, there was like down to our goods, weren't supposed to get to our house until like mid-October to the end, and we were supposed to sign like September 30th.
- 3:00SPEAKER_00: Well, that date came and went, we weren't able to do it.
- 3:02SPEAKER_00: We were still waiting on an appraisal and a letter from the city.
- 3:05SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that didn't work out.
- 3:07SPEAKER_00: But then there was a cancellation for the moving company, and they were like, Oh, well, we can do it on the sixth.
- 3:11SPEAKER_00: And we're like, Well, of course, we should have signed for our house by the sixth, right?
- 3:15SPEAKER_00: One would think.
- 3:17SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, the days were ticking by.
- 3:20SPEAKER_00: We're in a hotel in Illinois at the time, um, still doing all the things, still, you know, doing practices and um like just yeah.
- 3:33SPEAKER_00: So living in a hotel, that was fun.
- 3:34SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, it had a pool, so our kids had something to do.
- 3:37SPEAKER_00: But um, you know, in that time, I'm sure people probably would have lost their ever-loving minds, and it's nothing, it's not like to our own like accolade, like gold star for us.
- 3:51SPEAKER_00: It was literally we had to keep reminding ourselves that God has made a way thus far.
- 3:55SPEAKER_00: He he will continue to make a way.
- 3:57SPEAKER_00: So, as we're getting closer to the sixth, like he just let the pieces fall perfectly where the builder allowed us to get into the garage and at least put our stuff in there, like our chest freezer.
- 4:10SPEAKER_00: Like, we we had some stuff that we got to U-Haul, we moved down here ourselves because we also have two vehicles, and Zach has a motorcycle and he didn't want the military to move his motorcycle again.
- 4:21SPEAKER_00: Uh, they've done that before, and there was lots of scratches and damage to it.
- 4:25SPEAKER_00: And uh anyway, so like just all of the pieces perfectly fell into place, and it would have been really easy for us to like freak out and overreact and like try to move things on our own, right?
- 4:42SPEAKER_00: But the Lord kept reminding us, and we kept reminding ourselves that, like, no, no, God is God is making a way, and we will continue to trust him.
- 4:53SPEAKER_00: And if these dates come and go, God is gonna work that out, and so we're just believing that he will, we're choosing to believe that he will, because he has, and we know he will, because God never changes, right?
- 5:11SPEAKER_00: And uh we just, you know, there were times where he asked us to be obedient and we did, and we would take like a step forward and then we would wait, and then we didn't know what the next step was.
- 5:24SPEAKER_00: So we but then when we he did reveal the next step, we'd take that step and then we wait.
- 5:31SPEAKER_00: And then there were times where it's like, okay, now the door is open, and now we're gonna take a lot of steps really, really, really, really fast, and then we're gonna wait, right?
- 5:39SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, through all of that, you can't do that in your own understanding.
- 5:43SPEAKER_00: You have to lean on the Lord, you have to trust in him because control is an illusion.
- 5:50SPEAKER_00: I say this so often: control is an illusion.
- 5:53SPEAKER_00: You don't know what's gonna happen in the next five seconds.
- 5:56SPEAKER_00: I had shared on the last episode that my husband and I got that unexpected call, um, just about our tenant in our house in Illinois, and like we didn't wake up that morning expecting the Lord to test us in our trust of Him, right?
- 6:14SPEAKER_00: We didn't we didn't expect to be baited into a fence that would rob us of our joy.
- 6:22SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't know what's gonna happen in the next five minutes.
- 6:26SPEAKER_00: Who are we truly to try to take that responsibility of outcomes upon ourselves?
- 6:32SPEAKER_00: We can't, so that's why we have to lean into disciplines, right?
- 6:37SPEAKER_00: We have to discipline, we have to steward, we have to, we have to, we have to, we can't just like carefully la da-da, just well, you know, the Lord will take care of it.
- 6:51SPEAKER_00: No, like we have to be in his word, we have to be praying, we have to be in community, we have to be um planted in a church, right?
- 7:01SPEAKER_00: Like, we have to steward the body that the Lord has given us to do his work, right?
- 7:06SPEAKER_00: We have to paint a picture of possibility for those around us when it comes to our marriage because of what God has done and what he continues to do in and through us.
- 7:16SPEAKER_00: That's where we do those things, and so as we've now gotten mostly settled into our house, right?
- 7:24SPEAKER_00: Routine comes back into the picture.
- 7:27SPEAKER_00: Um, and I want to back up just a little bit because you know, in this time of being in the hotel, you know, it was so interesting because like my time with the Lord is very consistent because I want to spend time with him.
- 7:44SPEAKER_00: Like I want to be in his word, I hunger for time and prayer with him, but more importantly, I hunger for him to teach me and speak to me through his word.
- 7:56SPEAKER_00: And it was so interesting because that hunger began to diminish very quickly when I got out of the habit of seeking God first, right?
- 8:11SPEAKER_00: Just because we were having later nights, and so then we weren't getting up as early in the morning.
- 8:17SPEAKER_00: Um, and we were tired, and you know, we slept on air mattresses for like a month.
- 8:22SPEAKER_00: I don't even know how I think it was, I think it was like I think it was like three weeks.
- 8:28SPEAKER_00: Um, and then and then it was hotel beds with lots of kids, and so you know, we didn't get the best of sleep, and so it was really easy to slowly become complacent, and I'll tell you, as the complacency set in, the hunger diminished, and I would go about my day still praying, but I wasn't I wasn't like in the word like I was before, right?
- 8:59SPEAKER_00: And and and so I share this with you to caution you how easy it is to think that you can do it all on your own.
- 9:11SPEAKER_00: You don't need to spend all that time in the word and in prayer, right?
- 9:15SPEAKER_00: You can always talk to God, which is true, but there's power in the quiet, in the solitude of what he speaks to you, and this is where I'm thankful that my husband is in the word because he would go down to the hotel lobby to have breakfast, right?
- 9:35SPEAKER_00: We all would, but he would take his Bible, and so seeing him sitting there reading his Bible, I was like, you know, it's gonna look differently than me getting up in the dark before my kids because I am exhausted, but I'm still gonna do it, even if it's right here next to all my kids eating breakfast, right?
- 9:51SPEAKER_00: And this is where I just I was listening, and I want to listen to the whole episode, but I just caught a part of uh oh shoot, what's his name?
- 10:01SPEAKER_00: I can't think of his name right now, but he was saying that you know, when you build a foxhole, you build it for two.
- 10:07SPEAKER_00: You never build a foxhole for one.
- 10:09SPEAKER_00: And that's a picture of marriage, right?
- 10:12SPEAKER_00: Like when I was struggling with consistency and complacency was beginning to set in, which anyone who looked at us would have been like, well, yeah, that's understandable, right?
- 10:22SPEAKER_00: But it's missing the point because Matthew 633, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you, right?
- 10:30SPEAKER_00: That doesn't say like only when you're in seasons where you can be consistent.
- 10:35SPEAKER_00: No, it's all the time, okay?
- 10:38SPEAKER_00: Seek first, seek first.
- 10:41SPEAKER_00: Um, and so because of my husband's obedience, I was, you know, reminded, encouraged, and challenged, like convicted too.
- 10:49SPEAKER_00: Like, hey, what are you doing?
- 10:50SPEAKER_00: Like, you can't do a day without the Lord.
- 10:52SPEAKER_00: What who do you think you are?
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: Right?
- 10:55SPEAKER_00: Who do you think you are that you could not be in his word and meditating on his word and sitting with him in prayer in solitude?
- 11:06SPEAKER_00: Like, right?
- 11:07SPEAKER_00: And it and it did, like it would.
- 11:10SPEAKER_00: I just so I shoot that off as a warning shot to you so that uh you understand the potential and how quickly complacency sets in.
- 11:22SPEAKER_00: And so as we've been settled, we've we've continued, it still looks a little differently, but to to spend time with the Lord.
- 11:32SPEAKER_00: But I'll tell you, once you get into complacency, it's really easy to be inconsistent and to continue to slip back into complacency again and again and again, and that hunger just dissipates, right?
- 11:49SPEAKER_00: Like it doesn't mean that your spirit is not hungry, it's starving.
- 11:53SPEAKER_00: But your flesh, your flesh gets fed more.
- 11:57SPEAKER_00: And that's not a place we want to be in, right?
- 12:00SPEAKER_00: We want to deny our flesh, we want to take up our cross and follow him.
- 12:07SPEAKER_00: And so, anyway, so as we have gotten more settled here, right?
- 12:10SPEAKER_00: Like we've we've gotten back into establishing routine.
- 12:15SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, our kids are back in school, so just the simple routines of going to bed at a certain time, having dinner at a certain time, spending that time together as a family at a certain time, right?
- 12:26SPEAKER_00: And having my schedule to support my husband's schedule to fit into his rather than, you know, me say, well, this is what's important to me.
- 12:36SPEAKER_00: So this is what I'm doing.
- 12:37SPEAKER_00: And, you know, like that means I have to be flexible, right?
- 12:42SPEAKER_00: And I can.
- 12:42SPEAKER_00: Thankfully, I have the latitude that I don't have to go work out at four o'clock in the morning.
- 12:48SPEAKER_00: I can work out after the kids go to school.
- 12:50SPEAKER_00: But even this morning, I had to make the official decision to push back our Bible study for high-level life a little bit because could I do it?
- 12:59SPEAKER_00: But I'd be rushing.
- 13:01SPEAKER_00: And and so I I did, and it was great.
- 13:04SPEAKER_00: I was able to move through my day with intention and discipline and to keep the most important things, the most important things, right?
- 13:14SPEAKER_00: To live by that right order in actuality, in practice of what is most important.
- 13:20SPEAKER_00: God is first.
- 13:22SPEAKER_00: Am I seeking him first?
- 13:25SPEAKER_00: Or am I not?
- 13:27SPEAKER_00: All right, am I allowing the day to slip in and tell me what's important today, or am I seeking God first and seeking what he has for me?
- 13:38SPEAKER_00: All right, and this morning he gave me two passages.
- 13:42SPEAKER_00: Um, so I think I think I've shared before, like right now, I'm really into reading Old Testament with New Testament, and then also um like practical um epistle type stuff.
- 13:55SPEAKER_00: So, like I'm reading 2 Kings, I'm reading Acts, and I'm reading um 1 Peter.
- 14:03SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I don't always read all of them every morning, sometimes it is time-dependent.
- 14:08SPEAKER_00: Um, but I love having Old Testament and New Testament, right?
- 14:11SPEAKER_00: Because Old Testament shows us so much, and God Himself tells us who He is.
- 14:17SPEAKER_00: And then the the New Testament just teaches us how what is and how to live under the new covenant of Jesus' blood and resurrection.
- 14:30SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, so anyway, so that's off topic.
- 14:32SPEAKER_00: But so this morning I was reading 2 Kings, and I was just I was reading 2 Kings chapter 16, um, and how King Ahaz like did all this stuff to change the altars of the Lord, and he like took what was on um bronze and put it on stone, and he also changed an entrance in the way you go around because of a foreign king, and it just it stuck out to me in like how often do we do that, right?
- 15:09SPEAKER_00: Like, that was disobedience.
- 15:10SPEAKER_00: He was not carrying these things out according to the law of the Lord when it came to sacrifices in his temple and the altar and and all that, like he changed it to accommodate what he thought was best, and even though like the externally other kings and yeah, anyway, but I digress.
- 16:10SPEAKER_00: So I I'm reading all this, and then you know, I and I pray, I journal my prayers because I can't focus to save my life.
- 16:18SPEAKER_00: And when I actually put pen to paper, it helps me stay on track.
- 16:23SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's been super helpful for me.
- 16:25SPEAKER_00: And then I also can go back and I can see like the Lord's hand at work, prayers he's answered, things that I he's grown me in and pruned me in and refined me, and things that used to be big deals that are not anymore because of the work he's done in me.
- 16:41SPEAKER_00: Um, and so then I just I sat with the Lord and I was like, Lord, I'm gonna be quiet now.
- 16:48SPEAKER_00: What do you have for me?
- 16:50SPEAKER_00: I'm listening.
- 16:51SPEAKER_00: What do you want to teach me?
- 16:53SPEAKER_00: And I just sat there, just in silence, you know, and it doesn't mean my house was silent.
- 16:58SPEAKER_00: Like there are kids walking around getting ready and stuff, and um, and I just had two passages that came to mind.
- 17:04SPEAKER_00: The first was Hebrews 12, which was such an encouragement to my heart, and the other one was uh Psalm 38, um, which is about well, you can go read these for yourself, but but the point is like asking the Lord, what do you want to say to me, and telling him I'm listening and just sitting there and knowing he's not always going to answer in the same way.
- 17:32SPEAKER_00: In my mind, uh, those two passages were just highlighted, like they just came to mind.
- 17:37SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I leaned in.
- 17:38SPEAKER_00: I trust that that's from the Lord, that's not my own mind, that's the Holy Spirit.
- 17:41SPEAKER_00: And so I went there and I read them, and it just overwhelmed me with the goodness of God and how he gives us exactly what we need for today.
- 17:47SPEAKER_00: He gives us our daily bread.
- 17:49SPEAKER_00: Imagine that.
- 17:50SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's so good to get back into routine, right?
- 17:57SPEAKER_00: It's so good to be disciplined, not for the sake of discipline, but really the heart posture does matter.
- 18:04SPEAKER_00: The motivation matters, right?
- 18:07SPEAKER_00: Right now, I I'm working on a plan of fitness, guys.
- 18:13SPEAKER_00: The first day was rough.
- 18:14SPEAKER_00: I wore shorts, um, which I was used to in Illinois.
- 18:19SPEAKER_00: We have our own gym in the basement.
- 18:20SPEAKER_00: It's not fully outfitted, but it's pretty darn good.
- 18:23SPEAKER_00: Um, I could do everything that I needed to do and then some.
- 18:25SPEAKER_00: Um, but I could also walk downstairs in my underwear if I wanted after everyone went to school and work out that way.
- 18:31SPEAKER_00: Nobody cares.
- 18:32SPEAKER_00: Um, plain fitness, not so much, right?
- 18:34SPEAKER_00: Now there are girls that are dressed, you know, pretty scantily clad, I would think, for the gym and guys likewise, but that's not why I'm there, right?
- 18:43SPEAKER_00: Like I know people work out their bodies so that people look at them and that's validation, right?
- 18:48SPEAKER_00: Like, I get that.
- 18:49SPEAKER_00: Right?
- 18:50SPEAKER_00: It's it's actually a lack of confidence and a need for attention.
- 18:54SPEAKER_00: I get that.
- 18:55SPEAKER_00: I used to be there too.
- 18:57SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I'm there because I need to steward this temple, I need to be disciplined.
- 19:03SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm painting a picture of possibility for people that I'm gonna turn 40 this year.
- 19:06SPEAKER_00: I have birth six babies, you know.
- 19:08SPEAKER_00: Like, what is possible when we give it over to the Lord and we stay disciplined in Him, right?
- 19:15SPEAKER_00: Not for aesthetics or for validation from others, but you know, maybe that's still a little bit there.
- 19:21SPEAKER_00: But, you know, like anyway, that first day I wore shorts and I was like, okay, leg press and shorts in a public place, those do not mix.
- 19:30SPEAKER_00: So I definitely had to rethink my gym attire uh to make it appropriate and also comfortable.
- 19:38SPEAKER_00: Um, anyway, uh, but but back in routine, and I had to figure that out like what time is gonna work best.
- 19:45SPEAKER_00: And and our oldest daughter, she's asking if she could go to the gym with me sometimes.
- 19:51SPEAKER_00: And you know, it would be easy to be like, oh yeah, sure, you can come this time.
- 19:56SPEAKER_00: But my littles get on the bus really early, and I need to be there, I need to be here for them to help them get ready and make sure they get outside.
- 20:04SPEAKER_00: And I'm not gonna put that on my husband now.
- 20:06SPEAKER_00: Of course, my husband will work with me, but again, remember my schedule fits into his, not he doesn't fit into my schedule, right?
- 20:14SPEAKER_00: And we don't fit into our kids' schedule, our kids' schedule fits into ours, right?
- 20:20SPEAKER_00: And that's following the right order, you know, and so we're still having conversations about when we could make that work, but um, you know, and maybe it won't.
- 20:29SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's a that's a that's time, that's a different season.
- 20:32SPEAKER_00: Um, and it's not now, but but I love the freedom in Christ that that we get to work these things out, and it's not where our identity comes from, right?
- 20:45SPEAKER_00: Our identity is first and foremost in the Lord, and then how we actively walk it out, we keep submitted to the Lord and what's important for right now, right?
- 20:59SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, uh anyway, so I I just wanted to encourage you and also challenge you and warn you that complacency sets in real quick, and it can be a struggle to get out of it, but that's why discipline is so important because we live in a world that would love to have no silence ever, right?
- 21:25SPEAKER_00: You can have noise at all times.
- 21:27SPEAKER_00: Right now, I I have earbuds in, right?
- 21:30SPEAKER_00: I could literally have these in 24-7 if I wanted to, right?
- 21:34SPEAKER_00: Literally 24-7, right?
- 21:37SPEAKER_00: Like listen, like listening to music, listening to podcasts, listening to books, listening to stuff to make me fall asleep, like listen to all the things, right?
- 21:47SPEAKER_00: But is that helpful?
- 21:49SPEAKER_00: Does that actually help me?
- 21:52SPEAKER_00: Does it actually build me up?
- 21:55SPEAKER_00: Does that actually build up the body of Christ?
- 21:59SPEAKER_00: No, what does is seeking God first, and part of that is solitude and prayer and time in his word, it's worship, it's community, it's being planted in a church and it's discipline and stewarding what the Lord has given us to do so.
- 22:15SPEAKER_00: And complacency will set in real quick, and it's like angry, it stinks and it impacts everything around it and not for good.
- 22:27SPEAKER_00: It's common, but it's not gonna help you if you love Jesus and you truly want to do his will, that's your food is to do his will.
- 22:40SPEAKER_00: And one last thing, I wanna I was gonna wrap this up, but one last thing.
- 22:43SPEAKER_00: Um, so I started going to a new chiropractor here.
- 22:47SPEAKER_00: I took my oldest son Gabe because he's in football, and football definitely plays a negative role on spinal alignment.
- 22:57SPEAKER_00: Uh, anyway, so I went to the chiropractor, and you know, it's a new one for us, so there was like a full workup, including like x-rays and all that.
- 23:07SPEAKER_00: And he was like, you know, you have gallstones, right?
- 23:11SPEAKER_00: And I was like, ah, yeah, I could have guessed that.
- 23:15SPEAKER_00: Like, that makes sense, especially with like over the last several weeks of not eating the best, um, of allowing my flesh to be like, that tastes good, that looks good, I want that, and knowing that it would not make me feel the best, like did not help me to walk closer with the Lord, did not help me to do his work, like, did not make me feel good, right?
- 23:36SPEAKER_00: A lot of times.
- 23:37SPEAKER_00: Um, but it was it was so good because it was another one of those mercies of the Lord because it's like uh people actually, it's interesting.
- 23:47SPEAKER_00: So I I've birthed six babies.
- 23:49SPEAKER_00: When people find out I still have the gallbladder, they're like, What?
- 23:52SPEAKER_00: How is that even possible?
- 23:54SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I don't know, because I haven't taken the best care of it.
- 23:58SPEAKER_00: Um, but I feel like this really was a mercy of the Lord to be like, hey, you know, here's the reason why you've not been feeling the greatest.
- 24:08SPEAKER_00: What are we gonna do about it?
- 24:09SPEAKER_00: Disturb the body that you've been given.
- 24:11SPEAKER_00: And it's not to say that if you've had your gallbladder removed, you're like somehow like less of a believer or follower of Christ, not at all.
- 24:18SPEAKER_00: Please hear my heart on that.
- 24:19SPEAKER_00: That's not what I'm saying.
- 24:21SPEAKER_00: I just personally don't want to take out something that the Lord knit in us and created for purpose.
- 24:31SPEAKER_00: Like, I want to be able to do everything that I can within reason to take care of this body that the Lord's given me.
- 24:38SPEAKER_00: And that was a mercy of the Lord, a reminder to me that I hadn't been doing the best job in that.
- 24:43SPEAKER_00: That many would say that the excuses of traveling and moving and all that were valid and sure they were real, but did I did I allow complacency to be the bigger voice in that?
- 24:57SPEAKER_00: And I sure did, and um, you know, uh paid for it, not in good ways, and you know, so looking at some of those things as mercies of the Lord of you know, he is gentle, but he corrects us, and that correction is for our good.
- 25:16SPEAKER_00: But are we listening?
- 25:17SPEAKER_00: Are we saying, Lord, I hear you, you're right, forgive me.
- 25:23SPEAKER_00: I love you, Lord, and this life is yours.
- 25:26SPEAKER_00: I am not my own.
- 25:28SPEAKER_00: I was bought with a price of Christ's blood, and am I living that way in every capacity?
- 25:36SPEAKER_00: Because that's the point.
- 25:39SPEAKER_00: That's the point.
- 25:43SPEAKER_00: So listen to the warning shot that I just fired off about complacency and understand how nefarious it is and sit back and wake up with the Lord and ask him to reveal to you where complacency is set in and where he is specifically calling you into deeper discipline.
- 26:04SPEAKER_00: I'll see you on the next episode.