Look Up: Lessons from CrossFit

Almost two months ago I started exercising. If you’ve known me long, you know this is a big deal. For so many years, I’ve been far too sick to exercise. If I would attempt it, it wouldn’t last long. Partially because my body freaked out and partially because I didn’t know what I was doing! When I got the go-ahead to start exercising and trying to build up my strength, I knew I had to go about it differently than I had in the past.

Thankfully my mom agreed to join me on this adventure and we signed up for private coaching with my cousin at our local CrossFit gym. Twice a week we go in for thirty minutes and do things we never thought we were capable of doing. It’s amazing!

When we started we didn’t know how to do anything. Even the things I thought I knew how to do, I had been doing wrong so we were really starting from scratch. We learned basic movements and started out small. We were surprised by how quickly we were able to move on to lifting actual weights – and then more weight!

One of the things I still struggle with is keeping my head up. You see, I get so focused on trying to do the movement or the lift properly that I find myself looking at what I’m lifting instead of keeping my head up, shoulders back, and eyes ahead.

I’m getting better at remembering, but God has taught me a lesson in this. When I hear head up, look forward, or look up, I hear the voice of my coach, but I also hear the still small voice of the Lord speaking to my heart.

How often do we focus so intently on our circumstances, we forget to look up and see what God is doing in the midst of them? If we constantly focus on our problems, we’ll be defeated by them. But if we keep our head up and our eyes on Jesus, we’ll see Him work in amazing ways. We’ll find His strength to get through the hard times, we’ll see that He is with us, and we’ll be able to see the next step to take a little more clearly.

The next time you’re overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, try looking up and fixing your eyes on Jesus!

What has God taught you lately? I’d love to hear!

Until next time,
Josie

But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. -Psalm 3:3, ESV