Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

James 1:2-3

I know I’ve shared before that over the past two years, I’ve lost 90 lbs and stayed committed to a consistent workout routine riding my studio cycle, followed by a series of abdominal exercises.

But, can I make a confession to you?

Some days, the studio cycle wears me out, and I really, really want to skip the ab routine. Some days, I do skip the ab routine.

After all, what harm could it do to skip one day?

One day last week, as I pondered that question, I decided to go ahead and skip the ab routine. I had a lot to do that day to help my parents prepare their home for a gathering, and I figured I’d burn some calories doing that, so why not skip the abs.

As I was heading out the door to go to their home, Mom called and asked me to pick up a bag of “pool sand” at our local hardware store on the way over. When I purchased the 50 lb bag of sand, the kind gentleman behind the counter carried it to my car (can’t beat local business for good manners and service!).

But once I arrived at my parents, getting the bag of sand from the car to the pool was all me. My parents live in the country, so naturally the sidewalk is a half mile long. Not really. More like 50 yards probably. I’m bad at visual spatial reasoning. Anyhow, it’s long.

I swung the 50 lb bag of sand up from the back of the car to rest on my left shoulder and took off for the pool, steadying the bag with my right hand. As I walked, my left shoulder began to complain of the weight, and the bag felt like it might fall as I listed a little to the left. Then, suddenly, all on their own, my abs tightened and my back straightened, and, core engaged, I carried the sand to its destination with no further issues.

In that moment, I was reminded of my question – what does it hurt to skip one day of abs – and I realized the answer: One day, probably nothing. But more than one day, quite a bit.

You see, those daily or near daily abdominal exercises have strengthened my core, allowing me to carry more and go farther without injury.

And sweet friend, the same is true for our spiritual core.

What harm is there in short-changing our prayer time one day? Forgetting to read our Bibles one day? Skipping worship service one Sunday?

Just once, maybe not much harm, but when skipping becomes a pattern, when we miss out more than we opt in, our core becomes weak.

Consistent, daily time with the Lord, in prayer, in praise, in the Word, is like having a consistent abdominal exercise routine. It tightens the spiritual muscles at our core.

Then, when life heaves a 50 lb bag of spiritual warfare our way, our strong core of truth and faith engages and we are able to carry the weight of our troubles to its destination: the feet of Jesus, who calls us to cast all of our cares on Him.

Dear heart, when we allow our spiritual cores to weaken, and life hits us with a heavy weight, we start listing to one side. We struggle to carry the load one step, let alone to the destination. Honestly, under the burden, we may even forget that Jesus’ feet are the destination. We may stumble and fall or engage worldly muscles instead and find ourselves all out of alignment. Out of alignment, we may turn to worldly solutions to help us carry our burden and friends, nothing adds to our burden like the consequences of leaning on worldly solutions.

Beloved, our dear Brother James said it clearly in James 1:2-3: In this world, our faith will be tested. That’s an unavoidable fact. If we hope to be a people who rejoice in that testing, who develop endurance in testing, we’ll need to prepare our core for the challenge.

We must fight the urge to skip a day of church. Refuse to surrender your quiet time with God for the sake of busyness. Dig into His Word on a daily basis. Praise even when we don’t feel like there’s much to praise about.

On the day of testing, all that prayer, all that worship, all that praising, all that studying and applying of His Word, all that time with God will allow you to walk tall and straight on your way to lay it all down at the Savior’s feet.

Your spiritual core is the most vital muscle of them all. If it’s out of alignment today, I encourage you to go to the Great Physician and allow Him to give you a spiritual adjustment.