When I was an adolescent, I practiced the piano at 4 a.m. every day. After a few years of consistent practice, I built finger dexterity, muscle memory for over hundreds of manuscripts and the tolerance to play piano for several hours non-stop. With practice and repetition, I was able to memorize strings of musical notes and play effortlessly. In competitions, I played well despite expected fears. If I would skip or forget a note, I would still finish strong in the competition and earn superior ratings. It was all the result of daily training, focus, and intentional planning. This daily routine led to a discipline in which I built character and maturity over time as a piano player and competitor.

Wouldn’t be nice to build our spiritual muscles for our next life interruption or tragedy or unexpected loss?

I want to stand firm in my Faith!

Even though we are not in a piano competition, we do need inner strength, direction, wisdom and most importantly a relationship with our Lord who is near the broken-hearted and comforts us in the midst of our sorrows, abrupt losses and life tragedies.

It is key to memorize and hide His Truth in our hearts so we may rest on His Word at the time of need. “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ‭‭(John‬ ‭8:32‬ ‭NASB) For us to grow deeper in our Faith, we need to be intentional in our daily practice of Bible Reading, Repentance, Forgiveness, Thanksgiving and Prayer. Once we are able to establish the routine, it will then become a discipline and we will engage in these practices effortlessly and consistently. As a result, we will strengthen our spiritual muscles over time, build our Faith walk, character and maturity.

“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” JOSHUA‬ ‭1:8‬ ‭NASB

Building our Faith walk requires intentional scheduling.

If I don’t plan ahead and schedule time for Bible reading, journaling, and prayer, then I will be too busy with other commitments and neglect God’s Word. I have seen it happen too many times in my life.

Have you added your Bible Reading and Journaling to your daily schedule? If not, spend fifteen minutes in rearranging your daily calendar and schedule a time for His Truth and reflections today.

Because I no longer play daily, I am not able to compete or play as much. It is unfortunate I am no longer an advanced piano player. As a matter of fact, I am about to lose the abilities to play the piano if I do not go back this month with the new coach I recently hired.

Building spiritual muscles is much like building finger dexterity when playing the piano. We have to schedule it, establish the routine by daily practice and commit to it. Otherwise, we will lose the intimacy with our Lord and drift away.

Our Lord is waiting patiently for us to commit and worship Him all the time. He is a compassionate and forgiving God who is eagerly waiting for us to get closer to Him one day at a time.