When Something Doesn’t Work

A few days after Christmas I began an exercise program centered around meeting calorie, steps, and exercise goals using my phone. With the Lord’s help, for three weeks straight every goal was met.

Then my streak was broken…..

The problem was over Christmas holidays and as school started back, I had time to reach my goals in the afternoon. So the majority of my calorie burning or exercise took place between 2:00 and 4:00

Once the ministry schedule got hectic again, I wasn’t able to reach my goals in the afternoon. This meant exercising in the evening around 6:00. Not only was this hard because i didn’t have a lot of energy, it was also very dark by 6:30, which isn’t preferrable.

By Thursday I didn’t have the time or energy to complete my goals at night

and the streak ended.

Going to bed Thursday a thought was going through my head, “this isn’t working.”

so, what was I going to do about it?

Because the circumstances of life change, the way we deal with challenges must change. No longer having extra time in the afternoon meant my normal way of doing things didn’t work properly. At this point I had two options. Try harder, or admit things aren’t working, and do something different.

There is no shame in admitting something isn’t working. In fact, it’s better because those who keep attempting something that doesn’t work properly are wasting energy.

So admit what you tried isn’t working….

And find what does work.

For me that means breaking my daily exercise routine into two different walks, with the harder one in the early morning. Followed by a shorter one in the afternoon before ministry opportunities. This easily achieves my goals by 6:00 so I can focus on other things.

The Christian life demands that we continually spiritually. This means admitting when things don’t work (instead of just doing what you’ve always done) and finding something that does.