I've
been practicing a little yoga lately. (Very little ... not
even showing up for a class. Just looking for a little form in the
muddiness of February.)
Yoga
is a very precise practice. It's all about form. When you first get
set up in a pose, that's all there is. Is my leg straight? Is my
back straight? Am I looking in the right direction? If you have a
teacher, they spend way too much time pushing and prodding and finally,
you're assured that you're in position. And then the second you start
to focus on holding, your muscles start to quiver. “What? Really?
We're tired. You actually want me to hold you here?”
Some
poses require more flexibility than strength. These are my favorite.
When you start the stretch, you realize that you can only get
halfway (or less, depending on the day) to the desired position.
Again... your muscles start up with the “What? Really? You think
I can get you all the way over there?” But as you hold.... and
hold.... and hold.... and hold some more.... they actually gradually
lengthen, relax, and after however long it takes,
you find yourself in the full on stretch that you were going for. And when you get there, you feel like you could rest there all day.
It's actually resting! Effortless. (And then aack! the timer rings and your
life interrupts to say that relaxing is over. Time to get back to the work of living.)
So
it is with faith. You look at your heart's desire and it seems like an
impossibility. Your mind says, “What? Could that even happen?
That would be a real stretch!” (Ha! Pun intended.) But you lean
into it anyway. And you hold.... and you hold.... and you hold....
and you hold some more. And after however long it takes,
you persuade your heart and mind to stretch to embrace possibility. And finally, there you are, settled into full blown belief. It's actually resting! Effortless. Your faith is set. You hold the pose and there's no
timer ringing to say …. “Hello! Life calling. Time to get on with the
business of reality.” This is your reality. You take it with you
wherever you go.
Faith is a substance.
A substructure that peace rests upon. Faith is immovable trust in a
loving, all powerful God who is not withholding anything from me.
He's not trying to teach me a lesson. He's not allowing me to
wallow in my circumstances because it's what I deserve. He is giving
me the opportunity to choose my future as I exercise my faith to rest in
Him.
As we journey through the Lent season of 2012, we know that because of the finished
work of Jesus on the cross that “all things are possible with God”.
(Mark 10:27). And that “no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in
Christ.
(II Cor. 1:20)
Hold
the pose! Keep the faith!
