I'm Not Okay, but I Want to BeShembull

On our journey to being okay again, we also need to discipline ourselves by exercising self-control. There are so many circumstances that are out of our control, but we can control our response to them. No one gets excited about being disciplined, but it is necessary. 

Discipline is an effective habit that establishes what we do over and over, even when we don’t want to, until it becomes a lifestyle. Peter tells us to discipline ourselves, or to make it a habit of being okay even when our circumstances are not. Someone who is successfully living a healthy physical lifestyle would probably say that they have intentionally worked hard at exercising no matter what, eating right no matter what, and getting enough rest no matter what. Vacations, holidays, and the weather cannot deter them from maintaining their healthy lifestyle because they have disciplined themselves in the different areas needed to maintain physical health. Becoming disciplined at anything requires sacrifice and intentional work. Most importantly, discipline requires the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.  

When we are not okay but want to be, we have to study the Bible no matter what, pray no matter what, and spend time communing with our Lord no matter what. Our spiritual lifestyle matters if we are to endure trials of any kind, no matter the season. When we establish a routine of meeting with Jesus daily, anything that tries to disrupt that precious time will not succeed. We need to grow our relationship with Him until we crave it so deeply that we aren’t okay with going moments without Him. We need to get so intimately close to Him that our day just doesn’t seem to go right or feel right when we haven’t taken the time to spend with Him. Anything else will keep us living defeated and hopeless. 

Job demands zap our energy. We work as free Uber drivers for our children. It’s so easy to get caught up in a Netflix binge or to scroll through our Instagram feed for the 100th time in a day and miss out on making our spiritual life the priority. 

In what areas of your life could you use more discipline, so that day-to-day activities and challenges aren’t distracting you from spending quality time with Jesus?