Smooth Move, Exlax!

by Brad Bramlet

Whatever failures I have known, whatever errors I have committed, whatever follies I have witnessed…they have been the consequence of action without thought.
I was on the treadmill at the local gym. With Garth Brooks in my Walkman, I was doing my best to ignore the protest my muscles were staging against my current choice of activity. The music was a nice distraction from the pain until the tape needed to be turned over. What happened next I cannot explain, probably because I have tried to block the whole incident from my conscious mind. Why I stopped running on the treadmill, to this day, is a mystery to me. Obviously I can’t multitask.
Yes, I stopped running and the treadmill did not. Just like Exlax through a colon, I was shot from the back end of that machine. Then, with cat-like reflexes, I got up and jumped right back onto that mechanical “black stallion.”
When I gathered the courage to look into the mirrors that surrounded the gym, I realized that while I had been thrown to the ground, the three ladies on stationary bicycles had been thrown into hysterics. One had fallen off her bike from laughter, the other laughed so hard she was crying and the third, I found out later, had to have hernia surgery from literally “busting a gut.”
We all fall. We all make mistakes. We all sin. The difference between a failure and an over comer is what we do next. A failure stays down and pushes play on the negative talk cycle. “Poor me…I just can’t…no use in trying…I give up.” An over comer quickly gets back up, dusts themselves off and starts again. This is the observable behavior of a mature believer in Christ.
The failure sits in a puddle of condemnation and self-absorption. He doesn’t understand God’s love and forgiveness. If Satan, your enemy, can keep you focused on your past failures, he’s got you. You’re done.
The over comer self-evaluates. He asks, “What did I do wrong? How could I have done things differently?” He asks God for feedback which often comes from the Bible or a group of trusted friends. Then he acts on it. He corrects his mistakes and goes again.
Here’s the truth. You have two choices. When you fall, and we all do, you can give up and stay down or you can look up, learn from your failures and keep on going.
So, if you see me at the gym, don’t distract me. It’s a fact—I can’t multitask. But know this…if I fall off again, I will get back up.