Today, I noticed that the balls of my feet were hurting as I ran. They were just forming more calluses or something. Probably due to the small protection my shoes have to offer. But it does make ya think how cool it is how resilient God made our bodies.
Our feet can just take a beating day after day and rather than us perishing, they actually get stronger! They build bigger more protective calluses, the bones grow stronger, the muscles grow bigger. It is so interesting God designed our bodies this way because this is how he wants our spirits to be too.
He pressure tests us because perseverance causes us to grow stronger in our faith.
When we go through trials and struggles, our faith gets stronger.
Does it hurt? Yes. Just like my feet today, it can be painful, or maybe just uncomfortable. But in the end, we grow stronger, and that’s what matters.
The other really important point here is that before quarantine I was running a lot more. I was training for a marathon. I was running 15 to 20 miles! Now that I have taken a break, my feet have gotten back used to a lazier lifestyle. Because of this, they have to work harder to get to where they were.
I think this also parallels with our walk with God. The difference here is God never changes, never leaves or forsakes us, and that is an important truth to remember is what I’m about to say. But I do think we can grow through phases of strong growth and phases of laziness.
Phases where we may not have strong spiritual disciplines and can even take steps away from God (keeping in mind he is still right there). Often times when I’ve done this, I have to come back to some of the basic truths of God. Truths that we should always remember and constantly go back to. We have to retrain to get back to the level we were at.
I think that it is so cool God loves us so much he gives us dozens and dozens of different analogies to who he is.
He knows our brains and knows our brokenness. He knows we need some physical, tangible things to start to recognize and appreciate who he is. After all,
God’s invisible attributes, that is his divine nature and eternal power are seen through what he’s made. Being understood since the creation of time. As a result, we are without excuse.
We have no excuse for not recognizing God, and yet he continues to bless us with different realizations of his power and sovereignty. He truly is a good good father.
So, yes, my feet hurt today, but through that hurt, I can go to God. I can remember that everything we go through makes us stronger. And maybe when I’m going through something truly terrible, I can look back and remember.
A lot of God’s goodness that we recognize comes through remembrance. This is interesting because while we should remember the past, we shouldn’t live or dwell in it. There is a healthy balance. A balance that shows and honors God. To give him glory by remembering that he is always in control. And that my feet hurting today was temporary and not even that painful. And that is true of all suffering. It is temporary and not even worth comparing to the glories that are going to be revealed to us.
