08/25/2026
# Freedom Started Before I Ever Walked Into the Room
Tonight is the first night of Freedom Group.
And the funny thing is, I thought I was preparing to *lead* people through freedom.
Instead, it feels like God has spent the last two weeks showing me just how much I need freedom too.
Because these last couple of weeks?
They have been a lot.
There have been moments where I genuinely felt like I was being pulled in ten different directions at once. Work has been heavy. Decisions about my future have been heavy. Ministry has been growing. Home life hasn’t stopped simply because everything else got busy. I’ve been trying to show up as a wife, a mom, a leader, an employee, a friend, and a woman who loves Jesus while also trying to figure out what God is asking me to do next.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I started thinking:
**There is no way the timing of this is accidental.**
# # The Resistance Before Freedom
For weeks I have been excited about Freedom Group.
I’ve thought about the women who are coming.
I’ve prayed about what God might do.
I’ve planned little gifts that connect to what we will be learning each week.
I’ve imagined conversations, breakthroughs, prayers, tears, laughter, healing, and women finally putting down things they have carried for way too long.
But the closer we got to the first meeting, the louder everything around me seemed to become.
Stress.
Confusion.
Decisions.
Disappointment.
Exhaustion.
Fear.
Overthinking.
Questions about what I should do next.
Questions about whether I was making the right decisions.
Questions about whether I was capable of carrying everything in front of me.
And I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
At the exact same time that I have been studying *Fervent* and learning more about intentional prayer and spiritual warfare, I have been watching those lessons play out in real time.
It is one thing to underline a sentence about the enemy attacking your peace.
It is another thing entirely to realize:
**Oh. This is what that looks like.**
It doesn’t always look dramatic.
Sometimes it looks like distraction.
Sometimes it looks like exhaustion.
Sometimes it looks like being so consumed with ten other problems that you barely have enough mental space left to focus on what God has placed in front of you.
Sometimes it looks like questioning your purpose right before you are supposed to step into it.
# # I Had a Choice Sitting in Front of Me
One of the biggest things I’ve wrestled with recently has been work.
An unexpected job opportunity opened a door that could have completely changed what my everyday life looked like.
Then my current job responded with changes of its own.
Suddenly I wasn’t simply asking, “What job pays more?”
I was asking questions about my family.
My schedule.
My ministry.
My children.
My future.
My peace.
My purpose.
What season am I actually in?
Where does God want me planted?
What am I supposed to hold onto, and what am I supposed to release?
There were moments when I wanted God to hand me a piece of paper that simply said:
**Viktoria, pick this one.**
Because wouldn’t that be easier?
But instead, I had to pray.
I had to listen.
I had to slow down enough to separate fear from wisdom.
I had to recognize that not every open door is automatically my door—and that staying somewhere doesn’t automatically mean I’m afraid to move.
Sometimes freedom looks like being able to make a decision without being ruled by fear.
And maybe that has been one of the lessons God has been teaching me before Freedom Group even started.
# # Freedom Does Not Mean Life Becomes Easy
I think sometimes we hear the word “freedom” and imagine that it means all of our problems disappear.
No anxiety.
No difficult conversations.
No stressful jobs.
No family problems.
No uncertainty.
No spiritual attacks.
Just peace and worship music playing in the background while everything magically works itself out.
But that isn’t what biblical freedom looks like.
Freedom is being able to stand in the middle of chaos and still know who you belong to.
Freedom is recognizing a lie before you build your life around it.
Freedom is knowing that your emotions are real without allowing them to become your master.
Freedom is forgiving even when what happened mattered.
Freedom is surrendering something you desperately want to control.
Freedom is learning how to guard your heart.
Freedom is allowing God's Word to become louder than the thoughts running through your head.
Freedom is understanding that Jesus didn’t promise us a life without battles.
He promised us we wouldn't fight them alone.
# # God Has Been Building Something
At the same time all of this has been happening, I started reading *Building Theology*.
And one idea has already stuck with me:
**What you believe determines how you build.**
That hit differently during this season.
Because when life gets uncomfortable, you find out really quickly what you actually believe.
Do I really believe God is good when I don’t know what happens next?
Do I really believe He provides?
Do I really believe He directs my steps?
Do I believe prayer matters?
Do I believe God can redeem hard seasons?
Do I believe He is working even when I cannot see the entire picture?
Do I believe what Scripture says about me more than I believe what fear says about me?
Those questions are theology.
But they aren't just theology written in a notebook.
They're theology lived out on a random Tuesday when you're overwhelmed and trying to make a decision.
They're theology when you're sitting at your desk fighting tears.
They're theology when you're praying before work.
They're theology when you're exhausted but still opening your Bible.
They're theology when you show up to lead even though you don't feel like you've figured everything out yourself.
Maybe that's why these books, these studies, these conversations, and Freedom Group are all colliding at the same time.
God isn't just giving me information.
He's building something.
# # Maybe Leaders Need Freedom Too
This has probably been the biggest realization for me.
I don't have to walk into Freedom Group already completely free from every struggle in my life.
I don't have to have every answer.
I don't have to stand in front of women pretending I never get overwhelmed, never question things, never struggle to pray, never get discouraged, and never have days where I wonder what in the world God is doing.
Because I'm not leading from perfection.
I'm walking beside them.
We're learning together.
We're surrendering together.
We're praying together.
We're letting God deal with the places we usually hide together.
And honestly?
I think there is something beautiful about God allowing me to feel my own need for Him so deeply right before asking me to help create a space where other women can do the same.
# # The Enemy Has Been Putting in Work
I said earlier today that I don't know if it's just me, but leading up to Freedom Group, it feels like the devil has been putting in WORK.
And I still mean that.
But then I heard **“Give Him Hell” by Transformation Worship**, and something in me shifted.
Because spiritual warfare isn't about becoming obsessed with what the enemy is doing.
It's about remembering what Jesus has already done.
The enemy can distract.
Jesus is still Lord.
The enemy can discourage.
Jesus is still Lord.
The enemy can whisper lies.
Jesus is still Lord.
The enemy can try to steal my peace.
Jesus is still Lord.
The enemy can make things uncomfortable.
Jesus is still Lord.
And if there is resistance surrounding a group of women deciding they want healing, growth, surrender, forgiveness, purpose, truth, and a closer relationship with Jesus?
Then fine.
We'll pray harder.
We'll worship louder.
We'll open our Bibles.
We'll tell the truth.
We'll forgive.
We'll surrender.
We'll show up.
# # Tonight, I’m Showing Up
So tonight I’m not walking into Freedom Group as the woman who has everything figured out.
I'm walking in as someone who has spent the last two weeks being reminded of exactly why freedom matters.
I'm walking in tired in some places.
Hopeful in others.
Still praying about things.
Still learning.
Still growing.
Still surrendering.
But I'm walking in.
And maybe that's what freedom starts with.
Not perfection.
Not having every answer.
Not suddenly becoming fearless.
Just deciding that whatever tried to keep you bound yesterday doesn't get the final word today.
Jesus does.
So if the last two weeks were meant to make me question whether I was ready for Freedom Group...
They did the opposite.
They reminded me why I'm going.
Because freedom isn't just something I want to teach about.
It's something I want to live.
And tonight, we begin.
**“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17**
Here’s to twelve weeks of drawing closer to God, putting things back into spiritual order, guarding our hearts, surrendering, forgiving, speaking life, living by the Word, discovering purpose, worshiping through it all; and becoming a little more free every time we choose Jesus.
Freedom Group, night one.
Let’s go.
