There are some things I just don’t like to do: I don’t like doing laundry. Or the dishes. Or cooking. Or anything domestic, really. I 
don’t like math. I don’t like exercise. I don’t like admitting I’m wrong. I don’t like confrontation. I don’t like turning down a warm brownie.
And because I don’t like those things, I justify not doing them. I wait until the “feeling” hits before I do them…meanwhile, everything around me gets messy.
God has been working on me in this area. In His gracious, yet firm, way, He has been pushing me out of this mess and showing me that, very often, we have to suck it up and do stuff we don’t like. Even when we don’t feel like it.
I started a weight loss Bible study (check it out – it is amazing!) about a month ago. The studies focus on God’s word – feasting on that, not looking to food to meet our needs. As I have spent even more time in God’s word than I used to, I have found that more than just weight is coming off. Some of my excuses are falling away too.
I started exercising. I hate exercising. But I realized I can hate it and still do it. I have been foolishly waiting to “want” to exercise before I did it. That will happen about the same time I “want” to sit down with Emma and do Algebra II. Never. But I do it anyway – I swim laps or walk on the elliptical machine. And I hate it. But I do it, anyway.
The “do it anyway” lesson is carrying over to housework. I’m doing a better job keeping up with the laundry and the dishes, not because I suddenly turned into a Suzy Homemaker, but because I can recognize that, while I may hate it, it still needs to be done.
Even better, this lesson is affecting my spiritual life, too – I may not feel like forgiving, but I’m going to do it anyway. I may not feel like being loving, but I’m going to do it anyway. I do not need to wait for my feelings in order to do what I know I need to do. The feelings may follow, and they may not (I seriously doubt I will EVER enjoy doing the laundry. No way). But I can do it anyway.
This is, I realize, both a life-long lesson and a minute-by-minute lesson. I have to wake up everyday choosing to “do it anyway”, whatever that “it” may be. I absolutely cannot do that on my own. But I CAN do it by abiding in the vine (Jn. 15:4), walking in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16), and feasting on God’s word.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil. 4:13
