04/22/2026
Threshold Pause - 𝙎𝙩𝙚𝙥 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙄𝙣
𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
This week is my daughter’s birthday, and like any mom, I want it to be special. I want her to feel celebrated, seen, and deeply loved all throughout her whole day. It's one of the things I love to do for my kiddos.
I have to be careful though when I get into 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗: 𝙼𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚛 𝙱𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜! Mode. I am great at missions, but every so often, the mechanics of the mission can blind me to the heart of the mission. So, I have to be intentional because I don't want to do that.
What happens if I get so busy preparing the celebration
that I become frustrated when she’s in the way of making it happen? What if, in trying to make the day meaningful,
I lose sight of the one it’s actually for?
I can be doing all the right things - cleaning, planning, getting everything ready - and still completely miss the point.
On Sunday, we picked up in Joshua 10:16, watching Israel move in decisive obedience as God routed their enemies. Right in the middle of it, five kings, the visible leaders of the opposition, are found hiding in a cave.
That feels like the moment to stop, doesn’t it? Deal with them. Finish it. Make a statement.
But Joshua doesn’t.
“Roll large stones against the mouth of the cave and post men by it to guard them, but do not stay there yourselves; pursue your enemies…” (Joshua 10:18–19)
In other words: Don’t get distracted. Finish what God actually told you to do.
The kings mattered, but they weren’t the main thing.
And that’s where this hits us hard... because we do this all the time.
We step into obedience but then get pulled into side things that feel right, look right, even connect to the mission but aren’t the thing God asked us to focus on.
And slowly, subtly, we drift.
Not into rebellion. Not into anything obviously wrong.
Just…off.
Obeying...𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 all the way.
𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙚'𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜.
When that happens, we don’t usually stop. We just start relying on what we already know instead of staying close to the One who leads.
The main thing was never the outcome.
The main thing was never the visible win.
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙂𝙤𝙙 𝙃𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.
𝘼𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨. 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚. 𝙍𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥.
God’s way—all the way—is the only way. Not just at the beginning or in the big moments...ALL the way through. So we have to keep the main thing the main thing.
Because just like I can lose sight of my daughter in the middle of preparing to celebrate her? We can lose sight of God in the middle of trying to follow Him.
Maybe we need to pause and ask:
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸?
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵?
Pause. Realign. Return to Him, not just in what you’re doing, but in how closely you’re walking with Him.
God is not the task. God is the point.
𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙔𝙤𝙪. 𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙔𝙤𝙪, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪. 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣’𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.
𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨. 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙣.
(Haven't caught Sunday's message yet? You can still dive in: https://tinyurl.com/ThresholdMessage04-18-26 )
