Step Forward or Step Back?

This morning, I woke up to meet some friends at the gym, early.  6 am alarm only meant regret and questioning why I was doing such a thing so early.

Granted, I love working out and it’s very easy for me to be motivated by other people excited about fitness, too.  But, once the alarm sounds, the initial thoughts are, “why am I waking up so early?”  Do I even have the strength to pull myself out of bed this early, while it’s still dark, while I’m still half asleep.

Lo and behold, I pulled myself up, took one step, and got up.

Sometimes, when we’re encountering problems in our lives, the first thing we need to do is take a step.  Even though it may be difficult or may seem impossible to find the strength, we can do all things through Him.  Even simply waking up to work out, we’re always tested beyond our capacities every day, but it’s that first step that’s important.

Are you going to take a step forward or a step back?

Live life to the fullest and take that step.  “Do it now” is a saying I live by.  Why wait?  Don’t hit that snooze button.

Lift your leg up and awake from your slumber!

We’ve Been Had!

I had an interesting experience this morning.  With my early alarm set, and the coffee timer set as well, I was ready to meet the world early.

God had other plans.  Instead, I don’t even remember waking up to my early phone alarm, but only to wake an hour and a half later on my own.  I feel and look to where my phone is usually kept, but it’s nowhere.  I feel and search around my bed, underneath the pillows, underneath my blankets, but it’s nowhere.  I quickly jump out of bed, turn on my light to search high and low for my phone, but it’s nowhere.  Heart beating faster and faster, worry comes over me, did I throw it somewhere?  Did I talk to someone half asleep on the phone?  Was I angry because the alarm went off?

All of these doubt questions were quickly seen in my frantic hustle and bustle on the Internet; having Skype call my phone, didn’t have enough credits for that, IMing Facebook friends to call my number, no one was online or responding.  More doubt came into my mind because my phone randomly turns off on it’s own.  So has it turned off the only time I need to find it?

Taking a breathe was necessary.  Taking a step back was necessary.

It was the typical question we always ask when we lose things, “if I were (blank), where would I be?”  I don’t know why, but throughout all the scattered items on the floor, I got down on my knees and searched under my bed.  There it was.  Towards the foot of my bed.  Now, you may feel like that was a dramatized, longed out story, it was, but it was metaphorically powerful in my life.  After listening to a sermon by my church back home, some of the words the pastor spoke ran deep.  During their fasting challenge for 21 days, anyone may fast from anything.  And that made me think.

These things we “cherish” or “love” have no meaning compared to what we truly need in life.  We’re just sold and told that we cannot live without these things.  This was simply the case this morning, with my phone.  I was scared because if I didn’t have my phone, I’d be lost to the rest of the world, without contact, without existence.  But why did I worry?  Why have I put all my trust in a device that stores all of my friends and family’s contact information?  When people get severed from their bad habits or unhealthy choices, an emptiness falls upon them.  A piece of them has been taken away.  All the while, I felt empty because I had no contact with someone I always send a ‘good morning’ text to.

This empty feeling isn’t good.  If we’re solely relying on man-made things for happiness, then we’ve got it wrong.  Fullness can only be acquired through serving God and letting Jesus Christ come into your life.  We will no longer feel empty.  We will no longer be frantically searching around to find answers.