Women Who Dare to Believe 14 | Simi John

I am so thankful to have my Instagram friend, Simi John on the blog today. I first connected with Simi through a group giveaway we did together years ago, and I have been so encouraged by her heart for women and the church. I know that you'll love her as well.

Simi, tell the readers a little bit about yourself.

I was born in India and moved to Dallas, TX at the age of 7. I graduated with my doctorate in physical therapy and got married to my best friend Jayson in 2010. We live in Oklahoma and have 2 kids. We pastor a local church in Norman, Ok.

I feel called to equip women to know who they are and live loved! I am a speaker and author of “I Am Not: Break Free From Stereotypes & Become The Woman God Made You To Be” (available on Amazon).

Has there ever been a time in your life when you had to choose to believe God - even when you didn't want to or feel like it?

When my husband and I decided to start a family and things were not happening on our timeline, I was overwhelmed by anxiety and despair. I was angry at my body for not doing what it ought to do and even frustrated at God for not seeing our pain. I didn’t know what to do anymore, I thought maybe it was because I didn’t have enough faith for my miracle.

So one day I decided to fast and pray to get God to give me what I wanted …(what? You were expecting me to say something holy? I am just trying to be honest) I truly thought I could do a one-day hunger strike to win God’s favor and He would grant my heart’s desire.

God spoke to me that day through the story of Abraham and Isaac. Abraham finally got the answer to his prayer, his promised son Isaac was finally born. God wanted to see if he was still dependent on God and asked him to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah. Abraham proved that his heart was all in. That day on the mountain top, Abraham didn’t have to sacrifice his promised son, because God provided a ram instead. So, he called God: my provider, Jireh.

Through this, God reminded me to focus on the Giver and not the gift. We focus so much on having enough faith for the miracle, but God was saying, “I want you to have faith in me.” My focus was on getting my heart’s desire and God’s focus was on my heart. And I ended that fast with a prayer of surrender: God, if you give me a child, I will bless you. If you don’t ever give me a child, I will still bless you. You are good and enough for me. I trust you! Well as time went on, I got pregnant with a beautiful little girl and I named her Moriah to remind me every day that God is my provider. He is enough. He is worthy of my trust. I learned to shift my focus from the gift to the Giver. When the next crisis came, I knew it wasn’t about trying to muster up enough faith for my miracle, rather reminding myself on the goodness of my God to stir up my faith in Him.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. Psalm 23: 6 (NIV)

This was a scripture that strengthened me through my waiting, reminding that even though I don’t see the good I want, my God is still good.

I think we are all tempted to chase after goodness and love in this world, but all the while His goodness and love is running after us. All we have to do is pause to see it and rest in it because that is what I heart truly desires. And when His goodness and love become enough, we will experience a confident joy that comes from being satisfied in Christ- the Giver of every good and perfect gift.