THE OBSTACLE COURSE OF FAITH

by | May 26, 2023 | Prophetic | 3 comments

The Navy SEALS obstacle course is one of the most challenging tests of human endurance in the world. The first thing to go is a participant’s grip strength. Climbing walls, shimmying up multiple ropes, and traversing walls pump so much blood and lactic acid into a person’s forearms that if they are unprepared, they will not be able to hold on and complete the course.

As I watched an overly confident civilian jock tell the SEAL instructors, he would best their time, he failed to do so. His course time was three times as long as the best times of the instructors. By the end of the course, his grip strength had been greatly diminished. 

Scripture repeats the admonition for us to hold on to what is true. Here are just a few examples, some with a warning for us to not let go, but hold on to what is true. It’s a sobering list.

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples” (John 8: 31).

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (Hebrews 10:23).

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown” (Revelations 3:11).

“Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good” (Romans 12:9).

“By this gospel, you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain” (1 Corinthians 15: 2).

Life is a spiritual and emotional obstacle course. We must develop the grip strength of our faith through the repetition of training or we will become like the ripped six-pack gut gym dweller who thought he could move through the SEAL obstacle course with the false assurance exhibited by the “no sweat” attitude of his delusion. Faith is not about what we bring to the course of self-confidence. Faith means we continue to hold on to things not yet seen in this realm.

The word “hold” as defined by Thayer’s Greek lexicon means “to hold fast, to not discard or let go; to keep carefully and faithfully.” When Jesus spoke those words to the church in Philadelphia, He was speaking specifically to them in their context, but it’s also a warning for those of us who would live somewhere in the future where it would become stylish to deconstruct our faith to such a degree that we have nothing left to hold onto of eternal value.

The kind of faith needed in this hour is the ability to maintain a strong grip on what has been true for the last 2,000 years. No new pop version of religion, no talk show host guest, or an “anything goes” kind of faith will provide a grip-worthy purchase. To hold on to what is true requires a grip strength that only comes from repeated training and exercise, especially when great opposition to the truth is afoot.

3 Comments

  1. John Anderson

    Training, repetition, exercise – – the Lord knows exactly the sequence of repeated tests needed to build strength and endurance for our assignment.

    He also knows what is the spiritual equivalent of CLA – a dietary supplement that blocks or diminishes lactic acid buildup…..permitting greater endurance and retained muscle strength.

    Thanks for the greatly insightful metaphors, Garris! Glad you are on OUR side in this battle.

    Reply
  2. Anna McIver

    FAITH IS…

    Reply
  3. Kevin Shearer

    May His Peace settle on all believers. Amen

    Reply

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