Week 4 Devotional | Antifragile

 ANTIFRAGILE

“I can do all things through God who strengthens me.”

What does it mean to be ANTIFRAGILE?

Something that is fragile is easily broken breaks when it faces any kind of stress. Fragile things break easily. 

Being ANTIFRAGILE means that you are able to get stronger because of the same stress, challenge, pressure, and adversity that might break other people.

You can’t light a candle in the wind because the wind blows it right out, but when that same wind hits a larger fire, it makes the fire bigger and stronger. The same concept can be applied to weight training and conditioning. The first days in the weight room or running are hard as it breaks your body down. But your body is ANTIFRAGILE because it comes back stronger.

Our bodies are built to be antifragile and to come back stronger than before. Knowing this, think about your mindset and how you mentally approach problems and adversity. Does a challenge break you down, or does it make you stronger?

Someone or something that is fragile is hurt by stress and difficulty. Someone or something that is ANTIFRAGILE uses that same stress and difficulty to grow stronger. 

Pastor Andrew Forrest at Munger Place Church in Dallas recently asked his congregation, “How did it happen that a small group of terrified but courageous followers shared the message of Jesus and the resurrection throughout the entire Roman world within a few short decades, and how did this movement lead to the largest religion in the world?”

The book of Acts talks about the spread of Christianity and the message of Jesus’s life and resurrection. The early church faced a lot of opposition. When they were threatened, they prayed to God. They asked Him to consider their threats and enable them to speak His word with great boldness. The threats that they received increased their efforts, strength, and boldness. The more that the early church was tortured, stoned, beheaded, and crucified, the more the Gospel spread. It was like a fire that couldn’t be stamped out; the more that their enemies tried to stop them, the more the message spread. In the middle of stress and difficulty, God made them stronger, bolder, and helped them grow.

What if we looked at life like this. What if instead of always praying for safety or looking for the easy way out, we prayed for the strength and wisdom to learn and grow from the stresses and obstacles that we go through?

Be ANTIFRAGILE. Get stronger in the face of problems. Pray what is on your heart, but don’t give so much power to the problem that your mind stays on the problem and not the opportunities to grow.

This Week

CHECK YOUR MINDSET Problems will never all go away. But having an antifragile mindset helps you get through them and grow through them. Remember that we can do all things through Him who strengthens us.

What are one or two areas this week that you can grow through by being ANTIFRAGILE?

1 -

2 -

The Bible and its words are an instruction manual. Here are 3 Bible verses that you can use to become ANTIFRAGILE.

Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

No matter where I am and no matter what I face, Christ will strengthen me. It is possible to strive and not just survive. The early church teaches us this. Our bodies already know this. We have to make sure that our minds know this as well.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

PRAY Put your thoughts on God so that when obstacles come, you can face them with peace, poise, courage, and keep your joy. What can you pray that God will help you approach with boldness?

READ

Read Acts chapter 4. It starts with Peter and John being thrown in prison for teaching about Jesus’s resurrection and how they prayed for boldness and how they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

Don’t just be strong. Be antifragile. Grow stronger in the face of stress and pain.

Click here for a Google Doc version of this.