When All You Can Do is Press On

October 10, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

Have you ever been in a season where all you can do is just keep getting up every day? It’s called survival mode.

Maybe there is a situation you can’t resolve. You can’t fix it or pray it away. Every morning you wake up to the same challenge. It seems like this may last for the rest of your life and you just don’t know how you are going to make it through.

In survival mode, the only thing that seems possible is to keep doing what you need to do to live. Go to work. Pack the kids' lunches and get them off to school. Buy the groceries. Cook the dinner. Get the kids to bed. Fall into bed yourself. And then do it all again tomorrow.

The happiness of the past is a distant memory. The future is a black hole. The only thing you can see is now. And now is like slogging through a marsh in combat gear. Heavy and messy. And you don’t know how long it will take to get out of the slop.

What if persevering is the only thing you can do? Then persevere, my friend. Press on.

I’ve lived what I described. I have lived survival mode. The heaviness of it is forever etched in my memory. At times, I would struggle to find God, but then He would show up in a beautiful way. In ways that are also forever etched ini my memory.

In one of those moments, I happened to be alone in the car. I may have just dropped my kids off somewhere. I don’t remember. But talking to Jesus alone in my car became singing to Him. It was an effort, a choice to offer praise. I remember singing, “It is Well with My Soul.” As the words came out of my mouth, I felt them connecting with the depths of my soul and the song became a declaration. It was then that I became aware of God’s presence in the empty car with me as I drove.

He hadn’t just arrived. He had been there all along. Not just in the car, but in every moment of survival mode. But in that moment, I experienced Him. That experience carried me through the times when I couldn’t feel Him.

Dear friend, if you are in survival mode right now, know that Jesus is with you. You aren’t walking through this alone. You may not feel Him. You may not experience Him like I did. But I can tell you from my experience that He is there. He won’t leave you. And the marsh you are slogging through does have another side. You will get there. Press on.

Key Question: What if persevering is the only thing you can do?

A Scripture to Consider: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

A YES Challenge: Look back over the last few days, and ask God to show you where He has been present with you. Thank Him for what you see and for the ways He has been with you that you still don’t see.

Prayer: Dear Lord, You know exactly where I am right now. You know how hard it is for me to see and experience You in this season. But, Lord, I choose to persevere. I choose to give You praise. I choose to press on. I ask You to help me recognize where You are and to empower me to keep going. I love You. Help me to trust You. Amen.

My book The YES Adventure: Transform Your Life with One Word is now a year old! Check it out or encouragement, inspiration, and more about God-centered goal-setting. Please leave a review on Amazon! That will help other people find the book and receive guidance and encouragement in their God-centered goal-setting.

If you are stuck and would like a partner to help you process your next step, I’d love to help. Schedule a 30-minute complimentary coaching.

Finding Rest for Your Soul. Part 2

October 3, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Soul. It’s a word we use often but is hard to truly define. What is your soul?

I’ve been thinking about this, and when I looked it up, I found that there are many definitions of what the soul is, but if we get down it, I think we can define the soul as the inner essence of who we are — the mind, the will, the emotions — everything that makes you you on the inside. It’s hard to quantify the soul but we are aware of its influence.

When your soul is unsettled, you just don’t feel right on the inside. You may not be able to articulate what is happening, but you know something is off. So, what does it mean to come to Jesus in those moments? What does it mean to come to Jesus and find rest for your soul?

What if it is as simple as bringing all those feelings to Him, recognizing that these feelings are messages that you can’t quite decipher? What if He is the One who can decipher them? To come to Jesus in that moment may mean laying those feelings before Him and trusting that even if He doesn’t reveal the meaning right away, He will walk you through to the other side, that He is with you to carry the burden. Wouldn’t that lead to rest for your soul?

I can say that He has done that for me. He has not always given me the answers I am looking for, but He has walked with me to the other side.

Jesus says to come to Him, and He will give you rest, but also that you will find rest for your soul. How does one find rest?

To find is to discover something that was hidden. It is to decipher the answer to a puzzle. To suddenly understand something. What if to find rest is to uncover and understand the means to settle what is off inside?

Rest is not inaction as much as it is a state where action is not deemed necessary. There are still things to do but we choose to do them at another time. We don’t make rest. We can’t conjure up a feeling of rest. But we can choose conditions that lead to rest. We can come to Jesus.

Just as physical rest restores the body, mental and emotional rest restore the soul. In Psalm 23, David declares that the Lord, his Shepherd, restores His soul. Can’t He do the same for you and me?

Dear friend, come to Jesus, bring everything inside you, trust that He will walk with you through it, and find rest for your soul.

Key Question: What does it mean to come to Jesus and find rest for your soul?

A Scripture to Consider: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

A YES Challenge: Take a sheet of paper and write out all the things on your mind. Prayerfully offer that list to Jesus and ask Him to give you rest.

Prayer: Jesus, You know all that is weighing me down right now. You know where my soul is not at rest. I honestly don’t know what it means to come to You with all of this, but I am going to try. I bring You all my unsettled feelings, all of my mess, and I ask You to give me the rest You promised. I can’t find it on my own. I need the rest for my soul that only comes from You. Amen.

If you are stuck and would like a partner to help you process your next step, I’d love to help. Schedule a 30-minute complimentary coaching.

Finding Rest for Your Soul

September 26, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

When you and I are going through difficult times, we want to do something. We don’t want to feel helpless and overwhelmed. We want to find ways to control outcomes. We don’t want to be passive. Or maybe that isn’t you. Maybe you give up in despair and hopelessly ride the waves without acting at all.

Neither of those approaches are going to bring us peace in the middle of the storm. Either we exhaust ourselves fighting against the waves of turmoil, or we succumb to the torrent and are overwhelmed by the tumult. But how do we find peace in the middle of the storm? What actions can we take?

Come to Jesus. This is active. It’s a choice we can make. We may not know exactly what that looks like, but we can choose it. To come to Jesus is to bring whatever you are thinking or feeling to Him. It doesn’t have to be pretty, poetic, perfect, or even prayerful. It’s a relationship, right? He loves you without any polish. Just come.

Receive what He gives. What does He give? Understanding, Wisdom. His presence right there with you in the middle of the mess.

Clarity After Action, Not Before

September 19, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the LORD had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.” Genesis 12:1-4 NLT

Many of us who follow Christ often struggle with knowing what God is asking of us. At least, I do. Maybe I am alone here, but I think not.

Often, the question is, “God, what are you saying to me?” What I’ve found is that I keep asking the question even when I feel like I have a sense of what God may have spoken. I have an inkling of what God is asking of me. I can see the next step. But I hesitate to take it because I can’t see where that step will lead. I can’t see a clear outcome, so I hesitate. Anyone else?

What I see in the life of Abraham is that he took the step of obedience even when the outcome wasn’t clear. He demonstrated faith and trust in God by acting. He went without knowing because he knew that God said go and had promised to bless him. No detailed action plan with stated outcomes. Just, “Go. And I will bless you.” So, Abraham went.

The thing about Abraham is that he didn’t do that just once.

He left Ur.
He divided the land with Lot,
He went up the mountain prepared to sacrifice Isaac.

He didn’t always do it perfectly. (Ask Sarah or Hagar.) But overall, Abraham demonstrated a life of obedience before clarity. A simple principle. Simple, but not easy.

It seems like Abraham lived a life that had a simple theme: Obey first. Understand after.

I don’t know about you, but I like to understand before I act!

This is Not Forever

September 12, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

As I tearfully opened the sodden boxes of our stored belongings, wondering what was ruined, a verse came to mind,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

We were temporarily living with my parents, and our stuff was stored in Tom’s parents' garage. They had a plumbing issue in their bathroom above the garage, causing a leak that soaked several of our boxes and other items, including our mattress. We weren’t sure what was salvageable.

That period of time was already difficult. We were waiting for a job to open up and unsure how long that would take, how long we would be living with my parents, how long our stuff would be stored. Both sets of parents had been patient, loving, and gracious. There was no one to blame for the water damage. Sometimes things just happen.

But when that verse popped into my brain, it completely changed my perspective on going through the damage. The tears didn’t stop. There was some mourning and disappointment. But at the same time, there was hope. This was temporary. These things were just things. What really mattered was how I responded. I could choose an eternal perspective. I could choose to treasure Christ more than an earthly possession.

As it turned out, very few of our things were unsalvageable, and insurance more than covered anything that was lost. But the eternal perspective I gained is a treasure that I still carry. That simple shift helped me through the three and a half years of living in the in-between.

Hope For Dark Times

August 29, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

'I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. ' Colossians 2:2-3

It was a dark time, one of the darkest times I have ever lived through. A loved one was struggling through the shadows of depression, and every day was a battle. Just getting out of bed and facing the mundane tasks of daily life took every ounce of my strength. The future was a wall of fog. The present was a slog through mud with a backpack full of rocks. It was all I could do to just get through today.

Perhaps that is where you are right now, dear friend. I am so sorry that you find yourself in such a difficult time. In that time of darkness I heard from a conference speaker say something that gave me perspective: Every trial will come to an end. As those words rang in the arena and resounded in my ears my heart knew that they were true. Although that time seemed to last forever, I eventually experienced that truth in my circumstance. You will experience it in yours, too.

But now, while you are in it, can I offer you some perspective I learned while walking through my own fog? Jesus really is enough. He is!

Christ Himself is God’s plan and gift. That is the long and short of it. If you are a follower of Christ, then you are looking for God’s plan amid the mud and muck of now. What does God really want from me while I am slogging through this?

God’s Idea of Getting Back to Normal

August 22, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalms 37:23-24 NLT

What is normal? I mean…really? We talk about normal. We think about normal. And when everything is out of whack in our lives, we long to get “back to normal.” I’ve been there more times than I’d like to admit. So have you. When faced with challenging seasons, all we want is to get back to the way things were. Back to what is familiar. Stable. Predictable. That’s what we want, but is that what we need? What is normal?

On a recent trip, I found myself in bed for an entire day with some kind of illness. Was it food-borne? Maybe. I was uncomfortable. Sick. Unable to eat anything, but I didn’t want anything to eat either. What did I want? Just to get back to normal. To do the things I normally do and eat the things I normally eat. I wanted to be comfortable and enjoy life. Perhaps that is how I define normal. What about you?

If our definition of normal is to be comfortable and enjoy life, then most of life is not normal! So much of life is uncomfortable and unenjoyable. Isn’t it? So, what is a better definition of normal? And above all, what is God’s definition of normal?

In the beginning, God created His idea of normal. I guess if I want to find out what God’s idea of normal is, I need to consider creation. When God created everything, called it good, and then placed humans in the middle of it all, what did He want? What was the purpose of all He designed?

God created Adam and Eve to enjoy and help each other, but also to enjoy and obey God. To partner with him in caring for creation and each other. What is normal for God? I guess it is creation functioning according to design. That means people who completely love and trust Him. Ouch!

When God Trusts You with Pain

August 1, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-5 NIV

God has trusted you with this challenge. Life may not be the way you expected. What you dreamed of seems to have crashed and burned. It’s hard to envision what the future might look like.

And the pain. Well, the pain may be unlike any you’ve ever experienced before. It’s so deep and unfathomable. At times, it pours out. Other times, no one knows it’s there. But for you, it’s always there. Always under the surface. The pain doesn’t go away. You learn to live with chronic pain. It becomes part of you.

That certainly is not the life you envisioned, is it? A life where pain becomes part of you. But sometimes, that is the life God trusts you with. The key to accepting that kind of life is trust.

You can’t trust yourself to handle this. You and I must trust God when He allows pain to become part of us. We must trust what we know of His character, His goodness, His love.

Ultimately, what God wants from you and me when He allows pain to become part of us is to represent Him well in our world. To show that He is trustworthy, even in painful circumstances. To demonstrate what it looks like to walk in faith, because faith trusts what it can’t see. (Hebrews 11:6)

Panning for Gold: How to Trust God When You Can’t See the Answer

July 18, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:13-14 NIV

On our recent trip to Alaska, one of the excursions we chose included panning for gold. The description declared every participant would leave with “guaranteed gold.” We were skeptical, but it was intriguing. Why not? It sounded like a fun experience.

We traveled from the port by bus and arrived at a tent camp, something like what the gold rush prospectors would have experienced. After a brief theatrical presentation, one of the actors led the group over to waist-high troughs filled with water, silt, gravel…and guaranteed gold. We were instructed to take a pan. He then described the process of dipping the pan through the water, lifting some of the silt and gravel, and carefully tilting the pan, allowing the tiny real gold flecks to remain behind as the water carried the rest out. He assured us that if we trusted the process, the gold would be heavier than everything else and would most definitely remain in the pan. At that point, he showed us how to partially fill a small zip-lock bag with water, pick up a tiny fleck on a wet finger, and transfer it into the bag to take home as a souvenir. So, we each began our attempts to pan out that guaranteed gold.

Tom was next to me and, before too long, was transferring several tiny flecks of gold into his little bag. Although I heard what the instructor told us, it was difficult for me to make it happen. I felt awkward and uncertain. It didn’t come easily. I heard what was said but wasn’t sure how to do it. I quickly grew frustrated. What was fun about this?

I handed my pan to Tom, and shortly after, he was transferring more tiny flecks of guaranteed gold from my pan into his little bag. The guide had said more than once to “trust the process.” But trusting the process took more patience than I had. So, I stopped trying. Tom understood the process, had the patience, and successfully retrieved all the little flecks of gold from his pan and mine.

What does panning for gold have to do with trusting God when you can’t see the answers?

Faith in Uncertain Times

July 11, 2026 Cathleen Zahradnik

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10 NIV

“What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3 NIV

How do you say YES to God when you don’t know what you are saying YES to?

We all face uncertain seasons in life. But the unspoken truth we must grapple with is that every moment is uncertain. If we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that not one of us knows what the next moment holds. Yet, there are times when we are simply more aware of that uncertainty. We feel it and it unsettles us. That’s where Tom and I are right now.

What is our first reaction when we feel unstable? We search for stability. We attempt to find something we can control. It’s okay to admit it. The desire to control the unknown is human. Ask Adam and Eve.

And what did they find? The only One who controls the unknown is God Himself. And He is not willing to give up that control to you and me because He can see everything and we can’t. That is the simple unsettling fact. No matter how much we want to know the unknown, we can’t.

But: “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV

So, how do you and I keep our minds focused on God and trust Him? How do we say YES when we don’t know what we are saying YES to?