Yesterday, I set out for a bike ride.
The moment I stepped outside, I went right back in to change into a
cold weather base layer. It's the kit I've ridden in when temps have
been as low as 45 and I've run a half marathon in a sleeveless kit at
40 degrees. So when the mercury read 55, I didn't really think too
much about it – I just layered up for comfort and took off.
The ride was only 15 miles and,
granted, I was pushing hard into a solid headwind for the first half
of the ride. Perhaps it was the combination of temperature, wind, and
speed along with a high breathing rate that kept that cold air
refreshing in my lungs, but something wasn't right when I stepped out
of the shower. Despite the heat being on, I was suddenly freezing.
Putting on warm clothes and heading to
the kitchen to make some hot tea, I realized as I couldn't stop
shivering and that I had somehow managed to exercise my way into
hypothermia. Who knew that first aid training would lead to
self-diagnosis?
My Bride got home soon after and before
long, I was wrapped in 3 blankets, had a heating pad over my chest,
and a hot water bottle behind my head. Even with all that, I just
couldn't get my body warmed back up. She prayed and rubbed my
feet to comfort me.
Every time I picked up my mug of tea,
it seemed too hot to drink, so I set it back down to give it another
couple of minutes. By this point, I was in tears because of how much
I hurt from the shivering that caused so many muscles to fire so many
times and from the frustration of not warming up.
Finally, I picked up the mug
again, tossed aside my fear of a burned mouth, and started sipping it.
Despite how overly hot it felt in my hands, it was the perfect
temperature. A low body temperature messes with your ability to judge
heat the way you normally do. By the time I finished it a few minutes
later, my body was finally able to stop shivering and returned to a
normal temperature. My wife graciously rubbed out all of my extremely
tense and sore muscles as my body recovered.
The whole situation reminded me about
how often this occurs in life as well. When my body refused to warm
up, it wasn't because of an exterior lack of heat – it was the
interior. Only by drinking that tea did the heat get where it needed
to in order to make a difference. So often, we cover ourselves with
what the world has to offer in an effort to feel better. What we
really need is a change on the inside.
Many of us have been on the fringe of
letting Jesus really take over. We've embraced the Christian
lifestyle, but haven't allowed Him to fully come in. It's scary.
There are so many things we love and we're afraid it will hurt too
much to let Him in and lose them. It might be sexual or substance
addiction, activities that take priority over faith and family, or
any number of other things we misplace our hope in. We really want to
be taken over, but we're afraid of the pain.
When you finally do let go, knowing
nothing else is going to offer the cure you need, you'll find Jesus'
temperature is perfect even though it seems like it's going to burn.
Our ability to judge the benefits of what Christ offers has been
skewed by our broken selves and the lies of this broken world.
I can't promise a completely pain-free
experience. Some of the sin we allow ourselves to get caught up in
results in fractured relationships and other consequences when they
come to light. The truth really does set you free from it though. If
you want to know what it's like to let Jesus come in and love you,
take a look at what love is in I Corinthians 13.
Jesus doesn't leave us longing for the
things we left behind, He satisfies us more completely than you can
possibly imagine. Take the leap, trust that God really does love you
and that He really does want you to be fully satisfied in Him. That
or you can put on another blanket and keep shivering, but the
choice is yours alone to make.
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