My Favorite Bible Verses

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Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
 but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint

(Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV)

The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we 'get up and get going.' God does not give us overcoming life--He gives us life as we overcome."

--- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Oswald wrote these words a long time ago. How did he know that our culture today would be so draining that we’d have problems plodding through our days? So what should I do when my get up and go gets up and goes? Should I sit and wait for it to come back?

There are days I think it has permanently left the building.   

Sometimes my kids complained that they didn’t feel like attending school. Of course, I dumbly retorted with, “Well, some days I don’t feel like going to work. So what would happen if I didn’t go to work?”

Kids are smarter than that. They equate a job with money. Kids aren’t paid to go to school. So the analogy falls short, and the kids’ incentive to attend school is by no means enhanced. I revert to the old standby sans rationale…” Get out of bed. You’re going to school because I said so.” After they complied, their agile joints finally got their juices flowing. Often they’d come home saying their day ended up being good after all.

As a cancer survivor, I have a permanent side effect from radiation and chemo of memory loss and chronic fatigue. Yet, I count myself fortunate because I am 100 percent in remission. However, these drawbacks do impact my writing.

There are days when my brain is like my sleepy child.

I have a stern talk with myself and say, “You are going to write something…even if it’s only a few hundred words.”  I pray. Eventually, at some point in the day, I get my writing buzz on. And I’m so excited when that happens.

In September, I underwent an emergency bowel resection. Though I recovered well physically, my tired brain is still in stuck mode even after five months. With prayer and patience, my mental acuteness is improving.

 God is pushing me forward. In fact … forward is my theme word for 2025.

 I’m glad God is pushing me from the fog into productivity, regardless of the slow pace.

Often, the body will eventually fall into sync with the mind. Exercise gurus are quick to point out that the feel-good hormone lags behind the action. In other words, the getup and go will return once you get up and go.  

I suppose that is true with our spiritual life as well.

There are aspects of the Christian life that demand energy often at times when I feel the most depleted. That is when the Father reminds me, 

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:13 NIV