Day 2500 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Mark 9:24 NIV
I think this right here is one of those things that we can all relate to. It's like we get stuck in this weird middle-ground in our faith. We believe but we know that we could believe more. We doubt but we learn to not doubt as much as we go along. We experience victories but we still expect defeat. We fail and fall short but still have this hope that keeps us going. It's like this constant ebb and flow that we just keep trying to find our way through.
I guess the problem we run into is that there's two sides to our faith. There's the side that involves talking. That part we can usually handle pretty well. We can quote some Bible verses. We can engage in discussions with others. We can do things like I'm doing and share God's word. We can always seem to handle to talking about it part. But what about the other half? What about the half that requires us to live it?
That's where we struggle, and often struggle mightily. It's easy to say all the right things. It's easy to tell ourselves that we're doing okay, that we're going to make it, that God has a plan in the midst of the trials we're facing. But when we actually have to put that faith into action and really lean on God rather than ourselves then we start having issues. That's when we suddenly realize that no amount of talking can help. No carefully crafted string of words can help guide us through the battles we face. We're finally left with no choice but to give all those words their meaning by living them.
And it's not easy. There are just parts of this journey that don’t make sense to us. That's why we struggle. If it were easy then we wouldn't need help. If it were easy then we wouldn't learn to trust. If it were easy then we'd never have the chance to actually experience what living a life of faith really feels like. Our words can make it sound all peaceful and joyous and simple but in reality it's often far from those things. In reality it's a fight somedays. It's hard. It's trying. It's scary. But it's when we're pushed that we can finally see who we really are and just how strong our faith truly is.
I wanted to share this one today because I know we all need to hear it. It's okay to struggle. It's okay to worry. It's normal. But we need to learn to work through those doubts and questions by learning to trust in Him more and more. We can’t get lost in the worry. We can’t let the struggles become all we can see. We just have to acknowledge where we are so that we can understand where we need to go. We need to realize our weak areas so that we can improve them. It's all a part of this thing we call faith.
It's not often this lighthearted and simple thing that we often make it out to be. But it doesn't need to be. It's needs to be challenging because challenges help us grow. They help us spot those places that need some work. So it's okay to struggle, but it's not okay to accept it and settle there. We all have room to grow and plenty of opportunity to strengthen our faith by actually living it.
It may not be all sunshine and roses but that's okay. Calm seas don't make strong sailors. So just know that the struggles, the doubts, the weaknesses, the questions, the worries, they're all just chances to see what our faith is made of and the building blocks that we can use to build our faith into something even bigger, even better, and even stronger. Start by believing then believe more. Trust more. Lean on God more. There is no finish line in our faith. But each day brings a brand new starting line with endless opportunities!
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