Ryan C. Bailey & Associates, LLC

Most Christian high performers quietly live with a tension they never fully resolve.

On one side: work hard, prepare thoroughly, execute with excellence. On the other: trust God, rest in His sovereignty, surrender the outcome.

And somewhere in between, a question that rarely gets answered clearly: Am I striving in my own strength, or am I trusting God? Because it honestly feels like both.

Philippians 2:12–13 says it is both.

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling — that is a real command directed at you. Real effort. Real obedience. Real discipline.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure — that is the reality underneath your effort. God is not watching from a distance. He is producing the desire and the power inside of you.

Your effort is not in competition with God's sovereignty. Your effort is the evidence of His sovereignty at work in you.

When you prepare thoroughly for a board meeting — that drive is the Holy Spirit producing the will and the work in a leader who is learning to respond to God's love with everything they have.

When you confront sin honestly instead of waiting passively for God to remove it — that costly obedience is exactly what Scripture commands, powered by exactly what God provides.

The Christian life is not a toggle between hustle and surrender. It is both at the same time, in the same moment, for the same reason.

If I really believed God's love is so active that He is the one producing both my desire and my ability to work — how would that change the way I carry the weight of my responsibilities this week?

Read the full CHEW: https://ryancbailey.com/the-tension-between-working-hard-and-trusting-god-that-nobody-talks-about/

The Tension Between Working Hard and Trusting God That Nobody Talks About The Daily CHEW™Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals What This Could Look Like You are sitting at your desk early — before the team arrives, before the inbox takes over — and you are doing the work. Preparing the presentation. Reviewing the numbers. Mapping out the...

If you hate your sin, that hatred may be one of the clearest signs you’re not walking in the flesh.

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Romans 8:3–4

“Flesh” here is not just the body; it is our old, sin-ruled way of living, relying on ourselves, chasing our own desires, trying to obey or rebel in our own strength. Walking “according to the flesh” is living as if Christ hadn’t died and the Spirit hadn’t been given. Walking “according to the Spirit” is living as someone whose story is now defined by what God has done, not by what we can do.

So how can Paul say “I hate what I do” and still not be walking in the flesh? Because that hatred of sin, that grief over what he does, is itself the fruit of the Spirit’s work. The person walking in the flesh makes peace with sin or trusts law-keeping to fix it; the person walking in the Spirit runs back to Jesus, fights sin from a place of “no condemnation,” and leans on the Spirit for power. God’s love sent His Son to condemn sin instead of condemning us, and gave His Spirit so that, even in our battle and stumbles, we are truly walking in a new direction with Him.

Lord, thank You that in Christ You condemned sin without condemning us. When we hate what we still do, draw us deeper into Your “no condemnation,” teach us to fight from Your love instead of for it, and keep us walking by Your Spirit, not by our old flesh.

My business is going through a transition.

Nothing changes for clients. But behind the scenes, I was ready to morph into whatever the growth demanded.

Then my coach asked a question that stopped me:
"What is really you?"

I thought instantly about my parents. Both were successful surgeons. Neither ever took a partner. They each had a small, excellent team. They did the work they were built to do for decades.

When he asked if I wanted a large team, I said not really — I love doing the work.

And right there, the picture came into focus.

I do not have to become someone I am not to build something that matters.

God did not give me this calling so I could exhaust myself scaling what was always meant to be personal, deep, and close.
He gave it so I could steward it — faithfully, within the design He chose.

Where are you building something that requires you to become someone God did not design you to be?

Read today's Daily CHEW: I Almost Designed a Business Around Someone I Am Not
https://ryancbailey.com/i-almost-designed-a-business-around-someone-i-am-not/

I Almost Designed a Business Around Someone I Am Not The Daily CHEW™Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals My business is going through a transition. Nothing changes for clients — the work stays the same, the depth stays the same, the confidentiality stays the same. But behind the scenes, I have been wrestling with some...

The night you most regret is not strong enough to cancel what Jesus prayed for you.

“And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them.” Luke 22:55

It looks like a small detail a cold night, a fire, people gathering for warmth. But this is the courtyard where Peter will deny Jesus, exactly as Jesus said. None of it is random. God’s love is quietly arranging the scene, not to create Peter’s sin, but to fulfill His word and later restore His friend.

God is never the author of evil, yet He is never outmaneuvered by it. Peter’s fear and failure are real, but they do not surprise the Lord or derail His purposes. The very night Peter wishes he could erase becomes the backdrop for deeper humility and for the restoration still to come.

Lord, thank You for ruling over every courtyard and every hard night. When we fall, meet us as You met Peter, turn our shame into deeper repentance and love, and weave even our failures into Your good purposes.

He was a VP — Oxford-educated, Stanford MBA, fourteen-hour days.

His engagement score came back: 35 out of 100.

He built a career on self-reliance and intensity. He expected everyone to operate like him.

When they did not, he let them know — publicly, forcefully, and in ways the team would not forget.

Then in a coaching session, he heard that 58 percent of job performance is built on emotional intelligence. Not IQ. Not drive.

He went quiet. And then he started talking about his father.
His father ran a major company. Everyone was afraid of him.

They worked hard — not from respect, but from fear.

Sitting in that session, this VP said four words that changed everything:
"I have become my father."

The turning point was not a technique. It was the Gospel reaching a place his degrees never could.

Over the next year he grew in humility and compassion. He still held his team to excellence. But he started seeking to understand instead of seeking to demand.

Next year's engagement score: 84. The year after: 95.

Read today's Daily CHEW: From a 35 to a 95 — What Happened When a VP Stopped Leading Like His Father
https://ryancbailey.com/what-happened-when-a-vp-stopped-leading-like-his-father/

What leadership pattern did you inherit that you do not want to pass on?

What Happened When a VP Stopped Leading Like His Father The Daily CHEW™Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals He was a Vice President at a major corporation — Oxford-educated, Stanford MBA, the kind of résumé that opens every door. He had built a career on self-reliance, strategic intensity, and fourteen-hour days. He ex...

What if God’s help doesn’t feel like escape, but like enough heart to stay and obey?

“And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” Luke 22:43–44

In Gethsemane, the Father does not pull Jesus out of the garden; He sends an angel to strengthen Him in it. The help of heaven does not erase the agony it makes Jesus able to walk all the way through it for us. Strength from God does not always feel like relief; sometimes it feels like having enough heart to keep obeying when everything in you wants to run.

Love is what holds Him there. The Son sees the cup clearly and, strengthened, He leans in instead of pulling back. His sweat falls like blood, not because the Father is cruel, but because He is determined to save people He loves.

This is the love carrying you today. When obedience feels costly, the same Father who strengthened Jesus gives you grace to stay, to trust, to pray more earnestly.

Lord, thank You for the love that strengthened Jesus to stay in the garden for us. When obedience feels heavy, strengthen our hearts, help us trust Your purposes, and teach us to walk through hard places with our eyes fixed on Him.

You used to have a friend who knew you.

Not your title. Not your quarterly results. Not the version of you that shows up at the leadership offsite.

The real you — the one who laughed too loud, said what he actually thought, and could sit in a room with someone and not perform.

Somewhere between the promotion and the third kid, that friendship went quiet. Not because of a fight. Just drift.

Most Christian executives I work with carry a friendship gap they have learned to manage but never name.

They have colleagues they respect. A spouse they love. A small group they attend.

But the friend who could look at them and say "something is off with you today" — that person is not in their life anymore.

God did not design you to lead without being known.

The fact that you miss that friendship — even if you have never said it out loud — is not weakness. It is your heart remembering what it was built for.

Read today's Daily CHEW: The Friendship You Used to Have
https://ryancbailey.com/the-friendship-you-used-to-have/

Who is the friend you stopped calling — and what would it take to send one text this week?

The Friendship You Used to Have The Daily CHEW™Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals You used to have a friend who knew you. Not your title, not your quarterly results, not the version of you that shows up at the leadership offsite. The real you — the one who laughed too loud at the wrong things, w...

When you blow it badly, do you secretly assume God has finally had enough of you?

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

This promise does not wait for your best day. It stands when you have just sinned again, when shame burns, when you are sure you have finally worn out His patience. In that very place, He says, “I am your God.” He ties His own name to people who wobble.

Notice how every command is anchored in what He will do. He does not say, “Be strong and I might stay.” He says, “I will strengthen you… I will help you… I will uphold you.” His love is not a paycheck you earn; it is a covenant gift secured by Christ, stronger than your worst failure.

When fear whispers, “You’ve gone too far this time,” this verse answers, “His hand is still under you.” Today, you can grieve your sin honestly without doubting His commitment. The same righteous hand that judged your sin at the cross is the hand that now holds you up.

Lord, thank You for binding Yourself to us in everlasting love. Steady us when we fall, silence the lie that Your love depends on our performance, and teach our hearts to rest in Your unbreakable promise to strengthen, help, and uphold us forever.

Two different sessions this week.

Two completely different arenas.

One leader developing his team.

One husband wanting to love his wife even better than he already does.

Both asked me the same question:
How do I know if I am being responsible — or if I am acting from fear?

The difference is not in the action. It is in what is driving the action.

Responsibility says: I have work to do, and God is faithful with the outcome.

Fear says: If I do not get this right, everything falls apart — and it will be my fault.

The behavior can look identical from the outside. The engine underneath is completely different.

Scripture does not say stop acting. It says stop leaning on your own understanding as the ground beneath the action.
God reshapes the leader who acts from trust — not the one who acts from dread.

Read today's Daily CHEW: The Question I Got Asked Twice This Week
https://ryancbailey.com/the-question-i-got-asked-twice-this-week/

What decision are you facing this week where you honestly cannot tell the difference?

The Question I Got Asked Twice This Week The Daily CHEW™Moving God’s Love from Head to Heart for Christian Professionals Two different sessions this week. Two completely different arenas — one leader developing his team, one husband wanting to love his wife even better than he already does. Two men who look nothing alike on paper. An...

What if your exhaustion is not failure, but pruning?

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

When trials keep stacking, it is so tempting to coast or numb out with some “comfort” sin. We’re tired of being hit and we just want relief. Yet in those moments, God is doing more than we see. Like a wise gardener, He is pruning—cutting back what feels precious so that something better, stronger, and more fruitful can grow.

If we rush to false comforts, we short‑circuit that process and stay shallow. Instead, we can bring our raw, unedited exhaustion to “the God of all comfort,” asking Him to meet us without anesthesia and to let the pruning have its full, beautiful effect. In time, we will reap—a harvest of deeper love, holiness, and resilience that could not have grown any other way, even if we would never have chosen the path that grew it.

Lord, when we are sick of the hits, draw us away from counterfeit comforts and into Your arms. Give us strength not to give up, and use this pruning to make us more like Jesus and more useful in Your hands.