Pushin' Through

"I just don't want to!"

Getting to the gym by 5:30 A.M. or staying warm in my nice, comfy bed?

Salad or peanut butter and jelly sandwich followed by some chocolate?

Running over to my neighbor's to invite her to church or deciding it's just too much trouble to load the kids up in the van?

Folding that pile of laundry or "taking a break" to read a book?

Choices, choices, choices! Why are some of these things even a struggle? It's obvious which one is the best thing to do! But, boy, do I struggle with these at times (or maybe lots of times!). This week, while I was working through (read: thinking I was dying in) a class at the gym, the instructor barked out, in her drill sergeant tone, "You've got to push through the 'I don't want to!'"

The truth of that statement hit me like a ton of bricks! The Lord has been teaching me that, to succeed in accomplishing what is best or in what He has called me to do, I simply have to decide that I'm going to do it, whether I feel like it or not. For me, that means exercising and eating decently - because I can serve him better if I am healthy (and HE knows how badly heart disease runs in my family!) That means being a witness for Him - whether it's "convenient" or not. And that even means getting the laundry done - since I am perfectly capable of completing that task AND my young family and working husband depend on me for that! I know. None of this rambling is very profound. But isn't it the "I don't want to" that holds us back from doing what's best, or more importantly, from what God wants us to do?

To help conquer the "I don't want to," I've learned and am still learning to make lists and make things routine. That way, the thing that I may not "feel" like doing becomes "The next thing on my list" or "The thing that it's time to do now." No debate. Who cares whether I feel like it. It's settled.

So, these days, I'm learning, very slowly at times, just to "push through the 'I don't want to!'"

"He that hath no rule over his spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls." Proverbs 25:28