Every morning I do an exercise called “The Plank.” It works my body from head to toe. Its most important benefit is what it does to my core. To be strong at the core of our body affects the immediate areas of muscle and skeletal structure, but its most important benefit is the stability it provides to the rest of our body’s function and integration.
Just as the human body needs a strong core to properly function, so does our faith. In a season when I experience an overload of stress, disappointment, or betrayal, I have to return to the core of my faith to rediscover the Lord in a new way. That rediscovery helps me reengage His purpose for my life enabling me to navigate through the unfamiliar terrain of a new season. In other words, I had to rebuild my spiritual core before I could move forward.
People are trying to rebuild their lives due to the stress we all experienced in the last couple of years. To overly focus on the outlying areas of our lives, no matter how good and honorable those things might be, they are the equivalent of someone only working out their biceps or calf muscles neglecting the core of their body that supports the function of all other muscle groups.
Our spiritual core is our intimacy with Jesus. Without strength in our relationship with Him, none of the good things we want to accomplish will have a strong enough platform upon which to properly function. On a busy day if I only had time for one exercise it would be the plank because of its overall benefit. The same is true in matters of the Spirit. Building our core relationship with Jesus is the foremost exercise of our faith. It creates the internal strength we will need when we move through a challenging season of life. A strong spiritual core will help us endure no matter how hard or stressful a season might become.
Taxing muscles and connective tissue to the place of pain, but not strain, is required to keep them healthy. Lesser exercise signals muscle tissue that they are not needed, and the loss of lean body tissue continues.
Spiritually, we are told to exercise the faith that we have and to improve our sensory acuity in discerning good and evil.
Thanks, Garris, for an example and great insight into daily exercising our “Core” to remain strong, vigilant, and ready for action.