5 Proven Ways to Enrich Your Spiritual Life

Mark Golovko

We are temporal. Our lives are marked with a beginning and an end. This is our physical and experiential reality. It is universally accepted among all mankind.

What do we do with the days allotted to us? How do we enjoy a rich spiritual life despite our physical limitations? We cannot fight against the realities we find ourselves in. Too many of them are beyond our control. Ultimately, we know that this life will end. I find myself sometimes looking back and wishing. That’s really not healthy but here are five things you can do to be healthy – spiritually. This is inspired by Isaiah 40 – if you’d like, read the chapter and pay particular attention to the last ten or twelve verses.

3 Basic Practices

Accept your reality. There are basic things that, for nearly all of us, are included in our reality. I am going to mention just three. First, we have limited strength – we get tired. Second, the ability to see is also very important for us. Third, we can hear and perceive and understand enough to comprehend basic truth.

Embrace the existence of God. Creation bears witness to his power – this is something we can see. A history of witnesses attest to his existence – this we hear and perceive.

Contemplate the nature and work of God. Creation itself witnesses to his power. While we cannot know how he created, other than by his word, we believe that he did create. He exerts his sovereignty. In a way that only he understands, he raises up rulers and authorities and he deposes. He has all understanding. He has limitless strength and power. His perspective is eternal.

Two Powerful Practices

Practice One – Wait for God. We won’t rush into this, so wait for it! There are those who cannot or will not wait for God. Some are obvious: the atheist, the agnostic and the intellectual – why? He has no need to wait. He already knows.

But there is also the danger that you may not wait if you are hurried, faithless, distracted. Two other reasons you will not be able to wait is if you are a multi-tasker because you must seek God with a whole heart. Also, the tester won’t wait either. The tester is one who wants to give God a ‘test.’

Who can wait for God? You must be a follower of Jesus – this is foundational. But, more specifically, only those who fully trust him can truly wait. By fully trust I mean trust must be unconditional. Which means you continue to trust no matter what, where, when or how God leads and answers.

You must be unhurried – it helps to have an eternal perspective. Understanding is also important. While we can never fully understand we can understand that we must wait for God’s timing.

To wait you must be focused on him. You must also still your thoughts and spirits – this is hard.

How do you wait? Here are five attitudes that are important to waiting:

Prayerfully – quiet conversations. This is sacred time.

Expectantly – believing you will experience the power of God.

Quietly – no noise, no music just a heart to hear the quiet whisper and the gentle touch of God.

Dependently – knowing that you are entirely dependent on God to do something here.

Vulnerably – with an open heart, mind and life.

How long do you wait?

The very meaning of the word waiting implies a prolonged period of time. This could be minutes or even hours. This is purposeful undistracted waiting.

There is also a patient prolonged attitude of waiting that can continue for days, weeks, months and even years.

Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:30-31 – ESV)

Practice Two – Find strength in God. Waiting on God brings renewed strength. Notice three powerful results of waiting on God and gaining strength.

Perspective – flight as on the wings of an eagle. Seeing things from above and afar yields great insight into how things really are.

Endurance – run and not grow weary. Distance running requires great endurance. Life requires great endurance!

A strong life – walk and not grow faint. Our life is often described as a walk. Strength from God allows us to walk with great strength.

Find strength in God today. Take a few minutes to just wait before the Lord. When you do that, you will renew your strength. It always works because he is always faithful.