Soreness.

So. I've been very sore. (Of course. Thanks P90X.) But I've realized that you can derive a lot of spiritual application from the concept of soreness. When we're sore, it's as a result of something we did in the past. A past action caused the present pain. Physically, when you exert yourself to a point you're not used to, you feel sore the next day. Spiritually, when you exert yourself to a point you're not used to, you feel sore the next day.

But being sore is not always a bad thing. When working out, you exert your body to a point it's not used to, so your muscles adapt and adjust to perform better next time. Thus your muscles are sore the next day. So instead of stopping exercise, you want to keep going. And I don't know about you, but I love feeling sore! It's the same spiritually. God always has new and challenging tasks for us that require exertion. As we continue to move forward and complete each task, we have to adapt and adjust ourselves to perform better next time. Thus we feel sore the next day. So instead of camping out, we must keep moving forward. (With strength from Christ.) And I don't know about you, but I love feeling sore!

This reminds me of an excerpt from Radical that I reread yesterday: "You know that in the end you are not really giving away anything at all. Instead you are gaining. Yes, you are abandoning everything you have, but you are also gaining more than you could have in any other way. So with joy -- with joy! -- you sell it all, you abandon it all. Why? Because you have found something worth losing everything for." (pg. 18)

However, being sore can at times be a bad thing. When working out, you can exert your body too much. You can tear your muscle fibers to a point to where it's injurious. That's when you must stop and rest for a period of time. It's the same spiritually. Sometimes we can exert ourselves so much to where it's injurious to us spiritually. (Note: this is not a part of the new and challenging tasks God has for us. We're creating additional new and challenging tasks for ourselves on our own without talking with Him first about it. He will not give us more than we can handle.) That's when we must to stop and rest for a period of time.

I love exercise. Physical and spiritual. It's a sign of progression, and it feels so good.