SoulFit: Move When God Says Now

We trace the journey from a long season of waiting to the moment God says move, exploring discernment, fear, and the simple courage to take the next faithful step. Through Scripture, journaling, and a real story of closing one door and opening another, we show how peace, not panic, leads the way.

• why waiting becomes comfortable and how that stalls obedience
• discernment as peace, Scripture alignment, and wise counsel
• open doors that do not need a crowbar
• fear as a sign of growth, not just danger
• obedience in steps: humble, prayerful, and timely
• the role of fasting and journaling in clarifying direction
• outcomes entrusted to God while we take the next step

If you missed earlier weeks, you can find all the weeks on the app or on the Mind Body Project

https://aarondegler.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Series Recap

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to SoulFit. Thanks for taking a little time to join us. And if this is your first time, welcome. Each week we just visit a little bit on a live call about scripture and how do we make that applicable in everyday life? How do we take that? How do we apply it to our everyday life? So that's kind of what we do each week on Soul Fit. We just have a different topic. So let's join our live call. Because this is week five. We are on week five of waiting on God. So just a quick recap. Week one was about why waiting is so hard. Our week two was when we try to help God, because of course he needs our help, right? So we always want to try to help. And then week three was waiting without losing hope. Last week was what God does while we're waiting. He is not off just in another room and forgot us. He's actually doing things. So if you missed any of those weeks, you can find all the weeks on the app or on the Mind Body Project. You can find all of them to get caught up if you missed any of them. Because this week we're talking about moving when God says now. Last week we did talk about what he's doing and what God's doing while we are waiting. And so believe it or not, he was doing things. And so now we were still waiting last week. Now is when it's going to take some action on our part when he says go now. Kind of like in workout when I say go now. And then and then what happens sometimes? And I say it again. And go. And so we're going to find out sometimes that's what he has to tell us. And go now. So really if we think about our waiting, as we've been talking about waiting, and really this, you know, as I shared this series about waiting, I mean, we're going to talk about as we go throughout today, but it's really because I felt in a season of wait, and all those things that we talked about, why it I felt it was hard, and I was trying to help God and I was losing hope. And I thought maybe he forgot about me. And so all those things we've talked about really, I started because I was experiencing all those. And I thought, if I'm, I'm sure I'm not the only one. So let's kind of grow through this together. So our waiting is kind of like waiting in line at Six Flags or Disney World or Disneyland, some amusement park. And sometimes what does that there's a screen up there that says your your waiting time is an hour and a half. But really, what are you doing? You're standing there waiting to move and get to the ride, right? That's what you're so we stand there, we wait, we wait, we move. We wait, we wait, we move. So really it waiting is just like if we're waiting in line at six flax. We're patiently waiting for that big ride that we're fixing to get on. And so when we get there, when God opens the door, then face faith shifts from being patient to being obedient. Which we're gonna talk about that can be challenging sometimes. This the same trust we had when that helped us waiting, we now have to apply that will help us move. Because sometimes we get really used to waiting. And what happens when we get used to something? It gets real comfy. And so then we get it, we get afraid to move. It gets real scary to move. Maybe you're like me and you've prayed for clarity of something, a direction you wanted to go, and then you hesitated when the opportunity came. So when for a number of years, I had been wanting to do something different than Synergy Fitness. I had been praying about it, been talking about it, and that is where I felt being led to do something different besides Synergy Fitness. So prayed about it, you know, you can keep praying about it, say, well, nothing happened several years, nothing was really, there's no opportunities until I decided maybe should expand M2B and do something different, expand out of Synergy Fitness into something different. As we prayed about it, we decided to move forward. Now that wasn't an easy move. Why? Because 14 years at one place is really comfortable. I know how everything works, what happens, I can, I mean, everything's predictable. But so prayed about it, prayed about, decided, okay, you know, a location came available. I mean, everything was just kind of falling into place. And just like we do sometimes, I got scared and said, no, I don't want to do it. I don't think it's the right move. All the things that we think about get really scary. Kind of like when I opened Synergy Fitness. Decided I wasn't gonna do it, but we turned out and we did it. And we're gonna talk a little bit more about that in a little bit. But so it so that opportunity came about of M2B fitness of expanding and closing synergy fitness. But what we had been praying for comes about, we get really scared and really, and as I mentioned to you before, Kim and I had some big conversations and not agreeing conversations with each other about M2B fitness and moving because of comfortable being comfortable, of not wanting change, of we like waiting in line because we know where everything is around us. And so moving is hard sometimes. And just like everything, there is a time for everything. And in this book of the Bible that I can't say, this article. Ecclesiastes? Yep, that's it. Ecclesiastes. In 3 1, it says, There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. And we hear about a season all the time. And you know, waiting seasons are real, you know, a number of years that I can just say with synergy, there was other waiting, but just using that, there was a waiting season of several years of waiting, of waiting. Again, going through all those things we've talked about. God, you're not paying attention to me, I'm losing hope. All those things we talked about, I experienced in those years. And then when it was time to move, whoo! And and and not just, you know, it was you know me physically moving everything, but it was time to make that commitment and move what was real. And we hear about discernment all the time, about discernment. And I always hear that word, and I think I'm not I'm kind of confused on what it means. So I looked up the definition to just make it clear because discernment is the ability to perceive, understand, and judge situations or information clearly, going a beyond the obvious. So discernment is about doing that uh beyond what is just obvious, to distinguish the truth from error. So that's where discernment is, it's really what we see on on, you know, sometimes on face value is we're going beyond that. We're going beyond the obvious to understand or judge the situation better. So that's really what when we have discernment, that's what we're doing. And and so it's challenging sometimes because the same God that says wait, wait, wait, also says go. So just like I tell tell you in circuit, rest, rest, rest now, go. And then sometimes many like an extra rest. So they're still sitting, and I gotta say, okay, and go now. And they're still sitting, and and we kind of laugh about it. But in our life, we're no different. God's telling us, and go now, and go now, and we're still sitting on the medicine ball because why? We're comfortable, we're a little tired, all the same reasons, we're doing the same thing with God. So, some signs that God may be saying now is peace when you make a decision, you have peace with it, it's not pressure. So in Colossians 3:15, it says, Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Since it's since members of one body, you are called to peace and be thankful. And that's what God does, He leads leads us with peace, not panic. And and I really have to say, as we went through these five weeks, and these five weeks also coincided with five weeks of me. I'll get it out. Fasting at lunch. So 21 days, but it was just four days a week because it was Monday through Thursday while I was here. And so I journal. And so yesterday was the last day, Thursday, uh, was the 21st day. So it was really about five weeks because it was four days for five weeks. But but I read back through the journals, and and as I look back over the different weeks of what we talked about, I could see how the things I was writing about changed. I could see how in in week one I was telling God how hard it was to wait, you know, and about how I was trying to be in control. I saw several times I wrote, I want to take control. You know, I saw several things about losing hope. But it's the interesting thing over those five weeks, and and and I don't think this was by accident at all, but I could see the growth of my words change, of my attitude change as went through this, and and it just coincides with everything we've been talking about each week, about how, again, I've had more peace too, because I can see some directions that he's leading me, and it and it's through peace. It's not, I'm not panicked about it. And too, we can also, another sign when God says now is is it aligns with scripture. God never contradicts himself. He's not like us humans. He will never contradict what his word says. That will never happen. And he opens doors in Revelation 3:8. It says, I know your deeds. See, I have a place before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. You know, not every opportunity is from God, but divine doors don't require you to use a crowbar to open them. So a funny thing about doors, and I may have mentioned some of you may not know, but Synergy when I decided to close and rent and move M2B to where we're at now, I had actually I thought about it and I had told landlord, hey, we're out, we're gonna be out by this time. And a couple weeks later, I got I panicked. And so I went back to him and said, Hey, I don't want to move. Is there any way I can stay? And so since since God already knew what I was gonna do, God had already slammed the door shut. He said, No, you can't because the church has already decided they want to move ahead, they have plans. So God God took care of that door for me because he he slammed it shut, and and you know, I was like, well, that's I mean, I might have got a little bothered by it at the moment because I'm human and got my my what is that tough danderna tuff? Anyhow, never heard that. It's something like that, isn't it? Your feathers ruffled, lips lips pooched out, lips pooched out, feathers ruffled, all the above. But it was really, God knew I was gonna turn around and try to go back through that door. So he took care of that door for me. And really moving in here, all the doors were open. There really wasn't, I didn't have to pry anything open. The space came available at the right time, equipment, just everything kind of fell in place. People, just everything fell in place the way it should. So he will open doors, even when we get a little scared sometimes. And also, signs he may be saying now is when we have wise counsel around us. In other words, we can confirm in community. When we have people that we go to that we trust their wisdom. I mean Proverbs 11:14, it says, For lack of guidance a nation fails, but victory is won through many advisors, which which is which is very true. There's a saying that says, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others. And that's really what it is. It's it's getting wise counsel. And maybe it's maybe it's those that maybe understand the Bible a little bit better. Maybe it's those that can share that wisdom with you, that understanding. Maybe it's they can give you better guidance in other areas. I think we should definitely have advisors in all different areas. Just because they're good at one thing doesn't mean they're good at everything. And and and then why does why does when it's time to move, why does it feel so scary? Because when God says now, as as we felt, have a feel fear of failure. What if it doesn't work? What if we move to a new location and it flops? What if we change our business model completely and we said we're not open to anybody and everybody? Now we've limited our number of people that can join. What if it doesn't work? You know, we're what if it fails? We changed everything. You know, Kim is she'll she'll tell you, she has a big fear of change. Change doesn't go well with her, and this was a big change. I mean, that was probably one of her biggest holdups. Mine was a feel of a fear of failure. And then sometimes we have, what if this is successful? We have a fear of that. Because if it when when we're comfortable, it's very familiar. We know it. We may not like it, but it's very familiar. I didn't I didn't like the day in and day out synergy fitness, but it was very comfortable. I knew what it was going to look like. I knew how everything was gonna go. You know, after 14 years, I knew the flow of it. Different seasons of the year, different times of the year, it'd be high, low. You know, I knew it. But it was time for a change. And sometimes, if we think about fear, think about this. What if fear is present not because it's wrong, but because it's growth? And I think sometimes we think of fear as I must have this fear because it's the wrong thing to do. But sometimes it's really is because the fear of growth and and moving here at M2B Fitness in our location. We've had growth in so many different areas that growth in just sheer numbers, growth for me, S Energy Fitness, what we're doing right now would not have happened. All of our walk and talks, healthy huddles, none of that would have happened. So growth for me has been huge about what I've been able to do and my the impact I want to have and the direction I want to go, and the dreams I have. All of these things are just part of it. But sometimes that fear is because of the growth. So we have to have faith after waiting. Waiting takes faith. But when God says now, that takes real faith too. I mean Habakkuk 2.3 it says, for the revelation awaits an appointed time. It speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay. It will come at an appointed time, and it may it may linger for a while, but it will come. And when the timing comes, we have to move humbly, move prayerfully, move obediently, and trust the outcomes to God. Just as we had to be obedient to wait, we have to be just as obedient to move. And when we do move, just as we were waiting, we're still doing it in prayer, we're still doing humbly, we're still doing it obediently. We still do the same things in moving that we did in waiting. Because there's principles we're going to follow over and over again, whether we're in a waiting season or a moving season. And really the obedience matters more than the results. Yes, Lord, I will now move. And and I we're all guilty of and go now. And go now. It takes time for us to hear and go now for us to hop up and go. So it's just like working out. We're we're comfortable and resting, and it takes several go now. So, really, kind of the challenge is there's is there somewhere that feels like is there somewhere now that God is saying move now? I I feel for for Kim and I, there's some areas that God is saying move now. And it's not we're not saying big moves. He's just saying take the next step. And sometimes when it's move now, it just means take the next step. It doesn't mean you gotta go all the way. He's just saying move now to the next step. And and and take the scary step. Because again, just as you're doing obedience or in waiting, you're being obedient. And so you want to be obedient in that next step. Because there may be somewhere he's telling you right now, and go now. So that's simply the challenge. After we everything we've talked about, and maybe you're not there yet. Maybe you're not, maybe you're still in a waiting season, maybe, but this is to prepare you for when he does say go now. And I hope these five weeks have challenged you as it has me to understand and be able to move through the waiting process. And it's not a punishment. Waiting's not a punishment, it's simply getting us ready when we're waiting for what he has in store, which is much greater than we can than we can see now. So again, if if you missed any of those last four weeks, you can catch them on the app or on the mind body project. And then this one, of course, will be um out next week on there. So you can review them all and go over them and listen to them. So I'll I'll close this in prayer and then we'll go on about our fantastic Friday. Dear Helly Father, thank you for bringing us all together today, Lord. I just pray for each one of us. If if we're in the waiting season, if we're in the move now season, that we just rely on you and we're obedient, mate, we're obedient in the waiting season in a prayerful way. We're obedient in the move now season, that we just take the next faithful step, Lord. So let's pray over each one that no matter what season they're in of the the waiting, that you just give them the strength, the understanding, and the patience to lean on you and allow them to allow you to guide them in their next step. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you all very much. Have an amazing Friday, and I'll see everybody next week. Thank y'all. And thank you to each of you for joining us on SoulFit. I look so forward to seeing you right here next time on SoulFit.