Not As Strong

Following the birth of my second child, I evaluated my new body. At that fateful moment I decided exercising would forever be a part of my life. That was over 25 years ago and I have kept my vow.

My exercise routine has changed over the years. Treadmills, stair steppers, jumping rope, and lifting weights among other things. After entering my 50’s, I have learned to be extremely kind to my body by doing low impact activities with plenty of stretching.

Some years back, one of my exercise routines was lifting ankle weights. When the straps on my leg weights began tearing, it was time for a new pair. I purchased the weight I was accustomed to, 10 pounds each. I brought them home and as my husband unpacked them from the box he told me they felt heavy.

“Yeah,” I proudly said. “I’ve been lifting them for years. I can handle it.”

I strutted across the room and picked up my new weights. Something was strange. “Wow, these do feel heavy,” I said as I went to get my old pair of weights for comparison, and sure enough, they didn’t feel as heavy as the new ones.

My husband went to weigh the old weights. To my surprise, my old weights weighed only 5 pounds each. All these years I thought I was lifting 10 pounds when in reality they were only 5. I felt embarrassed. I also felt weaker. What a disappointment to find I was not as strong as I thought I was.

I tried on the new weights. 10 pounds felt much heavier than 5 pounds, especially when strapped to your legs.

I thought of the times I think I am strong. Some days I live my life as if I don’t need the Lord, making my own plans and doing things my own way, like a young child who says “I can do it by myself!”

Many times I am unaware of my independence until I come face to face with a problem  I simply cannot solve on my own. As I learned from the weights, I am not as strong as I think I am.

“How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?”

Galatians 3:3 (NLT)

We needed the Lord to begin our life in the Spirit, and this is the same way we need Him today. Try as we may, we will only wear ourselves out and fail miserably if we do things on our own.

Without Him, we are not as strong as we think we are.