I didn’t want to run today. Well I mean, I did.

But I did not want to be seen.

I didn’t want anyone to see my “jiggly” bits.

I want to be the flawlessly fit woman, gracefully jogging down the road. You know, the one you can’t imagine having ever birthed children from her toned body.

I see her. And I’m jealous.

I likely will never be her. And that’s ok. But I know I can be fitter than I am. And I’m not. And that is what I’m not ok with.

So I want to hide.

I don’t want to expose what I see as failures to the world around me by jogging down the road, less fit than I could be, at a slower pace than I was once capable of.

I want to stay home where nobody can see me or my jiggly bits.

But in doing so, I would be allowing my jiggly bits to control me.

I would be handing my body over to them, allowing them to swallow the rest of me inside of them… slowly destroying the strength that lies underneath.

So I ran today.

And as I ran through my neighborhood, jiggly bits and all, I realized something. That it is only in exposing them that I can overcome them. It is only in running with my jiggly bits that I can reach the point of running without them.

It is only in facing my weaknesses head on that I allow the strength within me to increase, so my weaknesses will decrease.

Isn’t that true in our spiritual lives as well?

God has plans and purposes for each of us, areas that He has called us to, strength that He has placed in us and wants to build upon. But how often do we let our weaknesses drown them out?

We see our weaknesses casting shadows on the strengths and purposes that God has placed in us, and we allow them to take control. We think we could never step out in the plans God has for us, because we’ll expose our weaknesses along the way.

And we’d rather hide.

But hiding only robs us of our purpose. It holds us captive to the areas in our lives that God wants to clear out.

It keeps us from running freely in the strength that God places within us.

And the kicker? We can’t really hide.

Whether I choose to run or not, the people around me can still see my jiggly bits. So I can either embrace that truth and run anyway, conquering my physical weaknesses and increasing my strength… or I can hide in my jiggly bits and allow them to take over my body, robbing me of my love of running, dragging me further down to a place I never wanted to be.

I can either confess and expose my spiritual weaknesses, allowing God into my life to “create in me a clean heart,” (Ps. 51:10), or I can be a prisoner to them. Because I can’t really hide them from Him anyway.

We all have “jiggly” bits.

They may not always in visible, but we all have those places we’d rather hide. The places we wish we could erase.

But in hiding them, we give them power. Don’t give them power.

Stand in the truth of God’s word. And claim the freedom He has for you today.

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The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:10

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In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.

Psalm 118:5