"Just do it"

Nike has a slogan-
"Just do it"**
This is part of my present strategy for living
when I don't want to do 
what I know I need to do.

Need to get out of bed?
        just do it

Need to shower?
       just do it

Need to cry?
       just do it

Need to scream?
       grab a pillow (or go to a private place) and
       just do it

Need to hide away for a few minutes?
       just do it

Need to have a difficult conversation?
       grab kleenex, pray, then 
       just do it

Need to finish a difficult task?
       grab kleenex, pray, 
       work some, rest some,
       just do it

Need to laugh?
       just do it

Need to sob?
       just do it

Need to take some quiet time?
       just do it

Need to take a walk down memory lane?
       just do it

Need to avoid the past for a bit?
       just do it

Need to rant and rave?
       find someone safe to listen and
       just do it

Need to punch someone in the face...
      whoa, slow down! 
      No, don't do it!
      I definitely need to stop, breathe deeply and pray,
      just do it

Need to blog?
       just do it

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." 

The Israelites are in exile when God tells them this.

I know God has a plan for me. 
He is my future. 
He is my hope.
But I find that I need a strategy for living in this land that is strange, a land where I feel like an exile and I don't fit in. 

What else does God say to the exiles?

“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile."

I don't know how God is going to work this out. 

So what do I do?
      Call upon Him
      Go to Him
      Pray to Him
      Seek Him.
      With all my heart.

       Just do it.

I have to remember:
He loves me
He sees
He knows
He cares
He is trustworthy
His timing is not my timing
His ways are not my ways
He is working His eternal purpose
He has proven Himself faithful, time and time again.

I show my love for Him by walking faithfully, 
in obedience to His commands. 
It may be hard.
It can be painful.
It does require death to self/what comes natural.
It is only possible when I allow His Spirit to work in and through me.

       Just do it!

** The inspiration for the Nike slogan came from a statement by Mr. Gilmore, the notorious spree-killer, He uttered the words “Let’s do it” just before a firing squad executed him in Utah in 1977. Years later, the phrase became the inspiration for Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. 

Mr. Gilmore made his choices before he got to the place of uttering his infamous words.

Sometimes the hard place I find myself in is a direct result of choices I have made. 

Sometimes the difficulty I am in is through no fault of my own.

Sometimes escape is possible.

Sometimes there is no alternative, 
I have to face what is in front of me. 

Regardless, seeking God is my choice for life. 

I just have to do it.