As I said in my last post, these are weird times. They are unprecedented times. Hence why it seems like people are running around like crazy unsure what to do. We all want answers; we want answers to questions we’re not even sure to ask. We want to know how long will this go on, why is this happening, who is doing what’s right, will this shutdown work, how can we protect our families without losing our sanity, how can we look out for the betterment of others while also taking care of ourselves, what is speculation and hype, and what is truth? We want answers and truth, because ultimately we want peace; we want to make sure that we will be okay and we can rest assure that our loved ones, our jobs, and our world will be just fine. I think that people often look to “experts” for truth; we look to science for explanations; we look to our past and history to know how to proceed with our present and future. It seems to me that it’s confusing to know who the “experts” are in this particular crisis, looking to science leads to more unanswered questions and developing “information”, and therefore more stress and obsessive reading and researching on our part, and well, we know that there is no history of facing a worldwide pandemic like Coronavirus-19 in our globally-technologically advanced twenty-first century world. So, we are still left with our question of what is truth and our quest for peace in this madness.
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”. If I believe that Jesus is who He says He is and did what He said He did then I have to trust EVERYTHING that He says. If He is truth, then everything that He says must be truth too. This resonates with my-all-or-nothing personality: despite being a skeptic like my daddy and constantly questioning what I deem as “facts” in my life, in the core of my being I know that if I accept Jesus to be who He says He is then I accept ALL that He says He is and ALL that He says to be true of me, my identity, and our world.
With that being said, Jesus also says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives to you. Let your hearts not be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” John 14:27. He also says, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world”. John 16:33.
Aha! My question of truth: answered. Jesus. My quest for peace: complete. Jesus.
If only it were that easy. As I’ve heard it said, “life isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon”. We live in a broken world where we have to choose love or fear each day. We have to choose the Truth and how we will allow it to infiltrate our daily life. If we all just accepted Jesus as our Savior and then poof disappeared and went to heaven how would those who didn’t yet accept Jesus come to know Him? No one who loved Him would be here to talk about Him and share Him. Or if we all just accepted Jesus as our Savior and lived out our faith perfectly how would we appeal to the rest of the imperfect human population who doesn’t know Jesus personally or isn’t so sure about Him? How could our lives be a witness to them? Nobody wants to compare their life to one whose seems perfect; it seems, and it is, unattainable. Jesus tells us that we have to work out our salvation everyday; we continue to struggle with our limited human minds, our broken spirits, and our tired bodies while pursuing Him. In this, He weaves our stories and allows us to play a role in others’ stories; we can share our hardships and how God strengthened us and our faith because of them.
This pandemic is indeed a tribulation, a time of immense hardship and confusion, and it has the potential to breed so much fear. As I told a friend, most days I wake up confused and ticked off at the mess in which we are living. It seems like a bizarre nightmare. However, it is also a milestone in each of our journeys that we call life. It is a time of strengthening our faith and ourselves. For my fellow marathoners out there, it feels like mile 22 where we’ve hit the wall and we feel as though we can’t make it over that big hill. But guess what? We can. Even if we walk, fall down and get back up, or crawl over that hill, we can. I like to tell my children, as well as my fitness classes, “we do it because we can”. Elaborating on that, “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me”.
So here is my challenge to you. What CAN you do at this time? I am challenging you to a “do-a-thon”. Take this time to “do” what you “can” do. I’ll be honest: I told my husband a couple weeks ago that I wanted to run a marathon in my neighborhood to inspire people at this time simply because “I could”. After talking it over, despite the fact that I am an avid marathoner and it would indeed be my 11th marathon, I am being cautious about putting too much stress on my immune system or risking potential injury during this fragile time. I “do”, however, continue to run daily and I plan to run longer runs in my neighborhood because I feel strong and empowered and alive when I do so. I want others to feel that too. And while I am so tempted to run my sweet 26.2 miles this weekend, my twist is that each mile I run I will say something or someone I’m grateful for. Whether it’s 10 or 20 miles, I will shift my focus to that of gratitude. I might whisper it to myself, I might be a maniac and yell it out loud, or I might be motivated to run with chalk and bend over and write it on the road (without touching it of course).
I’m inviting you to join me. What “can” you do? Maybe it’s running a 10K or a 5K in your neighborhood? Maybe it’s not running at all. Maybe it’s walking down your driveway and back and your markers being every step you think of something for which you can be grateful. That’s a lot of gratitude there! Maybe it’s opening your front door to be greeted by sunshine and by life when the world feels so dark, gray, and lonely. Maybe it’s calling a loved one each day and filling their love tank with kindness and appreciation for what they do? The possibilities are endless!
We do it because we can! What CAN you do? And how can you intertwine intentional thankfulness into that? Isolation Medication Part II – gratitude is the best medicine for the heart!
We are blessed to be a blessing…
AJ +<3
AJamil Fitness4Life 