Mike’s Musings ….
What Happened to My Strength?
Recently, I’ve experienced the disappointing reality that what I could do easily just a few years ago isn’t so easy anymore! I purchased a sixty-pound bag of Sackrete Concrete mix a year ago and had an awful time lifting it from my car to the job site. A week ago, I bought a forty-pound bag of topsoil and found it to be difficult to manage. Then after filling two boxes with books that didn’t seem too full, I found both heavier than I wanted to lift. None of those loads would have bothered me just a few years ago. Why, not so many years ago, Chevrolet Vega short blocks (incomplete engines) weighing over one hundred pounds each were no problem for me to lift and move out of the way. But now, I’ve found times when just getting up from a seated position requires more strength than I ever imagined it should take! What has happened to my strength? Am I that much weaker than just a few years ago? Why?
One reason is exercise: specifically, the lack thereof. As the years have progressed, so has the need for sitting: sitting to study, sitting to write, sitting to talk about spiritual things with souls needing to talk about spiritual things. That’s not an excuse, but rather an explanation. Consequently, physical strength has waned while (prayerfully) spiritual strength has increased. Sure, my body aches with pain from the lack of exercise, and yes, I know what Paul said about bodily exercise (1 Timothy 4:8). But I also know what the Hebrew writer said about a more important exercise (Hebrews 5:14; 12:11).
Another reason could be “age-related deterioration.” (O.K. That’s my term, but most understand it.) Arthritis, gout, neuropathy, etc. are common with folks my age, or even younger. But at my age (and those older will attest to this) you hurt all over more than any place else. Therefore, you can’t do what you used to do – physically. But to whom do we go for seasoned advice? To whom do we turn for lasting proven examples? To whom do we seek when comfort and understanding are needed? While our physical strength ebbs away, if our minds stay viable, we’re useful!
Finally, I muse on the sheer evidence that the outward man perishes, and the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). Grandmother used to say, “Don’t ever complain about growing old. Too many are denied the privilege.” She was right! So too is the need to renew, i.e., “make new again” the inward man; a work required of us each day! Granted, some illnesses take the strength of the mind, and there is nothing we can do to stop that process. But unless and until that should happen, it is my soul I must continue to exercise in the knowledge and work of our Lord Jesus and His kingdom! If I let that strength diminish, I’ve lost more than strength – I’ve lost my soul!