I’m currently about 7 1/2-ish weeks out of my first Powerlifting meet.
Now, hear me when I tell you that I am not a natural-born athlete. When we were kids, I was always the type that loved to play softball and baseball (yes, baseball) and was fighting for the right to call cheerleading a sport. I ran track to keep in shape for cheerleading and was slid into long-jumping and triple-jumping.
But I never made the All-Star cheerleading squad. I was deep left field in softball. I was assigned triple-jump because there were usually only 3 people competing so I would, by default, place at least third.
And so, imagine my surprise when about 6 months into CrossFit, I realized I was actually able to hit some decent numbers in squat and deadlift (we don’t need to talk about my bench… let’s just say it still isn’t hitting much after almost a year).
I was not fast, I could not last through the 20-minute workouts (something that still confuses me with my background in endurance running), and I looked like a clumsy giraffe trying to Olympic Lift, but I could pick heavy things up and put them back down.
I was strong.
It is amazing to me how our physical bodies can tell us things about our spiritual ones.
As women, we are often told to allow the men to be strong. I remember being told not long ago that my masculine energy would never get me a man and that it would be impossible for me to be both a strong woman and in the kind of relationship I desire.
I’ll let that soak in for you a bit.
Translation: Weaken who you are so you can get what you desire.
I wondered what that would mean for me. I wondered if keeping up both my physical and emotional strength has been the reason that I am not married (personally, I think it’s because Dan Bailey hasn’t met me, yet, but whatever).
So, I decided to turn to the scriptures for guidance. I couldn’t help but be sucked into Proverbs 31, for as I was reading through it, I realized there were themes of strength throughout it.
- “works with willing hands”
- “provides food for her household”
- “considers a field and buys it”
- “girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong”
- “Strength and dignity are her clothing”
Nowhere in these passages does it say for a woman to seek strength from a man. In fact, quite the reverse. The imagery in here is of a woman who is self-sufficient, making her own way for a living, who gets herself ready for all battles, and who works with her own arms and hands. Yes, she cares for her children and her husband, but not at the expense of being strong by her own devices.
In fact, the Hebrew word “hayil” is repeated three times, symbolizing that “strength” is important in a woman (this word can also be translated as “capable” or “noble things”).
Unfortunately, somewhere since this passage has been written, despite its being repeated in many Christian circles, women learned that to get what we want, it means losing strength. Or, at the very minimum, to veil our strength under a veneer of make-up and hair extensions. (Just look up the hashtag #strongwomen on Instagram to see what I’m talking about).
Now, don’t get me wrong, men have their own issues when it comes to strength. They learn that strength comes in the form of covering up their tears and insecurities.
And don’t get me wrong, I get really excited when I have the opportunity to put on heels and eyeliner and if I didn’t know I would be mocked incessantly by gym buddies, I may even be tempted to wear both to the gym.
But it does sadden me that the creation God made to push a human being out of their bodies with incredible force is also seen as less of a woman if they show strength elsewhere.
But I also have hope in how many women I see breaking down those barriers. In how many women I get to surround myself with who are strong in every sense of the word and don’t have a problem showing it. I have hope in the men that surround them and lift them up.
And I have hope in the God that decided to create women to be strong.
Faith and Fitness 
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