For several months now I've been telling my husband and friends how much I want to get in shape and really get into a healthy routine. I really have been quite vocal about it. So guess what one of my Christmas gifts was this year? A month with a personal trainer. Pretty cool. On the surface I was excited, but inside, I was thinking yikes, now I really have to do this. Now I haven't really exercised consistently for a long time. So that first session with the trainer was hard for me even though he didn't give me a ton to do. The week following was even harder because my trainer wasn't there with me, I was sore and everything just felt foreign to me. Even so, I stuck with it and as I finished up that first week, I was surprised at how much easier the exercises were for me to do AND I was even looking forward to that time by about day 5.
I just had my second session on Tuesday after two weeks of working out on my own. By this time, I wasn't having any difficulty with the exercise and routine he had given me. But when my trainer arrived for the next session, he changed up the workout a bunch. First, he added more difficult exercises. Then he added more weight on some of them and finally, he had me workout longer. Needless to say, I kind of felt like we were back at that first session. It was hard and my body was weak and tired as we finished. But even as tired as I was, IT WAS AWESOME because I made it through and I know that as I work through this week doing that new regimen, I'm making strides forward in my health and establishing new, better life habits.
So why am I telling you all this? Well it occurred to me yesterday that my experience with my personal trainer wasn't much different than my experience with Bible reading once I finally made a decision and commitment to do it, and even my reading habits today. There were a lot of years where I gave lip service to reading the Bible for sure. I thought the Bible was great; I'd tell people that and I knew I should be reading but somehow, I just never got around to it, or when I did, it would be very sporadic, nothing consistent. I think it's because I was approaching reading my Bible as optional. In other words, my attitude was something like if I have time today I'll read my Bible and then I'd fill my time with other things. Or in the morning I'd tell myself I'll read my Bible tonight and then I was too tired or whatever. But then, something changed and I knew that I had to stop putting God's Word on the back burner. When I finally made that decision, it was exciting, but also a little scary because I wasn't sure I could do it (kind of like my exercise). At first, it was hard. I stumbled and missed a good number of days and felt like I didn't know what I was doing or some days, even why. But I kept pressing on, and I continue to press on, and what I've found is that when I'm consistently in the Word, reading and considering it and asking what does God have for me today, it's easier to understand and apply and I have a desire to come back and read more. But just like my exercise routine, I need to continually be "upping my weight" and when I take that step and dig in deeper or push myself to read more, it's hard--at least for the short term.
So wherever you're at today with your Bible reading, hang in there and stay with it. You're gonna hit some rough spots, miss days and maybe even have some dry spells, but God's Word never returns void. Plus, you're not alone. All of us here at Powered by 4 are right in there with you. Have a great weekend!! Tami W.