“Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do someone a good turn and not get found out; if anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do - just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt; they may be hurt, but today I will not show it”
Three exercises for the soul, how marvellous!
As with physical exercise, some I enjoy doing and am good at e.g. dancing and swimming, others I find more of a struggle… jogging or the gym. I am the same with spiritual exercise. As I have said I am a slow (or stubborn) learner, I claim spiritual progress not spiritual perfection.
The first exercise I enjoy and find relatively easy these days, in fact I get a real buzz out of it. It has taken many years for me to get to the stage where I am content with just my heavenly father knowing my good deeds, my ego always wanted everyone to know, but that is getting less as Christ is getting more, slowly.
The second one I am rubbish at. In fact this week I struggled to do something I ‘did’ want to do, never mind something I didn’t. I love writing these devotionals but knowing they were already due in, I procrastinated a further 2 days. Instead of sitting at my computer writing devotionals I sat browsing honeymoon destinations for 2 evenings solid. When I am able to put this second exercise into practise I feel great, I have a real sense of achievement after completing the task in hand, i.e. tidying, doing paperwork, mowing the lawn, making a difficult phone call etc. so I keep practising this one.
The third may seem odd. I am not suggesting we don’t engage with our feelings, far from it, I believe feeling is healing and I regularly share mine with a close confidant, which is a healthy thing to do. However, it is unhelpful to direct negative feelings towards those who have upset us, direct them at God, he already knows how we feel anyway. This week I felt sad and hurt that my son had not been in touch for over 2 weeks, I have missed his company and my heart ached because he seemed too busy to visit or call. I felt like phoning him to give him ‘a piece of my mind’. Instead I took it to God and something interesting happened. I sensed the way I was feeling about my son, God was feeling about me, although I know he is with me every moment I had not spent any quality time the last 2 days ‘son-bathing’, soaking in his presence, I had been too busy messing on the computer and of course I was missing out. Thankfully God doesn’t come after me with harsh words or a record of time I’ve missed with him; we just delight in each others company when I’m resting in his presence once again.
Exercise is a discipline, Lord help me to grow daily in discipleship.
