One of the blessings of decision-
making on a sacred pace is that
there’s a definite end in sight—an
answer awaits you somewhere
down the road. Plus, you receive
the gifts that your Father in heaven
wants to bless you with. Yet I would
be doing a disservice if I didn’t also
speak to how painful this process
often is. Most of the best things in
life are painful to some degree. But
the struggle makes the victory that
much greater.
Why do we exercise three to four
times a week or stay married when
we’re fighting with our spouse?
Because we realize that pain has
its benefits—we are healthier,
stronger, closer to others for the
effort. In getting neutral as in the
rest of life: no pain, no gain!
To accept that pain can be a
blessing was a lasting lesson from
my burnout and something that
is absolutely essential to opening
yourself to the Lord’s will. I know in
my soul that I won’t usually get more
whole without pain. On some level,
I think we all know it in our heads,
but pushing to get this conviction
deep within, where God can change
us? That’s the challenge.
You don’t typically learn your
true feelings and deepest desires
just because you want to; they
are revealed once you’ve faced
the truths you tend to hide from.
Especially if you push the limits
like I did for so long, you may
sometimes have to soak in your
pain for a while before God retrieves
you from those waters. Thankfully,
He really does only allow as much
struggle as is necessary to bring us
to the place of surrender, the place
of peace and clarity that we most
long for—and which abiding by a
sacred pace allows us to reach.
The Secret Things of God
The Bible says, “The mind governed
by the flesh is death”; it is “hostile
to God.” Thus, “those who are in the
realm of the flesh cannot please
God” (Rom. 8:6–8). The “acts of
the flesh” that keep us from God’s
greatest gifts include not just sexual
immorality and drunkenness, but
“hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions,
factions and envy” (Gal. 5:19–21).
Elsewhere, Scripture describes
those deathly desires as “the lust
of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16).
So is it any surprise that greed,
pride, and fear are what pressure
us when we’re letting our flesh
have the final say? Frankly, that’s
where most of us spend most of
our time as people born with a sin
nature. But there’s another voice
inside of anyone who has received
a new nature through Jesus Christ.
It’s the voice of the Spirit of God—
and He rarely shouts. His voice
resonates in our deepest self, and
He has one theme: to reveal the
heart and will and mind of God, so
that you experience the abundant
life and peace that Jesus promised
those who are devoted to Him
(Rom. 8:6).
Human nature is to run with the
Solutions • 13