There’s a movement gaining popularity within the Christian community that sounds more enticing than a 40-ounce Slurpee on a hot summer day after a grueling squat workout. It is a movement based largely on the idea that there is tremendous power in faith. Enough power in fact, that this faith provides us the ability to obtain health, wealth and seemingly endless amounts of personal success.
Sure these blessing come from God, as one preacher says, “You are a son or daughter of God! That means you have champion blood running through your veins. God wants to bless you, but you just need to have enough faith! Don’t you know that God wants you to be happy?”
Wow, this line of thinking sounds too good to be true…until I drop this notion into the cold, stark realities of the real world, or my own life, or the Bible…I realize the disparity. I realize the TENSION. Tension because this line of thinking is no more than a well-dressed, enticing lie.
I’m literally surrounded by friends and acquaintances who are suffering in some form or another – financially, physically and/or relationally. Is this simply because they don’t have that “faith mojo” the prosperity preachers are heralding? On the surface faith is most definitely a good thing and it is powerful, but the twist and subsequent lie comes when we believe that faith is used to get something other than God.
What I’ve learned in studying scripture is that God cares far more about our holiness than our happiness. He cares deeply about our heart, is concerned about our sanctification, but not so much about our bling. Furthermore, apart from John, pretty much all the Apostles lived difficult lives and died brutal deaths…just like Jesus.
Look at Paul. He wrote several books of the Bible and exhibited incredible faith, yet was given a “thorn” to torment him and keep him from boasting. He says he pleaded with God three times to remove it, but God refused. What in your life is tormenting you and causing tension? What is your reaction to this tension?
When a muscle is placed under tension with a load and then stretched or elongated the muscle experiences significant trauma. While it is weakened and damaged for a period of time, this trauma likewise elicits a cascade of hormonal responses. These hormones are utilized by the body to not only repair the wounded muscle, but to rebuild it stronger than before the stress was first introduced.
God uses the same principle in dealing with those He loves. He knows that tension, suffering and trials can grow us in our faith, draw us closer to Him and make us more effective in advancing His kingdom. The Bible teaches that we should consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because the testing of our faith develops perseverance. God saw fit that the author of our salvation [Jesus] be made perfect through suffering. I most certainly do not consider Jesus a weak man of little faith, yet he suffered greatly.
The absolute irony in Jesus appearing weak, helpless and abandoned on that Roman cross is that in this ultimate trial, excruciating suffering and tension – His true power is displayed in bringing many sons and daughters to salvation. Unless your tension is a byproduct of your own sin, do not consider yourself lacking in “champion blood” simply because you’re experiencing a season of suffering. Perhaps God is laying the foundation within your faith to build bigger things later on.
The reason our world is so jacked up is because of sin; the author of which is Satan. Trails, temptations and tension come from Satan, but only at the granting of God. Not to diminish His majesty, but think of God as your divine personal trainer authorizing trials and tension as tools to your personal growth. You may not know what kind of training program He will use when you walk into the gym, but His desire is for you to thrive and change.
Similar to improving our physiques we cannot implement the same training method indefinitely and expect continuous results. From personal experience I see the best progress when my training is in flux. Reps, loading parameters, exercises, training tempo and volume tend to change every couple of months to keep my body challenged. Provoking our bodies is the only way to realize progress because stagnating in any single training protocol leads to apathy and ineffectiveness.
The Biblical reality is the same as the real world reality – we all face tensions, trials and suffering to varying degrees at various times. Suffering has little to do with a lack of faith and more to do with God’s desire to grow us. Our faith is not used to get things from God, but it is used to get more of the only thing that truly satisfies – Jesus. Don’t fall for the prosperity lie. And- don’t see tension as a bad thing (even though it is difficult) because it means the one whose love is beyond all measure and human understanding is completing a good work in you.
