Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a workout fanatic. I love lifting so much, I can’t move the next day. I love running so hard, my lungs hurt. I love getting my heart rate so high, I can feel my heart beating throughout my entire body. You’re probably thinking, “Wow this girl is crazy! That all sounds so painful.” Well it is!! And I love it because I know that in the end I will have positive results. I know when my muscles are sore that means they are rebuilding and becoming stronger. I know that when I leave the gym everyday I leave with more energy, motivation, and positivity than what I walked in with.
When I was working out today I realized most of the songs on my iPod are trash. Recently, God has made me aware of how this music is brainwashing me. I have been focused on cleaning up my current music and replacing it with good Christian jams. The power of music blows my mind and it kills me to know that people listen to this stuff and repeat it and even live by it. I was in the middle of my squat set thinking, “Is this it? Is this what I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life? Seeing and hearing such evil and slander?” We are surrounded. I feel like it’s inescapable. As I squatted down one more time, I felt the deep burn. My muscles were working. I was feeling that good pain, that pain that means progress. Just like the pain you endure as a Christian. Following God is not an easy task and it doesn’t lead to a pain free life. Every week I add more weight to the bar with an attempt to get stronger. That’s exactly what God is doing with us. Each day He makes our load heavier but He knows we can handle it. We are in training and it’s going to hurt. If anything, as Christians we are faced with even more challenges than before. Our eyes are open to the evil. We see the temptations even more clearly. The music I would have easily blasted in my car before is now giving me a feeling of guilt because it’s not pleasing to God and I know it.
It’s hard for me to change the music I have been listening to all my life. It’s a lifestyle. I have to change my word choice and my whole thought process. Those are all habits that come natural to me. I have to start from scratch. People are going to change the way they look at me. Maybe I will lose friends. I can’t hangout in the same places I used to and do the same things I once did. This is going to be really hard and it’s going to hurt but I know that any pain I endure as a Christian is better than the pain I would have dealt with alone. We will always feel pain in our lives but God will always give us strength. He will always be there to comfort us. When God puts more weight on the bar and you feel the deep burn, embrace it!! You are only getting stronger. When you feel like it’s too much know that God is right behind you, spotting you. He might let you feel the pain but He wont let you fall. I’m going to max out. I’m going to push myself to the limit. I am going to become a better Christian. When it hurts I will call on God to spot me. I will endure the pain!! Will you?
