Sustained for the Call Method
If someone like me were to come and ask me for advice or help, they are feeling tired, overwhelmed, just exhausted from all the expectations placed on them by ministry, family, church, culture, and of course themselves. The yoke is feeling very heavy and not light. They feel like a stranger in their own body, not understanding why they hate the way they look, feel helpless with secondary food, noting changes associated with menopause but just don’t know what to do.
What would I say?
First, any physical issue is a spiritual issue. The first step in any of this is to find God, talk to him, settle in with him, and work from that place.
For many women like me that is going to start first with sabbath. True rest. Not just taking a break, but true rest. How can a woman busy, inundated with things, expectations out the wazoo slow down? This takes deliberate thought, planning, and and true idea of what you desire.
Desire is a at the crux of all we are. So start there, what do you really desire? Is it a relationship with Jesus? Is it a good family? A tight body? A perfect social life? What do you desire and where is your energy going to get this? If it’s not a true relationship with Jesus, why, and how can that change?
Next step is not to do more, but to pursue rest, true rest. This again take deliberate thought, life change and steps.
Sabbath being placed into a rhythm is difficult, but with God’s help there are ways.
It’s like pulling off a bandaid. It hurts for a short time, but the healing is a life time. Sabbath is important to God, we see that in all of the Bible, so why is it not important to us? Why do we treat it like a weakness, like something to be ashamed of doing. I always saw it as that, but when I actually started to observe (grant it mine was by force after moving to Uganda), I started to realize that the rhythm of sabbath was truly life giving. And that in itself brought me closer to God.
I think many think Sabbath needs to be a whole day, and yes that is how we observe it here, but really sabbath can be many ways. Taking a break every 7 workout, or 5 workouts, taking a whole month away from extracurriculars to reset, fasting from media, social media, so that your brain can have a sabbath, and offering that time of rest to God as time to spend with him. Your mind, body, emotions all will thank you.
You gotta have a rhythm of rest, to truly understand God’s love and the idea of abundant life through a light yoke.
Next up it’s time to start thinking. Do you realize how often your whole day goes by and you haven’t thought, really thought, in the whole day. Sure you’ve made plans, you’ve kept all the balls rolling, but you haven’t actually payed attention to each thought, it’s just rolling in like waves, you ahven’t payed attention to each emotion associated, if it is sinful what you are thinking, all of this is happening and you are just passively watching it go. You may be so busy thinking math, spreadsheets, finances, minsitry needs, but really you aren’t thinking at all. So do some exercises to help that. First start with a vision, of who you see as the most whole, healthy version of you, take some time to think about that woman, who is she, what is she like, what does she do, what do others say about her. Why are you not that person right now? What is lacking?
To help with the last question we move to another tool. One I love is the IIN wheel of life, I do it a little differently, you take 12 aspects of your life (called primary food in IIN world), you think of each and see where you are in relation to that thing and your relationship with Jesus. For example joy, joy is a primary food for life, we need it, do you have joy in your life, and is this joy rooted in Jesus, you can draw on the wheel closer to the middle if less joy, farther out for more, by doing this you will see areas in your life that are lacking in regards to fullness of God in them, and that’s where the work lies ahead.
So then you start doing the work by taking each aspect and doing different exercises, getting tools, education, learning on these things all the while with the goal of How can doing this help me get closer, have a more fruitful, full relationship with God.
But one thing that is certain all of this cannot happen in a bottle, closed off from others. Community is the sauce that makes it all go together and that is where Sutained for the call comes in. We are here to be that community whether through email groups, group studies, live events, or 1:1 coaching, Sustained for the CAll exists as a place for women who are exhausted, heavy laden, not living the abundant life that God has called us to, to find rest, rejuvenation, and eventually transformation. This is the heart of the ministry. Whether you live in the USA, the Congo, Europe, Australia, this call to abundance is there, and obtainable through the give of Good things. So take this journey with me, let’s learn how to be abundantly sustained for the rest of our time on this earth and teach our mother’s, sisters, daughter, minsitry partners, to be the same.