Faith is a muscle that also needs to be worked out. If you plan to go to the gym for an hour, to tone up your body, strengthen your muscles, and get in shape, you should do the same for your Faith. Your Faith must also be worked out.
James tells us in James 2 that “Faith without works is dead.” Think of faith as a muscle. If you never go or stop going to the gym, with time, you will begin to lose your strength and that weight you were once able to lift, you can no longer lift. That great muscle endurance you had, that gave you the ability to push pass a little fatigue, is no longer there. That’s what happens to your faith if you never step out on faith. If you don’t use it, you lose it. If you never use your faith, then your problems, situations, financial troubles, health issues, addictions, and everything else will become bigger than God. The same God who created the Heavens and the earth, made the sun and the moon, gave animals food to eat, created all human beings, and did it all in just six days is the same God that you believe cannot fix your attitude. He is the same God who created your mind and gave you the ability to think and reason, but you don’t think can change your way of thinking. It is not that God is not capable or that His power is not real, it’s that you failed to exercise your faith and now you base God’s power and capabilities on your own abilities. When we fail to put our faith in God, it shows us who or what we have our faith in.
With that way of thinking and putting our faith in “things” or even ourselves, we begin to shrink God in our minds and put other things before Him. God’s moves when we act on faith so let’s act on faith. Lets exercise our faith like Abraham did in Genesis 22, when God told Abraham to take his son Isaac to the mountain top and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. Abraham acted on faith that God would provide a sacrifice in place of his son that he loved so deeply (Genesis 22:8). Abraham did not put anything over God or allow his thoughts to take dominion over what God told him to do. Abraham could’ve made many excuses including that Isaac was the son that God gave him, so if God gave it to him, then why would He tell him to sacrifice him? Instead, Abraham had faith that “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering (Genesis 22:8).” Lets exercise our faith like Peter did when he walked on water at the Lake of Galilee. Peter said, “Lord, if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water (Matthew 14:28). They were in the middle of a storm yet Peter acted on faith once Jesus said told him to come. Peter could’ve convinced himself that there was no way that he could walk on the water, that Jesus really was a ghost, but instead he acted on faith and acted on Jesus’ word and got out the boat and began walking on water. Although Peter fell into the water once he took his focus off Jesus and began to focus on his surroundings, Peter did not fail. While everyone else stayed in the boat, Peter was the only one who acted on his faith.
So just as we build up our muscles in the gym, lets build up our faith in the word. Just as we have faith that struggling with heavy weights will produce results, lets have faith that in the places where we are struggling, God is the way maker. Lets build up our faith so when troubles come, God is the first one we go to and not the last option. Lets work out our faith so that when we find ourselves in a time where we need to act on faith, it comes easy for us. When we finally get past that milestone in the gym that we set, lifting that weight next time and next time becomes easier and easier. It’s still the same weight, it’s still just as heavy as the day before, but we have built our strength up to the point where that weight is no longer an issue. Doubt no longer lingers and we don’t even think twice about the weight because if we conquered it once, we can conquer it again. Same with our faith. When our faith gets tested, lets get to the point where we have built up our faith so much, our faith is so strong, we aren’t bothered by what our situation looks like because we know that with God nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). Lets get to the point where we don’t allow ourselves to trust ourselves more than we trust God; more than we trust His word. Having financial issues, with God nothing is impossible. Marriage issues? With God, NOTHING is impossible. Struggling with an addiction? WITH GOD, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. Once you get that down into your spirit and you put your faith wholeheartedly on God and His word, then no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17).
Not everything comes easy especially when it something that our flesh naturally wants to go against. Building our faith, just like building our muscles, will require us to put in work. Our faith is the most important muscle that we need to build so lets not forget to build up our faith.