Road to Reflection
What to do when faith seems weak: a true life story.
Welcome to Road to Reflection, a section where I pen my thoughts and lessons from experiences as an everyday believer. If this is your first time on Bud and Blossom, feel free to check for older posts here.
In the past two to three weeks, I have experienced some spiritual weariness that has started to creep into my walk with the Godhead. Perhaps like me, you have run low on the gasoline of trust in specific areas of your life, and find it difficult resting in His promises. Or maybe you are sailing smooth and everything is perfect with your relationship with God currently. Either way, you should read this.
Spiritual weariness is a period where a Christian feels tired or fatigued in their journey of faith. It is an unpleasant, uncomfortable time that every believer encounters at some point in their earthly sojourn.
Just as the human body loses its physical vitality sometimes, there are circumstances that weaken us spiritually. Intense pressure, sickness, suffering and the struggle with sin are factors that have the potential to dampen and even drain our faith and strength tanks atimes.
For some, the issue goes beyond the problem of man's corruptible flesh, or its wear and tear syndrome. It is the pain of having to war in life's battlefield as God's soldier and get multiple wounds from bullets of disappointment, discouragement and shattered expectations. Things didn’t turn out the way you hoped they would. You prayed, fasted and waited in faith. Yet, nothing.
Such moments are difficult to endure. You try to put your head above the water and push through the obstacles in your face. The wrestle with your emotions. The whispers of defeat from the enemy. The mockery of people who doubted your faith. Depending on your natural disposition to pain and failure, one's reactions may tow the path of questioning - did I do something wrong? does God still love me? did I hear from Him correctly? maybe I didn’t pray hard enough - into the deeper parts of doubt, disbelief and despair.
While we try to navigate around our emotional and mental spectrums, there are ways we can find our feet in these downtimes. God in His mercy, is teaching me through many ways that although Christianity is primarily guided by His principles, it is not regimented in a routine-rigid manner. As such, I prefer to tag the following pointers; helpful pieces of advice that are backed up by Scriptures and applicable to all whose faith seem weak currently.
Be Real with God
God knows us better than we can ourselves. He is a big God and can take our questions, wrestling and worries. Being honest about how you feel and laying it at His feet is a primary step to receiving healing. We see the example of Asaph in Psalm 77 who cried out to God in his moment of distress and affirmed that God heard him. Whether it is sin, unbelief or a rut, God desires you to be true and real with Him.
Remember His Works
Forgetfulness is a tool that the devil tries to use against our minds. When uncertainty, discouragement and disappointment occur, we tend to forget the mighty works of our Creator and the times He showed up faithfully. Many times, we become the Israelites who forgot God's mercies and miraculous power when they were delivered from Egypt. We get carried away with our problems and lose focus on Him.
In Psalm 77, Asaph consciously meditates on the works God had done in the past while searching his soul through series of interrogations. Reading further, it becomes evident that his trip down memory lane helped Asaph overcome his rough patch as he ends the Psalm singing praises to God. Thus, we must recall His goodness in our lives as it helps us reaffirm our faith.
Read the Scriptures
Besides being our spiritual food, the Scriptures provide comfort and renewed strength in difficult times. Personally, I have experienced the touch of God through specific books in the Bible that tend to have a theme of suffering (it doesn’t have to be the exact books for you as God moves through His Word however He pleases) in moments of extreme pain and difficulty. There are also testimonies from believers scattered around the internet and churches who found solace in God through meditating on the Scriptures and seeking Him in trying times.
Confess His Word
Not only should we read God's Word for spiritual renewal, but also confess them over situations we may be in. As children of God, we are called to replace negative confessions with appropriate biblical verses that address the situation(s) at hand. Whether lack, sickness, dismay, weariness (whatever it may be), God has something to say about every subject matter and only when we dig into the treasury of Scriptures though the help of the Holy Spirit will we find the gold we seek.
Furthermore, Romans 10:17 states that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Hearing is an action that requires the use of our ears to perceive words spoken by a person. When we confess the Word quickened in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, faith is released to our inner-man as we agree with God through our lips.
Pray
Prayer is a catalyst that has the capacity to change situations and spur powerful reactions from without and within. This is not necessarily about the length of prayer but the genuinity and consistency in our communication with God. Our Father always wants to speak and hear from us and we must learn to approach Him in prayer with our bruises, hurt and fatigue.
Invite the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is our Helper and Standby at all times. Never be ashamed to ask for His help. Invite Him in and ask Him to help during your weakest moments. We can always turn to the Spirit of God who is able to quicken us from within. He is our Comforter, Friend, Counsellor and Healer.
Fellowship with Believers
There's strength in corporate worship that cannot be denied. Various patterns in the Scriptures (such as the book of Acts) illustrate how the local assembly serves as a support system and place of rejuvenation. In a sense, the Cross represents not only a vertical relationship with the Lord Jesus, but a horizontal relationship with our brothers and sisters in the family. As such, no believer should isolate himself from the gathering of the saints, but lean on his spiritual family for comfort and encouragement during downtimes.
In Summary…
Life is full of challenges and only through Christ can we overcome. No matter how bleak things seem, Jesus wants us to continue with and in Him. We are called to bear our scars as soldiers in His army and forge ahead as He leads us onwards.