Introduction: Your Faith is a Wave, Not a Line
If your spiritual life has ever felt like a journey of unpredictable highs and lows, you are not alone. It’s a common experience to feel an intense connection to God one day and a sense of distant numbness the next. This is because our faith is not a straight, predictable line, but a wave with natural crests and troughs.
This guide is designed to help us understand these waves. More importantly, it will introduce the concept of the “Purity Centerline”—an anchor that allows us to navigate the churning waters of our emotions without losing our direction and our focus on Jesus.
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1. Understanding the Highs and Lows
The Bible warns that the true danger in our spiritual journey is not found in the high or low points themselves, but in the potential to lose sight of Jesus within them. These two states feel like polar opposites, yet they share a common, subtle danger: they both turn our focus inward—either to our own emptiness or our own efforts—and away from Jesus. In the trough, our gaze is often stolen by numbness; in the crest, it can be obscured by our own anxious striving.
| State | Common Feeling | True Spiritual Danger |
| The Trough | Feelings of numbness, apathy, and powerlessness | The will to look toward Jesus begins to fade. |
| The Crest | Feelings of anxiety and being spiritually overwhelmed | Anxious over-immersion, driven by fear, obscures our view of Jesus. |
If both the crest and the trough can pull us off course, how do we learn to navigate these spiritual waters?
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2. The Purity Centerline: Your Unchanging Anchor
The answer to safely navigating the waves of faith is found in one word: Purity (정결).
This is not about achieving moral perfection or maintaining a constant state of spiritual intensity. Instead, it is about maintaining a steady spiritual direction, regardless of the emotional tide. The core definition is this:
Purity is the state of mind where your direction toward Jesus does not become blurred. It is not about the state of your emotions, but the direction of your gaze.
To clarify this powerful concept, let’s look at what the Purity Centerline is and what it is not.
• It is NOT:
◦ A state of moral perfection.
◦ A requirement to always feel spiritually “good” or intense.
• It IS:
◦ The active, conscious choice to keep our focus fixed on Jesus.
◦ The act of protecting our gaze, regardless of our emotional state.
Understanding this concept is the first step; now let’s explore how to apply it during the inevitable highs and lows.
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3. Staying Anchored: Practical Steps for the Highs and Lows
Maintaining the Purity Centerline requires different actions depending on whether we find ourselves in a trough or on a crest.
Navigating the Trough (Moments of Numbness)
When we feel spiritually numb, the problem isn’t the lack of feeling itself. The real danger is that our will to look toward Jesus begins to fade.
The strategy for maintaining purity in this state is to maintain “small units” of scripture and prayer. This means staying engaged through simple, consistent, and manageable acts of faith, even when we don’t feel like it. This simple discipline acts as a rudder, keeping our vessel pointed toward the lighthouse of Jesus even when we feel becalmed and adrift.
Navigating the Crest (Moments of Overwhelm)
When we feel spiritually “high,” the danger comes from being driven by fear, anxiety, or an excessive sense of personal responsibility. These feelings can masquerade as spiritual fervor, but they ultimately distract us from Jesus himself.
The strategy for maintaining purity in this state is to practice “moderation, looking only as far as Jesus has given.” This is an act of trust and restraint. It means refusing to take on burdens He has not given us and trusting in His guidance rather than our own anxious efforts to control the seas.
These practical actions are supported by three foundational anchors that keep us fixed on the centerline.
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4. Your Three Foundational Anchors
Just as a navigator relies on essential equipment, we have three key spiritual disciplines that serve as our anchors. They work together to hold us fast to the Purity Centerline, preventing the waves of emotion from pulling us off course or dragging us under.
1. The Word (Logos): The unchanging truth of Scripture fixes the centerline. It provides the objective, steady standard we can hold onto, keeping our spiritual compass from spinning wildly with our feelings.
2. Prayer (Ruach): The aligning work of the Spirit in prayer realigns the heart. Through prayer, we bring our inner state back into alignment with God’s will and presence, correcting our course and adjusting our internal posture toward Him.
3. The Character of Jesus (Agape): The gravitational pull of His selfless love returns our gaze to its proper subject. By focusing on the character and nature of Jesus, we pull our attention away from the distractions of our inner world and back to the true center of our faith.
Together, these three anchors ensure the direction of our spiritual wave is always oriented upward, toward God.
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5. Conclusion: The Center Will Hold
The low points will pass. The high points will also pass. These are temporary states in a long journey. The waves of feeling are inevitable, but they are not our master. By anchoring ourselves in the Word, realigning through prayer, and fixing our gaze on the character of Jesus, we learn to ride these waves, secure on the Purity Centerline.
May you have a day of looking to Jesus from upon the Purity Centerline.
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