Sometimes you just don’t want to do the things you know are good for you. Like eating healthy. Or going to work on a sleepy, rainy, Monday morning. Orattending mid-week service. So what doyou do when everything within you screams to indulge, turn off the alarm, orskip church? You reach in your pocket, pull out your phone, and reread this post to remind yourself of the TOP3 THINGS YOU CAN DO WHEN YOU DON’T WANNA DO WHAT YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD.
The Top 3 Things That You Can Do When You Don’t Wanna Do What You Know You Should
1. Make a decision. Yep, decide in advance what commitments, and activities are non-negotiable. For me, this is daily prayer and Bible reading, regular church attendance, being an exemplary employee, and solid sleep habits. Weight Watchers calls this type of thinking-in-advance-decision-making REFRAMING. The Holy Bible calls this CHOOSING, as in “choose ye this day whom ye will serve.”(Joshua 24:15) With reframing, you frame the activity, or commitment in your mind ahead of time, thereby making the decision to do it before the “I don’t wanna’s” hit. Choosing is similar in concept. Simply put, a decision is made, your feet are planted, and that is that. For example, there was a time in my life, when making Wednesday night church service was particularly difficult for me. I worked full time, and would get home in just enough time to prepare dinner before it was time to leave for service. After several months of struggle, I finally made a decision that my attendance was absolutely non-negotiable. Also, after discussing the challenge with my husband, we decided it was better for me to take a short 30 minute nap when I first got home on church night, and forego dinner preparation. We opted to grab something at a drive-thru instead.
2. Pray. But don’t just pray in the midst of the “I don’t wanna’s”, pray well in advance of them. Ask God to help you with your known areas of weakness. For example, because I am a woman in mid-life who works full time, often I am completely tapped out at the end of the work day. This makes doing anything in the evening a genuine struggle for me. And as a church leader, there are often Bible studies to teach, prayer meetings to attend, and leadership trainings to be involved in. In actuality, I rarely missed, but the internal struggle, and angst that occurred beforehand was excruciating. But then I started praying, and asking God to make me more willing and joyful about the demands on my time. Interestingly, during this same prayer season, God also began dealing with me about walking on my lunch break to help combat my evening fatigue. Now, I am coping much better. Truly the God who numbers the hairs on our head delights in responding to our cries for His help and intervention. And His strength is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
3. Examine. Carefully examining your commitments. Sometimes we have the “I don’t wanna’s” because we are way too over extended. If this is the case with you, then it’s time to examine your to-do list. Imagine your commitments as a pie that needs to be served every 24 hours. Take 1/3 of the pie out for the 8 hours of sleep that you need to function and stay balanced. Now take out another 1/3 of your daily pie for your job – at home or in an office. Of the remaining 8 hours, take 3 hours off for food prep, eating, dressing, showering etc. Now slice off another hour for prayer and Bible reading, and 30 minutes for exercise. This leaves you 3 ½ hours a day for your other commitments. Finally, prioritize your commitments, and begin matching up your remaining 3 ½ 
hours with all that you have to do. If you discover that you need way more pie, then it’s time to make necessary adjustments to your personal schedule.
If you apply these top 3 things that you can do when you don’t wanna do what you know you should, you will soon be feeling much lighter, and much more ready to embrace all that you feel you are supposed to do.
Let’s Pray:
Lord, help us with our “I don’t wanna” days. If we are being immature and whiney, please forgive us, and help us. If we are over-extended, please grant us the wisdom, and the courage to make needed changes. Empower us to reframe our thoughts, and choose to follow through with the commitments that you have put before us. We love you. And we want more than 
anything to please You in all that we do. In Jesus name. Amen.