Witness While Working Out
By: Missionary Team
Two weeks ago, I joined a gym for the first time. I've always been athletic, but after many injuries, I never really considered joining a gym. Earlier last week, I woke up knowing that I needed to do exactly that. God was leading me to it. Maybe that sounds weird and you may be thinking, "Why the heck would God lead someone to join a gym?" But here I am, now a gym member at a gym similar to CrossFit.
In my first session, there were a few different confirmations that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Simple things, but they mattered: a photo of a friend on the wall who used to intern there, my favorite song playing during the session, the phone number had meaningful numbers to me, the owner was intentional in saying that the gym was not just about physical wellness, but instead complete mind, body, and spirit. Despite all of my pre-existing injuries, I walked away from my first session hopeful for the first time in a long time. Then, as I turned on my car to drive away, next to the logo on the building was the word "HOPE."
Hope. Something that I once didn't have for a long time. After going to 10+ different doctors for an injury and not receiving help, after battling an eating disorder, after getting cut from sports teams in high school, and after other mental health challenges, I kind of gave up on hope. Over time, I started to work on myself and received so much hope for my life in many different areas; however, the one area that I always struggled to have hope in was my physical body. Eventually, I wasn't hopeless, I was just indifferent. Walking into this gym, gave me hope in this area for the first time in my life.
So it brings me to that question that you were probably asking yourself at the beginning of this blog: "Why the heck is God leading me to join a gym?" Well, I think that one of the answers is that he wants to restore hope in me completely. It's a gift to have a God that hopes for me in this way. However, after a few different workouts, I'm realizing that restoring my hope isn't the only reason He's led me to join this gym. I need to be a witness of Him while working out.
At my gym, there's one of those cool chalkboard walls that the staff puts a question on each week, and the members write their responses to the question. Last week, the question was "what are you thankful for" and this week it was "what do you want for Christmas?" I don't really know anyone at the gym yet. I haven't made any connections with people. Yet, I'm realizing that I have an opportunity to be a witness even in how I respond to those questions on the chalkboard wall. If God led me to this gym to restore my hope, I have to do my best while at the gym to be a witness to Him.
Are you a witness? Are you radiating Him in everything you do, not just in front of your "Jesus-y" friends? Are you working out and being a witness of God?
