A training mindset approaches our relationship with the Holy Spirit like a coach who is deeply invested in and committed to our growth. We have a coach who longs to be a partner in our progressive sanctification.
Remember those moments of reflecting on our failure that we mentioned earlier? Well, those moments are also an opportunity to process with God. This is powerful. The Holy Spirit knows you better than you know yourself and knows how to help you to grow like no one else does!
If we can release ourselves from the guilt and shame that often keeps us from approaching God and realize that He sees us through eyes of deep compassion, then we can unlock a level of healing and wisdom that is simply transformative.
Every time I have brought my darkest desires (the ones I would never even voice), my deepest fears, or my most shameful thoughts to God, it has resulted in something transformative. (Even if it has simply been a revelation of just how loving and compassionate God is.)
All champions know that a coach is essential to their success. A coach sees the potential in us that we don’t see in ourselves. A coach also sees the barriers to our progress that we don’t have the wisdom or objectivity to see. He can see when our stride is too long or when our follow-through is an issue. In like manner, the Holy Spirit knows what to target to move us forward and how to encourage and motivate us in a language we can relate to.
Up next, community!
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
Someone training for a marathon may need to focus on their diet, mindset, and breathing to get to the desired outcome. It is the same with our spiritual growth. To achieve the behavioural outcome we desire, we must address deeper issues like our mindsets, identity, beliefs, and values.
Often, we can become too sin-focused, which results in the very opposite of what we are trying to achieve. Obsessing over not doing something is the worst way to approach our growth. Instead, we need to find the roots of the issue and put a holistic training program in place.
For example, say I have a problem with over-eating. A trying mindset will be all about focusing on controlling how much I eat. However, the roots of my struggle may involve issues with my identity, stress coping mechanisms, and the relationships in my life. Therefore, a trying mindset will be ineffective and frustrating because all the underlying causes (the roots) remain untouched.
Training often seems unrelated to the outcome we desire, like the Karate Kid painting walls to learn karate. However, it is actually addressing the roots that impact the entire tree of your life.
Next, we discuss how a coach is essential to training.
See you then!
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
The first element of a training mindset is self-compassion.
A training mindset recognizes that we are all imperfect beings on a path of sanctification and healing. We are all works in progress. There is no benefit to beating yourself up when you fail. God does not beat us up when we fail. He meets us with mercy and compassion. So, why shouldn’t we do the same?
This is extremely difficult to grasp when in many religious circles we equate a self-compassionate approach as being compromising or soft on sin. But it does not have to be. We can maintain an uncompromising view of sin while being gentle on ourselves. Our aim is progress, not perfection.
When we have a compassionate view of ourselves, it frees us to learn from failure. And this is one of the huge superpowers of a training mindset – every failure becomes an opportunity to learn about ourselves and what is not working in our training programme. This is so critical for real growth. When we give in to a temptation, if we can carefully examine the thoughts and emotions that led us to the sin without turning away in shame, then we gain the insights needed to heal and grow. Without these insights, we will never truly grow. Without these insights, the most we can hope for is to cope, never to overcome.
Self-compassion enables us to move from hiding and repression to exploration and discovery of the root causes of our afflictions. But that’s for the next instalment…
See you then!
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
One of the concepts that we teach at Authentic Joy is the idea that in pursuing spiritual growth we need to have a training mindset not a trying mindset. We often use the metaphor of running a marathon to explain. In the metaphor, the ‘marathon’ is that challenge in your life that you are trying to overcome. Some examples are impatience, unforgiveness, pornography, a short temper, anxiety, racial prejudice or over-eating.
A trying mindset would be like waking up on the day of the marathon and saying, “Today I will finish this marathon! God says I’m more than a conqueror!” And so, we set off to try our best to complete the marathon… without training. Our determination and grit may get us halfway there, but without putting in the training, we inevitably end up face down in a puddle of sweat and tears.
A training mindset, on the other hand, would be like waking up every morning and training for the marathon. Training prioritizes consistency and progress over the end result. It embraces learning from failure as a necessary pathway to growth.
One of the most damaging things about a trying mindset is the cycle of guilt and shame that results when we do not achieve our goal. This has been one of the most difficult mindsets to change in my own life. In the areas where I struggle with an ongoing sin issue, every time I fall, my tendency is to beat myself up and wallow in shame. Then, to comfort myself, I end up even deeper in self-destructive behaviours. When I finally muster up the courage to go back to God in repentance (again), it resembles something like this: “This time, this time, I mean it God. This time I will stay the course.” And so, the cycle begins again. With no real plan, change is unlikely.
A training mindset has the potential to break this cycle, but there are several components to the approach that need to be implemented:
Self-compassion
Roots not shoots
Coaching
Community
I will unpack each of these facets of the training mindset in this series.
See you for the next instalment!
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
This week, I went to the movies to see Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning with my kids (spoiler alert). In the movie, The Entity (an AI entity) takes control of the world’s digital media. No one can know what is true or fake. Frankly, it felt more like a peek into the near future than a work of fiction. I began to wonder if (or when) truth was such an elusive commodity, how would I navigate my world? How would we all?
A phrase came to me:
“If we are not led by the Spirit we will not survive what is coming.”
It hit me like a ton of bricks. For years, I have been advocating the need for the church to be able to hear the voice of God, but I suddenly realized that the time of reckoning was at hand. Those who had not invested in intimacy with God would be hapless victims of the deceptions of this age.
In a reality where you cannot tell fact from fiction by any natural means, only the supernatural voice of God can guide.
If we are honest, we’ve already been infiltrated. For years, we have been conditioned to believe whatever comes across our screen once it jives with what we want to hear. Many Christians have been navigating life by the equation: truth = what I want to believe. It’s plain to see in US politics, at least for an outsider like me. I can tune into the feeds from two or more different Christian groups and hear the most passionate, convincing, and diverse descriptions of what the truth really is behind anything from riots to legislation to President Trump’s motives.
Brothers and sisters, if you do nothing else in this season in your life, invest in developing your ability to hear God’s voice and direction for your life. It is the only lifeline that we have.
John 16:13 (ESV) When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
A time is coming and is already here when truth will be a scarce commodity. The ability to navigate life via reason and logic will be cut out from under us. How can we know what to choose when the choices may be fact or fiction? How can we plan a course of action when we have no idea if our data on what is real can be trusted? Even applying Biblical principles will be of little use if we are not sure of the facts of the situation that we are applying them to.
In those times, only those who can truly hear from God and be guided by the Spirit of truth will stand. Take heed.
Reporting to you live from the edge of the precipice of deception.
Blessings,
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
The past three weeks have been filled with positive milestones for Authentic Joy. On April 21st, we launched our new book BECOMING mature: A Practical Guide for Disciples of Jesus. By the second week, it was in the top ten in three Amazon categories and even hit #1 in Christian Discipleship for a few days. I took a gratitude memory photo (below):
The first thing I want to say is a big THANK YOU to all of you who wrote reviews or bought the book (or both). Your support means the world to me.
But there is more! On Wednesday, I got an email from YouVersion congratulating me on crossing 50,000 plan completions. Yes folks, over 50,000 people have completed Authentic Joy’s Bible devotionals on the YouVersion Bible app! Again, THANK YOU for your support and love. 🙂
I have never been one to measure success in numbers, so while I am excited about what we are achieving at Authentic Joy, it’s not about the numbers for me.
What really motivates me is the thought of making an impact in the body of Christ. The type of impact that is far less measurable. I sincerely believe that the message in my plans and my books is one that will help people to grow in their faith. For me, the significance of the Best Seller tag and plan completions is simply to help increase the visibility of a book that is authored by an unknown entity in this world.
I am keenly aware that popularity and acclaim are not good measures of success in the kingdom. It’s like the gospel singer who has an amazing voice and draws large crowds versus the worshipper who, every time she opens her mouth, there is something inside of you that says, “That woman knows God!” Or the theologian who has mesmerizing oratory skills versus the simple man of God who causes your heart to burn every time he speaks of Jesus. The latter, more amorphous characteristic is the kind of impact I want to make by the grace and power of God.
Making this kind of impact starts long before the book/devotional/blog is written and takes far more than technical skill. It is a lifelong commitment to yielding your heart and soul to God. I cover this in greater depth in my book, where I share this wonderful quote:
“It is not what a man does that is of final importance, but what he is in what he does. The atmosphere produced by a man, much more than his activities, has the lasting influence.”
Oswald Chambers
So, in the midst of this time of celebration, I’m praying, “God, don’t let me lose sight of you! Keep my heart from being seduced by the numbers. Keep my heart ablaze for you and you only.” I am more afraid of success than failure. Success can take you out. I have seen it happen to too many in the church to have any illusions about my susceptibility to its allure.
My friends, keep me in your prayers… and I still need your help to get this message of maturity in Christ out there. Check out the book. And after you’ve read it for yourself, if you find it beneficial, then tell your friends about it.
May your souls be stirred to deep worship in the fires of intimacy with Jesus this week!
Grateful,
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
We are super excited to announce that we have a new book coming out!! Whoopee!!! My latest book, Becoming Mature: A Practical Guide for Disciples of Jesus, will be released on April 21st, 2025!
If you feel like you are struggling in your spiritual growth journey or just not progressing as fast as you would like, then this book is for you. Becoming Mature offers a transformative approach to Christian discipleship using scripture, personal experience, and psychological insights to connect with the reader. Becoming Mature takes you on a step-by-step journey of growth in love, purpose, community, identity, responsibility, wholeness, resilience, competence, and most importantly, intimacy with God.
It’s available to pre-order now on Amazon. Get it here!
And since y’all are my peeps. Here’s a free preview of the introduction.
Introduction
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
~ Rudyard Kipling ~
As a young boy, Rudyard Kipling’s poem If (quoted above) made an indelible mark on my soul. Before I knew Christ, it embodied what I believed maturity would look like. It was the only poster that hung in my room, constantly reminding me of the man I wanted to become. It is no coincidence, I believe, that maturity has been an obsession throughout my life. In hindsight, it was a God-inspired obsession, a heavenly calling. God has given me more understanding since my boyhood days, both through divine revelation and through practical experience.
I would describe my achievements in life as mediocre. I have a checkered history where my personal relationships are concerned. Today I am happily married to a wonderfully on-fire woman of God, and we have a beautifully blended family of five children and one granddaughter. I attribute this outcome solely to the grace of God. (If you knew my story you would too, trust me.) My children are good kids. I am very proud of the adults they are becoming but none of them are really on fire for God…yet. I have a successful career, currently holding a managerial position at a natural gas company, but I could have achieved more. I can’t say I have won many souls for Christ, nor have I any notoriety in the Christian world. There is only one thing that I have truly excelled at – inner work. I have a dogged commitment to doing the hard, hidden work of maturity.
So let me set your expectations straight upfront: This book is about the unglamourous, unheralded hard work of becoming like Christ that most won’t see and very few will give you accolades for, BUT it is THE MOST important work that you can do, and if you choose to put in the work, your reward will be great indeed.
Excited? Let’s start unpacking it with Romans 8:19 (NLT):
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
It is significant that in this verse the apostle Paul used the Greek word huios (which is translated as ‘sons’). There are four possible words that he could have used. There is nepios which is a word used to describe an infant. An example of its usage is contained in Hebrews 5:13. Then there is paidion which is a young child as used in Matthew 19:13-14. There is also teknion which describes an adolescent or immature young adult. In the New Testament, it is often used by a teacher to refer to his disciples who have not yet matured. For example, in 1 John 5:21. Finally, there is huios. It is the word used for a mature son. It is the word used to describe Christ as the Son of God, and the word Christ used for Himself when he referred to Himself as the Son of Man.
Therefore, in the context of Romans 8:19, all of creation is not longing merely for more converts to Christianity, but for all the Christian babies, children and teenagers to grow into mature manhood and womanhood. This is what the world is waiting to see, and this is the cause that I have given my life to. My mission is to be an example, a catalyst and a servant in God’s glorious plan for maturing the Bride of Christ into absolute perfection, full authority and dazzling beauty of the fullness of Christ! I too, am eagerly longing for the church (myself included) to grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I hope it will happen in my lifetime, but even if it doesn’t, I will happily dedicate the rest of my years in service of this vision. Of course, this is not just my vision, this is God’s heart desire for His daughters and sons. He longs for us to come to maturity.
This mission is the reason for this book. My prayer is that you will find practical wisdom here that will help you grow in Christ. This is a book about the how – how we become mature. The contents are the gleanings of my journey toward maturity. I converted to Christianity as a teenager when I became a Roman Catholic through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Then, at twenty-one, I became a born-again believer and got baptized (again) in a non-denominational church with Pentecostal roots. However, I did not begin to see significant growth in my maturity until my late thirties.
What was responsible for this acceleration in my spiritual growth? A God-encounter. Up until that moment I had experienced a lot of religion and a lot of behaviour modification but limited transformation. What I mean is, I was filled with knowledge about God and how a Christian should behave but I had very little (if any) change in my internal desires and motivations.
(To read about my testimony, check out my first book – Authentic Joy).
After my encounter with the liquid love of Jesus, I began to see a change in my life. This was not as a result of my willpower, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, fuelled by His love for me and my love for Him.
This is how it started for me. From that moment, I would meet with my Rabbi every morning with excitement to discover what He wanted to teach me each morning. That was over ten years ago, and it was just the first key to unlocking a life of transformation. On these pages, I will share with you all that I have learned from my successes and my failures on my life’s journey thus far.
Stay tuned for more sneak peek previews in days to come!
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
I have largely kept silent on my views surrounding American politics and geopolitics in general. However, this week, two things happened: 1) I was inspired by a brilliant Ted talk by Ian Bremmer (watch it here), and 2) I felt that God was releasing me to share my perspective.
My perspectives are based on considering the world through the lens of community – a global community – and through the lens of an unfolding plan of God.
First, let’s get a little historical context. According to the United Nations website:
In the summer of 1945, leaders from 50 countries gathered in San Francisco to agree upon an international treaty to enshrine the equal rights of all people and maintain peace.
This resulting treaty, the UN Charter, is the founding document of the United Nations, which pledged to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war. In over 70 years since its creation, the United Nations maintains international peace and security, protects human rights, delivers humanitarian aid, supports sustainable development and climate action, and upholds international law.
Four years later the North Atlantic Treaty was signed by 12 countries. According to NATO’s website:
NATO’s purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.
POLITICAL – NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
MILITARY – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations. These are carried out under the collective defence clause of NATO’s founding treaty – Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organisations.
Both the UN and NATO were created against the backdrop of the devastation of World War II and a fragmented Europe. Having seen the ravages of war, the world decided to take a step away from individual interest-seeking toward global cooperation and peaceful co-existence.
Fast forward to today. Self-interest is on the rise across the globe. Without going into the details just yet, what I believe we are seeing is community dynamics. Think of the following 4 stages of community:
No community – Individual interest is the order of the day. Those with more power (financial, political, social, physical/military) have a disproportionate influence on swaying circumstances to their advantage.
Formation of fake community – A decision to put the good of all above the good of a few held together by enforced norms, codes, or laws. Equal rights for all group members are pursued with a focus on ensuring those without power are treated fairly.
Destruction of fake community – Individuals with power (financial, political, social, physical/military) rebel against the enforced norms that do not suit them and steer back to individualism.
Formation of true community – There is a possibility for true community only if individuals can find the motivation to persevere through the conflict of the previous step and come out on the other side with a deeper understanding of and genuine value for others. True community is formed when individuals voluntarily choose to love others as they love themselves without trying to make others conform to their personal preferences. This is true unity in diversity.
I believe that pre-WWII, was the era of no global community. For the last 80 years, what we have seen is a fake global community and increasingly so as international organizations and local governments have ramped up efforts to enforce harmony, cooperation, and the valuing of all members. 2025 for me, is the year when we are officially not pretending to get along or go along anymore. The trend has been going on for a while, but 2025 seems like an inflexion point. Here are some of the indicators that I have been seeing:
Brexit
The global rise in popularity of right-wing political parties
The global rise in anti-immigrant sentiment
The war in Gaza
Russia’s attack on Ukraine
US withdrawal from the World Health Organization
Trump
Pulling out of anti-bribery agreements
Pulling out of environmental agreements
Hard stance on immigrants
Tarriffs on China
The Trump factor is pivotal in this global shift, and what is even more interesting for me is the widespread Christian support for Trump and his policies. So, generally, we have a shift toward self-interest supported by Christians. How did that happen? How did a group that should be the ethos of selflessness come to be associated with the exact opposite? Well, I believe there are two things at play:
American Christians got tired of being told that they had to call men women and women men. They got fed up of being forced to accept LGBTQ+ narratives but increasingly being suppressed from advocating and pursuing lifestyles based on Christian values. The pendulum had swung so far in the direction of protecting the rights of a minority that the majority’s rights were being trampled. An untenable situation.
There is a question that must be answered about the values of Christians in America: Are their values based on what Christ taught or on the American dream of freedom, wealth, and success? Is the church in America American-Christians or Christian-Americans?
So what is God doing in all of this? I believe that this current era of destruction of the fake global community is absolutely part of God’s plan to get to true community, starting with the church. This will be a season of testing and refining for the church. All of the dross hidden under a veneer of Christian make-up will be coming to the surface. It already has. The name-calling, vitriol, and hate that spewed from the church during the US elections revealed the hearts. It was rampant everywhere, but the church should have been a light in the darkness.
There is no hope for global community and peace until and unless the global church stands united in love that is bigger than gender, race, economic status, social status, and country. Christ loved the world and died for the world. There is no non-immigrants first or America first or rich people first in the kingdom. In fact, Christ is decidedly on the side of the weak and powerless. Let me address a few of these issues head-on from scripture.
The Immigrant & The Poor
Leviticus 19:33-34 (NIV)
33 “‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
1 John 3:16-18 (NIV)
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Matthew 25:41-45 (NIV)
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
Wealth
Matthew 6:19-21, 24 (NIV)
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Power
Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)
25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The Environment
Revelations 11:16-18 (NIV)
16 And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were angry, and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your people who revere your name, both great and small— and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
Community
Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Mark 12:31 (NIV)
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
The present age calls for great courage from the church. Not the self-righteous kind of courage that looks like outrage against our persecutors. Persecution is par for the course. Rather, it is the courage to fight with prayer and sacrificial servanthood instead of laws, economic bullying, and military might. You see, the great mistake at this point would be to trade one fake community for another – a more Christian-favourable one. Community cannot be made through laws or sanctions or tariffs. Christ modeled the only pathway to peace and unity – love expressed in sacrificial servanthood. We, the Christians, must have the courage to serve and love those who hate us. This is the narrow way.
Copyright 2025, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
In October my wife and I visited Niagara, NY. It was a wonderful time of connection with an old friend and connection with God in nature. One day we did a 10km walk/hike along the Niagara River gorge. At every turn was a new vista of vibrant autumn colours against the backdrop of the vast blue of the sky or the deep blue of the river. We felt like we had stepped into a special moment curated by God just for us.
After walking for quite a while along the river, we came to a stone staircase leading us back to the upper rim. At the top of the stairs was a bench overlooking the river. This is the view taken from that spot.
As we sat on that bench, the river laid out before us and a gentle breeze blowing off the river, a stillness fell over us. We had visited the waterfall earlier and been impacted by the sheer power of the millions of gallons of water flowing over the Horseshoe Falls and exploding onto the rocks below. But here on this bench, we felt like Elijah after the wind and earthquake and fire. God began to speak in a gentle whisper.
“In this season you are that river,” he said. As my spirit unpacked what that meant with His Spirit, He showed me the quiet power of the river. A power that is not boisterous or loud but quietly undeniable. I had been going through a season at work where God was reshaping what it meant for me to influence my workplace for the kingdom. I have a strong justice value system. I feel very strongly about being treated fairly and even more strongly about others being treated fairly and with dignity and respect. In the face of injustice, I can be passionate and adversarial.
But what God was showing me in the river was a different way to stand up for justice and righteousness. God was showing me the power of this mighty river was not only in the foaming white waters but also in the slow steady flow. The same type of steady inexorable flow that formed the Grand Canyon.
God was telling me to quiet my soul. I heard Isaiah 30:15…
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.
He was calling me back to rest in Him and see the wonders that He would perform. Not me, He, the Holy One! In that moment I saw clearly the constant gnawing anxiety just below the surface that I had been living with for the past few months. I saw my unease and disquiet and fret. Even during this vacation, how many of my thoughts were still at work? I exhaled and began to take some deep breaths. When last had I even really breathed?
As I sat on that bench in Niagara a few days before the US elections it was not lost on me that my struggle to grasp Jesus’ way of impacting my world was a microcosm of a global church crisis of an identical nature. We all want to see righteousness and justice established on the earth but the critical question is how. I see us, the church, getting louder, more desperate, and more anxious. We are a lot more froth than depth.
I am still unpacking this lesson and what it means in practice to be the quiet river. But what I do know is this: There is a power to affect our world through prayer (God for us) and presence (God with us) that can only be accessed from a posture of abiding rest in Him and quiet confidence in the victory that has already been won. Being present in the moment to God and to people with a heart to love and to serve backed up by powerful governmental prayer from a pure heart is more powerful than any policy or legislation at the organizational or national level.
After telling His disciples about the Father sending the Holy Spirit to them when He was gone, Jesus said (John 14:27 NLT):
I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
Thank you Jesus for Your gift of peace. Teach us to return to Your peace and to remain in Your peace.
Shalom,
Copyright 2024, Matik Nicholls. All rights reserved.
