Celebrate Recovery at BVC

Celebrate Recovery at BVC Finding freedom from hurts, hang-ups and habits. We are a 12 step, Christ centered recovery group that meets every Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome!

at Bluff View Church in Arpin, WI.

09/10/2026

Why Did I Survive When They Didn't?
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 (KJV)
Recently, a fellow church member asked me how to live with survivor's guilt after a car accident took another person's life and left someone he loved badly hurt.

He was still here. He felt guilty for it.

Survivor's guilt is real. Feeling sad after something like that is normal.

A Bible verse isn't supposed to make you pretend the accident didn't happen or act like the loss doesn't hurt.

The Bible gives us somewhere to stand while the same few seconds keep playing in our minds.

Look again at what God says in Isaiah. He doesn't say, "You need to do a new thing." He says, "I will do a new thing."

Healing isn't something we can force. Replaying the accident can't undo what happened, and punishing ourselves won't bring anybody back.

In Isaiah, God promised His people that He would make a way through a place where they couldn't make one for themselves. The new thing belonged to Him.

Jeremiah gives us another place to stand:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)

Jeremiah was speaking to people living in exile, far from home, who still had years of waiting ahead of them. God's promise didn't deny their present pain.

It told them that He hadn't abandoned them and that evil wouldn't have the last word over their future.

Survivor's guilt says, "It should have been me. Why did You save me?"

That guilt can come from trauma, from questions we can't answer, or from a mind trying to make sense of what happened. Whatever its source, the thought that you must punish yourself for surviving doesn't agree with the grace God gives us in Christ.

Romans 8:1 says:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Simply put, Paul is saying that when our faith is in Jesus, God doesn't give us a guilty sentence. The last words describe a life led by God's Spirit instead of our own sinful desires.

Jesus took our guilty sentence when He died on the cross. God isn't asking us to keep condemning ourselves for being alive.

No condemnation doesn't mean the loss no longer matters. It doesn't mean we ignore any real responsibility connected to what happened.

It means we can face the truth without making lifelong punishment our answer to it.

We may never understand why one person survived and somebody else didn't. God hasn't asked us to solve that question before we receive His peace.

You're still right here, asking how to trust God. The guilt hasn't stopped you from reaching for Him.

Isaiah doesn't tell us the exact shape your healing will take. It shows us that the God who made a way for His people is still faithful when we can't see a way through our own wilderness.

Here's how to bring survivor's guilt to God today:
1. Put the thought next to Romans 8:1.

When the thought that you should have died returns, write it down and read Romans 8:1 beside it. Let what God said answer the guilty sentence you've been giving yourself.

2. Ask God for the way you can't force.

Tell Him what keeps replaying and where you feel stuck. Ask Him to lead you through the place where you can't manufacture peace or see the path yet.

3. Let somebody help you carry this.

Tell a licensed counselor who works with trauma what happened and what you blame yourself for. Ask for help separating any real responsibility from the guilt that keeps punishing you.

If you have a pastor you trust, tell them where you're stuck too.

PRAYER
Father God, You know what happened. You know how often it still plays in my mind.

The sadness is real. I've been carrying guilt for still being here.

When I hear, "It should have been me," remind me that You aren't giving me a guilty sentence because my faith is in Jesus.

Help me face anything I need to face honestly without turning my whole life into a punishment.

Lead me through the place where I can't see a way forward, and keep me from trying to force healing on my own timetable.

Give me courage to tell my pastor and a counselor where I feel stuck.

Teach me to receive Your thoughts of peace even while I am grieving.

In Jesus' beautiful name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Got something this devotion stirred up in you? Say it in the comments. Somebody reading today is feeling the same thing, and your words might be what they needed to see.

09/09/2026

What Does 666 Actually Mean?
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
Revelation 13:18 (KJV)
Before we focus on the number, we need to understand what the book of Revelation is actually about.

Revelation contains warnings and judgment, but it is not a doomsday manual God gave us so we could panic over symbols or decode every frightening headline. The opening words tell us the center of the whole book:

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ..."

Revelation 1:1 (KJV)

Revelation reveals Jesus. It shows us that counterfeit power will fall and Jesus will remain King.

It calls God's people to stay faithful to Him.

That means 666 matters, but Jesus is the center.

If all we leave Revelation with is fear of a number, we missed the first line of the book. We can spend so much time focusing on 666, the mark, or an end-times timeline that we overlook the warning underneath them.

Revelation 13:18 calls 666 "the number of a man." The warning is about what happens when man tries to take God's place.

Satan creates what I call an unholy trinity, a false copy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit built around man taking God's place. Six represents man, so let's walk through the three sixes one at a time.

The first six is man taking the Father's position as judge. We judge our own lives and other people, then calculate everything for ourselves because we want control, even though God never handed us that position.

With the second six, man takes the Holy Spirit's position.

The Holy Spirit comforts and leads, but we'd rather lead ourselves and decide what will make us feel better.

Sometimes that means drugs, and sometimes it's anything we reach for because we don't want to bring what hurts to God.

The last six puts man in the Son's position. This is where legalism comes in.

Legalism means trying to make ourselves right with God through what we do.

Ephesians says the opposite:

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV)

Salvation can't be a gift from God and still depend on how well we perform this week, because Jesus is the Savior and our legalism doesn't help Him save us. It only puts us in a position that was never ours.

That is what 666 exposes: man replacing God with himself three times.

Understanding 666 should not leave us fascinated with Satan. It should expose self-rule and return our attention to Jesus.

Those positions still belong to Him. God remains the judge, the Holy Spirit still leads and comforts us, and Jesus saves completely.

The warning about 666 should move us away from self-rule and back to Jesus.

Here's how to step out of those positions today:
1. Hand your verdict back to God.

When you start deciding what you or somebody else deserves, stop and ask what God has actually said in His Word. Your feelings and calculations aren't the final judge.

2. Bring your pain to God before you numb it.

Tell Him plainly what hurts and what you want to escape. Open His Word while the urge is still there, and reach out for help if you're using drugs or another habit to carry pain you can't handle alone.

3. Rest your salvation on Jesus.

Ephesians says salvation is "not of works." You're trusting the Savior who already did the work.

When you read Revelation, keep Jesus at the center. Don't let fear of a symbol become bigger than the Savior the whole book reveals.

PRAYER
Father God, I've taken positions that belong to You.

I've judged my life from my own thoughts and tried to control what I couldn't understand.

Instead of bringing my heart to You, I've reached for other things to comfort me.

Legalism made me try to prove myself when Jesus already did the saving.

I don't want to put myself in Your position anymore.

Help me trust Your judgment, follow the Holy Spirit's leading, and rest my salvation on Jesus.

When I read Revelation, keep my attention on Christ instead of fear.

Thank You for never asking me to replace You or live terrified of what Jesus has already overcome.

In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Sitting with a question after reading this? Open up Gospel Bot in the app and ask it whatever's on your mind. It'll walk you through what the Word says, any time of day or night.

Testimony Tuesday is upon us!Doors open at 6:10, start time of 6:30 and done by 8.Snacks are provided and there's even f...
09/08/2026

Testimony Tuesday is upon us!
Doors open at 6:10, start time of 6:30 and done by 8.
Snacks are provided and there's even free childcare!

09/08/2026

When Serving God Is Burning You Out
“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.”
Mark 6:31 (KJV)
Recently, another pastor texted me, "Burned out with life in general, and trying really hard not to make my relationship with God transactional!"

That kind of exhaustion is hard to admit when the work you're tired of is supposed to be for God.

The disciples in Mark 6 had been preaching and serving people. They came back to Jesus and told Him what they had done.

Jesus looked at them and saw something they may not have noticed yet. They were so busy with people coming and going that they didn't even have time to eat.

He didn't call them lazy. He didn't question their dedication.

He said, "Come ye yourselves apart... and rest a while."

Rest was not a reward they received after proving they loved God enough. It was part of how Jesus cared for the people serving beside Him.

Sometimes we don't know whether our exhaustion is coming from the assignment itself or from the way we've been carrying it.

This is where a servant, meaning a pastor who cares for your spiritual life, can help you get clarity.

Reach out before you're completely empty. Ask for a private conversation and be specific about how long you've felt burned out.

Describe what your days look like and what happens inside you when you try to rest.

Don't only ask, "Should I quit?" Ask your pastor to help you see which responsibilities are truly yours. Then look together at what guilt added and what needs to be handed off.

A healthy pastor should bring you back to Scripture and help you build boundaries, not shame you into doing more.

If the exhaustion is affecting your sleep, eating, work, or safety, talk to a doctor or counselor too. A pastor can give spiritual care without pretending every cause is spiritual.

Burnout often begins when we treat every need like an assignment from God. Somebody needs help, so we say yes.

Another message comes in, so we answer. We keep going because stopping feels selfish.

Before long, service starts feeling like a transaction.

We give God our time, our energy, and our sleep, then wonder why He has not given us the peace we expected in return.

But a relationship with God is not a shift we clock into.

When people asked Jesus what work God wanted from them, He answered plainly:

"Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

John 6:29 (KJV)

The first work is to believe.

Service matters, but it grows out of trust. It was never meant to replace trust.

At the cross, Jesus carried the sin that kept us from God. We don't serve to earn our way into His presence.

We serve because grace already gave us a place with Him.

Sometimes the faithful thing is to help. Sometimes the faithful thing is to eat, sleep, turn the phone off, and remember that God keeps working while we rest.

Jesus told the disciples to rest "a while." He wasn't asking them to abandon their calling. He was keeping exhaustion from becoming their identity.

You can love God and need a break.

You can care about people without being available to everybody.

Rest is not proof that you stopped serving God. It may be the moment you finally stop trying to be Him.

Here's how to step out of the transaction today:
Name one responsibility you picked up because you felt guilty, not because God actually gave it to you.

If it can wait, let it wait. Eat something, sleep, or sit with God without producing anything for Him.

Let John 6:29 remind you that believing Jesus is not the break from spiritual life. It is where spiritual life begins.

PRAYER
Father God,

I'm tired, and I've been afraid that admitting it would make me unfaithful.

I've treated every need like it was mine to carry.

I've served You while forgetting how to sit with You.

Thank You that Jesus finished the work I could never finish.

Show me what You actually gave me to do.

Give me the humility to rest and trust You with what keeps moving without me.

Teach me to serve from grace instead of trying to earn Your love.

In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Got something this devotion stirred up in you? Say it in the comments. Somebody reading today is feeling the same thing, and your words might be what they needed to see.

09/07/2026

Is The Internet Feeding Your Anger?
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”
James 1:19-20 (KJV)
The internet can keep us angry all day.

One clip makes us mad, the next one confirms why we should be mad, and within a few minutes our body is sitting still while our heart is in a fight with people we've never met.

Some of the things we see are genuinely wrong. Anger can begin because we care about injustice, dishonesty, cruelty, or people using God's name to hurt others.

James, the writer of this New Testament letter, doesn't tell us that every concern is fake. He tells us to examine what our anger produces.

"Wrath" means hot anger that takes over our response. James says human wrath doesn't produce God's righteousness, which means our rage can't create the rightness we say we want.

That's a hard verse for online life because outrage gets rewarded. The angrier the post makes us, the more likely we're to watch it again or comment on it.

Most of what reaches us online was posted to create a reaction.

Anger and fear work at getting us engaged unfortunately.

Even hope and encouragement can be pushed until our emotions are running at full volume. The direction of the feeling matters less to the platform than whether it keeps us watching.

That doesn't make the internet evil. It's a tool, and it may even be where you found my videos.

Some of the content can still be true and helpful. I pray my own videos are.

But the companies handing us these tools are not our pastors. A feed cannot love us, notice when our mind is exhausted, or tell us when we've had enough.

The system learns from what keeps us clicking, watching, sharing, and reacting. That means the feed's purpose is never purely your well-being.

It is also trying to keep you there.

Nobody hands us instructions for what hours of emotionally loaded content can do to our heart. We have to bring our own wisdom and awareness every time we open the app.

We tell ourselves we're staying informed, but sometimes it leads to rehearsing our anger.

The first part of the verse gives us a slower way to live. James calls us to listen before answering and wait before reacting.

Quick to hear means we listen before deciding that a short clip gave us the whole story.

Slow to speak means we don't hand our first reaction to a comments section. Slow to anger means our feelings don't get to choose the next action by themselves.

Jesus had every reason to condemn us, yet He came to save us.

Grace doesn't make evil unimportant. It keeps us from becoming cruel while we're trying to oppose it.

You may still care deeply after you close the app. That's fine.

The question is whether the content is helping you act with truth and love or only training your nervous system to stay furious.

Here's how to interrupt the anger today:
1. Name what the content is producing.

After ten minutes, are you more able to pray, listen, and act wisely, or are you looking for somebody to punish with your words?

2. Put a pause between the feeling and the post.

Don't comment while your body is heated. Read James 1:19-20 out loud and wait until you can state the concern without insulting a person.

3. Turn one concern into a real act of love.

Pray for the people involved, help somebody affected, report abuse through the proper channel, or have one honest conversation.

Anger that never becomes wise action will keep consuming you.

PRAYER
Almighty God,

I've let online content decide the temperature of my heart.

Some of what I saw was wrong, but my anger hasn't always produced anything righteous.

Make me quick to hear and slow to speak.

Give me wisdom before I share or comment.

Show me one loving action that's mine to take.

Keep my concern for truth from becoming contempt for people.

In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Somebody came to mind while you were reading this. Send it to them. It might be the exact thing they needed to hear today.

09/06/2026

Can Studying The Bible Become A Distraction From God?
“Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him.”
1 Corinthians 8:1-3 (KJV)
Knowing Bible facts and knowing God aren't automatically the same thing.

That sounds strange because studying Scripture is good. We should read it, ask questions, learn the context, and care about what the words actually mean.

Paul, an apostle and early church leader, wasn't against knowledge. He was highly educated and used that knowledge to explain Jesus clearly.

His warning was about what knowledge can do inside our heart.

"Puffeth up" means it can make us swollen with pride. "Charity" is the King James word for love, and "edifieth" means it builds somebody up.

The Christians in the Greek city of Corinth were arguing about food that had been offered to idols. Some of them understood that an idol had no real power, but they used the right answer without caring how their behavior affected a believer with a weaker conscience.

They had correct doctrine but careless love.

That's how Bible study can become a distraction from God. We can keep collecting answers because answers make us feel strong, while avoiding the part of Scripture that exposes our pride and brings us back to Jesus.

We can study a Greek word for an hour and still speak cruelly to the person sitting beside us. We can know the timeline, defend the doctrine, and enjoy being the one with the answer while forgetting why the Word was given.

The Bible doesn't exist to make us impressive. It shows us the heart of God, tells us the truth about ourselves, and leads us to Christ.

Paul says if somebody thinks they already know, they don't yet know as they should. That sentence keeps every Bible student humble.

The answer isn't to study less because knowledge is dangerous. The answer is to quit using knowledge as a hiding place.

The gospel takes away our reason to perform. Jesus already finished what we could never accomplish, so we don't need a shelf full of facts to prove we belong to Him.

Let the Word bring you to the One it reveals. Let it correct you before you use it to correct everybody else.

Here's how to study without hiding today:
Read one short passage and ask two questions:

What does this show me about God and Jesus?

What does it uncover in my own heart?

Write the answers in plain language. If your study only gives you something to say to another person, sit with the passage a little longer.

Ask Jesus to use the truth on you before you carry it into a conversation.

PRAYER
Precious Lord,

Thank You for giving us Your Word.

I've used knowledge to feel important and to avoid looking at my own heart.

Today I want to be taught, not just informed.

Show me Jesus in the passage I read.

Let what I learn make me more loving and more honest.

Keep me from using the Bible to stand above somebody You love.

In Jesus' wonderful name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Got something this devotion stirred up in you? Say it in the comments. Somebody reading today is feeling the same thing, and your words might be what they needed to see.

09/05/2026

Does Humility Mean Pretending You Agree?
“But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.”
Galatians 2:11 (KJV)
Humility doesn't require us to call something right when we believe it's wrong.

Recently, someone asked me whether agreeing with a person who is wrong would become a kind of lying. That's a fair question, especially when Christians are told that peace means keeping quiet.

Paul, an apostle who helped lead the early church, speaks from real experience. Peter was one of the twelve disciples who walked with Jesus, yet Paul says he confronted him face to face because Peter was wrong.

Peter had been eating with Gentile believers, people who weren't Jewish.

When certain religious men arrived, he pulled away because he was afraid of what they would think. His actions made it look like the grace of Jesus wasn't enough to bring everybody to the same table.

Paul didn't pretend to agree. The gospel was being blurred, so he spoke.

This is where we usually make one of two mistakes. We stay silent because we're afraid of conflict, or we use the truth as permission to embarrass somebody.

Paul did neither. He addressed the person involved and named the issue that mattered.

The goal wasn't to prove that Paul was smarter than Peter. The goal was to protect the truth that people are made right with God through Jesus, not through religious performance.

Paul explains the posture elsewhere:

"But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:"

Ephesians 4:15 (KJV)

Truth and love are in the same sentence here.

Love without honesty can leave a harmful lie standing. Honesty without love can become pride wearing a Bible verse.

Jesus never asked us to win arguments. He gave Himself to save people who were wrong, including us.

That grace lets us speak without acting superior because the truth didn't come from us in the first place.

You're allowed to disagree but you're also responsible for the heart you bring into the disagreement.

Here's how to disagree with humility today:
1. Name the actual issue.

Write one plain sentence about what you believe is wrong. If the sentence is mostly about the other person's character, you're probably no longer correcting the issue.

2. Speak to the person, not around them.

When it's safe and appropriate, ask for a private conversation. Paul went to Peter's face. He didn't build a crowd first.

3. Hold your feeling against the Word.

Fear may tell you to agree so nobody gets upset, while pride may tell you to keep talking until you win. Bring both feelings under the truth and love of Christ before you answer.

PRAYER
Heavenly Father,

I've confused humility with silence, and I've also used honesty to defend my pride.

Give me a heart that cares more about truth and people than about winning.

Show me when to speak and when to leave an argument alone.

Help me address the real issue without attacking the person.

Keep the gospel at the center of every hard conversation.

In Jesus' beautiful name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Got something this devotion stirred up in you? Say it in the comments. Somebody reading today is feeling the same thing, and your words might be what they needed to see.

09/02/2026

Why Do I Still Feel Like The Old Me?
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)
An old name can feel more believable than the new one.

We can love Jesus and still hear "addict" when a craving hits. We can still think, "This is just who I am," after losing our temper or falling back into something we thought we were done with.

Some thoughts have been around so long that they feel like facts.

Why does the old version of us sometimes feel more real than what God said?

Paul gives us a firm foundation and deep understanding. When we trust Jesus, God counts us as belonging to Him.

That's what "in Christ" means here.

The tense that Paul uses matters.

He doesn't say we might become new creatures once we finally get ourselves together. He says we are new right now.

"New creature" means God has made you someone new in Christ. The struggle can still be real while that identity stays true.

That doesn't make a relapse harmless.

It means we don't have to crawl back to God as the people we used to be. We come to Him as His children who need help.

We don't crawl back, we come back. Different C's.

Think about learning to ride a bike. At first, you keep losing your balance and putting one foot back on the ground.

You don't quit because you wobbled. You get back on and keep correcting your balance until staying up becomes familiar.

Trusting what God says about you can feel like that. Each time the old label returns, we answer it with the words God used in the Bible.

That verse was true before we read it today but since we're human do tend to forget.
That's why Paul also says to renew our mind daily, meaning remember.
We should always be coming back to the word to remember our true nature.

Paul explains how God can call us new a few verses later:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

2 Corinthians 5:21 (KJV)

Jesus had never sinned, but He took our sin as His own. God gives Jesus' righteousness to everyone who trusts Him, and "righteous" means "right with God".

We didn't earn that identity by going long enough without falling back into the old habit. Jesus gave it to us because of what He finished when He died for us on the cross.

What He did carries more weight than the worst thought in our heads.

Your feelings may still bring up the old name today. You don't have to pretend they're gone.
But you should never take ownership for something that's not your own.
This is why I teach so heavily on distrusting your thoughts and trusting only what the word of God says.

If you're in Christ, God calls you a new creature. The struggle may require serious help, but it doesn't get to rename you.

Here's how to trust what God says about you today:
1. Put the thought next to the verse.

Write the exact label your mind keeps repeating. Under it, write 2 Corinthians 5:17 in full. Seeing the label beside the verse helps you separate what you feel from what God said.

2. Read the present tense out loud.

When the old feeling comes back, read the words "he is a new creature" out loud. You're agreeing with what God has already said, even before your feelings catch up.

3. Take one action that agrees with your new identity.

If addiction is active, call the person helping you stay sober before the craving makes the next decision. Getting help is one way you stop handing your life back to the old name.

If your thoughts are telling you to hurt yourself, tell a trusted person or contact emergency help right now. You don't have to fight that alone.

PRAYER
Father God,

The old names still feel true sometimes.

My thoughts keep taking me back to who I was and what I have done.

Today I bring those thoughts under Your Word.

Help me trust that I'm a new creature in Christ, even while I'm still getting help and learning how to walk in that truth.

Give me the courage to reach out before I act on the craving or lose my temper.

Thank You for making me right with You through Jesus.

In Jesus' wonderful name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Got something this devotion stirred up in you? Say it in the comments. Somebody reading today is feeling the same thing, and your words might be what they needed to see.

09/01/2026

What Do You Do When Your Spouse Won't Change?
“If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”
Romans 12:18 (KJV)
Wanting a spouse to change can take over a marriage.

We explain the same hurt again because we hope the right words will finally help our spouse understand. Before long, every conversation becomes another attempt to change them.

Paul, who wrote Romans, gives us a boundary that's easy to miss.

He's teaching people who trust Jesus how to live when someone is doing wrong and peace may not be possible. He tells them to pursue peace, but look closely at the limit he puts on it:

"If it be possible, as much as lieth in you"

Romans 12:18 (KJV)

"As much as lieth in you" means "as far as it depends on you."

God holds us responsible for our own words and choices. We can tell the truth and own what we did.

We can also decide what behavior we won't stay around.

Your spouse still decides what they will do. You can't make that decision for them, even when it hurts you.

My mother learned that after more than twenty years of trying to change my father.

He drank and abused her. When she started talking to him about Jesus, the abuse got worse.

A pastor finally asked her who had the power to change my father's heart. She knew the answer wasn't her.

The verse he gave her was this:

"(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

2 Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)

Walking by faith didn't mean pretending the abuse was okay. It meant she stopped treating my father's heart like something she could control and asked God to do what she could not.

My father later came to Christ, and so did my brother.

My family's testimony isn't a promise that every spouse will change or that God will make it happen on our schedule.

Trusting God never means calling abuse good. If you're being threatened or harmed, get somewhere safe and tell someone who can help you.

Caring deeply about a marriage can make us feel responsible for decisions only our spouse can make. God knows where our responsibility ends.

You may need to speak plainly and ask for outside help. You may need distance from harm.

You still have a next step, even if your spouse keeps making the same choice.

Here's how to own your responsibility and trust God with their choices today:
1. Write down your responsibility.

Write down what you need to apologize for or one boundary you need to keep. Do not write down what your spouse should do.

2. Take one step that doesn't require their cooperation.

Make the apology that belongs to you or ask a wise person for help. If you're in danger, use this step to get somewhere safe.

3. Pray about the response you can't control.

Tell God exactly what you want to change, then ask Him to lead you in your next choice. This is how we align back to God. Faith means trusting God when you cannot see what your spouse will do.

PRAYER
Father God, I'm tired from carrying choices that don't belong to me.

Today I bring You the person I love and the conflict I can't fix.

Show me which words and choices are my responsibility.

Give me the courage to tell the truth and keep the boundaries I need.

Lead me to safe help if I'm being harmed.

Keep me from using pressure when I feel afraid.

Help me walk by faith without pretending I know how this story will end.

In Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.

Blessings,
Pastor Johnny Chang

Stuck on something real right now? A relationship you don't know how to handle, a decision you can't make, a habit you can't shake? Group mentorship is where you bring that exact thing and we work through what God actually says about it, live today at 4pm PST. Come walk out with an answer you can use this week.

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"I went from guilt, stress, and a hundred questions to finally getting real answers." - Naomi R.

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