I’m sure most mornings at the gym I look like a crazy person. I tune the rest of the world out and turn up my eclectic mix of weird artist and proceed to sweat to death. I get a lot of stares and occasional high fives while busting out 30 second intervals of awful things like high knees or burpees. If you don’t know what those are look them up on youtube and keep me in your prayers because those moves are not easy, and especially not if you are doing them for 30 seconds straight. But let me tell you a little secret about those painful exercises…..they WORK. I’ve lost inches and fat pockets from doing 25 minute routines of what feels like death on a stick.
I have to talk to myself in third person, “Shana YOU can do this!! It’s only 30 seconds!” or, “Shana you are strong and powerful, you got this!” I visualize that stupid brownie I ate the night before that is stuck to my hips melting off and sliding onto the floor. I see myself thinner, and more confident. I keep reminding myself why the heck I’m torturing myself WHILE I’m doing it, otherwise I will give up. It ain’t easy and I’ve screamed a time or two, drawing the attention of the big muscle-y guys at the gym that can bench press cars. They kinda give me the nod of respect and I get a little push to finish my workout.
30 Seconds of momentary light affliction. That’s how the Bible refers to our trials, which I am likening to my insane workouts, in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18:
“For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the thing which are not seen are eternal.”
We need to remember that our trials won’t last forever. They are just a 30 second intense interval that is only meant to develop our character and make us more like Christ. That’s the goal here. The goal isn’t to see how much we can take before we die or some cruel joke of God to torture us. That’s what religion tells us, we have trials because we did something wrong and God is punishing us. But God doesn’t need to punish us, He put all of His anger and punishment on Jesus so that we wouldn’t have to endure it.
He’s our trainer, teaching us how to use our trials to develop Godly character and responses. Just like my personal trainer develops workouts for me based on what I need, God does the same. I just told my trainer recently that I hated sprinting on the treadmill, much less running at all. She said, “Then that’s what we need to work on, the things that you are weak at.” I so did not want to hear that but she’s right. God does that to us spiritually. If we find ourselves weak in patience we might notice that we are constantly in situations that require ridiculous amount of patience towards people or circumstances in general. But the truth is we wouldn’t grow in those areas without an opposing force to work against. Meaning I can’t just ask God for patience and then never expect the opportunity to exemplify patience in my life. No, I need the resistance to push against to develop that set of muscles, right?
It’s hard I know and we don’t want to go through it, just like I don’t want to endure those tough workouts but that’s where the greatness is. Greatness is found on the OTHER SIDE of the adversity. God uses the adversity or trial to refine us, like a sharpened sword. It makes us more effective and useful when we endure that 30 seconds because in the end it will yield greatness in us, which is what He’s after.
He’s not ok with status quo for us, that “good enough” mentality which really sells short the kingdom of God. Nothing is mediocre about the kingdom and nothing should be mediocre about a child of God living in a broken, messed up world. Greatness is in our DNA, sometimes we just need a good ol’ trial to bring it to the surface. Paul said in 1 Peter 4:12:
“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.”
He goes on to say that these very trials make us partners with Christ and we will get to witness His glory when it’s revealed to the entire world.
But we do think it’s strange, calling everybody, putting it out on facebook, begging for prayers because we can’t believe what WE must endure and why WE are being tested, as if all of the folks in the bible and Jesus never had to endure a little discomfort. I mean really…………..it’s just so unfair.
Well it could be much worse friends. We could be tossed into prison, beaten, become shipwrecked, half starved, naked and even martyred for our faith. That’s only a fraction of what happened to Paul and many of the apostles faced similar fates. But I think if you could ask Paul right now if it was worth it, he would shout an emphatic YES from the heavens without a single stitch of remorse for his choices, as radical as they were. Because he sees the glory of Christ revealed through the 30 seconds of pain he endured. It’s worth it friends!
I pray you are encouraged today to stand through your difficult season and that God would give you His eyes to see what’s really going and what’s really at stake. You can do this. It’s only 30 seconds!
