Solving the Personal Energy Crisis (Pt.1)
July 11, 2011
It's half way through the year. How is life going for you?
A few weeks back I came across this statement from the apostle Paul in one of his prayers ...
Oh, the utter extravagance of God’s work in us who trust him — endless energy, boundless strength! All this energy issues from Christ. [Eph.1:19-20. Message Bible]
What an amazing promise for us! God has “endless energy and boundless strength” that he wants to impart to us. This is confirmed all through the biblical writings (Ps.23. Is.40:28-31. Matt.11:28-30).Yes, God has a purpose and a plan for each one of our lives – a contribution He wants each of us to make to his work in the world. But, God also wants each of us to have all the energy and strength that we need to live out the calling he has for us.
Maybe you're feeling full of God's energy and strength right now or maybe you're not. Maybe you are only half full - conserving your energy a bit by pacing yourself so you don’t run out. Or possible you are even running on empty - feeling tired, drained, worn out, exhausted, overwhelming or even on the verge of burnout.
Let’s face it: the pace of life is increasing. The expectations we put on ourselves and that other people put on us are being lifted all the time. Many of us live with a relentless urgency. Some workplaces are trying to get more done with less people (because of layoffs). Life’s challenges are becoming more complex, and the problems just don’t seem to go away. Many of us live with very little ‘margin’ in our lives and it doesn’t take much to push us over the edge. Most of us expend more energy than we adequately renew. People talk today about a “global energy crisis.” I’d like to suggest that in our generation we are facing a “personal energy crisis” – and, yes, it’s taxing us!
What about you?
None of us have endless energy and we have different degrees of fullness at different times in our life. Our energy is not in a static state.
HOW do we tap into God’s “endless energy and boundless strength” and get to a place where we are FULL?
God’s promises are often conditional. They are not always automatic. There are some steps we need to take and/or some practices we need to engage in.
God made us spirit, soul and body (1Thess.5:23-24). We often neglect our soul and our body thinking that these areas of life are not ‘spiritual’ or important. The truth is that we need a holistic view of life. God is interested in our spirit, soul and body. We are SPIRIT beings, who have a SOUL and who live in a BODY. We are ONE person – but there are THREE interrelated parts of us that need to be understood and looked after.
In our next post, we'll look at our Physical Energy ...
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