October 3, 2015

“Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.” 1 Chronicles 29:10-13

“Recently, I looked up the word sinker in the Webster’s dictionary. It is a weight used for sinking a fishing line or seine. Next, I looked up weight. Weight is heaviness, mass, burden, load. I believe God is telling us, if we will learn to run with the weight that is intended to sink us, it will be astounding to see how fast we can run when the load is lifted. You see, the weights in life that are meant to bring us down can, in fact, build us up. Athletes know this. They use weight to build muscle. Likewise, with the help of the Lord, weights in life such as a loved one passing, sickness, financial trouble, marriage problems, false accusations, job loss, etc. can actually strengthen us.” (Run with Weights On, By Sue Bohnert The Christian Broadcasting Network)

“…it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.” Before I entered high school I considered myself to be average at athletics, but not a physically strong person. Then, in eighth grade I decided to play football. The summer before ninth grade all of us who were going to try out for football needed to be involved in a strength training program. We lifted weights every day, twice a day. Over the next year, I found that I became physically stronger, and also found that other physical challenges became much easier for me to perform. I could climb the rope in gym class faster and easier than many of my classmates. Other activities we did in gym class also became easier for me to do.

As a pastor, I often pray for the Holy Spirit to give strength to my members who are in the hospital or having other difficulties. Strength comes in many forms — we can lift weights, we can work in a warehouse that requires a lot of lifting — these help us build physical strength by exercising our physical muscles. But in the realm of faith, strength comes from exercising our faith muscles through our experiences. We find strength in how we endure our life experiences, and we find strength in how we experience G*d’s presence with us, sustaining us, and showing us G*d’s love as we travel difficult roads.

You may not feel like a weight lifter, but every day you are building muscles. As you travel the roads of life, when you allow your faith and your relationship with Jesus to lead and guide you, you will be exercising your faith muscles.

Pastor Dave