Spiritual growth compounds through small, faithful actions. Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest basketball players of all time, but the moments where he was truly great are actually few and far between. What made Kobe one of the best of all time was his relentless consistency. When teammates were out partying after a big win, Kobe was back in the gym, practicing the shots he missed that night until there was no way he would miss them again. He was great because he was consistently good.
The same is true in the spiritual life. It is easy to stop praying when we don't see immediate answers. But consistently showing up, even in the dry seasons, even when prayer feels like talking to a wall, even when you don't feel anything, is what builds a solid spiritual foundation that will inevitably bear fruit, eventually.
Every year on January 1st, millions of people make resolutions to get in shape. Gyms are crowded and people are attacking workouts with enthusiasm. Two weeks later, 99% of people have given up. The spiritual life is no different. It's not about the one powerful moment of conversion that changes everything. It's the daily, faithful, often boring practice of showing up.
Jerry Seinfeld was once asked by a younger comic about how to become a better comedian. His response was frustratingly simple: "Get a big wall calendar that shows the whole year. Every day you write a joke, put a big red 'X' on that day. After a few days, you'll have a chain. Keep it going. Don't break the chain." Seinfeld had one simple rule: DON'T BREAK THE CHAIN. It wasn't about coming up with the perfect joke every day. It was about the mundane, daily discipline of showing up. What is your spiritual chain? What is the one thing you can do every day, without breaking the chain, to keep the conditions right for God to work in your life?
Taking Inventory
I can't talk about the spiritual life without talking about self-reflection. The spiritual life is mystical. In many ways, it transcends our concept of time and space and allows us to get outside of our physical and materialistic world. Getting outside of ourselves allows us to look at the whole construct of our lives, take a good hard look at ourselves, and figure out where we are, not physically, but in terms of our availability to God.
When I think about being effective as a person, I think about how close I am to being Fully Available. I may look at my finances, my relationships, my health, my job, or my education, but these are simply measures for how available I am to God. If I look at my finances and see that I'm prospering, the tendency is to think that I'm successful. It's not until I step back and ask myself: But why? Why does having more money make me successful? How do my finances fit into the bigger picture of making myself Fully Available to God? Without knowing the answer to this question, no matter how much money I make, it will never be enough.
This is why I love self-reflection. I use meditation techniques on a daily basis to ask myself the tough questions. When I'm stressed about money, I ask, "Why?" Why do I want, or need, more money? Is it because I'm greedy and can't seem to detach from my desire for more worldly possessions? Or is it because with more money, I can better serve God and the people around me? I put my stress for more money up against the standard I have for myself of becoming Fully Available. But until I step back and reflect on it, I can rarely see the whole picture.
The spiritual life is at the heart of meditation, reflection, contemplation, prayer, and quiet time. It allows us to get outside of ourselves and determine the "why" behind what we're doing. When we take time to step back from it all and ask how the thing in question will fit in with our standards, beliefs, and core values, we can connect with it on a much deeper level. When we understand the deeper purpose behind it, we are much more inclined to hold ourselves accountable for it.
A couple of questions worth sitting with:
What is one daily spiritual habit you can commit to, without "breaking the chain," to intentionally allow space for the voice of God in your life?
It is easy to stop praying when we don't see immediate answers. Where in your spiritual life have you given up too soon, and how can you recommit to simply "showing up" for God every day?
