Faith is a very important part of life. Knowing God is the best part of my existence. I would not be who I am or where I am without my relationship with God.
In the process of doing life, however, I have seen many people who find God begin to struggle and then settle, or even give up on their faith. I know there are many factors in life that can cause people to waver in their faith, and in no way do I want to condemn or judge people if that has been the case, but there is a very important aspect to longevity in faith that I believe people don’t take into account.
I am convinced that understanding this fact can bless your belief, and not knowing it can absolutely break you.
Believing in God is not easy.
Many people think that if you make a decision to follow God, you will live happily ever after. But there is no scriptural basis for this. In fact, I have experienced how life has got a whole lot more “involved” and challenging since deciding to believe in a God who I cannot see.
In many ways, I understand people who choose to be atheist or agnostic or simply choose to not think about faith. Life seems easy when you are only dealing with the finite in front of you. If you believe everything that there is to life is tangible to your senses, then there are no big questions like, “What is my purpose?” or “Am I pleasing God?”. All you live for is what feels right. I find it interesting that the more “comfortable” or financially secure people I know seem to prescribe to this thinking more than the poorer, more desperate people I know. God is not just a concept for the unfortunate to believe in to have hope. He is not a promise for an easier life.
But God does promise a better life. We all have poverty in our lives. Whether it is financial, spiritual, emotional, relational or physical, we all have areas of our lives that could be better. Choosing to believe in God means constantly growing – and God uses the hard things of life to hone us. Choosing to believe in God means choosing to change the way you see life and the way you see yourself. Choosing to believe in God means choosing to sacrifice for a greater reason than your own present comfort. Choosing to believe in God means saying yes to things that matter and no to things that don’t.
If you want to grow, become more effective, and see the world around you impacted – then believe in God. But do it whole-heartedly. After all, a life of faith is one where we pursue Him, no comfort. There are so many times in my life where I am tempted to just “settle”. To say, “I’ve done my part. I’m happy with where I am.” But God can only take you as far as you are willing to go.
If you feel like you have settled for the norm in life; if you know that there is more to who you are, but cannot seem to gain any traction in becoming who you have been made to be… I would like to invite you to get to know the architect of your life. It may seem a bit strange; it may seem like there is a whole lot of your life that will be thrown into question; you may need to change more than just your Facebook status. But it is worth every single sacrifice.
A relationship with Him is the best thing you could ever have. It will outlast life itself. Click on the link below to find out more.