Are you feeling complacent today? Perhaps you’re getting lazy from excessive wasted time, resulting in getting flabby from just sitting and not actively getting involved? If you are lethargic in your faith, then those muscles will weaken. Your heart gets heavier as you choose not to move forward and do something. Maybe its is time to put on your shoes and start to exercise your faith again.

So get up. Wiggle on those walking shoes. Point your face toward that mountain. Step onto the path that He set before you, and GO. Your heart will begin beating with renewed life, while your pulse proves that the God is still within you. Believe that He can and will do as He has promised, and that He will respond to whatever you ask. It is time to exercise your faith in God again, no matter the direction, the distance, the intensity, or the weather.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”
Luke 17:5

Some tips to encourage you to keep going:

-Don’t just sit back and listen to others’ stories about their rewarding hike, successful walk, or stronger faith.

-Choose for yourself to experience the act of growing faith in God and get busy!

-It is far more enjoyable when sharing this journey with a friend, and/or conversing with the Lord.

-Do not take shortcuts – stay on your path. Taking a shortcut defeats the whole purpose of exercising! It could also lead to a wrong turn, or deter you from learning what you are supposed to learn along the designated route.

-Drink the water regularly that you carry with you. Otherwise your thirst could result in quitting. The Holy Spirit will quench your thirst (instead of other things) as you grow in your faith.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1

Know that this exercise will strengthen your heart, body, mind, and spirit. Your faith in knowing that God the Father is with you, will get you through it, and knows the best route and direction for your life, gives you the freedom to walk further, up a steeper mountain, and through darker valleys.

“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.”
Isaiah 35:3

Faith in action – completely turning it ALL over to the Lord, trusting that He will make it good – strengthens everything about you. Your confidence in exercising more regularly, and through the storms of life, will soon expand to every area of your body, mind, and spirit. Those muscles of trust that haven’t been put to good use lately will become strong and lean; meaning it will be easier to ‘move’ as you continue stretching your faith into every area of your life.

Say this each morning:
“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13

And do not doubt:
“But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.”
James 1:6

Food for thought: What seems impossible today will one day become your warm-up.

Fun facts: Walking or hiking barefoot has pros and cons. Pros: strengthens and stretches more muscles, increased balance and mobility, feet aren’t squished, reduction of blisters, feet dry quicker, body more in tune with nature by direct contact with soil, etc. Cons: callouses form which takes time, harder to go quickly, exposed to thorns, splinters, weather, etc., potential bites from snakes, ants or spiders, and contact with poisonous plants likely. Perhaps you need barefoot shoes!

Photo by: Kari Wiseman – Walking through the Badlands