Sometimes it Feels Like Work

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

I’ve been experimenting with a new gym lately where I signed up for 30 days free after their grand opening. Now, let me set the stage. I was never what you would consider an athletic child. Though I did enjoy playing outside as much as possible, I suppose my leanings were more on the sedentary side of the spectrum. I was a thinker, an absorber. This did not require a lot of hand-eye coordination.

In my adult life, after the birth of my youngest child, now 16, I began my health journey. I have learned valuable lessons about health like what you do daily matters. If only it took one great workout to put me back on track healthwise, but we all know that’s not how it works. Admittedly, that doesn’t stop me from stepping on the scale every day I work out to see if I’ve moved the needle.

So I’ve been to gyms before. I’ve taken fitness classes before. It’s been a while, but I knew I could do it. Enter Cenzig, the owner and head trainer of the new gym. Cenzig hails from Turkey originally and has an impressive fitness resume. Upon my first evaluation with him, which I was a bit nervous about, I immediately liked his demeanor. He and the other trainers at the facility are positive, encouraging, and upbeat. I can honestly give the review that they make pain fun! One caveat – this upbeat cardio/strengthening combo consists of a fair amount of jumping and bouncing. Cenzig moves like a cat, and I am guessing he has never carried a baby, or three, on his bladder for 9 months a pop. Other than that, I had a smile on my face the whole time. It faded a bit over the course of the next few days as I was trying to figure out how to roll through my different activities during the day without the use of my legs. Nevertheless I went back for more.

2 leg days and 1 core day is all I have done so far. It is a fantastic environment, one where you know you are getting an amazing workout in, and your body will be stronger for it. The music is upbeat, peppy, and catchy, and music is of utmost importance to me in most all activities.

The workouts consist of a “warm-up” (which I personally would have called the workout, but whatever), then 3-4 sets of bodyweight resistance-type exercises, usually about 4 stations, then a quick stretch/cool down, all totaling about 45 minutes.

After each set, the voice comes in over the music and says, “Workout paused.” That’s my favorite part. That’s when we get to run over to the cubbies and grab a sip of water. I learned on Day 1 just to take one sip. Swallowing more than one sip just before another set may have unintended consequences.

Then, we all run back to the bouncy floor, and the lovely robo-voice says very politely, “3-2-1 Work!” This is not my favorite part. But it is actually the reason I am there.

If I went to the gym, and ran around the bouncy floor, and sipped on my recovery drink, and chatted with the other lovely ladies, and watched Cenzig jump up and down, it would be a great experience, but it would not produce results.

The results are in the work. The results are always in the work. I don’t control the results, but I do control the work.

This applies to health as well as anything I desire to accomplish. I began writing because it is something I love to do. But you know what happened as soon as I started to make some headway on my writing? It began to feel like work. And it is. Good work.

For years I went through life mistakenly believing that when I was living in my gifts and doing the work God called me to do, it would feel fun and easy, and not like I am overcoming obstacles all the time. But that is actually the opposite of how it feels. We are called to work, and work is good. But it does feel like work. Yet in that work, we grow, we change, we begin to see the results we desired to see.

Do the work. Trust God for the results.