Lifting really heavy weights is a skill developed over time with consistent effort and a lot of grit. I joined a gym back in June - something I thought I would never do. I am trying to learn to love it, but for now, I just know it’s good for me. To avoid any confusion, I do not lift free weights (such as in the picture above). I’m strictly a treadmill and toning machine guy. I have watched those who can lift the heavy weights, and it is not their first day at the gym. Through consistency, nutrition, and a deliberate plan, they have moved toward their goals.
Lately, I’ve become more aware of the truth that life can be heavy. That is no new revelation, but there are times when things that we normally take in stride begin to press in on our hearts. Stress. As much as has been written about how to deal with it, I usually fall into old ineffective habits.
For me, that means I’ll be more short-tempered (than usual). I also respond by grinding through my duties in such a way that I feel a lot of pressure but do not get much done. It’s during those times when I don’t go to the gym (I haven’t been in a week, and I wanted to confess that) because I’ve convinced myself I do not have time. I don’t do as well with controlling what I eat. I can see these things in myself when life gets heavy. Usually, this requires long walks or quiet, contemplative wanderings through Black Bayou to take photographs and get re-centered.
Can I get a witness? I don’t know how you react to the heavy pressures of life, but we all have our coping mechanisms. Most are not very healthy. And they’re not all internal.
As my prayer list has grown more intensive over the past few weeks, I have become more aware of the weight of care and concern for others. That’s not a complaint. What a privilege it is to bring a hurting friend’s name before our Abba in prayer. But concern can sometimes evolve into worry. That becomes another weight too heavy to lift.
Worry is a heavy burden…. - Proverbs 4:25, CEV
I do believe that the burdens we have carried throughout our lives have left us stronger for the ones to come. There have been times when I didn’t think I could bear to lift any more weight in my life, but somehow exercising my faith and my will created more strength for the next time.
This was true even of Jesus. Some of the depictions of Jesus would have us see him as a pale waif floating around in the air with a glow around his head. I know that style of art was meant to honor Jesus, but we need to see Jesus with dirty feet (thanks, Don Everts). He was born into poverty, knew hunger, experienced thirst, overcame temptation, endured rejection, and suffered grief. Ultimately Jesus was beaten and killed on the cross by those he came to save. We rejoice in his resurrection and promised return, but we mourn the suffering. The heaviness of the cross was preceded by many heavy experiences in his life.
Just like the muscle-bound lifters at the gym, we have to approach life and faith with consistency, nutrition (what are we taking into our minds?), and avoidance of any elements that would detract from healthy progress. Like many who are experts at lifting the heavy weights, we learn from others who have gone before. And as we have seen spotters protect lifters from hurting themselves, we depend on others to help us through.
What if every struggle you faced in your life was building up the muscles that would allow you to lift when the weights were very heavy?
That might be hard for you to hear. Maybe another question is more appropriate.
What if you couldn’t lift the heavy weights that have come into your life, but there is someone who can help you carry them?
If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. This yoke is easy to bear, and this burden is light. -Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29
Honestly, that is the way it has been for me. Without the gentle and humble Jesus to give my heart rest, I wouldn’t be here right now. Life really does bring some heavy things for us to handle. We do not have to handle them alone.
Excellent post. Why is it we neglect the things we need the most when we are stressed? For me, its healthy food, prayer, exercise, sleep, music, and friendships. (I guess that's a pretty long list of "needs", but I usually just need a couple from the list of coping strategies). What you wrote resonated with me!
Good reminders John. Made me think of Mark 2:3-4. Sometimes we don’t just need spotters, we need brothers and sisters who can lift the weights for us; and sometimes we ourselves are weights being lifted/lowered to Jesus!
[3] And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. [4] And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay.