This new teaching series on “Taking Ground” has already caused me to reflect on 2 areas of my life that I need to stop having a “survival mindset” in and start taking ground … my physical and spiritual health.
Now that I can’t go the gym to workout, what have I been doing? My answer for the last month … nothing! That is finally starting to change for me. Instead of waiting until all this over and simply surviving, I needed to take ground! There were plenty of ways I could have maintained and even improved my physical health during this time, but I didn’t. All I needed was to simply change my mindset to “taking ground” instead of waiting until something changed.
The same goes for me spiritually. Personally, I’ve been able to continue reading my Bible and spending time in prayer over the past month, but what I’ve come to realize is that I never took ground spiritually! I didn’t improve. I didn’t advance. I didn’t move forward. I don’t remember praying any hard prayers. I don’t remember asking God to do anything big in my life. I don’t remember asking God to allow me to do something big in someone else’s life. I didn’t take ground! I’m not even convinced I did anything wrong. I think sometimes we go through seasons where “maintaining” or even “adapting” is the very best thing we can do, but we should all be careful not to get stuck there. I was getting stuck there! But I’m starting to come out it. It’s time to start taking ground again!
If you are like me, and you’re struggling in these areas, here are 3 easy ways that you can start to take ground in your physical and spiritual health:
1. Do Something Every Day:
Our goals don’t have to be huge to help us to move forward. Small consistent progress is often more helpful than waiting for a moment to do it all at once. This is especially true with our health. Whether it is doing 10 push-ups before you go to bed, or spending 5 minutes praying and reading your Bible on your phone while you’re waiting for your next meeting to start, these little steps forward add up in a big way over time.
2. Make It Fun:
Too often, we fall into the trap of thinking that moving forward and setting goals has to be hard work. Don’t get me wrong, hard work isn’t bad. But if we can find ways to make our goals fun, we are much more likely to actually do them. Have you ever tried giving different voices to each bible character as your read? What about a contest with your friend to see who can get the most exercise minutes on your apple watch? Little things that make our goals fun can help us to take ground in this difficult season.
3. Make It About Someone Else:
In this season, it is especially important to find ways to help make Jesus make sense. When we are setting goals or taking ground with someone else in mind, we are so much more likely to complete those goals, and even to go the extra mile! Maybe this week you should start the habit of walking the same route in your neighborhood every day so that you can start to build a relationship with your neighbors. Or maybe, as a family, the Lord is leading you to pray for or serve someone that you have been thinking about, but normally can’t find the time. Taking ground with our physical and spiritual health is important, but if we can use this time to take ground for the kingdom at the same time, that is even better!