Survival to Favor

For this blog entry, I’m going to be sharing with you the word that the Lord has given to me for my birthday this year. Every year for my birthday, I ask Him for a special word as my gift.💝

This year, He highlighted that He is turning my survival mode into favor.

I’ve been in survival mode since I was pretty young; always moving, people pleasing, financial survival, and in my past relationships, and even friendships. At the start of my surrender to Christ, as I was learning to trust Him, I was still in survival mode. It wasn’t until I got in a relationship 2 years ago, with my now husband, that the Lord showed me how to start receiving stability.

Girl, how do you receive stability???

If you’re asking this question, don’t worry I got you.

He really started teaching me this the moment I surrendered my life fully to Him. BUT it really started to click when I was stepping into the promises He made me.

I’m going to tell you a story that my husband told me:

There once was this nice family, living in America, that adopted two young orphan boys from Africa. The family gave them everything they never had and everything they could ever need and more: a loving home, cozy bed, a stocked kitchen, new clothes, etc. etc.

The two young boys were so used to surviving that they would constantly take from the fridge and eat ALL of the food in one day. Of course it was not good for their health and the parent’s were needing to put restrictions in order to protect the young boys. It took some time for the boys to understand that their new parents loved them, that there will always be food in the house, and that everything that belonged to the parents also now belongs to them. After some time, the parents were able to remove the restrictions as they could trust that the boys wouldn’t eat out of survival but instead would eat and receive from a place of stability.

My then boyfriend looked me in the eyes and said “You don’t have to survive anymore, what’s in the fridge is always going to be there for you.”

Since then, I’ve been learning to re-train my nervous system into running from a place of stability, not survival. It’s been almost 2 years, and I’m still working through it.

But God is so good. Now the word I received for 2026 is JUBILEE. There’s more freedom to walk into this year, and for me that freedom is saying goodbye to survival mode and saying yes to walking in the mindset, authority, favor, and love that Jesus has already paid for, for me!

Part of it is walking in faith, part of it is moving in wisdom. There’s balance between the spiritual and practical.

The big yes for me was to quit my toxic 9-5 job and go full time into this business/brand/ministry that God has called me to build. After surrendering through months of praying and taking the practical steps towards my desire, I was able to quit in God’s timing. I am learning that my Father will always provide for me, the fridge is full! And I have access to it! But I also get to rest in that, not rush or strive out of fear.

I don’t need to survive anymore because my Father loves me, He wants the best for me, and He’s ready to give me all that He’s promised me! This is the special blessing of being A Daughter of The Most High. And you get this blessing as well!!

Survival turned to favor might look like:

• Pressure to fit in → Freedom to live authentically

  What once required performance now requires obedience. You no longer blend in to survive; you stand out because you are secure.

• Confusion and anxiety → Action, alignment, then clarity

  God often resolves confusion after obedience, not before it. Movement precedes understanding.

• Praying “Please fix this” (desperation) → Praying “Thank You for ___” (gratitude)

  The posture shifts from crisis management to trust. Gratitude signals recognition that God is already at work.

• Stuck in fear → Faith + works = fruit

  Fear paralyzes; faith activates. When belief is paired with action, results follow—not as striving, but as response.

You’ve been given too much freedom to stay stuck in survival mode. Ask yourself, “what if___?” Only a child can interrupt the king. If you’ve given your heart to Jesus and have been adopted into His kingdom, you have that privilege. So go! run to your father! Ask Him whatever you want, be with Him, let Him transform you from the inside out! And let Him show you just how much He wants to be your provider, comforter, redeemer, your beloved, your promise keeper, and your Father.

This is going to look different for everyone. Ask Him! He’s ready to lead you into the more! But more than that, He’s ready to lead you closer to Himself. And in Him, there’s Jubilee Freedom.

2026 is going to be an amazing year!😍

Love y’all! 💖

xoxo,

Holy Girl