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Years ago I heard a statement that I’ve tried to live by, “Train yourself to show up, even if you don’t feel like it.”
There were plenty of times in my ministry life I didn’t feel like showing up. I was tired, overspent, weary, or just didn’t want to…make a visit, attend a meeting, counsel a couple, take a phone call, go to church.
I always thought of the word ‘train’ to mean ‘force’. “Force yourself to show up, even if you don’t feel like it.” That helped me. And I did. Show up.
There are general agreements as to what the word “train” means in Paul’s words to Timothy. Pursue, Practice, Endeavor, Discipline. All of which are good interpretations. Solid. Faithful. Spiritual. But I’ve never found them to really motivate me like the word ‘force’.
Force yourself, Skattum, to make that call, meet those people, attend that meeting. Forcing myself was easier for me than ‘pursuing’ or ‘endeavoring’. The motivation was stronger.
To this day I live by that statement, “Force yourself to show up, even if you don’t feel like it.” So, I do. The same is true with godliness. “Force yourself toward godliness…even if you don’t feel like it.”
Sometimes in living life, all the voices scream at me, “Don’t show up”, “Skip it”, “Let someone else do it”. Or, in pursuit of godliness, “You deserve better”, “Hold a grudge”, “Ignore them”, “Put yourself first”. It helps me to say to those inner voices, “Shut up and get in line, we’re doing this.” Forcing myself toward godliness and showing up.
God has given me, (and you) a limited number of opportunities to show up. Some day those opportunities will cease or disappear or die. The chance to show up will be gone. Forever. That’s the motivation I need to show up even when I don’t feel like it.
Feelings are fleeting and opportunistic. They’re driven by hunger and frustration and stupidity and intangible realities that should not have the final word. Regardless of how I ‘feel’, I will show up.
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