life change hurts...

Life change hurts. But if you want change, deal with the pain. Period, the end.

It's no secret that I love to workout and strive for the great new exercises to try. I've found an awesome gym near my house that offers amazing cross training by a fitness coach who not only loves what he does, but loves his clients. He not only cares about changing what you look like, but he cares about how you feel.

At 5:30am a small group of women arrive at NextLevelFitness before the sun comes up because we want to change. We are committed to change. We are paying for a change. But there's a woman who habitually complains about every circuit we do.

Push ups? Come on! Run around the building? It's cold. Lunges? My ankle hurts.

A few weeks ago the workout was particularly challenging. As we switched from one station to the next, we were all tired. Kathie was so tired she crawled to the next station, I leaned over the ab bench trying to catch my breath, and the other women adjusted to their new station. The Complainer? Well, she refused to do the next station: push ups.

What I said: [inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale]

What I said in my head: Look honey, we all are hurting. We have a choice as to whether or not we want to change. If you don't like it, don't come. So just shut up and get do the push ups!

(Not only am I unsympathetic at 5:30am, I'm have a low tolerance for complainers.)

Hebrews 12:11 says, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." I couldn't help but parallel her complaints with our own complaints in spiritual living. We ask God to change us, mold us, break us so we can be used, but when he does, we complain and fight back.

If we simply trust him and do what is needed to change our lives, Hebrews tells us it will produce a harvest of righteousness.

Today I saw the fruit. At the end of our arduous workout, Joe decides to kill us (aka give us one more circuit). Oh yeah, it had push ups. I was waiting for a comment from The Complainer, but she got on her hands and began doing push ups. Like REAL push ups. I watched her out of the corner of my eye and was so proud of her! All the workouts had paid off and she realized the instruction for our trainer was right and beneficial.

How can you daily submit to change? Are you The Complianer or are you a trainer? Whatever station you are at, keep at it! Whether your instruction comes from life coach, pastor, mentor, or daily biblical instruction, listen. I promise you--the results are worth it!

seed...

My mother has been a center piece for this blog for some time now. I guess I'm realizing how integrated she has become in my life and the forming of my philosophy after 29 years of being pulled from her womb. The lazzire-faire, bohemian hippy spawned a type-A, alpha female who is neurotic and obsessive. Go figure. But her life lessons through everyday experiences have left huge impacts on my life. 

This morning at a camp in Big Bear, California I taught the same message my mother taught me many moons ago: God's Word is like a seed. You must plant it (Luke 8:11). 1 Peter 1:23 affirms this, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever... Jesus said His words are alive and they contain life. Though the words in the bible may look lifeless and powerless, they, like seeds, contain life and the power to produce beautiful! We would plants pinto beans in styrofoam cups and see it sprout into Life and talk about how the Word of God does the same.

Here are seven attributes to a seed that parallel the Word of God:

1. A seed is alive. A seed has life though our physical senses are incapable of judging whether it is alive or not. The only way to prove it is alive is to plant it.

2. A seed does nothing until it is planted. Seeds in a pretty package will sit there like a bible on a shelf. It's not until seeds are planted (like scripture planted in our hearts) will it begin to burgeon. We must plant God's Word in our heart (Psalm 119:11).

3. A seed is much smaller than the plant it produces. The problems we face may seem huge and scripture, in comparison, seem small. But when planted, the Word will grow and cover the problem we are facing. A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds, but yields a massive tree (Luke 13:19)! 

4. A seed takes time to produce. No one expects a seed to produce a harvest the same day the seed is planted, so why do we scripture that that? The fruit of the Word grows in a person's life over time.

5. A seed is persistent. A seed never gives up, but works day and night. Even when we can't seem to see growth, beneath the surface there is bios (life) or zoe (God-given life). Psalm 138:8 always reminds me of this.

6. More seeds planted produce a larger harvest. 2 Corinthians 9:6 He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, but he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Are we planting good seeds in our hearts and minds?

7. A seed will stop growing without nourishment. Planting a seed is not enough to assure a harvest. Protect the seeds and douse them with Living Water. Then you will see the fruit of the harvest mature and take root in your life.

My desire is to take seeds that minister to me and plant them deep in my heart to grow into trees that are firmly rooted by the river, whose leaves do not wither, and fruit is bore in due season (Psalm 1).  To prove that my mother hasn't aged a day, she encouraged me to take a potted basil plant and even gave me seeds to use as a visual of God's Word. Yes, she's the only tree-hugging hippy I love!