Heavy Lifting

He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

Isaiah 40:29 (NLT)

In my teenage years, I used to work out quite a bit. The varsity program at the high school I attended had two-a-day practices – as in we had practice early in the morning and then again after school. In addition to these practices, we were encouraged to work out on our own. This included weight training to bulk up. So, I asked for and received a weight set, including bench, for my 14^th birthday. And, so it was, I began hitting the weights.

For the first few days following these workouts, I was pretty sore. But, as time went on, my body adjusted and I found that the soreness eventually stopped, even when I began increasing the amount of weight that I was lifting. Of course, my brother took notice of my new routine and began making fun of me for not lifting enough weight. So, on his dare, I added double the amount of weight that I normally bench pressed. That was a bad idea. I lifted the bar off of the rack, I was able to bring the bar down to my chest. Small problem. I couldn’t lift it back up. I struggled and grunted, and the bar became heavier and heavier as my arms grew weary. I was able to call for help, and my brother came running in. To his credit, he didn’t laugh (immediately anyway). He grabbed the bar and helped me lift it back onto the rack. I was embarrassed and, the next day, very sore.

In our spiritual journey, we often times run into issues that require immense strength. No, it may not be literal strength, like lifting a car off of a person. But, it may be the strength to persevere (get through) a situation. It may be strength to pray for someone we don’t want to pray for. It may be strength to erase the doubts that Satan plants in our mind. It may be strength to push through the temptations that Satan’s minions ambush us with on a regular basis. Whatever it may be, our faith requires some heavy lifting – and we are unable to lift these burdens. Why? Because they are God-sized burdens. The weight is too much for us to lift. We need His mighty muscles.

Here’s the issue. Sometimes we try to lift the bar all on our own, and it begins to crush down on us. We must realize that we are spiritually weak compared to Christ. We must realize we need His help. We must call out to Him for assistance. Let Him do the heavy lifting.