Living over the edge certainly affords
one the opportunity to look at life with a set of eyes that perhaps
would not be possible otherwise.
Let's look at the natural man and the
spiritual. For man years I have lived with a complete focus on the
spiritual man and in so doing have constantly pushed the boundaries.
It has not been a conscious choice to go farther but rather being on
a path that only allows forward movement. There are a few things that
stand out to me that would possibly have made the path a little
easier to walk.
The importance of ministering to our
natural man is imperative. It under girds everything we are able to
do spiritually. We cab get so far out there spiritually that our
natural man just cant stand up under the strain. Our natural man can
live moments of extreme spirituality but in actuality the more we
live spiritually the more we need to understand how to minister to
our natural being. The being that cannot and will not ever be able to
enter and maintain a spiritual walk.
There are many potential issues that
arise from neglecting our natural being and maybe we can touch on a
few. Firstly we need to find natural outlets that bring life. The
natural temptation is to gravitate towards quick fixes and quick
gratification. There are a lot of areas that feed into this but
ultimately these areas do not bring life to our being they suck life
while giving pleasure. Perhaps one easily identifiable area is
eating. When the pressure is on it can be easy to seek out comfort
foods and in so doing we make a rod for our won backs.
The issue has been for many that
religion steals the creativity of life and often traps us into a life
of purpose. In other words if there is not a purpose for everything
we do then it is a waste of time. For example a musician once inside
religion starts to put a purpose on their playing and in so doing
they give the very life of the gift away. In my understanding of this
path I can see that many inside religion have never taken the time to
waste time. They have not discovered what it is they truly enjoy and
like doing. Not for anyone else or for purpose or for evangelizing or
such. This is the foundation core of the problem. Never having taken
the time to minister to their natural being in a pure way they cannot
ever walk greater spiritual ways.
To be honest God cannot do too much
with us spiritually lest he drives us into lustful pleasures that
ultimately hurt our whole being. I don't see that God cares about the
individual acts so much as he cares about the state of our being.
Realistically what greater example is there of this than with Elijah.
He got so far out on the spiritual landscape that he woke up one day
and melted down with fear. In essence he had a breakdown and God
ministered life to him but ultimately recognized Elijah was all done
and took him home to glory.
One clearly visible additive to buffer
the depression of spirituality are electronic distractions. Movies,
internet and such just dumb down our brain. They generate nothing and
leave us with nothing they are life stealing by the very nature of
what they are. I can see Elijah after threatening Jezebel turning on
his computer and watching a movie. For sure it would have been an
escape but it does not minter life to the spiritu man but rather it
breaks the bridge of life between the natural and the spiritual.
I know for a fact that without
somewhere to rest your brain you will collapse and the feeling of
being able to see the line of sanity in your life is terror in
itself. To skirt the line of know you have been to the line and God
pulled you back is to me crippling in itself. To have the cloud of
the sanity of this world haze your mind is disturbing. Now most will
never be disturbed by such as they live constantly under such a
cloud. Having created a false reality we find comfort in feeding that
reality and our security lies in living that reality. In reality we
can never be free of this man of death.
So I think of Paul and his tent making.
Many would say Paul made tents for money but having walked some of
these paths I submit a different idea. Could it have been Paul made
tents to just minister to his natural man. Maybe he enjoyed the whole
dynamic of tent making and did it to minister life to his natural
being that was struggling with the spiritual. Paul was in essence
taking a time out.
So if we desire spiritual we must be
faithful to our natural. Not its lustful desires but rather to flow
with what brings life to the natural. Maybe we will cook or exercise
of draw or play music the things we can do are endless. But for the
sake of who we are it is imperative we do something that is life to
our natural being. Then our spiritual man is able to soar in places
it could never have gone before.
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