Praying through Colossians | Colossians 1 and 2

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Hey, it's good to see you. I have missed you. My name is Timothy Ateek, and I am on staff at this church. I'm just glad to be back. I truly have missed you. If this is your first time ever with us on a Sunday, thanks for trusting us with your Sunday morning. We really want to be a church where anyone can come and take either their first or next step with Jesus Christ.

Every single Sunday, we open up the Bible and study it because we believe God has gone to great lengths to speak to us, so when we open it, it's like we're opening up his mouth and can hear from the living God. So, we believe God is here and wants to speak to us. One of the ways we prepare our hearts to hear from God is by asking him to speak.

So, I want to give you a moment. Would you take a moment and pray for yourself and say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" And I want to invite you to pray for the people around you and say, "God, would you speak to them as well?" Then, would you pray for me and ask God to speak through me to you?

Lord, we know you're here. I'm just asking that you would make yourself known, that your presence with us would become overwhelmingly evident. God, open our eyes to see you. Open our ears to hear you, God. I pray that our hearts would be soft and receptive to everything you want to say.

Lord, if there is anyone in this room right now who does not have a real and saving faith in Jesus Christ, then my hope and prayer is over the course of this message, you would so clearly introduce yourself to them in a way that they would turn from their sin and turn toward you. Lord, I pray that you would wake us all up, that every single person in this room would leave having met with the living God. So, we give this time to you, and we come expectant, wanting to meet with you, God. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.

I was so thankful that the elders gave me some time away. It really was a good time, and I'm going to share about it throughout the course of this message. My time away ended with a family trip to Park City, Utah. We had a great time in Park City. While we were there, we went as a family and did a ropes course.

One thing I've learned about myself is that I just don't love heights. So, it was like, "Should we do the low course, the medium course, or the high course?" My kids were like, "Let's do the high course." I was like, "Great. We'll do the medium course. Compromise." So we did that. The way it works is you have these poles, and these poles also have platforms. That's where you rest. Then there are these obstacles that you go from platform to platform on a ropes course, and there are about 10 of those.

The second obstacle was about 25 feet up, and it was just a wire you were supposed to walk across. So, there's the wire you walk across, and then right next to the wire was this sagging rope. I let my 8-year-old go first, you know. "Hey, man. You're the leader. You show us how it's done." Then I went, and then my 16-year-old was behind me.

When it came my turn to do this part of the course, I feel like I really figured it out. So much so that I told my 16-year-old… I was like, "No, this is how you do this section of the course. You step out on the wire, and you pick up this sagging rope and push it out straight in front of you so there's no longer a sag, there's tension in the rope."

Well, when you step out on that wire, that wire starts shaking, and when you have your arms out, it kind of looks like this. Some of you are like, "That kind of looks inappropriate." Yeah. Thankfully, it's not Every Generation July anymore. But this was the reality, and I kind of shuffled across. When I got to the other side, I was like, "I kind of crushed that, and I helped my 16-year-old out."

Well, we got in the car afterward, and we weren't talking about it, but my wife just said, "Hey, that was hard to see." Kind of like, "You can't unsee that. Like, that was hard to see." Then Noah from the way back seat was like, "Yeah, that was hard to see." It was a reminder that I don't like ropes courses. I got in the car, and we drove away, and I was like, "We paid money for that. Why did we do that?"

When I think about my experience on the course, I loved the platforms. I kid you not. It's no exaggeration. Whenever I got to the platform, the rest place, I would hug the pole. Literally, both arms around the pole, and I would get so focused on my 8-year-old, who I'd let go in front of me to be nice, that I forgot I would have to go too. Then it was my turn, and 10 times I had the thought, "I don't want to do this." Then I'd get to the next platform, and I was so thankful for the rest, and I hated the work.

I'm so thankful, coming back to Watermark, it's the opposite here. I loved the rest, but I'm so excited about the work. I'm not just saying this. I have come back with a fire in my bones, and I'm so excited and expectant about what God is going to do in our church this fall in 2026. I also feel like God has brought clarity as to some things he's going to do in 2027. So, I just come back expectant and excited about what is in store. It's good to be back.

As I was preparing this week for this message, I was preparing Acts 17, which is the next section in the book of Acts. In Acts 17, you find Paul at Mars Hill. It's one of the most famous passages in the entire book. I've never gotten to preach it before. I have looked forward to preaching this passage. Yet I got to Thursday, and my sense was that the message was in my head, but it wasn't in my heart yet. Like, I could teach it, but I couldn't preach it.

As I processed with the Lord, I had the sense that he wanted me to share what was in my heart, because there's a lot in my heart from my time away. During my time away, there's a lot that God taught me. So, I sensed that for this Sunday, the best thing I can do is just share what the Lord has been teaching me in hopes that it might be helpful to you. We'll be back in Acts next week, but for this Sunday, I want to invite you to turn with me to the book of Colossians.

The reason you're turning to the book of Colossians is because, during my time away, I prayed through the book of Colossians. The way that worked was I would just read in the book of Colossians until there was enough to pray for. Sometimes that would only take a verse. Other times it would be several verses. The Lord used the book of Colossians in my life in really meaningful ways.

If you're just visiting, here's what you need to know. Here at Watermark, we are committed to expository preaching, which means we anchor ourselves in a text and excavate that text, and we let the point of that text be the point of the message. Today is going to be a little bit different because we're going to bounce around the book of Colossians to different passages, and at different points, I'm actually going to read to you from my prayer journal. Now, notice I didn't use the word diary. I'm talking about my man journal. This is more me just sharing what the Lord has been teaching me in hopes that it might be helpful to you.

We studied the book of Colossians as a church back in 2024. If you forget what Colossians is about, Paul is writing this young, vibrant church at Colossae that is being threatened by some false teaching. The way the false teaching basically went was this: "If you're going to attain to the highest levels of spiritual maturity, then you're going to need more than Jesus."

Paul is basically writing to say, "You don't need more than Jesus; you just need more of Jesus. You don't outgrow Jesus; you grow in Jesus, and you can't grow without Jesus." That's his whole point. You want more of Jesus to grow in Jesus. So, as the Lord was growing me in my relationship with Jesus, I want to share with you what he taught me.

We'll start in verse 1 of the book. Paul says, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother…" Here's what I love. On the first day of my time away, I only made it through the first verse. That's how incredible the Holy Spirit is. When you slow down and allow the Holy Spirit to lead you in reading, God can speak to you and overwhelm you in just the greeting of the book.

The reason this verse stuck out to me is in this verse, Paul is reminding himself and reminding the readers who he is, but not just who he is…who he is by the will of God. That really jumped out to me and spoke to me, and it prompted me to remind myself of who I am. Not just who I think I am but who I am by the will of God.

Here's what I wrote in my man journal. This was my prayer. I said, "Your will for my life is perfect, and to argue or question it would be ignorant and immature. Thank you that by your will I am your child, loved by you, cared for by you, delighted in by you, permanently secured by you, chosen by you.

Thank you that by your will I'm a husband to Kat. What kindness, Lord. What a joy. Thank you for the sweet gift that Kat is. You knew what I needed and would need. Thank you that by your will I'm a dad to Noah, Andrew, and Jake. What a privilege to be called Dad. What a privilege to have kids to invest in, laugh with, spend time with, and raise. I'm so grateful for each one of my boys.

Thank you that by your will I'm a pastor specifically at Watermark. It's a joy and a privilege to teach your Word and to lead the church toward you. It's a privilege to shepherd and care for people. Lord, thank you for your will for my life. Your grace in my life is so evident. It's overwhelming. You truly do give good gifts to your children."

Now, here's what I want to be clear on. I didn't write that because everything in the Ateek family is easy and perfect. No. The reality is there are some days that marriage is hard work, and there are some days that parenting can be really challenging, exhausting, and if I'm honest, anxiety-inducing. In a church this size, there are always problems to solve, issues to address, and complexities to manage.

But here's the reality. Sometimes when you get stuck in the weeds of hard days and weeks, it's hard to be grateful, and it's easy to be negative and discouraged. What I'm telling you is as I thought about who I am, specifically by the will of God, I was filled with gratitude. I felt the privilege of God willing me to be his child, to be Kat's husband, to be my boys' father, and to be your pastor.

The way I hope this is helpful for you is simply in this way. I think so much insecurity, discouragement, comparison, resentment, and jealousy is spent on who we aren't or who we think we're supposed to be or who other people tell us we're supposed to be. I'm just telling you that there is joy and peace and gratitude waiting for you in who you are. Not just who you think you are but who you are by the will of God.

We spend so much time thinking about who we're not by the will of God, but who are you by the will of God? There's gratitude and joy waiting for you there. There's confidence and security waiting for you there. Whoever you are by the will of God, I'm telling you, it's a privilege that God has given to you. That's his grace in your life.

So, I want to invite you right now to even ask the Lord to remind you. Right now, ask him. "God, who am I by your will?" Take a moment and express gratitude for that. I'll give you a second to pray and process. Do that really quickly. Who are you by the will of God?

Lord, I want to ask you to drive out of this room any spirit of discouragement or insecurity or comparison or resentment, and I pray that you would fill your people here with joy, confidence, and gratitude at the privilege of who they are by your will. Would you have your way? If there's anyone here who doesn't know the joy of being your child, I pray that right now, even, it would be your will that they would trust your Son Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and be called into your family. In Jesus' name, amen.

The second passage I'm going to look at… It just continues. It's verses 2-5. Let me read this to you. This actually deals with you. Paul says this, starting in verse 2:

"To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel…"

What Paul is doing right now is expressing gratitude for the church. What he's articulating is that he finds himself in prayer thanking God for the Christians in Colossae because of a couple of things: faith and love, and it's all because of the gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ has taken root in their hearts in such a way that the result is great faith (godly men and women) and love. There are amazing expressions of Christlike love in the church at Colossae.

Here's what I wrote in my man journal. I said, "Lord, I'm realizing that I don't thank you enough for the saints and faithful brothers at Watermark. Lord, thank you for the faith of so many members, for members who love you and are passionate to live for you and want to see your kingdom advanced. Thank you for the love that so many members have for one another, a deep commitment to one another."

I was so encouraged early on in my time away. This was like day two. What was happening was the Lord was gently convicting me. The gentle conviction was that I don't thank him enough for you. You might be offended by that, so let me explain what I mean. I'm super-thankful for you, but when I pray for you, my tendency, as your pastor, is to spot the places where we, as a church, have room to grow up into spiritual maturity. So, my prayers for you tend to be for the Spirit's continued work instead of expressing gratitude for the work he has already done.

As I sat with the Lord, he brought many of you to mind. Like, I saw your faces in my mind. I thought of your names. I was just so grateful for so many godly men and women at this church. So many people in this church have incredible faith in Jesus Christ. You are living radical, Spirit-empowered lives. So many of you are leveraging your lives for the sake of the gospel. You've rejected American Christianity and embraced biblical Christianity where you are following Jesus wholeheartedly. Jesus isn't just a part of your life; he is the passion of your life, and that's so encouraging.

It's not just a few of you; it's so many of you. There are so many people, for 27 years of this church's existence, where every single year for 27 years you have been investing your life into others, discipling people, building up marriages, helping others find hope and healing, pushing back the darkness and brokenness in our city. I was just reminded there are so many incredible expressions of love in our church. So many of you show up when others in this church are suffering, grieving, and struggling.

During our time away, Kat and I went over to a friend's house to pray for one of their kids, and there were other people there from their lives at this church who figured out what to do with their own kids just to come and spend a couple of hours leaning in together and passionately seeking the Lord for one of their kids. I left that night so full, because that's what the body of Christ does. That's what the people of God do. We're in this together.

Then I ran into a Watermark member at the pool who was taking care of another member's kids because that member was in the midst of the hardest moments of their life. Then I engaged with another member who almost every day is doing something to serve another member who is in the midst of significant trials. It was just one reminder after another. This church family shows up for one another. I'm so encouraged by the faith and love that is in this church. So, thank you.

If you're just visiting, here's what I want you to hear me say: this is an incredible church. You might hear that and be like, "That sounds arrogant. Aren't you the pastor?" I'm not talking about my preaching. I'm not talking about the music, even. I'm talking about the people, because the church isn't a place; it's a people, and this church is full of amazing, godly men and women. So, look. If you're only attending on Sundays, I'm just telling you, you're missing out. I would so encourage you to get more involved, because there are so many people here who passionately love Jesus and his people, and the Spirit will use them to stimulate your faith.

If you've been around Watermark for a while, and it feels like your Community Group has gotten stale or things have kind of grown cold, here's what I would encourage you to do: be the solution. The way to be the solution is to ask the Spirit of God to show you what expression of faith and love you would bring into your group. God might want to work through you to spur your group on toward love and good deeds. I'm thankful for you, Watermark family.

Skip down now to verse 15. I want to talk about a different passage now. I'm going to read to you verses 15-20. These are some of the most important verses in the entire book and, honestly, in the entire New Testament. These verses recenter me. They bring all of life into focus, and they reshuffle my priorities. So, here's my hope even as I read them. I'm just going to pray.

Spirit of the living God, my prayer is that even as I read these verses, you might open everyone's eyes in this room to see all of life clearly. Would you bring everything into focus? Would you recenter our lives and reprioritize everything around you, Lord Jesus?

So, listen to Colossians 1, starting in verse 15. This is talking about Jesus. It's talking about the eternal Son of God who took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. It says, "He is the image of the invisible God…" What does that mean? It means Jesus reveals God perfectly to us because he is God. He's the image of the invisible God.

"…the firstborn of all creation." Now, in the Bible, firstborn here isn't meaning that Jesus was the first baby born to God. Firstborn in the Bible can actually be signifying that there's no one of greater importance than this person. When it says Jesus is the firstborn of creation, that's saying Jesus is the supreme King over all creation and there is no one of greater importance than Jesus.

Verse 16. Here's why there's no one of greater importance. "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things…" That includes you and me. "…all things were created through him and for him." So, you have been created for Jesus. I have been created for Jesus. Everything in creation has been created for Jesus. Creation doesn't just begin in Christ; it ends in Christ. Everything in all creation is meant to find its ultimate point and purpose in Christ. He's the point of everything.

Verse 17: "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Which means everything would fall apart apart from Jesus. Verse 18: "And he is the head of the body, the church." That means he's the one in charge. He's the owner and leader of the church. "He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead…" That means he's the founder of a new humanity marked by resurrection life.

"…that in everything he might be preeminent." What does it mean that Jesus is to be preeminent in all things? The word preeminent means supreme. It means taking first place. So, Jesus Christ, because of who he is and what he has done, is to take first place in everything, including your life and mine.

Verse 19: "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." That is what Jesus Christ has done through his death, burial, and resurrection. For all who put their faith in Jesus Christ, he has made you right with the God of the universe.

This is what I wrote in my journal: "Lord Jesus, you are everything. Everything finds its meaning and purpose in you. You are the point of everything. To see you, to worship you, to know you, to live for you, to serve you, to reflect you, to bring praise to you is the point of life." Let me just tell you the small ways God used this passage in my life. I'm showing you the small ways because the big ways are more of a given, but it's the small ways.

I read this passage on a day when I was getting worked up about youth sports. Has anyone else ever gotten worked up about youth sports? Not this church, huh? Okay. Good. Well, thankfully, then, I don't ever have to talk about youth sports. Y'all don't ever struggle with that. Just me, so pray for me.

I was getting worked up about youth sports, and I was pushing one of my kids to practice more than was necessary. It was beginning to discourage him. Then I read this passage and everything comes into focus. Look. I'm not against youth sports. We're playing youth sports. But do you know what God did through this passage? It was a reminder.

"That's not what I've been made for. I haven't been made for youth sports. My son has not been made for youth sports. He can play youth sports. He has been made for Jesus Christ. I have been made for Jesus Christ. To give my anxiety to youth sports is a form of idolatry, because I haven't been made for youth sports. My affection and my anxiety find their place in the one I've been made for. That's Jesus Christ."

Then, I was watching a popular show where this incredibly gifted actor was cussing and telling this disgusting story that other people in the show were laughing about. After reading this passage…we have been made for Jesus…I just had this sickening feeling. Like, how offensive and disgusting it must be for those who have been made for Jesus to use the way they've been wired to glorify the darkness. So, I'm no longer watching that show.

I don't tell you that to talk about what shows you should or shouldn't watch. We should talk about that sometime. Here's what I'm trying to show. This passage brings everything into focus. To see life clearly… Like, this is what I've been made for. This actor hasn't been made for that. He has been made for him. He's using the things he has been made for that are meant to be worshipful toward God, and he's glorifying the darkness with those things.

I'm just telling you, it brings things into focus. It recenters. I tell you that to say you have been made for Jesus. You have. You've been made for Jesus. You will experience the most peace, the most joy, the most satisfaction, the most security, the most confidence, and the most comfort in your life when you find your rest and your hope in Jesus Christ, the one you've been made for.

Now, you can live like you've been made for something else. You can live like you've been made for success or money or popularity, but it doesn't change the fact that you have been made for Jesus. Everything exists for him. He is to take first place in all things. I'll just ask you. Who are you living for, and what are you doing that you haven't been made to do?

I think about how encouraging this passage is. It says Jesus is the head of the church. So, I just want to be clear. Jesus is the head of Watermark Community Church. I'm not the leader. The elders aren't the leaders. Jesus Christ is the leader. Our aim here at Watermark is to please Jesus. It's to exalt Jesus Christ. It is to glorify Christ.

So, you might not love everything we do. It might not match all of your preferences, but can we agree that this place exists solely for Jesus Christ? It doesn't even exist for you or for me; it exists for him. We will be most filled with joy and most unified, as a church, when we are all in agreement on that one thing.

It's also encouraging that he holds all things together. Isn't that good news? Everything falls apart without him. This has been an encouragement as I've prayed over my time away for friends with a cancer diagnosis or those experiencing loss, that Jesus holds their lives together. At the beginning of my time away… Part of my time away was just rest. The other part of it was seeking the Lord for where he's taking us as a church, and with that can come some pressure.

A friend of mine told me at the beginning of my time away, "You will have what you need when you need it." I'm like, "Man, that sounds so good, but I want what I need when I want it, and I kind of want it now so I can have it now and rest the rest of the time." That's me forgetting and not resting in the fact that he is before all things and in him all things hold together.

Sure enough, I had what I needed when I needed it. I didn't have it when I wanted it; I had it when I needed it. The Lord is stretching me to understand he is before all things and in him all things hold together. Look. Let me be really clear. Jesus is the point of life. For Jesus to be a part of your life but not the point and passion of your life is to waste your life. The next passage I want to look at is just the next few verses, verses 21-23. Paul says this:

"And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister."

What Paul is saying is this is how thorough and effective Christ's work on the cross was. He takes those who were alienated from God, those who were hostile toward God, those who were evil, and he brings such peace that you are pure, holy, blameless, and above reproach before God. That's crazy. God doesn't just tolerate you. He so thoroughly cleanses you and makes you new that you are holy and blameless before him.

Then there's this conditional statement. Paul says that is all true "…if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard…" Verses like this can cause anxiety in people, especially those who struggle with scrupulosity, OCD. You can read a verse like this and wonder, "Well, have I done enough or am I doing something that would bring this conditional statement into place?"

So, let me be really clear on what Paul is really saying here. Here's the point of the if. If everything he just said in verses 15-20 is true…if Christ is everything, if he's before all things and in him all things hold together…if everything Paul said is true and you still think you need more than Jesus to attain all the levels of spiritual maturity, then you clearly haven't understood Jesus. That's his point.

Like, if you get off track in that way, if you become unstable in your faith and shift from the hope of the gospel, which means Jesus is everything, and you believe there's something apart from Jesus that you need, then you haven't understood Jesus.

Now, why did God use this passage in my time away? Did Timothy Ateek experience a crisis of faith? No. Thankfully, no. Yet, on the second-to-last night before I was coming back to work… We were in Park City, Utah, and that night, I decided to go outside and sit on this balcony and just sit with the Lord to prepare my heart to return to work.

There's no other way to explain it besides, as I sat there, I sensed some hardness in my heart. There's no other way to describe it. God speaks to me sometimes in pictures, and the picture I had was a picture of some rock formation in my heart, some hardness I couldn't pinpoint. This is what I journaled or prayed.

I said, "Lord, I want to continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel. Lord, I think I have experienced some instability in my walk with you during my time away because I haven't been preaching the gospel to myself. There are these subtle shifts away from the hope of the gospel." So, here's what I said.

Then I just began to meditate on the gospel and think about what is true of me because of Christ. So, I said, "Lord, thank you that you are near. Thank you that I am loved. Thank you that I am clean. Thank you that even right now you're speaking to me, and you've been speaking to me. Holy Spirit, thank you that you've been leading me. Lord, no one deserves my fear except you. I'm called to make it my aim to please you. I'm called to work for you. I confess that I've worked to please others.

Lord, I've been anxious about so many things. I've been a Martha, but, Lord, you are who I want and need. Lord, I claim your peace. I invite your peace that surpasses all understanding. I invite your peace to guard my heart and mind. Thank you that it isn't all up to me today. Thank you that I'm not on my own. Thank you for your grace."

As I sat there and preached the gospel to myself, the Lord met me in that moment. This might sound cheesy, but that rock formation… This is what I continued to write. I said, "Thank you for dynamiting whatever has been hard in me." I felt this complete softening and a nearness, a joy, and an embrace from the Lord. So, I said, "Thank you for your love, presence, and embrace. I love you so much, Lord."

The reason I'm even sharing this very personal moment with you is that I just want you to be clear. This is how powerful the gospel is. We don't have a self-help religion where it's "Do better, try harder." The gospel isn't just what saves us; it's what sustains us and changes us. So, I don't know where you're at in life or what's going on, but I just want to encourage you to sit down and remind yourself of everything that is true of you because of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Look. If you've never come to a place… Maybe you know about Jesus or you are religious, but you don't have a relationship with Jesus where the death of Christ for your sin and the resurrection of Christ for your new life, eternal life with God… If you've never received Christ for the first time, then let today be that day where you turn from your sin, turn toward Christ, and receive him as Savior.

Let me show you one more thing. I wish I had a few more hours to show you all the things. I know you don't wish I had a few more hours, but I wish I had a few more hours. Look. If anything, here's my encouragement: share what God is doing in your life with others, because it reminds you God is really at work in your life. So, I encourage you to share over text or over a phone call or coffee. Here's the last passage I'll turn you to. It's Colossians 2:16-19.

"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God."

Now, what did God do through this passage in my life? Like, why would he highlight it? Well, let me tell you what's happening in this passage. The false teachers are basically acting like they are handing down a judgment from God to the Christians at Colossae, and here's basically their point:

"We're on varsity; you're on JV. If you really want God to not just love you but like you, you're going to need to do more for God. The calendar is going to need to be packed full of these various Old Testament rituals. You need to do more for God if he's really going to love you and like you. And not just that. You really need to have these supernatural, mystical experiences if you're really going to be a mature Christian. Otherwise, you're going to be riding the JV bench the rest of the time."

Remember, Paul is writing the Colossians to remind them, "You don't need more than Jesus; you just need more of Jesus. You don't outgrow Jesus; you grow in Jesus." The way God used this passage in my life was this. When people have asked me how my time away has been, it hasn't been an easy answer. I've paused. I've had to work to find the response. The reason it has been that way is that my time away didn't go how I thought it was going to go.

Here's what I mean by that. Going into my time away, there were certain spiritual practices that had been a source of joy in the past that I thought I would practice again, and these practices involve extended time alone with God. Something unhealthy grew in me that, if I'm honest, I began to believe I wouldn't experience maximum intimacy with Jesus unless I was able to do these spiritual practices every day.

Then, on July 4, two of our cars, on the same day, had the "check engine" light come on, and that started a chain of events that led to my life being consumed with car problems. To be clear, car problems were the worst of our issues that week, so life was really not that bad, but it changed things. Like, one of the cars had to be towed, and then I needed to get two cars to two different dealerships, so we were kind of playing musical cars.

My son was working in Grapevine, so now I need to get him out to Grapevine in the morning and pick him up from Grapevine in the afternoon. Then, you know how it goes sometimes. Like, you call the dealership, and you sit on hold. You hear the same waiting music every time you call to where you've kind of memorized the song, and now you have it playing in your head even when you're not on the phone. So, that's kind of happening.

Then you get disconnected or the service person isn't available or they're not in that day. Then you find out your car needs an entire new engine, which is more expensive than the car itself, so now you're realizing that car is not coming back to your family ever again. What happened was for five days, all I was doing was dealing with cars. I don't know what I would have done if I was working. This is when I was supposed to be alone to experience maximum intimacy, and it was all getting eaten up by cars. I felt like I was being pulled away from Jesus. I wasn't able to do the things that would lead me to maximum intimacy.

Then, finally… It took me too long to get there, but I sensed the Lord saying, "This isn't pulling you away from me. I'm actually inviting you to meet me in the midst of this stuff." It was like the Lord was trying to teach me not just to listen to him when I'm alone for extended periods of time, but he was trying to cultivate those muscles of listening to him all throughout the day, especially in the midst of the mess.

God was revealing some spiritual immaturity to me. I had begun to believe that spiritual intimacy with God could only be experienced if I was doing certain things I had previously done. There were multiple times during my time away where the Lord brought Jesus' words from Matthew 11 to mind, where Jesus says, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Watch the wording at the end. He says, "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

I felt like the Lord was like, "You're making my yoke difficult and heavy." It was freeing, because it gave way to me sitting with the Lord and his Spirit showing me how to reshape my time with him. So, I'll share it with you in case it's helpful. And it's nothing radical. You'll hear this and be like, "Yeah, I think that's what time with the Lord should look like." But for me, it's just tweaking things. You might see this list and be like, "That feels burdensome." It isn't for me. It's just where God has me right now.

So, if it's helpful… I want to start my time by spending a few minutes seeking his presence. What I mean by that is just sitting quietly, making myself aware that God is with me and in me. Then I want to spend a few minutes seeking his face in forgiveness. That just means worshiping him, expanding my view of him, reminding myself of who he is, and asking him if there are any barriers of sin I need to repent of.

Then I want to spend some time seeking his voice. What I mean by that is I want to seek to hear from God through the reading of his Word, and then I want to seek his heart. I want to align my heart with his heart by praying through the Scripture I just read. Then I want to spend a little bit of time seeking his hand. I just want to ask God for things on behalf of Kat and the boys and Watermark and friends and unbelievers. Then, finally, I want to spend a few minutes seeking his whisper, which is just asking him if there's anything else he wants to say to me.

This can take a lot of time or it can take a little time. What's great is that I'm experiencing new intimacy with the Lord that I experienced doing other practices in the past, but the Lord is allowing it to look different now. So, I just share that with you. Is your time with the Lord enjoyable? Are you experiencing intimacy with him? Is there any way you're making his yoke difficult and heavy? Join the Journey is a great resource that's already emphasizing these things.

I know I've gone long this morning. I just want to close by reading chapter 1, verse 16, one more time. Paul says, "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things…" That includes you and me. "…were created through him and for him."

Lord Jesus, my hope and prayer right now is that you would speak to the heart of every person in this room. If there's anyone here today who has never understood that they have been made for you, that their hope, joy, peace, and salvation are only found in the person of Jesus Christ, I pray that they would turn to you right now in prayer and invite you into their life to be their Savior.

Lord, for anyone in the room who has made you, Jesus, a part of their life but not the point and passion, Lord, I pray right now you would call them to yourself in a fresh way. I pray that Watermark would be a church full of people who exalt you, Lord Jesus, who welcome your rule and reign in our hearts and our lives every moment of every day. We love you, God, and we trust you. In Jesus' name, amen.