{"id":109,"date":"2026-03-18T06:38:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stumbleup.me\/?p=109"},"modified":"2026-03-18T06:38:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:38:20","slug":"thanks-i-didnt-know-i-needed-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stumbleup.me\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/thanks-i-didnt-know-i-needed-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks! I didn’t know I needed that"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”<\/p>\n Galatians 5:25 (ESV)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n\n

It was a Wednesday night. Craig was wrapping up work at his desk when a thought surfaced about his son Ethan, 21, who had moved away eight months ago.<\/p>\n\n

No obvious reason. No notification. No missed call. Just a pull. The kind that doesn’t have a good explanation. The kind the flesh is very good at dismissing.<\/p>\n\n

Craig set his phone face down and got back to work. He told himself he’d call this weekend.<\/p>\n\n

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BIBLICAL BACKDROP<\/p>\n

New Testament Greek draws a distinction most English translations don’t capture fully. Logos<\/em> refers to the broad, abiding word of God; timeless, foundational, always true. Rhema<\/em> (\u1fe5\u1fc6\u03bc\u03b1) refers to the specific, spoken, in-the-moment word, the utterance that carries Spirit-weight for this person, in this situation, right now. When Jesus rebuked the enemy in the wilderness, he didn’t say “man shall not live by logos alone.” He said rhema<\/em>. The living, active, now-word of God.<\/p>\n

Galatians 5:25 tells us to “keep in step with the Spirit.” (ESV) The Greek for “keep in step” is stoiche\u014d<\/em>, a military term describing soldiers who march in alignment, one step at a time, in formation. It’s not a posture. It’s a practice. Step. Step. Step. And sometimes the next step is picking up your phone and sending a text to a kid who is waiting for someone to notice he’s not okay.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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THE FLESH<\/p>\n

Craig tells himself Ethan would reach out if something was actually wrong. He’s 21. He needs space. If Craig texts now, it might come across as checking up, which Ethan has never loved. Besides, there’s a deadline tonight. He’ll call this weekend. He sets the phone face down and gets back to work.<\/p>\n

This weekend comes and goes. Six weeks later, Craig finds out from his wife that Ethan had been in a dark place most of the semester. That he almost didn’t come home for the holidays. That he told his mom, “I didn’t think anyone would want to hear it.”<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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The fruit on Craig’s tree? Avoidance. Assumption. Absence.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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THE SPIRIT<\/p>\n

Craig sets down what he’s working on. Picks up his phone. Types: “Hey man. Thinking about you tonight. How are you really doing?” He puts it down, knowing it might seem random. It does seem random. That’s okay. Thirty-seven minutes later, his phone buzzes. Ethan: “Dad. Can we actually talk? It’s been a hard couple months.”<\/p>\n

They talk for ninety minutes. Craig doesn’t have answers. He doesn’t pretend to. He asks questions and stays on the line and at the end says, “I’m not going anywhere. We’ll work through this together.” Ethan says, “Thanks for texting, Dad. I didn’t know I needed that.”<\/p>\n <\/div>\n

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The fruit on Craig’s tree? Courage. Connection. Faithfulness.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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“The flesh waits for a reason to reach out. The Spirit is the reason.”<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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FRUIT CONNECTION<\/p>\n

Love<\/strong> doesn’t wait for an invitation. It notices the weight and steps toward it. Joy<\/strong> is what Ethan experienced in that moment when the phone buzzed and it was his dad; not an obligation text, not a check-in box, but evidence that someone was thinking about him before he asked. Peace<\/strong> is the quiet confidence that when we obey the nudge, God handles what comes next.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n

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COACHING QUESTIONS<\/p>\n

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  • Is there a person who has surfaced in my mind lately that I’ve been dismissing as a coincidence?<\/li>\n
  • Am I letting “he’s fine” or “she’ll reach out” protect me from a step the Spirit is asking me to take?<\/li>\n
  • What would it cost me to send a two-sentence text today to someone I’ve been meaning to reach out to?<\/li>\n
  • Do my kids, even my adult kids, know that I’m a safe place to land when it gets hard?<\/li>\n <\/ul>\n <\/div>\n\n
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    CLOSING PRAYER<\/p>\n

    God, we confess that we dismiss the nudges. We talk ourselves out of reaching out, tell ourselves the timing is off or the person is probably fine, and the moment passes. Help us keep in step with the Spirit, one step at a time. Give us the courage to send the text, make the call, show up to the moment that you’ve already prepared. And remind us that we don’t have to have the right words; we just have to show up. Amen.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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