Not Every Victory Looks Like a Celebration
When My Strength Ran Out
A message from Pastor Nicole Washington
"Sometimes victory looks like making it through another day."
Sometimes faith looks like leaning on the people God has placed in your life.
Sometimes strength looks like allowing yourself to be held until you can stand again.
I am still here because God's grace never let go of me.
"This photograph was taken during one of those moments."
Most people know me as Pastor Nicole.
They see the smile.
They hear the messages.
They see the faith.
What they don't always see are the moments behind the scenes.
The moments when I was exhausted.
The moments when my body was weak.
The moments when the weight of illness, treatment, uncertainty, and survival felt heavier than I knew how to carry.
I wasn't preaching. I wasn't teaching. I wasn't encouraging anyone.
I was simply trying to make it through the day.
And in that moment, my mother held me.
People needed to know that although I've gone through a lot of healing — and I have victory in peace and encouragement in faith, and I'm happy — there are times when I had to collapse in my mother's arms. People need to know that side of me too, because that is the truth.
There are ups and downs in life. Everybody's life. And my life is no different.
There Are Two Kinds of Faith
Season One
Faith that looks like standing on the mountain and declaring victory.
Season Two
Faith that looks like resting your head on someone's shoulder and allowing them to carry you until you can stand again.
This Picture Reminds Me That
Strength is not the absence of struggle.
Strength is continuing to trust God in the middle of it.
Strength is allowing yourself to receive help when you need it.
Strength is refusing to quit when life becomes overwhelming.
I am grateful for the people God places in our lives to hold us up when we can no longer hold ourselves up.
Because healing is not always a miracle that happens in a moment.
Sometimes healing looks like love.
Sometimes healing looks like support.
Sometimes healing looks like a mother holding her daughter through one more difficult day.
And sometimes healing begins when we stop pretending we're strong enough to do it all alone.
I Am Still Here.
Not because I was strong every day.
But because God's grace carried me on the days when I wasn't.
And because He sent people to help carry me when I needed them most.
— Pastor Nicole Washington
Scripture
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."
— Isaiah 40:29
You Are Not Alone in Your Season
Whatever you're carrying today — there is a community here to hold you up.