Goal Achieved

Those of you with a fitness tracker or smart watch will be able to relate to my frustration. A couple years ago I received a pretty awesome Christmas gift.. I got an apple watch. I fell in love with it but one thing about it really irritated me. I’d be on the couch, enjoying my peace and quiet and this watch would discretely vibrate and say “Time to Stand!”.  

Umm, excuse me?! I’ve had a long day, I’ve been on my feet for 7 hours – who do you think you are telling me it’s “time to stand”?! “No, Mr. Apple, it’s not time to stand. It’s time for me to be lazy!” 
It started out as a joke, my husband would laugh and I’d go back to my relaxing. But, overtime it really started to frustrate me. 
That annoying notification my watch gives every hour really gave me a bitterness that began feeling all too familiar. The notification that tells me I’m being a lazy couch potato, yeah. I would just roll my eyes and angrily dismiss the notification. 
But recently, I’ve started viewing this hourly reminder a little different. As the notification goes I’ve changed my eye rolls and bitterness into silent prayers. 

Whatever I may be comfortably doing when the notification slightly vibrates my wrist instead of giving an eye roll, I stand up, walk around the house, and pray for the first person that comes to mind. 
And ‘the first person that comes to mind’ isn’t someone I normally talk to or engage with daily. It’s usually someone I haven’t spoken to in a while, I send them a quick text message, encourage them and let them know I’m thinking about them. 

I had grown so familiar to bitterness I didn’t even realize it was starting to affect my heart. But that’s how the enemy works. He is discrete, he uses anything he can to steal happiness away from us, he wants to turn our focus away from our relaxing, content, happy demeanor and fill us with frustration and bitterness, even if it’s only for a couple seconds.  
But guys, it is so amazing what happens when we actively change the bitterness in our lives and turn it into joy. When we resist the devil, he flees. When we acknowledge it and refuse to let frustration, anger, annoyance, or irritation into our heart it’s amazing the joy that God fills us with instead. 

The most beautiful thing about all of this, by the time my prayer is said, my text message is sent, and my quick trip around the house is finished, my watch vibrates once again and it reads… 

“Goal Achieved” 

James 4:7

Ephesians 6:11

Galatians 5:22