Give It Four Minutes

Give It Four Minutes

I have a love-hate relationship with jogging. I love its benefits, but I hate every step—that is, in the first four minutes. In the first four minutes, my mind isn’t focused, I am looking for the right music to listen to, and the stress that I put on my muscles creates pain that I don’t terribly enjoy. It is amazing how tempted I am to stop before I have even begun. But I have come to realize that if I will give four minutes, I can go for forty or more.

There is something about going through uncomfortable moments for a short time that, if we keep going, enables us to go for quite a long time. When we choose to keep going, even when it is uncomfortable, our bodies, spirits, and minds adjust to the adversity and access stored energy to move us through. When it comes to fitness, embracing this adversity over and over again will lead to greater health, if we will just keep going. When it comes to trials in our lives, it is in the adversity that we are made stronger.

No matter what area of life you are dealing with, don’t be afraid when you get uncomfortable. Second Timothy 1:7 states, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” Keep going, and you will see that after those first four minutes, your strength will come, you will adjust, and you’ll be just fine.

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7