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Building Spiritual Muscles…and Grace and Truth Link Up

June 12, 2020 by Lauren 22 Comments

Note:  I blogged last week about the heartbreak of racism in our country.  You can read that post here.    I wanted to continue the conversation today, but since I invited two black sisters in Christ to participate with me, it’s taking longer than I would have liked to put together.  So we will hopefully get back to this devastatingly important topic next week.  But for now, I hope this is meaningful to you.  

 

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:8 NIV

 

The world is slowly beginning to open up.  At least here in Texas.  I have a high-risk child, so my family and I will not line up for restaurants and nonessential stores yet.  I am, however, starting to think about what life looks like going forward.  The future remains unknown as we watch this virus and wait with the rest of the world.  And though the pandemic brought hardships and inconveniences, I hope  some things will NOT go back to “normal”.

 

A sermon my pastor preached on 1 Timothy 4:6-10 caused me to ruminate on what physical discipline could teach me about spiritual discipline.  Take the science of muscle building.  Bear with me if you know this info already, but in my 20 years of teaching fitness I constantly come across people who don’t know how it works.  When we lift heavy weights or do exercises that challenge us, we cause microscopic tears in the associated muscles.  That sounds bad, but does a body good – even though it makes us feel sore.

 

In an effort at protection, our muscles repair themselves stronger and bigger than before the tears occurred.  We need to rest before stressing the same muscles groups again, as this rebuilding takes a couple of days.  Without time to recover, we might tear the already damaged muscle too much – creating an injury that takes much longer to heal.  This process is the ONLY way to build muscle.  You must tear it down in order to gain strength.

 

During this time of self-isolation, my spiritual disciplines have been torn down.  My Bible study and prayer time needed an overhaul, and this extra time at home helps me dig deeper and linger longer.  I thank God that He listens to our prayers – no matter how lengthy or how organized.  And He’s kind enough not to keep a ledger of our time spent in His word.  So, when the kids go back to school and I punch the time clock again, there may be days when shooting up arrow prayers and reading a devo off my phone in the school pick-up line is all I can manage to squeeze in.  But my goal is to make that the exception.  Not the rule.

 

Psalms 46:10 details the hard work and discipline of the Christian life.  “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth’”  NIV.  Stillness strains some of us more than lifting the 1,105 lbs to break the world deadlift record!  Eugene Stock said, “There is no such thing as drifting into godliness, ‘the stream of tendency’ is against us.”  MY tendency is to get busy, and fit God around the rest of my life.  But that’s no way to godliness.  We must discipline ourselves in prayer, in study and in witnessing to others of His goodness.

 

Did you catch the last part of Psalms 46:10?  God commands us to exalt Him among the nations.  We don’t see that part on coffee mugs and t-shirts.  But stillness equips us to pass on what we gain.  We are not meant to enjoy His peace and rest selfishly.

 

When we take a break from lifting weights, we get sore all over again after picking them back up.  I pray that no matter how slow or how busy my life, I will continue the discipline of quiet and stillness before Him.

 

And now for this week’s featured post!

 

Carlie Lake of From Dust Towards the Heavens hit the nail on the head with her post How to Listen Even When it Hurts.  I feel that poor listening, or the unwillingness to listen, sits at the root of many of our society’s problems.  I know simply listening to people of color won’t change the world, but it’s a good place to start.  Read this post and challenge yourself in this area in the coming week.

 

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

 

Grace & Truth : A Weekly Christian Link Up

 

Grace & Truth exists to point people to Jesus! We hope this link-up will be a source of encouragement every week. If you’re a blogger, we hope you’ll use this space as a way to meet new friends within the Christian blogging community. If you’re a reader, we hope that you’ll encounter new bloggers that love Jesus as much as you do! Most of all, we hope you’ll meet Jesus here.

Join us each Friday for the Grace and Truth Link-Up!

To receive a weekly reminder of when the link-up goes live subscribe to laurensparks.net in the right hand column of this page.

 

 

Heather Hart & Valerie Riese

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Lauren Sparks

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Filed Under: Bible reading, Christian, Grace & Truth Link Up, prayer Tagged With: being still, lifting weights, muscle building, prayer, self-isolation

Comments

  1. Linda Stoll says

    June 12, 2020 at 6:04 am

    How to Listen.

    Oh yes, if ever we needed to be in learning mode it’d be right about now.

    Thanks for sharing this post, Lauren …

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 12, 2020 at 9:45 am

      I agree, Linda.

      Reply
  2. Sharon Hazel says

    June 12, 2020 at 10:31 am

    “in quietness and trust is your strength” we are still very much in lockdown here and yes that is part of my reflection, to try and keep the ‘being still’ when life gets busier again!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 12, 2020 at 3:38 pm

      Thank you for sharing, Sharon.

      Reply
  3. Carlie says

    June 12, 2020 at 1:09 pm

    Thank you for featuring my post, Lauren! It’s a road I’m constantly on, learning how to listen better. With all the thoughts whirling in my mind, all the needs screaming out around me, all the distractions of shoulds and have to’s, I find it difficult to still my heart to truly hear from God. And that is where it all starts, doesn’t it? So, like you, I’m praying for the discipline of stillness before the LORD no matter the circumstances around me. Thanks again; I pray that others are blessed.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 12, 2020 at 3:37 pm

      It was my privilege to feature your thoughtful post. I pray it blesses others as it did me.

      Reply
  4. Julie says

    June 12, 2020 at 2:07 pm

    Places are very slowly starting to open up in my area. I can’t wait until they will have a vaccine for the virus.
    Thanks for the visit today to my blog and your comment on the marinade I made for chicken.
    Hope you have a nice weekend.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 12, 2020 at 3:36 pm

      You are welcome, Julie. Thank you for visiting me as well.

      Reply
  5. Elizabeth says

    June 12, 2020 at 2:49 pm

    Liked how you used “muscles” as your example

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 12, 2020 at 3:36 pm

      Thanks, Elizabeth! And I appreciate you reading and responding!

      Reply
  6. Christine Wood says

    June 12, 2020 at 4:49 pm

    Life is starting to open up here too, and like you, I have learned and grown in this season of isolation. There are lots of good things about being out of our comfort zone, even though it is uncomfortable! I love your analogy with exercise. I dislike exercise because I dislike pain, but I love the feeling of being healthy and strong and I can’t have one without the other. God bless

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 14, 2020 at 8:31 pm

      Thank you for reading and engaging, Christine!

      Reply
  7. Mary Geisen says

    June 12, 2020 at 7:44 pm

    Thank you for the analogy between physical discipline and spiritual discipline. It makes perfect sense. Have a good weekend.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 14, 2020 at 8:30 pm

      Thanks, Mary. Hope yours has been good as well!

      Reply
  8. Lisa notes says

    June 15, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    Oh, an overhaul is what is needed for so many things! I appreciate your vulnerability here, Lauren. I’m wondering how our churches will do an overhaul with so many people NOT returning even upon reopening. Our church has reopened in person, but from what I see online (I’m still only attending online), their social-distancing is very lax and the mask-wearing is almost non-existent. 🙁 And the new cases of covid in Alabama are higher every day than the day before, no surprise.

    Now I’m off to read Carlie’s post!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 15, 2020 at 1:42 pm

      It’s so hard to know what to do isn’t it, Lisa. And I somehow missed that you lived in Alabama! I have a special place in my heart because of best friend lives there!

      Reply
  9. Shelbee on the Edge says

    June 16, 2020 at 7:10 am

    Such a great post and message, Lauren! I think this applies to so many things in life…we need to actively practice all the things that we want to become habits. As soon as we let it fall off, we set ourselves back. It is true of our spiritual beliefs and actions, our physical well being, eating habits, listening and communication skills. Thanks for sharing and linking up. I am looking forward to your next post!

    Shelbee
    http://www.shelbeeontheedge.com

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 17, 2020 at 6:44 pm

      Thanks for the encouragement, Shelbee. It means so much to me.

      Reply
  10. Susan Shipe says

    June 17, 2020 at 12:22 pm

    Isn’t it ‘funny’ how the second part of popular verses gets left out? Ps 46.10 is one of those – glad you mentioned that!

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 17, 2020 at 6:44 pm

      Thanks, Susan!

      Reply
  11. sue says

    June 19, 2020 at 11:53 am

    No such thing as drifting into godliness nor anything worth having. Self-discipline/self-control isn’t my default. Grateful for all the faith-muscle building that God’s providing currently. Pain is gain. (: looking forward to your compilation post next week. I linked Nysle’s terrific article this week. I have so much to learn.

    Reply
    • Lauren says

      June 19, 2020 at 12:59 pm

      I do too, Sue. I do too.

      Reply

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I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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