Struggling with Our Faith - Part 2

 

 

Our struggles with our faith come because God does not meet up to our selfish human expectations. He does not answer our prayers or provide for us in the way that He does for other people who claim to preach His Word.

This faulty understanding of God is not scriptural, and must fail in time. Isolated verses from the Bible, taken out of the context of the verses around them and the rest of the verses pertaining to this same issue, are not firm enough on which to rest our faith.

Our faith only grows firmer and stronger as we increase our understanding of God and His ways by considering the whole Bible in its context (Romans 10:17). God’s Holy Spirit comforts, guides and nurtures us in our walk as Believers.

The Spirit of God within us is the truest proof of our relationship to God. We no longer live according to the dictates of our flesh, conscience or human instincts.

Our life changes; we grow discontent with this world and we look forward to serving God for eternity. Reading and believing God’s Word fortifies our faith and hope and fills our Spirit with spiritual food. 

Prayer:

Teach us to humble our self and to minister in this world as a servant for Your glory (Matthew 20:26-28). We will stand firm in our faith regardless of either approval or criticism from other people, or how or when You choose to meet our needs. We pray that You will strengthen our loved ones in their inner being, so that they can believe in Jesus through Your Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16).

Thought for the Day:

As selfishness, pride and flesh decrease in us, God can fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness. - John 3:30; Ephesians 3:19

Freedom from Perfectionism

Being perfected into the image of God is certainly Biblical (Matthew 5:48, 19:21). However, the tendency toward human perfectionism in our daily life is fueled by a demon. Perfectionism drives us and everyone around us to perform obsessive and irrational actions.

This puts burdensome requirements on us, our family and our co-workers (Colossians 2:20-23). We are constantly stressed and worn out, and this adds to the negative atmosphere around us. Perfectionism and stress cause physical ailments. We spend too much time and money in doctor’s offices searching for a medical reason for our illness caused by perfectionism.

One great way to break this driving force is to start doing things less than perfectly. Allow the flatware in the drawer to slip to the side rather than insisting that it stay perfectly stacked. Stop using hair spray and allow your locks to dance with the wind (1 Peter 3:3-4). Wear shoes that do not perfectly match your outfit once in a while. Vacuum once a week rather than every day.

You get the idea. Stop attempting to perfect everything in your life. You will make so many other people happy and free, including yourself. If someone judges you for this deviation in perfection, that is their problem, not yours (1 John 4:18). If someone is upset because you are a few minutes late, this will free them from their perfectionism.

God wants to deliver us from this demonic oppression. We simply need to cooperate with Him to find our freedom. Do not hesitate to say, “No” to someone’s request, if it is not God’s Will. This gives someone else a chance to bless the person and to reap the blessing for themselves; and gives you some time to be still and know God more intimately (Psalm 46:10).

Prayer:

Father God, we allow so many issues and people to dictate our daily schedule instead of Your Holy Spirit. Remind us to seek Your will for each moment of our life, rather than to insist on our own agenda or to be a slave to someone else’s expectations (Proverbs 3:5-6; Ephesians 2:8-10). Help us to give others, whom we were attempting to control by our perfectionism, the ownership for their own lives. You make us perfect; it is not our job to perfect our self or anyone else around us (Psalm 18:23). We are confident that You started a perfecting work in our life and will complete it in Your way and timing (Philippians 1:6, 3:12; 2 Corinthians 7:1).

Thought for the Day:

Do not put an emphasis on perfectionism in this life, or you will be foolish, destroy yourself, be overworked and die before your time; the person who avoids extremes trust in the Lord. - Ecclesiastes 7:16:18; 1 Corinthians 13:6

Self-confidence or God-confidence

There is nothing on this earth that I want more than to be filled through all of my being with all of the fullness of God, and to have the richest measure of His presence until I completely overflow with God Himself (Ephesians 3:19). This starts at Salvation when we receive all of God's fullness. He moves in by His Spirit with all of His glory and power.

I know that there is no way to contain more of God, because His fullness already abides in Believers; but I do want to experience a fuller awareness of His presence and leading. Too often, we are so full of our self, that we miss out on the fullness of God within us. The more we allow our flesh and self-confidence to dictate our life, the less we walk in the Spirit.

We need to surrender to God the self-assured part of our identity in order to trust Him. People with a high opinion of their assets have so much to overcome, but those who suffer with self-doubt and who lack self-esteem are closer to walking in the Spirit. The uncertain, timid person is already light years ahead of most people. Insecure people trust God more than those who are secure in their self.

What we need more than self-confidence in our human attributes is our confidence and identity in God. John advised us to decrease, so that Christ in us may increase (John 3:30). We gain our identity in who we are in Christ, not in who we are as a person. There is nothing, which God calls us to do, that we cannot accomplish, once we realize the extent of His power within us (Philippians 4:13).

If we list our human assets and talents, we discover the gifts God gave us. For instance, what are we good at? What positive character traits do we already have? These are the areas where God is already shining through us. We are His light in the world (Matthew 5:16). God lives in us, and we have all the power of the godhead working through us. Now, that fact will improve any self-image!

Prayer:

Father God, when we face challenges in life, which overwhelm our faith, we are tempted to roll up our sleeves and apply some human effort to the problem. We fail to realize our limited human resources. Remind us that the nation of Israel faced such an issue at the outskirts of Canaan, and felt like grasshoppers. They wandered in the wilderness, because they thought they had to rely on their human effort rather than on Yours. Give us the faith to follow the leading of Your Holy Spirit each moment of every day. 

Thought for the Day:

When we gain our identity from Christ in us, rather than from our human capabilities or insufficiencies, we accomplish everything, which God calls us to do.