Faith Is A Muscle

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen, it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

Two of my sons married two months apart, with a college graduation in between the weddings. It was a crazy, busy, exciting time in our lives.

 At the time, I was teaching high school. I wanted to be a pretty mother of the groom, so about 9 months before the first wedding I began to be faithful in my morning workouts. Every morning, early before school, I woke up and would go work out at 24 HR Fitness. I began by completing the 30-minute circuit on weights, then I hit the treadmill for 45 minutes. I did not think much about the outcomes, I was just faithful to do this five mornings a week.

The weddings were beautiful, and I wore my mother-in-law dresses well. Years later, I glanced back at the pictures and was shocked by my appearance. You see, I did not see it in real time. At that time I weighed more than I normally did but was smaller in size and toned and fit. I had no daily awareness of the science of breaking down muscles and rebuilding them to make them stronger. I was just faithful to show up. I did not focus on eating differently, something I do not recommend now. I just showed up.  

Our walk with Jesus is much like this. Our faith walk is not something we can see in real time. As we face life’s hardships, trials and challenges, we do not see our faith growing through the struggle. But as we are faithful to stay the course, seek God with all of our heart, and live an obedient life, our faith strengthens. Others see it, but because it evolved within us, it just seems normal to us. The more we stand and believe God for the details in our lives, the miracles that we need, the healings we pray for, our faith muscle is being stretched. As we battle in prayer for our children and grand children’s lives, God is enlarging our capacity to believe for more.

As we see His goodness to us over and over, it encourages us to believe for more. It is kind of like seeing the wedding photo years later. The longer we truly chase after Him, we are able to glance back through the years. We become aware of His reliable, trustworthy and loving character through every storm that we faced. This is only possible, though, if we stay the course. If we show up in prayer every morning and if we continue to seek His wisdom in the Word daily, we develop an immovable faith over time. Our faith muscle is enlarged. Through humility, we realize though, just how far we still have to go.

Just like our work outs create a strong and beautiful body image over time, our faith exercised creates a strong dependency and trust in God. There are no short cuts. Just like time is required to create that sexy bod, time in prayer and in the Word is the “workout” necessary for a great faith.

Why do we want great faith? To move mountains that the world says are immovable. To believe the report of the Lord for healing instead of the report of the doctor. To stand in battle and in authority in the spirit for the wayward son or daughter. To be a blessing and a light for Jesus to those who are in your circles…or perhaps the stranger that needs to see someone living in victory.

The weakling cannot lift the 100 lb. weights. But the one who works diligently every day can work up to that. We do not know what we will encounter in life. I want to be faithful as an ambassador of the Lord to be ready for the unknowns life brings. I want to be a warrior in the kingdom, making a difference with my prayers and leaving a legacy for my children and grandchildren. What spiritual goals do you have?

“It is impossible to please God without faith.” Hebrews 11:6