We Are Not Limitless
I have a confession. Ready? I’ve joined the Crossfit bandwagon.
Tomorrow will be my fourth day of Crossfit training. Those of you who are part of the Crossfit culture are cheering me on, but I know there’s another crowd out there who just took to their knees in prayer. You’re either praying for God to convict me of my foolishness, or if you’re more compassionate, praying against injury.
If you know me, you know I push myself too hard sometimes. If you know me, you know I’m competitive when it comes to sports. And if you know me, you know I’m not as young as I used to be.
Possibly you were a fly on the wall last Saturday when we were doing circuits (a rotation of 200 meter sprints, rowing, biking, planking, and lunges for a time of 25 minutes total). Maybe you saw me on my last rotation leave my lunge position to run my sprints. Possibly you heard me count my breaths and pace in my head so I didn’t overdo it when a male high school cross-country runner breezed past me like I was a turtle.
Did you hear the competitive shame kick in and want to start sprinting? Could you feel how bad I wanted to take him, to beat him?
Well, all of those feelings were flowing through my brain in a matter of milli-seconds, but thankfully my self-controlled reason kicked in as well saying, “Sharie, that kid is in high school. He’s at least 10 years (it’s more but I’m not telling you how many) younger than you and he runs cross-country. If he’s not beating you, there’s something wrong with him. You have limits, so stick with them and your body won’t regret it tomorrow.”
For all of you who prayed for me to be free from injury, I believe the Lord answered you retro-actively and I’d like to personally thank you!
Whether we like it or not, we all have limits. Because I know how competitive I am, I am paying a trainer to teach me to do Crossfit safely before I enter the big group and adopt incorrect habits or set unwise expectations on myself. It costs more and it is probably not as fun to start this way, but because I know I have limitations (though I’m not really sure what they are yet), I need her to tell me so I can stay safe.
Sometimes we unwisely overload ourselves, but other times our life dishes out a struggle we must push through. The prophet Elijah had to muster all the energy his body had to offer when he battled the false god Baal in the kingdom of King Ahab and Jezebel. His calling as a prophet left him exhausted, but his situation left no time for rest with the king’s angry army at his heels.
Elijah fled and this is what he said to the Lord, “’I have had enough, LORD. Take my life.’ Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.’ He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touch him and said, ‘Get up and eat , for the journey is too much for you.’ So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.” (I Kings 19;3-8)
Elijah was a prophet. He caused the rain to cease, resurrected a widow’s son, called rain to the earth, called fire down from heaven, parted the Jordan river and was caught up in heaven by a whirlwind. But he still had limitations. He became so exhausted in the verses above that he wished for death, but instead, an angel of the Lord fed him twice and led him to a cave where he could sleep and find rest.
Do you know your limitations? I hired a trainer to keep me from hurting myself in Crossfit. Do you need to find someone to help you slow down in your life? Or maybe you just need to listen to the person God is already using to speak into your life.
We all have limits; we all need rest- even prophets who do miracles. God helped his servant rest when it was time. Is it time for you to reign in your schedule for the health of your body, mind, soul and family?
© 2016 by Sharie King. All rights reserved.
