On Saturday, I woke up around midnight US time, which was 5 a.m. London time. Four hours later I boarded a plane out of London, flew to Detroit, and then caught a connection home to Indianapolis, wrapping up a two-week trip to the University of Cambridge. It was an amazing trip and I will share more details with everyone next week.
For now, I am recuperating from the trip by reading the Book of Philippians over and over again, meditating on certain passages. There is nothing like expending yourself for God’s glory then having him restore your soul through his Word. Travel and lectures, dialogues and engagement from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, day after day, leaves the body tired, the mind a bit scattered and the spirit depleted. But God’s word can perform a restoring work by recentering my heart, quieting the noise that lay dormant within my heart, and renewing my strength. God reminded me who I am in the grand scheme of things and that He wanted to send me here. As Psalm 23:3 says, “He restores my soul.” I am grateful that God does not simply call me to keep going in my own strength; He invites me to come back to Him and be renewed.
Philippians was meaningful to me and included exactly what I needed to hear because Paul, writing from prison, is doing so from a place of limitation. Despite this fact, his words are filled with joy, confidence, humility, and dependence upon Christ. During my reading, I paused to meditate on Philippians 1:6 where Paul reminds us that God is the One who begins the good work and carries it forward, and Philippians 4:13, where our strength is found not in ourselves but in Christ. Those truths are helping me remember that ministry is never sustained by my own self-effort but is sustained by Christ himself.
There is also something humbling about coming home tired. After two weeks of conversations, lectures, study, and engagement, I am reminded that I am not indispensable. God was at work before I arrived in Cambridge, He was at work while I was there, and He will continue His work long after I leave. My responsibility is simply to be faithful with what He puts before me and then trust Him with the results. Sometimes faithfulness means going, speaking, and engaging. At other times, faithfulness means resting, listening, receiving, and allowing God to restore what has been poured out.
So, for the next few days, I am intentionally slowing down, starting with Philippians. I am reading Philippians repeatedly, praying through its words, and allowing Scripture to reorder my thoughts and affections. I do not want to rush past what God may want to teach me through this season of recovery. The same God who sends us into the work is also the God who calls us back to Himself, restores our souls, and prepares us for whatever comes next.