Strength and Conditioning
A patient is walking briskly on a treadmill to test their heart-condition. He asks the doc, “What are you testing, how fast I can go or how long I can keep it up?” The doctor says neither.. Instead she clarifies, “What I’m testing is how long it takes your heart to recover after you’re finished.” From this we learn that our strength is determined, not by muscle, but by our capacity to recover.
This feels like a timely lesson. Of course it’s always in season. But these days, when lots of us are overwhelmed and overheated, it’s a good time to revisit how God designed our strength and conditioning regimen. This week’s portion discloses it.
Why forty years of wandering, so many trials and ordeals, often self-inflicted? God clearly states,“In order to test you by hardship to learn what was in your hearts” (Deut. 8:2). It was not merely to see what our hearts were made of, it was “to test you by hardships only to benefit you in the end” (Deut 8:9). The Egyptians degraded us to weaken us. A wilderness-full of trials did so to test our strength. That is, to strengthen our recovery capacity.
To be clear, this does not mean agony is heaven-sent. Note that our ordeals are either caused by harmful enemies or self-inflicted. The original plan was to bring us into the Land without delay. But as long as the way became long, it might as well become the greatest strength and conditioning program of all time.
A father and son that I learn with weekly, recently put it this way. “It’s not that our Jewish people are so smart, so talented, or especially gifted. No. It’s that we’re strong.” And this week’s portion informs us how circumstances, often harsh and terrible trials, can and do make us stronger.
Why do God and Moses wait so long, to the last book of the Torah, to tell us? Perhaps because it’s a vital life-lesson that’s never too late to learn.
How strong are we? Let’s see how long it takes for our heart rate to recover.
