It’s Time to get off the Sofa

Let’s face it, there are times when we may feel so weighed down by life that we just don’t want to do anything but curl up on the sofa, read a good book, watch a movie or eat our way out of our funk. But how many of you know that nothing I have just described has ever solved anything. To the contrary, because these behaviors have used up the one resource we can never get back we often regret wasting our time on such unprofitable acts…and let’s not talk about eating our way out of our funk. Although I’m not a stress eater I have watched a movie or two, or three, or four (and I’m stopping there), while indulging in a few snacks that I have yet to work off.

 

But enough, we may not be able to redeem the time we have lost, but we can put the error of our ways behind us and move forward. Unless we share our thoughts, bad habits and for lack of a better word, wastefulness, with others we are usually the only ones that know we are off our game, not doing what we know we should be doing or missing a step. And believe me we do know, but don’t let knowing cause you to beat yourself up, grab your favorite snack and get back on the sofa.

 

Recognize and acknowledge you are not doing what you know you should be doing. Maybe the year didn’t start of the way you expected. Perhaps you were expecting a new job or new relationship. Maybe you received disappointing news, or even something more devastating that has caused you to lie down on the sofa.

 

The sofa is just an analogy for the place you go to hide, sulk, rest, or remove yourself from your ‘real life’, the life God has predestined for you. The trials, tribulations; defeats that we face in this life are ‘world experiences’ but you my friend are a spirit living in a body. Your body, emotions; thoughts are impacted by the world, but your spirit is not. We read in Galatians 5:17 for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

 

I think Paul says it best in Romans 7:15, for that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. How many times have you said just one more chapter when reading that book, or I just want to see how this ends while watching a movie?  Perhaps you are eating your favorite snack and make a decision to finish it all so it will no longer be a temptation, only to find yourself purchasing a replacement the next time you are shopping, then vow you will eat the replacement snack only in moderation.

Well it’s time to get off of the sofa, time to move away from whatever has immobilized you and is preventing you from doing what God has called you to do. How many times have you said tomorrow, next week, or next month I will…

 

Today is your tomorrow, your next week and your next month. There is no time like the present.  You may not be able to take the bull by the horns and move full force into what you need to do, depending on what it is you are working on, how long you have been away from it, or what it’s going to take to move you to the next level.  Take baby steps. Any step is better than no step at all.

 

Each of us has a purpose, and as I often say ‘no one can do what you can do exactly the way that you can do it.’

 

Learn from the past.  Your experience is your testimony. It should be used to encourage yourself as well as others, but it’s just that, the past. Forgive yourself for lying on the sofa, get up, get moving and don’t look back.