My exercise routine includes a series of on-demand trainers on video. 

I throw on riding shorts. Buckle up my biking shoes. Open up my fitness app and choose Kim or Bakari to inspire me to greater sweating on my bike.   

For those 45 minutes I tend not to think of much else other than matching their leg speed. And praying the minutes fly by.

Invariably they sense I’m waning and remind me where my energy comes from. Where I can gain the strength to succeed. 

Their answer always centers on me.

They want me to believe in me. Trust in me. Know that in me lies the power to do anything.

While striving for a cadence of 90 rpm out of the saddle I better dig deep. My wife’s not coming out to pedal for me.

But when does the “believe in me” and “trust in me” and “in me lies the power to do anything” become fantasy? When does such counsel become more nonsense than help?

Jesus once said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” – John 7.37

No one of us is self-sufficient in the purest sense. We all rely on someone. Depend on some system or group or family for our well-being.

Jesus reminds us He alone quenches our thirst for meaning. Our thirst for making sense of the world. Our thirst for having relationships that work and bring joy and fulfillment.

Our thirst for a good life that doesn’t end in death.

He fills us with His Spirit. He offers us His power to accomplish the unimaginable. 

Especially when the unimaginable includes forgiving those who wrong us. Or fulfilling our commitments. Or facing suffering with hope.

When my trainer shouts for me to dial up the resistance and get out of the saddle…

To believe in myself so I can push through until the end…

I appreciate their desire to see me hit my goal.

I also know that believing in me always leaves me thirsty.