When I was asked to give the devotional in our teacher in-service meetings this week, I planned to talk about true, biblical self-care (which is not the same as just taking a bubble bath and eating a piece of chocolate. But, more on that another time). As I went through the rest of my day, however, I sensed that that was not what God wanted me to share. Instead, every time I checked Facebook, posts asking me to choose a word for the year kept popping up. It seemed like all of my friends were doing them. Now, I originally had no thought or interest in participating. But whenever I’d see the posts, the same word kept coming to mind: recalibration. Out of curiosity, I decided to look up the definition. According to Merriam Webster, it means “to calibrate (something) again”. Following up, I checked the definition of calibrate, which means “to standardize (something) by determining the deviation from a standard so as to ascertain the proper correction factors; to measure precisely (against a standard)”. This stopped me in my tracks, but the quote accompanying the definition simply gave me chills: “these systems gradually drift off course so that the navigator periodically needs a fresh point of reference to recalibrate the navigation system”. (Nando Pelusi)
I realized that I had allowed myself to drift in my spiritual walk with the Lord, and had gotten away from the Standard. Has that ever happened to you? Where you get so busy in your day-to-day life that time in the Word, time in prayer, just gets shoved to the side? It doesn’t start intentionally, of course. I don’t know many Christians who say, “Reading the Bible and praying isn’t important or isn’t a necessary part of my life.” What happens, after all, if we married couples quit spending time with our spouses? What would happen if we went days….weeks….months….years without actively seeking them out? The marriage would die, of course. All good relationships, including marriage, must be nurtured in order for them to thrive and deepen. Including our personal relationship with Jesus.
Last year was stressful, no doubt. But now, at the start of a new year, maybe we all need a little recalibration to set us back on the path we should be following. In my life, there are a couple areas where I need to make an adjustment back to my Standard. Most importantly, I need to spend time in daily prayer and Bible study. To that end, I’ve purchased a new 365 devotional and have set aside some time each day to pray and study God’s Word. And two, I need to recalibrate my health. Being overweight and out of shape is not God’s best for me -- particularly in the midst of a pandemic where those who are the most unhealthy are the most at risk serious, long-term, even deadly health issues. I’m back on my eating plan, currently undergoing a 10 day sugar detox that will help recalibrate my body to where it needs to be to begin efficiently burning fat. I’ve also committed to walking what amounts to a mile a day to build up strength and endurance.
What areas need recalibration in your life? What steps are you going to take to make it happen? If you’re not sure, ask God to reveal to you areas where you’ve gotten away from the Standard, and what you can do to get back to where you need to be.
(In doing an online search for Scripture verses relating to this issue, I found an article written by a pastor that sums up exactly everything I wanted to say. You can find the article here: https://www.pastorcare.org/single-post/2017/09/08/do-you-need-to-re-calibrate)
