1 Chronicles 19:13 states, “Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what seems good to him.”
Over the past week this personally precious verse has been supremely comforting. As many of you know, fellow coach/athlete/friend Josh Mahon ended up on the business end of a falling 85kg snatch Sunday afternoon at the State Championships. I watched it happen, I was helping warm him up, and I did not think it to be serious. Josh is a stout guy and resilient lifter. I thought he knocked the wind out of himself and would be fine.
Josh did knock the wind out of himself but in the process he also suffered a compression fracture of his L2 vertebrate. Basically, his L1 acted like a chisel straight into his L2. I think a lot more happen but I didn’t understand the medical mumbo jumbo…
This verse has been a scripture reference that both Josh and I have leaned on in times of triumph, tension, and now trauma. The Lord tells us to be strong. I love that reminder. We are not called to back down, wimper, be weak, or sit on our hands and hope everything works out. God call us to be strong. Strength doesn’t come without work, discipline, resilience, and effort. God wants all of those things from us. He wants those things not so we can make much of ourselves but so that He is made much of and others are served. He wants us to be strong so that we can highlight all the strength He gave us and calls us to use for the good of others. Ultimately, we are reminded that God wants our trust. He wants our faith. He wants us to remember that He knows best and what seems good to Him is in fact good for us.
Josh epitomizes this idea at the moment. He is working hard. He is resilient. He is being as strong as he can as fast as he can. Those of you who know Josh know that there are few people in this world who can endure pain like him. His recovery no doubt will be epic in fashion.
I wanted to share this reminder to all of you because as Josh is called to be strong, use that strength for his people and his God, and ultimately trust in God’s sovereignty, so are we. Josh models strength. Emotionally he models strength as he jokes about his new wheels (see picture below), talks about his future return to lifting, and relates his back injury and rehab to that of Batman. The strength Josh derives from his circumstances should be a challenge to us all.
(ridin dirty)
Be strong. Be good at what you are a part of. Don’t be lazy. Work hard. Be resilient. Perfect your craft. THEN use that strength for God’s glory and His people AND trust He knows what He is doing.
God hasn’t called us to weakness, 2nd place, or idleness. In fact, we are called to just the opposite.
Josh doing his first WOD since the accident.
1 Lap Around Nurse Station For Time: