Life, everyday living, can seem like a task….and truthfully
some days it is, most days it is. Some days making the decision to pick out our
outfit, decide what to cook for dinner or making time to go to the gym is the
biggest life changing decisions we can handle. Life is hard. Working, keeping a
clean house, keeping a happy husband and family, getting to the gym, eating
right, ohhhh and that important “finding time for God” thing is overwhelming. If
I can get out of bed most days I feel accomplished. If we throw in the whole
standing up for what we believe in, reaching out to those who need us,
ministering to those who don’t know our precious Savior, following whatever HE
has called us to do…..well, I need a nap just thinking about it. I just started
taking a TRX class in the mornings at the Y. I really like it. It challenges me
and keeps me focused and in tune with my body. In this class you are relying on
straps to push or pull your body weight. In most of the exercises you are fully
relying on the straps to hold your body weight. Do I trust the straps to hold
me? Of course I do or I wouldn’t go to the class. Now if I don’t have my core
engaged my legs may swing out from under me, my lower body may shift, my arms
swing, and in any of those examples…I will lose my balance. I have to put all
my focus on my core and be determined to maintain position. This morning I was
doing sumo squats, which are fabulous for booty weight carrying girls like
myself, and I had to find something slightly higher than eye level to fix my
eyes on so I could hold my form. The slightest distraction and I could lose
form. Losing form can lead to injuries, which leads to a couple of weeks off,
which leads to missed opportunities, which leads to a “do-over”. While I fully
believe in do-over’s, because we are human, if I were to focus and fix my eyes
on something greater, I wouldn’t need a do-over. In our crazy hectic, I can’t
breathe I’m so busy lives, we need something to keep us focused. Getting caught
up in the everyday running around and losing focus is how we lose opportunities
to minister to others. It’s how we miss opportunities to show Christ’s love to
others. Say my day starts like this….alarm doesn’t go off, I miss my class at
the gym hence missing my daily devotional, scrambling to pick out an outfit,
having a bad hair day, forgetting my earrings (this upsets me more that it
should), not getting coffee, and getting to work 5 minutes late. Chances are I
am going to be in a less than stellar mood. Chances are I am going to snap at
someone….and why? Because I was slightly inconvenienced. What would it look
like if our eyes were so fixed on Jesus that those messy mornings could become
a blessing? Truth is every single morning a woman is running late. In these
tiny little moments we can lose our cool or we can smile and make a joke about
it. That forgotten earring could lead to a mid-morning trip to a boutique,
where you run in to an old friend and you get to catch up. She may have just
needed a hug from a friend or a tiny dose of encouragement. The missed class at
the gym could lead to an evening class, where you meet someone new who doesn’t
know Christ and needs to know His abounding love for us. If we learn to just
breathe and keep our eyes fixed on Him, any level of a disastrous morning can
benefit Him. We can’t always control our circumstances but we can handle how we
react. Not every single “tragedy”, and yes I said tragedy because I am slightly
dramatic, requires a reaction. If we lean back in the straps of His love, fully
engage our minds and focus on something above ourselves well, life doesn’t seem
quite as overwhelming. Moments of crazy become a little more peaceful. He has
us. He has our best interest at heart. All we have to do is breathe Him in…He
is our peace. In those times our dependence on Him shows others how powerful of
a God we serve. That is a ministry in itself.
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