Today’s Post By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
A friend shared that she was feeling exhausted in her walk with God. At every turn her family’s faith was being tested and frequent life-altering decisions had to be made—decisions that required a great deal of faith and trust in God.
As I sat there listening to my friend share her heart, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a thought provoking quote from author James McDonald: “We must exercise our faith in the Truth of God’s Word…. Faith is like a muscle; it gets stronger with use.” ~Lord, Change My Attitude
I reminded my friend that times of testing can be great opportunities to build stronger faith muscles. I explained that when our faith muscles grow, we feel less exhausted. I then shared with her the following analogy:
When I first began going to exercise classes, I felt completely exhausted. I couldn’t always keep up with the instructor and was often unable to complete all the repetitions of a particular exercise set. However, the longer I persevered in going to class, the stronger my muscles grew and the less fatigued my body felt afterwards. It was a slow progression—one that I hadn’t really even perceived was taking place until one day I was able to do all the repetitions and could to keep up with the instructor.I was tempted to think the instructor wasn’t being as tough on us anymore, but that wasn’t the case at all. In reality my muscles had grown stronger and were better able to handle the extra stress.
I shared with my friend that we strengthen spiritual muscles in much the same way. As we grow in our walk with God, we have more and more opportunities to put our faith into action. As we overcome each challenge in our faith journey, we are better equipped to handle future problems.
“He holds success in store for the upright; he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones” (Proverbs 2:7-8).
If we want to be more spiritually fit, we must exercise our faith regularly.