We are believers who do not believe.
I think that, personal weaknesses aside, people of faith do not exercise faith as we ought. We say we have faith, and I think we do, but when trouble comes, many of us are like the seed that fell on rocky ground, and because the word is not rooted, we quickly lose faith.
Personally, there are things that I thought I didn’t do or missed because of personal weakness. But I realize that it’s rarely a personal weakness issue, but a faith issue. It’s because of weak or no faith, that I’ve encountered some challenges. You may find yourself, like I was, going around in circles, not because of anything other than you do not believe God.
The word says the just shall live by faith. It’s not easy to live a life of faith. It’s a battle to get from where you are seeking comfort to the comfort itself. And it’s that place of uncertainty, of hardship, of refinement, of dependency that breaks us. And rather than continue so that what is broken can be mended anew, we separate from him in our broken state, declaring him unfaithful.
Yet, what is painfully obvious is that the process is meant to help strengthen your faith. We experience hardships in health, finances, relationships, etc.; but at the core of it, it’s our faith under siege. Because if hardship causes us to walk away from God, then our entire destiny is compromised and potentially lost. And it exposes our weak faith.
I’m looking at my life, considering areas of weak faith. I look at the adults around me, seasoned men and women of God, and still I see where they’ve failed to believe God. And it has made me conclude that human weakness should make us desperately seek God, rather than turn away from him. He’s the only one who can redeem, beautify, restore, strengthen and help. He is the only one who won’t come to say, “I’m sorry, I messed up.” He’s the only one who won’t say “I made the best decision I could with the information that I had at the time.”
I’m reminded of the people who walked with Jesus, saw his miracles, heard his teachings, yet still asked if he was the son of God. What answer were they looking for? If seeing firsthand his miracles, and they weren’t convinced, what would? If Jesus was to walk into my room this very moment, would it change me permanently? Or in a week or months’ time would I question what I saw?
A life of faith is not a comfortable life per se. It’s uncomfortable to hold your peace when you want to make war; to follow God’s will rather than your own. I’ve seen people make decisions that others look at and they say, “I’d not want to go through that.” Similar words have come from my lips.
We must not fear the discomfort that comes with taking a leap of faith in God. Unfortunately, we’ve become dependent on people who don’t see the full picture, and God needs to separate us from that. He wants us to be like Abraham, whom he told, “Come out from your kindred” and he did, despite not knowing where he was being led. He wants us to be ready to take what is precious and be ready to sacrifice it, believing that he is able to restore. He wants us to hang on to him, even if we are going through hell. He wants us to believe him, to allow him to help us – whether help looks like strength to endure, or strength to make an uncomfortable, seemingly unfavourable decision, trusting that he will make it all work together for our good.
I’ve certainly been going about it the wrong way in some areas of my life. I know he is faithful, but I’ve been moving as though he isn’t in some respects. I’ve let myself be tainted, in a way, by the lack of faith I’ve witnessed. I’ve been juggling both faith and fear in some respects, playing church. I’ve been afraid of the refinement of growing in faith, choosing to partake in the parts that have been palatable.
But I recently told someone that God is giving this generation of true believers a glimpse of himself that’s never been seen before because we are willing to take the risks that our predecessors could not. We have the boldness to sincerely believe God, where they chose culture and comfort. The ones who are willing to exercise an Abrahamic type of faith will see the glory and possess their inheritance in measures never witnessed. And when I said this, I think God was telling both of us that the word of God is not just words but power. We have not seen the power because we have been unwilling to take action to reflect that power. God is giving us an opportunity to build a foundation of faith that is built on his power.
Belief requires unusual, uncommon mindset and action. We must get away from being believers who do not believe.
