Finding Breakthrough in the Ordinary

Springtime brings a sense of renewal, and churches take advantage of the opportunity to bring revival to their congregations, holding conferences, breakout weekends, and more. (If you're a worship leader, then no doubt, this season is pretty busy for you.)

Many groups focus on pushing attendees to have a "breakthrough" moment, and much of the time, these people experience moments of clarity, vigor, and inspiration to pursue change. 

But here's the thing...

It doesn't always last—but there IS a way you can make progress after the "high" comes down.

Chasing Highs

Do you remember going to summer camp and getting back home, inspired to be ON FIRE for the Lord...

Only to fizzle out in a few weeks?

The same hype gets brought up in retreats, conferences, etc. That doesn't make them bad AT ALL, but they don't always give practical application for continued pursuit of God as you come down from that spiritual "high" where you experienced breakthrough.

Think about it—you're immersed in INTENSE experiences, often augmented by emotionally dynamic music and preaching. Something is stirred within you—and rightly so—but you're NOT going back to the same environment in your daily life. 

So you can't expect to feel the same intensity, but sadly, we mistake the natural "comedown" as something "wrong" or perhaps more accurately, "insufficient" to what we previously experienced and resolved to maintain.

This model is sustainable, but neither is the alternative: apathy.

Staying Low

I don't know about you, but when I "fail" at maintaining that breakthrough, I tend to shift to the opposite end of the spectrum, where I replace what I should be doing with what I want to do, or feel like I need to do more. (But it's really just to avoid re-attempting the thing I failed in the first place.) 

This played out over the winter months with my exercise program. I've been strength training for the better part of 3 years now, consistently spending about 4-5 days at the gym every week...

Until I get sidelined by sickness, injury, or busy-ness. 

When those things happen, I lose momentum, FAST. And this past fall going into winter, I basically only did about 4 weeks out of 6 months, all due to out-of-town trips, sickness, injury flare-ups, and welcoming a new child into our family. 

Here's the thing: Going to gym really only counts for about 40 minutes of my day, which is totally achievable. But in my mind, I felt defeated and unmotivated. So, I filled that space with busy-ness that was ultimately unproductive—disrupting my sleep, putting my body into greater disrepair because of inactivity, and increasing my stress long-term. 

This is not the way forward. 

Somewhere in the Middle

I've found that for me, staying in the "middle" helps me make measured progress in all aspects of my life, professionally, personally, and spiritually. 

To stay within the exercise illustration, I'm now at week 6 of getting back to it, but very gradually. It's more about showing up, putting the reps in, but not overloading my workouts in order to prevent overtraining. It's worked well so far, and I'm finally beginning to feel like my old self from the past 3 years. 

There's another area in my life that I wish could be improved: knowing and memorizing Scripture. I'm fairly good at knowing doctrine and theology, but the source material (the Bible) is honestly something I have to work at, and being even more honest, it's not always something I prioritize (much like my avoidance of exercise when I get derailed).

The best way I've found to work at this is to make it a part of my daily routine, almost subconsciously, and this chiefly plays out in how we start our day as a family. When I get our oldest daughter up for breakfast, we immediately turn on her "music." It's a collection of children's scripture songs, each set for a specific letter of the alphabet. To be honest, it's REALLY cringey and repetitive, but at the same time, it's amazing how effective these songs can be as tools for internalizing the Word. 

I didn't notice it at first until I started humming the tunes and scriptures absentmindedly, and then I caught myself. I was recalling Scripture without really needing focused study—the words were there! And since it was living inside my "ear," my thoughts have since been given to deeper contemplation and inspiration to study the passages even further. 

The key to this was "getting the reps in" (always turning the music on for breakfast), where the information was fed in easy amounts and never missing a day. It's led to a different kind of breakthrough, distinct from the highs: Ordinary life and routine can be powerful tools in your worship and pursuit of the Lord. There's something profound in experiencing the results of accumulated inputs (reps) like children's Scripture songs that compound over time, paying a large spiritual dividend.

So be encouraged: Take joy in the opportunities to experience the highs of special events, like rushing of water into a barren desert and bringing rejuvenation, but remember that maintenance works best when that "water" is fed in regular, manageable doses. That way, you can make meaningful progress in measured methods.

Be blessed 👊✌️