Strength Training

​“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening — it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.” Hebrews 12:11-13 (NLT).
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Two guys go to the gym. One does the least amount possible and just survives the experience. The other person sees the gym as an opportunity and trains. Both people spent time in the gym, but only one was trained. As you look at your opportunities to receiving training in endurance, stamina and character, are you participating or just present? Every believer is a child of God and each has a training regimen that is designed to grow his character and produce Christlikeness. The outcome of the training depends on how you engage with the training. Attitude and participation empower training.

Verse twelve basically says, “Stop complaining, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Straighten your back. Flex your spiritual muscles and give your full attention to your training. “It’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living.” Your mental attitude in training is a predictor on how effective the training program will be. In your soul, strengthen your resolve and engage the training.

As you look forward, make decisions about your attitude and your actions. Be hopeful and expect growth. Verse thirteen says to clear a path ahead of you, so that you won’t fall and hurt yourself. This means that you must plan your way through this discipline or trial. Shine the light of God’s counsel onto your path forward: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105 (NKJV). Find God’s promises about His faithfulness and strength. Shine those promises onto the landscape of discipline. Adjust your perspective so that you are walking in the joy of His presence and in the strength of His resilience. You CAN do all things through Christ who gives you strength!

No discipline is enjoyable but it can produce a peaceful harvest of righteousness. Look through the pain into the loving face of your Father, as He encourages you to respond with a growth mindset. Exercise your spiritual muscles by responding in faith, hope, and expectation for victory. Decide that the battle is worth it. Decide to grow your character through your response to this difficulty. Become more like Christ and produce a harvest of right living, as you choose each day to live in His peace.

Say this out loud, “I will stop complaining and feeling sorry for myself. I will engage this training opportunity and grow in maturity. I will choose to see God’s love and provision. I will read His Word. His truth is my reality. I am not a victim. I am an overcomer!”

Think about your typical reaction to adversity. Is there an adjustment that you need to make to your response? Consider your current spiritual condition. Are you in a stubborn sin? Could God be targeting some of your spiritual weaknesses and asking you to exercise them? It doesn’t matter why you’re in a trial. What matters is whether you are training and improving in your character.

Prayer: “Dear Heavenly Father, It is very to traverse these trials. Please give me the perspective of hope for becoming more like Jesus in my core personality. Please give me spiritual stamina to handle the adversity and pain. Please give me healing, hope, and wholeness and restore to me the joy of my salvation. In Jesus’s name amen.”