Give us each day our daily bread… Luke 11:3 (NIV)
Daily Practice – The Practice Series – Part 3
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
CS Lewis said:
“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.”
(Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer).
Sure, you can go a day without food and water. But days at a time? Not so much. Health is a daily practice. It can’t be set and forget (although, that's how I treat nutrition at Christmas season – hello pudding), or if it is, we have to take responsibility when our ill-health causes us to remember that our daily practices are somewhat important.
Relying on God isn’t a catchy phrase we can use whenever we want to abdicate personal responsibility from something: “I’m just waiting over here, waiting, doing nothing, relying on God…”
To rely on the Divine is to be awake and alive to his presence in all things. It empowers us to take responsibility, rather than ignore it, when things go wrong, or when change is needed, or a job needs to get done, or healing needs to be pursued.
God is our strength, right? It doesn’t mean that WE don’t have to do anything, but rather when we open ourselves up to the possibility of the Divine's presence in every situation… well, anything could be possible. Especially the idea that we can do this thing called “life” and make each other, and the world, better. Not worse.
It’s a daily practice.
Here’s an example:
For most of us, forgiveness doesn’t happen in an instant. You can’t be hurt and wounded by someone one minute, then forgive them the next and be completely damage free. Most often, forgiveness and healing (the two seemed to be entwined) take time.
Forgiveness is a daily practice. We engage in it until we’ve learned that we have indeed forgiven. There’s grace for the practice. There’s daily bread for it, too. So don’t beat yourself up if you can’t forgive the person/institution/situation in an instant. Engage it as a daily practice. Sometimes it helps to adopt a physical ritual for the practice.
Write down the hurt on a piece of paper, then burn it.
Or bury it.
Or perhaps say a prayer.
Carry a picture with you.
Light a candle.
Listen to a song.
Read a psalm.
Watch a Zombie movie (I legit do this – it's a pressure release for me. #dontjudge).
Do whatever it is that you need to do to engage forgiveness until you’ve lived it all the way through. Whether the forgiveness is for yourself or others, it can take a few days or even a few years. Or more.
Practice, friend. Practice.
Don't “fake it till you make you it.” Engage it every day. Work it out. Play with it, wrestle with it. Shout, whisper, write, problem solve, research… learn. Live into it.
I don’t believe that CS Lewis was being flip with the past when he made this statement (above). I think he was trying to reflect the newness that God can bring even to our most tired and worn out daily practices. His mercies are new every morning; he gives us bread daily… so we can practice, and live into, his grace and love. The problem isn’t in the practice; it's in our expectation of how we overcome.
It takes time. The work is done on the journey. That’s where the gold lies. And if you can grasp that (but again… daily practice), then you’ll know what it is to be free even in the midst of heartache and pain.
PRACTICE
What’s one thing that you’ve been struggling to make a change in? Rather than trying to overcome it in a single moment, adopt a day by day approach. A race isn’t won in a single leap. It’s step by step. One foot in front of the other. *Insert your challenge* is a daily practice.
Go to Part 4 – For God »
Written by Liz Milani. Find me:
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