I asked my 84-year-old aunt what was one of her secrets to living a long life, and she said she prays about everything. I was reminded of 1Thessalonians 5:17 which says, “Pray without ceasing.” My aunt said that she can remember becoming stressed out about many things in the past, but that was not good for her. I was also reminded of Philippians 4:6 that instructs us to be anxious for nothing, but through all things with prayer and supplication, let our requests be made known to God.” The conversation with my aunt reminded me of all of the times when I was a child exercising with my grandmother.
My grandmother would do several exercises on her den floor in front of the television. Being a little kid, I would attempt to copy my grandmother’s stretches and movements. Often times, I would quit in the first 5 minutes of the workout because I thought it was too hard. Now that I am almost 30 years old, I know that pushing past the pain will make me stronger.
The lesson in exercise is the same when we are beginning our walk with God. In the beginning, we may not understand why we are going through tests and trials, and it may be tempting to give up. If we do not have faith, we might quit because of the pain and/or hurt we experience. However, as our relationship with God grows, we can do as my grandmother did and continue to exercise our faith through the pain. We can pray about everything just as my aunt, even if we do not see results immediately. In the end, we will find that we will have burned away our doubt and built our muscle of faith.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. Hebrews 11:1
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