Health Alert: Read At Your Own Risk
In a state of complete and utter exhaustion I visited my doctor in the hope of a miraculous and instant cure. He complimented me for all I do in caring for and looking after others, then having gained my full attention, he looked me in the eye and asked, ‘Who is looking after you?’
Health Alert: Read At Your Own Risk
Today I ask you the same question – Who is looking after you? Who is responsible for, or who is taking the responsibility to look after and care for you?
Kay Warren (wife of Rick Warren) was asked at a leadership conference, ‘What is the one thing you would tell women in ministry?’ She replied, ‘No one is going to take care of you but you’.
The responsibility for your personal self-care rests with you.
You may say : God takes care of me.
Yes He does. But let’s be a little honest and realistic. How loudly, and for how long, would God need to shout in order for you to think Him serious, that He really did want you to schedule a massage into your appointment diary?
You may say : My husband takes care of me.
Yes he does. Your husband loves and supports and is thoughtful toward you. Only what happens during those large chunks of time when he is in his cave, or consumed with the church’s programme, or walking with a family through their crisis, or is away on a missions trip; and you are left without him to fare for yourself?
You may say : People in my congregation take care of me.
Your people, as wonderful as they are, also have busy lives to live and their attention is on what is happening in their own world.
You may pop into their mind on occasion and they may even follow through with a quick prayer, text, or invite for coffee, but mostly not. A good percentage of the time your people will only make contact with you when they have a need to do so.
The bottom line is that you, and you alone, must take the pivotal key role in looking after you; in looking after your physical and emotional health and your soul’s well-being.
Action: Diarize now, a time to contemplate on, and to put into place, an action plan of how to take better care of yourself.
