Exercising Your Faith
I recently heard about a young woman in our community who is expecting triplets. She was photographed working out at a local gym on a stair stepper. Not just an ordinary stair stepper but some type of monster machine. My first thought was “look at that machine”. After reading some of the posts and realizing she was expecting triplets I thought again. I was worried. Should she be exercising so strongly? Shouldn’t she be more careful – maybe not exercise at all?
I shared my thoughts with a friend and she told me that doctors told the pregnant woman to continue her routine. Since she has been exercising like this for years she will be fine. If she hadn’t done this type of exercise and just started up they would not want her to do it. In the photo you could tell she was thoroughly enjoying her strength and the benefits it brought to her for endurance as she prepares to mother three babies.
We face exercises of the faith all the time. And often we are pregnant with hope and vision for the life of that faith. We know that we want to fulfill everything God has for us. We may even have been given a view of what God has in store for us. We exercise our faith by living every day in the Word and prayer. Then a threat of some type comes along and we’re unsure what to do. Keep going? Keep working out our faith? Our friends see our situation and they want to comfort us. They might even look at us and pronounce doom over us – can she make it through this? Can he keep going on? Will they survive?
Truth is, we need to be exercising our faith to prepare for the road ahead that we can’t even see. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring but the more we prepare our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the stronger we will be to face the challenges and make it to the finish line. He has opened up a spiritual gym full of equipment that will give us muscles of strength beyond our natural abilities. We cannot rely on our own flesh to get us through or to keep us going. But we can rely on God’s Word to strengthen us, fit us and prepare us for whatever comes our way. We can’t afford to wait until the big situation hits our lives to prepare. We must make spiritual exercise a part of our daily routine.
Oh beloved, God wants you to know that He understands the trial of faith you are facing. He understands too that you just want to sit down and quit. The demands of it all are almost too much to bear. You thought you were prepared for anything, but you are in a high endurance situation with almost all your strength used up. He speaks to your heart that now is not the time to give up. This is the time, right in the hardest moment, to find your second wind from Heaven itself. God has given you everything you need to exercise your spiritual muscles not just for endurance, but for winning! You can endure the pain of this present task you are faced with and walk on to the victory circle. In heaven the photograph of your faith walk is being rejoiced over as the Lord Himself roots you on to the end of this hard spot. You are victorious, valiant, achieving, enduring, and winning!
You are victorious in God! You are full of His power and wisdom and courage. He has given you everything you need to keep the faith, stay on course and follow through to victory. God loves you and He’s for you and because of this great and precious promise you can know that the things you are facing are momentary but the finish line you are heading for is given to you by Christ Himself!
James 1:2-4 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. AMP
Psalm 62:7 On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
Romans 8:37 Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us. AMP
2 Corinthians 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
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