Ooh…how I love to feel my strength. I love lifting weights and lifting heavy. There is something about feeling the rush of blood flowing to that particular body part and feeling the oxygen in my lungs conspire with my heart to make the lift. Forty-five minutes of focused workout leave me feeling both relieved that it is over and a great appreciation from my muscles for taking the time to love on them.
God-Aware
This morning I felt so incredibly grateful. I felt strength, but it was knowing that it was God’s strength sustaining me that delighted me the most.
After my cardio, I went into the locker room to refuel before my weight training. I made my protein shake and pulled out my leather-bond Bible. I opened the book to Psalm 68. I had intended to reread Psalm 84, but I thought what if God wanted me to read this chapter, so I did. The verses were poetic. David was so aware of God and nature. He seemed to see nature also as an expression of God. He saw the earthquake as God’s movement. He saw the rain as a form of God’s kindness. He saw the sound of thunder as exultation to God. David ascribed strength to God, then turned to us and said to do likewise. He was God-aware.
So this morning as I lifted my weights, I ascribed strength to God: this iron I lifted strengthened me; it allowed me to become more aware of the strength within me—God’s strength. I felt grateful towards him that I felt healthy and strong. After all, God is strength. He is the Almighty One who is All-Powerful. Realizing my strength was absolutely nothing compared to God’s, I felt humbled yet thrilled like David:
Parade your power, O God,
the power, O God, that made us what we are.
I am made by God. The spark of the Divine is in me. His Holy Spirit resides within my mortal body and he delights me as I feel the pleasure of his Presence.
At the end of my workout I felt so complete and whole—strengthened in body, mind, and spirit. To integrate my body, mind and spirit felt like life coming from every direction. I felt more God-aware. This feeling was not just endorphins waltzing within me but also my mind and spirit basking in the Presence of their Creator. That feeling “it’s nice to finally be at home” with everyone sitting at the table—body, mind and spirit in harmony, is the experience that will bring me back tomorrow for more.
The experience is about life flowing in and out of us like a breeze blowing through a house. God’s presence touches everything. He becomes a part of everything we do. This integrated effect makes us fuller–as a human being, for to be fully human we have to nurture body, mind and spirit.
