About So Much More Than Fitness

Over the past several weeks, I've been reflecting on the last 9ish months of my life. Before last August, I danced some, but was never looking to be active or fit. To be honest, I didn't even know where to begin when it came to getting fit. My university actually requires us nerds to take a certain amount of physical activities classes in order to graduate, and my roommate convinced me to sign up for a 7am aerobics class with her. I honestly felt like I'd gone crazy, because that is the last thing in the world I actually wanted to do.

At the beginning of the class in August, the instructor had us write down fitness goals and why we were taking the class. I'm sure most people put down answers like "filling a PA credit" or some such. I had some very personal reasons to put down. In fact, they're personal enough that I've never shared them with anyone else, and I'm not even going to share them here. But the point is, I realized in that moment that I actually had a fear, and an extreme one.

After a few months of training, I realized I was getting stronger and more confident. At that point, I also decided to sign up for another semester of the class. Last semester was great for helping me build a base fitness, but this semester has shown me so much more about myself than I thought possible. God made human beings incredibly capable of so many things, and that includes me. And as great as building confidence has been, I've also learned so much more. I've learned about things that God knew that I could do. My instructor encouraged us to sign up for some kind of race, to have a goal to work towards. I decided to do something I never, ever thought I would do.

Now I don't want to convey I'm Ms. Superfit or anything like that. But if you asked me 6 months ago if I would ever consider running a 5K, I would have flat out laughed and said no...Three days ago, I ran my first 5K in about 27 minutes. Even as I'm writing I'm thinking of how I want to convey what I feel. You see, I didn't think that I could run a 5K. I didn't think I would ever be able to run 3 miles. I didn't think that I could do so many things. And I guess what I've been learning is that God has made me able. He made me more than a conquerer, and I know that seems trivial in this case. But knowing that I can do physical things encourages me in my spiritual walk as well. And because this was my first racing event, I have an entirely new perspective on Hebrews 12:1-2.

"...let us lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..."

You see, in order to run, you don't want to be carrying a bunch of heavy weights. Another version of that verse encourages to throw aside every encumbrance, whatever that may be. Fear, pride, discouragement, sin. You want to run well, to run strong, to run towards that finish line. And every time I run, I try to always sprint the last stretch because I like to finish strong. But I see that in our spiritual walk, running the race with endurance means running strong the entire time, not just at the end. That seems daunting and difficult (and it's promised to be), but I know that the founder and perfecter of our faith has already gone before us. So now it's up to us...to not just take care of the temple God has given us in this life, but to run that race that has been set before us with endurance. Run well my friends and God bless.