Spiritual Muscle Development

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted.  I hopefully will make up for big gap it in today's post. 

A good friend of mine, who lives in Missouri, sent me this wonderful post on "waiting". 

I have come to sometimes despise that word.  Waiting.  However, it is something each of us must experience and it even can be for our benefit. 

I would really encourage you to take a few minutes and read the following article my friend sent me.  It was written by a man named Paul Tripp.  It is worth the time to read, let me tell ya!   It was SO good for me to sit down and take a look at!

Please let me know what you think of it. I would love your feedback. :)

Ok, here we go...

Spiritual Muscle Development 

"So, what happens inside of you when you are asked to wait?  Is waiting, for you, a time of strengthening or weakening? Have you ever stopped to consider why God asks you to wait?  Let me point you to one of his purposes.  

-Waiting is Giving You Time-

When God asks you to wait, what happens to your spiritual muscles?  While you wait, do your spiritual muscles grow bigger and stronger or do they grow flaccid and atrophied?  Waiting for the Lord isn't about God forgetting you, forsaking you, or being unfaithful to his promises.  It's actually God giving you time to consider his glory and to grow stronger in the faith.  Remember, waiting isn't just about what you are hoping for at the end of the wait, but also about what you will become as you wait.  

Waiting always presents me with a spiritual choice-point.  Will I allow myself to question God's goodness and progressively grow weaker in faith, or will I embrace the opportunity of faith that God is giving me and build my spiritual muscles? (see Psalm 27:4) 

It's so easy to question your belief system when you are not sure what God is doing.  It's so easy to give way to doubt when you are being called to wait.  It's so easy to forsake good habits and to take up habits of unfaith that weaken the muscles of the heart.  Let me suggest some habits of unfaith that causee waiting to be a time of increasing weakness rather than of building strength.  These are the bad habits that all of us are tempted to give way to. 

Habits of Unfaith 

Giving way to doubt. There's a fine line between the struggle to wait and giving way to doubt.  When you are called to wait, you are being called to do something that wasn't part of your plan and is therefore something that you struggle to see as good.  Because you are naturally convinced that what you want is right and good, it doesn't seem loving that you are being asked to wait.  You can see how tempting it is then to begin to consider questions of God's wisdom, goodness, and love.  It is tempting, in the frustration of waiting, to actually begin to believe that you are smarter than God. 

Giving way to anger.  It's very easy to look around and begin to think that the bad guys are being blessed and the good guys are getting hammered (see Psalm 73).  There will be times when it simply doesn't seem right that you have to wait for something that seems so obviously good to you.  It will feel that you are being wronged, and when it does, it seems right to be angry.  Because of this, it's important to understand that the anger you feel in these moments is more than anger with he people or circumstances that are the visible cause for your waiting.  No, your anger is actually anger with the One who is in control of those people and those circumstances.  You are actually giving way to thinking that you have been wronged by God.  

Giving way to discouragement. This is where I begin to let my heart run away with the "If only _____," the "What if ______," and the "What will happen if _____."  I begin to give my mind to thinking about what will happen if my request isn't answered soon, or what in the world will happen if it's not answered at all.  This kind of meditation makes me feel that my life is out of control.  And I am able to think my life is out of control because I have forgotten God's wise and gracious control over every part of my existence.  Rather than my heart being filled with joy, my heart gets flooded with worry and dread.  Free mental time is spent considering my dark future, with all the resulting discouragement that will always follow.  

Giving way to envy.  When I am waiting, it's very tempting to look over the fence and wish for the life of someone who doesn't appear to have been called to wait.  It's very easy to take on a "I wish I were that guy" way of living.  You can't give way to envy without questioning God's wisdom and his love. Here is the logic: if God really loves you as much as he loves that other guy, you would have what your neighbor enjoys.  

Giving way to inactivity.  The result of giving way to all of these things is inactivity.  If God isn't as good and wise as I once thought he was, if he withholds good things from his children, and if he plays favorites then why would I continue to pursue him?  Maybe all those habits of faith aren't helping me after all; maybe I've been kidding myself.  

Sadly this is the course that many people take as they wait.  Rather than growing in faith, their motivation for spiritual exercise is destroyed by doubt, anger, discouragement, and envy, and the muscles of faith that were once robust and strong are not atrophied and weak." 

- Paul Tripp -

So, what did you think of this rather long post?! :) 

It is extremely hard to wait sometimes, but I really liked what this guy was saying...that as we wait we learn more about who God is and we grow closer and closer to Him.  So, maybe waiting is not bad at all, but a blessing!  I need to look at it more that way.  

Have a great week, friends!  Hopefully it won't be over a month next time I choose to post. 

~Grow in Grace~ 

2 Peter 3:18