Spiritual ruts. Have you ever been in one? Sometimes you don’t realize you are there until you are there! The symptoms are telling:
The question is once you are in a rut, how do you get out? Here are a few suggestions.
1. Appreciate the past but focus on the future
A person can a fall into a spiritual rut when they spend too much time looking back. If we’re not careful, we can come to the depressing conclusion that our best days are behind us. Living becomes existing. Ironically, a dangerous time in a person’s life is when they achieve their goals. Once the celebration of accomplishment is past, the haunting question rises, “Now what?” To avoid falling into a rut, quickly set new goals. Be thankful for the past, but live forward.
2. Avoid rigidity and embrace flexibility
God is always doing a new thing! We can fall into a spiritual rut when we dig in our heels and declare, “I shall not be moved.” What we interpret as routine can become a rut if we’re not willing to embrace change. I will be the first to admit change can be hard. But when change is resisted, staleness sets in. An attitude of contentment with the status quo is the kiss of death. Getting out of a spiritual rut can begin by embracing flexibility and making some practical life changes.
3. Act now and trust God
When David found himself at a low point in life he strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6). To get out of the slump, you have to do something. Take your devotional life for example. Try mixing it up. If your devotional life has gone dormant, resurrect it! Then try reading out of a different version of the Bible. Do a prayer walk or find some place outside to pray. Mix up your actual prayers so you aren’t repeating the same things every day. Among other things you can do, I would also suggest going on a missions trip.
Act now. Do your part. Then trust God to lift you out of that rut, instill a spirit of newness in your heart, and put anew song in your mouth (Psalm 40:1-3).
Be encouraged by the fact that God does not abandon us when we find ourselves in a spiritual rut. We may feel distant from Him, but He isn’t distant from us. He has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (James 13:5). So initiate the process and, ”Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you“ (James 4:8). Act now and before you know it that spiritual rut will be a thing of the past.
Pastor Todd Weston
- The thrill has gone out of your walk with God
- Your spiritual life has slipped into auto pilot
- You serve out of a sense of duty, not joy
- The things of God seem distant
- A condition of dryness has set in to your soul
- Rather than moving forward, life seems to be going in circles
The question is once you are in a rut, how do you get out? Here are a few suggestions.
1. Appreciate the past but focus on the future
A person can a fall into a spiritual rut when they spend too much time looking back. If we’re not careful, we can come to the depressing conclusion that our best days are behind us. Living becomes existing. Ironically, a dangerous time in a person’s life is when they achieve their goals. Once the celebration of accomplishment is past, the haunting question rises, “Now what?” To avoid falling into a rut, quickly set new goals. Be thankful for the past, but live forward.
2. Avoid rigidity and embrace flexibility
God is always doing a new thing! We can fall into a spiritual rut when we dig in our heels and declare, “I shall not be moved.” What we interpret as routine can become a rut if we’re not willing to embrace change. I will be the first to admit change can be hard. But when change is resisted, staleness sets in. An attitude of contentment with the status quo is the kiss of death. Getting out of a spiritual rut can begin by embracing flexibility and making some practical life changes.
3. Act now and trust God
When David found himself at a low point in life he strengthened himself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6). To get out of the slump, you have to do something. Take your devotional life for example. Try mixing it up. If your devotional life has gone dormant, resurrect it! Then try reading out of a different version of the Bible. Do a prayer walk or find some place outside to pray. Mix up your actual prayers so you aren’t repeating the same things every day. Among other things you can do, I would also suggest going on a missions trip.
Act now. Do your part. Then trust God to lift you out of that rut, instill a spirit of newness in your heart, and put anew song in your mouth (Psalm 40:1-3).
Be encouraged by the fact that God does not abandon us when we find ourselves in a spiritual rut. We may feel distant from Him, but He isn’t distant from us. He has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (James 13:5). So initiate the process and, ”Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you“ (James 4:8). Act now and before you know it that spiritual rut will be a thing of the past.
Pastor Todd Weston