Possibilities

Spiritual Training Cycle: Presence (week 13/13)

Reading: Acts 16:13-34

Nims Purja may be the most confident man you’ve never heard of. At least I hadn’t heard his name before, that is until I watched his documentary on Netflix, 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (view the trailer here). Nims had a dream to put the mountaineers of Nepal firmly on the list of well-respected great climbers. And who wouldn’t think they are? Better known by their ethnic title “Sherpa,” these are the dudes taking climber after climber up and down the most treacherous mountains in the world. His plan? To summit the 14 peaks known as the eight thousanders, which sit in a class by themselves all being over 8,000 meters high (that’s over 26,000 feet for the non-metric folk). His timetable? Seven months. No one believed he could do it. In fact, he named his endeavor Project Possible 14/7 just to show the world where he stood on it. The result? Well, you’ll have to watch the documentary to see the whole story but suffice it to say Nims Purja opened my eyes to a whole new set of possibilities.

Physically speaking, humanity has demonstrated many things are possible, even when no one else thought they were. Take the four-minute barrier for the one-mile run. For decades runners chased what seemed an impossible feat. In fact, experts said the only way it would be possible was for perfect weather conditions, a hard track, no wind, and a stadium full of fans. In 1954, Roger Bannister stepped onto a cold wet track in front of a small crowd and clocked the first sub four-minute mile. Since then, more than 1,000 runners have achieved what most thought once was impossible. Bannister, like Purja, opened the world to new possibilities.

But certainly, humanity falls short as well. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of the possibilities that one day racial equality would ring out across this country. Desegregation was a step, but I don’t think anyone would say we’ve achieved this possibility. In fact, I would say we may be even further away, and some might call it impossible. Take the rise of social media. In a 2021 survey, 82% of Americans and 53% of the world had social media accounts. Over 4 billion “connected” people. Yet the number one rising epidemic facing most large countries is loneliness. In both Japan and the UK, they’ve appointed government officials to tackle this issue, including a minister of loneliness.

Ok, so what do Nims Purja or Roger Bannister have to do with the social and moral struggles facing the world? They remind us that there are still possibilities! And with God, all things are possible. It’s possible to have courage when facing a tough diagnosis or other life situation. It’s possible to have gratitude for the simple things, like getting to exercise or access to clean water. It’s possible to have compassion for others when you realize you have no idea what they’re going through. God CAN change and WILL change the world, but you get to play a role too. That is, if you can see the possibilities.

Questions for Reflection:

What possibility do you want God to do in your life right now?

Which possibility in the Scripture reading seemed the most impossible to you and why?

Choices

Spiritual Training Cycle: Presence (week 12/13)

Reading: Matthew 6:25-34

In our gym, we have a few mantras. These are the go-to statements defining the culture and setting the tone for our athletes. After any given WOD, you’re guaranteed to hear our mantra on encouragement, because let’s face it, we all need it. When an athlete makes a solid attempt but fails, it’s almost second nature to remind them we’re all working on something. But my favorite mantra in our gym not only resides in the hearts of our coaches, but it also sits on the back of one of our t-shirts – Strength is a choice. You don’t just think your way to strength, you choose it. And one of the biggest reasons athletes stumble along the way is fear. Whether it’s the fear of pain or the fear of failure, the reason strength is a choice is because you must choose to overcome your fears. Both in and out of the gym, it may be time for some new choices.

The core component of fear is anxiety. In her WebMD article How Worrying Affects the Body, Dr. Debra Bruce writes, “Anxiety is a normal reaction to stress.” In other words, when you’re facing a stressful task in any aspect of life, anxiety is a normal response. It’s ok to get butterflies in your stomach before your presentation. It’s ok to wonder why Murph isn’t half as long. Your body is responding to stress with a little excitement, a little wonder, and a little concern. Think of this as healthy fear.

But when anxiety becomes excessive, it is no longer healthy or productive. This is where good old worry moves in and sets up shop. When my oldest son was two years old, his mother and I went through a divorce. As part of our arrangement, he got to spend a good amount of time with me, which I will always be grateful for. But as a newly divorced, rookie dad, I was riddled with worry. I became terrified that while my son was with me, something catastrophic would happen. So, I became a helicopter dad, both physically and mentally. I worried about everything, to the point that I limited his ability to develop independence for fear he would get hurt and his mom would get mad at me. I doubt you’ll be surprised to hear this, but he still fell down. He still got hurt. And not one moment of my worry added to my life or his.

Worry not only affects you physically, it also affects you spiritually. Worry makes it difficult to trust God. In fact, most times when we worry, it’s because we’ve tried to put our trust in any solution other than our Savior. New Testament scholar Robert Mounce describes worry as “practical atheism.” When I say strength is a choice, I mean that spiritually as well. People with true spiritual strength respond to the world differently. The reason is they’ve learned to overcome their worries by trusting them to the strength of Jesus. True richness and fullness in life are the opposite of excessive worry and anxiety. The great news is God has a plan for you. You just need to make some new choices.

First, choose to give it to God. This might be praying and asking for strength to trust Him. It might be connecting with a close friend and sharing your struggle to trust God at all. Choose not to dwell. If you sit on a thought too long in your brain, it starts to become a reality, even though it isn’t. Replace your anxious thoughts with key Scriptures or mantras of your own. Choose to let go. My oldest is now sixteen and driving so there’s no more helicopter dad for me. It’s time to let go and realize God was there the whole time. Finally, choose to have compassion. Compassion is like the healthy cousin of worry. When we have compassion, we’re prompted not just to think about it, but to do something about it. Strength is not just one choice, it’s the result of many choices. Which new choice do you need to make?

Questions for Reflection:

Is it more practical to try and worry less or to trust God more?

Do you think compassion is a healthier expression of worry? Why or why not?

Sequence

Spiritual Training Cycle: Presence (wk. 11/13)

Reading: Luke 7:36-50

At about the six-month to one year mark of a new CrossFit athlete’s journey they come to a crossroads. With regular attendance at a quality gym, they have no doubt by this point experienced some gains and made some progress. They’ve also developed some knowledge on how to move and because of all these factors, they’re beginning to experience more intensity in their workouts. I say crossroads because the decision they face is do they trust the process or do they pursue intensity. I love intensity, don’t get me wrong, but when an athlete comes in only focused on getting the most intensity from every workout, it sets the stage for burnout, mental fatigue, or worse, injury. It all comes down to having the right sequence.

And that sequence is established even in the first foundations class – mechanics, consistency, intensity. Mechanics both start and sustain the process. It’s critical to catch this because if you think mechanics is just checking a bunch of boxes one time, you’ll miss its importance in sustaining you as an athlete. You don’t pour a foundation and then build your house on the dirt pile next to it. You build on what you started, and it starts with mechanics.

Intensity is what drives the process to the desired outcome. Whether that’s fitting into your clothes better, lowering your cholesterol, or crushing a workout, intensity takes you there. It becomes the thing that drops you to the floor after a WOD yet has you asking at the same time what’s on tap for tomorrow. If you abandon the sequence and set your sights exclusively on intensity, it won’t be sustainable. Trust me.

There’s a sequence in our spiritual lives as well – faith, forgiveness, love, service. Faith in Jesus is the foundation of our spiritual life, the mechanics if you will. It not only starts your faith journey, it also sustains it. Our faith in Jesus brings His forgiveness, which is true peace. As the forgiveness from Christ takes root in our heart and grows, it produces a love unlike any other. And it is from this love we then go and serve the world, which is where the feel goods come from. Service is the mark of a grateful heart!

But in my own faith journey I’ve seen two pitfalls I want to caution you against. The first is forgetting your faith and focusing solely on service. This is just as dangerous as an athlete who pursues intensity without mechanics. Faith in Christ sustains your ability to serve others well, whether that’s family, friends, athletes, or coworkers. You’ll know you’re potentially in trouble when putting other’s needs before your own starts to frustrate you in ways it hasn’t before. Guard your heart.

The second is expecting other people to naturally be selfless and serve. You may get your kids to the soup kitchen or your friends on the mission trip, but honestly don’t expect them to be as stoked as you. Well, maybe the first time, but remember, without a stable foundation of faith in Christ, it’s out of sequence. The point of inviting them to serve with you is to share the faith that’s sustaining you. If you don’t share your foundation, you’re leaving a lot on the table.

When Jesus called His followers to go into the world and make disciples, they had the right sequence. Their faith in Jesus blossomed into an intense love and desire to serve. Mechanics, consistency, intensity. Faith, forgiveness, love, service. To get the most out of both your physical and spiritual life, you need the right sequence.

Questions for Reflection:

Does the suggested sequence of following Jesus impact what you share with those who don’t yet follow Him?

Is a life of service necessary for an eternity with God? What do you see as the relationship?