Staying Spiritually Disciplined in a New (Slightly Overstimulating) Season
- Madison
- 18 hours ago
- 5 min read
Another hiatus. Are we surprised?
In June 2024, my husband and I realized we were living through one of God’s greatest blessings: it was our time to be fruitful and multiply! The months leading up to February 2025 were both exciting and exhausting. I gave in to pregnancy fatigue immediately and began nesting, craving rest more than anything.
Then came life with a newborn—a euphoric blur of love in the purest form. Those first few weeks were intoxicating, filled with a joy only God could design. How anyone is expected to return to a “normal” life after such a miracle is beyond me. I justified focusing on motherhood, but in doing so, I subconsciously stepped away from the One who had given me this gift in the first place. Even with this outpouring of life, I allowed my relationship with God to become one-sided.
I carried guilt and shame for drifting from my spiritual habits that once cultivated unshakable peace. Any fruit I had received via the Spirit began to wither. Maybe it was the influx of hormones, but I became a breeding ground for impatience and bitterness. No one, except my son (and occasionally his dad), was safe from my fleeting temperament. I became like the church of Ephesus, neglecting the love I once had for Jesus (Revelation 2:4).
I wonder how God feels when His beloved children become distant and forgetful of His sacrifice. From a mere human mindset, God's steadfastness seems unreal. Why would He not waver? But that is what makes God great; He is unconditional and enduring, unlike us. He is consistently holy.
Micah 6:6-8 says that there is nothing we can do on our own to be deserving of God’s presence:
“What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the offspring of my body for my own sin? Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”
Not only is God steady in His love for us, but He also shares righteous instructions for how we should conduct ourselves, for our benefit. If no work of ours earns His favor, then shame should also not keep us from His presence. Joel 2:25 reminds us that God will repay us for what was lost. For His good, He redeems the time we consider wasted.
So, using the greatest tool available, I turned to the Bible for advice on how to sustain a humble walk with God, even if the relationship doesn’t look the same as it did when we were first saved.
Repent & Re-approach God
“Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.” (Revelation 2:5)
Don’t run from God, but run to Him. Are there parts of worship that may have become mundane? Invite the Holy Spirit in to renew your spirit. Repentance doesn’t mean recreating your early faith step-for-step; it means returning to that childlike awe for the Lord.
Think Eternally
“No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11, CSB)
“May the Lord direct your hearts to God’s love and Christ’s endurance.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5, CSB)
Spiritual discipline isn’t easy. Ask God for help when weary! He promises peace on the other side of perseverance. He wants to be involved in both the struggle and the success. Find pleasure in the face of hardship because God is using it to produce something lasting.
Abide and Bear Fruit
“The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” (John 15:5, CSB)
Stay rooted in Jesus. The more we abide in Him, the more the Holy Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). The further we stray from Jesus, the more we contrast with His character.
Focus on the GODLY
“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—dwell on these things.” (Philippians 4:8, CSB)
“For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1, CSB)
This world is loud, but peace is found in what is pure. Silence the negative. Ruminate on what glorifies God. Jesus defeated chaos. Seek His clarity.
Love God
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command.” (Matthew 22:37-38, CSB)
This one is self-explanatory; to know God is to love Him, and to love Him is to want to reflect Him. Every act of discipline begins and ends with love.
In 1 Samuel, David, a man being hunted so that he may be prevented from fulfilling his calling as king, stops running from his enemy, Saul. David proclaimed the Lord’s protection over his situation and waited for the Lord's timing. It was no longer the anticipation of the attack that fueled David to act, but confidence in God’s might. David could have taken matters into his own hands, but he chose obedience over impulse. In this instance, David was a man familiar with the heart of God and acted like it.
Before I am a wife or a mother, I am Christ’s. He deserves more than what I’ve given, and I feel a growing urgency to serve His kingdom with greater devotion. Not out of obligation, as we spoke about earlier, but out of reverence. What good is it to hide behind the insecurity of whether I am wise enough, skilled enough, or influential enough to speak of Jesus? If not now, then when?
I don’t want to live a lukewarm life, silenced by comfort or fear of judgment. Similarly, I don't want to be performative in my faith. A perfect Christian does not exist, but there is renewal in following Jesus. New beginnings. And maybe this is a part of our testimony—returning to the feet of Jesus after being gripped by the fallen world, realizing that the force we fight against is the result of temporary, over-glorified distractions.
May we return to the Lord each day, remembering that it is not to repay a debt, but to fulfill a longing for our loving Father.
Gratitude List:
Another fantasy football win
Anniversaries
Good health updates from family
Breezy mornings
3-hour naps + sleeping through the night for our growing boy!
Patriot games
That refreshing feeling after a small group gathering
Sharing my favorite children's books with my child
Finding small joys in busy days
Green, healthy grass
Hearing “You have such a happy baby!”
Jordan's first pumpkin patch
Butterflies under blue skies
Family walks
Hot PSLs before pumpkin season ends
Reading new thrillers
Witnessing others step into their calling of fervently serving God. Please visit Hopie’s site to read more about faith & fitness! https://hopierod.wixsite.com/hopierod Your faith is such an encouragement. Please continue to lead and inspire!
References:
Myers, R., & Williams, A. B. (2020). She Reads Truth Bible. Holman Bible Publishers.
