and okay. i do admit that this is one of the nerdiest xanga post titles ever, but .. bear with the biological terminology. i swear it will make some sense.
HOMEOSTASIS - the body's tendency to maintain a stable, constant condition
homeostasis is basically what keeps our bodies functioning properly. it's what keeps our blood from boiling over when a fever attacks. it's what takes away the drowsiness of the night as we study for midterms and finals. it's even what makes the extreme urge to poo temporarily disappear when there is no toilet to be found.
however, homeostasis is one of my worst enemies. you might be thinking, "what in the world is joan talking about! we probably would have died and fallen apart with every bacterial infection, every measly paper cut, knee scrape, even a surge of great emotion." but no, i understand the absolute necessity for it in the physical sense, but what i speak of isbeyond the physical sense.
so many times, as Christians, we desire something greater. a stronger bond with God. our hearts and minds know and long for it, but we can't seem to pull our bodies in line with our broken hearts.
we see the solution, we want it, we strive for it, and though it may last a day, a week, maybe even a couple of months, soon, homeostasis takes its effect as it always seems to do. it makes us want to revert back to normalcy. our bodies naturally want to go back to a regular, uninterrupted life of sin.
we always hear it, "read the word. pray constantly. keep building your faith." and the list goes on. in response to it, we often respond with nods and attitudes of repentance.. or anger.. or unfortunately, indifference.
it sounds simple enough: read, pray, believe... but why is it so hard? i blame the homeostasis within each and every one of us for our forgetfulness, for our apathy, our lack of devotion. our bodies desperately want to keep sinning. we've been doing it our whole lives and nature tells us it's okay. we crave it. we take pleasure in it. not sinning just isn't as fun, so, we do it. thus, we fail God.
so this is where adaptation comes into play.
ADAPTATION- a process where organisms evolve over a period of time by natural selection, increasing long term success.
i believe that the reason why we constantly fall back into our regular lifestyles is because we try to fight homeostasis as our only enemy. what we forget is that we must first deal with adaptation. Once adaptation takes place, our old homeostasis levels elevate to new heights where we can more successfully live life for God.
we are sinners by nature and we always will be. if we try to adapt and improve on our own, we will always burn out, falling prey to homeostasis over and over again. but there is hope. jesus gives us grace. he gives us the hope of genuine adaptation. he mercifully gives us a chance to escape our vicious, corrupted cycles of homeostasis. we can overcome homeostasis through the adaptation that only God can grant when we earnestly seek him.
so instead of constantly trying to change what we do (homeostasis), we must change our hearts, our mindsets (adaptation) and soon homeostasis falls in line. and of course that sounds just as hard, if not more, but God is always there to guide... just ask for help
