God’s Will and Perseverance

It was the beginning of a new year. Emma loved new beginnings and this year’s new beginning was at the fitness center.

Emma knew she wasn’t going to reclaim the body she had in her 20’s; her goal was to get to a healthy weight and keep her muscles limber for the next chapter of her life. So, she made a commitment to be healthy and fit.

From the activity in the fitness center’s parking lot, it looked like she wasn’t the only one to make this commitment. There were men and women entering and exiting the center and each fitness enthusiast as physically unique as the fruits and vegetables displayed at Jewel Market. Emma thought, They’re like me. They want to be healthy and fit!

This was her first time at the center and she didn’t need a sign to direct her; she just followed a pink attired fitness enthusiast whose destination was the women’s locker room. What greeted her inside were rows of metal lockers and strategically placed benches to ease the transition of feet clad in street shoes (actually, winter boots) to gym shoes.

Emma had prepared for this day with new gym shoes, active-wear pants designed to expand and contract with movement, and a top whose fabric content promised to keep her cool and dry during what she anticipated would become vigorous workouts.

Exiting the locker room, she found the fitness center’s main room and stopped short at its entrance to mentally process what was laid out before her. There was exercise equipment as varied as the men and women she saw in the parking lot. In one corner there was equipment loaded with metal weights—weights she saw fitness enthusiasts adjust and then position their bodies to lift and lower them. The proof of the ascent and descent of the weights was an audible clank when they contacted each other and the contorted face of the fitness enthusiast moving those weights. Emma thought, This is not for me.

She saw a cluster of exercise bikes with riders vigorously pedaling while remaining in place; their progress being tracked by a flashing digital panel in front of them. These riders looked like they had a purpose. Emma thought, Maybe next time.

Her eyes were drawn to machines with fitness enthusiasts that looked like cross-country skiing champions and other machines with their users rowing with the gusto of a college team straining to cross the finish line. Emma wondered, Do these machines exercise the body and the imagination?

She spotted a machine with what looked like a flight of moving stairs. On this machine was a ginger-haired man who had to be in his 70’s steadily climbing those stairs. She thought, I don’t have his courage to get on that.

Then Emma noticed a line-up of treadmills. Some were occupied by walkers and others by runners sweating and grunting to keep pace with the rapidly moving belt. She thought, This is the perfect equipment for me!

She selected an unoccupied treadmill located between a sprinting young man and a woman in orange sneakers walking at a pretty good pace. Carefully she planted her feet on the sidebars of the treadmill’s belt and was introduced to a control panel full of digital displays and buttons. There was a workout program for a performance workout, a weight loss workout and other workouts she was clueless to their meaning. There were digital readouts to report speed, calories burned and distance traveled on that churning belt and an ominous red button for an emergency stop. Alarmed, she thought, There must be a risk to being thrown off this treadmill!

Emma selected what looked like a safe choice and pushed the button marked “Quick Start.” The belt began to move slowly and another switch next to it gave her the ability to adjust the speed manually. This was the moment when she took her first steps to be healthy and fit and she was excited to begin!

Emma became comfortable walking on the treadmill and her curiosity drew her to study the workout options displayed on the control panel. Each option description was accompanied by a graphic drawing of an interval of short bars and long bars. Peaks and valleys, thought Emma. Little was she to know these peaks and valleys would reflect her commitment to be healthy and fit.

The young man on her left and the woman in orange sneakers on her right were replaced by another walker and runner. With this switch in neighbors Emma looked at her treadmill’s report and saw she walked three miles in an hour. Encouraged by her first day’s experience she planned to schedule regular dates with her favorite treadmill each week for the next six months.

Emma had a strong commitment to her schedule for the first month but noticed some subtle changes. Her initial enthusiasm to get into her active-wear pants and sweat resistant top became less enthusiastic. A little voice in her head whispered, “Temps are below freezing and didn’t you say you were tired? What about the things that won’t get done because you’re at the fitness center?” And if Emma remained resistant to those whispers the voice pulled out the heavy artillery, “Why are your jeans still snug?”

That voice knew exactly what to say. She hated the cold; she was tired; she knew things wouldn’t get done; and her jeans were still snug. But she fought against that voice and kept her commitment to be healthy and fit.

Emma became aware of another change. It was easy to park at the fitness center. The herd of fitness enthusiasts – those she thought shared her commitment—dwindled to a few. Today she walked alone into the center to keep her date with her favorite treadmill.

Once reacquainted with her treadmill she looked around the room and experienced the comfort of familiarity. She heard the familiar clank of the metal weights being lifted by a man she noticed during her first visit—memorable probably because of his well-defined muscles that rewarded his dedication. There was the familiar ginger-haired man in his 70’s that never tired of climbing that perpetual staircase. She still admired his courage because she saw few men or women take on that climbing challenge. And then there was the familiar young man who Emma was sure would wear out the treadmill with his tireless pace. Emma guessed he was training for his favorite spring sport.

Once there were many fitness enthusiasts and now so few.

Something happened to Emma that day. The familiar peaks and valleys displayed by the treadmill’s workout options unlocked a truth. Her favorite treadmill showed her what she’d face to keep her commitment. There were days she enjoyed the emotional peaks of wanting to go to the fitness center. And there were days she was brought down by the emotional valleys when she didn’t want to go. The valleys seemed to increase as the weeks progressed. Her battle against the whispered voice was getting harder to resist. She didn’t want to deal with the cold weather; she was tired; she wasn’t getting things done at home; and the fit of her jeans did not meet her expectations.

But Emma didn’t quit. She kept her weekly dates with her favorite treadmill for six months and got through the valleys. She’s now healthy and fit!

Commitments and Perseverance

As God’s children, aren’t we like Emma? Emma had a commitment and it wasn’t easy. We have a commitment to follow God’s will. It isn’t easy.

What kept Emma from quitting? What keeps us from quitting?

It’s perseverance. Commitments fail without perseverance.

Scripture reveals perseverance in God’s servants…

A Valley for Jesus

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 (NIV)

A Valley for Jesus

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!“ Luke 13:34 (NIV)

A Valley for Paul

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:15 (NIV)

A Valley for Elijah

“He (Elijah) replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 1 Kings 19:10 (NIV)

A Valley for Moses

“Then Moses cried out to the LORD, ‘What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.’” Exodus 17:4 (NIV)