Posture
At the end of last year, 2019, I became a cheater and I’m not talking about secretly finding answers to help me pass a test. I mean, even if I had tried to cheat by finding answers to a test, I wouldn’t have been able to read the answers, because my vision was getting bad! That’s what I mean when I say the word cheaters, having to depend on glasses to help me see the words. I wasn’t completely upset about the need for glasses, because I LOVE GLASSES! I’ve been known to wear fakers until my recent need for cheaters. That kinda gives new meaning to “fake it ‘til you make it,” doesn’t it?
With my unforeseen blurry-ness, I found that my posture was somewhat odd while trying to read without glasses. Trying to focus on what I was looking at would either leave me hunch-backed in order to get closer to the words, or with the object in my hand going out one way and my head going back the opposite way. If you’ve ever entered the blurry season, you understand what I’m talking about.
Here’s what I learned: once I strengthened my vision (with a cute pair of glasses), then my posture changed too. Posture follows vision. Once my vision was strong and focused, my posture felt more confident to take in and commit to what was being seen. After taking all of this in—with way more thought than most people probably do when it comes to wearing cheaters—my One Word for 2020 became POSTURE. After praying it through, I wanted to grow in the awareness of my posture, and I wanted to be mindful of my position in any circumstance, much like a Proverbs 31 woman.
I’ve always considered myself far from a Proverbs 31 woman in comparison. After all, I’ve never selected wool or flax; I’ve never evaluated and bought a field; I don’t sew; and, though her lamp never goes out at night, mine is out by 10:00PM. But this isn’t about all of that. While reading through this chapter several times, verse 25 spoke out to me, as if it was telling me that I’m more like her than I think.
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and her position is strong and secure; and she smiles at the future (knowing that she and her family are prepared). Proverbs. 31:25 amp
I feel like she could hold herself in such good posture, because she followed the Lord so well. She feared the Lord—not in a scary way, but in a devoted way. She had the posture of a follower, as she followed the vision cast before her and smiled with hope for the future. I bet when people saw her, they saw Jesus.
When thinking back over this past year, has my posture been that of perfection? Unfortunately, it hasn’t. I’ve been slumped in self-doubt, arms crossed in anger and frustration, and straight-backed like Mary Poppins with pride. I can say that in each of these unfortunate positions I’ve learned that the posture of prayer will get me to other side. I had to stop beating myself up every time I didn’t think I was living up to my One Word commitment. Realizing it isn’t a one-and-done lesson. It’s a daily choice to be strong and secure in who I am in Him, and even having a good laugh when it doesn’t go my way. With the right posture, I will see things through to the future He has for me.