Have you ever found yourself in a season of life where you feel like there’s just too much work to do in one day, for just one person? Or that you’re simply too tired and lack the energy or motivation to keep going? Or perhaps even feeling like you don’t know where to start and your situation is just too hopeless to even consider starting. I have been there. I’ve had those days. I’ve struggled and suffered as a result of those types of days. Those are the exact emotions and situations that caused me to perpetually fail on my weight loss journey. Until God. Seriously, until God. That doesn’t mean I don’t have bad days still because girl, I DO! But what it does mean is that I know how to recognize when I am stuck when it happens versus just sitting and staying in stuck and accepting it as a state of being that I cannot get out of. When I read my morning devotional today, I felt God impressing upon my heart that this applied to me on my weight loss journey because it’s ALL connected. What I do daily, affects my weight loss because it nearly impacts my obedience. My obedience on my weight loss journey isn’t JUST to my meal plan; it’s to my daily life plan. Today I read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 which says, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.”
And I could hear God telling me in all ways. Even with keeping my daily schedule. With MAKING my daily schedule. With doing a little bit every single day. Not aiming for perfection or even completion, just aiming for today’s obedience. When my day is focused on what I should be doing; I am setting myself up for progress toward success. I am honoring God with my body through my obedience. When my days are aligned according to my values, I have a plan for my day that is in alignment with God‘s will for my life. But when something happens outside of Gods will, I usually find myself frustrated, rushed, upset, and even raising my voice as I spiral off track. And when I get off track in one area, it usually begins to show up in other areas as well. I begin to get a bit stuck in my thoughts and soon, my feelings and my actions. I start thinking that if I can’t do my day my way, the way I planned to do it, perfectly, then I can’t do it at all. I usually start to desire just sitting in my cozy chair and watching project runway all day. I’ve been Known to even let the children eat cereal for dinner when I’m having this sort of day where I’m just stuck. And this leads me to being off track not only for the day, but it starts to spill into the next day and then suddenly I find myself feeling behind and in that, I am set up to be behind & rushed all week. This is simply a breeding ground for frustration & disappointment. It’s an environment were stuck becomes a state of existing. And that’s all because things didn’t go as expected in one area and as a result all areas are now affected. As I went through my Christian life coaching certification program, I learned that there are seven causes that lead us to feeling stuck. We usually have one or sometimes even more of these causes and or emotional characteristics. The seven characteristics are feelings of, overwhelm, exhaustion, directionless, hopeless, worthless, feeling alone, and being surrounded by conflict. When we have one or even a few of these we tend to get stuck and when we are stuck, we struggle getting unstuck. I coach women through these areas all the time. Nearly daily. The antidote for being stuck is in realizing that you simply need a time out with God. You don’t need A binge of project runway like I did, but you need some quiet time alone with your thoughts and with God. When you get alone with him, evaluate what you have been thinking, feeling and doing. And then put those up against your personal values. In so doing, this helps you to get unstuck. In the scenario I shared with you at the beginning, I showed you how I was off track and that led me to being frustrated and that is exactly where am I stuck cycle began. I felt directionless and that led me to feeling like my efforts were just simply pointless and I began to lose my motivation. In. My. Flesh. The old me saw being stuck as a big cozy chair that I could sulk in and it fixed all of Problems until it began to create them. It began to be the reason that I was stuck in my fat pants. So, when I feel one of the 7 emotional states of being stuck cropping up in my spirit, I start leaning on God more. I go into a metaphorical “protection mode” of sorts, if you will, where I only focus on the necessary tasks so to keep my strength in the spirit. It takes awareness & practice of awareness. Awareness of where you are stuck and what you were thinking and feeling that caused you to become stuck. And from there it takes planning. It takes awareness of your weaknesses and your obstacles and even your limits. It requires you to put more effort into preventing this from happening again; to break the cycle. God did not give you the spirit of wonder woman. He did give you the spirit of power, love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7). Use what He has given you. Plan your days in your strength, around your weaknesses, in alignment with your values. And then follow the plan. That is you being obedient. When you do this, you will be in God‘s will for your day And your life will suddenly just seem easier when you do it WITH him in this way. You will have the strength to do what you need to do to be obedient and his grace to help you when you don’t. Direct your attention to being satisfied in his will over your life. Pray to be satisfied with what he’s willed for you to do in this season of your life…even in weight loss. Trust that he will strengthen you but it’s going to require you to get out of your comfy chair to do hard things. When you start to seek in this way, your life honors God. Honor him with your obedience. Even when you don’t feel like it because you are stuck. I like to say, “when you don’t feel like it, faith like it.” Walk in your faith strength! Seek to be satisfied in doing his will, even with the Mundane daily tasks. John Piper said this once in a sermon, and I’ve held onto it. “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him.”
So, recognize that being stuck is simply a weapon formed against you. If you are feeling overwhelmed, exhausted, directionless, hopeless, worthless, alone, or even surrounded by conflict, this is not from God. You are out of alignment with his will. You might be doing more than he has called you to do for this day. Align your day according to your values. When you are value focused, you will find a way to get yourself unstuck. Do it with God. Don’t do it by seeking a big cozy chair. Instead, seek to be satisfied in him... even in weight loss!