Over the past few months since my schedule changed from working out in the mornings to getting the kids off to school therefore, I haven’t been working out. During this time, I’ve noticed that my energy level has plummeted and my sleep intake has increased. Don’t get me wrong, once I’m up I have tons of energy for the first few hours of the day but after 1:00 it decreases considerably and stays low the remainder of the day. I’m in the bed earlier than normal on days that don’t require extra studying for school and still feel drained. It’s amazing how that one hour of exercise each morning used to carry me through the day.
This also reminds me of how I get when I get out of the habit of having a quiet time with God each day. My spiritual battery runs low and I find myself not as sharp, in control and patient as I am on the days when I make that time to study the word, have personal prayer and quiet time just me and Him. Doing that 15 to 30 minute exchange each day recharges my spiritual battery just like exercising does it for the physical part of me.
Knowing this and applying this to my life consistently is a battle I am facing right now. I don’t have any excuse because I have the time if I use it wisely but I haven’t been a good steward of my time lately. I’ve given in to the flesh and when sleep beckons I’ve allowed myself to let go and catch a few extra minutes in the morning or allowed myself to be lulled into the abyss in the evenings when I lay in bed reading only to awaken a few hours later having not made it past the first paragraph or from my brain to my lips. The pages of my prayer journal are pretty sparse and the peace of having that quiet time is missing.
In a few weeks school will be out and I’m looking forward to the summer when I’ll get back into that routine of working out in the morning since the kids don’t have to get up for school and I can let them sleep in. But I can’t wait until then to jump start my spiritual battery. I need my quiet time to begin now on a steady and consistent basis.
So I am challenging myself to create the habit again of doing this each morning for 15 minutes before getting up and starting my day beginning tomorrow. I know that He will give me the strength I need to get over the hump of missing 15 extra minutes of sleep and I will be renewed with an abundance of energy in return.
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
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