The Stillness of the Sublime

We're moving too fast. I mean it. We're so busy being busy that we're missing the very things that make life worth living. Those moments that stop you in your tracks and make you catch your breath, the ones that remind you that you're alive and that God is good. We're blowing right past them because we can't put our phones down long enough to notice.

There's a reason we're supposed to take a day of rest. It's not just some arbitrary religious rule. It's because when you're running full throttle all the time, you're too exhausted to recognize the sublime things happening all around you, much less enjoy them. Being a workaholic doesn't just steal your time, it steals your ability to experience the moments that matter most.

I'm learning this the hard way. I used to think that one day of rest a week was enough, but lately I've realized I need moments during each day to rest my mind. See, that's the real temptation of our phones, isn't it?

There's always an opportunity to occupy our minds, to scroll through social media and let a thousand voices flood in. What we really need is to be in a place of peace, rest, and quiet. We need space for just one voice, that still small voice that speaks truth to our hearts.

It's become my routine to start my morning in the Word, doing a Bible study and reading scripture. I've read the Bible cover to cover every year for the past eight years, and thinking about that now, I can see how that time ties directly back to the personal transformation in my heart. It's about allowing that voice, that influence, that seed, to be planted in me and take root.

Reading the Bible cover to cover repeatedly has been such a blessing, because scripture speaks to me in different ways each time I read it. The words might be the same, but what I need to hear changes.

Let me give you the definition of sublime: of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe.

Read that again. That's what we're missing.

It's in those quiet times, in that rest, that we have the ability to reflect and realize that a sublime moment happened. Those moments aren’t rare, and I don't think God wants them to be. But we're so distracted, so occupied, so busy scrolling and working and doing that we miss them.

I've experienced moments that were sublime, and you know when I usually recognize them? When I'm looking back at the gift. The reflection is where you often recognize it. Sometimes what looks like a curse in the moment ends up being your greatest gift when you have the time and space to look back on it.

I frequently think back to the day I was fired. The gravity of it. The unbelievable devastation I felt at that moment. That sense of complete failure. I was worried about how Lora would respond, how everyone else would see me. But the immense grace I was shown was amazing.

The Sunday morning after I was fired, a good friend of mine, who had never done anything like this before, texted me completely out of the blue.

He said, "During the night I saw you running an American Ninja course, easily passing through obstacles. I was impressed. Then you all reached a 20-foot-tall glass wall like they have at SeaWorld, where killer whales are kept. Some contestants tried to scale it, others tried to find ways around it, and some just quit. You looked up and down the wall, then leaned your shoulder into it, and walked into the water wall. Water, in this dream, seemed to me to represent the holy spirit. My impression from the dream is that you’re gifted with a supernatural set of problem-solving skills for a challenging season, and I think you know what you’re facing. Walk confidently. Love you, man." Then he referenced II Samuel 5:20.

He had no idea I'd just been fired.

That was one of those sublime moments in time that becomes more sublime every time I look back at it. It always brings up unbelievable emotion. That morning went from being a place where I was asking "why" and "how do I" to immediately becoming a place of peace and wonder. There’s a song by Andrew Ripp, Breakdown. One line is “rock bottom is a firm foundation.” in that moment, I felt like I was planted so deeply in the firmest foundation. I cried from the overwhelming awe. It was the first time I had ever received a prophetic word.

God is never early and never late. This is how I define sublime. Anytime I revisit that memory, that awe and wonder comes back just as strong as the first time. Sharing how unbelievably amazing God is—that's a blessing. And it's in our quiet time when we can really see it, really feel it, really understand it.

I used to wonder why we couldn't just stay on the mountaintop, living in those big experiences all the time. But if that's what we experienced constantly, it wouldn't be special anymore. God allows us to experience the trials, the temptations, and the tragedies because on the other side, God has that gift of the sublime waiting for you. You can't have one without the other.

I heard a woman talking recently about the power of 41, and it stopped me in my tracks. She talked about how the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, but in year 41 they entered the promised land.

Jesus went through 40 days of temptation, and on day 41 He was delivered into His ministry.

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, and on day 41 it stopped.

God wants us to know that day 41 will always come. Even God's son Himself, in human form, had to wait for the 41st day. The 41st day is the day of sublime, but you go through the 40 days to get there.

Think about that. We would never know sublime without tragedy. We wouldn't recognize the mountaintop if we hadn't walked through the valley. The contrast is what makes it beautiful, what makes it awe-inspiring, what makes it worth the journey.

So here's what I'm learning, and what I want to challenge you with: slow down and experience the moment. Because those sublime moments are happening all around you. Slow down and watch for the sublime. It's there, waiting for you to notice.