Feeling Good On the Inside

Faith speaks a language all its own.

It converts the will of the flesh to buckle into alignment with the will of the Spirit to secede from brokenness. Faith is the vehicle for overcoming.

Faith also provides the means for feeling good on the inside. But it’s the wisdom of prudence that motivates a person to decide for it. The following three visceral targets are in sight:

1. Peace of Mind

Oh the price for peace between the ears! No more lying awake at night for thoughts whirring through the chastened mind. No more dwelling on matters we can’t affect, or procrastinating over issues we can affect.

Peace of mind is a search. It’s achieved in different ways for different people. But general advice still applies.

Perhaps it’s a matter more of intentional focus, self discipline and the paradoxical ability to relax. Practical things assist. Not taking too much on. Agreeing to not stress or fret about tomorrow, but planning the best we can anyway; then leaving it at that.

For regretful or hurt pasts, we do all we can to deal with them in courage and truth, accepting that God’s grace is sufficient in all these situations. God’s with us and for us.

2. Calmness of Heart

If the mind is the vestibule for thinking, the heart is the portent for feeling.

How do we calm our feelings when most of them occur involuntarily? The answer is we can influence our feelings by the way we think. Even better if we’ve achieved peace of mind!

Even though the mind can bring order to the heart, it’s the heart that underpins our attitudes to everything. There’s good reason to do whatever we can to establish and maintain calmness of heart.

Whatever we do in this area, and abiding to the truth as it’s personally discerned is a big part of it, will be blessed as an investment for the rest of life. From the heart, “flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23b NRSV).

3. Safety of Stomach

Most Westerners take for granted the very basic blessedness in having a full stomach. Our temptation is to overeat, or fill up on the wrong foods. Some of these make us feel sickly inside, whilst others do little for our energy and overall wellbeing.

Safety of stomach is a thing eluding most of us. We tend to put up with bloating and other temporary, but chronic, conditions. We practice the same dietary sins day-in-day-out, interspersed by fleeting ‘diets’ of discipline. Some of these ‘diets’ are over the top.

Feeling good on the inside, for me personally, is about eating three moderate sized meals a day and two pieces of fruit, to be had at snack time. The odd piece of birthday cake is then affordable.

Most of us don’t connect spirituality with our stomachs. But there is a connection.

Ordering Life by Its Consequences

Wisdom must be about planning life around consequences.

If we want to feel well on the inside we’ll be motivated to act in ways that achieves peace of mind, calmness of heart and safety of stomach.

The consequences have it. Life is very predictable regarding these innermost things. If we think, feel and eat well we’ll enjoy preferable consequences.

To have the very best of life we should want to feel good on the inside.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.