Birthing Pains

This year, I am really challenging myself to stretch more outside of my comfort zone. You see, I sometimes have the tendency to procrastinate on tasks I view as difficult. When I think of them, I experience tension in my body (resistance). Because I want to avoid that painful tension, I put off doing the task! However, one morning I decided to tackle the things I had been putting off. But just like the night follows the day, the tension in my body came. This time though, I was ready for it. Instead of taking my usual action of procrastinating, I changed the way I viewed the tension. This new view empowered me to act anyway rather than allowing the tension to be a trigger to procrastinate. If you have a problem with procrastination, then I encourage you to try my new view. See if it doesn't empower you to accomplish more of your goals this year! Procrastination is just running away from the thing you know you need to take action on. It is a form of fear - typically of success or failure. But what if you stop running away? There is a saying that, "You cannot conquer what you will not confront." In my case, I decided to stop running away from the tension, but instead face it and engage with it. Here is my new view: That tension is like giving birth. The baby cannot come out (naturally) if the woman's womb does not stretch, enlarge itself. I could see clearly that every time I face that tension and move through it, I am enlarging myself and the territory that I can take over. I think of this word to the nation of Israel from the prophet Micah:

Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, Like a woman in birth pangs. For now you shall go forth from the city, You shall dwell in the field, And to Babylon you shall go. There you shall be delivered; There the Lord will redeem you From the hand of your enemies (Micah 4:10)."

This makes me wonder: How many of us are resisting the blessings that God wants to birth through us because we are not willing to go through the birthing pangs? My challenge to you today? Do something that you have been putting off, even something small. Breathe through the tension (birthing pangs) to get it done. Once you complete the task, you will experience a tension release. That is just as an effective tension release you used to get by procrastination! So why not release the tension by having something to show for it in the end? Think about the words of Jesus in John 16:21:

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world."

Not only will you have the satisfaction of completion, but you will have enlarged your own ability to accomplish and receive more for the glory of God. Be blessed with health, healing, and wholeness, Kimberly Taylor Author/Christian Life Coach of the Take Back Your Temple program P.S. When it comes to weight loss, do you often know what you should do but have a hard time doing it? I struggled with this issue on my own weight loss journey, but I discovered that “Nothing is different until you think differently.” The value of the Take Back Your Temple program is that you will learn how to think differently through using Biblical keys to overcome obstacles. You’ll discover how to win the Spiritual and mental battle that often causes us to become inconsistent and get off-track on our weight loss journey. Join a community of like-minded Christians losing weight and keep it off. Click here to learn more about the Take Back Your Temple program