There has been a battle going on in my life since the moment that I accepted Jesus as my Savior. It a battle of phases, it is the battle over my Salvation, but mostly about the Salvation of others.
For me it went something like this… Becoming aware that God existed, understanding that God is good, and finding exponential growth.
Hebrews 11:6 says “It is impossible to please God without faith. I must believe that God exists and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” This scripture was one of the foundations of this process for me.
I knew that God existed but I was stuck at the part of was God good? My circumstances in life sure didn’t show that God was good. A miscarriage, financial problems and the problems of life went on and on.
What happened to the American dream, to the follow God and everything will be great? The closer I got to God, and the more I tried to follow Him the harder life got. So, how could God be good?
However, when I read this scripture I realized that there was more to faith than just believing that God existed.
70%+ people believe that there is a God, and our country, and world still continue to collapse around us in selfishness and moral decay. The knowledge that there is a God, doesn’t seem to be working to change much.
This verse sent me on a quest to find the truth about what faith is, and how to live in it. Because, my desire has always been to please God, I needed the answer to find out what faith is.
After much prayer and study of different Scriptures, it hit me that at its core, faith is exactly what Hebrews 11:6 says it is. I must believe in God, and I must believe that He is good. I must believe that as I follow Him; diligently seeking Him, that He is going to do good things in my life.
The problem that I had was my life’s circumstances sure didn’t feel good. Like I said seemingly bad things kept happening often, and the closer I followed God, the more I studied His word and the more I tried to serve Him the more things seemed to fall apart.
So I was stuck in phase 2 of the battle. I knew that God existed. But, I was having a really hard time figuring out how He was good, when bad things were happening. I remember saying that very thing over and over again. I remember not sleeping trying to wrestle with this Scripture and how to really believe it.
Because, again it says it is impossible to please God without faith, and faith is believing that God exists and is good to those that seek Him. So what do I do?
What I had to do was to believe… I had to believe that what God’s word said, was truer than my circumstances. I had to have faith. That was ultimately what it was all about. Faith, my faith grew as I began to believe God’s word more than I did my circumstances.
When I asked God for the faith to live this life of belief, all of a sudden exponential growth began to happen. Things started to happen and I began to really become a new creation.
Now, it did not mean that things all got better, my circumstances all fixed themselves, or that life all of a sudden became roses again. Nope, life continued and continues to be a struggle. The cool thing is though… I am not the same. I don’t react the same. I don’t allow my faith to be sidetracked every time something happens that seems bad.
I do still have times when I get hit by too many things all at once and I have a crisis of belief. I had one this week, way too many things all at once. However, recovery time was a few hours. Within an hour I was starting the process of finding faith again. Within 2 hours I was already starting to find peace again and by the next morning I was back on track.
This is possible because, at my core I believe that God is good. I believe that all things work for my good. (Romans 8:28) I believe that whatever comes my way, God has a plan that is bigger than me and He is good. Not just that He does good, but that He is good.
There were 2 final steps to coming to this place. God is able… He is big enough to create the cosmos, so then He is big enough to control what is going on in my life.
Also I have seen His goodness so many times now, that I know that even when things look bad, He is doing something for my good.
This has brought me to a place where I am now able to live more and more fearlessly. I am able to have more faith in God, instead of this world and the things of it. I am able to follow God more faithfully because, I am not always worried about stuff or what people think.
This has changed my life, and in the last 2 years especially, I have come to a place where I feel God’s presence and power more. I believe, and follow in more and more radical and crazy ways, and I am learning to follow without questioning.
This exponential growth has brought me to a place where I feel confident enough to write. I believe that I have a message for the Church. I can now speak that message, and share what it’s like to follow a God who is unstoppable and loves me in crazy amounts.
This leads to a place where I totally believe that the future is full of amazing and unbelievable adventures. I believe that people will be change, transformed and rescued by what God is doing in, and through me. I believe that God is going to use me for greater and greater reflections of His glory.
We have a fight brewing that make no sense, but God is calling us to step into it. I don’t know how it plays out and I don’t know what the result is… I do however know who will see the victory. That will be me, because when I follow God into these things I have already won!
I am excited to see what the future holds, and I am excited to see where God leads us, and what levels of goodness we are going to get to witness.
Where are you with the process? Do you believe in God, but aren’t quite sure about His goodness? Are you not seeing growth in your life? Are you afraid to follow and live by faith?
It is a process so don’t hurry it. However, don’t allow yourself to doubt God. Spend time in His word. Pour over His promises for you! Ask Him to show you who He is, and how good He is. His word says that He is willing and able. So find out for yourself.
Need to talk about it? Get a hold of me and let’s talk. Talk with someone else that you know that is living a life of faith.
Go take the world by the tail and show it how BIG your God is!
Leave a Reply