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(As Presented by Lisa Bishop)
A few weeks ago I was meeting with a young girl in her 20’s. As we sat together over a cup of coffee I asked her, “How is your faith these days?” As the Director of Women’s Ministry at a church in Chicago I have the privilege of meeting with several women throughout the year. Single women, married women, moms, women in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s. And whenever I meet with them, I always ask the same questions.
- How are you doing spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically?
- How is your faith these days?
- What is an area of your life or character that you sense the Holy Spirit highlighting that he wants to transform?
How would you answer those questions?
As you can imagine the answers I receive vary and can be answered differently by the same person depending on the season in their life. That is certainly true for me. Yet at the same time the responses I often receive can hold a common theme, particularly when women are struggling in their faith. When a woman admits that she is struggling, I will always ask her, “How is your time with the Lord? How often are you spending time in God’s Word, being present to the Holy Spirit and abiding in Jesus?” Not surprisingly when a woman is feeling distant, despondent and discouraged in her faith, the time she has been spending in the Word meditating on truth …is slim.
Now this isn’t a guilt trip or any level of accusation, it’s just…. true. That doesn’t mean that if you have consistent quiet times with the Lord you will be free from struggle, doubt, and trouble. I can attest to that!
But when you invest time daily, when you make it a practice, when you create habits of abiding in Jesus through reading and memorizing his Word, prayer, stillness, worship – when you practice these things and the difficult times come when your faith is rocked and challenged, you will have a firmer foundation to stand on as you weather the storms and disappointments in your life.
If you are not spending time in the Word of God, the truth of God and his character will not be etched in your mind and heart. If you are not spending time in God’s Word, and in prayer and simply enjoying his presence, you won’t remember the Scriptures to call on in times of hardship, you won’t be able to bring to mind God’s character. And knowing and remembering God’s faithfulness and character is what will help you to cling on to your faith.
There is a very dear friend of mine who I have gotten to know over the past two years. She has been married for ten years and has three kids. She is in a really horrible marriage. At a time when her faith was weak she wandered away from Jesus and started dating a man that was not a follower of Jesus. Three children later and her husband is still not a follower of Christ. It is making for a really hard and painful marriage. She has a lot of regret for the decisions she made in the past and as she says… she is experiencing the consequences. And yet… she knows that God is still faithful. To watch her go through marriage trials and maintain her love for and faith in the Lord is truly inspiring. She is one of the most faith-filled joy-filled people I know. She trusts God. Her faith in him and in his character is immovable. Her faith reminds me of 1 Peter 5:7 –
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
In faith, my friend continues to give her hardships and worries to God because she knows his character. She knows he cares.
Are there any worries or cares that you are holding onto and not bringing to the Lord? When you come to him he will not neglect you. You can trust him to care for you because it is in his nature.
When life does not go the way you planned, and it is a far cry from what you dreamed, it can be tempting to blame and distance yourself from God. I see a lot of people walking away from their faith these days because they are disappointed with their life, and they blame it on God.
All too many times we put our faith in the wrong thing: career, success, money, a promotion, a relationship, marriage, kids, being a mom, a wife. And when our version of life takes a detour or hits a dead-end…so does our faith. When your faith is misdirected and placed in anything other than Jesus Christ, when your faith is placed in things of this world and not the living Word of God, you will leave yourself susceptible to the enemy and his lies. And the enemy’s goal is to get you to doubt God’s faithfulness. Speaking of lies……
I was emailing with a friend who has moved overseas to be a missionary. I asked her how her faith was doing. This was her response,
Right now my faith is being deepened again. I continue to remember that we walk by faith and not by sight. My faith is being tested. I am acknowledging that this hard pruning season will bear more fruit in the future, so I am relying on truth from the Word, lots of prayers, and the Spirit’s encouragement to carry me through. I feel like last year was a lot of outside spiritual attacks/trials and this year is uprooting lies and things inside of me to bring me closer to the compassionate and loving Father.
I love my friend’s reminder that in difficult times, we walk by faith and not by sight. Her response also reminds me that we can so easily believe lies about God and lies about ourselves. If you let lies take root in your life, your faith will weaken. We must call out the lies and as my friend said, replace them with truth.
Some lies that threaten our faith are:God is not good.
God is not trustworthy.
God does not love me.
God is withholding from me.
God is not enough.
What lies is the enemy trying to get you to believe that have weakened your faith? Write them down and then write down a Scripture next to each one that refutes the lie. Renounce each one and replace it with the truth found in the trustworthy Word of God.
We need God’s Word, prayers, and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit to strengthen our faith and carry us through difficult times.
As Psalm 62:8 says: Trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him.
Trust in him at all times.
Did you know that you can ask God to help you trust in him?
Psalm 34:17: The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.
Your faith will be tested. Is it strong enough to endure?
I am reminded of the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. You are likely familiar with it but let me refresh our memories. (You can find this story beginning in Genesis chapter 37. I highly recommend reading it).
Joseph was one of Jacob’s twelve sons and the son that Jacob loved the most. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more, they were jealous and they hated him. Then Joseph had a dream that made his brothers hate him even more. In their jealousy his brothers plotted to murder him. One of Joseph’s brothers forbade them to kill him so instead they threw him in a pit. Not exactly a favorable alternative. From there Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt to Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh. Genesis 39 tells us that The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. So, his life seems like it is looking up after his brother’s death wish. Joseph had favor with God and favor with his master. While Joseph is working hard and minding his own business, Potiphar’s wife accuses him of trying to sleep with her. Joseph being a man of honor, a man of God, refused but stood accused and was thrown into jail. Again, we read that the Lord was with him and extended kindness to him. While he was in prison, he interpreted dreams and one man he interpreted for promised to get him out of jail when he was released but he forgot about Joseph for two years. Two years! For the sake of time, I won’t go into the rest of the details of the story, but Joseph is eventually released from prison, his position of authority in Egypt is restored and he ends up saving the Egyptians from famine.
Throughout all of his trials and I am sure his dreams being dashed (who dreams of being thrown into a pit left for dead, sold into slavery, thrown into prison – you get the point) Joseph stayed faithful to God. He relied on his faith in the darkest of circumstances.
All of his trials were not for nothing. God used Joseph’s trials for good. And in the end Joseph forgives his brothers!!!! He says, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.”
I share that story because through trial after trial Joseph remained faithful to God and God was faithful to Joseph.
We never know the purpose of our suffering or waiting or dashed dreams and desires or what it is producing in us and around us. But one thing I want to get better at is trusting God and remaining faithful to him even when life is messy, disappointing, and hard.
How about you?
Maybe you are single, all of your friends are married and you feel like God overlooked you. You desire to be married and you are tired of waiting… you’re losing faith and doubting God’s goodness. Maybe you received a diagnosis and you are wondering how God could let that happen to you and you are tempted to withdraw from him rather than lean into him.Maybe your marriage is falling apart or your kids have gone off the deep end. Or you were fired from your job or passed over for a promotion. Maybe your best friend betrayed you or your boss has thrown you under the boss. Maybe your deepest desires and dreams have not come to fruition.
Remain faithful to Jesus. There really is no better option.
Psalm 139 says:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
God knows you; he is with you, he sees you, he is trustworthy. Remain faithful to him.
Here are some more verses to encourage you:
Timothy 2:13: If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
Psalm 36:5: Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
James 1:2-4: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Consider that the testing of your faith is producing something amazing in you and positioning you.
I just read a post on my friend’s Instagram page that said:
“You get tested the most when it’s time to elevate. Don’t break.”
Do not lose heart! Hold tight to your faith.
When you endure trials do not lose faith. God is good and faithful all of the time.
Ask God to help you endure and persevere.
Ask Jesus to help you sense that he is near, right there by your side.
Ask him to help you see where he is at work in your life.
Ask the Holy Spirit to grow your sensitivity to his presence.
Ask Jesus for your faith to be increased.
When life is hard and my faith is tested I want to look back and say – God I trusted you.
How about you?