Hi, my name is Renée Evans, Senior Leader at Bethel Austin, and I’d like to welcome you to God Today. I want to talk a little bit today about the power of consistent decisions. I think sometimes we can imagine that it is the big and grand decisions that we make that change the course of our life, but actually it’s the small, continuous, consistent decisions that really set the course of our life on the right path, Amen? It is living out of this sense of conviction and it is living out of a sense of small faithful steps every single day that gets us to where we need to be.
I want to read a Scripture to you in Hebrews. And I think that most of us would know this one, but it says this, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin, which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. I want to read that last part again, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. This Scripture tells me that there’s a race that is set out before us, and that as believers, we are to run that race with endurance.
And another thing that it says is, let us lay aside every weight. Can I just encourage you that the decisions to becoming a healthy version of you, the decisions that you make every single day, they matter, and they are part of your overall life, which we often refer to as this race of life.
I want to tell you a little bit about a story. I decided one day that it would be a great idea to be a marathon runner. I know, I know, very silly in my opinion, because I am not a runner, but I thought, you know what? How hard can it be? That seems to be the motto of my life. And then I typically find out a lot later down the road that, you know what? It’s actually a lot harder than I thought it was, but I thought, how hard can it be to run a marathon? And so I started small. I was like, I’m going to run a 5k. And then I’m going to work my way up. I’m going to run a half marathon and then a marathon. And I remember when I began training to run, like be a runner, I could barely even run a mile. Like I couldn’t run a mile. I had to walk and then run and then walk and then run. And it took me actually over a week of consistently running to actually be able to run a whole mile without stopping to breathe and without stopping to walk, without stopping, because my legs were so sore. And you know what? That mile turned into two miles after about three to four weeks. And then that two miles turned into three and continuously, I was able to add speed and add distance on to my runs, every single time I ran. And you know what? There were so many mornings where I did not want to run.
I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but just the thought of exercising is like sometimes overwhelming. And so sometimes I just have to put on my exercise clothes. I have to tie up my running shoes just to be like, okay, I’m going to do this. And oftentimes if I’ve gone to that much effort, I’ll actually step out the door. So I, in the mornings, I’m like, I’m just going to put my running shoes on from the very beginning, knowing that at some point today, I am going to go for a run. And so every single day I had to make a decision that pushed me towards this goal. I had to make decisions when it was cold and raining outside to still go running. I had to make decisions to go out when it was 110 degrees here in Texas. I had to make decisions when it was easy when I wanted to run, and when it was hard and I wanted to do anything but run. And so, my decision to run this half marathon, it wasn’t made in that one moment that I chose to run a half marathon. That actually came about, because I chose to make decisions every single day, whether I felt like it or I didn’t, to get to the point of running a half marathon.
And I think it’s so much like that in life, isn’t it? Again, it’s not that moment where we decide to do something big. It’s the every single day choices that get us there, isn’t it? And our life, if it is a race that we run towards, that we run this race well for the Glory of God, then I don’t know about you, but every single day, I want to make decisions whether it’s easy or hard to get me there and get me there well. Because I tell you what, I want to stand before the Lord one day. And I want to hear Him say to me, well done my good and faithful servant. Well done my good and faithful servant. And as believers, there should be no greater words that we desire to hear than that from our King Jesus, Amen?
But I want to encourage you every single day, it matters. But in saying that if you fall off the bandwagon one day, cause I got to tell you I wasn’t perfect in my training. And there were some days where it was just too hard. There were some days where I was like, I got three kids, I’m a working mom, I’m helping, I would pile on the excuses and I would allow the excuses to make the decisions for me. So there were days where I completely did not do what I said I was going to do, but the more I did it, the more I wanted to do it. And you know what? It didn’t cause me to go off kilter. It didn’t cause me to go and fall off the wagon and never get back on. But I would just pick myself back up the next day and be like, you know what? I didn’t do it yesterday, but I’m going to do it today. And that is the power that we have in making small decisions.
So don’t get discouraged if one day you maybe make the wrong decision. There is tomorrow to make a good decision. Amen? Let us endeavor to run this race well and make great decisions every single day that is going to cause us to get there. Amen?
Lord, I thank you so much for every person watching. And Father, I ask that you just give us faithfulness that we will feed on Your faithfulness. And as a result, we will be faithful with the little things, that we will be faithful with the small steps that lead to the big moments of our life. God, I thank you that you are with us every time, whether we fail or succeed, You are with us. And Your love for us does not change. So I thank You for that in Jesus’ Name, Amen.