Have you ever been dehydrated?  I have been a couple times.  The worst case I can remember happened last summer when I tried to prove something to myself.   And then again on vacation recently when I tried working too hard.

Every year the City of Jackson has a celebration called Race Days.  Jackson is very big into sprint car racing where it hosts the World of Outlaws sprint car races.  Rumor has it that Jeff Gordon (big shot NASCAR racer) raced sprinted cars in Jackson a while back.  But anyway…that is not what I want to write about.  I want to write about another race in Jackson that week last year.  That race was a 5K(3.2 miles) run.  In high school I was a cross country runner and running 3 miles plus was no problem.  Actually once each week during practice we would run about 10 miles.  I was not the best runner on the team but I was not the worst either.  I am not sure what it was, but I enjoyed running (and still do to some extent).  So when I heard about the 5K run I wanted to prove to myself that I could still do it. 

I started training.  Actually I was already running but I just stepped things up a bit.  I was no where near my running weight and shape from high school so I did not expect great things.  My goal for the 3.2 mile course was anything under 24 minutes.  In high school I could run 3 miles in around 19 – 20 minutes with my best time being 17 minutes and 48 seconds.  So twenty four minutes was a worthy goal. 

The day came and it was a hot one.  The temperature was somewhere in the 90s with a high humidity.  Not a good combination.  My wife got concerned and did not want me to run but I assured her that everything would be fine.  There would be watering stations along the way and I told her I would be careful.  The race got going and I started at a faster pace than I should have.  I guess I got a little excited.  At the one mile point I got to the first watering station so I grabbed a small glass on the run.  We turned around at the half way point and head back to town.  I got to the watering station again and grabbed more water (a small glass and I needed a lot more than that).  At this point my body was telling me to stop and walk for a bit but my pride told me to keep going.  So I listened to my pride.  Close to the finish line I saw two people ahead of me so I decided to make a run for them.  I kicked myself into a dead sprint (which was easy at this point since I could not feel my legs) and caught the first person.  The second person heard me coming and kicked it down as well.  I did not catch him but I came in under my goal…23 minutes and 58 seconds…under 24 minutes.  But it came at a price.

After I nearly collapsed at the finish line I went to the water cooler but they were out of water.  Not good.  I was feeling dizzy and light headed.  I was dehydrated and over heated.  I needed water and to cool down and to do so in a big hurry.  I managed to find my wife and grabbed her bottle of water and chugged that down.  She did not seem to mind.  I still needed more though.  Eventually I got some more water and cooled down but not before some scary moments for me and my wife.

I write about this because while on vacation last week I was reminded of this scary moment.  We were painting Connie’s grandparent’s house in temperatures in the upper 90s.  I was drinking water all day and taking frequent breaks.  At about 2pm I realized that I had been drinking a ton of water and I had not been to the bathroom all day.  Not good.  I was getting dehydrated again.  FLASHBACK.  So I drank more water and took more breaks. Finally around 4pm my body caught up.

Dehydration is a simple concept; you use/lose more water than you take in.  I definitely did that last year and again last week.  Dehydration is a dangerous inbalance that can cause serious injury or death.  But dehydration in our spiritual lives is just as dangerous and maybe even more.  I have been there too.  I think these past two weeks, when I got out of my routine, I was feeling some spiritual dehydration.  I was continuing my normal "ministry load" but was not refueling myself.  I was sucking myself dry.  Not good.

This is why a regular routine with God is so important.  Even if you are not a pastor or you don’t do ministry "for a living", you still need to refuel.  The every day grind of life can take a lot out of you and eventually dehydrate you spiritually.  We need fresh doses of God each and everyday.  We need to be reminded we are loved.  We need to hear that Jesus died and rose for us.  We need to hear that we are not alone.  The world does its best to help us forget these things ("dehydration").  So take frequent "water breaks" with God.  Refresh your soul.  Know that you are loved.  Because with a full tank of Christ’s love and the knowledge that God is on our side, there is nothing we cannot do.  Praise be to God and Amen! -EDH-