We're faced with the daily temptation to go faster, do more, and fill our calendars. But what if we weren't meant to rush the process? What if God simply wants us to slow down?

If you're waiting for something, are you more likely to wait patiently or freak out in the process? If you're the latter, this article may be for you.

In the deepest pit of loneliness, you can cling to the promise that God will never leave nor forsake you, and praise Him for His presence.

Faith grows when we act on God’s nudges, trusting Him with our futures and seeking His will for our lives above all else.

Maybe you have a hard time being around other Christians or you feel like your faith is menat to be personal and private. But the Church is alive, and it's a crucial part of your faith in Jesus. Don't miss the treasur

God exists in the ordinary and mundane moments, you just have to look for Him.

Many of the circumstances we're faced with are out of our control, but we get the choice to see how God is working in and through those circumstances in a new light.

Do you know your need for God? Your independence could be the thing hindering you from intimacy with Him.

As I enter this new year with hope for what will come,I exchange my plans for my life with Yours, God. I don’t know what You have in store for me today,tomorrow,or the next,but I trust You. Your plans are greater. Remind me of what You have done for me in the years that have come and gone.Help me to remember how You have provided for me,shepherded me,taken me in,and adopted me into Your family. With each step that I take toward the future You have for me,I pray that I will depend more and more on Your Spirit to guide me. I was born for such a time as this, and I know that You work all things together for good for those who are called according to Your purpose. In my weariness and doubts, help me cling to Your promises.You are the God of the impossible, and You do more than we could ever ask or imagine. Help my unbelief. Give me eyes to see that You are greater than any fierce storm or dark valley that I may face in the coming days. Though the dimmest or brightest days may be on the horizon,I know that the ultimate light and promise of eternity is what I have to look forward to. I will be quick to anchor where you ask me to,or to adjust my sails to align with the direction you want me to travel in. I trust you, Jesus.

THE WORLD’S MESSAGE IS SIMPLE: YOU ARE ENOUGH. ALL ON YOUR OWN, you are enough. But that mantra fails us—either because, deep down, we know we aren’t enough or because our self-esteem inflates us to the point that we charge through life independent of God and people. Either outcome leaves us lonely and disappointed. Self-esteem is not the answer. So why are we working so hard to do life, to make a difference, and to be great all on our own? Scripture describes Jesus as the light shining into the darkness and becoming the light of men.1 When I think about light, I realize that every single light humans have ever built requires energy or some force to light it. Flashlights, car lights, lamps—they all pull energy from some other source that can become drained or depleted. Then I think of the light God creates. Fire, the sun, the stars all burning with great force—all the light He creates needs nothing to exist. It needs no other energy source. It just is. When we find ourselves striving so hard to make a difference, to be enough, and to be important, it’s as though we’re trying to produce light on our own. And guess what happens when people try to produce anything in their own strength? We get tired. We experience a drain of energy, just like every man-made light that has ever been created. So what if instead of trying to create light, we simply received light? That sounds so much more fun to me—and so much easier. We make lousy lights because we were built to enjoy and reflect light, not to produce it. The vision of God for our lives is that we would receive His light and then give light to the world. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.” Most of the time the New Testament refers to Jesus as being the Light, but when His Spirit lives in us, we are the light of the world. We receive who Jesus is and then give that away. The degree to which you believe and embrace your identity as a Spirit-filled child of God will be the degree to which His light shines through you. You are God’s and He is yours. He is in you and through you and with you. That is your identity. And when you choose to embrace it, it changes everything. If you embraced your true identity, you wouldn’t just be able to rest from striving to do impossible things; you would be able to sit in awe of this fierce, crazy, awesome, and uncontainable Light that is fully accessible to you. With Jesus as your light source, you can stop spinning, and simply reflect the light He gives. MEDITATE The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:5) REWIRE THE SPIRAL I can rest from striving, and God can still move through me. PRAYER God, I want to know what it is to enjoy and reflect Your light, rather than trying so hard to create my own. Please shine on and through me today. Amen.”   To grab your copy of Jennie Allen’s devotional, Stop the Spiral, click here. Excerpted from Stop the Spiral Devotional by Jennie Allen. Copyright © 2024 by Jennie Allen. Published by WaterBrook, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC. Used by permission.

A helpful reminder that even if you're hurting during "the most wonderful time of the year," there's a path forward to hope.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1, NIV) Recently, a sweet gal sent me a message on Instagram. She wanted me to know more about her story. She thought she’d been obedient to God for the past decade after an immense heartbreak, but she was questioning that now because her life was still really hard. She wanted to know if I would be so positive and confident in trusting the Lord if I hadn’t met Chaz, who I’m now married to. Such a fair and understandable question. Trusting God without seeing the redemption we thought we’d get to see by now can feel like the deepest betrayal of all. It’s also what builds our faith, but sometimes we’d rather have relief than another learning opportunity. I sat with her question for a while. I don’t hang out in my DMs often and rarely get to respond as much as I would like to. But since I read this message, I knew I needed to respond. And I didn’t want my answer to just gloss over her deep pain with a few cliché sentences and a Bible verse. She deserved more than that. And so do you as you may find yourself navigating something similar. This is what I wrote back: I’ve spent many nights staring up into the sky, bewildered as I felt my disappointment turn into grief turn into numbness turn into distance from God. There were so many times when I thought God was about to turn everything around, but then things got worse, not better. Some of my darkest days were when I could not make sense of what God was allowing. And my fear was: Because God allowed all of this, what else might He allow? Slowly, I have realized I cannot attach my hope to God making things feel fair. And I certainly can’t attach my hope to the outcomes I desperately want. I have to attach my hope to who God is. He is good. He is faithful. He is my Father who loves me. God’s character, which never changes, is His personal promise to me. And to you. We can stand with assurance on who He is even when we don’t understand what He does or doesn’t do. There are still hurtful things happening surrounding my divorce too. I wish this wasn’t the case for either of us. I am grateful God has brought a man who loves Jesus into my life and grateful for all the joy that comes along with being in a healthy relationship. But even this gift comes with its own fears and uncertainties. So my challenge now is not to tie my hope of a better future to this new man. It’s the same lesson I was learning during the many years of feeling so very alone. It’s the same lesson once again, just with different challenges. I’ve asked the same question when my friends found new love while I was still in the midst of intense loneliness. It’s so hard. I understand and so wish I could look into your future and whisper back to you all the wonderful things ahead of you. While I can’t do that, I can promise God is at work. Hang on, beautiful friend. I wanted to make more concrete promises to her about what God is working on. I would have loved to give her a time frame to help ease her angst. I would love for there to be a way to make this possible for all of us. But I guess through my own journey, I’ve come to terms with the truth that if it was good for us to have this information, God would surely give it to us. So the fact that He isn’t allowing us access to these specific details lets me know that having that information isn’t what’s best. I rarely like not knowing or not having my “why?” questions answered. I don’t always want to leave room for the mystery of God. I’m not usually eager to claim verses like Hebrews 11:1 to be my favorite: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (NIV). I want faith to operate with the speed of my eyesight. I am desperate for visible evidence, so faith doesn’t feel so risky. But faith doesn’t work that way. Faith will always make us anxious and unsure unless we are confident in the goodness of God. If we stand firm on His goodness and know everything He allows is somehow flowing from that goodness, then we will have a lot less fear in trusting Him. Faith in God means to be assured of His goodness even when what He allows doesn’t feel good, seem good, or look good right now. This is a lot to sit with, but I hope you feel a little less alone today as you walk through your own hard situations right now. Like the sweet friend who sent me a message, we all have “what-if” questions we’re carrying around. But I’ve found the best way to fight through our toughest questions is to create space in our thoughts for more of God’s perspective. Prayer Father, I believe that You care deeply for me and know what is best for my life. Even in the moments when I don’t understand what You’re doing or why I’m walking through a certain situation, I will continue to be obedient and follow after You. In Jesus’ name, amen.   Have you ever thought, how can I trust God when I don’t understand what He’s allowing to happen right now? Lysa TerKeurst has been there. In her new book, I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t, Lysa will help you release the heavy mental and emotional weight of what you don’t understand by learning how God’s justice will always prevail. To grab a copy of Lysa TerKeurst’s book I Want to Trust You, But I Don’t, click here.