Rhythms of Life

In John Ortberg's book The Life You've Always Wanted he talks about rhythms in life. There are natural ones like day and night. It's interesting, by the way, that the first thing God created was that rhythm. The first thing God did was to create light and so day and night began. The rest of creation was then based on that rhythm (see Genesis chapter one).

But back to Ortberg. He's talking about the spiritual life. He says:

There will be times of consolation and times of desolation. In times of consolation we like to pray because God seems close, the Bible seems alive, sin looks bad and stoplights all seem green. Times of desolation are just the opposite: The Bible seems dry, prayer grows hard and God is far away. ... When we forget the law of rhythm, we assume that whatever phase is current will last forever. In times of consolation I mistakenly think that I now have spiritual life mastered. In times of desolation I assume I must have done something wrong, or perhaps God is punishing me. In truth, both seasons are inevitable, and both seasons can bring unique growth.

I hope you find Ortberg's words helpful.