Perspective Devotional

A 31 day journey in perspective.

Perspective Journey

The perspective that we hold to each day can mean the difference between feeling anxious, depressed, and defeated, or feeling thankful, joyful, and loved. Take the 31 day journey to focus on aligning your perspective more closely with the truths of God’s Word.

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Day 1

HEALTHY HABITS AND BALANCE

I have the blessing of helping people improve their mental health, something that we all need to do whether we know it or not. We are all looking for better health in some way or another. We want physical health, emotional health, relational health, and financial health. In fact, sometimes health even becomes an idol for some, making it seem more important than God is.

Some of us put in hard work everyday to care for our bodies through diet, nutrition, and exercise. Some of us put in regular hard work to care for our minds through counseling or support groups. Some of us have spent valuable time reassessing our financial lives, academic pursuits, and professional ventures. Some of us worry about our relationships and seek support or read books to learn to improve them. These are all wonderful examples of how to maintain a balanced and healthy life, and even the world agrees.

However, even the most healthy person, according to these standards, often misses another crucial part of their life in achieving good health: spirituality. Our spiritual health is by far the most important aspect of our lives, yet many of us fail to care for our spiritual health. The irony is that when we are spiritually healthy, many of the other pieces of life will fall into place. The stronger our relationship with the Lord, the easier it is to discern His direction and the more we will be on the right path in all the other areas of our life.

Have you ever had a puppy? When we got our puppy I had to train her how to take a walk. She would lay down in the grass every few feet, and I’d have to drag her along. As she got older and with the use of treats, we eventually learned how to run together. During one walk, it struck me that just as my puppy had to learn to walk with me, we have to learn to walk with the Lord. She had to keep her eyes on me to know where we were going. Instead of laying in the grass every few feet, she was now glancing back at me to make sure she was going the right way. If she would forget to look back, she would pull the leash to go off the path and I would need to pull hard on the leash to get her back on track. The more often she looked back at me, the less I had to forcefully pull her another way.

We do that, don’t we? When we are not looking up to our Father in Heaven, we so easily begin to venture off the path He has for us, and things in life become unbalanced and unhealthy.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

(1 Thessalonians 5:16–18)

In order to stay spiritually healthy, we must spend time with God regularly. In fact, God invites us to pray without ceasing. In other words, we are to always be in communion with Him. This is most certainly easier said than done. Our American culture has us all running form place to place, trying to have as many experiences as we can, trying to make as much money as we can, and trying to get as much done as we can. But that is not the purpose of life—not even close. By pursuing what the world tells us to pursue, we will end up worn out, imbalanced, and stuck in negative habits, thinking, and feelings. Without a robust and healthy spiritual life, everything else in our lives begins to suffer.

Finding a balance in life is crucial for emotional and relational health. If you are too busy chasing after worldly things, you will start to feel that it sucks the life out of you. While on the other hand you can be busy all day with kingdom matters or even mundane tasks with a kingdom mindset. You will be able to be much more productive yet energized at the same time. For me, the days I wake up at 6am and spend time in prayer are the times when I have much more energy than the days I sleep in until 7:30am and get started right into the tasks of the day. I am able to ask God to prioritize my day, refresh my thinking. I can remember that the mundane tasks can bring glory to God as well, especially when I have the right attitude and allow God to prioritize what is most important.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

(1 Corinthians 10:31)

When we prioritize our spiritual health by spending time with God, reading scripture, praying, giving thanks, and enjoying His presence, we begin to enjoy God’s heart. By tending to our spiritual lives, our emotional, physical, mental, and relational health improves, even things that seem to suck the life out of us can bring glory to God when we have the right focus. The topics of this devotional will aim at just that.

Personal Reflection:

• What does spending time with God look like for you?
• How can you create practices in your life that deepen your relationship with God?
• Is your life more reflective of the American culture than God’s desire for you?
• What areas of your life seem out of balance? How might spiritual discipline help you to better balance your life?
• What tasks seem to suck life from you? How could you change your focus in those things?

Prayer:
Thank you for always being there. Help me to look up at you more so I can learn to walk more closely with you. I am sorry for neglecting my spiritual health at times. Help me to prioritize spending time with you. Help me to establish a richer, fuller, and deeper relationship with you. Give me a motivation to complete my tasks in a way that brings glory to you. Father, help me to work through this devotional with consistency and intention, even if that means waking up an hour early while the house is still quiet.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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