Struggling with doubts is not an oddity among Christians. Everyone has seasons when faith gets wobbly - when fatigue, disappointment, sorrow, or sickness … become overwhelming and making it hard to ‘trust God.’ Christians describe such times in different ways but none more descriptive than that used by St. John of the Cross who called it the ‘dark night of the soul.’ He describes his confusion, his loss, his complete sense of helplessness, the paralysis of the will. Then, he reminds us that is that moment the Christian is totally dependent on grace, leaning hard on Jesus. I have lived through those seasons, endured the darkness. How about you?
The Word teaches me not to despise such moments. Instead we view them as part of our growth into maturity. We are told to remember that "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." (Hebrews 12:11-12, NIV) Simply said, we need to hold onto Jesus, to push through the pain, anticipating the growth that will come.
There are some practical choices we can make when we are engulfed by the darkness of doubt and/or confusion. Faith, though a gift of God, does not just happen. It grows, when it is fed; flourishes when given the opportunity to take root in our heart and mind. Some of those choices are outlined here.
First, we ask for greater faith!
Faith is a gift of God. The Holy Spirit works in us to draw us to God, to cause
us to desire Him and to live in a way that pleases Him. We can pray, indeed we
ought to pray, for other's to know this work of grace in their lives. A man who
was in desperate need came to Jesus seeking healing for his tormented son. He
realized that the most basic need he had was for greater faith and his prayer
was direct - "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!"
(Mark 9.24) We must not pretend to own a greater faith than we do. Such
hypocrisy blocks us from asking for the very thing we need most in time of need
- the gift of faith.
Second, we inform our minds with godly truth!
The fertile soil of a strong, life changing faith, is the Scripture. In the pages of the Bible, God is revealed to us. When our minds are shaped around God, when we understand the world with a spiritual view, faith grows. The Psalmist said, "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." (Psalm 119:11, NLT) What does he mean? That he had taken time to integrate the truth of God's Word into his thought life so that his actions would be consistent with faith. Feed your mind with the promises of God’s reign, with the hope of His faithfulness, with the assurance of “His Kingdom come.” We become what we think!
Third, we invite the Spirit to school us, to develop
faith.
Here's a tough truth for many of us to accept. "When your faith is
tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your
endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing
nothing." (James 1:3-4, NLT) In The Message, that passage reads -
"You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open
and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let
it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any
way." (James 1:3-4, The Message) When life kicks you around, when
people fail you, when the future looks dark, when to all appearances there is
no way to turn for relief- let God use those situations to reveal His
faithfulness, your True Hope, to you.
The hardest choice in those kinds of days is to give in, not in apathy, but in release of control to Him. We pray, not in resignation, but in faith – Lord, not my will, but Yours! We also can be still, quietly waiting on God. 35 years ago when I lived through month after month of darkness, I chose to go into the church’s sanctuary and sit, hand and heart open, sometimes with tears streaming down my face, as I murmured, “Lord, I wait on You. You are my life!” My natural inclination was to kick, scream, and blame everybody for my pain. But, I waited and He showed Himself faithful.
If you choose to exercise faith, God will make a way.
It
might not be the way you would choose,
but it will be the way that brings honor
to Him.
Don't be alarmed if you find yourself in anguish when your faith is being formed. Even Jesus was pressed to the limit. When He faced the Cross, He prayed for release, but then released Himself to God's plans, not with resignation to fate, but with a faith surrender to His Father's will! There is no easy road in the life of faith. The natural man craves security, affirmation, and vindication of self! The spiritual man is secure in the Spirit, affirmed by God, and is willing to wait for Heaven's revelation.
It's a faith thing!
The word from the Word reminds us of the critical importance of real faith, not the fake noisy words of faith, but the deep trust in God that keeps us steady in the storms. "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. … So, you see, it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. … All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. They agreed that they were no more than foreigners and nomads here on earth." (Hebrews 11:1,6,13, NLT)
(Video of this blog at this link)
____________________
When all I see is the battle
You see my victory
When all I see is a mountain
You see a mountain moved
And as I walk through the shadow
Your love surrounds me
There's nothing to fear now
For I am safe with You
So when I fight I'll fight on my knees
With my hands lifted high
O God the battle belongs to You
And every fear I lay at Your feet
I'll sing through the night
O God the battle belongs to You
And if You are for me
Who can be against me
For Jesus there's nothing
Impossible for You
When all I see are the ashes
You see the beauty
When all I see is a cross
God You see the empty tomb
(An) Almighty Fortress You go before us
Nothing can stand against
The power of our God
You shine in the shadows
You win every battle
Nothing can stand against
The power of our God
O God the battle belongs to You
Brian Johnson | Phil Wickham
© Phil Wickham Music (Fair Trade Music Publishing [c/o Essential Music Publishing LLC])
CCLI License # 810055
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