We were near given a treadmill the other day. I say “near” because friends from church slashed their selling price of this gently-used running machine to almost nothing so we could buy it.
The only difficulty was moving the thing. It has to weigh over 500 lbs — that’s a blind guess. And the plan was to park it in our upstairs guest bedroom. Upstairs.
My man meticulously strapped it to a hand truck and pulled it inside the house. Then came the challenge. He was going to be the puller and I the pusher. But this meant that once we were on the fourth-ish step I would be underneath this massive piece of metal. Underneath. 500 lbs. Pushing.
It was about the sixth step when the fear hit me. “You know I would die if you slipped, right, babe?” He joked, mentioning something about the insurance policy. While I started wrestling with this new found terror. I don’t want to be crushed by a treadmill.
After two steps of only partially pushing and partially standing underneath, my husband asked if I was giving it my all. No. I don’t want to be smashed, I thought. But he needed help. So I did the thing I’ve preached. I took my thoughts captive to the true things.
God, you love me. You had my days written before I lived even one of them. Your plans for me and my family are good. You are bigger and stronger than this…treadmill. You can keep my man’s feet from slipping. And if you choose to crush me, then I trust that ultimately, ultimately, it is for my good and your glory.
Then with a deep breath and a little faith, I got all up under that monstrosity and pushed. One. step. at. a. time. And with each heave I repeated in my heart the things I know about my God. He is sovereign and forever motivated by love.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Fear debilitates. It prevents us from moving forward and pressing on. Yet he says over and over to “fear not” because he is with us. Standing on his promises and believing him to be whom he’s declared himself to be, causes the fear to flee, even if we are standing underneath the very thing that could end our days on this earth.
Fear not. He is with us.
Fill me, Lord…
Granted this was a trite example compared to the heaviness many of you are under, but what promises of God bring you hope and endurance even if fear currently tempts you?
This post is such a great reminder to STOP and take our thoughts captive through prayer and meditation on God’s love and His promises for us. (vs being paralyzed by fear and worry)
A few years ago my family and I took a cruise. There was a tall and winding water slide on the ship that my 4 year old wanted desperately to go down, but he was scared. He was looking to me for encouragement. Please understand that I myself am not a great swimmer and even at age 42, I have a fear of water. (granted, the bottom of this slide rested in a small pool of about a foot of water, but it was the HEIGHT of the slide that bothered me at the time).
As much as I did not want to climb up the steep stairs and slide down the slide, I REALLY did not want to teach my young child to be fearful, so very reluctantly, I offered to ride it with him. All the way across the deck and to the stairs and with each step up the stairs, I said to myself “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” over and over! And I had peace going down the slide. But even better than that was the opportunity I had to share that story with all 3 of my kids to remind them of God’s promises and to encourage them to do the same thing when they are fearful!
Thanks again for this post!
amy
I love what you said about not wanting to teach fear to your kids. Such a great reminder that little eyes are always watching how we respond to life. Thanks for sharing!
I love how centered your mind is on Him, on His Word. I am so inspired by you. You truly make me want to spend more time reading that amazing love letter that Father has left me. I’m excited to hear about your treadmill…a bit jealous too. This heat is totally making me think about staying inside and running in place. This treadmill hater may just have to convert. 🙂
Girlfriend, I would much rather run outside. But it will be a nice option when Adam is working crazy hours or the weather is bad. Talk soon, friend.