“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.” ~ Hebrews 10:36

God has really been speaking to me about patience lately. Although I believe it applies to many different areas of my life, one of the most common areas that I believe that impatience gets a lot of people (including myself at times), is in the area weight loss or overall health/fitness goals.

We all know that it takes time to put weight on, and it usually happens so slowly that it seems to ‘creep’ up on people. When people get ‘out of shape’ it doesn’t just happen over night, but is most likely a combination of getting too little activity, and poor food choices over time. The problem arises when this behavior forms into ‘habits’ that we don’t even realize have formed.

So what does all of this have to do with patience you may ask!?! Well, just as it took time to form ‘bad’ habits that allowed you to get ‘out of shape’ or into any type of behavior that would lead to unhealthy patterns, it will most likely take time to form new habits that would produce the results that you desire. This is where patience comes in.

I believe that one of the greatest tactics of satan is impatience. Think about it... How many times have you (or someone you know) made the decision to ‘get healthy and on the right track’, only to run into a few bad days or bumps in the road that caused them to revert to old patterns and behaviors? Guess what...That is satan’s number one plan to keep people defeated!

The devil isn’t up to any new tricks, he has been working to make people feel impatient and hopeless for thousands of years! In fact, I can guarantee that he has used all of these lies just a few thousand times...“You might as well give up.” ... “You’ll never make it.”... “Nothing is changing regardless of all your hard work.”... "Why even try?" Now that we see that all satan has is a bunch of lies to work against any progress that we are trying to make (all with the goal to get us off track), we know just how to defeat him!

Ultimately, satan has one plan in mind... to keep us from God’s wonderful plan for our life! God has a plan full of freedom, joy, and peace that this world could never give. (Read Jeremiah 29:11.) The reason patience is such a vital part of attaining this wonderful plan, is simply because it takes time to change and renew our minds, our behaviors, and our habits.

It may take both time and discipline to wake up at 6 am to workout before it can become a ‘normal’ habit in your life. In fact, it may even seem painful to get rid of some of your old habits at first and make better choices. The Bible even tells us this will be the case in Hebrews 12:11 which says, “No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.” What an AWESOME truth this is!

We can see from this promise that if we endure the temporary ‘pain’ that comes with disciplining ourselves and continue to make the right choices with patience as our guide, then we can be sure that there is a harvest awaiting us that will produce a great peace within.

So, I ask you... Have you become ‘weary’ in your well doing today? Have you been tempted to give up because it seems like you aren’t getting anywhere fast enough? If so, I believe God is using me to write this to YOU today! He wants you to KEEP GOING! Keep running the race with patient endurance, knowing that He has great plans for you... plans that will lead to a harvest of peace!

Don’t let the enemy lie to you and tell you that ‘this time around won’t be any different’. The devil is just scared that you will run your race and find the awesome plans that God has in store for you! Don’t let satan's wimpy lies hold you back. Get back on the track and keep running the race with patient endurance while keeping your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. You can be sure that He has a prize with your name on it! (Hebrews 12:1)