But I Don't Wanna....!

The first of this winter's snow is starting to sprinkle and today I had to do something I wasn't keen on doing. Going out in the cold.

We don't do “cold” very well in my family. We are chilly people. My favourite place to sit in my grandma's house as a child was always by the radiator, where she continually warned me I would 'melt my spine.'

However I suppose extreme cold IS preferable to extreme heat because at least you can do something about it! I forced myself to stroll to and from the church today instead of driving to 'get my circulation going' (ever my mum's solution to the problem). Sometimes you just have to throw yourself out there and face the music.

There are many things in life that we face that we just don't want to do. Some of them are unavoidable, some of them are just a good idea and we have to find the motivation.

Is there something you are avoiding doing at the minute because it just seems a pain to start?

• Reading your bible?
• Making time for prayer?
• Talking over a difficult issue with your partner?
• Exercising?
• Looking for work?
• Studying?
• Using your gifts in a ministry?

As I write this (sitting in a scarf and two jumpers with a hot drink and the heating on) a friend of mine is slowly walking past the window in the freezing cold. She's 95.

Do you think that maybe I'm slightly pathetic? I do. Everybody has to do things they don't fancy all the time. And once I'm out there I warm up anyway! Will it be the same for you – once you get started on the thing you're putting off, perhaps it will get easier from there?

If you're doing it for God, you can be sure He will work with you and give you the strength you need to do it. Jesus said to his disciples “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing...You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (John 14)

So why not ask for His help this week, check it's what He wants and jump in and do it?

Cold is, after all, beneficial. It keeps the milk fresh when I forget to get it in, it scares the spiders away into hiding 'til Spring, and it allows the beautiful snow to come.

Do let me know if you're braving it and 'facing the cold' in some way, I'd love to pray for you.