I’ve never been much of a participator in sporting events. Pushed to go outside and play, I would find a quiet spot in the shade to curl up and read. At recess, I so disliked team events. Always the last one chosen, I was self-conscious about being a klutz! Grace was not visible in my coltish legs, flat bottom, and a chunky torso, so others tended to laugh at me. The typical ‘running like a girl’ applied to me with few exceptions. If the mad rooster or one of the bulls were chasing me, then I could top a two-minute mile easy! I just preferred solo activities inside, and still do.
I am not a hit the gym daily hard body, but I used to go three or four times a week. Across the street from my workplace and offering a discounted membership, it was a convenient, cost-effective, and enjoyable alternative to unwind after work. Co-workers and friends encouraging each other reaped the health benefits through exercise, and I looked forward to it.
One of my friends and I were challenging each other on crunches. We did five sets of twenty with a minute or two of rest in between. This built up to sets of fifty followed by more sets. Over a month or so, our endurance improved to completing five hundred crunches! We felt great with our accomplishment and began some light weight training. Then, I got laid off and had to let the membership go; a few months later my husband died and a few months after that I developed hypothyroidism. The weight I lost returned….with friends and family….unwilling to leave! A couple of years go by where my health improves as my faith strengthens. I quit smoking. A couple of weeks later we lost my Dad. I didn’t go back to cigarettes, but I did increase the ice cream, and the weight increased in proportion to the amount of comfort I consumed!
The training and routine of regular exercise gave me discipline and energy. I learned to enjoy working out with my girlfriends. I miss the activity and the comradery. I miss those jeans I no longer own. Each day is easier than the day before to skip taking a walk or getting moving in some way. Sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of something creamy and cold is such a habit I don’t even realize I’m doing it sometimes. I’ve become so resistant to exercise; I can barely do ten crunches, let alone ten sets of fifty.
Life can throw us off a steady pace. Whether its illness, loss, financial challenges or a perceived lack of time, we drift away from our routine. We miss opportunities or avoid them, to work toward a goal. We fail to rally our cheering section to hold us accountable making it so very easy to skip a task we should be doing. We lose out on celebrating accomplishments as we fall deeper into unhealthy habits. We willingly walk away from doing what we know is right.
We do this with areas other than exercise too. Expectations develop into temptations, pulling us into daily crazy. We leave quiet time with God to later, only ‘later’ keeps getting pushed. We allow ourselves to become overwhelmed with worldly pursuits until we collapse. We promise God we will make it up to Him. We are sincere in our justification that our lack of time with Him is just an anomaly until we rarely think of quiet time anymore. We take advantage of new mercies daily as we continue to avoid spending quality time with God. We have trained our resistance to excuse us. We embrace our ‘new normal’ of missing time with God, and it grows. Before we understand what we are doing, we skip attending church, miss fellowship opportunities, leave out Bible study, and prayer comes only when we are in trouble. Each time is easier than the time before until we are fully in the world. The fire for the Lord becomes a spark within us until it banks to a smoldering ember.
Eventually, we come to ourselves, or we get a well-deserved ‘God-smack’ to redirect our attention. We realize how resistant we have become to doing what we know is right. We cry out for forgiveness. We pour out our heartbreak and pain for we know we have grieved the Holy Spirit. We thank God for His faithfulness even when we drift away. We rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit to help us with our self-control. We redefine our day to put God first; the fires burn brightly again, and everything else falls into place.
I ask you, believer to believer, have you laid aside time with God to sleep a bit more or play a while longer? Has it been so long you feel unworthy to approach Him? He’s right there waiting for us to turn around. Come as you are…we know we can. Let’s live like we know where we are going to spend eternity, because we do. Let’s be salt and light to a darkened world, as we are called to be. Let’s love without reservation, forgive without requirement, for we are greatly loved and have been forgiven much. Let’s quit resisting our training and let the testing of our endurance become enveloped with His loving grace!
