Complications of Neglect
Something last night grabbed my attention.
I was reading a book I just picked up, Room for Good Things to Run Wild, and I came across this line:
“There are all kinds of complications that grow in the shadow of neglect.”
The author was talking about how neglecting his body by numbing the pain of his life with alcohol had caused his life to spiral into a million “complications in the shadow of neglect”.
It had impacted his wife. His children. His job. His soul.
Like a garden that goes untended, things unravel quite quickly when we neglect them. The dangerous part is that neglect seems inconsequential at first. But it doesn’t take long for the complications to spiral.
As I was meditating on this sentence, I felt the Spirit prod me. Not with guilt or shame, but with an invitation. An invitation to consider in my own life if there was anything I was neglecting, and if that neglect was causing any complications in my life.
It is something I am still pondering; maybe you will too.
Is there anything in your life you are neglecting? As you consider, know that the Spirit doesn’t remind us of the complications (or repercussions) of neglect to make us feel bad. It is more of a diagnosis and an invitation to a healthier way of being.
Some possibilities of neglect, to get your thinking going:
Your body. Maybe your physical, mental, or emotional health is slipping because of neglect.
Your soul. Maybe your disciplines with God, prayer, Word, worship, have thinned, and your capacity to enjoy Him has dulled.
Your relationships. Maybe friendships, or even your marriage, have become undernourished, and the complications are showing.
What area in your life are you neglecting?
“There are all kinds of complications that grow in the shadow of neglect.”
Considering with you,
Josh.