Day Sixteen
I will never forget the summer of 2019 for as long as I live! I was out on Lake Lanier one day with my family swimming and playing in the water, and the sun began to go down. One by one the family started getting into the boat until I was the last one left in the water. I planted my hands firmly on the platform at the back of the boat and in my head imagined lifting myself effortlessly out of the water just the same way I had watched those before me do… However it did NOT translate into physical reality! I floundered in the water puffing and panting trying to lift myself out of the water using my arms. There was a time in my life when I would have had no trouble, but that was when I was using those muscles and developing them, but sadly I had neglected to keep them in good shape and the story didn’t finish the way it had played out in my head. I had to be lifted unceremoniously out of the water by many hands, and lay like a limp fish on the deck gasping for air. It was in that moment I made the decision to stop neglecting the development of my arm muscles any longer I bought some light weights, and started lifting them every night before I went to bed, slowly increasing the repetitions until I became stronger.
Our faith is just like a muscle, when we exercise it and use it, it grows stronger, when we neglect it atrophies!
Laziness and lack of attention to Faith in your life, is a faith stealer.
This passage in Matthew describes the disciples faith as bankrupt, but how did it get there? When he sent them out two by two in Luke 9 they returned and reported great miracles!
Matthew 17: 14-18
When they came to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus and knelt before Him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
“O unbelieving and perverse generation!” Jesus replied, “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
Maybe it was the fact that when Jesus was around they relied on the fact that He would take care of the miracles for them? Maybe they got used to using his faith to “lift them up” rather than use their own, and as a result their faith had atrophied. When was the last time you pushed your faith beyond the limit you have taken it before? What is the next step for you to take to believe for more than you have in the past? If I had started out with heavy weights rather than light ones, I would have injured myself. Think about an area you want to grow your faith in, start sowing more than you have before, and see the return on your investment grow.
Scripture to meditate on: Matthew 17:14-20