At a concrete round table on a sunny day, over looking a vast lake in Nicaragua, I find myself sitting across from our Squads mentor Ben, or “wise Ben” as some call him. Talking over coffee, my teammate next to me voiced a question on his frustration as to “Why doesn’t God show up more often?” The reply from Ben turned into an analogy I will never forget.
He stated just like our physical muscles get stronger and grow through activity, our spiritual muscles need the same type of exercise. However, if you use a machine wrong you won’t get the results you aim to see. Through practice on the machine day after day you get more used to the movement and how to use it right to get the results you want to see. To get big muscles you have to show up, be intentional, eat well, take rest days and then eventually add weight. Our spiritual muscles work the same way; we have to show up in order to be used by God, we have to intentionally spend time with Him to gain more guidance, we have to surround our selves with other Christ followers who will pour into us and feed us wisdom, we have to have rest days like the Sabbath, and then after all of this we have to press in and push harder, fight through the pain of growth, fight through discouragement, doubt, work harder and think bigger to stretch outside of our comforts and boxes to God sized dreams. God sized muscles.
After working at a gym for almost a year I have seen frustration on peoples faces when they are not getting the results they are hoping to, or not as fast as they would like. People can go to the gym and fumble around for months trying to figure out how to work the machines on their own, only to get frustrated and end up walking mile after mile on the treadmill feeling like they’re moving forward when really they’re just walking repeatedly in the same spot. Their other choice is to go to the gym and pair up with a really good trainer and the best trainer I can ever think of for spiritual growth is Jesus. Only Jesus will stick with you, push you, encourage you, nourish you and guide you. He will be your spotter to keep you on track, catch you before you fall and help you back up. He will celebrate with you every step of the way. He will never give you more than you can take and will help carry the weight if it gets too much.
When struggling with “why doesn’t God show up more often?” remember that results don’t happen over night and the process of exercising our spiritual muscles is a gradual one. Just like a six pack doesn’t happen over night, neither do our core spiritual muscles. Don’t get frustrated in the process but always be expectant for the results.
