Take a Pulse
Time has, once again, been a thief. How can it possibly be the end of 2023?
But here we are, you and I, hopefully rejoicing in the love of the Father and the gift of His Son, yet also reflecting on a year almost gone by. Have we stewarded the time, talents and resources our good God has given? Have we been caring for the temple of the Holy Spirit (our bodies)? Have we loved Him with all our heart, soul and mind . . . and loved others selflessly?
A couple of weeks ago our youngest child had a sleep study test. I watched her tiny little frame get stuck with a plethora of stickers attached to a messy tangle of wires, each assigned to a specific patch of skin that would, hopefully, assess her heart, oxygen levels and neurotransmitters. Before we could begin a medical protocol, we first had to have a clear reading of how her body functions while it sleeps. It would be silly to make a plan to remove her tonsils if the sleep study reveals she is sleeping soundly!
Viable solutions and a proper plan of action only come AFTER proper assessment. How many of us really “take a pulse” on our reality before leaping into new year’s goals and resolutions? I would say this time of honest reflection is often overlooked. Or, maybe we are great at identifying the problems, but we have yet to dive deeper into the “why” behind the problem. To carry the sleep study analogy further: maybe we know our daughter’s not sleeping well, but until we properly assess WHY, we cannot begin to implement a strategy that will help her long term.
Three Areas to “Take a Pulse”
1. Spiritually
Healthy living is rooted first in our relationship with God. If we begin to make plans for 2024 without first taking a pulse on our spiritual well-being, we are truly setting ourselves up for a “crash and burn.” A song my boys used to sing in Bible Study Fellowship went like this,
“What is the purpose of my life? The purpose is to know God, love Him, enjoy Him and glorify Him.”
Isn’t that beautifully simplistic? I believe it provides a great framework for reflection too. Are you getting to know God more deeply? How? Do you love Him? What does that look like? Are you enjoying Him - truly enjoying Him? Does your life glorify Him? In what ways?
These are important questions to ask, not for the purpose of shaming ourselves in areas of weakness but for the purpose of identifying stumbling blocks and hurdles. If we know where the deficits are, we can then begin to ask the question “why”. Why am I not enjoying God in this season? Am I angry with Him? Am I too busy? Do I feel forgotten by Him? Am I overwhelmed by a list of responsibilties? Am I spending any time with the body of Christ or am I operating in my faith journey alone? Do I spend the majority of my time with people who have no interest in enjoying God?
The questions can go on and on. I encourage you to carve out some quiet time before January 1st rolls around to sincerely ask these questions. Many of us may be faintly aware of a “distancing” from God, but cannot pinpoint why. Ask God these questions. Ask Him to reveal to you where the dissonance is. He is faithful and He will respond.
Each December I begin asking the Lord to give me a word that will help anchor me in Him for the upcoming year. One year the word He gave me was “faith,” another year “finish” and another “trust.” Every year God has proven trustworthy to provide a meaningful word that truly points me to His sovereignty, compassion and guidance. In the coming days, create some quiet space to talk to God and to listen for His often still, small voice. This year, He has already made clear my word for 2024 through a repeated Psalm and a conviction of sin. “Why, Lord, do I wrestle with anger?” I asked. Through a family Bible study, God revealed to me, “Because you are focusing on all the things that need fixing - the negative.” Within days of that revelation, God led me to Psalm 37:4 two separate times . . . on the same day.
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
I knew in that instant what my 2024 word was supposed to be: DELIGHT. It is my prayer that God will prove His love for you as you seek Him for wisdom.
2. Emotionally
For me, personally, my emotional stability has direct ties to my spiritual and physical health. For this reason, I’ve sandwiched it in the middle of the list. Identifying our feelings is important. To ignore them is foolish, but to rely upon them to make decisions can be destructive.
This year I have had the honor and privilege to start a classical Christian school for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We have seven students attending our school, our daughter being one of them. One of the unique challenges we have faced this year is recognizing that many of our students have a hard time identifying and recognizing their feelings. Labeling an emotion feels abstract and, in turn, many of our students struggle to properly advocate for themselves. For example, a classmate took a toy from one of our students. The “victim” began to tear up and when we asked, “Are you sad?” he wiped away his tears and said, “I’m fine.” But he clearly wasn’t. He was sad, yet he struggled to know how to communicate the feeling and then properly come to a resolution with his peer so that the toy could be returned. One of our amazing teachers at school has been working diligently with our children in helping them first recognize when they feel “good” or “bad”. From there, she is teaching emotions that might fall into those two categories. And, from there, she is giving examples and circumstances when those feelings might arise.
Why are we spending so much time on feelings, especially when they are fleeting? Well, I believe that the God who created us did not make a mistake when He gave us a vast array of emotions by which to feel. In fact, when I am abiding in Him consistently, I emotionally feel content, at peace and safe. As an empath, I thank God for the gift of emotions!
So, let us take a pulse on our emotions! How are you feeling first thing when you wake up in the morning? Are you energized? Are you thankful? Are you depressed? Are you sad? How are you feeling midday? At the end of the day?
Once we take an honest assessment of our emotions we can dive deeper into the cause of our emotions. Because “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9) we must be aware that sometimes our emotions are rooted in sin. For this reason, we cannot respond to our feelings every time we feel them! We should recognize them. Inquire about them. And then sumbit them to the authority of our Lord and Savior.
I have been reading an interesting book called “Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate” by Jerry Bridges. If you are looking to FEEL convicted, this is your read. Ha! It is helping me to understand that patterns of worry (i.e. emotional anxiety) are rooted in a lack of trust. Where trust is lacking, fear is lurking. And fear, my friends, is the enemy’s best friend. If my goal is to walk in the emotional freedom afforded in Christ Jesus, I must dig deeper and pinpoint WHAT are my worry triggers? WHERE am I physically most often when these feelings arise? WHY do these circumstances lead me to doubt and mistrust?
From there, I can begin to put a strategy in place to heal emotionally. Maybe there is a biological connection to the emotion. For example, science proves that exercise can reduce stress. Do I feel less worried when I am consistently moving my body? Have I fallen out of rhythm with healthy exercise habits? Vitamin and mineral deficiencies in B-6, Zinc, Magnesium and Iron have also been linked to anxiety (1). Am I consuming pharmaceutical-grade vitamins that are formulated just for me based off of my epigenetics and DNA?
Maybe there is a spiritual deficit. Do I feel less anxious the more time I spend worshipping God? If so, what does my current worship routine look like? Am I singing praises to Him? Am I spending quiet time with Him? Am I reading His Word? Do I have an arsenal of Scripture memorized to equip me in the face of sinful temptations? Am I in community with other believers who are also worshipping Him?
3. Physically
One of the most popular New Year’s resolution goals is weight loss. That’s not a bad goal. But it is can be a daunting one if you do not first “take a pulse” on your physical health patterns. Sadly, only 9% of Americans complete their resolutions, 23% quit by the end of the first week and 43% quit by the end of January (2).
Is it because weight loss is an impossible goal to achieve? My own weight loss journey proves that to be false (I dropped 25 lbs back in 2012 and have kept it off for over a decade).
Is it because weight loss is a selfish goal? Absolutely not! Dropping unhealthy fat from my body improved my joint health, helped increase my energy and, in turn, has helped me to be an active Christian woman who is able to physically fulfill her calling to be a wife, mom, school director and entrepreneur.
I believe that most people fail to achieve their weight loss goals because they first failed to take a pulse on their reality. When I began my healthy lifestyle journey, I was a year old in my walk as a Christian. I had responded to a call to join the worship team at my church, but I was so exhausted that rehearsals Wednesday evenings felt cumbersome instead of liberating. My unhealthy weight was inhibiting me from responding to one of God’s first invitations to follow Him.
Upon identifying the goal, I also needed to find others with whom I could confess this struggle. They would serve as my encouragement and accountability. Goals set in isolation often die in the dark. Bring your goals to the light and ask for help.
There were many contributing factors to my lack of energy. I was overweight. I was dehydrated. I was eating fast food in the morning. I was drinking sugary coffee in the afternoon. I was not working out. And I was consuming very few micronutrients. If I had tried to “fix” all of those deficits at once, I would have failed; I believe this is yet another reason most people do. The plan to be resolute involves too long a list to be sustainable. We overestimate what we can accomplish in a month and underestimate what we can accomplish in a year.
Selecting one area to focus and improve upon leads to significantly more success. It is the concept of baby steps, friends! Celebrating small victories is healthy and life giving. Add one healthy step at a time. Gain some traction on it. Allow it to develop into a healthy habit over thirty to ninety days. Once it has become a part of your new routine, get back with that trusted friend and add on another small step in the right direction.
Don't Do it Alone:
Just as my daughter could not possibly assess her own sleep study, we often need somebody else to help us go through the process of taking a pulse on our spiritual, emotional and physical lives. This is why my husband and I started PLUCK! We believe that through Christ we can all lead courageous lives. One of the most courageous steps we can take is to ask for help. Our western culture screams at us to live as independently as possible, but that is not the Biblical message. We were never created to do life alone. Brandon and I love partnering with men and women who are ready for change but need help walking through the process. We invite you to join us for a free encouragement and accountability group kickstarting January 8th. The main objective is to help you identify and accomplish one small goal. We will have a private FB group, weekly prizes and everybody who participates will get free shopping credits to use for ID Life products! Contact us for details! We also invite you to schedule a free consultation with us. Whether we’ve been walking with you for a decade or we’ve never met, this consultation is a great next step in “taking your pulse” and achieving your goals.
May God guide your next steps as you seek to follow the Good Shepherd into 2024.