9 Signs We Are Asleep in the Light

Five Causes for Spiritual Narcolepsy

The first steps toward resolution are honest self-appraisal—Am I “asleep in the light?”—and addressing the causes. So where does spiritual narcolepsy come from? Here are five common causes I’ve observed.

1. We gradually allow our relationship with God to become more defined by habit and ritual than desire and intimacy.

2. We begin focusing more on doing than being. We get so busy working for God that we start failing to spend time with God.

3. We become satisfied with coasting through today based upon the movement we experienced yesterday. We run out of spiritual fuel long before our lives come to a complete stop.

4. We fail to recognize and remember our desperate need to abide in Christ every moment of our lives. When there’s no crisis, we often fail to abide, which ultimately leads us to the next crisis.

5. We get impatient. Rather than waiting on him, we go to work for him. It always leads to the same place, a spiritual nightmare. 

God has called us to wake the world to Jesus. It’s our mission. A mission that’s impossible if we’re asleep in the light. So it’s time for believers to wake up. It’s time for us to wake up.

“The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber,” Romans 13:11 says, “because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.”

Brad Powell
Brad Powellhttp://outreachmagazine.com/people/3370-brad-powell-northridge-church-plymouth-mich.html

Brad Powell, an Outreach magazine contributing editor, is the senior pastor of NorthRidge Church in Plymouth, Mich., a 2012 Outreach 100 church (No. 48 Largest). He is the author of "Change Your Church for Good" (Nelson) and consults with church leaders to help them lead their churches through transition.

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