This week James came to speak to us about the topic of growth. This came out of our Vision Sunday which was all about enlargement in our relationships with God, enlargement in our church unity, and enlargement of the church as we see more people saved into the Kingdom of God.
We looked at how we need to be established and fed in the local church, putting down roots that spread wider and stronger, allowing us to produce even greater fruit.
We also looked at how we need to be more like thermostats than thermometers. We need to be people who create positive atmospheres with people rather than mirroring negative atmospheres they might have created in a room.
As Christians, we are connected to the vine that is Jesus Christ, and all aspects of our growth come out of that connection.
We also saw what prevents us from growing: pride, agenda, and self-esteem.
2Dear brothers and sisters,a when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
(James 1:2-4)
When Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the gym, he used to smile. Whenever anybody asked him why, he would reply that people are too miserable in the gym and that with every rep that he makes, he was getting closer to his goals.
In physical fitness, there is something called DOMS.
Delayed
Offset of
Muscle
Soreness
Torn muscles cause pain over a 48 hour period after a workout. New muscle fibres then grow over the old ones and provide bigger muscles. When you exercise, knowing that you’re becoming fitter, you can consider it a source of joy, even though it’s painful at the time.
The difficulty is powering through the negative emotions from the brain and the temptation to stay in bed instead of getting up and going to the gym or going out for a run.
Just like the opportunity to go for a workout, we should see opportunities in life to test our faith as pure joy.
What tests your faith? Your finances? Mental health issues? Temptation to sin? You might hit a fork in the road where you feel like you can either give up and give in, or push through to victory.
Don’t feel bad if you feel as though you aren’t making much progress, because even a little bit of progress is still progress.
Ultimately, it’s as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, that there are no temptations that we experience that others haven’t been through or aren’t going through. God always provides the way to escape sin and push through to victory, it depends upon whether we want to overcome and power through to the way out.
Looking at the bigger picture, if you experience spiritual DOMS, the trials will be painful, your growth will seem small and painful, but over the long-term, it will be large and fruitful and so worth it!