Stuck in a Destructive Cycle? It’s not by accident.
Its been a minute since I posted a blog, but this is important!!
This is a message I had prepared for my radio show with Marty this morning, but the enemy doesn’t like it so he messed with the audio so that I couldn’t be heard. Coincidence? I don’t think so. But the enemy is not real smart. There are more ways to communicate than via audio. So me and the Holy Spirit are taking another avenue. This is confirmation for me that this message is for somebody. If this sets just one precious soul free than it will be worth the time, and the overcoming of the obstacles that the enemy is putting in the way. The more difficult it is to get this out, there more confirmation I have about how important it is. So here starts the battle. And guess what? God will win. Every. Single. Time. So here goes round 2, we will try the audio again tomorrow, but I am getting this out to day come hell or high water!
This particular time of year, the second half of the year, reminds me so much of the cycle of seasons we go through spiritually, mentally and physically. Kids are going back to school, weather is changing (unless you are in Alabama, if that is the case it will be late October before we see weather changes!), Football is starting, and then there is the “Holidays” which has expanded from literally 2 24 hour periods to a full 3 months. I am going to talk about why we feel stuck and what the truth is behind the lies we all believe that keeps us stuck year after year. I believe this is a tool the enemy uses to keep women stuck in a very destructive cycle and it is all based on lies they believe about themselves, about their circumstances, about their time and about their resources.
The enemy would have you believe that in this season, you cannot keep up with your own health and fitness because things get busier. And that is one of the biggest lies the enemy uses to keep you stuck. Does time get more scarce? For a lot of us, yes. Yes it does. Does it mean you cannot keep up with your health and fitness? No, that is a lie. Will your routine have to change? Probably, but you can keep going. You can rearrange your workouts, your daily movement and your nutrition to fit this next season. It will take planning and discipline on your part, but it can be done and is done by thousands of women in all seasons of life. It won’t look like anyone else’s plan, so don’t let the spirit of comparison tell you that your plan isn’t good enough because it doesn’t look like Susie Q who is single, with no kids and spends 2 hours 6 days a week in the gym. If you are a married woman that works outside the home and has school aged children, that Is not going to work for you. But that doesn’t mean you just need to give up on it all together. That’s what the enemy would love for you to believe. But the truth is, your health and fitness is important to God because your body is His Holy Temple, it is important for you to be healthy so that you can live out your purpose in this season you are in. He knows you can’t do that if you aren’t in good health. If you don’t make time for your health and fitness now, you will be forced to make time for injury and sickness in the future. So choose your battle wisely. Schedule it into your calendar, plan for it and execute the plan. Make a commitment to yourself and don’t let yourself down. The enemy would love more than anything for you to throw in the towel and just give up. Because he wants to keep you in a state of disappointment in yourself that is coming in December when you realize you are right back where you started in January. So when you get into that self pity Fram of mind that the enemy loves to get you into that says “I don’t have time”, recognize the lie, and say, I may not have time to do what I was doing before, and I may have to move some things around and scale down some, but I have time because it is important to God and He is the creator of time.
Another lie the enemy uses is he loves to whisper in your ear that you have failed at this so many times, you can’t do it. You will absolutely fail again. That is a big one. He loves to keep you stuck in the past. The truth is God’s love is steadfast and His mercies are new every morning and He is making all things new all the time. God does not want you focused on the past. He wants you focused on what He is doing in your life now in the present. And that is exactly how you need to see your nutrition and exercise habits. Focus on what you need to do today. I don’t want to down play the importance of planning ahead, I think that is crucial to success too, but I do want to emphasize that life will throw you curve balls and it is important to be able to roll with the punches. And don’t let past mistakes ruin today or tomorrow. You are not a failure, you are a human that makes mistakes. And you are loved by a God that has unlimited Grace and Mercy for His children. So learn from your mistakes, do what you can today and plan for the future. As I used to tell my daughter the tennis player during matches, play one point at a time and play your game. You can’t change the past and you can’t control the future, but you have today. So focus on working on those good habits that you planned for today and you can worry about tomorrow when it gets here.
You cannot control the season of life you are in. Some seasons are busier than others. The enemy loves to tell you that the season you are currently in doesn’t allow for you to focus on your health and fitness so you might as well just let yourself go. Give up and you can start over when (fill in the blank) happens. Such a lie. There is always room for good nutritional choices and exercise. It may not look like what you think it is supposed to look like, but it can fit. I promise it can. It doesn’t have to happen at the crack of dawn or in the middle of the night. It doesn’t have to be 2-3 consecutive hours. It doesn’t have to be 2-3 hours a day. It doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s exercise or nutrition plan. There is a saying, “you will make time for what is important to you, and excuses for what is not important to you.” So the lie here is that your health and fitness is not important enough for you to pay attention to and plan for. The truth is Heart disease is the number one killer of women hands down. And the majority of heart disease is caused by women carrying too much body fat. The statistics don’t lie. Obesity related comorbidities are on the rise across all age ranges, races and socioeconomic status when it comes to women. In other words, Girls, we have just given up. And the enemy loves to get you into a wo is me mindframe so you will just give up, because you “just can’t do it.” It is just not true.
He also loves to tell you that you don’t have the resources to implement a nutrition and exercise plan. You don’t have enough money to join a gym, you can’t afford nutritious food, you cannot afford a coach to help you come up with a plan that will work for you. Also lie. We serve a God whose name is Jehovah Jireh. He is our provider and He tells us in His word that He provides what we need. Again, the enemy would love to tell you that if you don’t join a gym, sign up for a class, eat all organic foods, or have a fully equipped home gym, then you can’t do it right so why do it at all. Again an excuse to throw in the towel. He will tell you to wait until (fill in the blank) happens then maybe you can afford it. The truth is you can afford it, you have the resources now. It is all about priorities. I can guarantee you that if I looked at your spending habits I could find enough unnecessary things to cut out of your budget that would more than cover what you need. The world loves to tell us that if we are not spending our money on extravagant things because “you deserve it” then you are pitiful. That is a lie from the pit of hell. Self love does not require a $1000 monthly budget on Starbucks, spa visits and expensive trips. There is nothing wrong with any of those things at all. I love them all myself, but I am not going lie to myself and tell myself that I need those things so that I can post them on social media and prove to everyone how much I love myself. The enemy has you wasting your money on nonsense. You can love yourself by reminding yourself who God is and who He says you are. I highly recommend Hosanna Wong’s new book “You are more than you’ve been told”. It is a great book on discovering who God says you are. Nowhere in God’s description of us does He say “you need to treat yourself to Starbucks, Spas and trips to prove to yourself that you are worthy. You are already enough to God. He created you already enough and He thinks so highly of you that He sacrificed His only Son so that He could be in communion with you, no Starbucks needed! My point is, you have enough, stop letting the enemy tell you that you don’t, and stop making excuses.
Some of this was hard to hear I am sure. Some of it was hard to type. But I hope it helped somebody. If it was helpful to you, please please share it so it can help someone else.
And as always, I would love to help you figure out what will work for you. I have lots of programs at all different price levels and I would love more than anything to have a conversation with you in person, over the phone, email, FaceTime or zoom about what I offer and how you can make it fit into your current season. Just click on contact me and I will get in touch with you. You can view my programs and sign up for them by clicking on program descriptions and sign up. I can’t wait to hear from you!!
Vi