Soul talk

Recently, I jarred my back whilst running. I only had 16 seconds to go until the run had finished and I truly wished I could have turned the clock back. John and I did what we always do first in these situations and we prayed and declared that this would not remain an issue.

It was day one of a new training regime and I was determined not to get stopped so early on! It could have been a natural thing or it could have been something more than that, but, whatever it was, we decided that it could not stay in my body. As the day progressed, I decided to carry on with all the chores that were on my ‘to do’ list and I prayed and spoke words of healing to my back throughout the day. I took ibuprofen and rubbed on deep heat – I’m not against doing that, although I thought the deep heat was going to burn my skin off! I (my spirit) had to decide to carry on, what I (my body and soul) wanted was to lie on the sofa all day and let John wait on my hand and foot! (Do my American friends understand that term?) So, my spirit had to make a decision that went against what my body wanted.

If you know us, you will know that the main focus of our ministry is spirit, soul and body. We are convinced, more than ever, that, generally speaking, the souls (minds, wills and emotions)  of believers are running lives and the spirit part of us doesn’t get much say.

I asked God to speak to me about what was going on with my back and we had a chat or I felt him talking to me in the middle of the night.

I felt God telling me that the reason it is so difficult for the spirit part or the inner-part of man to rule the ‘show’ is because the body and the soul are spoilt and pampered and they often seek and often need attention. So when something hits like what happened to me, your body and  soul wants attention, care, sympathy and I guess, prayer so they maybe go to social media and immediately get said attention. Your spirit, on the other hand has absolutely no need for those things! It doesn’t operate through feelings and it does not need attention from any other human being.  I believe it is healed, strong and fully complete. (2 Peter 1:3 His divine power has given me EVERYTHING I need for life and godliness)

Now, I’m not saying that letting people know your issues is always a bad thing, but I do think we need to pause and ask why we want people to know. I told one friend because I wanted her to know that there was a possibility of me missing aerobics the next day – but I think a little piece of me wanted sympathy! The more people you tell, the more sympathy you get, the more you have to tell the story and it’s possible to lose your focus from where it should be, which, to me, is your spirit and the need for you to attack the reality of a situation with the higher realities of health and strength that is already in your spirit. Did you know that  if you are a Christian, you have the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead inside of you – all the power you need, right there!  (Romans 8:11)

If you want to know if your spirit makes your decisions, shut your body down for a few days and you’ll soon find out! If you go on a diet or if you fast, your body doesn’t like it one bit! It wants to quit, it wants to eat cake or it wants to sleep until the fast or diet is over! How do I know? Through experience! It’s only when you shut your body down that you realise how spoilt it is. Certainly, this is true for Western Christianity.

My desire is to help Christians, myself included, realise who we are in Christ. Jesus died on the cross to not only give us eternal life, but also to give us abundant life on earth. (John 10:10).  Not a life without struggles, storms or mountains to overcome, like jarring your back when running! But a life that can tap into the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead, a life of discipline and of making right choices so that I can overcome the storms of life. That kind of church will speak volumes to the world and I’d like to be a part of a church like that!

We can often just accept struggles – even for years – as if there is no way out and we use people like Job or Paul. Job was the greatest man around at the time and ended up with so much more than he had before Satan tried to take him out.  Paul wrote over a third of the New Testament and his trials all brought glory to God. If your trial isn’t bringing glory to God, then maybe you should question whether you should be living with it.

I jarred my back on a Thursday and I went to aerobics on the following Friday morning. It was more of a statement of intent than the fact that I was healed. I chose to walk in a victory I didn’t yet have. I took it easy and wasn’t stupid, but I did the hour long class. 4 days later I did a 30 minute run. I prayed, spoke, took ibuprofen and rested, but I didn’t give in to it and neither should you.  The goodness of God, for our every day lives, is far greater than we often think.