The Temptation to Coast

Whether it’s parenting, marriage, career, or faith, there can be a strong temptation to believe we’ve reached a point where we can finally relax.

It can be easy to let things run on autopilot. Spiritually, the temptation can be similar.

After years of following Christ, reading Scripture, attending church, and serving faithfully, we can begin to think we’ve learned most of what there is to learn.

There’s something exhausting about realizing that every new season seems to come with a fresh opportunity for surrender, trust, humility, and growth.

Just when we think we’ve mastered one challenge, another appears.

The Stages of Spiritual Growth

In this conversation, Jamie and Heather explore a  framework often used to describe the spiritual journey:

1. The Beginning Stage

This is the season of new faith, renewed passion, and fresh discovery.

It’s often marked by excitement, hunger, and emotional connection to God. Whether it’s the moment someone first gives their life to Christ or a season of spiritual renewal years later, God often feels incredibly close.

In these seasons, we eagerly learn Scripture, develop spiritual habits, and discover who God is.

2. The Desert Season

Eventually, every believer encounters a wilderness.

The excitement of early faith gives way to challenges, disappointment, unanswered questions, and circumstances that test what we truly believe.

For some, the desert comes through loss. For others, through loneliness, disappointment, strained relationships, or seasons where God feels distant.

Heather experienced this after losing her mother to cancer at a young age. The faith that had once been strengthened by close community suddenly had to stand on its own.

Jamie’s desert season came through difficult realities in marriage and later through profound grief after losing a child.

These seasons often strip away the comforts and supports we’ve relied upon.

Our spiritual questions become deeper:

• Is God still good when life doesn’t go as planned?
• Will I trust Him when I don’t understand?
• Can my faith survive disappointment?

The wilderness is rarely comfortable, but it often becomes the place where faith moves from borrowed conviction to personal conviction.

Life Isn’t a Straight Line

Spiritual growth doesn’t happen in neat, linear stages. It’s more like a spiral.

We encounter new beginnings, deserts, and renewal repeatedly throughout life.

A new job. An empty nest. A challenging relationship. A health diagnosis. A season of uncertainty.

Each transition offers another invitation to trust God in a new way.

Even after decades of walking with Christ, we find ourselves returning to familiar questions and foundational practices:

• Prayer
• Scripture
• Dependence
• Surrender

Many believers assume spiritual maturity means no longer struggling. But perhaps maturity is less about perfection and more about remaining teachable.

Choosing to See a New Beginning

What if the season we’re currently in isn’t something to endure? What if it’s a new beginning?

Maybe your season feels uncertain right now. Maybe you’re grieving something you’ve lost or you’re tired of learning the same lessons over and over again.

Or maybe you’re simply wondering where God is leading next.

What if, instead of viewing this season as an ending, you viewed it as the start of something new?

The truth is, if we’re still breathing, God isn’t finished shaping us. There are still lessons to learn.

The spiritual journey never really levels off, and maybe that’s not bad news after all.

Maybe that’s exactly what makes a life with God such an adventure.