Get Up!

“At what point did you earn the right to quit?” This…this is the question that summarizes my life lately. In my own little defense, I haven’t completely quit (don’t panic, I didn’t denounce God or anything like that)…I just fell into “the sunken place” of laziness. Life got a little scressful (no not stressful, I passed that a while ago), my schedule changed, hours have this way of turning into days, & days keep becoming months. Eventually, I looked up one day, and couldn’t find my discipline. I couldn’t access that ‘ok…do it anyway…the hustle doesn’t stop because _____’ mentality. Baby girl was TIRED, ok! I used tired as an excuse to fall off…of everything. You may have noticed that it’s been a few weeks since a new post was uploaded. I stopped working out (used my hair as an excuse & everything lol). You may be thinking that I’m talking without purpose, I promise Im not (lol). I’m telling you this because…

I owe you an apology. Yes, you. Whether this is your first time reading this blog or if you’ve been reading for the past 2 years and have been secretly wondering where I’ve been. There’s a duty & a responsibility that I signed up for when I started this blog, and I haven’t done my due diligence on that lately. I can hear some incredibly sweet person saying “oh it’s ok Valencia! You’re human!” Gee thanks! And while that is true, being human doesn’t release me from responsibility. However, because God is….God, He used my shortcomings to show me my (and your) strength: the power to get up. 

One of the main highlights of the story of Jesus is His resurrection. That’s what separates Him. That’s what distinguishes his story from other prophets, etc.; the fact that He died…and got up again. Today, I think that the same is true for us. Maybe you haven’t been lazy, maybe you’ve been distracted. Maybe you’ve been disobedient. Maybe you’ve been caught in guilt or shame. Maybe you’ve made a bad decision, but at some point, we’ve all fallen. At some point, we slipped up…or just sat down on the path to destiny and decided to do something we shouldn’t have. I’m not here to talk about the fall as much as I am to talk about what you do afterwards. After all, to me, that’s the most important part. 

     We give so much energy to the fall. I get it; the goal isn’t to screw up. Nothing in the Bible encourages sin, but it does encourage grace. I’ve learned that often, our history has power because we give it power. It has a hold on us because in one way or another…we feed it. We think about it, we believe that who we are is a reflection of who we’ll always be (like Jesus died that level of death for you to make excuses for mediocrity), we choose safety over purpose, what’s convenient over what He calls us to…and end up repeating what was. I’m saying that maybe it’s time for us to take the faith we put in our bad habits, and put in into creating better ones. It’s time to stop feeding what we see & feed what He said. What you feed is what will grow. So stop feeding what was, and feed what can be. 

     Furthermore, as I’ve grown, I’ve realized that God is a God of consistency. It’s His character. It’s just who He is. He is consistent in all that he does, and it should be our goal to be the same way. So when you fall, get up. Don’t give the fall any extra attention, get up. This is your alarm clock. This is your notice. This is that annoying tap on your shoulder that takes you out of the dream you’ve been sleeping through….because it’s time to get up. You’ve been down long enough. You’ve been guilty long enough. You’ve been bound long enough. Now, it’s time to rise. See, falling doesn’t take away your ability to rise; it actually puts you in the perfect position to do so. So from this day forward, let’s consistently get up. Let’s consistently give all of who we are to what’s ahead, and consistently forget what’s behind us. You may have fallen, but He gives us grace for the ‘come up’. Oh this fall hurt? Greater is He that’s within you. This fall was your fault? He knew you’d fall when He created you - and He still called you higher. Don’t put more faith in your shortcomings than you do in His salvation. You may be human enough to slip (willingly or nah), but He’s still God enough to help you up. I’ve yet to commit a sin that He couldn’t free me from. I’ve yet to fall into a pit that He couldn’t help me out of. Be consistent…and get….up. 

Background music: Get Up - Tasha Cobbs

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