When I finally decided I was going to get back in shape, I was filled with excitement. I went out
and bought some new running clothes, as if they would somehow transform me into a well-trained athlete.
I was pumped when I opened my front door to run around my subdivision. This was going to
be awesome! I started off running a whopping 0.3 miles and I swear it nearly killed me. I was gasping for breath as I jogged around the block and I could barely make it that far.
And when I say “jog,” I use that term loosely. I think my mother could have walked faster than me. It was almost like I was running in place.
After weeks of this, it wasn't getting easier, so I started making declarations to myself out loud every time I ran. “I am a natural-born runner,” I’d say as I huffed and puffed along my 0.3 mile course. I would even tell others, as my husband can attest. He would laugh at me as I charged forward jogging a fourteen-minute mile.
When it felt hard, I’d press through, telling myself that I was a natural born runner. Still to this day, when I run and get exhausted, I find my brain doing some preaching and declaring, “You’re a natural-born runner, Jamie Kay.”
For all my self-talk, though, running never got easier. I would run for a bit, then it would get hard and I’d stop. I was never fully consistent. In all honesty, I never enjoyed it and I
found it difficult, no matter how much self-talk I mustered up!
But then something changed. After decades of wanting to be a runner, literally, something shifted.
I was post child number four and ready for a change. I was looking to do something I could afford that would get me in shape and get my mind off the exhaustion I was feeling in every other area of my life. Plus, I needed some alone time with God as well as something that didn’t cause me to have to pack up all the kids and travel. I love gyms, but it wasn’t ideal for this season. I needed something I could just do anywhere and running seemed to be the solution.
Please don’t laugh too hard at what I’m about to disclose.
Everyone I currently love has already come to terms with what I’m about to tell you. The solution to my problem wasn’t just running. You see, I had a two-year-old. The idea of pushing her 35-pound body around the mountain slopes of Colorado did not leave me leaping for joy, but neither could I leave her home alone.
So, I decided it would be best to run around my cul-de-sac. Yes, that little circle area surrounded by five homes in my subdivision. My plan was to open the front window, unlock the front door, put a show on for her and if she needed anything she could just step outside and yell to mommy. Great plan, right?
At first, I thought about what the neighbors would think (and yes, I did get many questions from them), but once I explained the reason behind what I was doing, instead of looking at
me like I just grew a third eye, they encouraged me in my running journey.
I used my Map My Run app to determine how many times around the cul-de-sac was one mile - thirteen times if you’re wondering - and then I set out to just do it.
I would run three times a week to start, two miles each time. From there I thought maybe I could push myself. On Mondays and Wednesdays I’d run the allotted two miles. Then on Fridays I would push myself to add one mile, every two weeks.
Slowly but surely, I was getting stronger. When I reached the eight to ten-mile mark consistently I noticed that running two miles was easier than it had ever been. In fact, to go out and run two miles was actually fun and undaunting. I was learning to love running.
For decades, I knew what I wanted and needed, but I was never consistent in my application. When my desperation level exceeded my discomfort, change began to take place.
I was shaky at first. I didn’t know what I was doing. I could barely breathe. But I stuck with it because I knew it was what I wanted, what I needed.
It was the same in my walk with God.
I didn’t know how to seek Him at first. I didn’t know how to talk to Him. I felt clumsy and inadequate, but as I remained consistent, I grew to know and love Him.
Many of us wait for magical moments in God to shift us into hyper-drive in our relationship with Him. The fact is sometimes there are those magical moments, but more often than not consistency breeds craving in our lives.
It was consistency that changed my perspective.
Consistency fueled my love for Him. If you want a great relationship with Him then go get it, my friend. He’s waiting for you. It’s the same with our purpose.
Sometimes God does a miracle in a moment, but more often than not He asks us to consistently walk with Him on the path to our purpose and then the miracle happens.
What is it that you need to be consistent with today, friend? Maybe you’ve started something. Stopped it. Started it. Stopped it. God is asking you now to be consistent with it. Whether it’s your walk with Him, a relationship in your life, your character, or a purpose He’s birthed in you, know this—kingdom timing is what matters.
In our day and age it seems as if you can become a one-hit-wonder overnight, but God’s not into that game. Anything worth value takes time. Function on His timetable.
"If you take consistent steps of obedience, whether you feel like it or not, He can prepare you for your miracle AND give you the character needed to sustain it. Consistency starts today."
Photo Credit: Michael Tuszynski
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