Spiritual Training Cycle: Submission (wk. 11/13)
The start of a four-year journey
At the beginning of the Covid lock-down, my athletic wife got me started on my CrossFit journey. The gym she was going to immediately pivoted to free Zoom classes. My life of travel as a business consultant had come to a screeching halt, I finally had time to get serious again about fitness, and I followed my wife’s lead on joining these on-line classes streamed to an iPad in our backyard.
I hid from my coach the first several weeks I did CrossFit
What I didn’t realize is that the coach didn’t just instruct us in a daily set of body-weight exercises, he actually wanted to watch us – via Zoom - do burpees, air squats, push-ups, sit-ups and a variety of other exercises. At first, I tilted the iPad screen, or had it focus on my wife or anything I could so that the coach couldn’t see how bad I was at these exercises. It became a reoccurring game of hide-and-seek between Coach Justin and this embarrassed participant.
Momentum builds slowly, creating a better future little by little
But, in the ensuing weeks and months, I slowly got back into shape. Our gym re-opened, I found a community of friends who loved fitness, and I came to believe what Coach Justin had been saying all along: “just show up” – just show up and let the process work.
Four years later, I’m reaching fitness goals I haven’t reached in decades. At the beginning of this year, I set two ambitious fitness goals for myself. I hit the first one – a new bench-press PR - six months into the year. My second goal is still in front of me, motivating me to just keep showing up.
Jesus prepared his friends and disciples for their future
Jesus spent three years molding a group of his followers into world-changers. They didn’t know it at that time, but they were doing their own version of “just show up” as they spent time with Jesus, building momentum that would circle the globe in the next two thousand years.
As his earthly time with them was drawing to an end, Jesus asked these friends of his what they had learned about him. Peter’s response? “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matt. 16:16). Peter’s awareness was in some respects “the beginning of the end” of them just being followers of Jesus. Now they were also being commissioned to be leaders of God’s new movement to change the world.
Faithfulness builds momentum
When Jesus’ disciples first responded to his call, I doubt any of them knew what was coming. He took a full three years of living with them and teaching them about his ways and who he was before he commissioned them to make disciples across the world. Their faithfulness to him during those three years prepared them for the work he had for them in future.
Questions for reflection
What has your life with God taught you about who he is and how he works?
How can your faithfulness to God change the world around you and build even more momentum for his gospel?
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