Disjointedness with God and life occurs when we either run behind or ahead. We neither keep pace with God nor go on beyond ourselves. Hence, the track of life is being missed.
The biggest challenge many of us will face is either living on a ‘milk only’ spiritual diet where no growth occurs, or we introduce ‘meat’ too early and we get spiritual indigestion. Crises of faith arise for the latter problem, often bringing about cases of acute backsliding, and for the former, the key issue is we’ll never grow in a static seed-bed.
Both of these above are missing the marked path God has for them.
Enjoying the ‘Right Meal’
Progressing with the analogy we’ve commenced with, we can readily see some ‘eating disorders’ coming out of the imbalances in our spiritual diets. Milk only and no solids is not only bland, it does very little for the growth of our spiritual gut, a part of the anatomy that must be lined for more challenging spiritual food.
And, yet, there is little good putting those complex meats into our systems too early. The foundation of shifting sand does nothing for the torrent of spiritual anxiety to come (see Matthew 7:24-27) which is readily seen producing an acid-overburden with gastric abnormalities expected. We must therefore do our homework and proper preparation before we think of chewing such arduous material.
The ‘right meal’ is that which is right for us at the right time—God’s time.
This is about finding the right God-destined track—a customised and balanced diet—that fits with our current groove, and it’s walking humbly with the Lord (Micah 6:8) from then on.
Addressing These Two Great Problems
If we’re given to backsliding or we feel we haven’t grown in years—which is characterised by a lacking in Christian or character maturity for our time since re-birth into the faith—there might be a good reason to take the questions deeper to God.
Indeed, all of us are probably destined to lean toward one of these great problems or the other, as is our personal predilection; the bold ones given to backsliding and the timid ones to stagnancy.
Knowing the particular issue that may’ve actually clung to us from our pasts is good self-knowledge to have, particularly for our futures.
God’s agenda is getting us onto his track. This is not an easy place to find at times, and it’s bound to shift dynamically, so learning to stay in this groove that God has for us as persons is a key spiritual competency.
Blessed are those who master it, keeping to God’s ancient path for their lives.
© 2010 S. J. Wickham.
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