Step It Up

Like most of America this time of year my wife and I have been exercising. For a long time she refused to work out with me because of an unfortunate incident in a gym previously. I won't go into all the details but let me give you one piece of advice. NEVER agree to what someone says if you don't actually hear what they are saying. Seriously, it could get you into a very deep bucket of hot water. I am still dealing with some second degree emotional burns.

Okay, let's get this thing back on track here. We have been working out. I have really enjoyed being able to get healthy together with my wife even though it has required me to break out of my normal routine. Whenever I would start working out before, I had my go to routine. 20-30 minutes of cardio, usually a treadmill, then heavy weightlifting. That was my routine and I never really strayed away from it. My wife however, doesn't really like sticking to the same fitness routine for long. She enjoys shaking things up every couple days and doing something new.

Normally whatever we decided to do we would do it together but the other day she threw me a curve ball. When we were getting ready to do our cardio work she suggested one work out for me and another for her. We were still near each other but it was just another way for her to shake things up. I went along with it and let me tell you. Her workout kicked my butt!

She found this stair workout that involved stair steps, push-ups on the stairs, and squats. It was brutal! By the time I had finished my 15 minutes I was flat exhausted.

Now, this is the point where the blog takes a little turn. As we were catching our breath, I made a comment about how amazed I was at how hard taking a single step up could once you were physically wore out. My wife looked at me as we were both panting and trying to catch our breath and said "that is a word right there". I have been thinking about that ever since and I feel like it is something that someone needs to hear.

The Christian life is one of movement. We should always be growing and moving. As Paul said we are to "run the race". (Hebrews 12:1)

Sometimes though, we miss the signs telling us just where we are supposed to be running. We get so focused on moving forward that we exhaust ourselves and aren't able to take a step up when God calls us to come up higher. I see it like we are running around the mountain of God. Sure we are moving forward but we aren't actually getting any higher. We're just running in a circle! Meanwhile God is calling out to us saying, " I have so much more, come higher"! But, we have run in circles so hard for so long we can't take the step up.

I am reminded of when Moses and the Israelites came to the mountain. There was thunder and clouds. It freaked the people out to the point that they were satisfied camping out at the foot of the mountain. Moses saw the same things and was like, man I gotta get up there to the top and spend time with God! So, Moses goes up and while he is having an experience with God that many of us can only imagine, the ones that stayed behind decided to start partying and sinning.

You see, it isn't enough to camp out at the foot of the mountain. It isn't enough to run circles around it. You have to step it up and climb into the cloud of God's glory! In this season, I believe God is calling out to the ones who are ready, willing, and able to come up higher!

I hope this has spoken to you the way it has me over the last couple of days. If it has, please feel free to comment on this blog or send me an email at phillipreed@faithchapeloh.org.