Spiritual Jet Lag (Part 3)

I found another parallel between jet lag and spiritual jet lag which is worth some reflection.

Your pre-flight condition
If you're over-tired, excited, stressed, nervous, or hungover before the flight, you are setting yourself up for a good dose of jet lag. How many times have you heard travelers say "Don't worry, I'll catch up on the flight"? Well you don't. The wise traveller who wants to get the most out of a trip has a good night's sleep prior to departure.

http://www.nojetlag.com/jetlag1a.html

This is pre-flight stuff! We're always talking about the morning after, but this is more about the day before. I wonder how many "days before" I have had in my journey with Jesus where these pre-flight conditions had an adverse affect on the next day.

Often over-tired from work I have sometimes had a difficult time in the morning reading the Bible, praying, and and writing in my journal. Sometimes I just fall asleep.

Sometimes I'm excited about something that's coming up in the journey - a ministry opportunity or an invitation to be a main speaker in a conference. Whatever it may be, rather than getting a good night's rest, I'll pull an "all nighter" and obsess over what I'm going to say.

Stressed? Yes. Nervous? Yes. I am not the most pleasant person to be around when I'm packing or preparing for something big that is coming tomorrow.

I hear a lot about there being "joy in the journey" but sometimes I sabotage that journey before it even gets started!

Maybe this is why Jesus so often got away from the crowd and the disciples to a quiet place. I tend to interpret this as post-ministry rest and prayer time. But maybe it is actually pre-ministry rest and prayer time. Knowing where he had to travel the next day, knowing the people he had to encounter, knowing their needs, and knowing the ministry he would do - he got his rest he needed and prayed. So Jesus was able to maintain good pre-flight conditions and therefore did not suffer from spiritual jet lag.