Slump

So every now and again I seem to fall into a spiritual slump. Its nothing I set out to do, it just sort of happens. I'm sure other people experience the same thing. Its sorta like walking around in a fog, hoping for the sun to come out so you can feel a little warmth and see a little more clearly. Its not the greatest of feelings, and its not the worst, its just blah...

So recently I stumbled into one of these said "slumps." The biggest surprise was not the slump, but the timing. I had just gotten back from a conference in San Diego California, and everything was and had been going really well in my life. Things could not have been smoother sailing. No real reason for a slump. It just didn't make sense. My slump was logic-defying.

And then, while attending a Bible study, a passage of scripture jumped out at me. I wish I could say I had sought out the solution to my slump in the Bible; or I had gone to the Bible study to in fact study and learn about scripture earnestly. Neither of those would be true. But nonetheless the passage jumped out at me.

The passage is found in Acts 10 & 11, where Peter receives a vision, goes and talks to a Gentile named Cornelius, tells him about Jesus, and Gentiles are accepted as followers of Jesus. At the Bible study we discussed how important the passage was; how the gospel is for everyone, all peoples, all nations. We also discussed that you can be a good person like Cornelius, but if Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, you missed it. A beautiful story full of theological meaning. But none of that stuff stood out to me...What jumped off the page at me was Peter's role in the story.

 Peter has always been one of, if not my top favorite character in the Bible. He is your average Joe, who doesn't always get it, but gives it 100% anyway. I feel like I can relate to him. He likes to pray on roof tops, which I loved doing in Abilene when we still had a ladder. If you are unfamiliar with the story Peter receives a vision from God where a giant sheet comes down loaded with "unclean" food. God says eat, and when Peter says no, God says "everything I made is clean." This was referring to Gentiles being included, and how the gospel is for everyone. But that's not what jumped off the page at me. Here is what stuck out to me:

The whole sheet scenario Where God says "eat", Peter says "no", and God says "Everything I made is clean" happens three times. Three times.



but that's not all

At the beginning of the story, we find out that Peter was hungry. Peter was hungry, and God gave him a vision about food.

These two things screamed at me off the page. I think this passage tells us a little something about God. Peter was hungry. God used his hunger to teach him something important, to grow his faith. And even when Peter didn't get it, God didn't give up. He just repeated himself until Peter got it.

It tells me that God shows up in our lives right where we are, not expecting us to make it to his level.

I think that is how God works in the slumps of life. He meets us where we are, slump and all, and calls us to move forward, to grow despite the slump. Like Peter, we may not get it at first because it involves letting go of how we have always believed. Don't worry, God will keep on repeating it until we get it. My question is, whether you are in a slump or not: What in your life is God using to speak to you? What is God using to call you into further growth? If you are like me or Peter, you have probably heard it a few times already.