Wow. It’s only the third day of the fast and I am S-T-ruggling.
My faith has taken a big hit. My confidence has started to crumble slightly. All the good vibrations from Day 1 are more like loud, rattles from a soon to be broken muffler. Heh.
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome in power
Our God, Our God
…
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
What can stand against?
~lyrics from Our God (is Greater) by Chris Tomlin (listen)
The good news? The lyrics above are money. They are encouraging. It was one of the songs I heard this morning during my worship time.
It’s funny how you can be on cloud 9 one second; super confident and full of faith in what God is doing only to start questioning days later. I can totally understand the waves crashing back and forth analogy in James.
James 1:6-7 (NIV)
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
The first day I reminded myself (and you) not be afraid to ask God.
Today, I’m telling myself to continue believing in faith despite the ups and downs I’ve been experiencing. It’s easy to tell yourself you didn’t hear from God correctly. Or it just wasn’t meant to be.
But screw that junk! *cue Rocky theme song*
Just as we have to constantly fight to guard our relationship with God, we have to fight just as hard to believe and not doubt. The things I’m praying and believing God are important to me. Important enough not to abandon ship in the first few days. ;)
And really, the only way I know how stir up faith when it’s dwindling is to press in to God. To kick it up a notch. Go deeper, seek harder, believe bigger.
To quote a good friend:
did you think it was going to be easy? its a battle! WIN IT!
So, what’s the report from everyone on Day 3? I’m hoping everyone is still on cloud 9. But if not, what are some challenges you’re running into?
8 replies on “Faith: You’re Hot and You’re Cold”
I’m so glad you are writing this blog. Please continue. I already felt like abandoning too. Suger is my biggest problem and video games. I didn’t realize I have such an addiction to suger. I have been trying to do this on my own and not leaning on God and surrendering to him. I need to remember through God I can do this.
Fasting is definitely very good at uncovering how much we’re controlled by the flesh.
But you’re right, with God all things are possible! So keep at it!
I know God can give you the strength to persevere and break you free from sugar/video games. I pray by the end of the fast you’ll realize how much you realize you don’t need those things as much as you think.
Prayin for you buddy…love that song too, seriously some of the most encouraging lyrics I know of! My other favorite is old school, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.
“Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of Earth will grow stragely dim
In the light of His glory and grace!”
Press on brother, you’ve got people behind you and beside you praying for and encouraging you…if you cant feel it give me a shout, you know how to find me, and Ill kick it up a notch!
Appreciate it man. Will you kick it up a notch by singing that song to me? ;)
“so easy a caveman could do it” :)
Do cavemen have faith in Jesus? :)
Since this was my first Awakening, in more ways than one, ( LOL! ) I decided to give up something and to do something. The “doing” was to walk every day, rain or shine, feel good or not. And Day 2, I didn’t. Sigh.
But, to add on to your analogy – when you have fallen out of the boat, don’t let go of the lifesaver! I just read in the Awakening book yesterday about how much God loves us, and for some reason it clicked. “Oh, He loves me!” And everything good I do or want to do is just a reflection of everything He wants to do for me. Operating out of love relieves me of pride and condemnation – if I can hold on to that principle. He is perfect, I’m not. So, I have already failed in what “I” set out to do, but He doesn’t condemn me.
Part of me is worried that I won’t experience the wonderful things that I have heard others experience, but if I don’t, I pray that I will hold on to my own small victories and encounters and realize it still isn’t about me – it is about Him. I choose to choose God, even when I don’t “feel” it.
I was supposed to blog yesterday, but I didn’t. ;)
That’s a good reminder. God operates out of love, so there’s not need for us to feel condemned when we fall out of the boat.
And I’ve had years where fasting hasn’t brought about any noteworthy testimonies. But you hit the nail on the head. It’s not about what we get out of the fast, but God getting more of our attention.