Spiritual Highs

Man, that 2 day conference that just ended was amazing! The singers and speakers gave you goose bumps and the message really applied to YOU! It's like the person on stage was looking right into your soul. They had followed you around, and was basing their message on your experiences.
When it was over, you went forward and re-surrendered your life to Christ. You made a vow in front of your close group of friends that went with you that you were going to make some changes. You promised to read your Bible more often, to pray everyday, to share the Gospel with whoever you came into contact with, and even decided to step up and fill a ministry position at church. You couldn't be any happier, for once in your life you feel like everything is going just right. You feel empowered, like you can take on anything!  You feel like you and God are closer than ever and you are totally and completely in His will.


 What you are experiencing is what is referred to as a "Spiritual High"
A Spiritual High is what you get when you have 'encountered God' so to say.
You get, just like I said above, all fired up for God...but how long will it last?

By now you are back in your hotel room, packing all your things, and dreading the drive back to reality in the morning.

You will have to actually make time to study God's Word and pray.
You will be so bogged down between playing catch up on the project you were assigned at work and playing catch up with your everyday house chores (all that laundry you packed to take to the conference isn't going to wash itself, and you know no one in your family washed the clothes in the hamper while you were gone, did they?)

But you decide, nope! I'm not going to let it get to me. I will keep the promises i made while at the the conference!

Day 1 goes by, you spend 30 minutes reading you Bible and praying AND you witnessed to the lady at the grocery store. 

Day 2 goes by, another 30 minutes spent studying and praying, and you mustered up enough courage to start a conversation with that guy you work with about Christ.

Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and so on eah day passes and each day you keep your promises and commitments until...

By the end of the first month you are starting to slip a little. Instead of 30 minutes a day you are lucky to get in 10 minutes. You begin to stop sharing your faith openly with strangers because of that man in the park who through your tract on the ground and told you he wasn't buying your crap.

You start to think to yourself, "Man, no one told me it was going to be this hard...but I gotta keep trying."

Then something happens that you weren't expecting.
Maybe it could be you lose your job,  a family member passes away, maybe you become ill and end up on the hospital, or any other number of things happen and you begin to get angry.
you say, "Lord! What's going on here? I've been faithful. I've read my Bible. I've prayed everyday. I've even led a couple people to You. Why are you letting this happen to me?"

It's at that point of desperation you have to make a decision. Do you give up and say it's not worth it, that you don't FEEL like doing this anymore? or do you buckle down and say that God has a plan and continue to fight on?

Because honestly that's exactly what your Spiritual High is, a FEELING...and that feeling isn't going to stay with you forever. It's not like you can live at a conference, now can you? As cool as that would be, I don't think it will happen...sorry to burst your bubble.

If I only did what I felt like doing, in all honesty, I probably wouldn't get much done.
The same can be said for my spiritual walk, if I only praised God and worshiped Him and did what He commanded me when I felt like it, that wouldn't do much good.

If you think about it...I'm sure Jesus didn't FEEL like being beaten, mocked, and crucified...but He did because He knew that's what He was supposed to do. He did it because He loved us.

And if He was willing to DIE for us, even when He probably didn't feel like it and even though He knew the pain He was going to have to suffer through...shouldn't we at least chose to LIVE for Him even if it may make us a teeny-weeny bit uncomfortable?

I love the line in the song "Let Everything That Has Breath" by Matt Redman that says:

"Praise You when I'm laughing
Praise You when I'm grieving
Praise You every
Season of the soul."

Does it say "Praise you when I'm laughing and forget you in the bad times"? No.

Does is say "I'll praise You when I'm feeling good and everything is going my way and turn from you when the storms hit"? No.

Does it say "Praise you at the conference when I'm feeling all the goose bumps but go straight back to my old ways when I return home to reality."? No.

Its says to praise Him when you are laughing and to praise Him when you are grieving, No matter what you are going though, you should praise Him "every season of the soul." 

It may not always be easy, but I can assure you  it will be worth it in the end when you hear the Lord say, "Well done my good and faithful servant." So what do you say....

Can you make that decision to love and follow God regardless of your feelings?


 "It's easy to praise when all is going right, but I believe true character is found through adversity"


Live...Laugh...Love
Until Next Time,
Racheal <3