I Believe
“I lift my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and earth.”
- Psalm 121:1
When Jesus asked the once blind beggar if he believed in the Son of Man, the man asked, "Who is he? That I may believe." Jesus said, "You're seeing Him. It is He that is speaking to you." With his eyes open, the beggar's next words: I believe.
I believe. What a powerful statement. Down through the centuries men and woman have staked their lives and their eternity on those two tiny words. We're going to wrap our hearts around them.
When I first started PrayFit back in 2009, much of what I'd do and say was hard-charged. Each day - like we had taken over enemy territory - I'd drive a stake in the ground with the still-certain truth that faith was the most powerful tool we have to conquer life's obstacles. Our mission was to help the Church body take back their health, and I was going to help lead that charge as long as I could breathe.
The last few years - as some of you realize - the message changed. When I got sick, I learned first-hand that you don't always get what you work for, and things like illness are as much or more of an opportunity to exercise faith as is health or fitness. God taught me that health is a gift of His grace. Like eyesight, it's a gift we can't earn but can most certainly waste.
In Christian artist For King and Country's song "Shoulders," they answer Psalm 121:
“My help comes from you. You’re right here pulling me through. You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness, all on your shoulders. My help comes from You. You are my rest, my rescue. I don’t have to see to believe you’re lifting me up on your shoulders.”
ALL HIS
Friends, I hope the mountain you face today reminds you of both the Psalmist and the blind beggar. They lifted their eyes and believed. May you and I believe that God is right here pulling us through. The weakness, sickness, brokenness, the fitness. All of it. His.
I mentioned last week that “progress” has become the tolerable idol. In fact, you may be reading this and you say, “Perfection? Hell no. But progress? Hell bent.” I may be off, but I’m guessing you won’t beg to differ.
But what happens when progress isn’t possible? I’ll tell you what happens. You keep pushing against an immovable wall. You keep pulling, stepping and striving. Why? How? Because things change when you realize the fleeting nature of health. You look down at your feet and catch your breath only to see that the steps ahead don’t look much different than the ones that brought you to where you stand. And you wonder. You wonder how you got here and what it was all for.
IS THIS WHY?
Last week over text message, out of the blue my physical therapist asked me what time church service was. I’ve been seeing him for 10 years. Ever since it was replaced with artificial disks, I’ve trusted my neck to nobody’s hands but his. And in all these years, he’s not been to church. All of a sudden, I get a text. And I respond. And Sunday comes. And we sit together. And we sing. I can’t hear him, but out of my periphery I try and see if his lips are moving.
As the song, “How great is our God” echoes through the chapel, I find myself wondering, “Is this little moment a part of God’s bigger plan? Is this why my neck went bad? Is this why I’m so frail; so that after a decade of appointments we would arrive at this divine one?
I suppose God’s will can easily break a back.
#GIVING2UESDAY
Today is #GivingTuesday. The day when the crowds leave the rotunda and the non-profits are left to promote their causes. The once crowded floor is riddled with Black Friday deals, Small Business steals and Cyber Monday coupons. And on the last day of the conference so to speak, charities wait their turn, set up their booths and stand in honor.
Well, among them you’ll find an old beat up writer who realizes that health (or illness) isn’t about “self-care” or being “enough” or “comfortable in your own skin” or being “free.”
It’s about mountains and moments. It’s about catching your breath and trembling at His voice. It’s realizing that your strongest lift - in God’s eyes - is just a measure of your best weakness. It’s about embracing atrophy and fighting gravity. It’s gritting your teeth as they scope you, diagnose you and warn you. It’s about wrestling with Ecclesiastes to realize that “progress” is smoke unless as it disappears - by grace - you can fix your eyes upon the Lord and like the blind beggar proclaim (maybe along with a buddy)…“I believe.”
- Jimmy Peña
GIVING TO THE BODY
PrayFit presents The Body; a determined group of passionate disability advocates cleverly disguised as fitness enthusiasts. We're asking runners, lifters, swimmers, cyclists, dancers, those who do yoga, pilates and just about anyone with the gift of mobility to give anything they can. In fact, $2 is a good start.
Please donate to help us purchase wheelchairs and to provide special needs care. It's secure and life-changing. Because you're hard-chargers, this will be the least passive donation you may ever make. Once you give, all you do is train. Kids will get the gift of mobility because of you. Parents will have respite care due to your giving and grit. Thank you.
