“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
I don’t get overly excited about going to the gym or working out with weights, but I’m always glad when I do. Not only do I feel better emotionally, but I know that working out benefits my body and makes it stronger. What’s the old saying—“if you don’t use it, you lose it”? For me, going to the gym is definitely not a feeling, it’s an intentional decision.
What I’ve found out is exercising our bodies and exercising our faith have the same basic functions, and when practiced, both produce visible results.
When we exercise our bodies, we encounter resistance and that’s what makes us strong. It’s called strength resistance or resistance training which helps increase our ability to overcome resistance.
When we workout our faith we also encounter resistance. Resistance is what makes our faith in God grow—like a muscle, it needs to be exercised. Resistance in our life is specifically designed to strengthen our relationship with God.
How do we workout our faith?
Faith is naturally resistant to human conditions and circumstances. Our emotions tend to take the driver’s seat and steer us in the opposite direction of faith, causing us to focus on anything but God. When we workout our faith, we must believe more in what we don’t see than what we do see in the natural, and be confident that everything will work out according to God’s plan… and God has a good plan for each of us.
Faith factors in the ability of God.
Look at God’s unlimited ability and don’t focus on your limited inability. In other words, be God-reliant, not self-reliant. We can depend on God and His love and ability. If you are interested in learning more about being God-reliant and not self-reliant, check out our blog “How to Be God-Reliant Instead of Self-Reliant.”
Faith is not something that works automatically.
We must intentionally exercise our faith in God, just like we must intentionally exercise our bodies. Think of a situation in your life that you need God to act on your behalf and purpose in your heart to trust the faithfulness of God. Leave the results to Him. Leave the provision up to Him. Leave the problem-solving up to Him.
Remember, resistance training helps increase our ability to overcome adverse circumstances. Where do you need to workout your faith in God to overcome the difficult place you stand in today? If it’s a difficult situation for which you’d like prayer, we’d love to pray for you.
