[E]very now and then when I’m at the gym I look at pieces of equipment and get visual pictures of how they relate to us spiritually. Such is the case with the above picture. I sat and stared at these barbells for a while and got a vision of women of all ages, shapes and sizes lifting them with massive amounts of weight on each side. The best part of the vision was the body language and posture of each woman. The barbells were like weapons in their hands and as they lifted and trained a shift in their souls began to occur. Where there was once fear, now was confidence. Where there was once intimidation, now was bravery and courage. Where there once was sadness and self hate, now was love and joy unspeakable. Honestly, it was an army. An army of women who love God, understood their assignment and knew how to use their weapons with focused strength.
I thought a lot about what the vision meant and how I could use it to add value to your life. This is what I’ve come up with…
Every woman needs to understand three things about her identity as a child of God.
1. You are extremely valuable and precious, worthy and esteemed in the eyes of your maker. You are strong, capable and altogether wonderful to him.
2. You are also a threat and hated by the enemy of our souls, Satan, and his demons. He has a special hatred for you that’s vicious and deep. You will always be attacked first. Not because you are weak, but because you are strong and crucial to the success of the kingdom. (Genesis 3:14-15)
(Most people don’t like to talk about the Satan and demons part and you won’t hear much about it on the news, in the latest self-help book, or some churches for that matter. Now don’t freak out on me, keep reading as I walk you through this. It’s not my goal to scare you today or invoke fear in your heart. Awareness and training are always my main objective.)
3. God has given you an arsenal of weapons for you to use to defeat your enemy. The Bible is both your nuclear bomb to the enemy and your daily bread in order to live and be renewed. In addition to the Bible, there is another weapon at your disposal. It’s called worship and it can take on many different forms. In this vision it was training and weightlifting. In my opinion, that barbell can be a weapon of mass destruction to your enemy if you will let it be and embrace it as such.
Personally, a barbell is my weapon of choice. For some it’s singing, others homemaking, scrapbooking, baking, decorating building businesses or giving. We each have our favorites. I view that time lifting and training as a literal washing away of insecurities and nourishment to my soul.
My body has learned to crave worthy challenges and overcoming in the physical nearly always translates to the spiritual. I’ve watched and helped other women do the same thing over and over. They find that as they become stronger physically there spiritual game steps up a notch. When you connect your body, soul and spirit and train synergistically, you become a force to be reckoned with. That’s right, A FORCE! My point is that you can take anything and make it worship. Why not training? Why not use it as a weapon?
So my friend, what might happen in your life if every time you showed up to train you approached it as worship? And understand that what we deem as worship and give unto our daddy in heaven is ALWAYS an act of warfare. Worship causes demons to flee and our enemy to run and hide like the coward that he is. Be present. Ask him to speak to you as you train. Allow him into that part of your life so he can fuel you with HIS power.
Take up whatever your weapon may be today and hone it. Embrace the learning process, become excellent, and most importantly train with grace.
Each time you pick up that barbell you have a chance to worship him with your whole body (Romans 6:13). Use your weapon wisely.
Lifting,
Lindsey Nadler
Get real talk, no B.S. business advice on creating a business doing what you love.