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Have you ever heard someone use the expression, fits and starts? Most often it’s used to describe something that doesn’t move forward smoothly. A car that won’t quite turn over on a cold morning. A new fitness routine, a home project, or a diet we begin with good intentions, only to stop and start again. Most of us experience fits and starts in our spiritual life as well. It’s worth taking a closer look at that pattern, and what it might be telling us about the way we walk with God.

The phrase fits and starts describes movement that is real but uneven, forward motion interrupted by pauses, hesitations, and occasional setbacks. It is not the language of failure; it is the language of real life. Most of us recognize this rhythm in our walk with Christ. There are seasons when prayer feels natural and alive, when Scripture speaks clearly, when love for God and neighbor flows freely. And then there are seasons when prayer feels dry, distractions grow louder, and we realize we are following the Lord at a distance rather than walking closely beside Him.

Scripture is far more honest about this pattern than we sometimes allow ourselves to be. Proverbs tells us, “For the just one falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble to ruin” (Proverbs 24:16). This verse does not deny that the just person falls. It assumes it. The distinction Scripture makes is not between those who fall and those who do not, but between those who rise again and those who remain down. This rising mirrors the resurrection hope we all share. Faithfulness is revealed not in never stumbling, but in the willingness to stand back up and continue the journey.

Like many of us, I grew up with an unspoken expectation that spiritual maturity would eventually mean consistency without struggle. We assumed that if we prayed enough, studied enough, or believed strongly enough, the unevenness would disappear. Yet experience has taught us otherwise. Our Christian life is not a steady climb upward. It is marked by advances and retreats, confidence and doubt, deep trust and renewed surrender. Even the saints tell this story in their own way, seasons of great clarity followed by seasons of darkness, perseverance learned slowly over time.

There are moments when we walk closely with Christ, attentive to His voice, aware of His presence, responding generously to His invitations. And there are other moments when we realize we have drifted, distracted by worry, busyness, or the quiet pull of self-reliance. The grace is not that we never drift, the grace is that Christ remains faithful to us. He is always inviting us back. He never withdraws His call.

Fits and starts do not disqualify us from discipleship. They are often the very place where humility is formed. Each time we recognize that we have fallen short, we are given a choice. We can turn inward, discouraged and self-critical, or we can turn back toward God, trusting His mercy and beginning again. Rising again does not require grand gestures. Sometimes it looks like a simple prayer spoken honestly. Sometimes it looks like returning to Scripture after neglect. Sometimes it looks like choosing patience, forgiveness, or generosity when we would rather withdraw.

As we move through this year, perhaps the invitation is not to demand perfection from ourselves, but to practice faithfulness in returning. When we feel close to God, we can receive that gift with gratitude. When we feel far away, we can resist the temptation to despair and instead take one small step back toward Him. The Christian life is not measured by how rarely we fall, but by how readily we rise again.

A year lived with this understanding becomes less about self-judgment and more about trust. Trust that God is at work even in uneven seasons. Trust that grace meets us not only at our strongest moments, but also at our weakest. Trust that fits and starts are not obstacles to holiness, but often the soil in which perseverance, humility, and compassion quietly grow.

As this year unfolds, we will likely experience moments of clarity and moments of confusion, times of closeness and times of distance. The hope is not that we avoid this rhythm, but that we learn to move through it with faith. Each time we rise again, we are reminded that God is not finished with us. He never has been.

Heavenly Father, You know the uneven rhythm of our lives, the times when we walk closely with You and the times when we struggle to keep pace. Give us the grace to rise again when we fall, the humility to begin again when we drift, and the trust to believe that You are faithful in every season. As we move through this year, help us to walk with perseverance, confidence in Your mercy, and hope rooted in Your love. Amen.

AMDG 

AMDG is a Latin abbreviation for “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,” which means “For the Greater Glory of God.”

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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