Reflections on Tough Times 4

If you are not happy with your life, you can change it in two ways: either improve the conditions in which you live, or improve your inner spiritual state. The first is not always possible, but the second is. Leo Tolstoy.

Some folk claim they are a victim of circustances and they regurgitate all the tough situations they’ve experienced as their disclaimers to avoid taking repsonibililty. Blameshifting instead of taking charge of their life. They are stuck. Can’t unstick a stuck person. But we can challenge them to initiate Tolstoy’s plan.

Improve the conditions or improve the spiritual state.
How do you improve the spiritual state? Jesus set the pattern as observed in Mark 1:35-36.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed"

Os Hillman writes: “How do you get refueled? When our cars run low on fuel, we simply drop by the local filling station to get more fuel. When our bodies are hungry, we feed them. How do we refuel our spiritual lives? We can learn from the example Jesus modeled in His life.

In the New Testament we see that Jesus had a very demanding schedule. He traveled from town to town, often walking many miles between the towns. He spent a lot of time with people. As a speaker and teacher I can tell you that it is very draining to minister for extended periods. Your body and your spirit becomes fatigued.

The day before the above scripture was recorded, Jesus had a full day of ministry healing the sick, delivering people from demons and walking to different cities (Mark 1:29-37). The following day it says Jesus got up before the sun rose and went to pray. The disciples were wondering where He was.

When Jesus was on earth, He was fully man. Everything He did was based upon receiving specific directions and power from His father to do them. He was not operating as God, but as a human being with the same limitations you and I have. So, Jesus knew one of the key ways to refuel His mind, body and spirit was by spending time in prayer to His Heavenly Father.
This is a critical discipline for every follower of Jesus if you expect to have power and victory in your Christian walk. We each need to find a solitary place to focus upon the Lord, His Word and His input for our lives.

If this is not a part of your daily experience, why not start tomorrow with a few minutes of focused time of reading and prayer. You will be encouraged with the new spiritual focus you will have by making this a priority.”