If you’re anything like us, this year continues to feel like one we’re just trying to survive. And if we’re honest, any ideas of thriving seem pretty off the table. But this week’s guest, Jennie Lusko, is here to put some fuel back in our tanks and remind us that every day provides space for us to flourish. In her recently published book, Fight to Flourish she grapples with the tough but literal life changing question:

What if the struggles of life aren’t a barrier to thriving but an invitation into your most vibrant days?

Jennie’s call to explore this biblical truth of sanctification through struggle came not just from her work in ministry, but from fighting through her own horrific heartbreak. Just a few weeks before Christmas 2012, Jennie and her husband very suddenly lost their five-year old daughter, Lenya. She knew well God was near, that she wasn’t alone, and that God loved her deeply, but still questions and sorrow plagued.

“What does this mean? How do I keep going? How do I get up the next morning?”

Over the course of the days, weeks, and years, Jennie knew these questions and the thousands more her family would face were going to demand a fight. It’s in that fight that she saw first hand, our most broken days are often the ingredients God uses to make our lives more abundant. Fight the Flourish chronicles her strain to endure the loss of her daughter and also equips us to face our own day-to-day battles. If we are relying on and abiding in Christ, the trials we face don’t have to beat us down. They can actually be seeds God plants and sows in order to make our lives richer. Even in the grief and the grind, we are growing more and more into the abundance Jesus promises. 

“I used to think flourishing wouldn’t happen for me this side of heaven,” Jennie tells us. But the truth is we don’t just flourish once we get to eternity. We can flourish today, right now. We can live strong, vibrant, flourishing lives right in the midst of our struggle. The whole process of the growth is the flourishing. It’s not an arrival. It’s a marathon. It’s a fight. Often times we don’t even feel the growth, but there is peace in knowing and trusting that God is always at work. 

Because God loves us, He is constantly training us for the trials we’ve not yet faced. When we live from a place of consistently rooting ourselves in Him, there’s no battle we can’t fight. We can’t live out of skepticism or fear for what might come, but there is great strength in “pre-loading God’s Word into our souls.”

Find more on Fight to Flourish and Jennie’s ministry @ https://jennielusko.com/thefighttoflourish.