Fight the good fight of faith

Have you ever gone through periods of time where you did not feel the desire for Jesus burning as strong as it should?

If you have, you are not alone. And I would dare to say it is even normal to go through times where you may feel a little off with your faith or feel like your questions are multiplying more than your confidence.

But, I feel what I have learned is in those times, it is important to push past your feelings and stay on the path of faith in your pursuit of Jesus.

 

That is what I believe is called fighting the good fight of your faith.

In John 16:33, it says, “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.”  It does not say you might have trials, it states you will.  That is what happens living in a broken, sin filled world. But, it goes on to say, to take heart because God has overcome the world. Our trials are temporary compared to eternity. 

We know that God has promised us so many beautiful things and that far outweighs the trials we will face.

His promises are never ending and we can find peace in that.

 

With living in this world, facing trials and having questions that sometimes petrify our thoughts and steps, we can fall into mindsets and times where we may not feel like praying or opening God’s word. I feel like life can do that to you sometimes and like I said above, it is only natural as a human to experience highs and lows with our faith walks.

 

You can feel on fire for the Lord and your faith some days. So much so, you want to tattoo a cross or Jesus’s name on your skin, or want to climb a mountain and shout your praises to Him for everyone to hear. 

 

But then some days, trials can overwhelm us or the enemy can attack our minds with his weapons and know just what spot to hit to paralyze us and doubtful thoughts can begin to creep in and your mind begins to spiral. You sit there and wonder, how did my mind get here?

 

I know it can be hard, and I am not always perfect at this,  but I have found the best defense for when you hit valleys like this, is to fight. 

The enemy wants to keep you away from God and convince you of all the thoughts in your mind are true. He does not want you to be a person of deep faith in Jesus. 

 

So when you have these moments, get up and read your bible, even if you don’t feel like it.

Get on your knees and pray. Ask God to help you overcome this valley and to plant the desire within you, to know Him deeper.

Fight those feelings, those thoughts, and those doubts.

Feelings are just feelings. They do NOT define your day, your life, or your future. God defines you and it is all so good!

 

If you are in a season of difficult trials, do not base what God is doing in only what you see. He is working everything out for your good. You do not know what He has for you just around the corner.

 

It is not always easy choosing the christian life and walking that path. But, the day that you asked Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and savior, and believed in Him, you chose Him. So, you need to fight to keep following Jesus.

 

At the end of the day, we chose Jesus and we have to keep making the decision to follow Him, especially in the challenging moments with our faith. It is a commitment we made to God. He is committed to us, so let us stay committed to him, with our words and actions. 

I have just recently been going through a time of not pursuing God as strong as I should be.

I know that sounds not right and sometimes when we hear others say that, we can silently judge them and wonder how they can say that. But I believe as a human, you go through times in life of feeling that. You can get caught up in worldly desires or  going through a challenging time that can make you feel numb and just spiritually tired.

I know for me, during challenging trials, I  can use so much energy on stress and thinking that by the end of the day, I feel too tired to pray sometimes or open my bible and study.

I still pray but it may not be a long conversation with God. And I have only been clinging onto a few verses, then diving deep into God’s word everyday.

 

I tend to think that God is looking at me, judging me during these times. But I know that is not the truth.

God has so much love and grace for us. More than we can imagine. 

 

He knows our hearts and what we are walking through better than any person knows and He has compassion for our feelings. Jesus knows the frailty of the human heart because He walked this earth as divinity and a human all in one. He understands the troubles and feelings our hearts face.

 

What I try to live out in my faith walk, when I go through these times, is to give myself grace and know that even if I am repeating the same verses in my head day after day, I am still clinging to God in those moments. It is better to do that, than not turn to him at all.

 

And, I always tell myself to keep fighting to stay close to Jesus, even when it is hard. 

 

Even when I don’t feel like it, I open my bible or devotional and read a few verses. It always helps me and that is where I find my hope and peace, in Jesus.

 

If you have been going through a time of being “tired”, or a challenging trial, I want to encourage you through this. It is what I have been going through lately and I have beaten myself up over it but I know that if Jesus gives me grace, I can give myself grace as well. And just keep fighting the good fight of faith and Jesus will meet you where you are and give you strength to keep going.

 

If you feel like your mind is spiraling or feel like He has not given you strength yet, I want to encourage you with this:

 

 I was taking part in a 6 week bible study, right during a challenging time.  I just did not have it in me to study and be in the word. But, I knew that it would help me and in those moments, I always tell myself to fight to stay close to Jesus.

 

I was looking up verses related to the study, and came across one and after I read it, I felt God’s presence through it and felt He spoke to me. I love those moments when you feel Him sitting next to you and just speaking something personal into your life and heart. 

That showed me that even though I did not feel like it and was “spiritually tired”, God still pursued me and spoke to me. He is a good God and does not hold our feelings against us. If you push through your feelings, He will meet you where you are and recognize that you need that boost of strength from Him to keep walking in Him.

I hope that can encourage you to keep pursuing God even when it’s hard, because He is always pursuing you and will show you that if you need Him to, just ask Him.

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses..” 

1 Timothy 6:11-12 

Keep fighting.

All for Jesus, 

Steph