No Thanks; I’m Good

No Thanks; I’m Good

Have you ever been hit by another test and wanted to say to God, No thanks; I’m good? I’m all tested out at the moment. Come back next week, next month, next lifetime. I know I have! It occurs to me, though, that testing is simply spiritual exercise. When I used to go to the gym (no judgement :), I’d find that doing the same exercises or routines would stop making a difference in my fitness levels. Soon enough, I realized that it was because my body wasn’t challenged anymore. The same is true with our faith.

Muscle Confusion

The key to working out and seeing results is muscle confusion. In other words, never let your body get complacent, fall into habits or routines, because it prevents growth. So, when I do work out, I need to switch it up if I want to make progress in my fitness goals. Maybe, instead of my favorite relatively flat walk by the water, I do hills. Perhaps I train a different muscle group – or the same one just a different way. That’s what I thought about today when I was confronted with another challenge before I had even stopped breathing heavy from the last one. What if this is simply muscle confusion for my faith? Maybe this is God’s way of helping me grow.

Praise God

I wrote a while back about praise being a weapon. It is. So is gratitude. Neurologically, you can’t feel fear when you are praising God or counting your blessings and being grateful for them. So in those moments when I feel my faith being tested again and the enemy is trying to whisper in my ear, I praise God. I thank Him for the flowers and the trees, the breeze and the sunshine, the warmth and words.

The words are important because there was a time when I couldn’t remember my words. There was a time when I couldn’t go for a walk by the water and feel the sun on my face. There was a time when the sunshine filtering between the trees turned my stomach because it was too much for my brain to handle.Yet, here I am. I can walk without a cane, a hat, or dark sunglasses. I can think of and do more than one thing at a time. I can even remember the string of letters and numbers that make up the password to write this down today. In fact, I can read what I’ve written and that is huge.

Strength Training

So, I’m not mad at it. The new challenges are strength training. The new tests are another reason to praise. And, when I’m tempted to think I can’t take any more struggles in my routine, I can look back and be reminded of how far I’ve come. God is faithful. He picked me up and helped me rise after each trial. Each test made me stronger. The troubles don’t go away – but God strengthens our faith so that we can handle them. God said I a bruised reed {I} will not break.  He’s not in the business of beating you down – life does that. God is in the business of building you up – you just have to let Him.