Life is not always going to be easy, we all know that. There are times where families, individuals, and groups are pushed to their limits just to see how well they manage to take things and how they can move forward. The thing that you need to remember throughout all of this is that your faith will always help you find your way. But, it’s not always easy to keep your faith when you are being pushed to breaking point.
In this article, we’re going to be discussing some of the times where you may lose your faith a little, and how you can keep a hold of it as best you can. Want to know more? Read on.
When bad things happen, it can be hard to understand what is going on. It can be difficult to understand why you have to go through this, or why the person that you love is going through whatever they are going through. It’s not easy to cope when bad things happen, but that doesn’t mean that there is no God. In order to get through the hard times when bad things happen with your faith intact, you need to try to remind yourself that God has a plan that none of us know about. We do not need to understand why He chooses to do what He does, just that at the end of the day, there is a reason, and maybe one day it will be clear.
When You Are Pregnant
Pregnancy is a gift, we all know that. But, like everything that is worth something in the end, there are a lot of challenges that come for some women with being pregnant. It is emotionally, physically and mentally draining to be pregnant, and a lot of women start to feel their faith wavering at this time. It’s completely normal when you are in pain or when you are struggling emotionally, but you have got to hold on as best you can. There are support groups out there that want to support God’s children with their pregnancy, and get you through those hard times with all the help that you need.
When Things Seem To Be Going Wrong
Have you ever been in a position where you feel like everything is going wrong? Perhaps your career is going downhill, your family life is falling apart, or you just feel like nothing is right anymore? When you feel this way, it can be extremely tough and you can start to question why you. We’re sure that you have heard of the saying that God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers, so remember this, and show everyone that the mountain you are facing can be climbed when you keep faith.
It is not always easy to hold onto your faith, and very few people have ever been able to get through life without questioning at some point, but that’s okay. There is nothing wrong with questioning what you believe, because the answer will always lead you back to where you belong. Even in these times where things are at their hardest, having faith will help you get through.
Michelle S. Lazurek is a multi-genre award winning author, speaker, pastor’s wife and mother. She is a regular contributor for ibelieve.com and crosswalk.com and is a movie reviewer for Movieguide Magazine. She also is a literary agent for Wordwise Media Services. When not working, she enjoys sipping a Starbucks latte, collecting 80s memorabilia, and spending time with her family and her crazy dog, Cookie. For more info, please visit her website www.michellelazurek.com.
Featured Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
“WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?” (A TESTIMONY OF HEALING FROM MY FRIEND)
ONCE when I was feeling afraid about a physical trouble, I opened the Bible and started reading about Jesus Christ and his disciples, caught in a storm at sea. The disciples were frantic, afraid they might not survive. Not Jesus. He rebuked the violent elements, and the storm stopped. Then he asked his students, “Where is your faith?”1 That question seemed to look me right in the eye, so to speak. “Where is your faith?” it demanded. “In God–or in the difficulty you’re facing? In the promise of healing or in the prospect of failure? Where is your faith?”
Mentally I sat up straight, amazed to discover at that moment that I had plenty of faith, all right–but it was all in the wrong place! I had faith that I couldn’t master the ailment. Faith it would go on forever. Even faith it might do me in. So much faith in the trouble and so little in God!
This was a sobering realization, since my natural inclination was to trust God. I didn’t want to dishonor Him by doubting His care. After all, through studying and practicing the teachings of the Bible , I had experienced many proofs of His healing love, enough to be convinced that I could count on His help at all times. So rather than feel afraid, I could draw on my understanding of God’s invariably good nature, withdraw my faith in the difficulty, and place it entirely in Him. That’s what I did, and I was healed.
If you’re facing a challenge and feeling uncertain and maybe afraid, you too may want to ask yourself, “Where is my faith?” Is it in the prospect of a bleak future? In the specter of relentless suffering? Are your hopes for happiness and healing placed in the charismatic personality of a mortal or in material things like drugs and diets?
The point is, any confidence we place in the human mind undercuts our faith in God and thus cripples our ability to demonstrate His saving power in our lives. This is why it helps to identify any areas of misplaced faith, anything where something other than God’s goodness is occupying our thought. Then, as we re-channel our trust to the side of God, we’ll find we’re able to master life’s difficulties with greater poise and certainty. Our ability to practice Christian healing for ourselves and others will proportionately increase.
A growing faith in God is a sure sign of spiritual progress. It means that the invisible things of Spirit are becoming more real to us than the visible things of earth. The New English Bible translates the passage “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”3 in this way: “Faith gives substance to our hopes, and makes us certain of realities we do not see.” Faith gives us the courage to persevere through those times when, to the material senses, there may be no outward sign of progress.
If we’re consistently short on faith, though, this doesn’t mean we are unworthy of redemption and healing. It does mean, however, that we need to get to know God better. We need to gain a more spiritual view of existence.
The faith that heals isn’t the exclusive privilege of select individuals; it’s something every sincere person can attain, since it grows out of understanding God. And everyone can come to understand God.
Your friend -His servant,
Isaac Otieno