Monday, July 26, 2010

Regenerative Capacities of the Holy Kind

There comes many times of growth and renewal; fatigue is a necessary and chastening by-product. The person harnessing regeneration in their fatigue will travel farthest in life.

Rock bottom moments are good. They’re opportune times provoking recovery.

There are at least two problems with these statements, however. Many people both find themselves at the point of a chronically-manifested rock bottom—the reality they can’t escape from; others, when finding themselves at this place, do not respond to the call of courage to hone in on recovery via the path of honesty.

Both issues work semi-circular; in, over and through themselves, mixing together, to an often-confused mess. Despair is the usual outcome.

The Fundamental Importance of Surrender

For a human being to come close to that which pertains to the holy there is a requirement: surrender.

In other words, repentance is the key to being close to God. Unfortunately, repentance—as a concept—is narrowed to ‘wrong’ these days, i.e. wrongs we overtly ‘do’. But, repentance is a whole lot more. At its base it’s simply turning back to God, as recognition that we’ve left the good path—usually after we hadn’t realised it.

Surrender is the point of decision when we choose to repent. The path to recovery is then laid out before us.

God’s Way or the Highway of Desolation

I’m unsure there is a way back to the proper design of spiritual regeneration without God; it’s certainly beyond my experience and knowledge if there is. God is truth, after all—all truth—so these maladies are ‘fixed,’ or at least attended to, only through the touch of God’s Spirit.

The regenerative capacity is something—a skill if you like—that we all need.

Recovery from things that would exhaust us, according to a long list, is very much contingent upon the capacity (or the quantifiable ability within potential) to identify the need and then put in place the plan to get to the desired place of regeneration, via—in most situations—the process of rest.

Rest – for the Weary

Rest is a decision, and it’s often made boldly. This means disappointing people. It might also mean disappointing ourselves for a time.

It certainly means delaying our goals and jumping clean over the interceding frustration. But the delay now will pay handsomely, later.

If we want to get better or stay spiritually healthy we must take our rest—the best way it works for us.

Rest is the golden nexus of regenerative capacity; it’s the time we allow God’s Spirit to pour into us more hope of inspiration, more innate energy of vision, and clear purpose enshrined in eternity.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.

No comments:

Post a Comment