We all have limitations but don’t allow those to become your excuses! God doesn’t want you living in fear or feeling like you can’t do xyz because of some disease, heart condition, cancer, etc. Give your circumstances to God and begin to live in the life he has given you! Give him your concerns but do something about it!
I was inspired to write about this thought this morning after pushing through a very challenging cardio workout. I’ve never been someone who enjoys cardio very much and i have to really work at getting my mind centered and ready to push through. As I pushed play and moved through the workout, I had many times where I wanted to quit and while I did modify some moves as it got closer towards the end, I never quit. Many of the moves reminded me of my youth and the time I had spent playing soccer.
I played soccer from middle school through high school and loved it. I wasn’t the best on the team, the fastest, or even on the best team, but I enjoyed the challenge, the games and the team aspect. But most of all I decided to jump in and be a part of this sport because of what it would do for me, or what it could do for me. You may ask why on earth would you choose a sport that is primarily cardio when you mentioned above not enjoying cardio? That is a good question. Well, when I was in 5th grade after being admitted into the hospital for an appendicitis, the doctors found that I had a heart condition.
I didn’t want this heart condition to take over my life or for me to always live in fear of doing anything that could push my heart rate higher, so I decided I was going to work on strengthening it. So I went out for soccer knowing fully well I would be pushing my heart each day. Some days I may have pushed a little too hard, but I learned what I was capable of and how to get my heart rate to level out again.
As I’ve gotten older, and I’ve begun working more on my health and fitness, one of my main reasons is because of my heart condition. I want to live the healthiest, best, most freeing life I can, and not allow my heart condition to stand in the way of what God has or me being here for my family. As I got closer to wanting to build a family, my heart condition caused me concern and fear. I knew that labor and delivery would be very taxing on my body and my heart, and I wanted to be prepared. I could have sat in fear, and said… “I can’t do this, my heart might explode or something bad might happen if I try to have a baby.” But then I would’ve missed out on the most incredible experience of my life, and the most amazing blessing of my life… Being a mom!
My heart condition is always in the back of my mind, but I’ve decided that it will not keep me from doing things I want to do or define who i am. Deciding to partner with God in my health has been the best move I could have made for myself now and for the future. You can do this too with whatever you have in your life. Your circumstances or the fear of those circumstances can very easily hold you in a trapped position or in a prison. But they don’t have to. You can give your circumstances, health conditions to God and partner with Him to work through them, strengthening yourself mentally, physically and spiritually.
The first step is prayer. Prayer must become a priority.
Second we must begin taking control of your thoughts. Our minds are a very powerful thing and the thoughts we have each day turn into our actions. Like I mentioned above, I could have so easily decided that my heart condition was going to mean that I couldn’t do certain things or that I would have to sit out in a lot of areas of life, ( I still think about it and try to be wise in my strengthening methods) but I made the conscious decision to override those thoughts. It’s easier said than done, i know, and I feel as we grow older this gets even more complicated. But I know that God has great things in store for you and me and fear only keeps us stuck and far from what He has. Something that has helped me a lot recently is to write out the thoughts I’m having and combat them with God’s word.
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
The third step is bringing the action. Many times we say we are going to do something and then we don’t follow it with action. A thought is great, nothing changes unless something changes. Again, the thoughts you had or still have won’t be gone just like that… you will continually be challenged by the thoughts or the fear of what could be. But you have to choose to push those away and make the moves needed to live the life you desire and that God has for you. The challenge is where we grow and change.
Now this isn’t the only thing I’ve ever encountered that has caused me to fear, but it was the first thing. When I struggle with other circumstances I am able to reflect on my journey with my heart condition and how I moved forward by trusting God, praying and seeking Him, taking those thoughts captive and partnering with Him in whatever way that means.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow. For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
I hope this encouraged your heart today, friend! You may be in rough circumstances right now and it’s so easy to get discouraged and chose to just stay stuck, but instead I pray you ask God for direction and a way to move forward and not use those circumstances, diseases, etc as an excuse to give up. I’ve been recently reading the book “ Battlefield of the Mind” and I highly recommend it if you are struggling with your thought life. You are so much more capable then you think. Partner with God today to move forward and life your life more fully.
