Workout Your Faith

When I was a teenager I used to lift weights. I guess you could say I was REALLY into it. I spent the better part of six straight years working out 4-5 times a week. Needless to say I got pretty strong—lifting well over 200% of my body weight. It took some effort to achieve that level and a lot of dedication and discipline to overcome the obstacles. In the end I was able to easily handle weight that initially would have crushed me.

Acquiring strong faith is very different from acquiring physical strength. If it were not true, then there would be chances to prepare for various tribulations through some kind of endurance/faith training. In that scenario I could go into the “faith gym” and work my “faith muscles” long before I had to use them in real life. The problem is living in strong faith can only be accomplished through one way: by living in faith in real life. You cannot exercise faith without the presence of hardships—and by then, it’s too late to backpedal. That’s the gist of it.

Yesterday I became aware of some bad news just moments before the news was announced. In my heart I just knew the bad news was coming and in that instant I began to argue with God—complaining that he was not fulfilling his end of the bargain. I made my case that I was too weary to deal with what was about to happen. Suddenly, God confronted me with a simple, “What will you choose to do with this news, Glen?” Fortunately, at that moment, I chose to exercise faith and maintain hope. Sure enough, the bad news came and, even though it was hard to swallow, I learned something about faith: faith CAN become easier with time and exercise. Don’t get me wrong; this is not to say that life can become a total cakewalk, but only to say that there is the potential to overcome certain setbacks that once held the power to destroy me.

Following the Lord is the most difficult course a human can attempt to embark on. First, you must leave all presuppositions at the starting gate—God can, and will, change your expectations of him on the journey. Along the way you’ll find no secret formulas, undisclosed passwords, or hidden doorways, which circumnavigate the extreme difficulty in learning to live by faith. It is a moment-by-moment undertaking and you must implement faith in the moment. But don’t forget; the prizes along the journey are peace of mind and, eventually, contentedness of heart. What could be better than that?