The climbing group watched from below as Seth’s grandmother in the bright yellow shirt took a big breath and reached for the final hold. Some were still in disbelief, most were in awe, but all were inspired and challenged. Just a few minutes ago they’d all been listening to her share her favorite Bible verse, “To the mark I pursue for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
“How did she do that”, Julia asked.
“Doesn’t matter”, Malik replied as they all stood and cheered, “She’s got faith – big time!”
HOW TO GO BIG
When it comes to writing great headlines experts tell you that one of the best ways to grab attention is to use the “How to” technique. By now most of us have seen television commercials on ‘how to get in the best shape of your life’ or YouTube ads of the young savvy millionaire who tells you ‘how to dominate and make $80,000 or more every month by doing these 3 simple things’.
This is my ‘how to’ conversation with you. As you read it you’ll NOT find any magic keys that will give you the success you’ve always dreamed of, position you to be the highly sought after expert personality or give you more of the time you deserve to do the things you really want. But, by God, this will help you to GO BIG. What you WILL find is that others are doing it right now. We all can as we rely on God and have faith. The Bible is filled with examples and wisdom to teach us. The Spirit of God will guide you to discover your who, where and what.
When you go big in fitness you naturally expand your range of motion, your range of aerobic capacity and your range of potential. When you go big with God you expand your range of wisdom and faith, your range of influence and impact and your range of perspective. You can start to see further – a grand vision that others won’t see because they can’t. It’s the vision God gives you.
But, as big as that is, God let’s you start to see and value more closely the small things. It’s the work of being gracious and gently doing the things that are “no big deal”. It’s the long-suffering that nobody sees or celebrates. It’s doing the things YOU despise because it is what God expects. The smallest of things may be that faint knowing that God will somehow be true even in the face of your biggest failures.
At Faith & Fitness Magazine’s in-person Redefined Conference the 2021 Fitness Ministry Awards will spotlight some ministries and businesses throughout the United States who are leading through attentiveness and innovation, clarity of purpose and mission, humility, all-in commitment and delivering big-as-God results. Whether you’re a church leader, business owner, personal trainer, or simply someone who does physical fitness, God wants to use you in these ways too.
How do you get started? How do you go big? Well brace yourself. Begin by finding your righteous motive. That means digging beyond what you think is right and finding what God shows you is right. Digging? Yes! You’ve got a lot of questions (you should). Don’t be satisfied until you get the real clear answers. Reality check: our little meal time, bed time and church group prayers ain’t gonna cut it. How low can you go? Further than your ‘knees’ you need to get down on your ‘face’. You give your workout your blood, sweat and tears. Don’t give God any less.
“IT’S COMPLICATED”? NOT WHEN YOU GO BIG
We grab hold of things easy enough: good ideas, positive potential, and opportunity for success. Then it gets complicated. The real God stuff happens in the release – the letting go of hurt, hopelessness, and self-will. There’s a GO BIG Bible story of a woman who had been treated by all kinds of doctors for years but was no better, and in fact worse. Amidst the big crowd of everyone else with one simple act of faith she let go of all that and touched Christ – the result was profound. She was restored better than before and the people then (and us now) got an amazing up close look at just how simple God’s supernatural can be.
“IT’S IMPOSSIBLE”? THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU GO BIG
Making up your mind to go for it is a big choice. For the person who has never been physically active, making a commitment to exercise is a huge deal. For those who workout regularly, eat healthy and get plenty of rest, doing a competition or running an Ironman triathlon requires not only relentless hard work and boldness but an element of faith. For entrepreneurs, those in business and everyone who works daily, making the vocation part of your life resonate all-in commitment to a greater purpose can seem impossible. There’s another GO BIG Bible story that blazes past doubt and mediocrity. Elijah, at a mountain top retreat of sorts, did what God told him to do – challenge others to get off the fence. He brought together those most confident and they discovered just how incapable and desperate they were. Then in good turn the impossible underscored the big-as-God results.
“IT’S OVER”? IT’S ONLY BEGUN WHEN YOU GO BIG
Don’t give up. Be like Jesus and have real clarity of purpose. With all the potential God sees in you, there really is no time to waste. You need to drive your life, through each day, with attention to how God can make a difference. That’s innovation that reflects not what you do but who God is. This GO BIG Bible story quite honestly is your ultimate calling. There’s likely no part of the Bible that is more familiar to people than this – Jesus birth, life and ministry, death and resurrection. When He said, “It is finished” it was just the beginning. His life isn’t just an unparalleled example or even God in the flesh with us. Christ is the ultimate ‘how to GO BIG’.
In all of these Bible examples we don’t see these people specifically asking WHO should I reach, WHERE are the best places to make a difference and WHAT is the best way to do it. They simply sought God, payed attention, did what they were supposed to do and anticipated BIG.
When we listen to God, He can lead us to do more than best practices and achieve proven results. He wants to lead us to GO BIG and help our members, clients, team and community OR our family, friends, co-workers and contacts grow spiritually beyond what they, you – any of us could imagine or hope for.
OBEY YOUR THIRST FOR GOD
But to get to this, to DO God’s will, God requires that we humbly give our self-will to Him. God is looking for obedience in you. Not obedience out of fear or a relinquishing because you’ve tried other things so you might as well try obedience too. And, it’s certainly not an obedience because you’re looking for the spiritual equivalent of a strategic and powerful Google or Facebook algorithm.
It’s an obedience that is humble, that is confident in faith and listens persistently. It’s an obedience that is characterized by assurance and amazement. You have assurance in God and stand amazed by the evolution that God brings through the process. You’re like, “Oh! My God. Thank you.” Tears come to your eyes not because of the thrill or of doing fitness, or the velocity of doing business but because the BIG that God creates is always something fresh, new, full of life and truly the Spirit of God in our very presence.
In my short post, Privileged Postscript, I included the song Privilege by the artist Young Bro. Near the end of that song he has sampled a pastor preaching:
We don’t come to God on our terms. This is not some negotiating conference. This is not a God who says, “We’ll what would you like, here’s what I like, let’s talk about it.” He’s God! A holy righteous God. He’s given us the privilege of not just coming and singing about him but entering into His actual presence.
That’s a word that we all need to hear and understand. Pray that it will be your truth, the BIG place where you exist daily – in God’s presence. When you live like that then your faith in the midst others becomes more than just ‘singing about Him’ where they think, “there’s one of those nice Christians”.
Instead they too can enter into God’s presence, taste and see that He is good and gain more than strength. They gain wholeness and achieve a life transformation that goes way beyond the physical. When God works in you to GO BIG then others can go big.
So in the future, like this week, even today, actually right now – what will you choose? #IchooseBIG
MORE GO BIG PERSPECTIVES FROM OUR SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS
It’s not just the presence of the cross (around your neck or on your shirt), it’s the message of hope behind it that only you can give to someone today. That means don’t just show off that cross – commit to making the sacrifice – – – giving of your time, listening to someone, showing compassion instead of attitude, eagerly spending money on someone, going above and beyond, truly experiencing a bit of what Christ lived. THIS is being real cross fit and it’s a heck of a lot more than just wearing a symbol – it is being the very presence of Christ in your world today.
Read Brent Hardy’s blog @brenton_a_hardy
Use the bio link to our homepage where it is currently featured or go directly to:
https://faithandfitness.net/real-crossfit/
Choose to go big.
#IchooseBIG
Try sharing this and see what response you get from your friends.
t’s a new day and a new week. Be fit to make it all that God has to do.
Living for God in a big way means taking the strength you have and humbly being useable. That strength isn’t just your physical capacity, it is graciousness, peace, the ability to intercede in prayer for others, and so much more – a spiritual strength that only you will be able to give because that is what God wants to do.
God wants to do something really big for someone, somewhere in someway that can only happen when you choose big.
It probably won’t be as obvious as an ill person in a hospital bed going into surgery. It might be a coworker who is frustrated after a meeting. Perhaps it’s a family member complaining while talking with you over the phone. Maybe that person in the gym you’ve seen sitting on side with earbuds needs to listen to a word of hope that God has chosen you to share.
Don’t be afraid, don’t be too busy, don’t hold back. GO BIG!
#IchooseBIG
It’s leg day – Know your RANGE OF MOTION. Good form is key. Your legs should form an angle of about 90 degrees at the knees. If your feet are too high on the plate, it will stress your glutes; too low and it puts unnecessary pressure on your knees. Your knees should be in line with your feet and neither be bowed inward nor outward. [from verywellfit.com]
Good form is also key to our relationship with God and others. Too far this way or not enough that way creates unnecessary stress and puts pressure on parts of life that can lead to injury.
Theres a Bible verse that says, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
Another way of saying that is, “Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.” Reverent means: Showing a lot of respect. Sensitive means: quick to detect or respond to slight changes, signals, or influences.
When you’re lifting heavier weights (physically and spiritually) you need to show a lot of respect. In other words, IT’S HEAVY so handle it accordingly using good form – – – following closely solid Bible instruction. The be spiritually attune to QUICKLY detect and respond to changes, signals and influences.
Our spiritual training, development and growth can and should be a thoughtful, intentional, focused, patient, gracious and responsive process.
It’s leg day! Look to God to do it well and you’ll stand strong.
Lifting a little one to put on your shoulders helps tone muscle and provide stability BUT don’t expect it to help you put on much size. You’ll need to do some heavier weights with more reps to do that.
That being said, the size of your shoulders and arms doesn’t matter at all if you have a weak relationship with your child(ren).
Build up your family. Treat every member with the high priority that God wants them to have. Speaking AND listening are the concentric and eccentric movements of communication. Do both with good form.
Discover just how beautiful God can shape your family when you make a commitment to expand your range, don’t hold back, be faithful to give it your all and GO BIG.
#IchooseBIG
