FAITH is a MUSCLE

When I think about my upbringing in a strong Christian household, I realize how I’ve always had real faith modeled for me, but I just didn't allow real faith to live within me. What I mean is this: I just wasn’t exercising my faith like the muscle that it is, with the reality that it brings. And when you don’t exercise a muscle properly, the muscle slowly fatigues and then it atrophies.  But muscle also has memory.That’s right! Our faith is exactly like a muscle and the more you work it, flex it, and stretch it, the more strength and “mass” you gain.  And similar to our physical muscles, our faith muscle needs to be “tested to be trusted.”  No one goes into a gym and just loads all of the weight on the bar and begins to lift it. You have to build up to that weight through reps and sets.  And the more you “test” the weights, the more you can “trust” your increment gains for more plates.Likewise, God already knows our tendency to press when we should rest, and our desire to rest when it’s time to press; Therefore, He allows resistance and/or restriction into our lives to assist us in building up our faith muscle, knowing that both resting and pressing is part of the process.  You can’t always press when the muscle needs to rest because of some type of restriction – “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:7). And you can’t rest too long when it’s time for the muscle to press on through resistance – “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me”  (Philippians 3:12).Real faith comes out when the going gets tough, recognizing that it’s not the tough in you that needs to get going, rather it’s the trust in you that needs to get flowing – “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5) – whether through resistance or restriction.So from past muscle atrophy to present muscle memory, I have learned that it has been through the “rest and press” process that my faith is being worked out, flexed out, and stretched out. And just like the physical muscle needs protein to feed on, my faith muscle needs prayer to remain strong.