Sunday, July 28, 2013

Hitting the Wall

Sitting in church this morning, our pastor was talking about how we need to rededicate ourselves to God daily. I am a fitness freak and a runner. Suddenly the phrase "hitting the wall" entered my mind and I began to think about how we do this spiritually as well as physically. 

As a distance runner, I have a good understanding of what my body needs before a long run. I'm pretty confident in how to fuel properly, and fully expect the consequences on the days that I fail in fueling up. I know that if I haven't given my body the things it needs, it's not going to perform well for me, and I risk hitting the wall. If you are unfamiliar with this term, it is used to describe the moment that your energy suddenly leaves you high and dry during a workout because your glycogen stores in the liver and muscles have all been depleted. When this happens, you suddenly feel like your limbs are dead weights. Your brain is telling your legs to move, but they're not listening. Yes, you may be able to walk back home, but your run has ended at this point. Your body has failed you because you failed your body. 

This is my fitness blog. I write about fitness. But I am first and foremost a christian. Somehow I always seem to be able to relate the two. I have been known to relate Christianity to fitness on my blog, but I'm mixing it up today. After all, it is the Lords day. 

How often can you say that you have spiritually hit the wall? When I'm running and I hit the wall, I refuel. It's that simple. Why can't I do this with my relationship with Christ? Or I should say, why DON'T I? Why don't I refuel as a christian the same way I do with my physical self? Is it laziness? Mixed up priorities? Procrastination? Denial? I dont know. But I do know that it's pretty cool that God uses our passions to get our attention. 

My mind drifting off about running during church, wasn't really about running at all. It was a wake up call. It was Him pointing out to me that the things that are wrong in my life right now are a result of me hitting the wall in my relationship with Him. My prayer life is lazy. My bible is dusty. My radio is typically tuned into secular radio. I don't always watch the most wholesome tv shows and movies. I think about myself a lot more than I should. It's not rocket science. I've hit the wall and I need to refuel. Only, as my pastor pointed out, I need to refuel daily. I need to refuel and be prepared to face every day. And when I haven't prepared in this way, it should be no surprise to me when I hit the wall. The good news is that we CAN refuel.

It's not always a bad thing to become empty. It's not a bad thing to find our energy depleted. It's not always a bad thing to need to refuel. "Absence makes the heart grow stronger", right? 

So, for me, it's time to refuel. It's time to dust off my bible, change the radio station, spend more intimate time in prayer, die to my selfish ways, and what's hardest for me....be vulnerable. Yep, I have walls. And I like it that way. Ha! Maybe those are the walls I'm hitting? How about you? Have you hit a wall? I'm not going to lecture anyone on this issue. This blog serves as sort of a journal for me. But, I always hope to inspire, motivate, and encourage anyone who drops by to read. So, I hope that I have somehow encouraged you to refuel today. 

Below is a picture of a statue depicting a man hitting the wall. It is a little bit R rated, but it is such an awesome statue. Good night everyone. 


No comments:

Post a Comment