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We all know or have known someone who has given up on their walk with God. Many times they are family members, friends, former Christians or people we’ve gotten to know. Most of the time our reasons are based on a series of personal difficulties or personal negative experiences. The death of a loved one, divorce, we grow weary, we no longer want to be held accountable, self-love, self-interest, pride, guilt, personal or moral failure, false gospel, encounter hardships, we feed into our old lifestyle, of unresolved questions, we haven’t gotten what we’ve wanted, confrontation through God’s Word or a sense of having been let down by the church, its members or God.
Because of this, doubt begins to enter the mind and as time goes on, we
find ourselves no longer convinced by the formerly compelling truth. Often, there is a complicated
combination of factors that cause people
to walk away from the faith they once believed and lived out. There’s a video trending on Buzzfeed called “I Stopped Believing In God After Pastoring A Megachurch” which touched my heart. I found Lisa’s
testimony quite interesting because so many people can relate to exactly how she
feels. I find her brave to share her experience with the world knowing the
possible backlash that would come from it.
Her testimony
is something we’ve all faced at one point in our lives. We happen to think “I am
a good person” and do “good deeds” so I deserve to “a good life.”
God owes
me and needs to bless me because I’ve done everything right. We view God as a Genie in the bottle. If we “rub
the bottle” so “do good, pray and praise more, be more spiritual, try harder, attend
church weekly” then blessings will flow and will result in having a good life. When we don’t receive what we desire we begin
to question our foundation and God. And the danger is, THAT conclusion quickly
becomes the foundation to our understanding of Christianity.
But the Bible teaches us through the lives of many followers
of life that we will endure hardships in this lifetime. Jesus the holiest, Paul and many apostles, Job, suffered tremendously
and were persecuted. The one thing that can’t be
the foundation of Christianity is to teach or believe that if you’re
morally good enough then God will bless you and give you a good life. The
problem isn’t Christianity, it’s that too many Christians have adopted the
prosperity gospel. Without us knowing, it creeps into our hearts and we no
longer put our FAITH in the character of God. God’s word instructs us to get to
know him personally for who he is not for what he gives or doesn’t give. We
need to fall in love with him and not our hearts desires.
This is
my advice for anyone going through a similar situation like Lisa Gungor or a series
of unfortunate difficulties, is to please read and study God’s word carefully.
Don’t build your life upon your expectations of God but on his Love, for it’s the only firm foundation.
Job 41:11 – “Who has first given to me, that I should repay
him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine (God’s).”
Isaiah 43:2 – “When you pass through the waters, I will be with
you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you will not be burned, and the flames will not consume you".
Matthew 5:45 –“For he makes
his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just (morally upright) and on the unjust (unrighteous).
XOXO,
Niki
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