By: Clare Bruce
Superstar singer and actor Michelle Williams, former member of Destiny’s Child, is not one to be shy about her faith in Jesus.
Growing up in church, the pop star often talks about her trust in God on social media; now she has shared her faith with other believers by creating a new devotion series for the popular Bible app, YouVersion.
In the short three-part series, Michelle focusses on her own journey of overcoming anxiety and depression, beginning with her experience of leaving Destinys Child, and beginning a career as a solo artist, “wondering about things I shouldn’t have worried about”.
She points to scriptures about the joy of the Lord, and about God’s plans for us, as well as Jesus’ teaching “do not worry about your life”, as a great source of hope and comfort to her.
“God has proven he’s on my side, he’s always been walking beside me,” she says.
“God has proven he’s on my side, he’s always been walking beside me.”
Michelle also encourages people to choose carefully what they read, watch and consume, and to focus their thoughts on “whatever is right… pure… lovely… (and) admirable”, as taught in Philippians 4:8.
“For those of us who are daily overcoming and fighting depression we must guard our hearts,” she says. “Especially if there are some wounds that haven’t healed, some triggers that we haven’t quite dealt with or figured out how we get to that place, and we can become silenced. We easily become offended, we get angry, and we ultimately begin to isolate. I speak for myself. Isolation is dangerous because that’s where your mind gets to wandering. What you put in your mind determines your thoughts and your actions.”
Concluding the devotions, Michelle encourages readers to do the following simple exercises:
1. Reflect on all the times where you know that God has proven He’s on your side.
2. Reflect on all the times where you worried but God already had a plan worked out for you.
3. Meditate on things that are good: “God says good things about you – let’s start right there.”
Head to the YouVersion app and in Reading Plans, search ‘Michelle Williams’ to find her devotions.
Scriptures
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.” Psalm 28:7 (NIV)
“No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.” Psalms 16:9 (NLT)
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.” Matt 6:25 (NIV)
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
About the Author: Clare is a digital journalist for the Broadcast Industry.