Plans

Spiritual Training Cycle: Presence (wk. 1/13)

Reading: Jeremiah 29:10-14

A good friend of mine recently competed in a CrossFit competition. The competition took place in San Antonio, always a nice little road trip South of Austin. The day before she headed down, she told me about her partner and the qualifying workouts they had to do. She talked about her group of friends, all from the same gym, who had rented an Airbnb together. There were talks of meals together and cheering for one another. She asked for prayers for rest and freedom from old injuries. I was excited to pray for her and excited to talk with her because she had exciting plans.

It's fun to make plans, even when the plan is to do nothing, which is honestly one of my favorite ways to spend a Saturday. When my wife tells me we have nothing on the calendar, I’ll say, “Now we do. We have plans. Plans to do nothing.” We make all kinds of plans. Some of you get excited about planning to go to the grocery store. You chefs and amazing cooks know who you are. I hope all of us enjoy plans to go workout. I get so excited to workout that I lay out all my clothes, shoes, and assorted necessities the night before. Others of you find joy in planning a meal at a favorite restaurant or taking in a concert. Plans can be fun when it’s fun to make plans.

But not all planning is fun. Sometimes life deals you punches that require plans. Like the doctor visit you’ve been putting off. Or the counseling session you know you need. The holidays are coming up and like it or not your in-laws are coming. Time to make some plans. There are also the plans we must make because of chaos we’ve caused. Like planning your forgiveness speech for your spouse or a close friend. Plans direct and shape the course of our life.

That’s why God has a plan for us! He has some seriously good plans. He wants us to be close to Him, to feel His love, to be connected to our calling, and to use the good gifts He has given each of us. There’s a word for God’s plan for us – the ancient Hebrew word shalom. Shalom means wholeness, fullness, completeness, peace, prosperity, welfare, and tranquility. Shalom is not just the absence of conflict, but something better in its place. Shalom describes a state of flourishing, and it’s in this context that it becomes so relevant to us because shalom is God’s plan.

Shalom is God's plan

And God’s plan for your life is that you would flourish. Just like you flourish physically from the hard work you experience when you exercise, the same is true spiritually. The difficulties and challenges in life can shape and refine us in ways only God knows. It’s how we become the whole and complete people God wants us to be. So, no matter what you’ve got on your plate today, I want you to grab your to-do list and at the top of it write, “God’s got plans for me.” Because He does!

Questions for Reflection:

What are the plans you make that bring you joy? What do you avoid planning?

How are God’s plans shaping your life today?

Advantage

Spiritual Training Cycle: Perspective (wk. 13/13)

Reading: Philippians 2:1-11

When someone tries CrossFit for the first time, they’re not what I would call a CrossFitter. At least not yet. To become a CrossFitter, you must pass through some checkpoints. You need to level up if you will. It starts with finding a gym community, then the class you’ll be a part of. Cause you know those early am and late pm people are like oil and water. Once you’re nestled into a class, it becomes about consistency. More than just working out, you’re doing life with your crew. They’re getting to know you and you’re getting to know them. Oh, and then there’s the gear. While it’s impossible to say with certainty that all emerging CrossFitters start with a new pair of shoes, most do. Next comes a jump rope, some bar tape, a few gymnastic grips, another pair of shoes, Olympic of course. Before you know it, you’ve got a weight belt, wrist wraps, and you’ve put the Rogue CEO’s kids through college. And you can’t just carry all these essentials into the gym by hand. Nope, you need a bag. The bag is the hallmark sign of a CrossFitter. The bag isn’t just a receptacle for all your gear. The bag gives you an advantage.

I think it’s healthy for athletes to look for advantages. These are the hacks that help you squeeze the most out of the work you do. They propel your fitness journey forward with greater velocity. Advantages come in a wide variety. You’ve got nutritional supplements, pre-workout and post-workout hydration products, chalk, sweatbands, even your favorite spot in the gym where the fan blows just right is an advantage. I could go on and on. Your gym bag is loaded with them as well. All advantages essentially do the same thing – they provide an athlete the opportunity for optimal performance.

When it comes to our spiritual life, God provides advantages as well. One of these is humility. Humility is meekness, lowliness, and absence of self. It is an inward heart attitude that expresses itself outwardly in how we treat others and view ourselves. Humility is how we approach God. When we recognize that our selfishness and self-centered ways can’t be resolved on our own, we begin the journey of humility. Humility is an advantage. One of the ways we define humility is the word, “meekness.” You may think that meek people are weak people but not necessarily.

Meekness is not weakness.

Jesus has something to say about meek people. He says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). The idea of meek Jesus is referring to is like controlling a stallion – reigning it in as the horse submits to authority. Meekness is not weakness. It is power under restraint. Think of all the things you gain by restraining your power. Think about what you gain when you restrain the power to be right or to be first or to be rude. Think about how you light up a room when you restrain the power to be the center of attention or to be prideful and self-centered. You are gaining more advantages than you realize simply through humility.

God gives us all the freedom we need to live our best lives. Our best life is one lived within His power and not our own. Humility may look like weakness to the world, be we know what the world doesn’t. Humility is our advantage.

Questions for Reflection:

How was humility an advantage for Jesus?

How is humility an advantage for you?

Humbled

Spiritual Training Cycle: Perspective (wk. 12/13)

Reading: Luke 14:7-11

As I awoke Monday morning, I casually glanced at my gym’s WOD. Suddenly my weary eyes sharpened with rapid focus. Staring right back at me was this – 75 Double-Unders. And not just one round, we were looking at close to three rounds. My heart began beating as if I was already jumping rope. Later, when I arrived at the gym, I did my usual warm-up, knocked out a little jump rope progression, and had a small set of double-unders to cap it off. I laid my rope out in a nice little rainbow shape ready for the workout. As the last beep on the clock sounded, we took off on a quick run to prime the heartrate. Jogging back in the door, I walked to my rope, took a deep breath, and prepared to rip off 75 doubles. Before the very first spin could even happen, chaos ensued. The left handle went flying off my rope and landed in a sea of kettlebells. The microscopic nut which held it in place gave a brief reflection in the light before it disappeared. As I stood there holding one handle staring at my half-limp rope, I knew I was about to be humbled.

I’ve been humbled by plenty of workouts. I’ve been humbled by plenty of races. But I don’t know that I’ve ever been humbled by a rope malfunction. It was one of those things I just couldn’t hide. I was closest to the clock which meant most of my buddies were staring in my direction. I could feel the collective sigh in the gym, like they were all thinking, “poor guy.” At least that’s how it felt. But I kept it together. I walked over and grabbed one of the ropes available for any athlete that doesn’t have their own, which was currently me. The rope didn’t spin like mine did. It wasn’t as long as mine was. I went from getting double-unders to practicing double-unders to failing double-unders to ultimately single-unders. My state of humbled was disintegrating into humiliation.

Humiliation means, “to cause a painful loss of pride, self-respect, or dignity.” Sometimes in our own lives, we find ourselves in situations which can do just this. And it’s our choice to some extent. Had I gone with pride and committed to 75 double-unders no matter what, the result would have been about 10 minutes of complete jump rope disaster. I’m pretty sure I would have had some nice fresh rope lashes on the skin to go with it. As you know, humiliation also has feelings associated with it. I would have been embarrassed and probably somewhat ashamed. I would have felt dumb that I couldn’t muster up the courage to swallow my ego and just do something else. And that would have led to regret which can take a long time to let go of.

But I chose humility, not humiliation. Humility is meekness, lowliness, and absence of self. It is an inward heart attitude that expresses itself outwardly in how we treat others and view ourselves. Humility is how we approach God. When we recognize that our selfishness and self-centered ways can’t be resolved on our own, we begin the journey of humility. I knew I was no longer going with plan A. During the rest of the workout, I just kept thanking God for the opportunity to move my body. I reminded myself that I was getting a great workout, no matter what I was doing. And I got to enjoy the fitness show going on all around me. The attitudes or actions preceding a potential moment of humiliation are great teachers for the future. As we become more aware of how what we’re doing is leading us in an unhealthy direction, the better we can humble ourselves. We can choose humility, not humiliation. This is what it means to be humbled.

Questions for Reflection:

Can you recall a humiliating event in your life? What were you able to learn from it?

What does Luke 14:11 mean to you?