Fresh Wind: A Season of Rest, Renewal & Revival
Part 2: From Rest To Renewal
This summer, don’t burn out. Breathe in. Fill your tank and thrive.
Theme: Renewal begins where rest leaves off. When you realign, you find your flow.
🔥 Opening Thought: Rest is not a reward — it’s a rhythm. And rest opens the door to what your soul actually needs next: renewal and realignment.
This wisdom is simple: When You’re Planted In The Right Place, You Flourish. When You Find Your Fit, You Find Your Flow. When You Realign, You Are Renewed. Alignment isn’t about doing everything. It’s about doing the right things for you at the right time.
📖 Key Scripture Psalm 92:12–14 “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree… [and] grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.” This is all about being properly planted so we can flourish.
📖 Key Scripture Romans 12:2 “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you…” This is all about the idea that realignment and renewal are connected.
🔑 If you feel out of alignment, you are not alone. Many feel this way:
✋🏻Gallup reports that nearly 80% of employees feel disengaged from their work—often due to a lack of purpose or alignment with their strengths. According to Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, global employee engagement has declined to 21% in 2024. This decline in engagement suggests that many employees feel disconnected from their work, leading to decreased productivity and satisfaction.
✋🏻And, only 33% of employees worldwide consider themselves “thriving” in their overall lives. Gallup.com. This means that two-thirds of the global workforce are either “struggling” or “suffering,” indicating a significant disconnect between individuals and their sense of purpose, well-being, or fulfillment.
✋🏻 Sociologist Corey Keyes found that only 18% of people are truly flourishing, while the rest are languishing—often due to a gap between who they are and how they live.
Why Are We Out Of Alignment?
We Tie Our Worth to Our Work “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Matthew 16:26). 🔑 We confuse doing with being, and chase productivity to feel valuable.
We Fear The Loss Of Approval “Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” (Romans 12:2). 🔑 The cultural treadmill of comparison fuels anxiety and overdrive.
We Mistake Being Busy for Being Significant “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10). 🔑 We fill our lives with noise to avoid the discomfort of stillness, but it sabotages peace.
We Feel Responsible for Holding Everything Together “In Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17).
🔑 We carry burdens we’re not meant to—and it breaks us down from the inside out.We Live Disconnected from The Rhythm of Rest “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God…” (Hebrews 4:9). 🔑 We violate God’s rhythm of rest and renewal, and our minds and bodies pay the price.
💡Big Idea #1: Rest Leads To
You thrive on rest. Rest isn’t passive, it’s productive. During rest, your brain moves out of survival mode and into recovery. It processes emotions, repairs neural connections, and strengthens memory and learning. Rest allows your prefrontal cortex (focus, empathy, and decision-making) to reboot—boosting creativity, clarity, and emotional regulation. You weren’t designed just to survive—you were created to thrive.
Health is not just the absence of disease; it is the presence of well-being. It is being proactive, not just reactive.
Instead of asking, “What made you sick?” the proactive approach asks, “What makes and keeps you well?”
The proactive approach aligns with biblical flourishing: “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10). God’s model is proactive: not just the absence of bad, but the presence of peace, and joy.
True healing involves spirit, soul, and body: “May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless…” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
Scripture teaches the proactive approach: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 2)
💡Big Idea #2: Alignment Leads To
You weren’t just made to rest. You were made to run—in alignment with your design.
Your brain thrives on alignment. When you step into alignment, you step into flow state. When your values, purpose, and actions are aligned, you activate flow state.
Flow state is a place where you’re focused and energized in what you’re doing. Time feels effortless, distractions fade, and your skills meet the challenge—producing deep joy, creativity, and peak performance.
Flow state happens when alignment is consistent, but misalignment leads to frustration and burnout.
Samson shows us how gradual misalignment takes us out of flow state and ultimately into massive failure.
Judges 16:20 “Then she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”
🔍Samson’s Gradual Misalignment:
1. Compromise in Relationships Judges 14–16.
2. Neglect of Boundaries He violated his Nazarite vow: touching dead things (Judges 14:8–9), drinking wine, and eventually cutting his hair (Judges 16:17).
3. Pride and Autonomy Judges 16:20 – He assumed he could shake himself free “as before,” relying on past victories rather than present intimacy with God.
🔑 Samson was chosen, anointed, and gifted with supernatural ability from God. But over time, his choices eroded his alignment with God’s purpose. Spiritually, flow happens when your calling, character, and choices are aligned with the Holy Spirit. Samson was called but over time, his alignment unraveled and eventually he broke his flow state.
🚫 When Flow Breaks:
🙁We lose sensitivity to the Spirit,
🙁 We become disconnected from our purpose,
🙁 We become reliant on self, and
🙁 Blind spots increase.
Samson went from alignment to autopilot. And when he needed clarity and strength the most, his power was gone. Judges 16:20 is one of the most haunting verses in Scripture: “He did not know the Lord had left him.”
✝️ Learnings From Samson:
1. You Can’t Stay In Flow While Living Out Of Alignment.
2. Your Gifting Can Outlast Your Grounding—For A While.
3. Flow Isn’t About Force—It’s About Fit. When your function, character, and calling are aligned with the Spirit, you flourish. We flourish when our gifting meets our passion and serves a greater purpose.
💡Big Idea #3: Three Shifts Bring
1)
• Function – What are you gifted to do? (1 Peter 4:10)
• Individuality – What ignites your passion and reflects your personality? (Psalm 139:14)
• Tethering – Where are you planted and growing in community? (Acts 13:1–3)
🔍 The Holy Spirit doesn’t just fill you. He fits you.
2.
• You don’t just need better habits, but new thinking patterns. Dr. Caroline Leaf: “You cannot live beyond the level of your thinking. Renewal begins in the brain.”
• You are the fruit of the thoughts you have planted and nourished. If you want a better harvest, plant better thoughts. If you master your mindset, you will master your life.
• Romans 12:2 ➡️ “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is…” Don’t think as the world thinks - but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. The Key To Changing Your Life Is Changing Your Mindset.
• The REAL BATTLE Is The BRAIN BATTLE 2 Corinthians 10:3-5; Ephesians 6:17; I Thessalonians 5:8
• Renewal comes through the Word, Worship, and mental rewiring with truth.
3.
• Psalm 92:12–14: “The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree… [and] grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.”
• Flow happens when you are fully present, deeply engaged, and internally aligned.
• The Spirit doesn’t just push you — He flows through you.
• You can’t flourish when you’re forcing what doesn’t fit.
✍️ Reflection Questions:
• Where do I feel most alive and at peace?
• Where do I feel out of sync with who I really am in Christ?
• What do you believe your gifts, passions, and personality say about your calling?
🧪 Experiential Learning:
🔄 F.I.T. Map ➡️ Venn Diagram The Overlap Is Your Spiritual Sweet Spot.:
1. Function (Gifts)
2. Individuality (Passion/Personality)
3. Tethering (Community & Church)
✝️ Serve One Sunday: Plug into one ministry at Hope Church. Reflect after: Did you feel alive? Aligned?