FAITH IT UP

Restoring Your FAITH with God

When people wander or gradually drift away from God, they often begin to feel that God is distant. God seems far away - and hard to reach. But the opposite is actually true: God is very near. In fact, He is standing at the door.

 Sometimes when you are faced with difficult situations, you can lose your faith. It can feel like God is not listening or He simply doesn’t care. However, it’s important to remember that faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not yet seen. It’s also important to realize there’s a power working on your behalf, even when you can’t see it. But when you learn to trust, despite your circumstances, you will see that your faith is still intact – you just have to hold on. You just have to make the choice to believe. When you find yourself low on faith, here are five ways it can be restored.

PRAY.....Prayer is the key that unlocks the door. Give God some one-on-one time. Have faith in what you are praying about, and believe it will happen. Pray for your family, your community and for the world’s well-being.

Learn to be Grateful...Look around at the people in your community. Think about how fortunate you are to have all the basic necessities such as food, shelter, a job or your health. You may have one of these but not another. Someone else may may have what you don’t have , But praying for what you have. The lesson here is… there is always something to be thankful for because things could always be worse.  Let’s learn to be appreciative of even the small blessings.

Talk to Someone Spiritual...Talking with someone who has been down the same road, can provide insight on your situation. They can help you rebuild your faith by offering some practical advice.

Reflect on Past Victories...Think back to a time when you were going through a tough situation. Ask yourself: How did I get out of that situation in one piece? You needed faith to come out and you used it, whether you acknowledge it or not. God worked on your behalf… and guess what? If He did it once, He can do it again.

Read Your Bible...Did you know that the Bible is full of stories of redemption. The didn’t have is easy. In fact I think they had it worse. But they had faith working in their favor. They didn’t give up and God eventually delivered them from their storms. Paul testifies boldly that "I", the self-centered life, has been crucified with Christ and that the risen Christ now rules in his heart: "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer "I" who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20). He goes on to say, "The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." In other words, self is no longer on the throne of his life, but Christ is ruling and reigning now and giving him the power to live a loving and powerful life.

Faith goes much deeper than feelings - we are to walk with Christ by faith, even when our feelings may be negative, or neutral. Our commitment of faith and love for Christ needs to go far beyond our feelings. If we only walked with Christ when we felt good we would be serving Christ out of our own selfishness. Love is tested, and love grows by staying faithful through the challenging times.

Every day is full of promise and hope. Have faith that all things are working together for your good. Believe in yourself, and know that you can do all things through Christ. And believe this: What doesn’t break you, only makes you AND your faith stronger.!!