Walking by Faith One Day at a TimeSample

Muscles of Faith

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.

Friends, if we want to be more spiritually fit, we must exercise our faith regularly.

Life Application

As your faith muscles grow, what are some of the visible results you have seen being developed in you personally?

Prayer

Lord, exercising my faith muscles and trusting you to pull me through when things look bleak or hopeless can be hard. Sometimes I feel like giving up. When those times come, please give me an extra burst of faith to push through to victory on the other side. Thank you for answered prayers. Amen