Past the Walls

This year Doug and I have been more diligent with exercise and health than ever before. We still have not been 100% consistent throughout the year, but our times of falling back have been of shorter duration than ever before.

At first it was just to be healthier. We were convicted once and for all that we needed to be good stewards of our bodies in our effort to do everything to His glory.

Then, around the middle of the summer, we felt the need to actually take off some weight. So, we stepped it up just a bit, trying to be even more diligent in our exercise consistency and to be more attentive to our portions and eating habits. We easily knocked off that first set of pounds needed.

Then we hit a wall. We were not gaining, but we were not losing either. For a month, we stayed stuck before we decided that changes needed to be made once again.

So, we decided to start paying attention to specific calories. Doug found a website that helped us calculate calories and exercise and how to balance the two. Sure enough, we started losing weight again. The awesome thing is that the advice from this website adjusts as we lose weight to keep us on the right path so that we hopefully will not hit a wall again!

But, this is not just about losing weight and being healthy. I have so often seen a pattern between our physical health and our spiritual health. (Maybe that is why being good stewards of our bodies is so important!)

Do you ever hit a wall spiritually? I know I do at times! The problem does not necessarily come from hitting a wall, but from allowing ourselves to stay there - or, even worse, to fall back from that position.

When we hit a wall, we need help! We need a change of tactic. We need support. Sometimes it comes from our church family. Sometimes from an accountability partner. Sometimes from a simple change in our study technique or a new Bible study. Sometimes just from going before the Lord with the acknowledgment that we are stuck - with a request for Him to open His Word to us in a brand new way and tear down yet another wall in our hearts.

Whatever we do, let's choose to not be stagnated by a wall! Let's commit to break through it, whatever it takes. Let's commit to seek the help we need - to crave the learning and growing that moves us past each obstacle. Oh, what joy we find when we do!