Are you truly striving for something beyond what you have today? I have a little bicycle that I ride in the morning. Generally, it's a nice, slow ride while I listen to some of my favorite podcasts. Over the course of the year, I realized that I was pedaling at the lowest level and not really getting anywhere. Was I even really exercising?
When this occurred to me, I decided to increase the intensity of my workout. I would stand up and pedal as hard as I could for as long as I could. My legs would get tired and start to burn, and I would take a deep breath and sit down.
That was as much as I could do.
I did this for a week or so, feeling quite proud that I was pushing myself harder and actually getting a workout.
However, it occurred to me that when I'm pushing really hard and my legs were burning; I stop.
Are there parallels to this in my life? Are there times when God is asking me to step into something new and different, to be bold, and I start to step into it, but it gets a little hard?
Do I then retreat and rest, or do I try to go a little bit further?
This revelation made me realize that I don't want to be limited by my own ability or what I think my own ability is.
Instead, I want to be made whole by trusting God's ability and trusting the One who is in me.
It's a simple thing, but now when I get on my bike, I go as hard as I can. When I feel like I'm so tired that I need to sit down and rest, I pedal 10 more times, 15 more times, and then I rest.
I'm conditioning my mind to recognize that even though I'm tired, there's still more in me—I can still go farther.
This may seem like a simple thing, but often when things get hard, we want to shut down and step back.
I'm reprogramming my brain to recognize that, yes, it's going to be hard and it's going to hurt. By going faster on my bike for a longer period of time, I'm recognizing that what I thought I couldn't do, I now can do.
I encourage you, if there are areas of your life where you're trying but it gets hard and you retreat, to push a little bit harder.
Know that it's not in you, but in who lives in you, for God is in you and nothing is impossible with Him.
Maybe you need to reprogram your mind and believe it.
Try something—can you do one push-up? What if you do two? Can you run 12 steps? What if you run 24 steps? Whatever it is, do it. When you're doing something physically hard and you step back to rest, could you do more? Could you take one or two more steps? By taking just one or two more steps, God will meet you where you are, and you will start to recognize that even though things are hard, by going just a little bit harder and a little bit faster, you can do it. If you can do it in a workout or something physical, you can do it in your life when things get hard.
Supporting Scriptures
1. Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
2. Isaiah 40:29-31: "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
3. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10: "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, ... am strong."
4. Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." T
5. Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
6. John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
7. Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."