April 20, 2020

According to a medical journal, muscle atrophy is “a decrease in muscle mass, often due to extended immobility” (medicine net.com). I have seen this while ministering to cancer patients and those who have been paralyzed. Not only does atrophy effect the physical body, but it also effects the emotions. People who are immobilized or lose their will to exercise even in normal life ways, they get set in unhealthy patterns that seem to defeat them. While physical atrophy is felt and seen, there is another type of atrophy that can be subtle but also devastating, and that is, spiritual atrophy.

Some years ago, I was in a seminar with one of my spiritual heroes, Stephen Olford. Even though short in stature, he loomed large as a man who could take on hell itself with a water pistol because of his unrelenting confidence in the word of God. In one session, Dr. Olford talked with us about spiritual disciplines, in particular, how to have a quality devotional life with God which would strengthen our faith and walk with Christ. He was talking about building spiritual muscle. However, he made an admission and gave us a warning that I still remember to this day.

Dr. Olford said that the time when he struggles the most to build spiritual muscle through having a consistent daily quiet time of intimacy with God is when he is on vacation. Most of us reading this go on vacation or take time away from our daily routines. He said that getting out of his daily routine is when he tends to allow other things to crowd into his time with the Lord. He admitted that if this is not addressed or planned for, the neglect gets worse and he begins to feel the affects of spiritual atrophy. Knowing that the enemy does not take a vacation, spiritual atrophy can be devastating because it weakens our spiritual muscles or we might say, our spiritual immune systems.

During this crisis where so many of our routines have been interrupted, we can adopt some really unhealthy habits or just the opposite can happen, we can begin to implement some habits that get us back on track with a deeper intimacy with God than ever before. Slowing down and getting back to the basics can be just the thing we needed to get our hearts right with God and find time for prayer, bible study and practical application of the word like no other time. However, just the opposite can happen.

Down times or times that get us down can lead us toward unhealthy eating habits, binging on too much Netflix and social media (which is a norm unfortuantely), or sleeping the days away. This is when spiritual atrophy can really been noticed. Spiritual atrophy leads to compromise, willful sin, apathy and distrust. These are times when our flesh is allowed to get stronger because we are feeding it more than our spirit. When our flesh gets stronger, sin grows and we have little will to resist its pull. What can we do to maintain our spiritual health, grow spiritual muscles and avoid spiritual atrophy?

(1) Set your alarm. That sounds easy enough. We do it most everyday. Setting our alarm sends the signal that a plan is in place. In Mark 1:35, not seems that Jesus might have done something just like this (long before the convenience of having a mobile phone beside our beds). It says, “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a solitary place, and there he prayed.” If you read around this verse, you will notice that Jesus had been slammed with ministry and spiritual warfare. People were continually hounding Him, pulling at Him and wanting Him to solve their problems. Jesus knew that His strength depended on His time with the Father. If that was true for Jesus, who was God in the flesh, how much more is this true for those who follow Him! Set your alarm and prioritize time to spend with the Lord.

(2) Set your attitude toward thankfulness. Ben Woodward, a worship leader in Australia, writes, “We have a saying in our house that makes our kids cringe: “Tell me 10 things you are thankful for.” It is usually followed by a sigh or, in the case of my oldest daughter, a slight rolling of her eyes. This request usually comes at a point in the day when the whining has increased, ungratefulness is at an all-time high and the kids are probably in need of a nap. Why thankfulness? Because of what it does both to your brain and your spirit. Thankfulness puts your brain to work in the right way. Spending a few minutes a day in thankfulness can actually release the “pleasure” chemicals that your brain so desperately craves each day.” Being thankful during this time (and all the time), reminds us that God has been faithful to us and will continue to be no matter the adversity we currently face. Besides, spending time with our family may be a challenge at times, but it can be the greatest blessing we have experienced in years!

(3) Set your heart to worship. Worship of God is the act of proclaiming the worth of God that He is due. No one truly deserves anything other than God. He alone deserves worship. When we worship through quiet meditation, Bible reading, prayer reading through the Bible, listening to worship music or just simply contemplating the majesty of God, it refocuses our mind away from unhealthy stuff to things that can really put on spiritual muscles. Worship opens our minds to what God is doing around it. Worship tunes our spiritual ears to what God is saying. We respond quicker and with more confidence.

I have a friend in Colorado who is a PE teacher at a local school. Since schools are out, he is putting up YouTube videos for parents to do exercises with their children in their living rooms. It’s just that easy for us too! We have to make the choice to spiritually exercise, spend time with the Lord and then find ways to practically apply it. Get off the proverbial spiritual couch and get moving in the worship and service. Avoid “vegging” out with social media and hours upon hours of TV. Don’t wait until it is too late. Use this time to BUILD spiritual muscle and not lose it. Let’s come out of this season stronger than ever before!!

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