Is it just me, or does anyone else have trouble maintaining momentum?  I often feel like I’m a living experiment for Newton’s first law of motion:

 

 

An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

Life may be going smoothly.  My quiet times with the Lord may be sweet and invigorating.  I’m reading my Bible systematically, I’m praying regularly, I’m reading books that feed my soul.  I am eating well and resting sufficiently.  My days seem productive and the overall tone of my home is peaceful.

And then, an outside force acts.  Actually, an inside force.  That force is my own thinking.  Seeds of doubt begin to take root.  What am I doing all of this for?  Do I really need to be so disciplined and consistent? Surely life will be fine if I give up my Bible time once in awhile, and who really needs to consult the Lord all day long over the little things in life?

Those seeds of doubt and questioning act as an unbalanced force and before I know it, I’ve stopped exercising and I’m lazy in my eating, which makes me feel lazy and sluggish. My prayer time has diminished and I feel far from the Lord, not because He has gone anywhere, but because I have stopped seeking Him as diligently as I once did.  Before I know it, I’d lingering in the land of inertia, feeling like life is drudgery and all is amiss.  There is no point in Bible study, what difference does it make anyways? And who cares if I sneak a sleeve of cookies after the kids go to bed, what difference will that make?

But just as those cookies wreak havoc on my body physically, so too does my lack of spiritual discipline wreak havoc on my soul spiritually, and any attempt to escape the slough of despond seems impossible.  Until…

Until another unbalanced force comes. Until my thinking gets straightened out, and my perspective gets righted and I remember who I am in Christ and why I am here.  Only when the force acting upon my inertia is greater than my inertia will movement towards self controlled and disciplined living return.

So the question I’m left to ponder is, how to I get in motion and then remain in motion? How do I avoid that unbalanced force from entering and knocking me off kilter? How do I prevent myself from wasting days and even weeks in sluggishness, and instead live all-out for the glory of God, unhindered by seeds of doubt or despair?

Unfortunately for you and for me, I don’t yet have an answer to that.  But while I try to figure it out, I will continue to remind myself of good ole Newtown and his second law, and strive to avoid the trap of inertia.