I have fallen out of the habit of doing my daily pushups. I’m trying to start working them back into my exercise routine more consistently. As I began to do them one day recently I noticed that they seemed harder than I remember. After about five I was already questioning my decision to do them again.
I weigh less than I have my entire adult life. These should be easier if I weigh less, right? Then it struck me that it’s not my weight causing the issue but my out-of-practice bicep and tricep muscles. I’ve not been using them consistently like I had been and it’s becoming noticeable. Maybe we can’t tell right away from looking (or maybe we can) that my arms haven’t been engaged in pushups but I sure noticed when I needed to use them again.
I wonder just how many places in my life I’ve let the muscles deteriorate? It’s no secret that the way to make a muscle stronger is to use it. The same is true for pretty much all of life. If there’s an area that we’ve been neglecting it’s going to get weaker.
If we don’t exercise, we’re going to be out of shape. You ever notice that if you haven’t driven in a few days it feels kind of strange when you get back behind the wheel? If we check out and don’t spend time working on our important relationships, we’re going to notice that they start to wither. If you used to have a skill and don’t regularly do it or practice it, guess what happens? Of course we all know that we lose some sharpness.
That doesn’t mean that we’ve lost the skill altogether or that we can’t get back to levels that we once were. However, there’s no question that if we don’t use it, we are going to lose some degree of ability. My bicep muscles are still there they just aren’t as toned and strong as they were when I did daily pushups.
Our spiritual life works the same. If we don’t attend church, pray, read the Bible or spend time with God regularly our spiritual life will deteriorate, too. Why does this matter? Because it’s what our Creator told us to do. It’s how we are designed to function. Much like with my biceps, if I have not been doing one or all of those things as much as I should then dealing with the junk that Satan throws at me can get heavier quickly. I become out of shape in those areas.
All those things are pretty obvious, especially if we’ve been to Sunday School once or twice. You know what sounds obvious but is actually a little more tricky? Faith. How’s your faith in God right about now? Hard times sure put our faith to the test. Just like our muscles, we can tell if our faith has been exercised regularly. Really exercised, not just given lip service. I mean like the difference between reading the words and reading to understand.
In our current world it seems like everyone’s faith is being put to the test at the same time. We should expect our faith to be tested. James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Maybe we’re wondering where God is in the middle of this chaos. Meanwhile fear seems so easy to spot. It shows up in news stories, conspiracy theories, models of what could happen, loneliness, job loss, unanswered phone calls, anger, insults and hoarding to name a few. If your faith isn’t strong, fear is going to get you. Ephesians 6 describes the armor of God. It says faith is the shield with which you can extinguish ALL flaming arrows of the evil one. It is our protection.
Have you been exercising your faith muscles? You know when you’ve just been going through the motions compared to when you’ve been doing the heavy, consistent lifting that builds. Friends I pray that you are strengthening your faith in these days instead of succumbing to fear. Let’s use this as an opportunity to see where the work is needed before it’s too late. Simply put, it’s hard for us to hold up when life gets real heavy if we’ve let our faith muscles get weak.
I’m reminded of one of my favorite versus, Isaiah 40:31, which says, “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” When we earnestly put our faith in God and do the work that He asks us to do, then we hold up under difficult circumstances.
If you’ve got areas of your life that aren’t holding up, chances are you’ve not been working those muscles enough. If fear is getting the best of you, check your faith. Faith is a rock solid investment. Our bodies are all going to give out one day, but faith remains. Don’t let yours go weak. And if it has, now’s the time to make it a priority again.
