Staying Charged Up in a World That Drains Your Energy
I’ve had my phone for quite a few years, and honestly, I’m pretty proud of that. Ha! It’s often tempting to get the latest and greatest new technology that’s released, but I’ve been sticking with what I’ve got, and it gives me a comical sense of accomplishment. Perhaps that’s in my genes? At one point, my dad was determined to be the last person on earth to own a cell phone. So maybe resisting new technology is in my blood.😉
One thing that comes with an older phone, though, is an older battery. My phone battery leaves much to be desired. It runs out pretty quickly; in fact, the last couple trips I’ve taken, I made sure to warn my travel buddies that I would not be able to help much with gps/directions because otherwise my phone would die! So what I’ve noticed is that I’ve just gotten in the habit of constantly charging my phone. And when I say constantly, I mean … constantlyyy. For example, yesterday I stopped at home for a few minutes to change my clothes between work and some music rehearsals at church. My phone had basically sat unused for most of the work day, so the battery charge was still at around 70%. But, I plugged it into my car charger as I drove home, and then when I got inside, I plugged it into the wall charger. Why? I’m not entirely sure, because I was just going to be gone for about two hours, and I wouldn’t even really be needing my phone during those two hours. But I’ve become accustomed to watching it carefully and plugging it in anytime I have the chance.
Last fall when I made my annual trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, for a Husker football game, I was out and about on campus taking in some of the early morning game day festivities, and then I made a special stop back at my car for some minutes before the game to charge of my phone so it would be prepared for the unnecessary amount of pictures and videos I would surely take inside the stadium. Keeping my phone battery charged literally (partially) dictated the schedule of my day!
So when I was, yet again, plugging my phone in to charge the other day, I thought to myself, what if I was this diligent and obsessed with my spiritual battery? Does your spiritual battery stay charged up? Or do you ever find yourself feeling sluggish? Maybe you have a hard time waking up for church, or maybe it’s been a long time since you’ve sat down and really enjoyed reading your Bible. Or have you ever stopped and realized that your prayer life has been extremely flat and passionless? God commands us in Scripture to keep our spiritual batteries charged up.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. -Romans 12:11
There you have it! It’s actually a command. I love The Message translation’s version of this verse:
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. -Romans 12:11
Even more than you feel like you just have to keep your phone charged up, you are actually commanded to keep your spiritual charge filled up to the brim. So how exactly do you do this? Well, there’s not one black and white answer. With your phone, you simply plug it into the wall. When it comes to your spiritual fervor, you find ways to plug into Jesus. Nearness to Him is the key. As James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” …and when God is near to you, surely you will feel alive, passionate and charged up in Christ.
With my flailing phone battery, I plug it in for a few minutes here and there throughout the day, and that gets me through. It may not charge my device up to its full capacity, but it charges it enough. In the same way, you can draw near to God and charge yourself spiritually in small ways throughout your day or week. Here are 25 easy ways to stay connected to Him or reconnect, if that’s what you find yourself needing today. Navigating life in a fallen world necessitates constant and quick little charge-ups throughout our daily and weekly routines. You can establish habits and practices that provide the spiritual energy bursts you need to remain spiritually fervent.
But at nighttime, I turn my phone off and let it completely rest and recharge. I plug it into the wall, and there it stays for seven or eight hours while I sleep. So by the time I wake up in the morning, it is FULLY charged up and ready to go. Is God nudging you to turn yourself off and plug into Him for an extended period of time? …so you can be FULLY charged up and ready to go? There are so many ways you can tune out the world for a longer chunk of time and plug into Jesus. Here are three ideas to get your mental wheels turning:
- Block out a weekend on your calendar. Literally, schedule it in! Dedicate 48 hours to drawing near to God. During this time, listen to worship music, meditate on Scripture, pray, listen for God’s voice, and simply sit in His presence. Stay away from your phone and TV. Embrace the silence at times! Go for walks in the great outdoors, and reconnect with the One who made you.
- Designate an extended time period without social media and/or TV. If you’re anything like me, you often find yourself mindlessly scrolling through your phone or watching low quality television during your downtime. Take a month (or longer!) to decisively turn away from worldly media, and then turn toward God during your downtime instead. Rather than browsing Instagram for an hour before bed every night, read a Christian book. Instead of letting the TV provide the background noise in your home, let worship music fill the space. Be intentional about what you’re seeing and hearing.
- Fast from something for 30 days. Pray about this before you begin, and let the Holy Spirit dictate what this might look like for you. John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way ministry has a bunch of resources that can help you with this if you’ve never fasted before. Check them out here! Fasting is a way to humble yourself before God, lay your humanity at His feet, and then grow in strength, wisdom and insight through Him.
Charge up spiritually in small ways continually, but also prioritize intentionally recharging in more thorough and powerful ways. And through it all, remember, to give yourself grace. It’s not easy living in a world that demands seemingly constant amounts of energy at times. But instead of letting your spiritual charge die out, make a plan for how to plug yourself back into the source—Jesus—regularly. When you are energized in Christ, you are more fully equipped to love Jesus and make Him known to the people around you.