Weight Lifting

Have you ever walked with a slump?

I used to...maybe sometimes still do. A friend in college pointed this out to me once he had my attention off of my shoes and locked on to his words on my way to class one day. He was not a close buddy or a room mate, but a friend who took notice of the chagrined way that I lumbered around campus day after day. For some odd reason...I never walked with my face up...always face down, always.

Tom did me a favor that day. I started to consciously look up when I walked the concrete or the halls. When I did that, I saw so much...like clouds, trees, directional signs, campus promotions, artwork and...people. I saw faces that smiled at me. I saw women that attracted me. I saw friends who greeted me. I saw professors who chatted with me. I even saw exam scores posted with the latest grades from the day before.

Amazing what and who you can see when you look up!

I reflected on my 'look down' lifestyle and wondered why I had drifted into that slumping daily routine. Reality Check Answer: I was 'weighted down' with all sorts of 'stuff', and my walk told the deeper story of my heart. What had so burdened me I wondered? Why had I allowed myself to take such a beat down? I unpacked my 'stuff'. It took more than an afternoon, but I began the long process of releasing the burden of my failures, disappointments, rejections and past history to God. I took my eyes off of my shoes for a change...and the view was so much better!

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighted down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close in on you like a trap." Luke 21:34

I really was not wasting away or getting loaded to forget my ills (I had so few as a young man). But, those 'anxieties of life'...that was totally another story for me. Like many, practical concerns took their toll. I had no cash to pay my way through college much less a car or the gas money to bum a ride back home to see the folks from time to time. When the buds went for a Whataburger, I made lame excuses as to why I had to stay behind while my mouth watered at the thought of a midnight chocolate shake! I was not much for dating and it was not for lack of interest...maybe lack of social skills or rhythm, and that became a monster challenge for me. Above all, I was concerned about my future...very concerned. I knew that I specific calling from God...but at that time...I had none of the 'specifics', and that alarmed me for sure.

When I determined to quit looking at my shoes, I began to look up. I looked above the building of my university into the skies. At night I would sneak out to the other side of the cafeteria and lay on the slope alone under the bright southern stars, my Bible my only companion. I did not 'see' God, but I did notice more than a few things that He brought to my attention about Himself. When I stopped looking at my shoes and the corresponding load that made my shoulders slump downward, He lifted the weights of anxiety and replaced them with joy after joy, time after time. I was still broke, but in Him I was rich. I was still taken back by a lady from time to time, but I learned how to make conversation and friends by His grace, (and He gave me quite a gal on top of that for sure!). I still was uncertain about my future, but now I was on His agenda and not mine so that was His concern not mine!

30 years later I walk with my head up. There have been times that I have picked up the 'stuff' again...and new 'stuff' too...but when He calls that to my attention, I unload that backpack in a short hurry and keep my eyes raised. When Jesus said;

"Always be on the watch and pray." Luke 21:36

He was talking about His coming again. He will come again. He said He would the first time, (we call it Christmas) and He followed through, so I know that He makes promises to keep them! I don't want to miss a single nano-second of His invitation to join Him in His heaven. Had not the weight been lifted, I may have been staring at my shoes and missed the greatest promise and hope fulfilled of all time.

The Christ of Christmas is the Ultimate Weight Lifter. That's a fact.