1376) Our human senses serve us well in this life–until age or disease deteriorates them. I have pondered before what my life would be like if one or more of these senses did not function. I am grateful this is not the case.

In considering the gift of our senses, I also understand they are limited. We cannot hear all there is to hear; consider the dog whistle, for example. We cannot see all there is to see; consider molecules. I think you get the idea.

Because our senses are limited, believing God is with us continually is an act of faith. If our eyes could be “opened” to see all that is around us, we might be startled and overwhelmed, but we’d see God right there beside us.

Joshua skips all this contemplation and simply states in chapter 1:9 that God is with us and because of this, Joshua says we can be strong in our faith. The Hebrew word for strong here means “to strengthen.” This implies we can strengthen our faith similarly to strengthening our muscles.

How do we do this? We strengthen our faith each day when we look forward to what may come our way and we ask God to help us. We do this when specific events happen and we turn our hearts to God and thank him he is there, beside us, in the moment. We do this at the end of the day, thanking God for what he did for us and with us.

Being strong in our faith means constant spiritual workouts. Are you showing up to work out each day?