Stay on Course

     Okay, I do not want to bore my Facebook friends by hearing again about my recent incident but as I am sitting here in pain, I do not seem to be able to think of anything else! So, you get to hear it again with a little spiritual impact to it! I have an incline walker/ tread mill that Dwayne got me and I love it! I have clips where Jillian Michaels control my board giving her complete control. Last night, I was determined to get back my habit of using the treadmill every day. I have really struggled for months and I am very frustrated because I worked too hard getting the habit of exercise into my life, to let it go away. I first got off when I got sick in November. I could not exercise when I was sick with the rash because sweating would spread the rash. It was six weeks before I could exercise. For the next six weeks, I struggled with nightly, excruciating headaches and on-going, continual hormonal cycles (that is female code in case a guy is reads this! haha). Then trip to Peru was in the middle of these struggles. Things have finally started getting better the last few weeks, so now that I am not traveling, I was determined to get back on that treadmill last night. I have a special friend who was my accountability partner in Montana and she had been sharing how she returned to her treadmill this week. That made me more determined to follow her example. Well, Monday she shared on Facebook that she was in the gym and was on the treadmill when she reached down to grab something off and slid off the back of the machine and into the wall. Her friends have been teasing her kindly and I have to admit, I was one of them. Last night I posted my favorite YouTube (a man falling off his treadmill) on her status. I have never fallen on a treadmill until after I posted that link. I was on my treadmill at midnight last night and was cooling down. I had three minutes of walking left when I buried my face into my towel to wipe my dripping sweat. The room was pitch black except for the light of the TV because Dwayne was sleeping on the daybed and I didn't want to wake him. As I was walking, my left foot stepped off the moving treadbelt; it was still on the treadmill deck; just not on the moving treadbelt. I wasn't holding on the anything so when one foot was planted and the other one was not, I went down fast. My first thought was that I would soon be thrown off the back. However, within seconds, I realized that wasn't going to happen because my left leg was planted. I then saw my right leg dragging the moving treadbelt and I could hear my skin being removed from my leg. I had to get my left leg to somehow get my right leg up off the moving grater quickly while I still had skin. I do not know exactly what happened but my left side of my body pulled it together and got my right leg to safety. As my left side performed the act of heroism, it pulled every muscle I use to sit, stand, or bend. I have walked like a very old person all day long. Every part of my body hurts. The other thing that hurts is that Dwayne always tells me to wear the safety cord. I have listened to him when I am running fast but for a normal run and walk, I have never felt I needed it. If I would have listened, I would not be hurting today! All I had to do was use my safety cord and the treadmill would have stopped when I went down.
      Life can feel like a treadmill! First, we have to learn how to walk consistently on the path the Lord lays out. We learn this by letting Him control our journey, by giving Him complete control of the course. At times it goes really slow and at times it goes really fast. Sometimes we get use to a certain pace and we can become very comfortable with it. The more comfortable we become the more we let our guard down. Before we know it, out of nowhere we can step off course, stumble, or fall. Nobody likes the humiliation of falling but it is the hurt it can produce that is difficult to deal with. Sometimes it is our emotions that get wounded and sometimes it is the other things in life. Either way when we fall, it can be damaging. The thing that is amazing is we do not have fall. Jesus tells us the way to walk, but when we do not listen we fall. When we do fall we can eliminate the hurt but using our safety cord: the grace of Jesus Christ!
     Do not let yourself feel too comfortable with your spiritual walk. When you do, Satan can come and he will do his best to trip us up. When we trip, we fall. When we fall, it causes hurt. Be on the alert for Satan. He can attack anytime, anyway, anywhere! Keep your eyes open and let the light of Christ enlighten your path.

So watch your step, friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God.
Hebrews 3:12