There is a medical condition that occurs when you don’t exercise your muscles for a time, it is called atrophy. Several years ago, I had to go through a knee surgery to try and correct where my knee cap would continue to dislocate itself. As the orthopedic surgeon talked about surgery, I noticed he was talking about it being something in the future. As the person who was in a decent amount of pain, not only did I not understand, but I wasn’t happy hearing him talk about it not happening right then. He ordered me to have three months of physical therapy before the surgery. I didn’t want to hear his reasoning for it at the time, because I was in pain 75% of the day, every day. However, after the surgery was over I finally understood what he was talking about and trying to do. The goal of therapy was to build the upper and lower leg muscles around the knee. He wanted to get them as strong as possible so that they could compensate for the weakness is the knee immediately following the surgery. He promised me that my recovery time would be cut nearly in half if we followed this course of action. Again, when he first talked about it I was less than thrilled. However, in the days and weeks following the surgery, I was very grateful. My recovery was cut by more than half, because the muscles around my knee had been strengthened. The truth is, our muscles are either growing or they are shrinking. As long as we are using our muscles, they are ready to respond. However, when we go a period of time not using them, they lose definition and the ability to respond immediately when they are needed. Our faith is the same way. In the middle chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus talks about our faith, except He talks about it from the negative viewpoint. Jesus talks about it in terms of worry. Matthew 6:27 says, “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
We all know that we shouldn’t worry. We tell others not to worry. However, we often find ourselves worrying about things. Worry causes atrophy of our faith. When we worry, it shows a lack of faith and trust in God. It also shows that we are depending on ourselves to try and figure things out. Jesus is talking about worrying in the sense of worrying over every day concerns and needs. He specifically uses the examples of food, shelter, and clothing. Jesus reminds us of some powerful truths about Himself in the passage. First, He reminds us that He is all-powerful. He says the birds don’t plant their food, but they have food. The grass doesn’t grow itself or the flowers bloom themselves, but those things happen. He is saying that God is the One who is doing all these things. Second, Jesus says that He is all-knowing. He says twice in Matthew 6 that God knows what we need. Finally, Jesus reminds us that He is faithful to His promises. He says that not only does God know what we need, but He provides for our needs just as He promised He would. One of the two is growing and the other is atrophying in you right now. Either you are trusting God and your faith is growing, or you are worrying about things and your faith is shrinking. I want to say that worry is part of our fallen, sinful condition. We are all prone to it. The question is, how can we shrink our worry while growing in our faith?
- Pray more. Jesus invites us to come into His presence boldly, to seek His grace and mercy in our time of need according to Hebrews 4:16. God delights in hearing from His children and answering our prayers is a way that God is glorified. I heard a pastor say one time, “what we worry about is what we trust ourselves to handle, but what we pray about is what we trust God to handle.” Who are you trusting to handle things right now? Don’t just pray, but write the requests down. But don’t stop there, make sure to record God’s answer to your prayer.
- Read the Bible and remember God’s character. One of the greatest things you can do when you find yourself worrying is go open your Bible. Read stories about how God delivered His children from difficulty, or stories of how God was with His people through the trials of life.
- Journal your Bible reading and re-read them. One of the greatest things God has taught me is to write through my Bible reading. This blog is one of the ways that I do that. When I find myself in a tough spot, I grab my journal and read how God is demonstrated His faithfulness to me in the past. Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past gives me strength in the present, because I know that God never changes. Therefore, if He was faithful in the past, I know He will be faithful in the present.
We are still going to find ourselves worrying about things from time to time. However, we have weapons to fight that worry. We have ways we can exercise our faith so that our worry will atrophy. How can you do a spiritual workout today?
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin