When Get Up and Go Gets Up and Goes

The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life and power comes after we 'get up and get going.' God does not give us overcoming life--He gives us life as we overcome."--- Oswald Chambers


Oswald wrote these words a long time ago. How did he know that our culture today would be so draining we’d have problems plodding through our days? So what should I do when my get up and go gets up and goes? Should I simply sit and wait for it to come back? There are days I think it has permanently left the building.

Sometimes my kids would complain that they didn’t feel like going to school. Of course, I dumbly retorted with, “Well, some days I don’t feel like going to work. So what would happen if I didn’t go to work?”

Kids are smarter than that. They equate the job with money. Kids aren’t paid to go to school. So the analogy falls short and the kids’ incentive to attend school is by no means enhanced. So I reverted to the old standby sans rationale…”Get out of bed. You’re going to school because I said so.” After they complied, their agile joints finally got their juices flowing. Often they’d come home saying their day ended up being good afterall.

Often, the body will eventually fall into sync with the mind. Exercise gurus are quick to point out that the feel- good hormone lags behind the action. In other words, the getup and go will return once my get up and go gets going.

I suppose that is true with our spiritual life as well. There are aspects of the Christian life that demand energy often at times when I feel the most depleted. That is when the Father reminds me, “Let his mind be also in you…”

So which comes first? Fortitude or attitude?

Ponder me back.