Hello Hello! I hope I’m catching you on another fantastic fall day.
Today I want to talk to you about that Spiritual High so many of us feel while serving at camp.
Many of us will have left this summer on fire in our faith. But the reality is that you cannot maintain a spiritual high forever. In fact, I would argue that maintaining a high is unhealthy, unhelpful, and unrealistic. We tend to rate the success of our spiritual life on how emotionally connected we feel to God. For instance, emotionally impactful worship makes us feel like spiritual giants but that day when I’m feeling like I don’t want to be there, and the music is boring me, and I just can’t get into worship I start looking at everyone fully engaged and I begin to feel like a spiritual dud.
If I believe that a spiritual high is a requirement of my spiritual success that means that my spiritual life is going to feel empty at times because I cannot maintain a spiritual high.
I have another option for you:
I believe that a spiritual life has a rhythm. It has ups and downs, ins and outs.
If this is the case your spiritual success depends less on how you feel or how well you do but it depends on another factor altogether: your willingness to hold fast and be faithful regardless of how you are feeling. It matters less if you are feeling high or low it matters more if you are faithful. Even better regardless of how you are feeling about your walk, or whether you are walking faithfully at all God remains consistent. He is there and ready to keep walking with you through the brightest days or the darkest storms.
So if you aren’t living in a spiritual high or are starting to come down from the summer experience: How can you grow in your faith without that high? How can you make it through the lows? How do you ride the rhythm?
If you are reading along in the community bible experience that just started up this week you will come across one story that gives us a clear idea. It is the story of Joseph serving the people of Egypt (found in Genesis 41). At the end of Joseph’s story, he is in charge of getting the people of Egypt ready for a drought. Seven years of plenty followed by seven years of nothing. Overflowing with food to suddenly no food. From a food high to a food low. And so Joseph is tasked with preparing for the drought and he stores up grain and rations food in the high so that during the low the people could rely on what had been stored.
You can do the same. Rely on what God gave you, demonstrated to you, blessed you with in the high in order to inspire you to continue in your faith through the lows.
So how do you do this?
Here’s a few ideas:
- Continue in God’s word: We just finished a season of reading through the new testament. I trust, regardless of how much of the reading you managed to finish, that God’s word spoke into your life. As the rhythm of your spiritual life continues to move between highs and lows God’s word remains a consistent source of inspiration. Let it inspire you.
- Rely on the relationships you forged this summer: It can be hard to stay connected to the friends you made this summer but they are a source of great encouragement and inspiration. What I want you to do is pause this recording right now and text one of these friends or all of these friends. Ask them how they are doing? Ask them how you can pray for them? Let them know how you are. Stop the audio right now and do it. Staying connected to each other is a great way of sustaining through the rhythms of you spiritual life.
- Remember who God is and anticipate what God will do: God is consistent in who He is. If you believe that then you can look back at what God has done in your life, what god has done in your family, in your history, in the church’s history, at the cross. Look back and see what God has done and guess what? because God is consistent he will do similar things again. While looking back you can be reminded of who God is and look forward to who God will reveal himself to be again. Remember who God is and anticipate what God will do.
It’s never easy to be in a spiritual low but it is a normal part of your spiritual life. Let me say that again: it is normal to have a rhythm to your spiritual life and spiritual lows and highs are to be expected.
If you need some support or encouragement as you go about your life reach out to us. We are your cheerleaders. We think the world of you and are excited to see the person you are becoming. Let us walk alongside you. You can reach me at pat@miniyowe.com. Keep on being awesome. You will experience the full range of highs and lows over the next few months and years of your life. God will remain faithful to you… holdfast and remain faithful…. He will see you through.
Take care!
This post is part of our Leap of Faith Audio Check-ins. We want to encourage you to leap into your faith and continue to grow at home, at school, and in your church. These audio check-ins are meant to encourage you as live out your faith every day.
Want to keep growing?
There are more episode of Leap of Faith and other resources for you to grow in your leadership and faith here.