“It’s ‘Bodyshred’, Baby!”, I heard
as I stumbled over to the DVD player and silenced my good old friend, Jillian
Michaels. With sweat pouring from my
face and nausea building in my stomach, I crawled over to the cool kitchen
floor and sprawled out. “Why do I do
this to myself…”, I asked. I had just
finished the first of 8 new workout videos by fitness guru, Jillian Michael’s
entitled “Bodyshred”. Each video is 30
minutes long and every 2 weeks you switch to new videos that are more physically
challenging.
Six weeks into the training of 30
minutes a day, 6 days a week, I found myself in front of a scale. You see, I don’t own a scale, but now there
just happened to be one in the fabulous downtown Chicago hotel that my husband
picked out to celebrate my birthday. I
stepped on and waited completely expecting to have lost at least double digits…..but
then SURPRISE! I gained 4 pounds! I was
devastated! My husband tried to console
me with talk of “it’s gained muscle” but the number stuck in my head. I thought about the nice calorie filled
breakfast sandwich I had that day from mcdonalds and the pizza I had for lunch,
and I headed straight to the hotel gym determined to run off those extra 4
pounds.
The gym was gorgeous and clean with
apples stocked in the minifridge and a keurig looking cold water dispenser. It had a nice row of treadmills facing the new
Trump Tower and the Chicago River. I
picked out a treadmill and realized that it had been at least a year since I
stepped foot on one of these. Fears
started running through my head…..”what if I fall and people laugh, I’ll be all
scraped up for our nice Chicago dinner tonight, what if this treadmill
malfunctions and I fly straight through the window and fall 4 stories down to
my death.”…..yeah, that thought seriously crossed my mind. But I threw out those thoughts and started
running.
Power, I felt pure power! Before Bodyshred, I had never really
seriously strength trained. Sure, I had
run long distances and seen how amazing the body can train and adapt to make 12
miles feel like 2. But I had never in my
life felt what it was like to run with strength trained muscles. I ran 3 miles without barely breaking a sweat
or speeding up my breath. It felt
absolutely incredible! For those of you
who know me well, you know that running is one of my favorite worship times
with God. I’m not sure exactly how it
works out this way….maybe it has something to do with part of my brain being so
focused on the physical aspect of running that I can’t get distracted by other
little things. My sole focus remains on
God and running becomes a complete act of worship. On that day in Chicago, after allowing that
number on the scale to flood me into all kinds of insecurities, I regained my
confidence by experiencing the truth. I
had gained muscle and I had gained power and it took me actually running it out
see that. And I had the most wonderful time
with God during that run because of it!
My point to all of this is for us
to not get so focused on the “number” that we forget, or can’t see, the great
work God is doing in us. Maybe your aren’t
seeing the results that you had hoped for and you find yourself questioning God….
“God, I thought more people would join my small group…..God, I thought by now I’d
be serving your people on the fields of Africa….God, I thought by now this co-worker
or family member would believe in you.”
And this kind of thinking can open up a whole can of insecurities… “I’m
just not fun enough, I’m don’t have enough qualifications, there has to be something wrong with me that
God isn’t using in that way….” Know that
“you are clothed in strength and dignity”(proverbs 31:25) and before God formed
you in the womb He knew you, before you were born He set you apart (Jeremiah
1:5). He has a magnificent plan and purpose
for your life that is uniquely yours. No
other person could do what God has in
store for you. So keep up with your “strength
training”! You pray, you read your
Bible, you surround yourself with friends who encourage you in the faith, and
you cast aside the lie of the “number” and acknowledge the great work God is
doing in you! And above all, hold onto the truth that you have a Savior who
loves you so incredibly much….and THAT is always more than enough!
