Search This Blog

Monday, August 15, 2011

How to Deal with Spiritual Letdown

If we are all honest with ourselves, we have all encountered times in our lives during which we felt let down or disappointed by God.  So how do we deal with these instances without giving in to the temptations to blaspheme, doubt, and give up on God?

1.  Go to your father (1 Peter 5:6-7)-God cares for us.  He is not just our Lord, He is our Father.  He has promised never to leave us or forsake us.  He has promised that all things shall work together for our good, and He has promised to deliver us from all afflictions (Note:  He didn't say we wouldn't be afflicted, but that we would be delivered from the trouble).  God asks us to be anxious for nothing, but make all our requests known to Him.  Through Jesus' sacrifice we are allowed to go boldly before the throne of grace and seek mercy to help us in our time of need.  All we have to do is humble ourselves, be still, and know that He is God and He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.

2.  Pick up the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17)-The Sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God, is the only offensive weapon described in the armor of God.  This is important because doubt is a spiritual attack and we must know how to defend ourselves.  We see in Genesis that doubt is how Satan deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruit and we know how that ended.  We also note a distressed John the Baptist doubting Jesus when facing his imminent death in prison.  Jesus responded by telling John's messengers to report that He gave sight to the blind, healed the lame, cleansed the leper and preached the gospel to the poor.  Jesus wasn't bragging by sending His resume, He was referring John back to the Word of God that described what the anointing of the Christ would be.  By identifying God's character we are comforted in our situations and our hope and confidence are restored through Christ.

3.  Keep good company (Hebrews 10:25)-Satan loves when we convince ourselves that we can do this Christian thing all by ourselves.  If that were the case, God would have never said that it was not good for man to be alone or do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.  It is absolutely vital for us to connect with likeminded believers, especially in times of distress.  Friends in the faith understand spiritual warfare, they know the power of the tongue, and they shine light on dark situations.  Kingdom friends will remind you that greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world.  They will remind you that you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus.  The bible says that where there is unity, God will command a blessing.

I encourage you all to hang on in the midst of trouble.  We are all seeds of God planted in dark places.  As we grow we face storms and challenges of many kinds, but each weathered storm strengthens our resolve. Those that withstand the winds and endure to the end produce a multitude of fruit and are granted a sure reward.

As I was writing I realized I was including a lot of bible references, so I was inspired to add a little friendly competition to this post :-)  The person who can email me a list of the most bible verses referenced in this post by the end of the week will win a special prize!  There will be a tiebreaker in the case of a tie.

kalonda@att.blackberry.net

No comments:

Post a Comment