Hi Friends,

Imagine what might have gone through the minds of Peter, James, and John. They had just followed Jesus up a mountain. Right before their eyes, Jesus transfigured — face shining like the sun, clothes white as light. Then Moses and Elijah appeared and started talking with Him. It must have been overwhelming, holy, and completely outside anything they had context for.

Peter's instinct is to do what a lot of us would do. He starts making a plan. "Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah" (Matthew 17:4). He wants to build something, to capture the moment, to turn it into a project he can manage.

And while he's still talking, a bright cloud covers them, and a voice says, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matthew 17:5).

God doesn't answer Peter's offer to build. He gives a single instruction: listen.

Peter's instinct was to respond to glory by proving himself useful. God's response redirected him toward paying attention instead. Years later, Peter still remembered the moment vividly enough to write about it (2 Peter 1:16–18). He didn't write about the shelters he never got to build. He wrote about the voice he heard and the Son he beheld.

It is good to want to build what God designed you to build. It is good to want to partner with God in action and produce fruit that heals others. The question is whose strategy and whose strength you want to use to build it.

Let's look at the first time in the Bible when God commissioned humans for good works. On the sixth day of creation, God designed humans and commissioned them to rule alongside Him. Then on the seventh day, God rested (Genesis 1:26–31; 2:1–3).

I used to think of the Sabbath as six days of work and then rest — crash might be more accurate. But that isn't actually true. Adam and Eve's very first full day was a day of rest with God, before they had done a single day of labor. Before God gave them anything to build, He gave them Himself. That is where the handoff really happens. Peter, centuries later, was simply being handed the same invitation Adam and Eve already had — presence before production.

If purpose is something you sense God has for you, it's worth asking whether you've been trying to strive your way toward it, guessing at every possible shape it could take, instead of resting long enough to actually hear from Him. The most sustainable purpose doesn't come from producing it. It comes from resting with God first, seeking Him, delighting in Him, and listening to Him.

That listening takes intention. For some of us, that's sitting in the quiet and journaling. For others, it's letting your imagination run wild as you ask God how He designed you to love and care for others. It may be something else entirely for you. Whatever it looks like, it's worth finding your own listening practice, one that fits between you and God specifically.

Where or how do you need to put down your tools and stop to behold God and then to listen to Him about your purpose?

With joy and wonder,

Ashley Gordon