Weight Lifting

2 Chron 29:7 "Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles." And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

We all understand strength does not come automatically, or even easily. While some may be relatively more physically strong than others, it is still a matter of physical exertion which builds muscle mass, and therefore strength.

It is no different when it comes to faith. Faith cannot be strengthened without being exercised. In many ways we exercise our faith without even knowing it just by our daily activity, as we do with our muscles. Just as the walking we must do is exercising our muscles in a way we don’t necessarily recognize, simple activities indicating our relationship with God do likewise for our faith.

Attending church, for example, is an exercise of faith in a similar way to the way walking down a flight of steps exercises our leg muscles. If I’m a believer, my church attendance is an exercise of faith, as is my attendance at home fellowship or prayer meetings. I have placed my faith in Jesus Christ, and even though it may not seem a major stretch, I am indicating that faith by my ‘faithful’ attendance at church events. I am showing everyone, including myself, this is important to me.

But just as normal daily activity will not necessarily bring our muscles into the shape they need to be to accomplish very much in the physical realm, our ‘Spiritual muscles’ need to be tested as well. Sometimes this is a painful process. We are tested by God to see how ‘fit’ we really are. This test is more an indicator to ourselves than it is to God. (After all, He already KNOWS how Spiritually fit we are.) How exciting it can be for Him to prove our fitness to ourselves by the things He allows into our lives which provide the Spiritual testing which is necessary for true growth.

And so we find king Hezekiah in exactly this kind of test. How will he respond to an overwhelming Assyrian force on the verge of destroying Jerusalem? As the political leader of the people, his response will determine much about how they respond.

Hezekiah has just led a revival and reformation in the nation of Judah. With all sincerity of heart and diligence, the people have rallied around Hezekiah’s desire to drive out all forms of pagan worship and evil practices. They have re-instituted the Passover feast, and the people have rejoiced in a way they have not in over a hundred years. They have fallen in love with the LORD all over again! Would it be for naught? Would it be shallow? Here we see the depth of Hezekiah’s ‘soil’ on display for all to see and rally to! His faith in God is tested and proven – and now God will prove Himself faithful to those who place their faith in Him. He always does.

- Pastor Bill