Derriere to Discipline!

This week I had the “pleasure” of going to the doctor for my annual womanly check-up. Even after all these years of knowing what’s going to happen, they never seem to get easier. I should know by now that I will be freezing because there is no “gown” to put on. The nurse this time politely pulled out a version of a gown and laid it out on the bed as if it was a bath robe at some fancy hotel. This “gown” came in two parts, one for the top and one for the bottom. Only problem was this gown was made out of a napkin! Now, the bottom part may have been made out of two napkins. Worst part was, the gown wasn’t even made out of the fancy dinner napkin kind, but more like the dollar value brand! So, as I waited for the doctor, not only was I trying to keep myself covered but keep warm as well, all at the same time with a thin, scratchy napkin that kept sliding off everything I wanted to keep covered. Then, of course, somehow I never quite make if far enough down the table. So inevitably, the doctor asked, “could you slide down just a little more?” REALLY?!!

These yearly visits do bring with them more questions on my end for the doctor. It seems that what all my friends told me would happen after you hit forty really does! So I went in armed with a string of questions. One of my most important questions was, “why am I gaining weight and don’t have as much energy?” Of course I had done some research, which means talking to my friends over coffee and asking what kind of issues they were having. You guessed it, number one problem…weight gain and less energy. As I pried a little more, I discovered that some of my friends actually had a medical problem with their thyroid that caused this condition. And better yet, the good news was that sometimes medication could simply correct the problem. Well there I had it…my answer. So I went to my appointment, and first off asked to have my thyroid checked because I was sure that my weight gain was a medical problem and surely not an eating and exercise problem. Because if it was an eating problem, it would mean I didn’t have the self-discipline I needed to exercise more and eat less. Yes, I know that solution is better and even easier than having to take medicine for your thyroid. But it also means that I can’t blame it on a medical condition and have to take responsibility for my eating and exercising habits.

So why is discipline so hard for us, or at least me? I read a quote the other day that said, “Discipline not desire determines your destiny.” Wow, that hit me right where it needed to… but didn’t want it to!

I have such great desires that sometimes I believe I have reached my destiny, though I’ve never done a thing to get there! I find myself pondering and dreaming about it so much that I almost believe it’s real. How crazy is that? For example, a few years ago I would dream and desire to run a marathon. I could so envision myself crossing that finish line, with the crowd cheering me on. Notice I didn’t envision myself actually training for the race. Now mind you, at this point there was no running of any fashion in my schedule except chasing my four kids. Finally, I got tired of dreaming about it and had a runner friend of mine customize a running plan. This plan was for me to be ready to run the Music City Half Marathon, which is 13.2 miles. Now was the time for me to put my desire into action with discipline. I literally began by taking baby steps, my training for the first couple of weeks was simply walking. Then I progressed to actually running and with each week following came a new challenge of added miles, until at last I could run 13 miles! Finally, my desire of running across the finish line became a real destiny because of the daily discipline I accomplished each day in order to reach my goal.

Even now, knowing discipline is essential to reaching my destiny and well worth the effort, it is still tough at times, whether it’s in changing my eating and exercising habits or working on “my calling.” At times I would rather be dreaming about it, or have the easy fix, than have to get down and dirty and actually do “it!” Yet, I know that the doing, not the dreaming or desiring is how I will reach my destiny. And more than that, the journey, the process, the tasks that help get me there are vital to me becoming who Christ desires me to be.

So as the Lord has been pushing me once again to engage more fully in my ministry to Him, I know this will require some self-discipline. Don’t get me wrong, I know faith, prayer and all kinds of other things go into me reaching my destiny, however, the one for me that is the hardest is this, self-discipline. Graciously, the good Lord reminded me the other day, more like jolted me (which is what it often takes for me) in II Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” Yep, right there it is… a spirit of self-discipline! Who knew? Well, probably many of you, it’s just that perhaps I wanted to skip over that part of the verse. So for now, I’m going to claim this verse and ask for that spirit of self-discipline to rise up so that I can “fan into the flame the gift of God which is in [me].” I know the desire is there in me, and it’s now crucial for me to add in the discipline. It will be one day at a time, adding more each day, much like I accomplished my desire to run the marathon with a well laid out plan. As my commitment to train for the marathon required some sacrifices, this journey too will require some things I must give up. However, in the end it will be worth the journey of traveling the road of discipline, more so than that of just desire, to reach the destiny God has for me.