Get Grounded with Chrystal Evans Hurst

Like you're just wilding out a little bit and need to be calmed all the way down. Well, listen, that's how you feel. I know how you feel. And I have a tip for you today and I can't wait to tell you about it. Thanks so much for joining me for this Sister Circle podcast slash audio slash video. And I'm here today because it is the first Monday of the month, and every first Monday of the month, I'm here to give you some encouragement, but to bring a little bit of fun and foolery. Now I'm going to be a little short on the foolery today, mainly because I got to tell you a little bit of secret, but you know, I like being authentic and real. So I'm going to keep it real. I'm here live. But I'm not here live. I'm actually traveling today out of the country, but because I love y'all and because it's still the first Monday, I recorded this a little early for you. So it's really hard for me to go into all the foolery and the funnies if while I'm recording you're not super live in the chat, but that's okay. You're live watching now. So here's what I want you to do. If you are in the inner circle, you know what to do. Drop your yellow circle. If you're not in the inner circle, go on and tell me what you're drinking. Tell me what you're working with. It's morning when this is being aired live, morning Central Time in the US. And I, because whenever I record, I'm always recording— uh-oh, hit the mic— I'm always recording with something in front of me to drink. I've got my normal hibiscus tea, a little stevia never hurt nobody. And because I believe that ASMR is weird, but it's also interesting, I'm going to do that too. I'm not even going to edit this, y'all. This is like live pre-produced. So let's all pretend now that it's Monday morning and my computer's going off and doing weird things. So here's the deal. If you're new here, my name is Chrystal Hurst and every Monday morning I actually go live every week inside of my membership where we talk about fun and foolery and a lot of how to live life well. On First Mondays, I go live everywhere. So that everybody else can join in the fun. But again, pre-produced live ASMR. Here you go. This is me making noise that somebody somewhere is loving. Alright y'all, so here's the thing. You need to understand that, oh my word. I just want to say that it's April. Well, it was April. Now it's May. It's May the 1st. And by now you realize the promises that you made to yourself that you didn't necessarily keep. By now you realized that you said you were going to do yourself a favor and quit the thing, start the thing, begin the things, you know, enjoy the thing. And at this point you probably realize you didn't do it, but that's okay. The year is not over. We're not even halfway done. I want you to know that I have had a Peloton bike. I'm lying. That's not true. I've had a bike, a spin bike for a long time, but I have the Peloton app. Okay. I have the Peloton app. And so recently I was staying at a hotel and y'all, they had the Peloton bike. And I was like, you know what? I'm going to connect my Peloton app. And I'm going to actually see all the things, all the things, because why wouldn't I see all the things, you know, the leaderboard. I could look at the board and I could see my cadence and I could see my rhythm and I could see my resistance and all of that. The question really is, why did I have my camera on in the gym? Was I really working out or was I getting B-roll? I was getting B-roll. And I was really conscious of all the people in the gym that were probably looking at me and thinking, girl, are you going to work out or what? Don't mind me, I'm shaking my tail trying to burn some calories. But I don't know that I like the leaderboard. I don't know, because the leaderboard tells you where you're at, and what if I don't want to know where I'm at? What if I'm not at a place in the class that I'm proud of? I got a commercial bike, I'm gonna stick with that at home. I'd love to know, go ahead and tell me in the chat, have you been working out? Have you been walking? Have you been getting exercise? Have you been doing the spin class, doing Camp Gladiator, going for a run in the evenings? Have you been doing sit-ups in front of the TV, or maybe You've just been walking in place on your standing treadmill. What have you been doing to get moving in 2023? And if you haven't been but you intended to, just go ahead and share your intentions, because sometimes it's sharing your intentions that will actually have you do the thing. Y'all, I'm not going to go all the way in with foolery. I actually— the last week in the Inner Circle, the whole thing was foolery. I couldn't even get to what I wanted to say. So what I'm going to say this morning is what I was supposed to say last week in the Inner Circle. So you get this On today. Somebody say, "On today." Can you tell that I'm a church girl? Here's a couple of things that I want to tell you about before, before, before I get into the spiritual thing, the important thing, the serious thing for today. Number 1, I really believe with all of my heart that if you can master the art of discipline, but not just any discipline, spiritual discipline, you will be the better off. Why? Because you are not a human being. You're human only for a time. You're spiritual for all of eternity. So if you can learn how to be spiritual in your own skin, in your own soul, and you can get that right while you're here, you end up enjoying your time here on Earth so much more, and you end up preparing better for the time that is to come. So what you have to do in order to be disciplined, to be a being who is a spirit, is to make room, to make room to acknowledge that you're a spirit being. There are a couple of ways that I wanna make sure you know that I am trying to provide or attempting to provide to give you more opportunity to get connected with your spirit being if you need help. One of those is in the inner circle, in the membership that we have, it is thesistercircle.com/innercircle. Every month we're doing something special to dive deep into living intentionally. For the second quarter of this year, April, May, and June, we are focused on faith. And in May, we are going on a 21-day challenge of digging into disciplines and digging into developing your faith. I don't know how many people say, "I wish I could read the Bible," or "I wish I could pray," or "I wish I was closer to God." And they're like, "I just need the how-to." Well, in the Inner Circle this month, We are digging into the how-to, and I'd love for you to join me. We're going all the time, all year round, but this is our focus for this month. And we're providing great content and great coaching and mentoring to help you do just that. So check it out, thesistercircle.com/innercircle. The other thing that I'm doing is providing literally, somebody say literally, literally an opportunity for you to get away, to spend time in nature, glamping a little bit with a bunch of girls who wanna grow closer to God, wanna have some good time with girls, bunch of girls who love God, and also to enjoy community in a place and a space you wouldn't normally go to. In 2023, I'm going to Cali, and I would love for you to come to Cali with me. You can register for the retreat today by going to thesisterscircle.com/retreat. I'll be there. I'll have some special guests there. We'll announce those soon. And then a host of women who actually wanna enjoy the sun, be next to some water, sit under some trees, Be in a place where you can hear God speak, but also laugh a lot, cry a lot, and eat good food. Sometimes you just need to get away in order to remember what really matters. So those are two opportunities. And even if you don't want to take me up on those two, you are taking advantage of the third one right now. This is the opportunity you have to have me share, to pour into you today. And what I want to talk to you about is getting grounded. You have to acknowledge that you are a spiritual being if indeed you want to live life grounded. And listen, life ain't about you being grounded. Life is about throwing you off, you being anxious, being overwhelmed, um, wanting to quit that job, quit that marriage, get ixnay that friend. It is about you feeling like you're drowning under paper or too many things to do. It is you being consumed with what everybody else is doing on social media or consumed about what's happening on the news instead of being consumed with what you're supposed to be doing on this earth and consumed about what God wants to do in you. Ain't that good? That's good. Mm-hmm. So spiritual disciplines, spiritual disciplines matter. And when the Bible says, when Jesus said, love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, what he was telling you to do, your strength Love your neighbor as yourself. There's nothing greater. When he was saying love, there's nothing greater. The only way that you can tap into that kind of love to really understand your role in this life and what you want to do is if you have the discipline to connect with your spirit. You cannot connect with the spirit, the spirit and your spirit, the spirit of God in you that connects with your soul, if you don't have those disciplines. What are these disciplines? Well, it's prayer, it's studying the Bible, it is spending time in worship, it's enjoying silence, Sabbath, solitude, it's meditation, it's journaling. There are whole lists, but they all equal one thing. You ready to hear it? Here it go. They all equal be still, make room, because if you're running all over the place and buzzing all over the place, you cannot hear. You just can't. And so I want to talk to you about that. Spiritual disciplines are the regular act of specific actions and activities that are undertaken for the purpose of deepening deepening your relationship with God and helping you to grow roots. Listen, every Monday, y'all, I do the fun and foolery, then I stack my papers. Why? Because in my head, basically, I'm a talk show host who's delivering, uh, life-giving messaging to you. But I'm prepared, okay? I'm prepared. When you make room for spiritual disciplines and you do the work of connecting with God in you, where you can hear your own voice and hear and feel the rhythm of your own heartbeat, you get clarity. Clarity to do what, you might ask? Well, it, it's clarity that will help you to love you better, love God better, and love other people better. Love you better, love God better, and love other people better. And remember when Jesus said, what do we— what do you need to know? What is the most important thing you need to know? Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength, and then love your neighbor as yourself. So you got to love yourself in order to love your neighbor. And in order to love God, you got to do it with everything you've got. The overflow that you need to love you well and love your life well, the overflow that you need to love your neighbor well, it comes from loving God well. Because all of the love that you need to share in this world comes as an overflow of the love of God in you. How do you attach to the love of God in you? Disciplined with spiritual disciplines. You can't know God if you're not praying, 'cause you can't know anybody if you're not talking to them, right? You can't know God if you're not getting to know what he says when he is conversing with you. How do you know what God says? You gotta read. You gotta read the Bible, which is why in the Inner Circle, we're diving deep into that because we know so many people struggle struggle with that, and it's okay. But you can't know God without knowing his word. You can't know God if you never listen. What is stillness? What is silence? What is Sabbath? It is the posture of listening. We want to talk to God because we want to say all the things we have to say so he can do all the things we want him to do. But what if he wants to talk to you, to move in your heart, to move in your mind? What if he wants to have the hair stand up on the back of your neck when he gives you a God-sized idea, but you can't receive it because you're not listening? You have to make the space for listening. What would my relationship look like with my husband or with my children or with my good friends if we talked once a year? I mean, we could catch up. That's true. But it's the discipline of going on a date with my husband. It's the discipline of sitting at the dinner table with my children. It's the discipline and the awareness that I haven't talked to my sister in a few days. It is the discipline of saying that to my parents, I want to make sure that I'm showing up for them and just stopping by because I want to be present, to catch what I need to catch, to be who I need to be. And I can't be who I want to be without absorbing the love that I need from the people that love me in my life, who speak truth to me. And God is no different. When you exercise the discipline of spiritual things, you make room for you. You're not just a wife, a sister, a friend, a daughter, a coworker. You are more. You're not just a doctor, a teacher, an artist, an accountant. You're not just an actress or pianist. You're more. You are not just your mistakes, your trauma, your processes, your experiences, the lies that people told you. You are more. And when you create the room for spiritual disciplines, you get grounded. Grounded in who God says you are, grounded in the truth about you, not what other people said. Grounded in not what you do but who you are, grounded in your inherent worth. Because before you ever did a thing, he said you're worthy. How do I know that? Because the Bible tells me so. The problem is, in this life, we get distracted about who we are and we lose the ability to love ourselves well. And by love, I don't just mean loving on yourself and being full of yourself. I'm talking about loving yourself enough to rest, loving yourself enough to set boundaries, loving yourself enough to go after your passions, loving, loving yourself enough to have joy. In this world and not just be begrudged by every little thing you have to do. Loving yourself enough to give yourself grace and forgive yourself from the mistakes that you made. You can't love yourself well if you don't accept someone else's definition of love for you, because you will always find yourself falling short. And who said they don't care if you fall short because they covered everything? They don't care if someone lied to you because they're telling you the truth. They don't care if you had a misstep or mishap or a mistake or if you had a total traumatic experience and they're saying, "I know that that's true, but it doesn't matter because I am for you and I can make you whole." God, that's who. So how do you learn to love you despite the difficulties in your life? Well, you start to understand who you are in him when you spend time with him. Spiritual disciplines help you to know who you are. When you tell yourself what scripture says about you, you will gradually learn to believe what it says. Romans 12 says, You should be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How do you renew your mind? Relationship and word. Relationship and word. Relationship with the God who created you and the word he left with you so you would know who you are. If you allow God the space to speak to you, if you allow yourself to connect with the Spirit of God in you because you are ultimately a spirit being. Not only are you connected with the truth about you, but you're connected with the power attached to that truth. Do you know how powerful a person is who is confident when they walk in a room? They know who they are. They know that they have God's power running in them. They know that whatever they need, God has it, will be within their reach when they need it. They know that they are loved no matter what anybody else says. They know that whatever they don't know, they can learn it. They know that whatever they don't even see coming in their path, what they are not even prepared that God has gone ahead of them, is protecting them. They know who they are and whose they are. It's confidence. It's a, it's a confidence that comes from knowing that you're loved. Spiritual disciplines remind you that you are divinely created. Let me say that again. You are divine, not because you are on your own, but because a God who loved you says so. When you reflect on who you are in God, who you are when you reflect on Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that he made and the worth that that implicitly gives you, how can you help but not to love who you are? Even if there are things that you want to change, even if there are things that you want to work on, even if you did not do what you said you were going to do in January, ha! You can look at yourself in the mirror and say, but today I'm the best I can be today, and I have today to work on who I want to be tomorrow. I'm still breathing, I'm still here. He says I'm worthy. Cheers to you, girl. Cheers to you. When you make room to love yourself by practicing spiritual disciplines, You're able to love and accept what God says about you, your authentic self, not the self you project, but the who you really are, and embrace the person God designed you to be. Spiritual disciplines: praying, reading God's word, being still, being silent, journaling, listening to worship music. There's a whole host of ways that you can engage in spiritual disciplines, and but when you do that This is the beautiful thing. There's a payoff for you. So I want to know if you've been intentional this year about making room not just to be still and be quiet and pause and veg out on Netflix or take a nap, but have you been diligent and intentional about being disciplined spiritually to connect with the Spirit of God in you? Why should you? It helps you love you. Obviously also it helps you make room for God. When you develop your attunement to the Spirit of God at work in the atmosphere, you will know things you don't know because God downloads it. You will have perception that you didn't even realize that you were capable of. Because he makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. What makes you think that a God that would create an animal in the forest like a deer, who as soon as there's another person or living being in the atmosphere, they know it, they can feel it— if God gave that to an animal, what makes you think he didn't give it to you? You want to know why we miss out on what God wants to tell us in this world? You want to know why we miss out on the messages God wants to send? Because y'all, God gave us more than he gave the animals. He gave us a mind. He gave us a prefrontal cortex. He gave us a cerebrum, then a base stem, and all of these different things that we have going on in our brain, but particularly what's up front. And we think ourselves to death. We process things without going to God and asking in those spiritual discipline spaces, what do you see? What do you know that I need to know? What do you want me to do? Could you guide me, direct me, lead me, give me a sign, show me in your word? I want to wait for peace. I want to wait for confidence. I want to wait for assurance. Do you not think that a God who would not spare his own Son doesn't want to give you assurance? If he wanted to give you assurance that you have the possibility of living forever in eternity, because of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, what makes you think he doesn't wanna give you assurance about the next move you make in your career, the next place you live, or the relationships that you're in? If he would do all that, won't he do that too? If you need to be grounded in assurance, spiritual disciplines, the practice of walking in the presence of God, it will get you there. Spiritual disciplines will help you to know God, to know his character. You'll be able to smell something not right coming a mile away. You'll know when people aren't right. You'll know when situations aren't right. My mother used to tell me, if you're ever in a circumstance and it just seems like something's not right, get out of there. And now that I look back, what was she actually telling me at 15, 16, 17 years old? She was saying there's something in you that's going to speak to you. And when you see it, when you sense it, when you feel it, move. Well, knowing the character and the nature of God is the same way. You want to know where God is and what he's doing. You want to know what decisions God is in and what relationships God is in. You have to know God. And spiritual disciplines will help you make room for him. If you make room for him, you make room to know him. If you make room to know him, then you start knowing what would he tell me to do, what would he say is okay. Where would he say go? Where would he say stop? When you know the character, you know the direction. There are certain things I don't have to ask my dad. There were certain things I didn't have to ask my mom because I knew, because I knew them, what they would say. As a mother, I look at my children and sometimes they ask me a question and I can tell by their body posture that they knew that they shouldn't even ask me that question because they already knew. What I was going to say. Do you want to know God like that? You have to spend disciplined time, consistent time engaged in those spiritual disciplines. When you engage with scripture, you learn who God is and you see how he, he engages with his creation. When you pray or when you fast, you're reminded of his power and his authority, and you're able to walk better in his authority and power in life. When you are focused on God and who he is, you'll come to know this is a God of rest. And even God, who has all power, after 6 days took a day off. If you know the character of God, and you know that the character of God lives in you, because Genesis— let us make man in our image— if you look at God, you might be getting a glimpse of what he's telling you about you. Remember, learning God helps you learn you. When you are intimate with God, when you are in a relationship with God, when you are able to, without getting specific direction— no, I don't think God would have me to do that— you get closer to God. And so many people want to get closer to God. This is what I hear all the time: I just want to be closer to God. Well, you can be, but how can you be close to somebody you don't know? Listen, if you're dating him— this is free sidebar, but it'll come back and make the point— if you're dating someone and you have to chase him down with text, if he made excuses for why he was late or missed the date, if he made you a promise of where y'all were going in your relationship and it's not really materialized, if he's constantly on his phone when he's with you, if he never seems to have time to follow through on what he said he would do— listen, uh, He ain't that into you. He's not that into you. Because who you're into, you make room for. Who you're into, you make time for. And when you say, I just want to be closer to God, you know, I'm just trying to get on the right side of God, or I wish I knew scripture better, or I wish I knew that God can answer my prayers, or I wish that I had more direction, or I wish that I had more peace, I wish that I had— what if you're just not that into God? What if your behavior is indicative of the fact that you really, no matter what you say, aren't actively making room for God? Ouch, I know. But you make room for God by practicing spiritual disciplines. How can a loving God who is full of power of authority not have access to you. I'll tell you why. Because you're not making room for him. Make room for this. Spiritual disciplines helps you to make room for you. It helps you make room for God. It helps you to make room for others. Because listen, y'all, these people not gonna kill us. They not gonna kill us. Those co-workers, those children, that spouse, that friend, that cousin, that sister, that parent, that person in your community group, that neighbor over here. They not gonna kill you. But you want to know how you stay centered? You want to know how you operate from a grounded place where you're not wilding out, where you can't— when you lose control of your faculties because you're gonna give them a piece of your mind? You want to know how you do that? You stay grounded. Because the more you engage with spiritual disciplines, you leave more room for God to fill you up. When you leave more room for God to fill you up, not only do you know more of who you are, but you have a reservoir to pour out on other people. Loving people can be otherworldly, okay? It can be, because some of these people don't want to be loved. They don't want to be loved, okay? And our ability to give the love that people do not deserve because they don't acted cray cray, because we said one more time and they still didn't get the message because we have been kind and be considerate and been considerate and been loving, and they have not returned the favor, or they just really— and just rude people, just rude. In order for you to come out of yourself to do what you need to do, okay, you ready? You ready to hear it? Here it go. You can't do that on your own. You need that to come overflowing out of a reservoir of love that's been deposited in you. How do you get that? By getting alone with God. Because the more love you experience as you make room for God, that's the more love you have to share with other people. When you sit in God's presence, he will help you— trust me, I know— to release the pain and the hurt, because forgiveness is release. And when you can forgive other people, whether they want to be free or not, you are free. That overarching love that is a reservoir for you to love other people out of is a key. It's a key of release, release for them, release for you. And when you are free, then nothing can bind you. Not the emotions, not the, not the anxious thoughts, not your fear of what they might say, because you know who you are and you're able to offer the love that you freely receive freely to others. When you make room for God and spiritual disciplines that make room for God— prayer, reading the Bible, worshiping, being still, being silent, even fasting— what you make room for is the ability to level up. You just need to walk in the room and look unbothered, you know what I'm saying? You just need to be unbothered. The ability for you to live above the fray means you need superpowers. My kids play Super Mario Brothers all the time, and, um, amongst other games. But you know, he hits the thing, he eats the mushroom, he grows in size, he can run faster. He had to have something put into him in order to be the bigger person. You want to be the bigger person? You want to recognize where there's a need for community and a need for love? You want to recognize how you can offer forgiveness when someone's not asking for it? Do you want to know how you can be unbothered when you realize that people talk about you behind your back but smile smile in your face. You want to realize how you can be totally unbothered when you realize that the people who you poured out to when you're in need won't do the same for you? You want to realize how you can be totally unbothered when somebody unfollows you on social media or says something crazy in your comments? Do you know how you can be the bigger person when you realize who you are, and then out of the reservoir of love that's been poured into you, you offer them something whether or not they're asking for That's how you say, you know what, let me give you what I've received, and then it's not your problem. Make room for spiritual disciplines. Put prayer on your calendar, on your schedule. When are you going to read or study the Bible? When is there time on your calendar when nothing gets scheduled because you're just being still and quiet? Are you really taking a Sabbath? You know it's a command. For your own good. Fasting. If you fast, it doesn't matter if you fast food and only water, or you fast sugar. Just give it up, anything. One, your system will thank you. And two, your mind, your heart, your soul will have clarity. Clarity. I am talking about spiritual disciplines because I want you to know what it's like to be filled up with the love of Christ, for that to overflow and affect how you see yourself, how you engage with God, and how you engage with others. You don't get there with a magic pill, and you don't get there by looking at social media, reading a million books. You don't get there by complaining to your friends, or you don't get there by listening to a million sermons. You get there by getting with God, and the discipline and consistency in doing that is what will make the difference. In your life. It's true, spiritual disciplines are work. It is work to stop and read your Bible. It's work to carve out time for prayer and meditation. It is work to commit to a local church community. It is work to be still, to be quiet. But making room to be disciplined in areas of spiritual filling, it connects you with who you really are. You are not just a human being having a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being here for a little while in human skin. It behooves you to connect with you. And just like you would not get to know someone you're dating if you dated them every year, you won't get to know God. You won't get to know God's love, and you won't get to know who God is in you and the love of God through you to other people. What value have you ever found in practicing spiritual disciplines? I'd love to know. I would love to know what spiritual discipline, as I've talked today, that you felt most convicted, most motivated, most marked by. And I'd love for you to tell me in the comments, of the spiritual disciplines I've mentioned, or another one that you may enjoy and love, which one you know you need to do more of, more consistently. And maybe someone reading your comment will be spurred on, motivated, encouraged to do what you're doing. Come on, y'all, we're all better together. So this is me telling you, be who you really are. And who you really are is not who I see. Who you really are, it's who you are on the inside. It's your soul, the soul of you that was born the day you took your first breath, the soul God designed. Don't you owe it to her or him to get to know you? And if you need help with that, rewatch this video. And if you want more, join me in the Inner Circle. And if you want even more, I'll see you in October. Because listen, you know one of the things I do best? Just like I guide you here and offer mentoring and a little bit of Chrissy coaching every now and again, I love to do that in lots of different ways, and I want to meet you wherever you want to meet me. And if this is the place you're meeting me, I'm glad you're here. All right, y'all. Uh, by the way, normally on my First Mondays, these videos come down, but since I haven't been sharing publicly for a while, I'm gonna leave this one up because I think you might need this one in your life. And if you needed it, if you enjoyed it, share it with a friend. And whatever you gonna do about your spiritual discipline, why are you doing that? Take a walk, drink some water, go for a run, or maybe get on your bike. All right, y'all, love you with my life. Talk to you later. Bye.