Part 2 - Receiving Truth
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9
"But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth." - John 16:13
Insight
Reception is perhaps one of the most challenging spiritual disciplines for our modern hearts. We're conditioned to analyze, categorize, fix, or immediately respond to everything that comes our way. But God often works in mystery, in paradox, in ways that don't fit our neat theological boxes or our preferred timelines.
As you reflect on this past year, you'll likely encounter moments that still don't make complete sense—prayers that seemed unanswered, dreams that didn't unfold as expected, relationships that disappointed, or doors that closed when you were certain they should have opened. The practice of reception invites you to hold these experiences with open hands, trusting that God's perspective is larger and His love deeper than your current understanding.
Reception doesn't mean becoming passive or abandoning critical thinking. Rather, it means approaching God's revelations—whether through Scripture, prayer, circumstances, or the gentle whispers of His Spirit—with curiosity rather than control. It's the difference between a clenched fist trying to grasp truth and cupped hands willing to receive whatever gift is being offered.
This past year, God has been speaking to you through countless means: through the laughter of friends, the ache of loss, the beauty of ordinary moments, the challenge of difficult circumstances, and the quiet stirring of His Spirit in your heart. But how often have you dismissed these promptings because they didn't align with your expectations or preferences? How often have you filtered His voice through your fears, your past experiences, or your predetermined ideas about how He should work?
The practice of reception requires a kind of holy patience—the willingness to sit with mystery, to let truth marinate in your heart before you try to fully understand or apply it. It's the recognition that God's timeline rarely matches ours, and His methods often surprise us. Sometimes the very thing we've been resisting is exactly what our souls need for growth and healing.
As you engage in this retreat, practice receiving whatever comes up without immediately needing to solve, fix, or fully comprehend it. Let God show you glimpses of how He's been weaving all things together for your good, even when the individual threads seemed random or painful. Trust that His love is big enough to handle your questions, your doubts, and your confusion.
Journaling Questions
What truths or insights about your life this year have you been resisting because they don't align with your expectations or preferences?
How has your need to immediately understand or control God's work hindered your ability to receive His gifts and guidance?
What patterns do you notice in how you filter or dismiss God's voice when it challenges your comfort zone or current understanding?
Looking back, where can you see God's wisdom in situations that initially didn't make sense to you?
What would change in your relationship with God if you approached His revelations with curiosity rather than the need for immediate clarity or control?