Go Back to Go Forward
In a world that applauds hustle and glorifies grind, the modern Christian often finds themselves running on empty—spiritually depleted, emotionally exhausted, and relationally disconnected. Apostle Mike Signorelli, lead pastor of V1 Church, delivered a timely reminder with his church about realigning your rhythm with God's design.
Sometimes we have to go back to go forward. We have to consider the holy tension between wrestling and resting, effort and stillness, ambition and intimacy with God.
The Jacob Generation
Drawing from the life of Jacob, Apostle Mike draws the parallel between this ambitious generation and Jacob from the Bible. Jacob was a man who was always wrestling—even from the womb. He was driven, desperate, and unrelenting. He wrestled for the blessing, he wrestled with identity, and he even wrestled with God Himself. In this day and age, we are a generation very much like Jacob — always fighting for more, always striving for breakthroughs, never content with mediocrity. The danger with being that way, however, lies in our imbalance. We know how to wrestle but we do not know how to rest.
“You can willingly go into rest, or life will force you to rest,” Apostle Mike said he recently discovered.
The V1 church leader went on to share of the time he ran a marathon without training. His body gave out from glycogen depletion, and he was physically forced to stop. In the moment he learned the lesson that endurance requires preparation and many times progress requires rest.
In 2 Timothy 4:7 the Apostle Paul, spoke of finishing the race and he too understood the importance of rhythm. You don’t just run hard—you train wisely. You don’t just wrestle—you recover. Rest is not weakness. Rest is warfare in disguise.
The Holy Balance of Wrestling and Resting
The Christian life was never meant to be lived in constant striving. Jacob had two key encounters: one where he wrestled with an angel (Genesis 32:22–32) and one where he rested at Bethel (Genesis 28:10-22). Both changed his life. One gave him a new name. The other gave him access to heaven.
Believers need both to wrestle and to rest.
Churches often teach warfare, but not to be still. Apostle Mike shared that Christians are “not supposed to go from encounter to encounter—we were made to dwell.” God does not just want to visit His children; He wants to dwell with us.
Jacob’s family bore the consequence of his inability to dwell with God. Dysfunction followed him. But when he learned to rest, after returning to Bethel, it didn’t just change his direction, it began to heal his legacy.
Resting is not just for our soul; it is for our children, our marriage, our ministry, and our mental health. Rest is not lazy, it is for our legacy.
Reclaim What Was Lost
Going back doesn’t always mean returning to a place—it means returning to you. In the pursuit of ministry, calling, and responsibility, many of us have lost sight of our original joy. We’ve buried our hobbies. We've silenced our creativity. We've shut down child-like wonder in favor of the grind.
But Apostle Mike said he sensed the Lord is saying:
“Go back! Go back to the things that made you laugh. Go back to the dreams you buried. Go back to the places where My presence felt light and lovely. Go back to find Me—so you can go forward in Me.”
When Jacob finally returned to Bethel, he destroyed his idols, repented, and reconnected with his God. Resting became an act of restoration.
We can find God in both the work and the rest, but as a society we have been trained to strive.
Apostle Mike vulnerably shared:
“I taught my church to find God in their work… but not in their rest.”
Now, however, he wants everyone to know we must find Him in our rest as we found Him in our work. Now is the time to learn how to dwell.
Sometimes we just need permission to rest, to laugh again, to pick up the paintbrush, the guitar, the journal, to sit in silence, to walk in nature, to weep without productivity and to dance without agenda. We do not have to fight for every inch of progress; some of it is found when we finally sit down and just let God be. Let us go back to Bethel, go back to joy. Go back… so you can go forward.
Here’s a prayer to help get you on track:
Lord, may we find You in our rest as we found You in our work. Resurrect in us the dreams, visions, hobbies, and childlike joy that You created us to delight in. Tear down every idol of performance. Let us return to our first love. Take us back to go forward. Dwell with us, as we dwell with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About the Author
Jeannie Ortega Law is a chart-topping singer, evangelist, media personality and author from New York City. She can be reached on social media: @JeannieOrtega or emailed at Info@JeannieO.com
At V1 Church we believe in teaching Bible-based relationship principles so that you can your family can be strengthened. Connect with us using one of the links below – we’d love to see you and help you walk through the process of reconciliation.