For years, I had faith, prayer, Scripture, church experience, and a sincere desire to follow God. But I did not have a clear category for spiritual formation.

I needed it desperately. I just did not know what it was called. In this episode, I reflect on the moment I began to see spiritual formation not as an optional topic for unusually serious Christians, but as a central part of the life of faith — especially when life does not unfold the way we hoped.

When disappointment, waiting, failure, or confusion enter our lives, we may need more than encouragement. We may need to ask a deeper question:

Who is God forming me to become here?

Deep Water Labs is for people learning to keep walking when life does not go according to plan.

Have Faith. Expect Fire. Keep Walking.

What happens when God allows loss, or a closed door to become part of our spiritual formation?

In this episode, we look at the life and writings of François Fénelon, a 17th-century French archbishop, spiritual writer, and teacher whose life brought him close to power — and then into public correction, loss of influence, and surrender.

Fénelon's story raises a painful but necessary question:

Do we want God, or do we want the life we thought God was going to give us?

This episode explores spiritual ambition, detachment, surrender, humiliation, and the hidden work God may be doing when the visible assignment seems to disappear.

For anyone who has felt benched, misunderstood, corrected, or stripped of the thing they thought proved their calling, Fénelon offers a hard but hopeful reminder:

Sometimes the soul does not become free when the doors open. Sometimes the soul becomes free when the doors close, the applause fades, and God is still there.

Deep Water Labs explores faith, failure, formation, and how to move forward when you can't go back.

Subscribe for more reflections on spiritual formation and finding God in the deep water.

00:00 When Doors Close 00:23 Meet Fénelon 01:20 Loving God Alone 02:09 Quietism Controversy 03:27 Exile and Loss 04:48 Humiliation as Mercy 05:54 Spiritual Ambition Exposed 07:58 Calling Without Ego 09:06 Strength to Be Misunderstood 09:52 Benched by God 10:29 Grieve Before Interpreting 11:03 Final Reflection

** Book Recommentaion ** Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians https://amzn.to/4oEMCl3

Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

I write at DeepWaterLabs.com/blog

My substack is Notes.DeepWaterLabs.com

#Fenelon #SpiritualFormation #ChristianPodcast #DeepWaterLabs #FaithAndFailure #ChristianHistory #SurrenderToGod #FrançoisFénelon

Girolamo Savonarola is one of the most fascinating and unsettling figures of Renaissance Florence. He was a Dominican friar, a fiery preacher, a moral reformer, and eventually one of the most controversial religious voices of his age. He preached against corruption, luxury, vanity, and spiritual compromise in a city famous for beauty, art, wealth, and political intrigue. But Savonarola's story raises a deeper question: What happens when genuine spiritual conviction becomes entangled with public influence, political power, and the dangerous belief that you alone can see what everyone else is missing? In this episode, I explore the rise and fall of Savonarola — from his preaching in Florence, to the famous Bonfire of the Vanities, to his conflict with religious and political authorities, and finally to his execution in 1498. But this is not just a history episode. This is a reflection on calling, zeal, reform, discernment, spiritual intensity, and the danger of confusing a burden from God with the need to control outcomes. Savonarola's life forces us to ask uncomfortable questions: * Can someone be right about the problem and still wrong in how they respond? * Can spiritual passion drift into spiritual pressure? * Can a reformer become captive to the very power he once confronted? And how do we discern the difference between prophetic courage and destructive certainty? If you have ever felt called to speak hard truth, challenge a broken system, or carry a message that others did not want to hear, Savonarola's story is worth considering carefully.

Because sometimes the question is not simply, "Was he right?"

Sometimes the deeper question is: "What kind of person do we become while trying to be right?" #Savonarola #ChurchHistory #ChristianHistory #DeepWaterLabs #SpiritualFormation ** Book Recommentaion ** Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians https://amzn.to/4oEMCl3 Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] I write at https://DeepWaterLabs.com/blog My substack is https://Notes.DeepWaterLabs.com.

What are we really signing up for when we tell God, "Your will be done"?

In this episode of the Deep Water Labs podcast, Jason Owens reflects on the life of Madame Guyon, a French Christian mystic from the 1600s whose deep surrender to God was followed not by ease, comfort, and quick blessing—but by loss, suffering, spiritual dryness, and a long season of desolation.

Drawing from Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, Jason explores how Madame Guyon's story challenges our modern expectations of the Christian life. Her journey through smallpox, grief, the loss of family members, and years of feeling distant from God raises a sobering question: what if the dark night of the soul is not evidence that God has abandoned us, but part of the deep work of purification, surrender, and restoration?

This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered where God went, why obedience sometimes seems to lead into hardship, and how suffering can become part of a deeper story. Book Link :: Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians - https://amzn.to/4ofzLWa

In Part 3 of the podcast, I go deeper into the process of making sense of life when things do not unfold the way you expected. In the previous episode, I talked about disappointment and disillusionment — what happens when calling, faith, work, and hope seem to collide with painful reality. In this episode, I explore what comes next: the deeper work of formation. How do we interpret the story we are living? How do we recognize what God may be shaping in us when the path feels confusing? And how do we move from merely surviving disappointment into becoming someone with deeper clarity, courage, and trust? This episode is for anyone who has ever wondered whether their setbacks were wasted, whether God was still present, or whether the hidden work happening beneath the surface might matter more than they realized. Book Link -- Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians https://amzn.to/49tKLsN

Mentioned / related: * Deep Water Labs * Deep Water Labs Substack * Deep Water Labs YouTube Channel * Jason's Public Speaking Site * Contact Me (Email)

What do you do when you believed God was leading you — and then the story collapses?

In this episode, Jason continues the Deep Water Labs origin story: the sense of calling, the risk of saying yes, the pain of watching things fall apart, and the long confusion that followed. This is not a tidy success story from the mountaintop. It is a reflection from the middle — about disappointment, silence, failure, and the strange ways our relationship with God can be reshaped when the path we thought we were following disappears beneath our feet.

If you have ever wondered whether you missed God, disappointed God, misunderstood God, or were somehow abandoned by God after taking a costly step of faith, this episode is for you.

Mentioned / related: * Deep Water Labs * Deep Water Labs Substack * Deep Water Labs YouTube Channel * Jason's Public Speaking Site Contact Me (Email)

A third kind of calling story—what happens when you follow God's lead, take the leap, and still fall flat. Honest reflections on faith, desire, and the confusion that follows when obedience doesn't produce the outcome you expected.

Nothing went catastrophically wrong—but enough went sideways to force a deeper question: What am I actually building?

In this episode, Jason reflects on what happens when you plan carefully, show up sincerely, and life still doesn't follow the script. This isn't about quick fixes or inspirational spin. It's about making sense of disappointment, identity, and direction when the "sure thing" you trusted turns out to be only a first draft.