Winter is coming. It’s beginning to get colder here, at least cold for a guy living in the south! This morning I went for a run, so I bundled up to prepare for the weather. For some, winter is a time to hunker down and wait for spring. But if you’re feeling stuck for whatever reason, I want to encourage you to get up!
I went to Colorado last week, speaking of being cold, and came back with a nasty stomach bug that kept me down for two or three days. I’m sure I’ve had worse, but it was one of the worst in recent memory. As I was recovering, I found difficulty getting motivated to be back in my routine with work other personal disciplines. The illness really threw me off.
But it’s not just me. I’ve also noticed this going on emotionally with a lot of people. 2020 brought us a lot of stressful events, from the pandemic to the election and many others. Many of us feel so overwhelmed emotionally with current events that we have trouble getting motivated to continue pressing forward. Sometimes our present circumstances can paralyze us. We find ourselves unsure how to process our emotions and anxiety. Those feelings can be overwhelming.
Sometimes it’s time to get back to life. There are circumstances we can control and many we cannot. I was reflecting on Saul’s conversion in Acts recently. As Saul is walking on the road, a bright light blinds Saul, and he falls down on the road to Damascus. Jesus begins to speak to Saul as he’s converted. Acts 6:9 says Jesus told Saul, “Now get up and go into the city. You will be told what you must do.”
If you find yourself down, what’s the next thing you need to do? You need to get up and go do what you’ve been called to do. Sometimes we already know what we need to do. Other times, like Saul, we need to intentionally wait and listen for God’s call for us. But the first step is getting up.
There’s another story in Scripture where God is talking to Peter in Acts 10:13. It says, “Then a voice told him, get up, Peter.” So wherever you are, if you’re feeling down, if you’ve been feeling sick, if you’re frustrated about your current circumstances… it’s time to get up. When we get up, we are changing our perspective. When we get up, we stop looking down and start looking ahead.
The Bible tells many stories of people having visions. In these visions, God encourages his people to gain a new perspective. Even when circumstances are difficult, we can redirect our vision to find where God is working. We can choose to live for others and not focus on our own difficulties. When we do that, God has incredible blessings in store for others and for us. Getting up is about seeing what’s next. God tells Saul to go into the city and wait for him. Saul follows the instructions and has an incredible conversion. Saul chose to get up, and now we know him as the greatest missionary of all time! It’s time to get up. God has so much more for you. He has more that He wants you to do. You can’t change yesterday. You can change today.
God promises he will always go before us. Let’s trust his vision. Let’s get up.