Ouch! Of course I only said it in my mind as I walked across the lawn to my car the pain in my calves, the knot in my back and the discomfort in my ribs were a reminder of how out of practice I had been.
The last time I danced was more than 8 years ago and though I knew the journey back to one of my first loves wouldn't be easy, this ballet class that I am taking for dance technique, strength and balance was kicking my butt! There I said it, I am back in ballet classes. I thought about keeping it a secret so that if I dropped out of it no one would really know but I have a few people who are already determined to keep me accountable and I figure I need all the help and support I can get so I decided to share it with you too!
Confessedly, after the first class I was tempted to be done with it. I felt out of place, untrained, inexperienced - simply like I had no business attempting this at this stage in my life. Big Sigh!
With that said I rushed to the cashier after my free session to fully register because I knew that if I had left to consider it the chance that I would return would be slim to none.
I thank God for this experience so far because it has been quite a fitting analogy for the very things I am learning on my journey right now.
Let me share a few with you!
Many of us as believers tend to slip in to an area of complacency every now and again where we begin to slack off on the time we spend with God, the things we do for Him and the time we make to talk with Him. We don't always realize until something happens that the very things we have began to pay less attention to are the very things that maintain our strength and help to keep us from falling.
When we don't stay prayed up and disciplined and we encounter tests and difficulty the battle bruises may truly be a testament to how weak we were becoming. I had been out of practice, though I danced often in my head I never really lifted a muscle so by the time I was being challenged to dance if I wasn't careful I was simply going to find myself limping away like a dog who had lost a fight and it never had to be that way.
Sn: Had I stayed committed to dancing I would not only have been refining this art form over the years the steps I was required to do now would have been easy and even if there was a level of difficulty in it I would be able to navigate it with greater strength. Think about that for a second.
I gained perspective from my challenge and pain.
Instead of moping around the entire time I determined that if I am truly to do well at this I had some work of my own to do. So I went back to basics and started looking at videos on YouTube to remind me of what I was once capable of and to arm me with the steps I needed to master in my own time outside of class if I was going to grow.
Do I have to say how this is the same idea to be applied to our journey. We have to build ourselves up by doing our part. We won't learn everything from a classroom or from other people sometimes we have to go out and grab a hold of the knowledge for ourselves. In the same way in our Christian lives we have to return to the basics quite often to get what we need to rebuild, to recharge and to be reminded of who we are in Christ so we can truly face the tests.
Yes you might be suffering now but even with our bruises and with excruciating pain we must keep going if we are to make it!
I don't know what you are wrestling with, but ask God to give your perspective, He has a way of using the ordinary to speak extraordinarily into our lives. Just take a moment and ask but do not forget as a sign of your faith to make yourself ready to receive of and from Him.
+1. Share. Comment. Subscribe.
Until next time,
EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose
No comments :
Post a Comment