Find all of my links and goodies on Linktree!Key Points, Up Front:
Faith is a muscle, and being strong is good
Yet weak faith is common
Why? No pain, no gain
I’m sure you’ve heard it said before that ‘faith is like a muscle.’ The logical implication is that the more we exercise our faith, the stronger it will get. This is a very helpful way for us to think about faith, but I don’t think we take advantage of this knowledge enough.
If this statement is true—and it most certainly is—then it should put a demand on each of us to grow it. We should all be looking to flex our faith muscles as much as possible, and as BIG as possible. We should be waking up everyday, looking for new mountains to move.
That’s not the case, though, is it?
If we’re being honest, we’d have to acknowledge that most people get up every morning looking to avoid obstacles of any kind, especially mountain-sized obstacles. We’re not looking for any situations that would require greater faith. Definitely not on a consistent basis.
It’s quite the conundrum, right? We know that we should be strong, but don’t really want to endure the things that would make us strong.
By the way, this is true of most types of strength that we desire: physical, emotional, financial, etc. They all require some suffering to cultivate—respectively, going to the gym, or a therapist, or setting a firm budget—and we know we aren’t really eager to do any of those things.
That’s the problem. We have no tolerance for pain.
Let’s just call a spade a spade: humanity has gotten soft—and Christians have gotten soft along with it. The world has catered to our decadence, and comfort, and we’ve been happy to comply. There was a time when we had to cut fire wood, hunt animals, plant and harvest crops, and fetch fresh water to survive. Now we can push a few buttons and it’s done.
The spiritual impact of this gradual societal weakening is that saints don’t always expect to overcome difficult situations in their lives, they merely hope they will.
There is a definite frailty in our collective faith. It is evident in our corporate & intercessory prayer calls. Saints come forward with their various requests, and the very way nature of the request reveals their unbelief.
Don’t get me wrong, we all need help with our unbelief at times (Mark 9:24), and we can all be brought down to a place of spiritual brokenness—even Jesus asked for the “cup” to pass from Him in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39)—but some of us are living in that brokenness. It’s where we stay.
If that statement cut a bit, beloved, then so be it. Let me say something to encourage you:
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
— Hebrews 11:6
Granted, not the most encouraging of scriptures, but that’s kind of the point. We all need to build up stronger muscles, more determined spirits, and thicker skin. As the scripture suggests, we are expected to be strong. It’s a prerequisite of pleasing God. We want to reduce any possibility that He looks at our faith walk, and detects that it is feeble. If there is a hitch in our giddy-up, then we should fix it. Immediately.
This is one of the clear benefits of physical fitness: the effort to achieve it or sustain it trains us to endure hard things. We get stronger just by making a consistent effort, and the first muscle we build is our resolve. Getting out of the bed or off the couch, putting on our workout clothes, going to the gym, or basement, or backyard. Whatever your routine might be, it is training your grit before it trains your body, and that grit is the most important part.
There are other ways to train grit. Whatever activities make a habit out of getting tougher. It has to be something we’re intentional about, that we work at. Not just as an activity, like doing squats or running a mile, but for the practical application of that activity: the core strength or endurance.
There will come a moment in each one of our lives (maybe several), where the outcome of a significant situation well depend solely on the steadfastness of our faith. Where we must decree a thing, and have it be established (Job 22:28). In that moment, you might not have the luxury of hitting the pause button while you get your faith ready, so it better be ready already.
Exercise it now.
When was the last time your faith was really tested? How did you respond?
I would love to hear your testimony!