My Treadmill-Inspired God Moment

While on the treadmill at the gym this morning, I was thinking…”How can I work so hard for so long and when I get off this thing, I’ll be in the exact same place as when I started?” I know what you’re thinking, “Well duh, that’s the point.” But really, I literally spend hours on one of those things every week and I pour tons of energy into it…I even get up at 5:30 every morning just to get on a treadmill and….GO NOWHERE?!?! Nonsense, isn’t it?

Now you probably think you know where I’m going with this, it’s probably where I went first with it in my mind…you know, the pretty literal idea of working towards something but not getting anywhere and the need to make sure we’re moving forward and not getting stuck…but today I went in a different direction with this analogy.

Because even though I physically didn’t go anywhere, changes were happening internally that people couldn’t see on the outside.  I did burn a lot of calories, I did increase my energy level, and I did train my muscles and heart to endure longer distances and more intense situations.  And because of that, if I ever do have to race then I’ll be more prepared for it. Whether where I ended up LOOKED any different to me or not, changes did take place.   

Isn’t that like our spiritual lives sometimes? We’re in situations where we feel like we’re constantly beating our heads up against the wall, saying the same things over and over, trying to help people who just don’t seem like they want to be helped, reading the same chapter in the Bible over and over trying to make sense of it, praying just to feel like our words aren’t going any further than the ceiling, trying to get people to understand our passions and after the millionth time of explaining we realize they still aren’t getting it…working so hard trying to get somewhere but realize that hours later, we’re still in the same place as when we started.


But it’s through our endurance that God works in us and changes ARE happening in us from our endurance and faithfulness even if we don’t see the results with our physical eyes.  Those internal changes are gradually strengthening and training our spiritual relationship and are shaping us to become better followers of Christ.  God puts us in those places and situations sometimes to train and prepare us for a big race in the future that we can’t see yet.  And if it weren’t for the times and seasons of training that He allows us to experience, when it comes time for the big races, we would have to quit before we were finished running it. 

That perspective makes me more thankful for and less frustrated over the times that I've had to tell my friends the same things over and over or the times I've chased after the same girl begging her to realize their value or the times I've sat and cried because someone just didn't get it. I'm learning to appreciate the training process. I don’t want to have to quit the race because I wasn’t prepared to endure it…I want to finish it, and to finish it well.  So for the times of training that I’ve had, am having, and will have…thank you, because I know that through them you are strengthening me to be able to endure when the next big race comes around and to finish it well. 

So I hope you appreciate the training and see enduring through your situations as a blessing…because the preparation and training will be worth it in the big race…and the payoff for finishing well, will be worth it! :)