Starting point: 1 Corinthians 10:12
“Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
We have no strength to stand on our own. Taking care not to fall means continuing on in our first love of Truth, open each day to learn the new thing the Lord brings to us.
We can get so busy with all the good things we are doing that we think we are grounded and doing well. Then it sneaks up on us: we have starved our spiritual and emotional life to death by not taking the time to feed them.
Busier Than Israel?
Looking back at the Jewish nation, it is easy to think how poorly they treated God and themselves. They continually broke faith with Him and with themselves, with no understanding of the damage they were doing. But consider their lives. Every day was toil for their very existence. If they did not do the work to put food on the table, there was no other option but to go to bed hungry. There were no restaurants to grab a meal at. Their life was to work all day to keep their family fed, clothed, and under a roof. Leisure time was unheard of.
Still today, with all our society’s conveniences, we can stay so busy that our time with Christ each morning is missed, or forgotten.
Busyness crowding out the inner life
-
Luke 10:38–42 — Martha was “cumbered about much serving.” Her work was good, but Mary chose the one needful thing.
-
Revelation 2:2–4 — Ephesus is praised for works, labor and patience, yet has left its first love.
-
Song of Solomon 1:6 — “They made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.”
-
Exodus 18:17–18 — Jethro warns Moses that his good work will wear him away.
Jesus modeling rest
-
Mark 6:31 — “Come ye yourselves apart… and rest a while,” for they had no leisure so much as to eat.
-
Luke 5:15–16 — As the crowds grew, “he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.”
-
Matthew 11:28–30 — “Come unto me… and I will give you rest.”
When depletion has already set in
-
1 Kings 19 — Right after Carmel, Elijah collapses. God’s first answer is sleep and food, then the still small voice.
No Stable Source Within
We are only strong as we return each morning to our source of strength and draw more from Him. There is no stable supply flowing in us. We do not produce our own emotional or spiritual strength from within ourselves, any more than we can keep our physical strength if we fail to eat good food and drink pure, fresh water. Food and water are required for life to continue, along with breathing in and out all day long.
How can we expect to grow spiritually or emotionally if we never feed or water those parts of our soul?
Quietness and confidence: Isaiah 30:15
“In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”
If we don’t take time to be quiet with ourselves, to see where we are actually standing and check the motives of our heart, we cannot be confident that we are still in the Lord’s work. Quiet time is essential to keep going forward and not lose our first love.
Verse 16 shows what Israel chose instead: “No; for we will flee upon horses.” Their answer to pressure was more motion, when God offered stillness and return. Motion feels like strength, but the strength is in the quiet.
Searching the heart
-
Psalm 139:23–24 — “Search me, O God, and know my heart… see if there be any wicked way in me.”
-
2 Corinthians 13:5 — “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.”
-
Lamentations 3:40 — “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.”
-
Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.”
Ephesus did not lose its first love by doing wrong things. It lost it by never pausing long enough to notice it slipping. Quiet time is where we notice.
Feeding the spirit and the emotions
Quiet time is like feeding and watering our spiritual and emotional life. It must be guarded with the same diligence we guard mealtimes. If we don’t feed the body, it stops working and we have no strength to move forward. The same is true emotionally and spiritually.
Guard the times of spiritual and emotional feeding with the same attention you give your mealtimes. They are as important to your continuing to stand in your place, as God’s friend and worker, as breathing in and out all day long.
Spiritual food is our time with the Lord and the study of what He is saying to us: getting to know Him through His Word, what He has done, and how He has led in the past.
-
Job 23:12 — “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.”
-
Jeremiah 15:16 — “Thy words were found, and I did eat them.”
-
Matthew 4:4 / Deuteronomy 8:3 — Man shall not live by bread alone.
-
John 15:4–5 — Abide in me; fruit comes from staying connected.
-
Proverbs 4:23 — “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
Emotional food is time spent truly enjoying family and intimate friends, those who feel our hearts and minds and refresh us. Not the ones who only take from us and to whom we minister, but the ones inside our guard, who affect our hearts and minds the most.
This is the part most easily lost. When we become so busy with all the good projects that we lose our time alone with the Lord, we usually neglect the special time alone with husband and family as well, because there always seems to be a more pressing issue to deal with. Our emotional life is left to starve.
-
1 Corinthians 16:18 — Stephanas and his companions “refreshed my spirit.”
-
2 Timothy 1:16 — Onesiphorus “oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain.”
-
Philemon 7 — The hearts of the saints were refreshed by Philemon.
-
John 11:5, 12:1–3 — Jesus had an inner circle and a home at Bethany where He was simply loved.
-
1 Samuel 23:16 — Jonathan went to David and “strengthened his hand in God.”
We are three parts
There are three parts to each of us, and each part needs daily nourishment. To fail to care for any part is to lose the ability to function in that area of our life. Finding balance is as important to the health of our body and soul, to our whole wellbeing, as remembering to eat our daily food.
Without balance, with all three parts fed and supported, we may think we are standing strong, but we will fall. A starving body cannot keep standing. We are triad (tripartite) beings: physical, spiritual and emotional. All three must be fed the food they require, or we fail to be who we are.
-
1 Thessalonians 5:23 — “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless.”
-
3 John 2 — “That thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
-
Luke 2:52 — Jesus “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
-
Proverbs 17:22 — “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”
Cleansing before rebuilding
As an herbalist, the biggest job is not only feeding the body but removing the toxicity that poor living and poor nutrition have allowed to build up. The same is true in the emotional and spiritual bodies. Mind, heart and body cannot be restored, however good the food, while they are full of toxicity. The toxins must come out before the brokenness can be rebuilt.
-
2 Corinthians 7:1 — “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.”
-
Ephesians 4:31 — “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you.”
-
Hebrews 12:15 — A “root of bitterness springing up” troubles and defiles many.
-
Hebrews 12:1 — “Lay aside every weight.”
-
Psalm 51:7, 10 — “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean… Create in me a clean heart, O God.” David reaches for an herb, and the order is purge first, then renew.
-
Jeremiah 1:10 — “To root out, and to pull down… to build, and to plant.” Clearing comes before building.
-
Matthew 12:43–45 — A house swept clean but left empty is reclaimed by worse. Cleansing must be followed by filling.
Busy Is Not a Badge of Honor
Being busy is not a badge of honor. Too busy is a red flag, warning you that your life is out of balance.
Take your dreams and plans to the Lord each day. Spend the time with Him to hear what He has to tell you for that day, and any thoughts on the issues ahead. He is always ready, waiting for you each morning while you are fresh, the day is new, and it is full of choices and opportunities to do the good within your sphere of influence.
Then take time for yourself. Get your morning walk in. Work outside while the day is cool, the air is fresh, the world is quiet, and your only company is the songs of the birds. It is so refreshing to the soul.
Summary
Clear out the toxicity, then feed all three parts faithfully: body, spirit and emotions. Return each morning to the Source of your strength, and guard that time as carefully as you guard your meals. In the quiet we see what needs to go and what needs to come in. That is how we keep standing, and how we keep our first love.
