Core Strength

I’ve become one of those women I never understood. The ones who post pictures of healthy food, love working out, and own more fitness clothing than regular clothing. As recently as the beginning of this year, I would look at other women who enjoyed that particular lifestyle and wonder what I was missing.

I’ve never felt a rush of post-workout endorphins in my life.

The times I’ve attempted to train for and run a 5k, I’ve been miserable.

Any attempt to actually stick to a healthy eating plan or workout plan simply made me feel like a failure.

It was all guilt and no grace. 

Then in March, something clicked. I realized I’d become a sideline mommy to my toddler, always available in case she needed something, but never involved in the running around or playing. I was constantly tired, and she’d already started to realize that I wasn’t going to be the “fun” one.

I didn’t care about being fun — my heart ached to be involved. So I committed to an investment in my health. And the work God has been doing on my heart has been as dramatic as the work He’s allowed to happen in my body. Long before the scale showed any change or anyone noticed the work I’d been doing, there was a stirring in my spirit that felt like new life.

My body had become more than a vessel to move me from point A to point B; it was transforming into a gift I felt called to steward well.

Although the messages in the workouts weren’t meant to cause me to reflect on God, He can use anything — and He caught my attention with one very specific phrase: Tighten your core to protect your back.

From a strictly physiological perspective, that makes perfect sense. When your abdominal muscles are strong they protect your back from injury and encourage balance and good posture. From a spiritual perspective, there’s another truth.

When we focus on having a strong core — when the center of who we are is built around Christ — we find ourselves protected, balanced, and standing firm.

“For God’s Word is solid to the core; everything He makes is sound inside and out. He loves it when everything fits, when His world is in plumb-line true. Earth is drenched in God’s affectionate satisfaction.” {Psalm 33:4-5}

When my heart is centered on God, everything else is more secure. My eyes don’t waver side-to-side, comparing what God has asked me to do with what anyone else is doing. Core strength gives me the confidence to pursue the calling God has put on my life. Filling my life with His Word gives me the tools I need to combat the trials, the struggles, the hard moments that come up that would otherwise cause me to give up.

“May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as He was with our ancestors — may He never give up and walk out on us. May He keep us centered and devoted to Him, following the life path He has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms He laid down for our ancestors.”
{1 King 8:57-58}

The first time I attempted to do some of the core strengthening moves in my workout, I could barely manage the modification. I thought I would be able to go at the pace set by the expert, and I quickly realized that my best looked very different from what was being shown on the screen. I was comparing my beginner level to someone else’s expert level, and it was discouraging.

So I slowed down and learned to do it the right way — not the fast way. And each time I did, I saw improvement, and each time I got a little stronger.

There’s a pace and rhythm that’s created just for you, for your path, and the only way to recognize it is to stay centered — from the very core of who we are — on Christ.

Keep Christ at the core and watch for those signposts, the whispers from God that you’re on the right track.

“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” {Jude 1:20-21}

Last week we were in the backyard again, my toddler running around playing and inviting us to join in. She looked at me with her big brown eyes and asked me to teach her some workout moves. Jumping jacks and burpees and a few other things she’d seen me do in recent months. This former sideline-mama kicked off her shoes and jumped in, because a life with Christ as the core is full of grace, not guilt. I could stand confidently beside her, knowing she might never see me do any of it perfectly, but I could show her what’s most important:

Real life happens when you keep yourself centered in God’s love. 

I’ll take that over endorphins any day.