It’s always a push for me to get myself to the gym.  I’ve found that if I go to work dressed in my workout clothes (because I change into scrubs at work) that I am more likely to go straight to the gym after work.  I might grumble my way into the gym, but I have yet to be sorry on the way out that I exercised.

There is a piece of equipment at the gym that is a stair-climbing machine.  It is rather like a mini escalator where the steps keep revolving around.  I found it quite humorous the other day when I noticed this sign on the machine:

“Control Zone!”

It struck me as funny.  The ‘contol zone’ apparently is the place to stand … before you lose control?  No.  Maybe it was the place to stand where you could have control ‘cuz once that machine gets rolling you would lose control and fall off the escalator.  Ha!  The little sign looks almost like a welcome doormat … so perhaps it is where you can stand to take control before jumping on for the ride?  Ah … I like that one

And then I got to thinking 🙂

When faced with a challenge in life, do we throw ourselves, unprepared, into the task?  I suppose if it is a sudden situation that needs an immediate response, we might have to.  But if we have the time to prepare for that big move, the job change, the difficult meeting with that difficult person, a loved one’s decline in health, or other such challenges … we can make that challenge so much easier to take on if we first spend some time in the control zone.  You know – that place where you can pray about what you will be facing so that God can help you through :-).  Why would you throw yourself into that challenge (that spinning escalator) without first taking control and arming yourself with strength from above?

A visit to the control zone is actually quite beneficial before starting anything.  Before starting your day? Before a meeting?  Before a visit with friends or family?   Why not imagine a doormat where you can wipe your dirty feet to leave the dirt outside … and then ask for God’s help before entering?

Can’t you just hear Rod Serling saying, “…You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead—your next stop, the Control Zone.”  (Some of you aren’t old enough for this one, huh?)

Take control!

Just Laurel

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you