SPIRITUALLY FIERCE
Spiritually Fierce Yet Physically Flat – Let’s Talk About It
Have you ever found yourself in a place where everything was going great from a spiritual perspective? What I mean is you are in the right church, the right small group, walking in your kingdom assigned purpose and you may even be a leader in your inner circle. You always have the right words of encouragement for everyone who needs it and from a 360 degree angle, you are appear to be spiritually fierce for Jesus. But what about physically – have you ever been spiritually strong yet physically flat? Well, let’s talk about it because I have certainly been there. A few years ago, I was wearing all kinds of hats in terms of responsibilities: full-time mom, a full-time career, servant leader at my local church and I even managed to squeeze in consistent exercise several times a week. I thought I had it all together from a health standpoint especially since I was training for a few upcoming races. There was however one thing that interrupted my routine on a very consistent basis and that was excruciating headaches. They seemed to intensify as the months progressed and in the beginning I would take Ibroprofen, Motrin or drink a Coca-Cola because the instant jolt of caffeine was enough to give me some temporary relief. Yeah this went on for a couple of months before I decided to see my primary care physician – Dr. Brown.
Nothing could have prepared me for the medical diagnosis Dr. Brown would give me after conducting a thorough examination. In her words – the good news is you will live, the bad news is “You have High Blood Pressure”. In my head, I was thinking wait a second, what in the world, there has to be a mistake because I am in my early thirties. I mean I was running a few times a week and eating well so high blood pressure was not on my radar at all. She informed me that my high blood pressure was a result of stress which affects many people. She placed me on a prescription and asked me to monitor my pressure for the next 30 days as well as consider making some lifestyle changes which included getting at least 6 hours of sleep every night. I took the medicine but I also prayed and began to make some much needed changes to eliminate stress from my life. One scripture the Holy Spirit continued to remind me of was 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (NLT) Since our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we must take authority concerning our health.
Today - I am in such a great place physically and I currently run about 4 to 5 times a week as I train for various races. I can tell you as a single parent to two amazing daughters, it is crucial for me to intentionally maintain a healthy lifestyle so I can continue to set good examples for my children to follow. As a member of the Atlanta Track Club, my next race is an upcoming 10 miler and Half Marathon scheduled for Thanksgiving Day. If you are looking for a place to start, remember all it takes is setting aside 30 minutes in your day to walk, run, jump, swim or participate in some form of cardio activity. Simply put just get up and get moving. I honestly resumed running a few years ago by using the training app called C25k which stands for Couch to 5k. There are also others such as C210K and C221K apps for those with great ambitions of conquering some miles. Consider preparing healthy meals for the entire week to prevent you from indulging in less healthier options. Meal prep also saves valuable time during the week by allowing you to focus on much needed tasks instead of cooking from scratch every single day. Don’t forget to purchase more fruits and vegetables compared to carbohydrates and keep healthy protein snacks around. With God’s help, your will power, prayer and persistence you too can be spiritually fierce + physically fit! I believe you are a winner in Christ Jesus – so Let’s Go Get Healthy!! You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Yes - you are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made for such a time as this.