Testimony Tuesday: Staying committed

Happy New Year! This week's contributor is someone I met during my season in Florida. She is a mother, a wife and an amazing woman of God who I look up to. Today she is going to be speaking about her fitness and health journey and how it relates to worship and staying true to our goals. I thought this was so necessary, especially for this time of year. I hope you are blessed by another week of #TestimonyTuesday.

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Hi there! I'm Melissa and I have fallen in love with health and fitness. This year has been quite a journey for me. I began with a goal to work out two to three times a week and after just six months, I quickly committed to six to seven days a week. It hasn't been an easy journey but a very rewarding one. Recently, I felt God's tug on my heart teaching me the very reality of worship through working out. At first, I thought it was a crazy idea, but now I realize that it is a very real thing. Below are some thoughts about fitness and faith that I was prompted to write out recently. It blessed me, and I hope it blesses you.

What do working out and worship have in common?

Focus.

Perseverance.

Commitment.

Outcome.

Thinking about the story of Joseph in the Bible, we know he truly faced adversity. His brothers were jealous of him and when he shared his dream, they wanted to kill him. Instead, they sold him as a slave -- talk about betrayal by ones you love. Later, his boss' wife tried to get him to sleep with her and he refused, yet she set him up as if he tried to take advantage of her, talk about being lied on. Then, because of that woman's lie, he was thrown in jail, talk about injustice. But even still, while in jail he helped others out by interpreting dreams and doing what God called him to do. He wasn't focusing on himself and how he had been wronged, he focused on others and went about his business. Even as an inmate, he ministered to others, and though he helped them out, once they were free, they forgot about him … quickly.

Then one day, (when it was his time to rise) because of his gift to interpret dreams, he was let out of that jail and placed second in command over the land, talk about favor and wisdom from God! From the prison to the palace, Just. Like. That.

If you push through, you will succeed. When we surrender our lives to God, stop focusing on the negative going on around us and put our effort into what we're supposed to be doing, we can find the benefit from every bad experience. Nothing catches God by surprise. He knows all things and He's always working things together for our good. We can also rise from the prison to the palace.

So my thought is that in the midst of our goals and dreams there will always be things and/or people who will try to derail your love for Jesus and/or your goals. How will you remain strong and committed? Let’s learn from Joseph:

1. Know who you are.

2. Know who lives in you.

3. Know that God is for you and no one can stand against you.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Romans 8:31

God is for you and your goals (yes even your fitness goals), so we must make  an importance of them.  

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Melissa Bonilla lives in Missouri with her husband and daughter. She is a health and fitness coach with Beach Body who loves praise and worship, singing and creating. She has a master's degree in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University and did her undergraduate studies at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida.