Necessary Tension

I am always surprised by the way simple experiences evoke profound response. I recently started working out, and as is customary, I was experiencing discomfort and fatigue, while at the same time enjoying the euphoria that comes with waking something up that has been asleep for far too long. As I was walking through my house last week, I could feel the muscle fibers in my legs and arms. They were responding to the exercise and effort with a loud voice. It was this beautiful, albeit somewhat painful, tension that got me thinking. I loved feeling those parts of my physical body come alive, and I was willing to continue pushing, stretching and strengthening those muscles; even if it meant feeling that pain and discomfort. We know in order to grow muscle, we must tear the individual fibers in order that they can repair and become stronger. Then it hit me. Our lives need to be lived this way. Our spirituality must be expressed this way. With beautiful, necessary tension. When we say someone is a "couch potato," we know what that means. No activity, lazy, unmotivated to exercise. But what about our faith? Are we exercising that in such a way that we are experiencing an awakening, accompanied by a Holy awareness within our spirit that creates some discomfort? James put it this way in chapter 2, verse 26:

"Anyone who doesn’t breathe is dead, and faith that doesn’t do anything is just as dead!"(Contemporary English Version)

The verse prior talks about Rahab the prostitute, who pleased God with her actions in hiding the spies. I can only imagine the TENSION she must have felt in her actions. Paul also writes in Philippians 2, verse 12b:

"So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved." (CEV)

In our spiritual life, it's not enough just to be saved! We must work at our faith, as if we are exercising the most vital muscle of all. We must continue to take steps of faith, even when there is discomfort and pain; because we KNOW we are experiencing life, and life to the full (John 10:10). Think about the guitar. If the strings are loose, it does not produce anything beautiful. Yet, if the strings are tightened with the right amount of tension, something wonderful happens. The musician continually tunes and adjusts that tension in order to achieve the best from the instrument. We are instruments to be used for God's glory, but we need to allow Him to apply a Holy tension to our heart strings, otherwise we are good for nothing. So in that ordinary experience of exercising my physical body, I now have a profound response in my spirit. I don't want to be a couch potato Christian who does nothing to exercise my muscle of faith. I want to experience the necessary and beautiful tension that can only come from a life wholly devoted to following Christ.