NINJA WARRIOR ADDY HERMAN HAS A GOD THAT NEVER ‘FAILS’
You’ve been disciplined, you’ve trained, strategically planned, sacrificed, traveled and now you’re standing at the beginning of the course as you’re introduced (on national television no less) to run the race of your life. You know where you failed last time but you want it bad and you’re not just a ninja warrior – you’re THE ninja warrior with a firm grip on giving all your anxiety to God. Watch this video to see – is it enough to get your first buzzer?
HOLD ON
What’s it like to have victory slip through your fingers? More importantly, what do you do about it? Ninja Addy Herman from Massachusetts shares, “One season was very rough. I had trained harder than ever and I was getting second place at every single competition. It was at that time that my identity shifted. My identity was so into my sport that when I failed I considered myself a failure. I wrote down a prayer: God, win or lose, this is for your glory. Help me be a light to other people, bring joy to other people, and have true peace because this is a gift and platform you’ve given me. This is now my mindset at every competition and in life. God doesn’t want our perfection. He want’s us to come to him at any time with our flaws. He wants us to persist, hold on to him and make him our identity.”
LISTEN TO OUR FULL INTERVIEW WITH ADDY HERMAN
WHEN PICTURE PERFECT LEADS TO QUESTIONS
Herman had what many may think would be the perfect start to a good life. She was raised in a loving Christian home from birth. But, we’re all human and human nature causes us to question God. By age 12 that’s what she was doing. However she learned that God would use her questioning, “I learned it’s OK to question God.” Through her questioning, she found one Bible verse from the book of Job that really shifted things for her spiritually. It says, I’ve heard of you [God] by the hearing of the ear but now my eyes see you. Now I know you. When she read that she really started to understand that she had heard a lot of the Bible and gained a lot of Bible knowledge but what God wanted for her was to experience the deeper relationship of Him being her loving father.
HOW WELL DO YOU SPEAK ‘NINJA’?
The ninja culture, like many sports and the fitness culture too, is filled with terms that might leave you wondering, “What are they saying?” If you’re going to be a ninja then you might want to get familiar with these 5 terms and a whole lot more. Addy gives you the definition and then provides you with a bonus for each – a Christian faith context for the term. Get these down and you’ll be on your way to swinging with the best of them – or at least you’ll be speaking the same language! [Just tap the + to expand each term and reveal the definition and faith context. Tap again to collapse.]
Blind Grab
- DEFINITION : An obstacle in Ninja Warrior where the competitor cannot see the element which they need to grab from the start of the obstacle.
- FAITH CONTEXT: In our walk with God, we must have faith that God will guide us and sustain us, even when we can’t understand what he is doing. Just as you would trust that a blind grab element in ninja warrior will be there, even though you can’t see it until you jump/swing off the platform, we are called to walk out of comfort zones in faith, and trust that God has a plan and will be there with us.
Beta
- DEFINITION: It means information about the various ways through an obstacle. Example: “Ask Jesse about her beta. She got through the Rolling Thunder.” (ANW Nation)
- FAITH CONTEXT: Having Godly examples and mentors in our lives is so crucial to our faith. Going last in a ninja competition is a huge advantage because you get to see the beta for each obstacle and can ask competitors with experience for help getting through the course. In the same way, we should seek help from other believers who have walked through hard seasons, as they can give us the “beta” that helped them.
Plateau
- DEFINITION: A workout plateau is a stage of progress that happens when your body gets used to the demands of your current fitness routine, which causes your progress to level out. If you reach a fitness plateau, you may not see results even though you’re maintaining your workouts. (Healthline)
- FAITH CONTEXT: Sometimes we can unknowingly get comfortable in our lives and stop leaning on God, whether it is spending less time in the Word, forgetting to pray, or not seeking Him in the ways we previously had. This plateau can make us feel stagnant in our Christian walk and cause many to lose their joy and peace. To get out of a plateau in ninja, it is important that you keep persisting, even when it feels like you’re getting nowhere. The same is true with your faith.
I See You
- DEFINITION: A phrase most commonly used by Akbar Gbajabiamila on the show. It’s his way of acknowledging a competitor’s determination or accomplishment on the course. (ANW Nation)
- FAITH CONTEXT: As humans, all of us desire to be seen and loved, and on ANW it is the biggest compliment to hear these words, “I see you”, by Akbar. The good news is that God sees us fully and loves us fully, and it is NOT dependent on our accomplishments or our determination. Genesis 16:13 says, “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: ‘You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’”.
Deadhang
- DEFINITION: When a competitor hangs from an obstacle with their arms straight. It generally puts more pressure than desired on the hands and fingers instead of the arm muscles, and can indicate fatigue on the course. (ANW Nation)
- FAITH CONTEXT: Just as you can be in a deadhang on the course, you can also feel like you’re in a deadhang in your faith, barely hanging on and on the brink of failure. This is when it’s most important to keep your trust in God, since through Him, we have strength to do all things (Philippians 4:13). On the course you may fail, but relying on God’s strength, you’ll make it through the “deadhang” seasons of life.
GOD NEVER FAILS AND ALWAYS CALLS YOU TO MORE
That more isn’t more for you it is more for others. Listen to our full interview with Addy and hear how her passion for the sport of ninja has opened doors for her to fulfill the greater purpose of being obedient to God’s calling in her life. She looks for opportunities to minister to others. That can be with other ninja competitors through conversation, mentoring, encouragement and prayer. And she’s also finding God open doors for her to serve along others among those who would otherwise never get to experience the joys of the sport.
She worked with New Hope Initiative and traveled to Sierra Leone in West Africa to build a ninja course for children at a mission there. As much as she is passionate about doing ninja herself, it is when she gets to minister to others that she discovers a richer vision for her life and a greater purpose. You’ll want to subscribe to her YouTube channel so you can watch even more of her videos as she adds them.
THE MANY ELEMENTS OF PERSISTENCE
Think about it. A ninja course is just a single course with many different elements. In much the same way God takes a concept like persistence and works in you many different ways to live a full lifestyle in Him. Take a look at just some of the ways the Bible can speak to you about persistence. Dig deeper into the Bible regularly and we’re confident you’ll find even more.
PERSISTENCE IS BUILT IN THE ‘PRESS ON’: I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. When you watch a ninja compete one of the most compelling aspects of the course is that it has multiple different obstacles back to back. Finishing one part is accomplished by pressing into the next one. The successful ninja knows what is ahead, anticipates what is needed and moves accordingly. It’s not just strength and endurance it is also knowledge. This is true for living life. Having knowledge and wisdom from God is critical to press on in life.
PERSISTENCE ACCESSES EXTRAORDINARY POWER: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Ask Addy and she’ll tell you that every ninja is highly motivated and driven to succeed. So, what’s the difference for a ninja who has Christ in the center of her or his life? It’s God’s Spirit. That’s not some mystical presence and it’s certainly not a self-manufactured mindset. Living in tune with God’s Spirit is THE game changer to not just be hopeful but to abound in hope. Hope in God has no limits.
PERSISTENCE HUMBLY CELEBRATES THAT EYES ARE ON YOU: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. One of the strengths the show American Ninja Warrior has leveraged to become a successful television show is to show the connection the athlete has to others. When Addy competes you’ll see close ups of her family in the stands cheering her with all they have. She has a fan base too AND an even larger television audience. While we see family, fans and audience, God’s sees “so great a cloud of witnesses” and wants you to see that too. It’s why persistence in faithfulness to Christ is important. They’re not just watching what you do and how you do it, they’re being shaped by your personal living testimony – your example. They are gaining faith in God as they witness you persistently holding fast to God.
PERSISTENCE MEANS RESILIENCE: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. We all need resilience to get up, brush off the fail, refocus on God and move forward to the fullness of what God has for each of us. Recognize that you’re in the world but not of it. That means you’ll go through life like everyone else, no exemptions from the challenges and failures. But your resilience is empowered with more than your own self-determination. It can be strong on a solid foundation of God’s grace and wisdom. With that you can persist like no other!
WANT MORE?
Here is Addy’s Get To Know Me video and a song on how God sees perfection.
