Exercising faith is not a walk in the park-- even for someone like me who is always in church, praying, and reading the Bible. I’ll speak for myself and say that, despite what I know I think it’s often hard to maintain faith, to exalt it above what I see, hear, and feel because these things often feel more real. But after all these years in church, I also think exercising faith should become easier.
Anyway, what can I say about faith? Nineteen days into this month I gave myself the challenge to intentionally exercise faith, and I feel as though I’ve put my brain and my body through a high-powered wash. It’s as though once I made that decision, all forces of the world conspired to knock me off my feet. Most days worship music is the only thing keeping me standing. Praying some evenings feels like an impossible task, something that I do out of duty, to ward off whatever nightmare awaits me in my sleep. I’ve found myself wondering why I’m doing what I do: it all seems so meaningless. I’m not depressed --- I think I’m restless and bored with the monotony of life, of the routine, of fighting, of having one need after another. It all seems so banal.
Nevertheless, “this too shall pass,” as they say. It always passes.
It passes, and you have to pick up your shield of faith and sword of the Spirit and continue on. The alternative is to do nothing--and lose everything, even that which you haven’t yet seen.
I suppose what I’m getting at is, as challenging as it is, you can’t not participate in the battle of faith. Your peace of mind is at stake. Your well-being is at stake. And the things that you want out of life are at stake. I keep writing this because I’m seeing it everywhere: people are fickle, and the human heart is desperately wicked. And if you’re not pursuing what God has for you, another person is designing your fate for you, for what they perceive as good.
So, you must think that your life is worth fighting for. Even if people don’t think well of you, you must think well of yourself. Everyone is running their own race. It’s unfair to ask someone to run whilst looking behind to drag you along. Even if you manage to find such a person, at some point they’ll have to release you.
All this to say, continue to persevere in your faith. Whatever path you are on, whether you choose the path less travelled or the path chosen by coercion or fear, you’ll need faith to endure it. Fight for that faith because you need it to endure whatever comes with what you’ve chosen.
