Spiritual Diligence vs Spiritual Lethargy

Moving right on into week 8 in our Daniel study, we are headlong into visions and prophecy now. So now is the time for me to chicken out, right? No way, amigas! I'm on safari here. My jeep is getting a little muddy and my hiking boots are nice and worn in now. I'm comfortable with my safari partners. We've traded some great stories around the campfire, haven't we? And when I've started to lose my way a few times, I've had such great compadres to steer me back to where I'm headed. Where we're all headed.


So. Week 8 finds Daniel incredibly disturbed by this particular vision. It screams of bad things to come. It appalled him so much he became physically ill for days. I am reminded of so many times in my life that something has gotten me so upset that I have actually been physically ill by it. I am a major over-reactor at times, I will admit, but there have been honest to goodness times when I am so emotionally distraught that I actually feel as if there is no way possible for me to get up and go about my business. No, in those times I want to crawl a little deeper into the covers and not come out. And then a little time goes by and I become so overwhelmed that I do nothing. Have you ever been so overwhelmed by something that you just don't know where to start? So you do nothing at all? Sigh. I've been there.

Spiritual lethargy. I hate the sound of it. What causes it? I think it's a simple answer. Satan. I miss one day of Bible reading and I hear a whisper, "you are behind now. Don't even bother. You're a quitter." I work weekends as a RN and miss worship with my family. "What kind of a mother and wife are you, anyway?"
I struggle through a particular passage and that old familiar voice pipes in, " You aren't smart enough to understand this." I get distracted while praying. "See. You aren't spiritual enough."

If I'm not careful, I'll give weight to those lies. I'll hear and that hearing will then take root in my spirit. I'll become downcast, blue, and just "not feel right." After a few days, weeks, or months, I'll realize it's been a while since I opened God's word. I haven't been praying regularly. I feel lost. A disconnect.

Diligence implies persistence; a constant and earnest effort (thank you, dictionary.com). No matter how I'm "feeling", I have to be persistent. Daniel didn't care how he felt. He got up. (Note to self: Daniel GOT UP. He did not wallow under the covers watching HGTV or Food Network.)

And so must I. It takes prayer, to be certain. That's where my safari companions come in. I know they are praying for me. I know I have friends to pray when I ask. (And likely they pray for me even when I don't!) But probably most importantly, I have to pray. I have to get up off my hiney and pick up my Bible and dust off my prayer journal and get back to business. Not my business...The King's business. The King. The King of Kings.

Getting on to the King's business,