10 Reasons to Develop Your Spiritual Muscle

What is it in your life that you worry about? The future? Your health? Your kids? Your job? The stock market? Everytime we turn around there is some other disaster, crisis, or mass shooting that wrenches our heart strings. It's easy to feel hopeless and fearful but who wants to live like that? There is always something in life to stress over and there is a solution to help ease the anxiety that pervades society.

These days there is a lot of poo-pooing the idea of faith and belief in God. Many people have been turned off from "organized religion" and think of God as some strict punishing entity. Perhaps you are one of them. Others believe God is some distant heavenly body out there somewhere yet have no earthly idea how to connect with him. Still others doubt the existence of God as if this intricate created world of ours somehow was blown together by happenstance millions of years ago. I don't think so.

The fact is there is a God and it is up to us to get to know him. One way to do this is by developing the power of Faith. I like to think of Faith as my spiritual muscle. Just as we need to strengthen our physical muscles, we need to strengthen our spiritual muscle as well. Many of us work out and we wouldn't think of missing a yoga class, a run, or a bike ride, yet how often do we attend to the spiritual part of ourselves?

As some of you know, as a single mom of two boys,  I have been through many difficult and painful circumstances. If not for the grace of God and my Faith, I would not be on this earth today. In fact, I used to work with a beautiful single mom who had one son. We used to compare notes and talk about our kids. Often, she looked down and depressed. I tried to encourage her and talk to her about God.

One day, I heard she had died from an overdose of drugs. I attended her funeral. Her son was devastated. This is what hopelessness and despair can do. I did not want to end up like her and I certainly did not want to leave my sons without a mother. When we go through the darkest valleys, there is a better way.

It is the way of Faith.

Faith is what gives us hope to hold on, to keep on, and to stay strong. Life is tough and we were not made to go it alone. God is real and he wants to help us make it through the tough times we inevitably will face. Only God can make our crooked paths straight. Only God can fix the unfixable. Only God.

Here are 10 things Faith in God can do for you:

1) Give us strength to get through the challenges of life

2) Reduce anxiety when we don't know the outcome of events

3) Give us hope when relationships go awry

4) Give us power to achieve our goals and see our dreams come true

5) Give us victory over addictions and bad habits

6) Bring healing to sick minds and bodies despite the medical reports

7) Make miracles happen

8) Move obstacles we cannot move ourselves

9) Protect our children

10) Give us peace in times of crisis

Which of these do you need right now? If you need help developing your spiritual muscle, stay tuned for my upcoming posts. There are simple and doable steps you can take today to get stronger, have less anxiety, and more peace.

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Stay tuned for more on igniting the power within and until next time,

Keep looking up!

Ariel