I loved my Christmas holidays! We had the chance to take a full 3 weeks off this Christmas and it was one of the most relaxing times we have had in a while.

After our carol services, which I personally was not involved in, we didn’t have a service until the 9th January, meaning that I was fully tuned out of things that I normally have some responsibility for. That meant that I wasn’t worshipping with other people, I wasn’t ministering alongside anyone, wasn’t praying in person for someone etc. Because of the COVID situation here in December and the fact that we didn’t leave the house too much I wasn’t really even in many situations where I could pray or be aware of what God might have for others I was encountering!

That doesn’t mean I didn’t engage with God of course. I spent time in the scriptures, worshipped, prayed and thought lots about all He had done in my life last year. As I was sitting in bed one day after doing my readings I reflected on the state of my heart and my relationship with Jesus over my holiday. I still loved Him, I still wanted to go deeper, learn more, move closer but my faith wasn’t as ‘white hot’ as it had been before.

Here are a 3 things l reflected on as I thought about how this can become normal in our lives.

• Our faith isn’t meant to be only private – we of course need time on our own with Jesus but if that’s all we have we will miss out on so much. I love hanging out with Jesus but it was never meant to be just us, there is an increase and a filling in our relationship as we do it with others.
• Our faith can’t be lived outside of mission – we are meant to give it away and it we don’t we begin to pray differently, think differently and our faith levels drop. Because I wasn’t thinking missionally in those weeks I felt those things happen even in those few weeks.
• Our faith isn’t neutral – our faith doesn’t reach certain levels and then lock in, its not like some game show where at certain points the ‘prize’ is protected. We are either growing in our faith or it is shrinking, it does not stand still. Whether it grows or shrinks is dependant on our proximity to Jesus and our engagement with His ultimate purpose for His creation.

Coming back off a season like we have all lived through is going to be difficult. We have all formed habits and pathways that have suited the way we’ve had to live but we must question what needs to shift to keep becoming all that God has called us to be