Sometimes its a Fight to Keep your Faith

Hard times come and go.  The storms pass through.  Sometimes it seems like we are drowning and have nowhere to turn, and no one to save us.  We are told that everything will work out for our good (Romans 8) but how often do we live as though we do not believe this?  How often do we lose our faith in God’s promises to bring us a future with Hope (Jeremiah 29:11)?  When you are going through a storm, and there seems no way out you have two choices.  You can run to God or run away from God. 

                Running to God means that you put your faith in Him.  You believe the promises that he has made, and although you may have to remind yourself, you live your life that way.  You continue to pray, even if people tell you that it is useless.  You grasp to faith because it’s all that you have left, and although you know regardless you do not have control of the situation, you know someone does. 

                Faith in God doesn’t mean that you aren’t scared, hurt, or broken.  It means that you are willing to look past that to a merciful God who is ready to comfort you.  Faith in God also doesn’t mean you have to like the situation, you just trust that somehow, someway, it will work out.

                Your other option is to run away from God.  You can decide to handle everything on your own.  You can decide that you can do things yourself, and you can accept control over yourself.  For some reason this seems to be the more traveled option, even though it is the worse situation.  You are putting more pressure on yourself then you are ever meant to carry.  Running from God separates you from the one who created you, and while God really does still have control, he will allow you to try and take on the responsibility that has always been his.

                People do not like to see themselves as helpless.  We live in a society that pursues self- sufficiency and there are a million self-help books out on the shelf for whoever desires them.  But when we come to accept that God is King and has everything under control, we can relieve the pressure that has building up inside of us.

                Faith can be a battle.  No one likes to be in a storm.  Life will teach you lessons you never wanted to learn, and usually, they are not taught in a nice way.  You will stumble and fall.  You will be walked on, cheated, maybe even abused or killed.  We live in a fallen world, but God wants to redeem everyone from their sins, we just have to choose to fight for our faith.