Day 60- Staying the Course
📖Daily Reading
1 Kings 17-18
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
1 Kings 17: 5-6
So Elijah did as the Lord told him and camped beside the Keri’s Brook, east of Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he drank from the brook. But after a while the brook dried up, for there was no rainfall anywhere in the land.
So today is my 3 year Sober Sis’ery’ (3/1/23) - yes I am coining a new term. That is how important the community of Sober Sis was in my journey! I joined Sober Sis already completely AF for over 4 months and on my journey for more than 2 years at that point. I joined the community of Sober Sis in March of 2020, right as the world was shutting down with the Covid pandemic. I am now over 3 years sober and sober-minded (there is a difference) for the health of it.
Loving life and so full of gratitude (sometimes I think I might burst) for every part of my journey, even when it seems like I was going nowhere and just lurking, watching and learning from others who were talking about how much better life was without any alcohol! So those of you that are just being curious and watching - I see you! I honor you for being on your own journeys, what ever it may be and allowing yourself to be curious! That is often where it starts for many of us, not just a pain point and a sudden about face. That is not how it works for most, it is a process that often begins with and element of curiosity, of wondering if ‘it’ and you can be better!
I can’t stress how much joining a community of like minded people is a game changer! So wether you are trying to lose weight, get fit, lose the 5’oclock habit, get financially fit, whatever your struggle or habit is - find your people! Commit and go all in with coaching and learning from those who are ahead of you on the journey. Find those who are committed to growth over all, not just seeing if they can use willpower for 30 days to do something extreme. We can all do that, it takes real strength, perseverance, courage, support, commitment to go all in on you! You are worth it, life is worth it! You only have one life, one body and one human experience - lets make it amazing! It does have to be a struggle. It can be amazing, joyful, wonderful and full of purpose and meaning - it is your choice! OWN IT! For Good!
I am here to be an example and to say yes!! Yes it can and yes you can! Stay the course, keep going even when like Elijah you get sent out to the edge of a brook in the wilderness and are just surviving on crumbs and God using seemingly strange directions and events to slowly build your faith and confidence up. For me staying the course involved not joining in and using Covid as an excuse to drink more. If you did, hear me clearly - I have no judgement. I too was once on the hamster wheel or perpetual ground hog day of waking up and proclaiming today was the day to get healthier only to end up with the ‘5’o’clock somewhere’ daily amnesia arriving. This may have been your drought season, that you used alcohol or something else to cope and created a drought for yourself ironically. I am here for you to encourage you and support you. (Maybe for you it isn’t daily alcohol or any alcohol, maybe it is sugar, shopping, netflix, over working or exercising. Anything that you are over-doing or have an unhealthy relationship with or you are using to distract or numb yourself from life is a problem. If you are human you have something!)
Anyhoo..back to Elijah. Elijah stayed the course even when it didn’t make sense and even when it seemed like he was going nowhere and or that it even mattered! Slowly God built up his ‘Godfidence’*, by providing nourishment first to him in the wilderness by means of a raven (kinda cool), then just by supernatural replenishment for a widow and her son, then by bringing the widow’s son back to life. And then … we have the showdown at Mt. Carmel. Elijah challenges the priests of Baal and Asherah, 850 of them to a duel - build an altar and place a sacrifice on it and then who ever is the ‘real’ God or gods will burn the corresponding alter up.
By now Elijah knows God is going to show up and show out! He even taunts the other priests. He allows them and their gods the first opportunity in this showdown to build their altar and they are dancing, pleading, singing, cutting themselves. They are pulling out all the stops. While all this is going on Elijah starts saying things like ‘maybe you should be louder, maybe your gods are too busy relieving themselves and can’t hear you!’. Then he confidently goes about building his own simple alter with 12 stones representing the 12 tribes. He puts a trench around the altar and proceeds to drench it and soak the wood with water. Wow! Then I imagine him swaggering up to the altar and confidently praying to God, it is your time, I did my part now it is your turn to show these ‘fools’ who is really God! Immediately fire flashed down from heaven and burned everything up even the water in the trench! (And the crowd goes wild, I can just hear the roar of the imaginary crowd in my head 🤣). Then Elijah has ALL of the other priests killed. But it doesn’t quite end here.
Chapter 18 ends with a final epic scene, Elijah prays for rain and prophesies that the drought will end and a great storm is on the way. Verse 45-46 ‘And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Arab left quickly for Jezreel. Then the Lord gave special strength to Elija. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.’
We often say in the sober community that sobriety is our superpower. But it takes awhile to feel that way. So I really identified with this whole arch and progression of the story of Elijah during this three year drought period. Going from seemingly know where and reliant upon morsels delivered to him and staying the course to an epic victory and then having supernatural running power! I hope you too are encouraged by Elijah and a little bit my story or others you may be watching and feeling like that could never be you!
I too once felt that way. I am here to tell you if I can do it, literally anyone can which means so can you! There is nothing special about me, I was just willing to stay the course. It isn’t easy, but the magic happens in staying the course even if and even when it seems impossible or too hard!
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
Do you need to go all in? Are you on the fence? Do you have the support you need?
📖Tomorrows Reading
1 Kings 19-22
Coaching Opportunity
Let's make 2023 the year of YOU by laying a solid foundational mind set! The world needs what only you have to offer! Give yourself the best gift ever, the best version of you is ready to rise & shine!
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If you have stuck with me this far, then you are not reading this by accident, I believe God has a plan for you and is calling you forward!😉🤩
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