MONDAY: SLOWING DOWN
KEY PASSAGE
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
DEVOTIONAL
What do you answer when someone asks, “How are you?” Do you say things like: “I’m tired,” “I’ve been busy,” or “Life has been crazy”? Those are surely honest responses, but they reveal something about what we value. Our culture values speed, busyness, and hustle - and we often wear our tiredness like a badge of honor. The busyness of our lives, the crazy pace at which we live, is a kind of validation, proof that our days are meaningful and that we are important and productive. We hold up our exhaustion as evidence that we are working hard and moving quickly towards our goals, right? But should we value what culture values? What if we’re not meant to live tired, busy, and exhausted by the craziness of life?
Romans 12 reminds us not to conform to the patterns of this world. The world expects us to do more, make more, buy more - causing us to move faster, work harder, and thoughtlessly wear ourselves out. That is what the world does. But we are called to live differently, to live by God’s “good, pleasing and perfect will.” God wants us to follow a different pattern. We must slow down our pace because we cannot move toward God at the pace our culture demands.
What do you answer when God asks “How are you?” Are you moving too fast? Are you too tired or too busy to spend time with Him? Being with God requires slowing down our pace so that when He speaks, we are ready to hear Him.
CHALLENGE
Take a minute right now to allow God to renew your mind, refocus on His perfect will for your life, and His immense love for you.
Take a moment to breathe more deeply . . . .
Begin to thank God for His goodness. . . .
Set aside your to-do list for a few minutes . . .
Allow God’s grace to enter your day.
TUESDAY: SABBATH
KEY PASSAGE
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”
DEVOTIONAL
It is easy to think that if we can just get to the end of the day, put on comfy clothes, and sink into the couch, then we’ll finally be happy. TV and bed are always waiting for us, but how often do they actually satisfy our needs? We arrive at the time of rest, yet the worries of the day linger, now combined with the worries of home and the worries of tomorrow, leaving us restless. The rest we need is on the other side of all the tasks that clutter our lives and weigh on our minds.
Why did God rest on the seventh day? Certainly not because He needed rest. He wasn’t tired. The creation of Earth and the universe didn’t wear Him out. God rested because He was finished. The Hebrew word for rest is shabat, which has multiple meanings - not only to rest, but also to stop or cease. God rested because His work was done.
We are meant to work and create, but we are meant to rest as well. The Sabbath is a gift from God that allows us to pause our work for a time and enjoy creation, God, and the people around us. Your work today may not be finished, and there will surely be more work to do tomorrow. That is why it is so important to take Sabbath - set aside your to-do list and intentionally rest with the Lord. As Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
CHALLENGE
Sabbath is a designated day of the week for rest. Maybe you can't set aside an entire day this week. Maybe all you can manage is an evening or a few hours in the afternoon. Whatever it looks like for you, take a step today to make intentional rest with God part of your routine. Set a reminder in your phone or put it in your calendar. Ask God to help you create a rhythm of rest in your daily life.
WEDNESDAY: SILENCE & SOLITUDE
KEY PASSAGE
“Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
“He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’”
DEVOTIONAL
Are you an extrovert or an introvert? We love to define ourselves by these simple categories, don’t we? As an introvert, you may feel drained after a social interaction. Church on Sunday may be followed by a crash of exhaustion, leading you to seek some quiet time alone to recharge after being around so many people. If you’re an extrovert, being with people recharges you. Leaving church might be difficult because you feel energized around others. Time alone may feel unwanted or even draining.
Whichever side you find yourself on, it is important to recognize that time with God requires both solitude and silence.
In Luke 5:16, we see that Jesus sought “lonely places” to pray. Was He an introvert? No, Jesus - perfect in every way - is beyond such human categorization. Yet, He recognized the necessity for silence and solitude as a way to connect with the Father.
We have access to the same Presence. When we are alone and quiet before God, we allow Him to work in the hidden places of our hearts - places only He can see. Silence allows us to hear His voice and acknowledges our surrender to His will rather than our own (Luke 22:42). Solitude allows us to come into His presence unguarded and fully known.
CHALLENGE
Silence is hard to come by. Most of us would rather do almost anything - scroll on our phones, listen to a podcast, turn on the TV - than sit for a moment in silence. Challenge yourself today to find a quiet place and allow God a space to speak. You will find that God is close.
Solitude may come more easily for you, or you may prefer not to be alone. Either way, remember this: when you find yourself alone, you have an opportunity to connect with the Father. We are never truly alone. Take some time today to seek a quiet place to spend time with God.
THURSDAY: REFLECTION
KEY PASSAGE
DEVOTIONAL
This week you have been challenged to break from the busy, to slow your daily pace, institute a Sabbath, and practice silence and solitude. How has this made you feel? It probably has been harder than you thought to slow down and sit with God, but even harder to sit with yourself. What do you do with all of this?
David prioritized slowing down to take personal inventory of his thoughts, feelings and activities in the light of knowing his Heavenly Father. The closer that David drew to God, the more he realized God knew everything about him. David spends the first 22 verses of this Psalm expressing in great detail the magnitude of God’s knowledge of him. God knows his actions, his thoughts, his past, present and his future. On first glance, this seems scary—to be fully known by God.
If God knows everything about me, how will he respond? But, we see here in this passage that David is not confident in himself, but he is confident in the character of God.
Psalm 103:8 says, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
David knew that God’s presence was the safest place to bring all of himself. He knew that there was nothing in his heart that would disqualify him from receiving mercy and love by God. And so, David asked the Lord to search his heart and God tended graciously to it. God desires to meet you in this place too. What are your hesitations to ask God to search your heart? There is absolutely NOTHING in your heart that hasn’t already been paid for by Jesus on the cross. There is joy in being fully known and loved by God!
CHALLENGE
Have you ever seen a child run frantically and unsettled, until their parent intervenes with an enveloping embrace? At first the child resists, but then collapses into their parent’s arms. Maybe today, you relate to this child. Your busyness is on purpose, because if you take a moment to slow down you will have to address the things in your heart. You have stuffed thoughts, frustrations, actions, sin in the back of your mind and decided not to address them. God is inviting you into this moment.
Pray Psalm 139:23-24 out loud. Take a few minutes to answer these questions:
What do my words and actions reveal about the condition of my heart?
What fears and anxieties do I need to hand over to God?
What sins or habits have hardened parts of my heart?
What do I need to confess to God?
What changes is the Holy Spirit inviting me to make?
FRIDAY: SELF-DENIAL
KEY PASSAGE
Luke 9:23-25
DEVOTIONAL
What if one day Jesus showed up at your workplace and asked you to leave your occupation (your boats), possessions (your nets), and even your family to follow Him? That’s how Jesus approached the fishermen He called as His first disciples. He said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we give up our personal desires for the direction of our life. This may not require leaving our occupation or our families as it did for those early disciples, but it does mean that God now has authority over our lives. He calls each of us to come and follow Him.
Jesus makes a requirement for those who choose to follow Him: to deny yourself and take up your cross (vs. 23). Self-denial is “the willingness to deny oneself possessions or status, in order to grow in holiness and commitment to God.”
In our humanity, our natural inclination is to serve ourselves, but God calls us to self-surrender. This means placing your life fully in His hands and trusting that His plan is far greater than anything you could imagine for yourself.
The Apostle Paul exemplifies this kind of surrender in his life. Paul describes his earthly achievements a loss (or as rubbish) in comparison to knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-8). When we die daily to ourselves, we gain the privilege of truly knowing Christ—and Christ is all that we need!
CHALLENGE
Reflect on these questions today: Are there any personal desires or patterns in your life that serve you but are not aligned with Christ? What comforts or perceived rights might God be asking you to surrender for His purpose?
Make a plan to lay those things down, and ask God what He is calling you to pick up as you follow Him.