Let Your Weaknesses be Your Motivators and Accelerators

 

 I recently joined a boxing gym, which is very quickly becoming my new favorite work out! Unfortunately, being a newbie to something as intense as boxing has its ups and downs. The downside for me has been injuring my wrist just a few sessions in. The terrible thing is that the injury wasn't even from throwing punches but from doing burpees, an exercise that I am very familiar with but also have an infamous love/hate relationship with; actually, I'd say it teeters more on hate, especially now. Low and behold, I got a little ahead of myself one night at boxing and rushed into the burpees too quickly without placing my palms softly on the ground. And now, here I sit with an injured wrist.

 

While I don't think it's anything too serious, it still means that the physical activities I love to do (weight-lifting and boxing) have to take a back seat until I've recovered. Needless to say, it's been a really tough pill to swallow these past few days emotionally. All that I've been able to think about are my inabilities and I have become overly obsessed with the what-ifs... What if it's a more serious injury and I'm unable to do what I love for several more weeks? What if I gain weight or fall back on my progress instantaneously from not being able to lift weights or box? Even though these are ridiculous, unsubstantiated concerns, the worries continue on and on inside my head and my injury begins to make every body image issue of mine come back to life and take control of me, yet again.

 

Throughout the healing process, I've come to realize that I have to stop letting this injury become my excuse for having a poor attitude and an excuse for allowing my spiritual, nutritional and physical health plummet, which is what was beginning to happen. Just because I may be experiencing a weakness, doesn't mean that I get an automatic pass from continuing to strive towards achieving my goals. This is exactly what the devil wants of me in order to achieve his goals- He wants me to have a poor body image, an overall unhealthy lifestyle and to think of all of the negative outcomes over this injury. These thoughts ultimately allow him to take my attention away from God and the desires that He has for me when it comes to my relationship with Him and with my health. So, I've decided it's time for me to call in the bouncers and kick myself out of this pity party the devil is throwing for me and instead, it's time for me to RSVP to God's party. My ticket to entering this heavenly event is simply just being thankful.
 

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:18

When you stop feeling sorry for yourself and start being thankful in all things, you can use your weaknesses as your motivators and accelerators in all areas of your life, be they incapable or capable areas, and God will make sure of that!

 

"Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights."  Habakkuk 3:17-19 

 

Though I may not have use of my wrist at the moment, it's not the end all be all towards achieving my overall goals. After all, I do still have two very capable legs, that which I am very thankful for. On Sunday, I used this as motivation to pick myself up off the couch and go for a run. What started out as a 1 mile run, turned into a 3.1 mile run! I never run but simply being thankful and using my weakness as a motivation in turn accelerated me into doing more than I thought I was physically capable of. Having an injured wrist is not an excuse to neglect my physical health whenever I am physically capable of achievement in so many other ways.

 

I am also thankful that even though my physical activity is limited, I am still in control of my nutritional health. So I am using this time to motivate myself to practicing what I preach, which is that nutritional health is overall more important that physical health. This will accelerate me into focusing more on the importance of healthy eating, regardless of exercise. Having an injured wrist is not an excuse to make unhealthy nutritional choices.

I am also thankful that I can use this time of healing to refocus my sights on God. Health and fitness may be two of my passions but nothing should stand in the way of my passion for Christ, which is what obsessing over my inability to exercise was beginning to do. Sometimes, it can be easy to let your nutritional and physical health have control over your thoughts, putting what's most important, such as your relationship with God, on the backburner. By using my weakness as a motivator towards refocusing my sights on Christ, I can accelerate myself into a deeper relationship with Him, which is the end all, be all. Having an injured wrist is not an excuse to neglect my relationship with Him, despite any of the circumstances.

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8

 

Regardless of my injury and inabilities, and these negative thoughts and worries that have taken control over me recently (and probably will continue to try to do so throughout my life) nothing can ever separate me from God's love for me or change the worth that He has for me. That is the greatest blessing of all! That alone is the greatest motivator and accelerator towards overcoming any of my weaknesses!

 

"Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?  (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.")  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8: 35-39

Regardless of your weakness, let it be your motivator and accelerator, not your excuse.