The Planking Season

Romans 5:3-5 –

‘We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.’

Locked in my home and full of frustration and chocolate, I thought, ‘it's time to jump on the fitness bandwagon.’ I must admit getting on the bandwagon was less of a ‘jump’ and more of a breathless clamber. The fitness experts on Youtube say it's important to know a) the activity you’re doing and b) what muscle it's building. This is the same for life. It's important to name a) what season we are in and b) what it's achieving in us. 

Some workouts involve cardio training where your heart gets pumping. Think star jumps, high knees, running etc. high energy activity. For the longest time the world has been in this phase. Rushing from one thing to the next. A certain strength and skill set is needed to juggle the pressure of high activity seasons.

However some workouts involve activities like planking (basically you replicate a park bench with your body) which works on your core strength and your abs. Planking is boring and still. You just stay tight, holding the position. The first time I did this was tough because I had never engaged these muscles before.

All of a sudden we had lockdown and the world came to a halt. Most of our diary entries suddenly became irrelevant. Everything canceled, ‘cardio season’ was over. One day I was planking on my bedroom floor and I felt God whisper, “You’re in a planking season and I’m building your spiritual core.” He brought Romans 5:3 to mind.

‘We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.’

This is the season we are in and it might feel very different to ones before but through it God is doing a Romans 5 kind of work in us where we hold position. We choose the discipline of daily love, forgiveness and surrender.  Through this he strengthens our core inner being and fills our hearts with love.

Prayer – Look up Eph 3:14-21 and pray this over yourself and that God would show you how he is strengthening your inner being.