Faith
may grow during a lifetime, but it is not always a steady culmination. Even the
most devout follower of Christ may lose interest in pursuing God.
We
can blame the world’s temptations, hard times, illness, or plain distraction on
this lapse or slowdown of faith-building. They are all valid reasons for a
person stalling out on Jesus. It happened to Jesus’ disciples, and they were so
devoted that they toured with him (John 6:60-66).
If
this happened to people who saw Jesus and heard him speak every day, what hope
do modern followers of Jesus have, we who don’t have the benefit of sharing his
company? I don’t have lunch dates with Jesus, where we chat about what I need
to accomplish the building of my faith. I don’t think I’m the only one who
doesn’t know what God’s voice sounds like. Where is that voice that we hear
above all others while life’s distractions fill our minds and seep into our
hearts?
He
is there, of course. He is always there. We feel his presence from the first
day we believe. We are taught how to reconnect with him: read your Bible and serve
others and pray and get with other Christians and go to church and listen to
praise music and talk to a pastor. The Bible tells us to do all of these things and more on a daily basis to remain in The Father The Son and The Holy
Spirit.
We
each are given the same chance of the gift of salvation. It is offered to all
and fits every one of us the same. We are not all given the same environmental
conditions in which to pursue him – some people live in places where believing
in Jesus can result in death – but the ultimate gift of eternal life is the
same for all.
No
matter where we are in our faith, we each have a difficult job to keep it up. The
world makes sure that our lives are filled with obstacles and distractions. No
one person has it easier or harder than another to keep the flames of
conviction going; God equips us with custom-made tools to continue
building our faith.
Easy
for me to say, one who lives in a place with freedom of religion, where my
parents practiced a Christian lifestyle and were comfortable inside the walls
of a church. Further, my upbringing and subsequent life were peaceful, without
regular fear or hardship. Save for a couple of bumps in the road, my path to
Jesus was paved pretty smoothly. I had only my own convictions to overcome to
see the light.
Sometimes
the crosses we carry are invisible, only in our minds. Mental illness, pride, lack
of confidence, self-aggrandizing beliefs, even laziness can steer us away from
God.
We can all stall out on Jesus. We lag behind and
wave our comrades in faith on ahead. Go on without me. Leave me here. I can’t
go on any further. It’s taking too long to get there. I’ll catch up later.
Thing
is, we can’t afford to catch up later. It doesn’t take any time to derail a
person from pursuing faith. It’s too easy to give up – Jesus isn’t physically standing
over us with his hand extended, ready to help us up, and when we give up, the
world is ready to catch us in its wave and sweep us away.
But
Jesus is here. God is here. The Spirit – here.
All are here to get us back up and on our way. It might take a faith jump – serving
others, a retreat, a new Bible study, making regular lunch dates with a good
Christian friend – to get us going, but our Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will
always be here to give us what they promise.
Forever.
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