THE BATTLE OF THE TREADMILL
January 30th, 2009
I have a ‘running’ love-hate relationship with my treadmill. His name is Victor, which I think is a quite appropriate name. To be honest, I do not really run. A brisk walk is as much as my body is willing to produce, and even that is a challenge. I know I should form a daily exercise regimen, and I admit it is hard to find exercise more convenient than a treadmill in my home, but I continue to rebel against a regular workout plan. If I do not make my trip to the treadmill the first thing in the morning, I can know that it is not going to happen. If I stay up late, or if I don’t sleep well, there goes my early morning workout. Then, the more days I miss, the easier it is to miss again. Meanwhile, Victor sits quietly in the basement, waiting for my return.
As a child I did not experience the joy of exercise or competition. I was not involved in sports or dance or acrobatics, so my body never learned to ‘stretch’ itself. As a young adult, chasing children was exercise enough and, since I was thin, I was not concerned about my weight, much less my physical strength or endurance. However, once the children got older, and especially after I moved from a physically active job to a more sedentary one, the pounds began to creep on. Following a hysterectomy, the pounds poured on and I began the diet game. Several times I joined a health club, but something always interrupted my get-healthy plan before I could experience the joy in that journey. So here I am today, still trapped in that diet-exercise web of frustration.
Several years ago I actually established a habit of frequenting the gym at my workplace. I must admit that I felt much better when I introduced my body to regular exercise. However, my weight was my bigger concern, and since I was not experiencing any weight loss, I was easily discouraged and I dreaded my trips to the gym. Although I continued to frequent the workout center, the time between visits was getting longer and longer. Then when my favorite treadmill was retired, I was given the opportunity to purchase it, and Victor became part of the family. I just knew that having my own treadmill at home would for sure allow me the benefit of a daily workout. Wrong. Apparently, convenience does not overrule rebellion.
Although the battle continues, Victor has participated in teaching me some valuable lessons. Although my faithfulness is sporadic, something in me continues to press forward, knowing that I am blessed as I meet this challenge. Although I feel like a failure much of the time, something in my spirit rejoices that I am still in the game – I continue to remind Victor that I am still in the game.
When we moved last year, Victor must have needed reassurance that he was an important part of my life. He is extremely heavy, and transporting him was no easy task; even the professional movers groaned as it took all four of them to get him down the steps. He was already downstairs by the time we discovered he was too wide to fit through the door of the back room. (Had we known that, we may have sold him with the house!) Since leaving him in the family room was not an option, and nobody was going to take him back out, my husband was left with the daunting task of making a way where there seemed to be no way. At the end of the battle, Victor got some fresh oil and a new set of bolts and nuts, after the existing ones were sawed off to temporarily remove the crossbar and squeeze him through the door.
Some of my most incredible encounters with the Lord have come while I was pounding away with Victor. I keep the room dark, I close my eyes, and I focus on the wonder of my God. I must admit, when I am having an especially difficult time making myself exercise, I will engage in worship music to make the time go by more quickly, giving God the okay to interrupt me whenever He pleases. However, when I am willing to simply wait in quiet expectation, the Lord meets me and often downloads wonderful messages. On those days, I complete my workout with joy and wonder, which accompany me all day long. If I could only remember that joy the next morning!
I know Victor is a gift from God and, even though he exasperates me much of the time, I reap many rewards when I learn the lessons he brings and incorporate them into my life. Following are a few of those lessons:
- The Word says that if I will draw near to God, He will draw near to me. My battle with Victor reminds me that the process begins with me. My ‘drawing near’ begins when I choose to set my alarm clock, get right up when it rings, and head for my time with Victor. Getting there is the hardest part. God will help me if I ask Him, but He will not interfere with my free will. This is a great life lesson: if I want relationship with God, I make the first move, and He immediately responds. Just turning my spiritual eyes toward Him causes Him to look my way and smile.
- It is easier to walk in the fullness of life when I am healthy: physically, mentally, and spiritually. The Lord gave me a vision of a bar graph that contained three bars; one bar was physical, one was mental, and one was spiritual. Moving up and down like pistons in an engine, they worked best when they were all active and strong. When one bar was tiny, the movement was jerky and inconsistent. When they were all working, the movement flowed smoothly.
- The Lord tells me that my body is His temple; that He lives in me. If I do not take care of that temple, it will deteriorate and require much additional maintenance. The worst effect will be the self-hatred that often comes with the illusion of failure. The Word says that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy, and he will use whatever means is available to take me out. Inactivity brings lethargy that brings discouragement that brings hopelessness. In that place, the enemy can knock me over with a feather. I know discipline brings rewards, and often the amount of time I devote to Victor is an indication of the level of discipline in the other areas of my life. Sometimes I argue that I do not want to commit to a program I am not willing to continue for the long haul. That sounds like smart reasoning, but it is mostly a really weak excuse to abandon my plan of action. Sometimes I will use the weakest excuse to cancel my date with Victor, even though I am richly rewarded when I relent and just go for my walk.
- The flesh is continually at war with the spirit, reminding me to focus inward, rather than outward. Victor is teaching me to press in for the prize, and I know I will need this understanding as we enter into the last days. I cannot war on my backside; I will need to know how to run. Sometimes I envision myself as being in boot camp, preparing for war.
- A few months ago I was just about ready to give up my time with Victor, and put behind me the continuing reminder of my failure at discipline. The very next day as my husband was walking and praying, the Lord told him that He was happy to see me back at the treadmill. Now, how can I walk away after that?
- I am learning that success is progressive: decision – action – settle the issue – press in until my body kicks in – work into a stride – find peace in my place of surrender – and finally, experience the victory.
I suppose it may sound like a bit of a stretch, that God would use something as common as a treadmill to teach me His valuable lessons. However, I am reminded that if God can speak through a donkey, or cause the stones to rise up and praise Him, then He can easily enlist a treadmill named victor to partner with me in victory.
Hebrews 12:1b
…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
I Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
I Corinthians 9:26-27
Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.
James 4:8a
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.