Building Trust Muscles

Recently, all of the workout ads on my social media feed talk about the importance of strength training and building muscle over cardio workouts. This got me thinking about whether or not I could build trust muscles – muscles that would prompt me to trust the Lord in all situations. Not only do I think it is possible, I think it is imperative that we do it so that when we are hit with something hard, our hearts are ready to turn to the Lord first, instinctively. 

Our son was so good at this. I will never forget the day I picked up him and his sister from school and shared with them that some of our friends were going through some difficulties. At that moment, we were still trying to figure out how to help them, and I told our children that we would need to be super flexible that evening as we sorted it all out. We might be picking up their children, we might be taking them dinner. We just didn’t know what they needed yet and were still trying to figure it all out. I will never forget my son looking at me and saying, “Mom, have you prayed about it yet?” He had trust muscles. God was his go-to, not his last resort. 

I am so fascinated by the way that the body works. I have been doing a lot of reading about the brain lately and the importance of how we use it and what we tell it. Did you know that our minds control both our brains and our bodies? Our bodies can do so much more than we think it can do. It’s our mind that gives up first. So, if our mind gives up, our body gives up. Navy Seals will tell you that when you think you are ready to physically give up, you have only given 40%. That means you still have 60% to give. If our minds determine what our body can do, imagine how it can also strengthen our trust muscles . 

I have no scientific proof of this; however, I believe that we can build trust muscles. Have you heard of muscle memory or motor memory? It’s where the body’s muscles remember and can quickly gain back the amount of muscle they had before or can quickly remember how to effectively throw a ball or ride a bike. It’s our body’s ability to remember. (I know just enough about this to be dangerous.)

I believe that our hearts can build up trust muscles so that we naturally trust the Lord even when it’s hard. This trust is based in truth, based on what we know about the Lord to be true and based on what He has done for us in the past. It isn’t fake. It isn’t forced. It’s the result of us choosing what we know to be true. God is faithful and sovereign. He loves us more than we can fathom. Our eternal salvation is His priority.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

How do we build trust muscles? We have to know God, not just know of God which means that we have to be in His word every day. We also need reminders of how He has been faithful to us. Remember after the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, they set up the 12 stones as a reminder of the Lord’s faithfulness. We have to do the same. These reminders strengthen our trust muscles.

Every time we reach out to the Lord, we are building that trust muscle. Every time we see Him work, that trust muscle grows. Every time we remember what He has done for us, that trust muscle becomes stronger. Does He answer every prayer the way that we ask? No. He is not a genie. He is the Lord Almighty, our Creator, sovereign over the entire world. We can trust Him. 

What’s the result? The next time that we are facing something hard, our trust muscles automatically know where to go. God becomes our first thought, our first step. He is no longer where we turn after we have tried everything else.

What would today look like if we let God be our go-to? When something hard pops up, take a moment to share it with Him in prayer and ask for His help. He is always there, always listening, and always ready to help us face hard things.