What do you find most helpful in developing your spiritual wellbeing? I hope that many of you have been joining us throughout March, on our spiritual wellbeing challenge – but it’s also Lent, so I’m aware that you may have been doing other challenges too. For example, I’ve also been trying out 40 Acts, and I am on a fasting challenge with the young people at Walsworth Road Baptist Church.
If you have been taking part in any spiritual wellbeing challenge, you will probably find that some tasks have been more helpful to you than others – there may have been some in there that you practice regularly anyway – but I really hope that there has been something in there that was new to you, or that surprised you by the difference it made.
If you found that there were some mixed in which you really struggled with, or that didn’t seem to have any impact on you, then I think that’s okay. God made each of us different – on purpose – and He wants to connect with us all in our own way. Please keep doing challenges like this one to keep stretching and growing your own faith, but please don’t be discouraged if you come across suggestions that simply aren’t you.
But let’s think about the ones that really did make a difference to you. Personally, I’m always surprised by how much longer the day seems to be and how much more I can get done if I take a proper screen break. I’ve learned, for example, never to switch the TV on until the evenings on my day off – it only takes a few TV shows or a couple of hours on Netflix and the whole morning is gone. What could I have got done in that time?
It’s not just about switching the screens and devices off though – it’s about replacing them with something that you know will be good for your spiritual development. I’m generally pretty busy, (and pretty dyslexic!) and to use that time to sit and read several chapters of the Bible would seem incredibly daunting – I know that works for some people (my mum is currently reading 13 chapters a day!!!) but I would get a couple of days in and give up. More than likely, I wouldn’t be able to remember what I had read anyway! Putting on an audiobook is really helpful for me, though. I have a copy of the NIV Bible read by David Suchet, and I find that so much easier than reading. On days when I struggle even to that, I listen to Narnia – it is an amazing allegory for Jesus, and a wonderful reminder that Aslan truly is on the move. I once had a prophecy spoken over me comparing me to Lucy, and I find that to be reminded of what that means is great for my spiritual wellbeing.
So, as we head towards the end of our March wellbeing challenge – and draw closer to Easter and the end of the Lent challenges, I encourage you to take a moment to think. What has best fed your spiritual wellbeing over the past weeks? How can you take that on and make it a regular part of your life?
