Peter Gowesky – Peter Gowesky

How to Overcome Burnout and Find True Rest in Jesus

July 7, 2025 No Comments

There’s really nothing worse than a dried-out brisket. You can smother it in BBQ sauce all you want, but once it’s tough and overcooked, there’s no going back. Unfortunately, a lot of us live our lives the same way—overcooked, overextended, and bone dry.

I passed out saltine crackers during church this week—yes, really. They were a simple but sobering illustration. Saltines are dry, bland, and they soak up every bit of moisture in your mouth. Kind of like the way life can soak up your energy and joy. Between work deadlines, kids’ schedules, social media, financial pressure, and keeping up appearances… it adds up fast.

And even though your calendar is full, your soul can feel empty.

Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Is this it? Is this the life God meant for me?”

You’re not alone. Many of us are weary, worn out, and desperately trying to do more, be better, keep up.

But what if life isn’t about trying harder?

Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest… you will find rest for your souls.”

That’s not just physical rest. It’s rest from striving. Rest from pretending. Rest from the pressure to prove your worth. Jesus doesn’t hand out more rules—He gives us Himself.

He gives us the Holy Spirit.

In Galatians 5, the Apostle Paul unpacks what it means to walk by the Spirit instead of the flesh. When we rely on our own strength, we default to anger, jealousy, selfishness, and burnout. But when we stay connected to Jesus, the Holy Spirit begins to produce something else entirely:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

That’s not behavior modification. That’s heart transformation.

Here’s the truth:

Real fruit doesn’t come from trying harder—it comes from staying connected to Jesus.

Anyone can fake behavior. But you can’t fake the fruit of the Spirit. It shows up in your responses, your relationships, and your daily rhythms.

I learned this the hard way. Years ago, I carried around a hidden anger that I tried to mask behind a smile and a “pastor voice.” But eventually I broke. And when I did, God didn’t scold me—He met me. The transformation didn’t happen overnight, but it started with surrender.

The invitation still stands today:

Jesus is calling you out of burnout and into rest.

Out of performance and into presence.

Out of dryness and into fullness.

So how do you begin?

Start here: each morning, before your feet hit the ground, simply pray:

“Holy Spirit, lead me today.”

Let your life sync up to heaven’s heartbeat. You’ll be amazed what starts to grow.

In Leadership & Calling

Mid-Year Reset: Why Your Goals Might Be Off Track (and What to Do About It)

May 20, 2025 No Comments

Can you believe we’re already halfway through 2025? It feels like we just rang in the New Year—but here we are. The days are flying, the calendar is filling up, and somewhere along the way, those big goals we set in January… may have started to fizzle.

If that’s where you are right now, take a deep breath. You’re not alone. In fact, I’m right there with you.

I had a few goals I was fired up about back in January—some big ones, honestly. But somewhere between the school drop-offs, work projects, and late-night chips and salsa sessions (yes, that one’s still going strong), I lost a little steam.

And you know what?

That’s okay.

Goals aren’t sacred. They’re not laws. They’re markers. Targets. They’re tools to help you move forward, not sticks to beat yourself with.

But now that we’re in the thick of the year, it might be time for a reset. A check-in. A “monitor and adjust” moment.

Two Big Reasons Your Goals Derail

1. Your goals aren’t clear.

Saying “I want to get in shape” sounds great… but what does that mean? Walk more? Lift weights? Drop 10 pounds? Eat fewer jelly donuts? (Let’s not get crazy.)

Try this:

Instead of saying, “I want to be healthier,” reframe it: “I want to walk 10,000 steps a day at least five days a week.”

Specific. Measurable. Achievable.

Now go further—what are 3 small steps you can take this week to get moving?

2. You ran out of discipline

Here’s the truth about discipline: it’s not a personality trait, it’s a muscle. And just like muscles, it weakens when it’s not used and strengthens when it’s trained.

Discipline means doing what needs to be done—even when it’s not convenient. That might mean skipping the drive-thru, logging your progress, or walking past the donut box at work without making eye contact.

If your discipline has slipped, don’t quit. Rebuild. Start again with something small and consistent.

Don’t Beat Yourself Up—Recalibrate

If you’re not where you thought you’d be by now—give yourself grace. But don’t stay stuck. You can course correct. You can finish stronger than you started.

Ask yourself:

Where am I now?
Where do I want to be?
What’s the next small step I can take today?

You don’t need a new year to start fresh. You just need a new decision.

Let’s reset and finish well.

~Peter

In Leadership & Calling

The Strength in the Same: Why Self-Leadership Is Built in the Mundane

May 15, 2025 No Comments

We want the results, but rarely the routine.

We admire the strength in others, but often avoid the path it took to get there.

But here’s the truth: you don’t build resilience in front of a crowd. You build it in the quiet, hidden spaces of discipline and repetition.

There’s a kind of glory in the grind—an unseen strength that forms not in sprints, but in the slow, daily rhythm of showing up again.

This is self-leadership: doing the hard, holy work when no one’s watching.

Greatness Starts in the Mundane

You won’t always feel like reading your Bible, taking care of your body, showing up early, or having that hard conversation. But the disciplined life is the developed life.

J. Oswald Sanders puts it this way in Spiritual Leadership:

“The emerging leader eats right, stands tall, and prepares himself to wage spiritual warfare. He will without reluctance undertake the unpleasant tasks that others avoid or the hidden duty that others evade because it wins no public applause.”

That’s the kind of leader the world is desperate for—someone who embraces the mundane because they know what it builds.

Proverbs Wisdom: Discipline Pays Off

The Bible is full of wisdom on this topic. It doesn’t glorify the hustle for applause—it lifts up diligence and daily faithfulness:

“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”

Proverbs 21:5 NIV

And again:

“Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.”

Proverbs 20:13 NIV

These verses don’t just talk about work ethic—they describe an internal posture. A kind of spiritual readiness that’s formed when we say yes to the same faithful steps, over and over.

Don’t Despise the Daily

You won’t always get immediate results. Sometimes all you get is sore muscles, quiet mornings, and another day of “nothing big.” But what’s happening underneath is everything.

Muscle is forming.

Character is being shaped.

Trust is being built.

You are becoming the kind of person who can be trusted with more.

Self-leadership begins before anyone else calls you a leader. It starts with your alarm clock, your attitude, your private obedience. So today, don’t rush past the mundane. Lean into it. Get up. Do the thing again. And again. And again.

It won’t feel like success. But it will build the strength to carry it.

What’s one mundane routine you’ve been tempted to skip lately? Drop it in the comments or share this post with someone who needs to be reminded that the small things matter.

In Mental & Emotional Health

Sweet Like Honey: The Power of Gracious Words

May 14, 2025 No Comments

There’s not much in this world I enjoy more than a good spoonful of honey on some yogurt. It’s nature’s perfect food—rich, sweet, and somehow still pure. It doesn’t spoil. It doesn’t rot. It never goes bad. In fact, honey has been found in ancient tombs—still good. That’s wild!

The Bible actually uses honey as a metaphor more than once, but one of my favorite verses is Proverbs 16:24:

“Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” (NIV)

Let that sit with you for a second. Sweet to the soul. Healing to the bones. That’s the power of a kind word.

Think back—has someone ever spoken something over your life that stuck with you? Maybe it was a parent who told you they were proud of you, a coach who believed in you, or a friend who reminded you that you’re not alone. Those words don’t disappear after they’re spoken. They settle deep into your soul. They fuel you on hard days. They come to mind when you need a reason to keep going.

That’s the gift of gracious words.

And let’s be honest—those words aren’t just nice. They’re healing. They’re good for your mental health. They restore your sense of worth. They breathe life when the world feels heavy. That’s what Scripture is getting at here.

But here’s the flip side. We can’t just sit around waiting to receive gracious words—we’ve got to give them too. If your words were a condiment, what would they be—honey or hot sauce? One soothes, the other stings. One brings comfort, the other can cause a firestorm.

Here’s the truth:

Our words are never neutral.

They either build someone up or break someone down. They either leave a sweet taste or a bitter aftershock.

And in a world that often rewards sarcasm, gossip, or the perfectly timed come-back, gracious speech is more than countercultural—it’s spiritual.

So here’s the challenge:

Speak life today.
Call out the gold in someone.
Be intentional with your tone and your text messages.
Encourage the coworker, the spouse, the child, the barista—whoever’s in front of you.

Don’t underestimate the impact your words can have on someone’s soul. What you say might just be the exact thing they needed to hear.

In Family & Parenting

How to Raise the Next Generation with Faith that Lasts

May 12, 2025 No Comments

Whether you’re raising toddlers, mentoring teenagers, or simply loving the kids God’s placed in your life—one thing is clear: the next generation matters. A lot. And not just to you, but to God.

You don’t have to be a perfect parent to raise kids who love Jesus. But you do need to be present. You need a plan. And you need to realize that what you’re building today is shaping someone else’s tomorrow.

That’s what this week’s message was all about: Raising the Next Generation. And before you check out thinking this doesn’t apply to you—stay with me. Because this isn’t just for moms and dads. This is for anyone who’s ever influenced a child, coached a team, served in Hope City Kids, or prayed for a student walking through hard things.

Here’s the truth: If we don’t intentionally pass on our faith, it won’t pass on at all.

Judges 2:10 tells us that a generation grew up who “knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel.” That should shake us. Because we are always one generation away from forgetting God if we don’t speak up and live out the truth.

Your influence is building something. The only question is—what are you building?

Proverbs 14:1 reminds us that “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.” Your words, your prayers, your presence—they’re shaping your family’s spiritual legacy right now. Every time you show up, every bedtime prayer, every “Jesus loves you” matters.

Here’s your encouragement today: You don’t need to be perfect. But you do need to be intentional. Make time to talk about God. Speak life into your kids. Correct with grace and lead with love. They’re being discipled—by someone. Let it be you.

Let’s make this practical.

Take five minutes today and ask yourself:

What kind of adult am I praying my child (or the next generation) becomes?

Write a one or two sentence mission statement for how you want to raise or influence the next generation.

Check out the whole message here:

In Spiritual Growth

The Beauty of Growth: Why Twisted Paths Still Lead Somewhere Good

April 29, 2025 2 Comments

Every day I either drive or walk by an enormous oak tree outside my neighborhood. Its limbs don’t reach straight up to the sky. Years of growth have twisted them, and countless hurricanes have forced them to struggle just to stay connected. I imagine the journey for this tree was not what it expected when it first shot up out of the ground.

And yet, here it is.

Strong. Sturdy. Still standing.

Its twisted and stretched-out limbs now provide even greater shade—covering more ground than it ever would have if it grew straight and narrow.

That tree reminds me of the personal growth journey we all take. It’s rarely linear, and almost never easy. The winds of change, the storms of life, the moments that shake us to the core—those are the things that shape us.

Many years ago, I started writing down my thoughts on a blog originally called theSaltLick.tv. Instead of deleting those old posts, I’ve decided to leave them right where they are—as markers of my journey from where I started to where I am today.

Here’s what that means:

There may be posts I wrote that aren’t fully formed yet.

Thoughts that reflect the life experience and knowledge I had at the time.

There are probably even a few posts that I’d be embarrassed to write today. And yes, maybe some that overshare just a little… (and now you’ll go back and read them, won’t you?).

But those posts are part of my faith journey.

Just like the twisted limbs of that old oak tree.

They reflect my spiritual growth—not always pretty, but rooted deeply and reaching out further than I thought possible.

That’s how it is with growth through adversity. The lessons you learn along the way become the very things that expand your reach and deepen your roots.

So let me ask you a question:

What part of your life looks different today because of your yesterdays?

Pause for a second and think about it.

You may not be where you wanted to be, thought you’d be, or dreamed you’d be. But if you look honestly—you’re probably not where you used to be either.

That’s resilience.

That’s personal growth.

That’s grace.

So keep leaning in.

Keep growing.

Keep writing, showing up, trusting, and walking it out.

One day, you’ll look back—and just like the old oak—you’ll see that every twist, every bend, and every storm helped shape something stronger than you ever imagined.

In Faith in Real Life

Who is following Who?

November 2, 2021 No Comments

Do you ever wonder what God is doing? It is easy to take a look at life and be disappointed with the current state of your life and assume that God has decided to take the day off. Or let’s be honest, sometimes it feels like he took the entire year off. It could feel like the wheels have fallen off of your life and you’re stuck in the same position unable to move forward. However, what if we’re looking at it from the wrong angle?

Jesus invited a group of people to follow Him, to be His disciples. A disciple was someone that apprenticed with another more experienced teacher. And in this case, these disciples were the apprentice to the Son of God. Everyday for 3 years they followed Jesus and listened to His teaching. They asked questions of Jesus. They ate together, and went on boat rides, long hikes, and navigated all kinds of challenges together. But it all began with a simple question. Jesus asked the disciples to follow him.

Jesus came to Peter and Andrew and told them to leave their nets and follow Him. Jesus did the same to James and John when they were fishing with their father in the family business. Matthew was busy at his tax collectors booth when he heard Jesus’ invitation. Their activities may have been different, but the question from Jesus was the same–Follow Me.

I’m afraid that too many of us hear Jesus’ invitation of “FOLLOW ME”, and we say, “yeah, yeah, Jesus, that would be awesome.” We get excited because we hear the voice of the Lord and it feels fresh and new. But somewhere along the way we start taking our eyes off of Jesus. We stop going where He is going, eating what He is eating, and doing what He is doing.

Then we turn around and say, Jesus, how about you follow me? If we’re not careful we can take the invitation from Jesus and get it backwards. Jesus invited us to follow Him, not the other way around. There are any number of ways to get people to follow you in today’s world, from social media, to different apps on your phone. Jesus never said, let me follow you. He invited you to follow Him. To take up His ways and follow Him. To do what He does, love the way He loves, forgive the way He forgives.

If you’re wondering what God is doing, and it looks like God isn’t active in your life, I wonder if maybe the problem isn’t that God has left you, or that God isn’t interested in you. What if you have gotten it twisted up and instead of following Him you’ve slowly let the expectations switch to where He’s supposed to follow you now.

If you want to experience God, and experience the close presence of your savior move to where God is moving. Pay attention to the disciples. What did they do? They went wherever Jesus went. They moved where He was moving. And do you know what they saw? They saw a MOVE OF GOD!

They saw people healed. They saw a blind man regain his sight. They witnessed a woman who was being shamed to death protected and brought back to life. They watched as a man who couldn’t walk got up and stretched his legs and walked off healed! They watched as a violent storm was brought to peace. They saw a man who was possessed by demons brought back to his right mind. The witnessed a move of God!

If you want to see a move of God, you’re going to have to move to where God is moving. It’s not about forcing God to move to where you are.

In what ways have you been expecting God to follow you? What would it look like for you to be committed to following Him?

In Faith in Real Life

What If You Did the Thing? Living Without Regret Starts Now

May 2, 2014 No Comments

Do you remember when you were a kid, what you thought was ‘old’? What was the magical age that you officially turned ‘old’? For me, I think you were old when you hit 40. That was over the hill in my book. By 40 life seemed pretty well established, and like everything was in order. What age was it for you? Funny thing is, the closer I get to 40, the younger it seems!

When you were a kid, what did you think that your life was going to look like when you were 25, 30, 35, 40, etc… What did you think your life would look like at the age that you are now? Probably you had visions of playing in the major league, or already having been on the cover of Vogue, or some other magazine. Maybe you envisioned owning several beach houses, and a yacht. Who knows. But chances are your childhood version of you was somehow way cooler than the version of you right now.

What holds us back from being the childhood version of us? Why do we stop dreaming and planning, and envisioning ourselves for greatness? FEAR. Fear of failing, disappointing, and even fear of trying prevents us from being, or doing the things we once dreamed we would be.

Jennie Allen writes in her book Restless,

I think in twenty years, we will regret more of the things we didn’t do than the things we did imperfectly.

I totally agree with her. Life is filled with crazy-scary-choices. Things like, going back to school, having another baby, leaving a successful job you have, to go get the job you’ve always wanted, or asking her to marry you. But what if the rest of your life was lived without this kind of hesitation. What if 20 years from now you looked back and realized that hesitation wasn’t apart of your lifestyle… I wonder what kind of a difference that would make in what you were able to accomplish.

The Bible is filled with men and women who were faced with crazy-scary-choices. The amazing thing about the Bible is we get to see how they turned out though. They didn’t. We know the end of their story, were as they only saw the problems. Think about people like Moses, Joseph, Esther, Rahab, Elijah, Abraham, Joshua, Peter, Paul, and many others. They were each faced with their own challenges, but they stepped through them with bold faith.

God has positioned you for right now, and for right where you are. Step into that moment and own it. The next few moments, days, and weeks, can be some of the most defining moments in your life. God has invited each one of us to join Him in what He is doing in the world around him. Jesus prays for each of us saying, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22, 23 ESV)

Jesus’ desire for each of us, His prayer, is that we would be a witness, we would be someone who reveals the glory of God to the world around us. So dream a dream about who you want to be and what you want to do for God, and get out there and do it. Because after all, our biggest regret might just be the things that we don’t do, rather than the things we goofed up on along the way.

~Peter

In Spiritual Growth

Celebrating Moments=Celebrating Life

May 2, 2014 No Comments

I’m a big fan of celebrating. I think that we need to celebrate more things, more often! Time has a funny way of ticking without stopping. It goes on and on and on. It never asks if you are ready for it to continue. (Nor does it ever ask if you would like it to speed up either!) Celebration causes you to focus intently on the object, achievement, or person that you are rejoicing over. Celebration begs you to sit and revel in the goodness of the moment. Celebration draws you into a posture of thankfulness. I love that about celebration.

Jennie Allen, writes in her book Restless, about the significance of our lives. She presses in on this issue by exploring the fact that there is something deep to the way that we spend our minutes and our days. “Because eventually, our minutes and days equal our lives.”

So true right? Sometimes when we get nostalgic, or overly serious, we start to think about and wonder what people will say about us at our funeral. The funny thing is that we have tons of control over that. I bet you don’t think that you do, but your minutes, your days, add up and equal your life.

What are you doing with this day, TODAY, that is worth celebrating?

It is easy to neglect your passion and calling, thinking that one day…
I will follow my dreams.
I will become disciplined when I need to be
I will finish writing my book
I will share the God inspired thoughts and encouragement
one day I will …
the list could go on and on.

We neglect these things because we think that one day is always at least a day, a week, or a month away from today. What if we started saying that today is the day that we will follow that dream, goal, or desire that God has put inside of you? What would it look like if right now, you stopped thinking that one day you will_____ and started thinking that today you did.

God has given you unique abilities and desires. He has placed you exactly where you are right now for a reason. Don’t waste another day waiting for ‘one day’. Today’s the day. Live in the dream, revel in the excitement, and chase it with ferocity!

What dream do you need to celebrate and start living out today?

~Peter

In Faith in Real Life

The Virus of More: Confessions of a Materialism Battle

October 8, 2013 No Comments

It’s hard for me to look at a Range Rover and not want one. Their lines are smooth, they look Uber comfortable, and I feel like I can take on a mountain with it and win. The other morning a Range Rover cut me off on my way to a meeting with a good buddy of mine. I felt everything inside of me tense up. Maybe that was because I was running 10 minutes late to my meeting or maybe it was because he had something that I wanted. It was hunter green, and it was new. The windows were tinted out, and the rims were classy. The only thing that my car and his car have in common is the color of the paint. My rims are not so classy, my windows are not so tinted, and I most certainly could not take on a mountain and win.

Welcome to my internal struggle with materialism. Materialism is the virus that grows inside of you convincing your mind that you need more and more and more. Materialism not only affects your mind, It affects your eyes too. They begin looking around at the things that you already have and it causes you to see them as old and out dated. It’s like a set of contact lenses that magnifies every ding, imperfection, tear, or sign that your stuff hasen’t been unwrapped from their cellophane covering in a long time.

I’m pretty convinced that materialism has been fed to us by the mass market like small pox blankets were to the Native American’s. The more we watch and believe the commercials, the more we itch with the need to buy the latest and the greatest. Be careful my friends! You don’t need to drive what turns you on. You need to drive what gets you there. There is a big difference between need and want. We get those two things mixed up very easily. That’s part of the game of the materialism virus- it makes it harder to keep your head on straight.

Richard Foster writes about the materialism virus. He says this,

This psychosis permeates even our mythology. The modern hero is the poor boy who purposefully becomes rich rather than the rich boy who voluntarily becomes poor. Covetousness we call ambition. Hoarding we call prudence. Greed we call industry.

It is time to set possessions in their proper place. It is time to find joy in the abundant gifts that God has given us. After all Jesus said in Luke 12:15, “Take heed, and beware of all covetousness; for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” The writer of Hebrews says, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake you'” (Heb. 13:5)

I’m praying that God shows me that it is more about the people around me than the possessions in my home. I bet I’m not alone in this struggle… Where are you at with it?

~Peter