Viewing spiritual health holistically is freeing.
You know the photos people post of an open Bible, cup of coffee, and beautiful view, and their post sounds all super spiritual about spending quiet time with Jesus? Maybe that’s their reality. Once upon a time it was for me too. And it was great. But right now, THIS is my reality. And it’s great, too. Just not in the same way.
Holistic Spiritual Health
When we isolate and compartmentalize our spiritual health, it is stifling, incomplete, and unhealthy, in the same way our physical health is stifling, incomplete, and unhealthy, if we isolate and compartmentalize our physical health. For instance, if we religiously exercise every day but we don’t eat a healthy diet, all the exercise in the world won’t compensate for a diet of junk food. Or if we eat a healthy diet, but we don’t prioritize rest, three healthy meals per day won’t combat the ill effects of repeated nights of 4 hours of sleep per night.
However, every season of life has unique challenges and demands. And if you’re playing the long game with both physical health and spiritual health, a holistic approach is needed.
There are seasons of life that by default require short nights and long days. There are seasons that demand less time in the kitchen and require relying on some shortcuts and prepared foods.
The danger is that we can become so focused on what we CAN’T do in our current season that it paralyzes us from taking action where we CAN.
Tools for This Season
My opinion is that this danger becomes especially intense for moms with young children. (Perhaps if you have a spouse who is highly engaged as a parent and a supportive partner this isn’t the case, or if you have other nearby support on a daily basis. But I haven’t personally witnessed this being the case for most of us.)
You may not be able to spend large amounts of time in Bible study or prayer during this season. You may not even be able to get five consecutive minutes. But your heart and your spirit can still be fed.
And for the record, God never said we got bonus points for spending large amounts of time in the Word. He did have a lot to say about how we live it out though! And about the condition of our heart.
Take inventory of the small things. You may be pleasantly surprised at just how much you ARE doing to keep God at the forefront of your life. Just because this season doesn’t look like a previous season, doesn’t mean you aren’t growing. It doesn’t mean you love God any less. It doesn’t mean you’re walking away from faith. Refuse to allow false guilt and shame to rob you of the blessings to be found in this season. Because this season matters. Your relationship with God in the season matters. Your spiritual health in this season matters.
You are making your relationship with God a priority when you:
- Play worship music while you wash dishes
- Listen to a podcast while you fold laundry
- Write one single verse on a scrap of paper and tape it to the bathroom mirror
- Journal a three-sentence prayer
- Set an alarm in your phone to remind you to pray for a friend on her C section day
- Whisper prayers while feeding your baby in the middle of the night (regardless of whether or not you fall asleep in the middle of them)
- Are so full of gratitude at an unexpected blessing from God that it spills over into a excited text to a friend
- Show up at church. At all. Even if you sit in the foyer with a loud toddler the whole service
- Pray with your kids at bedtime
- Write one more verse on a scrap of paper and tape it by the other one on the bathroom mirror
- Memorize both verses taped to your bathroom mirror
- Talk to somebody about the two verses taped to your bathroom mirror, and share what He’s been teaching you through those two verses
- Subscribe to the daily verse notifications on your Bible app
- Listen to 1 John on your airpods while you’re walking on the treadmill while the baby naps (even if the baby wakes up after seven minutes, and that was that)
- Sing Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus while rocking your screaming colicky baby (He WILL meet you there. I promise. Ask me how I know.)
This season is HARD. So so HARD. But you will make it. You will keep putting one foot in front of the other one, you will keep writing verses on scraps of paper and taping them to the bathroom mirror, you will keep showing up on Sunday morning, and YOU WILL MAKE IT.
Tools for Every Season
And one day, you will suddenly realize you had ten consecutive minutes to read your Bible. Or journal verses. Or listen to 1 John while walking on your treadmill. And you will realize that one season is ending, and another is just beginning, and God is right beside you (no, IN you) in both. Your heart is still pursuing His; His heart is still pursuing yours.
In whatever season you find yourself, use the tools you have readily available that will suit the season. Not every tool is appropriate for every season. Just because a tool worked well before doesn’t mean it will work well now. And just because a tool is working well right now doesn’t mean it will still be effective in a year from now.
Truth brings freedom. Take inventory of the tools you have. Is there a tool you’re trying to use that is ineffective for this season? Ditch it. Grab a different tool. And relax into grace.
For more reading on this subject, you may enjoy Ragged by Gretchen Ronnevik.