Over the course of our journey with Jesus as we follow Him, we go back and forth between high and low times. These movements are like the ocean tide rising and falling and the waves that keep flowing in and out. They’re like breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dioxide. We receive and release. We’re strengthened to face difficulties and emptied to make space to receive new blessings.

Spiritual Peaks & Pits

The spiritual writers of old, in Scripture and church history talk about two basic and recurring movements of God in the spiritual life: We will refer to them as rhythms. There are often referred to as spiritual peaks  and spiritual pits.  I'm sure you have all experienced these rhythm's at both extremes! But however wonderful or difficult these bedfellows can be they are both are essential learning opportunities in our apprenticeship to Jesus.

Spiritual peaks refers to times in which we feel the warmth of God’s presence—we sense that we’re blessed and encouraged by our Lord. We get exciting new insights from the Bible, we enjoy prayer or being quiet in God’s presence, we experience intimacy with God in worship, spiritual conversations are rich, or service feels impactful. The Lord uses these often radical inward movements as an invitation to draw us onward to the next stage in our journey on the Wild Path of Jesus.
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But when things are the Pits and when we feel worn out, isolated, and alone, all the warm fuzzy feelings are fade and God seems far away. We do the same spiritual activities, but they don’t bring satisfaction. We pray, but it seems that God doesn’t answer. We go to church but it’s boring. In our spiritual life, we feel restless, bored, distracted, discouraged—it seems dry as dust and we lose motivation to seek God.
Worst of all, in desolation we probably think we’re regressing spiritually, that we’re doing something wrong and it’s our fault that we can’t feel God’s presence. So to avoid feeling like we are stuck in a Bog with no way out, we pressure ourselves to do more spiritual activities and feel anxious or we judge ourselves for our lack of faith and feel guilty and ashamed. The reality is... there is beauty to be found in our Bog even when it seems desolate!

Understanding the Pits

​Allow me a moment to differentiate between the rhythms associated with the pits and that they are different from being depressed, although they often do and can affect each other. Here goes! Depression is a psychological disorder that is pervasive in our life and personality, it darkens our whole life, including our relationship with God and spiritual activities. I once experienced this personally where Depression was the result of chemical imbalance in my body from taking the very drugs that were supposed to help my depression. Furthermore, I had unresolved grief, repressed anger, relationship problems, emotional detachment, or negative thinking and undealt with sin. All of these things eventually led to several attempts to end my life. Fortunately Jesus had other plans.
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I have concluded that the rhythms associated with being in the pits are also different from ordinary trials. We can see a work that the Lord was doing in Joseph in scripture that shows that his trials were of a spiritual nature that focused on his relationship with God and being moved throughout his life with God and in directions that most of us would not enjoy giving consideration to. Another observation is that in times when we feel like our life is in the pit, the rest of your life may be fine or even peaking, but God seems to be withholding certain blessings you desire. The experience of a spiritual downer could potentially become a pervasive life downer if it bleeds into other areas of your life. The old adage of "Don't let life get you down" seems to resonate with these thoughts so... If your life in in the pits... Look for the cherry on top!

Now although I believe that the pits are spiritual, They are not the same as being disciplined by God for sin. It’s not because you did anything wrong or did not do something good. It’s not because you lack faith. It’s not something you can fix by doing more spiritual disciplines or spending more time at church.

Much to my surprise, in the times I have been in the pits the Lord has intentionally withdrawn from me a felt sense of his presence. Initially it seemed unkind or like abandonment, but actually, it’s a deep work of love by the Spirit for a maturing disciple of Jesus. In this spiritually dry and empty experience, the Lord is always strengthening my character and teaching me how to rely on and appreciate the spiritual reality of the Spirit’s loving presence, even when I can’t feel it. Even so, I would still describe these "Pit" experiences as  feeling Desolate or like being in the Pit of Despair. Like in the book... "The Princess Bride!" Fortunately Jesus is like having a giant in your Posse!

​What is the pit of desolation and despair actually?

The Pit of Desolation and Despair is the place where the Psalmist cries out again and again, “O Lord, why is your face hidden from me?” He often found himself in prolonged seasons of spiritual desolation often referred to as the "Dark Night of the Soul." We can learn to be joyful and fruitful even in a spiritual desert if we adjust our expectations and participate in what the Spirit of Jesus is doing in us.

So what do we do in the pit of desolation and despair?

Note! A wise and healthy response to a spiritual pit is not to try to fix it by generating spiritual peaks. Instead, we need to accept the good provisions of the Holy Spirit’s work, waiting on Him and cooperating with Him. Here are five ways to cooperate with the Spirit when God feels distant or you feel spiritually dry:

Search your Heart

When I find myself in the pit of despair, and spiritual disciplines do not provide encouragement like they used to do; That is when the Spirit of Truth uses spiritual activities and other events as a mirror to show us our heart. That’s a primary purpose of spiritual disciplines, which is why in the Bible the Lord’s teaching is described as a mirror that gives freedom (James 1:25). The Lord may lovingly reveal to us issues like insecurity, spiritual pride, moodiness, expectations of being gratified, approval seeking, or inability to love well in difficulty.
“Search me, God,” we can pray with the Psalmist, “know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24).
 
 Develop Soul Friendships

The danger in times of desolation is that we may feel bad about our struggle and isolate ourselves. Often we downplay our distress or distract ourselves by staying busy. Instead, if we share our struggles with a soul friend, we open a new channel to receive God’s compassion to feel understood, validated, strengthened, and guided. When we are disheartened or weak, we need encouragement and help (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

Grow in the Grace you are Receiving!

In times of spiritual peaks, we like to think that God is blessing us because of the disciplines or good works we do. Our inflated pride comes back to haunt us when we interpret our experiences of the pits as being due to our sin or lack of faithful devotion to Christ. Peaks and Pits are both gifts of God’s grace for us to receive; they are not experiences that we generate.

Be Weaned off of Emotional Blessings!

I have found that when I am in the Pits that God shows me the ways that I’ve become dependant on feelings of being blessed by God to have balance and confidence. In John of the Cross’ metaphor, we’re like small children that need to be weaned off the bottle of spiritual highs and warm fuzzies!. Previously, we loved and served the Lord largely because it made us feel good and significant. Now our opportunity is to trust the Spirit’s presence beyond our feelings, discovering a spiritual-relational way of knowing that is more than emotions. We’re learning to love each member of the Trinity for who they are, not just when they make us feel happy.

Gaze upon His Beauty to Persevere!

If we cooperate with the ministry of Christ in trials then we can develop the kind of faith that endures to trust in God—even if we’re not feeling loved or our life circumstances are bad (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4).
David suffered so much injustice at the hands of Saul and had to live in the desert for years foraging for food, sleeping on rocks, being hunted like a criminal year after year. Yet he had faithfully served Saul, risking his life as a soldier in his army, playing the harp for the king when he was depressed, and submitting to the king’s authority. Yet he prayed, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).

Jesus’ Beatitudes in Peaks and Pits
 
It is when we are on the Peaks that we need to hear Jesus’ beatitude, “Blessed are you in your good times because yours is the kingdom of the heavens” (Matthew 5:3-12 paraphrased). In other words, when we feel that God is blessing our circumstances this is not our greatest blessing, rather it’s in submitting to the Lord Jesus and joining him in his Father’s world.
Similarly, When we are in the Pit of Despair, we need to hear Jesus’ beatitude, “Blessed are you in your bad times because yours is the kingdom of the heavens.” When we feel distant from God or like God is not blessing our circumstances, we need to re-focus on the best blessing of bringing our life to our Redeemer in his Kingdom of Light.

The Lenten season is an often misunderstood sometime avoided, and even an abused seasonal opportunity, The truth of the matter is... That it should be year round in our walks as followers of Christ, But, in many cases has become a legalistic norm. Even having grown up in a Christian home, I had a misconstrued comprehension of the Lenten season as a whole, Never was I taught that it was a season to be enjoyed.
I sought to find out more from authors, pastors, and spiritual directors about the vitality of the Lenten season, its purpose for us as Christians and how it can be transformational in our personal walks with Christ. 

The Lenten season has been observed by a variety of God’s people for thousands of years. For some, It has been a liturgical and even legalistic approach to earn favor with Christs' finished work, and for others it has lacked the relational aspects of grace and invitation by that come from a loving Savior. (We did that, not Jesus!) 

The whole simplistic purpose of this season has been to reorient Christians with a vantage point of understanding Jesus’ suffering, and sacrificial death on the cross. Lent consists of forty days plus an additional six Sundays, that later culminates in Easter with a focus on Jesus’ resurrection and the ensuing celebration of Jesus being risen and the gift of salvation that we as Christians have through Jesus’ finished work on the cross! But this season doesn't have to start and stop there!

There is often a component to giving up something for the Lenten season, that in many cases is something that distracts or distorts us from our awareness of the Lord’s presence. When we desire to embrace what we have given up during this season, the hope would be that we would press into Jesus’ suffering for our sins, and be drawn into the transformational power of the good news, and not embrace what we have given up. It is not about giving up something in particular, for our own selfish ambition or self glory, but in this season of giving something up, Is it and wonder that so much scripture deals with the cutting of of our flesh! I have found personally that this season offers me an opportunity to become a living sacrifice, to put the old man to death with Christ, to practice repentance at every turn. When I step into this rhythm I am able to abide in Christ, grow in Him, experience renovation, regeneration, and resurrection in my life and it become contagious, radical, and restores my joy as I let Him transform my heart. I have renamed the season of Lent for myself personally. The season has been extended to become a year round invitation and I now call it "Preparations for Son Rise!"  

Now I have a perpetual invitation from Jesus to ask myself questions that count like; How will I reorient my heart today, Do I frequently remember the suffering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ for my sins? Am I allowing Jesus to do a deeper work, am I enjoying an intimate walk with Him.

My hope is that as we move towards Easter, and the day after, and the days and weeks, and months after that; That God would transform our hearts where you and I would rejoice in Jesus’ resurrection, in our personal relationship with Him and in the gift of salvation! Preparing for Son rise is a gift for all Christians that prepares our hearts for Jesus' resurrection and if you have not embraced this open season previously, I want to encourage you to give it a try. I would love to hear how the Lord works in you, and what He does through you in the comments below as we make our way towards tomorrow's Son-rise! 

Here are some passages to pray through conversationally in preparation for todays Son-rise!

We must lay aside the old self!

Ephesians 4:21
...if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught Him just as truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and you put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

We must allow our old self to be renewed and not held hostage by the old self.

Colossians 3:9,
“Do not lie to one another since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created Him.”

Prov 24:16 For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

We have been renewed by His mercy and not the public, religious, opinions that lack the discernment of heart.
 
All have a sometimes moment.

Titus 3:3-6 KJV
[3] For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. [4] But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, [5] Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; [6] Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;

All have a sometimes moment.

Ephesians 2:13 KJV
[13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

All have a sometimes moment.

Ephesians 5:8 KJV
[8] For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

Titus 2:11-15 KJV
[11] For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12] Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [14] Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. [15] These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

Titus 2:7-8 KJV
[7] In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, [8] Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Isaiah 57:15 KJV
[15] For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place , with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Psalm 34:22 KJV
[22] The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

Psalm 34:17-20 KJV
[17] The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. [18] The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. [19] Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. [20] He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV
[9] And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Everything we magnify becomes amplified. Will we magnify our troubles, our fears, our tears. I will magnify the Lord! 

Psalm 34:3-6 KJV
[3] O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. [4] I sought the Lord , and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. [5] They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. [6] This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him , and saved him out of all his troubles.

Ephesians 1:17-23

The Full Gospel of Grace beyond just the aspect of pardon for those who are in Christ. We have been fully restored to experience the fullness of His strength, power, authority…. 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, 20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, 21
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

“As a giant oak is hidden in the seed of an acorn, the intention of God is seeded in the heart of man to rule with power and authority from Him and not of ourselves”.

In Genesis, God takes the lid off of his intentions for us and lets us in on one of the most outrageous plans. In this plan, and after the creation of all things, He hands it all over to Adam and Eve as a gift that would give them full authority and power to be the rulers of the earth. It is here that the true heart of God for mankind is found.

Genesis 1:26-28

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it;

We learn that God has intended for us to experience the treasures of His heart towards us and that it has been seeded in our hearts to pursue the heart of God.

Jeremiah 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Think through this with me! Desires that are governed by a heart after God will naturally reveal our design. Live in the framework of His design and it will also naturally reveal your destiny. However, you don’t have to look very far into your own story and the story of any man or woman to see what’s gone wrong in the heart of man. I believe the answer is directly connected to the fact that we might not be pursuing God with all of our heart and we haven't understood how we are designed to live on course with His image.

You are and are are both little nuts (acorns). His intention for us is to live out as mighty oaks even in and through the mist!

Start a conversation with Jesus as you pray conversationally through the scriptures above.


Contemplation by John Fairrington.

As we have previously stated. Desires that are governed by a heart after God will naturally reveal our design. Live in the framework of His design and it will also naturally reveal your destiny. In other words, you'll know how to navigate the path of Jesus even when things seem unclear. Furthermore, this way of living opens the door to experience the beauty of what Jesus is leading you in presently. Far to often we miss out on the beauty around us! This is what happens when we lose focus on the path He has laid out before us. Today, experience his protection, direction, safety, strength, His glory. Your inheritance, prize, pleasure, and portion. Know your path, His timing, leading you to pleasant places and privileges as you follow Him.
Praise Him for his whispers and wisdom in showing you what to do. Praise Him for His presence, security, joy faithfulness, and fullness. 

THE GOLDEN SECRET
A precious song, engraved in gold, by David

My Protection
Keep me safe, O mighty God.
I run to you, my safe place.
I said to Yahweh,
“You are my Maker and my Master.
Any good thing you find in me has come from you.”
And he said to me, “My holy lovers
in the land are my glorious ones,
who fulfill all my desires.”
Yet there are those who yield to their weakness,
and they will have troubles unending.
I never gather with such ones,
nor give them honor in any way.

My Portion
Yahweh, you alone are my inheritance.
You are my prize, my pleasure, and my portion.
You hold my destiny and its timing in your hands.
Your pleasant path leads me to pleasant places.
I’m overwhelmed by the privileges
that come with following you!

My Praise
The way you counsel me makes me praise you more,
for your whispers in the night give me wisdom,
showing me what to do next.
Because I set you, Yahweh, always close to me,
my confidence will never be weakened,
for I experience your wraparound presence every moment.
My heart and soul explode with joy—full of glory!
Even my body will rest confident and secure.
For you will not abandon me to the realm of death,
nor will you allow your Faithful One to experience corruption.
Because of you, I know the path of life,
as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence.
At your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore! (TPT)

Start a conversation with Jesus as you pray conversationally through the scriptures above.


Contemplation by John Fairrington.

Little boy sitting alone in the dark wondering why you don't fit in. fits of tears and disturbing thoughts. voices telling you you'll never amount to anything. Fighting every impulse to run away into the darkness. there is an enemy out for your soul, he's out to take your courage and the passion in your soul. To take away the purpose written in your very bones. Words on paper and song in the air. You words tearing holes through the enemies well laid plans. Words on paper tearing emotional walls down. Words releasing light into the Darkness. Calling others home from their Prodigal lands.

Little boy sitting in the dark. listening to the music, absorbing the words, letting them steep. playing over and over till the dopamine is gone and the words go numb but that feeling of the first time will never get old. When the words come to mind and the sentences flow and the fire inside burns and grows. Like the Sun's burning fire the torch of the spirit fires through all the lies. Burning out the doubts the rumors and the lies. Giving power to the words and set upon them a mission, a work. To which the little boy won't soon begin to know.

Fearfully sharing those first few words and the paragraphs and pages and then the volumes grow. Word by word with trials and victories through disappointment, faith, and some humbling times. Learning to listen to that still little voice whispering the words through distractions and choices.  Stopping to put that pen to paper, sometime so deep the tears are held back like a dammed up river till the last word is read. Sometimes the tears blur the ink as the emotions rage through the lines on the page. The smear of ink on a lefty's hand. While the pen can't keep up with the writers demands. Get those words down and onto the page! Don't dare let it fester Don't dare let it rage! Write it all down and don't miss a letter. get it all down before the world takes its toll pulling and pushing for mortal control....

Little boy, little boy, sitting alone in the dark. Don't listen to the lies for you are set apart. Through brokenness and empathy, through knowledge and with wit and through all the many tear. Your are being fashioned. You are being forged. You are being tuned to the master's perfect chord. When the time is right and when you are all grown you will look back and see the many seeds you've sown. The choices that you made the kindness in your heart. The giving of your gifts to any needy heart. Some they took advantage and some they broke your heart but in the Lord's great timing all is working for God's Glory and touching his great heart.

Will you see the (SON) shine in you mist, brokenness, and shame today?

Luke 1:78-79.
The splendor-light of heaven’s glorious sunrise
is about to break upon us in holy visitation,
all because the merciful heart of our God is so very tender.
The word from heaven will come to us
with dazzling light to shine upon those
who live in darkness, near death’s dark shadow.
And he will illuminate the path that leads to the way of peace.”
Start a conversation with Jesus as you pray conversationally through the scriptures above.

This Writing by Author Brian Waddell
Scripture Contemplation by John Fairrington.

John 4:26-30

Jesus said to her, “You don’t have to wait any longer, the Anointed One is here speaking with you—I am the One you’re looking for.”
At that moment, his disciples returned and were stunned to see Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman, yet none of them dared ask him why or what they were discussing. All at once, the woman left her water jar and ran off to her village and told everyone, “Come and meet a man at the well who told me everything I’ve ever done! He could be the One we’ve been waiting for.” Hearing this, the people came streaming out of the village to go see Jesus.

Romans 8:24-29

But hope means that we must trust and wait for what is still unseen. For why would we need to hope for something we already have? So because our hope is set on what is yet to be seen, we patiently keep on waiting for its fulfillment.
And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words.
God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet he also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, his holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny.
So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him.

Day three of recuperation from knee surgery had me contemplating many different things. (It wasn't the drugs Just for the record). The Lord has a way of bringing clarity to those who position themselves to wait on Him especially if you have desire for a work of the Spirit and you are becoming a person who anticipates the fullness of His Spirit as you walk in simple faith with Him. Regardless of whether or not this kind of pause and positioning in life are intentional and purposed or they are imposed like the aforementioned recuperation process; God is faithful to teach us and grow us up through either posture or process but! That doesn’t mean you are going to always get what you want! One thing learned from experience is that all too often; pain, setbacks, weakness, inability to see what is ahead, are all the venues that the Lord has a tendency to show Himself strong in while at the same time He shapes us to be a perfect fit into the valleys that we go through so that we can be salt and light in difficult times.  
During Post- Surgery Recovery for instance; I was optimistic that I was going to be breaking all the records for recovery. Raising the bar for other potential candidates of knee surgery! Day 3 has come and my resurrection has been postponed! What the Lord is teaching me in all of this is that He died and was resurrected so that I wouldn’t have to, and so that I wouldn't be able to take any credit for what only He alone could do!

It’s funny how the Lord can position us in such a way so that when we are in our deepest need or things are toughest, He can turn the light on so to speak and reveal to us what His desires are for our life, along with what He wants us to learn, and what is important for us to understand in the process of shewing forth His manifest glory, and not ours!
I have been able to reflect on how I view the world and how sometimes what I want is in conflict with what I need. I thought about how much stress I often create for myself by fixating on what I think I want instead of focusing on the things my mind, body and spirit need. I realized that if I stop chasing the things that I feel I should have, I won’t set myself up for disappointment when I don’t get them. It is becoming my belief that if I stop believing that something ought to be a certain way, I won’t be unfulfilled if it turns out differently than what I expected. Maybe the things that God has for me are better than the things I want anyway! Maybe, building a sense of entitlement only hinders me from recognizing it.

Have you ever said to yourself. “I must go after and lay hold of the things I want in life because isn’t that what drive is all about? If I don’t have drive, I won’t accomplish anything; if I don’t accomplish anything in life, I won’t be happy.” Thankfully, the more I grow in the Lord, those moments of panic become more brief and I realize... That kind of thinking is incorrect. The Holy Spirit is faithful to bring a rush of calm when I am postured to tune in to Him and yoke with Jesus. As his calm falls over me it is as if the God of this universe is gently telling me, “relax, I’ve got this!” He tells me to let go, and to trust that everything will be okay just rest in Me! Your personal drive and ambition may have gotten you far in life but, “how often have you tried to force a square peg in a round hole because you went after something you wanted just to say you achieved it? “ Or, “How often have you come up empty when Jesus wasn’t the Author and Finisher of the direction you were going?”

Those thoughts sink in deeper as I consider how my actions can impact my kids, grandchildren, wife, family and those the Lord has given me. We can all remember experiences where If when we look back there are situations where we wanted something for ourselves or someone else and the results were not what we expected. Or, we had a goal to make something happen because we wanted it, and not because others did. That really makes us stop and think about whether or not our motives are in sync with His!

We can all understand the feeling when moments we thought were going our direction, build up and then fall flat on their face. Much like the process of my knee surgery recovery. Will I have a closer relationship with Christ if I stop worrying about the things I want and instead focus on what I really need and long for which is Him and the work that He has done?” The answer is a resounding… Yes!

All I know right now is that the Lord will give me the down time to try this on. In the process I will be learning to be better satisfied with His timing, His flow, His perfect rest, and trust that He that is doing the work in me and for me. When it comes down to it, the work is done! It is Finished! And although the finished results may look different in each of us, It still has the look of the Finished work of the Cross and the look of 3 days and a resurrection for those who walk in simple faith and who simply abide in what he is doing!

Allow me to give you the simple equation again! The work is done so, rest in it, and wait for it. This is the Simple walk of Faith that manifests his glorious resurrection in our lives.


Contemplation by John Fairrington

What does your rest look like?

For everyone who experiences hitting a wall, or allows the mind to put up barriers that prevent you from living from your heart, or who just feel burned out in life, It is time to accept an open invitation from the Holy Spirit to reframe our perspectives and practices on rest. This can simply be done by looking at Sabbath rest through the lens of Jesus. Furthermore we have to quit looking at opportunities for sabbath rest as if we are trying to avoid any angle of indictment from the religious on our call, ministry, or spiritual well being. (As was consistent with what the religious did!) 

I find it interesting that much like us; Jesus was almost always up against a wall experiencing tensions in His life and ministry from every angle and yet in sabbath rest He would teach in the temple and heal people. Maybe we can begin to see our colorful struggles and tensions as both an opportunity rest and as a spiritual crucible where the Lord purifies our calling and provides the opportunity to labor from from rest as we yoke with Jesus. No more working to rest, no more working for rest, but living out of rest.
The outflow of a life lived from rest will look differently in each of us! It is up to us to accept the invitation to rest and to enjoy the colors, work, and outflow of Jesus' rhythms as we Easy Yoke with Him. For you more generationally adept... It is the only thing that will put the technicolor back into your set!

Conversational Prayer through the Scripture.

Matthew 11:28-30
“Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”

This is the only autobiographical statement Jesus ever made.
He didn’t say, “Learn of Me because I am majestic and mighty,” or “Learn of Me because I am powerful and prominent.” He said, “That which you discover when you learn of Me will refresh you, for I am meek.”

When I meditate on scriptures, when I pray through scriptures in conversation with Him, and when I am learning of Jesus, I am always amazed at the color that He brings into my rest in Him, His goodness, His grace, His kindness, His gentleness, and His meekness. It's like pulling up a chair on my own private dock with a wonderful view while I work!

Jesus says, “Come to Me—you who have been burned out by Pharaoh, you who have been wearied by the folly of sin and everything is turned to black and white. All you have to do is Yoke with Me—don’t try to maneuver Me, steer Me, or demand of Me. Just learn of Me while you sit with Me, for I am meek and lowly.”
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The result? The color comes on!

…And ye shall find rest unto your souls.
You’ll find what your heart is craving: Shabbat. Sabbath. Rest.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Engage your imagination to experience the Spirit of Jesus through the stories of Jesus! Experience for yourself the rest that comes as you yoke yourself with the work that He is doing!

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