I went back to work today after being off since Saturday due to illness. Man. (Laughing here.) I have been trying to rest up to be able to get back to the job and be Superman again and it was really, really hard. After I had helped the first ten guys load and then unload their equipment and then start servicing the stuff while loading and unloading the next round of stuff and running back and forth from the service bay to the front of the yard, well.....You get the idea. I noticed that later in the day that I was walking funny, kind of hunched over from the muscle fatigue and I would realize it and force myself to walk normally. I would have to draw on my 'reserve strength' so to speak to do that. Having had several days of rest to recover seemed to work against me in certain ways. You have to keep your muscles working to keep them in shape.
You have to keep your spiritual muscles working to keep them in shape too. It's those times when we might think to ourselves, "Well, I don't need to have quiet time, I talked to God while I worked today." "I'll pray about that tomorrow, right now I just need to clear my head." "I don't need to read scripture, I've got a good handle on it already." "I really don't feel like ministering to that person whom I obviously could help." "That's just not one of my gifts."
There are times in all of our lives as believers where we've told ourselves something like that, and there are times when mentally or physically we need breaks. We have to be careful though because these things can be stepping stones, one leading down to the next.
Daniel met with the Lord every day. Three times a day. I'm not as strong, faithful or dynamic a believer as Daniel was. Are you? Maybe one of the reasons Daniel was the kind of man he was, was because he met with the Lord so often. He prayed often, and he read the scriptures often. He was faithful in his actions and he obeyed God. He had strong spiritual muscles.
What if Daniel hadn't met with God, read the scriptures, prayed and obeyed? He might have been lion food. I'm kidding around here, but truly, I've noticed the difference in my life, specifically in the way I am able to deal with things when I am doing these things and when I'm not. When I am 'exercising' my spiritual muscles by doing these things--quiet time, praying and reading scriptures, my entire perspective on life with its trials and hardships is completely different than when I'm not doing those things.
"But God did these things, and He provided the spiritual muscle. Not Daniel." somebody might say.
I agree. But we puny humans have the unique ability in all of creation to disobey God. Oh sure, there are consequences later, but we can still disobey, and we can also choose not to do the works that He has laid out for us to do. He accomplishes the end He intends to anyway, but wouldn't it be better, if we were always exercised and ready to be willing and capable participants in the plan that He has to get us there?