We have come to the last area of 'unfaith' that Paul Tripp describes in his wonderful book A Shelter in the Time of Storm: Meditations on God and Trouble. This whole series has been based on Psalm 27:14: "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!""Giving way to inactivity: The result of giving way to all of these things (discussed in previous posts) is inactivity. If God isn't as good and wise as I once thought he was, if he withholds good things from his children, and if he plays favorites, then why would I continue to pursue him? Maybe all those habits of faith aren't helping me after all; maybe I've been kidding myself. Sadly, this is the course that many people take as they wait. Rather than growing in faith, their motivation for spiritual exercise is destroyed by doubt, anger, discouragement, and envy, and the muscles of faith that were once robust and strong are now atrophied and weak."
The analogy to physical fitness is so obvious here. Anyone who has ceased all activity experiences this type of muscle weakness. So it is in the spiritual realm as well. Making little use of the tools God has given us to be strong and courageous has consequences - flabby theology, weak faith, apathy of the soul.
What is the solution to all these areas of 'unfaith?' My final post on this topic will answer that question tomorrow.
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