I recently heard Tod Bolsinger (see his book Canoeing the Mountains) describe resilience in a way that I’ll now riff off of:
Resilience is:
→ Doubling down on your God-given mission (not on the shadow mission mistakes of ambition or avoidance).
→ Paired with a renewed commitment to operating with integrity.
If you’re needing a dose of resilience today, take five minutes and give this a shot:
Read Matthew 3:16-4:11 (click the link or read it below).
How does Jesus’s clarity of mission and his commitment to a fully integrated life before the Father make him resilient in his time of testing?
How would you describe your God-given mission? If you’ve never done any thinking in this area, spend a few minutes asking the Lord for direction here.
Once you’ve got some inkling about what your God-given mission might be, what do you think it might look like to double-down on that mission in this season?
Even if you don’t have clarity on mission, you can have clarity on the “how”— how you want to live and what it looks like to live a life of integrity. What commitments to integrity do you want to make or renew in this season?
Spend some time prayerfully bringing together your mission and your desire to live with integrity in the midst of whatever challenges you might be facing today.
More resilient-making work in this month’s free Greenhouse Retreat: Redeeming the Wilderness
For Everyone: Transition, testing, trials, and disorientation come to us all. Click here for Redeeming the Wilderness for Everyone.
For Ministry Leaders: In the Scriptures, every leader we have the full story of is formed and shaped in critical ways by time in the wilderness. Make sure your time there is fruitful. Click here for Redeeming the Wilderness for Ministry Leaders.
Greenhouse Retreats: helping you to create conditions ideal for long-term flourishing and fruitfulness.
Happy flourishing, y’all,
Alex
Matthew 3:16-4:11
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.