The 15-Minute Principle

I've been thinking about excercise and how it can teach us a lot about the rest of life. The other day, I blogged about how it takes about 10-15 minutes of sluggishness before excercise (or, at least, the good feeling from it) really kicks into gear for me. Maybe that is a good principle for life: sometimes the best things come after making it through the hard part. I am dubbing this the "15-minute principle".

Granted, there are some things in life that are just bad...and no amount of time is going to make them better...so no use torturing ourselves just to reach some good part that will never come. But it does seem to me that anything worth having or worth doing would fall under the auspices of the 15-minute principle. This is especially true in the spiritual life. Maybe it is just me, but I find the beginning of prayer or the beginning of Bible study very difficult. Just getting started is a feat...then I try to find ways out of it (i.e. I suddenly remember all the things that I have to do, instantly, and if I don't do them right that minute the world will certainly come to an end). Just like exercise, though, if you make it through the tough part--the sluggish beginning part--something beautiful happens...you fall into a rhythm, an experience of God's Presence that sustains and feeds you.

I think this 15-minute principle would apply to certain seasons in our lives, as well. Is there an area where you are struggling to see God's faithfulness, where His promises seem far away? Keep pushing through the "15 minutes". We have yet to see what lies on the other side of this arduous, sluggish period of time. Perhaps God will surprise you in ways you could never expect or imagine...or so the 15-minute principle would tell us.

I wonder how many great things in life I have missed because I gave up before I got through the first "15 minutes" of yuckiness. What have I missed in all realms of life, but especially in relationship to God? I like things that are easy and simple, but somehow, the best things are neither easy or simple...but they ARE worth the effort. Something beautiful lies on the other side of the difficult time, if we are willing to see it through to the end and not give up.