Instagram story viewer> @jackiesmithbell> Posts

Jackie Smith-Bell / Speaker

@jackiesmithbell

1.7K

followers

638

following

🙏Christian • Wife • Mom of 3
✍️Writer | Encouragement for Today
YouVersion Bible Plan Author
Biblical encouragement for everyday life ✨

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

Download All

Sometimes, a regular Monday morning can seem like an insurmountable "hill" to climb when your heart longs for "healing."

Doubts slide in. Fear grips your faith.

How do we navigate both fear and faith?

I don’t have all the answers, but when fears swirl in my head, I often read 2 Kings 6:16, " Don't be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them."

The servant was overtaken by fear, and the prophet Elisha spoke this certainty--even though an insurmountable army was surrounding them.

Their circumstances were hard to climb with human eyes. Seemingly, they were outnumbered.But Elisha didn't declare this truth based upon human sight. He understood there are always two realities about everything we encounter:

A physical reality and a spiritual reality.

Yes, Elisha saw the enemy’s army , but he also recognized an angel army that was sent by God, who was stronger and more than able to help them win the battle they faced.

To calm the servant's fears, Elisha prayed that the servant's eyes be opened so that his faith would increase. He didn't pray for the obstacle of the servant's fear to be removed. He didn't pray for the enemy to surrender its fight. He simply prayed that the servant's eyes would be opened to God's sovereign control.

For anyone battling hills of uncertainty that seem too big to cross over... may this prayer open your spiritual eyes in order to find healing and strength to trust God's authority in the climb of your circumstance.

Lord, pull down every stronghold and open my spiritual eyes so that my faith will increase. In Jesus' name, amen. by @jackiesmithbell

49

9

3 years ago

Feeling like you don't have enough joy, peace or hope? Look in your house.

The widow in 2 Kings understood a season like yours and mine: “‘What can I do to help you?’ Elisha asked. ‘Tell me, what do you have in the house?’ ‘Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil,’ she replied” (2 Kings 4:2).

The widow faced a hard season of loss. Like her, we can look at our little bit and think it’s not enough. But God looks at our little bit and says, “It’s plenty to pour out my promises" "Put your faith with my power."

With a little bit of faith, the widow poured and poured until in 2 Kings 4:5-6, every jug and bowl over flowed.

God knew the exact amount of oil the widow needed to cancel her debt. He took her little bit of oil and used it to not only change the hard circumstances in her life, but the lives of her children and generations to come.

God knows exactly what we need, too.

Sis, look in your house. God can do alot with your little... offer it to Him and watch it multiply. #faithtalk #encouragement #motherhood #faith #hope #faithoverfear #godsword #faithjournaling #sisyougotthis by @jackiesmithbell

196

25

4 years ago

"Do what God said, so that you can receive what He' has promised. you"

When God speaks, the promise of His truth is expressed more clearly than most detailed instructions. His responses rarely come how we think they will, and to us, they rarely make sense, but obeying them is our best option for our blessings to unfold.

God sees what's on the other side of our unknowns. He's aware of our wilderness moments that make us
insecure about His control, and our future ahead,
but
God's Word doesn't need to be manipulated, it needs to be met with obedience, because it's attached to our promised land possession.

#faithtalk #godsword #faithoverfear #motherhood #encouragement #biblicaltruth #wordbeforeworld #christianposts #followjesus #womenintheword #biblereading by @jackiesmithbell

221

19

4 years ago

Year seven.
Another day on the calendar, quietly turning the page, marking time and reminding me that today is your birthday.

Seven birthdays I’ve had to acknowledge without you here.

And yet, somewhere along these seven years, I’ve grown. I’ve learned that grief doesn’t have to be rushed, fixed, or forgotten. I’ve learned to let it breathe, to let it change, to allow grief to age alongside me.

It doesn’t look the same as it did in the beginning.

The ache has softened in some places and deepened in others. I’ve learned that I can laugh and still miss you. I can move forward without leaving you behind. I can live fully while carrying the love and loss of you with me.

Seven years later, still loving you. Still missing you.
Just learning to carry grief differently. Happy birthday, Mother❤️ by @jackiesmithbell

11

5

2 months ago

58 today, and I realize something...

You wouldn't be seeing this photograph of me if grace wasn't real.

Not because I've gotten everything right, but because God has remained faithful through every misstep, every failure, every hard season, and every moment I needed Him to carry what I couldn't. His grace sustained me. His mercy met me in moments when I had to let my dreams catch their breath. And His love kept writing a story I never could've written on my own.

So today, I don't just celebrate another birthday. I celebrate another year of amazing grace.

Happy 58th birthday to me. 🎵 Singing... Jesus, Jesus,precious Jesus...oh for grace to trust You more.🎵

"By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain." 1 Corinthians 15:10 by @jackiesmithbell

30

28

2 months ago

Dear friend,

If you're walking through a season that looks different from the one you dreamed, I understand. I've been there too.

My prayer is that on the hard days, you'll remember God's heart. The same God who has been faithful before is no less faithful now. Even when you can't understand His ways, you can trust His character.

He's still with you, still working, and still worthy of your hope. by @jackiesmithbell

15

1

3 months ago

I didn't realize how tightly I was gripping life until God reminded me that He never asked me to carry what only He can hold.

Today's devotional, published by Encouragement for Today/ @proverbs31ministries , is an invitation to loosen your grip and trust His. If you're weary from trying to hold everything together, I hope you'll take a few moments to read it.

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

✨️Read the full devotional at the link in my bio.🙏 by @jackiesmithbell

46

4

4 months ago

Grateful.

I've been carrying that word in my heart lately. Not because life has been easy, but because it hasn't. The hard days have been real. The prayers that seem unanswered, the disappointments that linger, the weight that doesn't magically lift by morning.

Friends, I'm learning that gratitude isn't pretending the broken places don't exist. It calling darkness into light and allowing the love of God to illuminate what needs to be exposed to His character of goodness. God never asks us to lie about our pain. He asks us to bring it to Him.

Gratefulness is a decision to let God's faithfulness have the loudest voice in the room.

Today, I may not be grateful for everything, but I can be grateful in everything because God is still God, and He has been faithful to me before. He will be faithful again.

Tag a friend 🧡 who may need a gratitude reminder. by @jackiesmithbell

25

10

4 months ago

There are moments we come to in life where we find ourselves lost in what is...what failed, what broke, and what still aches beneath hopeless realities.

But the cross reminds us that God has always known how to bring life from places that looked like endings.

Hope is cultivated at the cross.

Because at the cross, shame lost its final word. Fear lost its grip, and mercy proved that even death is not too final for resurrection.

“See, I am doing a new thing.” Isaiah 43:19

Maybe where we are isn’t defined by all we’ve done wrong, but by the grace God is still unfolding in the days to come.

Save + Share❤️🙏
#encouragement by @jackiesmithbell

14

3

5 months ago

Hey friend...But God is faithful in the waiting.

Even now, He is weaving together conversations you thought meant nothing, closed doors you cried over, delays you called rejection, and pain you thought disqualified you. Heaven is not scrambling trying to figure your life out. God is intentional. Precise. Present.

Be encouraged.

Romans 8:28 by @jackiesmithbell

24

5

5 months ago

Yesterday, we turned 34.

At dinner, our waitress asked how long we’d been married. My husband, with almost holy excitement in his voice, answered, “34 years.”

She smiled and said, “Wow, that’s a long time to defy the odds.”

And somehow those words stayed with me.

Defying odds has been the echo of our love story, even when we didn’t realize it.

Because 34 years is a long time to have and to hold in a world where it’s often easier to let go.
A long time to choose covenant when comfort would’ve been simpler. A long time to keep returning to love after disappointment, grief, misunderstandings, wounds, and all the ordinary wear and tear that life leaves behind.

Yes, we love each other. FOR SURE.

But not because it’s always been easy.
We love because there has always been something holy holding us together when we could have fallen apart.

And if I’m honest, most days I don’t hear the echo of that miracle in the midst of routines and conversations after longs days.

But then a moment comes, like celebrating 34 years together, and I’m reminded.

This life we’ve built… this staying… this choosing again and again…

It’s been defying odds all along. We don’t just have a marriage.

We have holy.
We have grace.
We have a hallelujah.

Happy 34th anniversary to us! by @jackiesmithbell

22

14

5 months ago

Some days, what I see feels loud. Confusing. Heavy.

But I’m learning not to let what I see define what I believe.

“Our faith isn’t validated by what we see... it’s validated by what God says.”

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7

So today, I’m choosing to trust what I know is true about God,even when I don’t fully understand what’s happening around me.

Not because it’s easy.

But because He is faithful.
#encouragement #womenoffaith by @jackiesmithbell

13

2

6 months ago