If you had to describe yourself, would you do so by talking about how faithful you are? Our would you use other terms that speak to a different feeling that dwells inside you? Are you doubtful? Perhaps you find yourself fearful. Maybe your feelings of doubt and fear have left you feeling angry, and now you’re hateful. All of those emotions run in direct opposition to being faithful.
Take a look at that word for just a moment. Faithful means that you are full of faith. All of us are full of something. When we find ourselves facing seasons of adversity, it’s much harder for us to be full of faith. Instead, we’re often filled with the other emotions and thoughts that we just discussed. However, faithfulness goes beyond a thought or an emotion. Instead, faithfulness speaks to what we know to be true and the promises of God that we can stand on.
When we face times in our lives that spark feelings of fear, doubt, anxiety, frustration, and even anger, it’s hard for us to remain full of faith. However, there are steps that you can take that will help ensure that you’re living a life that is filled with faith instead of being filled with things that are holding you back.
When Your Way Isn’t God’s Way
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.
One of the most difficult aspects of faithfulness is found in understanding what it really means. There are different types of faith. One type of faith includes believing that God is capable of doing anything that we ask of Him. For instance, in Joshua 10, Joshua asked God to make the sun stand still in the sky so the day could last longer and they could finish the battle. God did just that because Joshua had faith that He would. The 11th chapter of Hebrews is filled with stories of people who believed God could do the impossible and saw Him do it. One component of being faithful means that we know God is capable of doing anything and everything, including things that are beyond what we have asked.
However, there is another type of faith. That type of faith means that we trust God and His plan for our lives even when it doesn’t look like our plans for our lives. Each of us have an idea of how we think things in our lives should work out. However, one of the most important parts of being faithful, filled with faith, means that we accept that God’s plan is infinitely better than ours.
Today, if you’re struggling with being faithful, take a moment and consider the type of faith that you’re currently exercising. If you’re believing God is able to do exactly what you want Him to do, you are correct. He can do anything. However, you may need to shift your faith into a place where you trust that whatever God decides to do is best for you.
Faithfulness is Based on Knowing
1 John 4:1 (NIV)
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
While today’s study isn’t about false prophets, there is still a lot that we can learn from the first part of this verse in regards to how to remain faithful. No matter how much we may try to deny it, we’re all emotional people. Some people, often males, try to say that they’re not emotional, but that’s simply not the case. Let someone cut you off in traffic, and see if you don’t have an emotional outburst, even if it’s a brief one. Let someone jump out of a dark room and scare you, and see if you don’t experience the emotion of fear. We’re all emotionally wired people to some degree.
Our faith isn’t based on emotions. That’s not to say that emotions are bad, but it’s simply the truth. Our faith in God is not based on emotions and feelings. Instead, our faith is based on what we know to be true. No matter how our emotions may be pulling us in different directions, our faith in God, what we know of His character, and the attributes that we learn of Him in His Word should be the grounding force in our lives.
Our faithfulness in God isn’t based on what we’re feeling. Instead, it is based on what we know about Him. In John 6, many of the disciples had walked away from Christ because of His “hard teachings.” They felt offended, confused, and even angry. When Jesus asked the 12 disciples if they were going to leave, Peter said, “Where else would we go Lord? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter wasn’t focusing on what feelings he may have been experiencing. Instead, He focused on what he knew. He remained faithful. When we truly know God, we can remain faithful to Him, as our faith is stronger than our feelings.
Remind Yourself of His Faithfulness
1 Samuel 17:34-35 (NIV)
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”
David had every reason in the world to feel anything but faith. After all, his older brothers and the rest of the Israelite army were hiding in their tents, cowering in the face of Goliath’s threats. When David arrived with some food for his brothers, he was outraged at their lack of faith. David, who was only a teenager at the time, walked up to King Saul and told him that he would face the giant.
Before David stepped out into the Valley of Elah to confront the giant, he started talking about the faithfulness of God that he had already seen in his life. David had spent years working as a shepherd. Over those years, he had seen predators try to come into the flock to take away his sheep. Each time, David jumped onto the wild animals, grabbed them by the hair, killed them, and reclaimed his sheep.
Just before he went out to face Goliath, David told Saul those stories. Why? Saul didn’t particularly care about David’s ability to kill wild animals. In fact, Saul assumed that David was going to go get himself killed by Goliath. David wasn’t telling Saul a story for Saul’s benefit. Instead, he was reminding himself about God’s faithfulness.
David had been able to kill lions and bears who raided his flocks because God’s hand was on David. God had a plan for David’s life and dying by mauling wasn’t part of those plans. David had seen God’s faithfulness. In a moment in which he needed that faithfulness again, he reminded himself about what God had done.
If you want to increase your faithfulness, remind yourself of God’s faithfulness. When we recognize that He has always been faithful, it’s much easier for us to remain faithful.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I want to be filled with faith instead of being filled with fear, doubt, anger, and anything else that would separate me from You. Remind me of Your faithfulness in my life. Help me to trust in Your better plan for my life. I ask these things in the Holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.