Spiritual Motion Sickness

I hope you were able to make this year‘s IBSA Women’s Priority Conference.  It truly was a precious time of fellowship as we were given the opportunity to worship King Jesus corporately!  Not only was our faith encouraged by the many conference speakers and teachers but, as always, we were invited to participate and share what God is doing through study and preaching of God’s Word. I am sure I am not alone when I say, there was such a sweet spirit of camaraderie and a palatable feeling of God’s presence and peace throughout.

While the conference has quickly become something I look forward to all year; can I admit that the drive is not?

I’m not usually one to complain as I love to travel. The trip, for me, is about one rest stop shy of 3 hours. Yet, something I have had to learn in my adult life is to take motion sickness seriously.  Yes, I keep Dramamine in my purse, have been known to stash a barf bag a time or two, and will conveniently place myself in the front seat whenever possible–without apology.    

 Motion sickness often seems to appear out of thin air. I’m doing great….until I’m not. The dizziness and nausea almost show up in tandem. Still, other times, it begins as a strange sort of headache with cold sweats and a lot of belching to make the conversation awkward.

I promise, I’m going somewhere with this! 😉

It is believed that motion sickness happens when the eyes, inner ear, and body send conflicting signals to the brain. Most of the natural treatments, therefore, have to do with trying to reconcile these three. In a car, rolling your window down to produce some additional wind may help as your body is given an additional cue to the fact that you are, in fact, moving. Another often used tactic involves redirecting your gaze to the distant horizon. This causes relief because it tricks the brain into seeing less movement which aligns with the perception of the bodies’ impulses that, “Hey, I’m just sitting here.”

I have employed both of these techniques for my motion sickness with overwhelming success, and yet, somewhere on that journey to Springfield I suddenly began to experience symptoms. We serve such a good, and gracious God. He didn’t even waste this small but uncomfortable moment to speak into my life.

I think a lot of us are suffering from spiritual motion sickness.

  We are busy and focusing too much on all the things around us.  We are inundated with so many details and so much information we aren’t able to grasp or process it all.  We strive to keep up with others and stay current with their daily posts. We are obsessed with the latest trends or following our favorite influencers. If I’m not careful I will spend hours scrolling through short videos on my media feed and making plans for way more than I’m capable of doing in my lifespan. Maybe we’re just distracted, tending to the very real responsibilities of our families, friends, and churches. These obligations can stack up fast and neglecting to count the cost even once can bring the whole house of cards crashing down with schedule-altering clarity. Sprinkle in old wounds, past failures, and other spiritual warfare and you, like me, will begin to look just about everywhere but ahead to the distant horizon.

  We must focus on Christ or our whole being will be off-kilter. Not holding our gaze on Him will cause us to feel sick, move sluggishly, and be disoriented, unsure of where we are headed and lacking confidence in what we are doing.

 Maybe you aren’t living in the truth of God’s Word.  Are you believing a lie? Realign with scripture for it is our firm foundation. It may not seem like we are moving forward, after all, God is, in a sense, carrying us. Perhaps, you are struggling to reconcile your spiritual realities and the victory we have in Christ with your current circumstances of loss, hardship, or even death?

  Open a window.  Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness, His promises, and power.  Let His Spirit inform your reality and understanding. You are growing and progressing, our sanctification IS being worked out continually. Reconcile the seen with the unseen, the “not yet” with faith.

At Priority we were reminded of Hebrews 12:1-2a

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus….”

  That steadying horizon and constant presence, the precious Lamb of God whom we behold and worship continually, our guide and comfort, our present help; is Jesus Christ our Lord. May we continually be compelled to behold and worship HIM.