Grip Strength

Spiritual Essential: Suffering

Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-9

“These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold… may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7)

You ever had a heavy barbell slip out of your hand? I have. Sometimes, it’s on us. Like when you loosen your grip to avoid the pressure on the callouses. Or when you neglect to wrap your thumbs.

But then there are times when it’s not on us. It’s just the weight of the barbell multiplied by the time under tension. In those moments, you can feel the bar inching its way back to the ground, millimeter by millimeter. Suddenly, but not surprisingly, the fingers finally open and gravity wins. That’s when you realize you need some more grip strength.

Life is the same way. When I was 19, I lost my mom to ovarian cancer. For the better part of two years, mom fought cancer and fought it hard. And we fought alongside her. But eventually, like the barbell, I could feel my mom slipping from my hands. Holding her gently in the hospital room as she took her final breaths, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t hold her here. God had a plan – a plan to end her suffering and begin something in mine.

I love to suffer…in the gym. Did you get the in the gym part? I love suffering…in the gym. Because I know that what challenges me is what changes me. If there’s no challenge, there’s no change. And suffering is the path that gets me there. Whether it’s a heavy barbell complex, a bodyweight chipper, or a 5k tempo run, the one thing consistent across them all is suffering.

But in life, I don’t like to suffer. At least I didn’t when I lost my mom. But that was back in college when I had no framework for faith. Back then I wasn’t gripping Christ. I was gripping anything I thought could carry the weight, like binge eating and drinking alcohol, which served only to replace my feelings of loss with some short-term relief. That’s no way to handle life. If you want to get the fullness life has to offer, then you must learn to embrace suffering.

Suffering is how God uses pain and trials to refine us and deepen our dependence on Him. In other words, suffering produces grip strength. It does. But it also reveals what you may need to let go of. Some things in life aren’t meant to stay in our hands. They’re meant to be placed in God’s. And God would allow the pain of my loss to help me learn to let go and to reach for Him instead. It wasn’t until decades later that I finally understood – the real grip strength I needed would only come through faith in Jesus. And faith is built in the fire.

Maybe today you’re gripping your health, your future, a relationship, a diagnosis, a child, but open your hands. Not because those things don’t matter. But because God can carry what you never could. When you learn to let go and trust God your faith becomes your spiritual grip strength.

Questions for Reflection:

How has suffering tested your faith?

Where is God forging new grip strength in your faith?