Minda Seagraves – Page 2 – NorthStar Church Blog

Digging Deeper: Confessions of a Planner

Minda Seagraves on June 28, 2024

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

CONFESSIONS OF A PLANNER

I love a good plan, and the farther out into the future I can put plans down, the better. I kid you not, I have things on my calendar for NEXT July at this very moment. I realize this is where people split into one of two camps. You’re either with me screaming, “Amen these are my people” or scratching your head wondering how on earth its possible to live in such a suffocating manner.

Regardless of which camp you find yourself in, one thing is true: God is a planner and His plans are not only guaranteed to work out, they are always good!

Mark Batterson, one of my favorite Christian authors said in his book The Circle Maker, that we should “plan like it depends on us but pray like it depends on God.” I found a lot of comfort in that line of thinking because it allows me to map things out as I feel and believe they should go, but it also forces me to plan with hands open, holding loosely to the things on my schedule. It’s not an easy thing to do, living life knowing all that prep work could be for not; but I don’t believe any of it is ever wasted! Even if it is just the experience we gain from the preparation, God grows us in the process.

The older I have gotten the more I have realized that it is a huge relief, a weight lifted, that while God wants to use me to work out His Kingdom plans, in the end I’m really not needed. It’s a matter of “get to” versus “have to.” If God can speak creation into existence, hold the Earth and the planets in place, cause the rising and falling of the sun, and tell the ocean where to stop, am I really so arrogant to believe that he NEEDS me and my five-year plan laid out in a color-coded Excel spreadsheet to work out other Kingdom matters? I think not.

Praise God that I get to be part of His plan. Praise God that I get to be a tool in His hands. Praise God that I get to see Him do the impossible and watch miracles unfold in real time. But most of all Praise God that it’s not up to me and my planning. Praise the one who knows us, sees us, values us, loves us and holds all the plans down to the smallest detail in his hands – plans that are so good, and infinitely better than anything we could imagine, and give us a future and a hope!

Minda Seagraves has been married to her best friend, Russell, for 17 years and is mom to Carson and Maddie. She is also a full-time missionary with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, serving as a chaplain to local female high school teams and supports 380 staff across four states in the U.S. and 20 countries in East Africa as the Regional Director of Talent Advancement with FCA. Minda and her family live in Acworth and have been attending NorthStar Church since 2020.

Digging Deeper: When Things Don’t Go As Planned

Minda Seagraves on June 27, 2024

And I will lead the blind
    in a way that they do not know,
in paths that they have not known
    I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
    the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I do,
    and I do not forsake them.

Isaiah 42:16 (ESV)

WHEN THINGS DON’T GO AS PLANNED

I had it all mapped out. First, I would knock out my core classes, then dive into the major requirements that were needed to apply for pharmacy school. By Junior Year, I would apply and be accepted to an in-state pharmacy school. In five years, one more in undergraduate and four of graduate, I would earn my PharmD and have a career that I loved that would provide a steady solid income for my one-day, would-be family. Then classes started and I found out very quickly that things can look great on paper but go very differently in reality. It didn’t take long for me to realize I was in WAY over my head. I dropped all my classes and went back to the drawing board. It was a difficult time of disappointment watching the dreams and plans I had for my life dissolve, having no clue what to do next.

At this point in my life I was not walking with the Lord. I was on my schedule, my way, chasing down my dreams. I had a salvation experience with Jesus several years earlier, but without any Christian community to disciple me I quickly fell away from the tiny understanding of faith that I had and turned to the world for advice.

I was walking blind as a bat through the darkness, fumbling my way as best as I could toward what I thought was a good and noble plan. And while there was absolutely nothing fundamentally wrong with what I had mapped out for my life there was one BIG problem- it was my plan and not God’s. It would take more than a decade for me to come around and finally be walking in the plan he created for my life.

Through many ups and downs, attempts and failures I learned both what it meant to let Christ be my guide and how to hold my plans loosely.

I realized that my plans seem good, but His plans are great! Good is the enemy of great!! How often do we miss out on God’s best because we are content in our good enough?

Life rarely, if ever, goes as planned and weathering disappointments is part of the deal. Looking back, I am so thankful that the Lord didn’t forsake me, that he was willing to lead me in my blindness, turning the dark to light and the rough ground to the level places I stand on today!

Digging Deeper: Endurance

Minda Seagraves on June 26, 2024

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Hebrews 10:36 (NLT)

ENDURANCE

Running used to be my jam! Nothing beats being able to lace up a pair of shoes and just GO for miles on end without any limitations. I found out early in my running days that the gift of a long run is just that, a gift. It’s something you have to wait for and cannot rush, because a lack of patience results in injury. That’s why it is no longer my jam – after a while the injuries add up and your body no longer can weather the strain.

I remember the first time I realized that the name of the game was distance, not speed. It was perfectly acceptable to run slow if the end goal was to run long. It’s not like I was planning to compete in and sort of event; I simply wanted to enjoy being outside and improve my cardiovascular fitness. Once I conquered the initial battle of no longer dredging through the first couple miles as though I had on ankle weights while traversing through quicksand, it didn’t take long for me to feel that rush of wanting to push just a little further. That’s exactly what I did. I took my planned three-mile run and turned it into an eight-mile run. Only after I got home and the endorphins wore off did I realize that something was not right with my foot. A trip to the orthopedic doctor and an x-ray quickly revealed that my lack of patience had resulted in a stress fracture in my foot. Not only could I not go as far as I wanted, but I was sidelined until I healed to then slowly start over from square one.

We do the same exact thing in our faith journey! Instead of having the patience to wait on God to lay out the next step, we decide he’s not moving fast enough. Sound familiar? Waiting takes endurance! We want to rush ahead and get to the good while skipping over all the hard. Just like we talked about on Sunday, we must be willing to wait until God answers- and there is no way to know how long that waiting period will be. Each time God asks us to wait on Him the ask comes at a slightly increased measure of difficulty. The thing or outcome on the other side has slightly higher stakes than the time before and feels a little more out of our reach. We get lost in the minutia of getting there and lose sight of the one who spoke the promise into our hearts in the first place. If only we would be willing to slow down and look back at all the ways He has been faithful to keep the promises of the past, then we would have the endurance to wait on Him to get us there instead of rushing ahead of him and winding up weary and wounded.

I learned early on that as a distance runner I had to endure in and through conditioning. I had to slowly increase milage to avoid injury to all the bones, ligaments, and muscles that fire, enabling me to propel myself forward. In the same way God conditions us, He conditions our faith muscle slowly and over time the initial limitations and fatigue that happened at the one-mile marker are a distant memory, as we effortlessly glide through the finish line of the marathon.

Digging Deeper: While I Am Waiting

Minda Seagraves on June 25, 2024

so that you will not be [spiritually] sluggish, but [will instead be] imitators of those who through faith [lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power] and by patient endurance [even when suffering] are [now] inheriting the promises.

Hebrews 6:12 (AMP)

WHILE I AM WAITING

As I was contemplating this devo, two words came into the focus of my mind’s eye: “faith fatigue.” I ran a quick Google search and sure enough, I’m not the first one to ever put these words together. In fact, my search yielded this definition from 3armedmonster.net: “faith fatigue is characterized by discouragement, disconnection, and weariness in the midst of your Christian journey. You’re not burnt out on Christ. You’re exhausted from the never-ending journey of having faith in God’s plans for your life and the world around you.” For me, that definition simultaneously nails it and makes me feel like a wimp. We don’t want to admit that the faith waiting asks of us takes a toll. But if we’re willing to get real and be vulnerable with ourselves and each other about our true feelings related to waiting, we can experience growth in those seasons of in-between that easily exceeds that which happens in the regular day-to-day.

We can be certain God is good all the time, but as Mike Linch often says, it has to “travel that 18 inches from our head to our heart.” Knowing God keeps his promises and believing that he will do the same again for us in the specific situation and circumstances we are in are two completely different things. So, how do we keep on keeping on in the faith journey when we are bone tired with fatigue?

Today’s reminder from Paul to the Hebrews is a great place to start! When we are feeling spiritually sluggish, we can look to those faithful giants in the past for reassurance that God can and WILL come through for us just like He did for them. Sometimes we need to lean on the faith of others who have gone before us, and ask trusted friends and family to believe for us because we lack the energy required to breathe one more syllable in prayer. Letting them stand in the gap not only strengthens you and your faith but theirs as well! As they get a front row seat to your circumstance, walking with you in the weary and worn out, they also get a front row seat to the miracle and seeing God do what he does best – make the impossible possible! It doesn’t stop there, because before they know it they will be leaning on the faith journey they walked with you as they traverse their own season of waiting on God’s promises to unfold. And so it goes on and on, over and over, as we faithfully bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2).

Paul also reminds us that patience leads to the promise. Bottom line friends, if He says he will do it you can take it to the bank! It will almost never happen how or when you wanted or planned, but you can be sure that it is in His exact perfect timing. We often forget how intricately creation works together. No one thing happens in a silo; it all reverberates off each other. If God operated like the genie we often wished he was, giving us exactly what we want when we want it like an Amazon Prime order, things would be a disaster! We grow in the waiting, and we often recognize that when it all pans out His timing is far better than ours.

So how do we overcome faith fatigue? Simply put, we don’t go at it – whatever “it” is – alone!

Digging Deeper: Waiting is Hard

Minda Seagraves on June 24, 2024

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

WAITING IS HARD

Waiting is hard. I know that does not come as a complete surprise, right? Never have you once thought to yourself “I sure hope I have something important and life changing that I get to wait on soon.” No matter how many times we have done it, how old we get, how good or bad we weathered the last season of waiting, it never gets easier. But why is that, and how can we grow our waiting muscle?

Back in the “olden days,” the 1900’s, when it was time to try out for a sports team at the school you had to do one of two things after tryouts: 1. You waited for a congratulatory call from the coach welcoming you to the team, or 2. You waited until the appointed time to drive to the school and search feverishly for your name on the team roster that had been posted on the gym window. I have sat in the waiting room of both those scenarios when time passed excruciatingly slowly. Knowing that I had a good relationship and history with the coaches, as well as the desired skill set they were looking for, did little to nothing to settle the “what ifs” and doubt from swarming through my head in the hours and minutes that ticked waiting for the outcome. I knew in my head, without reason to doubt, that I had what it took to make the team, but until my name was on that piece of paper there was still a chance for something to get squirrely.

Sarah had a lot more on the line than making the Canaan cheer team. She was waiting for the promised child with her husband, and she had been waiting for quite some time. Logically, she could look back and see how the Lord had taken care of them, and she could trace his track record of goodness; but, this was different, wasn’t it? After all, she was old, HE was old, and that ship of possibility had long since sailed. So, she may as well find a way to silence the desire of her heart and that nagging inability to just let it go and live in reality. I have been there, having that self-dialogue rationalizing that yes, God is good and keeps his promises, but I must have just misunderstood.

Why do we do that? Why is it in the waiting that, instead of doubling down on the divine we have witnessed time and again, we become dismissive?

In another season of waiting, I walked through something much harder than cheer tryouts. I, like Sarah, was longing to be a mother to a child I would carry. It was during that time that the Lord gave me my life verse- Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Every doctor appointment, every test, every scan I spoke those words and let them be the foundation for my feet. I forced my fears to conform to the faith that came not from my understanding but the Lord and the Lord alone. I didn’t realize it at the time, but the Lord was growing my faith muscle and giving me the first of what would become many tools to cling to in seasons of waiting.

So how do we get better at waiting? We get more of His promises buried in our hearts. We “meditate on it day and night” so that, when the hard happens and we are asked to wait, we lean not on the ‘what ifs,’ traveling down every rabbit trail or possibility, but sit securely in the unknown trusting that whatever the outcome is, our good good Father planned that outcome in advance for our good and His glory!

Digging Deeper: Jesus Calls Us By Name

Minda Seagraves on April 5, 2024

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

John 20:16 (NLT)

JESUS CALLS US BY NAME

I am horrible with names! Thankfully, in my line of work I can get away with calling almost everyone “Coach,” but it’s not always that easy. There are all sorts of tricks to help you remember someone’s name when you meet them for the first time. The one that works best for me is to link their name to something or someone else. I have come up with some ridiculous things to help me remember names, but usually when I’m intentional about remembering a name it sticks.

There is power in hearing our names spoken aloud. According to seen.io, “being called by our name generally makes us feel recognized and valued, uplifting our mood and self-esteem.” Having a unique name that is usually said wrong, I can attest to that mood boost when I hear my name spoken aloud correctly.

Do you know that Jesus knows your name and calls you by it? In those moments where the sunrise hits you just right or the words to a song speak to you right where you are, those are some of the ways Jesus calls us by name. Mary was weeping and searching for Jesus, and it took just one thing to bring her to the reality of his presence – her name. As we discussed on Wednesday, he spoke her name, then sent her on Holy assignment.

He is doing that for us today. He calls you by name and gives you a Kingdom assignment prepared in advance for you and you alone. He’s calling you specifically to live sent in a unique way.

We may not audibly hear Jesus speak our name but if we lean in close, we will hear him in hundreds of other ways as he speaks to us through creation, music, his Word, and his children- our brothers and sisters in Christ.

After hearing her name Mary got and followed the instructions from Jesus. He is calling you too. Calling you to lean in, to trust him, to rely on him, to seek him first, to walk in the freedom that was blood bought and paid for on the cross. He is calling you by name to live sent!

PRAY

Jesus thank you for being a personal Savior that calls us by name. Thank you that you don’t leave it up to us to figure out what you are calling us to do for your Kingdom. We are your handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which you prepared for us in advance. Father, let us hear you when you call us, let us feel the nearness of your presence and be filled with your holy confidence to walk out in obedience your calling in our lives each and every day. In Jesus’ name I pray- Amen

Digging Deeper: Jesus is there in the Routine

Minda Seagraves on April 4, 2024

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him.”

John 20:13 (NLT)

JESUS IS THERE IN THE ROUTINE

Have you even been in a season where you felt like you couldn’t find Jesus? We know that He is always there, omnipresent at our side, but there are times when it feels like He is nowhere to be found.

Prayers come back empty, praises fall flat, time in The Word just feels like a bunch of words. What do you do? How do you respond when you’re doing all the “right” things, looking in all the right places for Jesus, but keep coming up empty handed?

I used to think these seasons were an indication that I needed to change it up, stop my Bible-in-a-year plan and start a topical devotion. Stop journaling and start reading more theology books. That maybe my quiet time had become too routine, and I was just checking boxes. So, a fresh plan would be the answer. I was wrong!

It took a couple years of completely getting off track for me to slow down long enough and hear the Lord tell me to stop changing what was working. Yes, routine can get, well routine, and it’s easy to check a box instead of lingering in the presence of Jesus- especially if you’re like me and enjoy crossing things off your list! But what He has taught me is to not stop looking for him in the places I know he has been most visible to me.

Mary was looking for Jesus in the exact spot she last saw him. She didn’t see the empty tomb and run to the next town to find him. She stayed put and didn’t stop searching for him until he revealed himself to her.

Wherever you meet with the Lord and feel His presence best – keep going to that place. In those times that He seems to have disappeared, lean in closer and don’t stop seeking after Him until you find Him.

PRAY

Jesus thank you that even in the times you feel far away we know you are still there. That no matter what we feel we can trust you are with us. Help us to faithfully push through the seasons of searching for you and give us renewed perseverance to lean in closer to you. Let us not rely on a feeling but a knowing- a knowing that you are always with us and let that be the fire that burns within us to be desperate for more of you. Fill us to overflowing with the joy and hope that only comes from you. In Jesus’ name- Amen

Digging Deeper: Jesus Cleanses Us Completely

Minda Seagraves on April 3, 2024

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned to him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord.”

John 20:16-18 (NLT)

JESUS CLEANSES US COMPLETELY

As I was this the Lord gave me a nudge. He reminded me of how personally special Easter is to me and asked me to share it with you, because maybe you’re where I was on Easter Sunday nine years ago.

I was walking with Jesus and doing the best I could to fully embrace my redemption, but the truth was I was completely shackled by the weight of shame from my past. I wasn’t walking in the sin that had held me captive for so long, but I still felt like I was living a lie. That if anyone really knew who I had been or the things I had done, they’d never talk to me or invite me back to “Godly” things. So I worked hard to avoid anyone from my past and focused on the future. I divided my life into two parts- Before Jesus and After Jesus, and in no way could those two world collide.

I wonder if Mary Magdalene ever felt that way. I wonder if she ever worried that she’d see someone from her “before Jesus” life and they would not believe her transformation was real. Or, if she feared anyone from her “after Jesus” life would find out the deepest, ugliest secrets from her past.

I have to believe she battled those thoughts and fears just like I did, and like so many other believers do. But that’s why this Easter message is so special to me in such a personal way that could only be delivered by Jesus.

He revealed himself first to the one with the most scandalous past. Not only that, but she was the one he charged with telling the first ever complete Gospel story! Talk about a redemption!

On Easter Sunday 2015, as I was dead smack in the middle of one of the hardest physical and emotional battles I have ever walked through, every single chain was broken as I fully understood, accepted, and embraced the forgiveness I had been given.

Just like Mary, I was not defined by my past, nor did it determine my future!

Friend, I don’t know where this finds you, but if you are like I was, struggling to break free of the weight of shame and guilt, I pray now in the mighty name of Jesus that every chain would be broken as you soak in the beauty and redemption of today’s passage!

PRAY

Jesus thank you that by your blood our sin and shame is paid in full! Father, thank you that we are forgiven and free and not defined by our past. Thank you for the cross, for bearing the weight of my punishment so that I can live a transformed live here and now as I await forever with you in Glory. I love you Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray- Amen

Digging Deeper: Turn to Jesus First

Minda Seagraves on April 2, 2024

Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

1 Chronicles 16:11 (NLT)

TURN TO JESUS FIRST

Let’s be honest: when things get tough, most of us don’t seek the Lord first. I know my go-to first reaction when the hard rolls in is to freak out. I have a PhD in catastrophizing (insert faceplate emoji here). If it’s an unhappy email from a work colleague, a misunderstanding with someone in my family or abnormal test results from the doctor, the first thing my mind does is go straight to the worst-case scenario. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

Over the years, through lots of prayer and intentionality, I have gotten better at more quickly turning my thoughts to the One who will give peace and bring answers. I have given myself the grace to feel the feelings but quickly ask God what His truths are considering the circumstances. I have a routine each morning when I meet with Jesus that includes affirmations of who He says I am. When I am reminded each day that I am known, seen, loved, cherished, redeemed, held, enough, valued, wanted, called, anointed, appointed, and set apart it helps me to stand more firmly when the wind begins to blow. My mind more quickly shifts from catastrophizing to remembering – who He is, who he says I am, all he has done for me – and I trust that He’s not going to stop now. When the hard hits, let’s be intentional about locking eyes with Jesus first, or at least more quickly, because he is our strength!

PRAY

Jesus thank you that you never tire of us not seeking you first. Thank you for your patience with us when we eventually come to you weary and worn down from the troubles we are facing. You meet us right there in the middle of it, and pick us up and carry us through. Help us to seek you first. Remove in us the tendency to panic or seek resolutions from anything other than you. Set our hearts on fire for more of you Jesus! In your name I pray- Amen

Digging Deeper: Weep No More – The Tomb is Empty

Minda Seagraves on April 1, 2024

Mary was standing outside the tomb Crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.

John 20:11 (NLT)

WEEP NO MORE: THE TOMB IS EMPTY

We all have those seasons when the hits just keep coming. Wave after wave, it’s all you can do to tread water and keep breathing. Whether it’s health, finances, or relationships there are limitless things in this world that threaten to steal our joy. When I answered the call into full time vocational ministry eight years ago, I distinctly remember a conversation with my new supervisor, who told me to “hold on because the attacks from the enemy were about to get bigger.” I was fully aware of the very real impact of spiritual warfare but didn’t see how I was now somehow more susceptible to it. It didn’t take long to realize he wasn’t kidding, and the arrows flew at my family and I at a seemingly never-ending pace. From little things like my car refusing to crank for no reason, to bigger things like scary diagnoses and funding hardships, the attacks were coming non-stop.

It wasn’t that my job or title as a missionary made me more of a threat to the enemy, but the fact that I was now 24/7 locked in on doing what we call here at NorthStar Church – “living sent.” I was being intentional about having Gospel conversations with coaches and athletes and discipling others to do the same, just like you are doing in all the places you do your daily life!

It can be easy in these seasons to do exactly what Mary did- stand outside the tomb and weep. Weep for the difficulty, for the loss, for the sheer exhaustion of it all. But don’t stop there! If we simply stand outside the proverbial tomb of our circumstances and weep, we miss out on the hope. Yes, Mary had a very real response to the tangible circumstances, but she didn’t stop where her feelings left her. She stooped down to look inside and found an empty tomb. She didn’t know what she was seeing at first, but soon her weeping turned into rejoicing.

No matter your season of life, know and trust that Jesus wastes NOTHING. I tell my coaches and athletes all the time in the face of hardships that never has God said, “Well, I didn’t see that coming! Now what?” We serve a God who orders your steps and prepared good works for you in advance! Not only did He know what was coming but he knows the way through it and exactly how it will be worked for your good and His glory! The tomb is empty friends. Remember in the weeping to stop and look for Jesus.

PRAY

Jesus thank you for the empty tomb! Thank you for the reminder that it’s ok to weep and to feel all the feelings that come with the hard seasons – but we can’t stop there. Thank you that all our days have been ordered according to your plan and purpose for our lives, and that even in the moments we can hardly keep our head above water, you are there with us in the deep, making a way through to the other side. We love you Father and we ask you to help us to feel your nearness like never before! In Jesus’ name- Amen!