resisting and growing

How muscles grow: (this information was gathered from a wiki type website about building muscle. Based on my own studies in fitness classes, biology and real life experience I feel it is safe to say this is an accurate description)


1-Your muscles grow when they recover after heavy stress that you put on them in the gym. Your body 'thinks' that you were running for your life from a lion and nearly escaped, and it builds some extra muscle to make sure that you outrun that lion next time he finds you! 


2-The same story in other words: when you stress your muscle to the limit, it develops micro-injury. When it repairs the damage, having enough time and material, it 'overdoes' a little, to prevent you from having that 'micro-injury' in the future.


3-To put it short, if you want your muscle grow, you should give it as much stress as possible in the gym, then you should provide it with everything it needs to recover and grow, which is time and food.

As I read this...can't remember why I was looking for it...it struck me that this was a very good example from nature of how my growth in the gospel works.  Some things that struck me:

1. "Your muscles grow when they recover after heavy stress that you put on them"
2. "when you stress your muscle to the limit, it develops micro-injury. When it repairs the damage, having enough time and material, it 'overdoes' a little, to prevent you from having that 'micro-injury' in the future."
3. "then you should provide it with everything it needs to recover and grow"

"then you should provide it with everything it needs to recover and grow"
My spiritual muscles DO seem to be stronger after each trial.  I find that I have a bit more resistance to my temptations, less of a desire to give in, and an increased desire to hold fast to the gospel that I know to be true.  And given time to gain some perspective for any given trial I can even begin to see the...necessity? of that particular struggle.  And if I'm really lucky what I've learned from a past trial comes in handy when faced with a new one...just like the muscles I build in the gym one day will hopefully pull me up Walters Wiggles when hiking Angel's Landing on another day.


"when you stress your muscle to the limit, it develops micro-injury. When it repairs the damage, having enough time and material, it 'overdoes' a little, to prevent you from having that 'micro-injury' in the future." 
There are moments, days, months...years even...that I feel as if I've been pushed to my limit...that I have been "broken" and am in need of repair.  I think this is what our Father expects.  We break and then we turn to our Father and to our Savior and his Atonement to heal what has been broken.  "Breaking" leads me to humility...I can no longer continue on my own...I must ask for help.  And so...hopefully...I do.  My Savior steps in and takes what is broken...takes my weakness...and repairs it...makes it stronger.  And suddenly what was once so weak, has now become a strength that I will use to battle through other trying times.

"then you should provide it with everything it needs to recover and grow"
As I struggle, with any number of things, I forget the recovery aspect.  I'm just so thrilled to be done with my "spiritual workout"...I'm so emotionally and spiritually drained that I don't really think about what is going to help to recover.  I'm just glad that a particular trial is over and that the Savior has stepped in...but what now?

When the physical workout is over...what do I do?  Do I go to In-N-Out burger to celebrate my hard work after a couple hours in the gym?  No (...well...I shouldn't) I stretch and nourish my body with food and water.  So after I've made it through a spiritual trial...what am I doing?  Am I providing myself with the spiritual nourishment that I need to help the new muscles I've built recover?  Am I continuing to call upon my Father and the Savior?  Am I renewing my covenants with the Lord through regular temple and Sunday meeting attendance?  Is my scripture study regular? Without providing my spirit with the needed nourishment all that hard work was for not.



It doesn't seem unreasonable that I apply a workout regime not only for my physical health, but for my spiritual as well.  Trials and temptations will never cease...not in this life...and even in the world to come...at least for a time.  Spiritual muscle growth is essential to my salvation.

I do know that we are here to grow and become who our Father in Heaven already knows we can be.  The potential for my spiritual muscle growth is there.  It is not unachievable...but it will not come without difficulty.  So I'm going to do my best to make it less difficult with a better workout regime.