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I love spin.

I don’t just love going to spin classes, but I love teaching spin classes.

Why?

Because not only am I able to get in a good workout, but I’m also able to be my best D.J. self.

You can just call me “DJ Chryssy Chrys”.

But more than a few people come to spin class and tell me they will never do it again because after sitting on a bike for almost an hour, their hiney hurts!

You know what I tell them?

You gotta keep coming to class.

The only way you will develop the strength needed to last the full hour, and the toughness needed to weather the saddle of the spin bike, is to ride and ride again. It may take 3-4 times to arrive at the place where you no longer feel the soreness from the ride, but in my opinion, enduring the challenge of the early workout provides the pathway to getting the end result.

Sometimes life is like spin class. You want to enjoy the ride while also getting the benefits of showing up for class. Often, the ride isn’t simple, easy, or straightforward, and like spin class, you simply have to keep showing up.

But how do you know if you are pushing yourself too hard and moving past a healthy target heart rate? How do you know if you should ease up and take a breath or even skip a class?

This is the same question I ask myself in life when I want to know if I’m striving or simply being stretched.

Striving occurs when you devote serious effort or energy in a way that is not in the purposes and plans of God for your life. Stretching also involves exerting energy but results in the amplification or expansion of your life, so you are able to become stronger and fulfill God’s plans for your life.

So if both striving and stretching require effort and energy, how do you know the difference between the good kind of exertion in life and the not-so-good exertion? Both are hard work. Both create similar stress. Both require doing something new.

In today’s podcast, I walk you through how you can know if you are in a season of striving or stretching. I do believe you can know the difference! I also believe you need to be intentional about setting yourself up to pay attention and know what season you’re in. In today’s episode, I dig into what it means to:

  • Hear from God by walking in obedience, talking to God in prayer, and learning to listen to His voice. We tackle the concept of spiritual disciplines and how they can make hearing from God easier. 
  • Trust your “knower” through your knowledge of the Spirit’s voice, knowledge of yourself, and knowing your history.
  • Seek opportunities to serve through an understanding of stewardship and how you manage your life and the opportunities in it.

Listen, I want you to be free.

Free from unnecessary striving and stress that comes with moving the needle in your life apart from God. It’s also important that you understand you are free to figure things out! You don’t have to know everything today. Trial and error is a good thing! As long as you have breath, you are free to reinvent yourself and change things up.

The good news is that as long as you are aligning yourself with God’s plans and purposes for your life, you have time. You are free to take your time through the seasons of your life, knowing God’s timing is rarely your timing. 

And He has a way of bringing all things to completion in His perfect timing.

Whatever you are experiencing right now in your life, I encourage you to assess the season of life you are in.

Take the time to listen.

Give yourself permission to learn.

Lean into what God is saying or already doing in your life.

Resist the urge to strive. 

Embrace the opportunity to stretch and strengthen.

Pay attention to your life and live aware.

Know the season you’re in and choose to live.

 

Highlights from Today’s Episode

  • Hear from God
  • Trust your “Knower”
  • Seek to Serve

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Resources Mentioned: 

Other Stuff to Check Out

Let’s Talk!

  1. After listening to this episode, what season do you think you are in? Are you currently striving or being stretched? Are you operating in your own strength or are you developing strength because God is bringing experiences in your life that are creating the environment for you to grow?
  2. Where in the past have you taken a wrong turn? What led to those decisions? What can you learn about life? About yourself??
  3. Where in the past have you taken the right turns? What can you learn from them? 

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How to Listen to The Podcast

If you’re new to podcasts, think of them like little radio shows that you can listen to at your convenience. They are perfect to listen to and learn from as you work out, fold laundry, wash dishes or conquer the world.

1. Listen right here on the blog. Click the little play button at the beginning of this post.

2. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,  Stitcher,  or Google Play! – Be sure and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode! Also, if you would be so kind as to leave a rating on iTunes and/or write a 2-3 sentence review there or on Stitcher?  Your commentary or rating helps make the podcast more “findable” by others who might not know it exists!

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You have been so great to join me on the journey here on the blog, I hope you jump right in and do the same on the podcast!