Lessons from Leg Lifts

Leg lifts.  15 minutes. Stop when the machine goes off.
It takes a little work to make a muscle stronger.  My knee was injured from running, and I've been going to physical therapy for a few weeks now.  At the end of each session, I get hooked up to a machine that sends electric shock to my muscles to make them contract (it's not as bad as it sounds- trust me). Each time the pulse begins to contract my muscle, I have to lift and hold my leg for 5 seconds.  15 minutes.

"If you get tired, you can just flex your muscle and then rest, instead of lifting it up and down."  Easy way out.

Well, I get there -- tired. 

So, naturally, I stop lifting my leg.  And about 30 seconds later, the buzzer rings and the shock stops and I sigh. 

I could have kept going if I would have known it was only 30 seconds longer.

How many times have I taken that easy way out?  I get a little tired, so I don't try as hard. 

Isn't that what faith is for? Pushing through when it hurts, embracing the hurt, knowing it will make us stronger. Not knowing when a trial is over, and not asking, but just taking it for what it is- learning and growing in the process. It may be painful in the process, and it may be exhausting, but the muscle is strengthening.  It may seem as if it will never end, but God is saying, "Just a few more lifts....come on, you can do it."

The school year's coming to an end.  Classes are almost over.  Time to move. New schedule. Different crowds.  But I can't just quit at the end, as to-do lists get longer and days get shorter and I grow weary.  I have to finish, and the Lord would have me finish well. 

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing." 2  Timothy 4:7-8