What I'm learning

Within the last couple of days there has been a recurring theme from different sources. Sometimes God is pretty subtle in teaching me, and sometimes it seems like He sends the message from every direction.

I was reading Perry Noble's blog the other day, and he's been talking about health and fitness and making the choices to keep ourselves healthy so that God can use us most effectively. He wrote this line, "Like it or not–we are commanded by God in I Corinthians 6:19-20 to be good stewards of our body, which is becoming an ever increasing challenge in our super-sized culture." I do pretty well with this, but not well enough. I run a few days a week and so I feel like I've earned the right to be a little careless with my eating. Not too bad, but not too disciplined either.

Then I grabbed some of the "Defining Moments" CD's that I get from Willow Creek every month or so, and popped a few of them into my truck to listen to while I drive. What should come on but an interview with a guy named Dr. Jack Groppel who was talking about how if we're going to be at our best then we need to make the choices that lead to health. That includes our exercise, our eating, our spirit, and our emotions. Good food brings recovery and nourishment to our bodies. Exercise gives us energy and health. But our minds, emotions, and spirit, need us to make good healthy choices too. He said that, for example, if you worked your bicep over and over and over with no recovery, you'd soon damage it and cause it to fail.

It made me think how many times I do the right exercise thing, but don't take care of my spirit and my emotions. I can overwork those again and again, and then I wonder why I feel stressed or overloaded. Even Jesus unplugged from the intensity of ministry to have some time alone--time to be recharged.

The other thing that kind of drove it all home for me was Hannah's car. It's an older Saturn and it has this little computer quirk. Every few months the electrical computer just locks up and the car won't start. All you have to do is disconnect the battery for a few minutes, reconnect it again and voila! It starts right up. We were told if you just disconnect the battery every couple of months, the computer will never lock up.

I don't pull spiritual insights from everything I experience, but this just seemed pointed to me after what I'd been reading and hearing. I need to make proactive choices to take care of me: physically, nutritionally, spiritually, and emotionally. Sometimes you just have to unplug, get rest, be reenergized, worship, love, and laugh! Maybe my "computer" won't lock up as often if I'll take the time to be healthy all around.