How To Persist In The Faith
“I can’t make it, the marriage is too hard.”
“The pressures of work are too heavy, I cannot go on.”
“I don’t think I can believe in God anymore, I have no hope.”
“I am tired, burnt out, and fragile, how do I go on?”
“I have battled this sin for so long, how can I keep going?”
Live long enough and you will say one of those sentences. What we need in those moments where we feel we can go on no more is to remember that our culture is shaping us and we need the promises of God.
Our culture
We feel like we have lived with our current technology our whole lives, and maybe if you were born after 2005 you have. But the iPhone was only introduced in 2007. That is only 16 years. Think about how much our world has changed since then. Social media, computers in our pockets, the rise of YouTube and streaming. All of these technological advances have a shaping effect on us.
One of the most subtle but pronounced effects? We want everything to be easy, fast, and simple. Even the Christian life.
The reality? Life isn’t like that. Do not be surprised when in your journey with God through this life you encounter seasons that are hard. Difficult. Long. You will face times that wear you down to the bone. Many Christians of old called this the wilderness season. Our iPhones can’t protect us from that.
The redeeming quality of this reality? God uses the wilderness seasons in our lives for great good.
James 1:2-4
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing"
God’s Promises
When you are in one of those seasons you need to feast on the promises God has given to His people. He means to carry you and sustain you. Do you have faith in Him to do that? If not, meditate on these verses and pray them into the depths of your soul.
Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.
I invite you to write one of these on an index card and carry it around with you. Look at it daily. Meditate on it. Pray it.
Stay the course,
Josh.