Strong inside and out

"run with endurance"

Hebrews 12:1

Did you watch a lot of the Olympics?  I watched a ton.  I didn't see any sailing, or weightlifting, or speed walking, or judo.  Or boxing, but that was by choice.  I saw everything else.  You gotta love athletic events that inspire you to sit in a chair and watch TV for hours a day...

And I had an interesting thought while I watched athletes amaze me in a variety of events.  From runners to rowers, to swimmers and gymnasts... jumping, throwing, hitting, diving... I kept thinking about a phrase I've heard a lot lately:  core strength.

A strong core is your main source of support, and strength.  It's about a strong back, and strong gluteus muscles, so that the burden of supporting your body is made easier.  Your core keeps you up and helps you balance, whether you're simply standing, or doing something a little harder, like balancing on one foot.

Your core muscles are connected to your legs by your gluteus muscles, so a strong core enables you to squat, and kneel.  And more importantly, to get back up again!

A strong core is about strong upper abs and obliques, so that turning to one side or the other is easier and safer.

A strong core is about supporting your upper body, so you can lift and carry.

As a matter of fact, the only time your core muscles are uninvolved in what you are doing, is when you are lying flat on your back.

But what's interesting is that most of the muscles that make up the core are deep tissue muscles underneath, invisible to the mirror, and to those around you.  It's not just about having "six-pack abs".

The stronger your core is, the higher your degree of ability.  The stronger your core, the better able your body is to respond to what you demand of it, and the less likely you are to injure yourself in unusual movements. 

Whatever He has called you to do for Him, it's going to get difficult ~ if it hasn't already.   This is where a strong core comes in.  Your core, is the Holy Spirit.  You are the hands that serve, and the feet that go, and the mouth that speaks.  He is the core, that gives you strength and keeps you balanced.  The Holy Spirit enables us to stand when our knees are trembling, and hug when our arms are tired.  He enables us to exert ourselves in ways we think we're not capable. 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that was set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  The author of Hebrews could very well have been thinking of the Ancient Olympics when he wrote this, and I thought about it while watching the marathon on Sunday.  You don't need a ticket to watch the marathon, so there were millions of spectators lining the streets of London.  This is the picture I get in my head when I think of those words, "great cloud of witnesses". 

This is what I think of when the finish line seems awfully far away ~ even if the finish line is just getting to my nice warm bed that night.  There are those who have gone before us, and those who walk with us.  This is our great cloud of witnesses, as we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and with our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. 

I saw a lot of remarkable things in the Olympics.  Things that stood out above the other images.  A runner from Grenada, who won that country's first Olympic medal ever.  But upon winning his heat, all he wanted to do was exchange name bibs ~ as a show of respect ~ with the loser of that heat, Oscar Pistorius of South Africa, who had made it to the Olympics on two artificial legs.

Or David Boudia, the gold medal winner in platform diving.  He had barely made it out of his semi-final, the 18th highest score in a sport where only the top 18 get to move on.  And when asked about his qualifying, he smiled and shrugged and said, "God is sovereign.  I was fine with making the final, or not making it."

But one of the other remarkable things I saw was Usain Bolt.  He's the man they call the fastest man on the planet, easily winning the 100 and 200 meter races.  Easily winning.  But that's not what impressed me.  There's a certain arrogance to him, and he won all his heats, and both races by margins wide enough that before he crossed the finish line, he was already easing up.  And I said to the Apple of my Eye, "I'd like to see what that guy can do when he really gives his all, all the way..." 

Well last Saturday night was the Men's 4 x 100 relay.  Bolt was the anchor for the Jamaican team.  They took gold, and the U.S. took silver.  But Bolt was finally feeling threatened.  In order to beat the U.S. team, he had to run full speed, and even lean at the finish line. 

photo credit: olympics.time.com

The lesson for us here is, while there are days we will struggle, there are also days we won't have to.  We are all gifted in some way, which can tempt us to not give our all, when we know "some" will be enough.   But we are not invited to not give our best, when what's at our core, is His Spirit. 

~ "You are able, 

   for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you" ~

Daniel 4:18