06/21/2021
Session Six: The Simple Daily Things
"You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
— Dallas Willard
It’s 5:20 p.m. on a midwinter day. The sun has almost set, and only now do I realize that not once have I even looked up at the sky today. I don’t know if it’s been cloudy or sunny. I don’t know if the geese have been flying or if there was a beautiful sunrise. We live every moment of our lives under this gorgeous blue canopy, the dome of a great cathedral, and how seldom we enjoy it. My soul has been “gloved” today, cocooned in the artificial world.
In fact, the only reason I came outside at all is because of the injury one of our horses incurred. It's our bay, and somehow he turned up with a serious injury to his left hip. We’re not quite sure how; things take place out in the pasture beyond our understanding. They can step in a hole, or something can startle them and they jump sideways and damage a leg. In the same way, it’s easy for a human being to tear their knee up on a simple run. Maybe he got a whiff of lion. Now I have to come every day to where we stable them in the winter and give our bay some exercise, gently walking him around, getting him to use his muscles, keep him from going lame. It’s a serious thing for a horse to go lame. Our vet thought we might have to “put him down,” as the horrible expression goes. That would have been heartbreaking.
So you can bet I’ve come every day. At first this task was stressful, filled with worry and concern. One more thing I needed to do in an already busy week. I secretly resented it.
But as we’ve progressed through this book together, we’ve explored the healing power of beauty and nature. We’ve talked about the grace of pauses in our day, the kindness of transitions, our need to get outside. Right here, in what I thought was one more grievance upon an already burdened life, it turns out God had something redemptive in mind. Being forced to stop my day, come here and spend time with these horses, has been a rescue.
Life picks up momentum like a car on downhill ice, and it’s so easy to just go with it. The pace is addictive; it gives us a false sense of purpose while also relieving us of paying attention to the deeper things. God gently slowed things down for me.
I’m just standing here, letting the horses graze while I hold their halters. I’m not productive; I’m gloriously inefficient.
Only now do I notice the clouds doing the most beautiful rippled pattern all across the southern sky, like a white silk scarf blowing ever so gently in an ocean breeze but translucent, so the haze of blue comes through. A herd of deer are cautiously grazing out into the field; there’s a beautiful buck among them, with a gorgeous rack of antlers. For the first time I notice that the day has a scent to it, a distinctly winter tang— that mix of dried grasses and moist cold. Icy air has a metallic taste to it, like wet aluminum. As I walk our horses along, I look down and notice the dried many-flowered asters at my feet, how they were coated in ice last night and now look like tiny crystal goblets. This evening they're serving up a communion my heart desperately needed but only realized once I got out here and settled down.
The living presence of a horse beside me, his massive warm flanks, the weather, the quiet beauty are causing me to awaken, and as I do I’m aware again of the presence of God right here with me. Part of me wants to say, “Where have you been all day?” But I know the real question is where did I go all day?
~ John Eldredge
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Watch the Session Six Video
Watch the video from your study home and take notes in your Study Guide on pages 151–156.
https://www.biblegateway.com/landing/your-life-obs-session-6/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=obs_gylb_session%206&utm_term=obs_get_your_life_back
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Personal Study + Reading
Grab your Bible for the personal study in pages 159–171 of the study guide. If you're following along in the book, read chapter 14, "The Simple Daily Things."
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Giving It a Try : Final Session
So the very simple question in this final session is this: What practices will you do, on a daily and weekly basis, to find God and receive more of him? Today’s invitation involves a piece of advice and a blessing.
First the advice. It comes from the apostle Paul, who lovingly and tenderly offered this to his dear sons and daughters in the faith:
Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:9, NLT).
There is such kindness in this encouragement. Keep putting into practice. It’s not about perfection; it’s not about being amazing. God is nowhere in the pressure to be amazing. He’s waiting in the simple dailies. Just keep putting into practice the things that heal your soul and bring you more of Jesus. Then the God of peace will be with you. You’ll no longer be sipping God from teaspoons; you’ll learn to drink deeply from the tangible, nourishing, life-giving presence of the eternal God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the fountain of living waters.
And now the blessing. It comes from Isaac of Stella.
May the Son of God, who is already formed in you, grow in you, so that for you he will become immeasurable, and that in you he will become laughter, exultation, the fullness of joy which no one can take from you.
GOD BLESS YOU
Thank you for being a part of this study experience! We pray it has restored your soul and brought you closer to God.
If you need additional time to complete any of the Get Your Life Back sessions, or if you want to re-watch them all again, you'll continue to have complete access to everything during our catch-up week
(June 21–25).
Prayer & Scriptures
Scripture of the Week
Give us today our daily bread.
— Matthew 6:11
Closing Prayer
Pray that God reveals himself to you in the dailies of life.
Ask God to release you from the false burden of needing to be awesome.
Seek his guidance on what the positive and negative parameters are for your soul.
Express your desire to God to have more time for beauty.
Tell God who he is and what you love about him.
