Losing Faith

He is the Lord, God Almighty.

It is that simple and certainly true; being so - how do believers not lose their faith?

Amid the trials and difficulties of life, the pain that comes physically with age and emotionally through time's experiences, when confronted that we do live in an imperfect world where God does not always move on our behalf, does not always act like we believe He should and seemingly abandons us to our circumstances (or so we believe), how do we not lose faith in the Lord, God Almighty?

It is a difficult question; one that should be asked and considered - not in halls of theological discussion but in a real way; a way that renews our personal commitment and life for Him.

With physical pain and suffering, questions tend to surround the victim of pain. 
'Why do bad things happen to good people?'
'Why doesn't God just take me out of this pain?'
'What have I done to deserve this severed leg?'

These are but a sampling of physical issues that confront believers, but we tend to grasp some type of understanding with them. We can see cause and effect.
Sometimes, there seems to be no reason at the time for someone to physically suffer and then later find out there was indeed a reason present; God just revealed it at a later time.

With these things, we can cope - but it is much harder when it comes to emotional pain.
It is the pain of feeling you have been betrayed; it is feeling that God has let you down.
And when we feel this way we struggle, we struggle with being disappointed with God.

Let me give you some fairly strong examples of believers feeling abandoned by God.

There was a woman who was pregnant; she and her husband spent months readying the home for their new arrival whom they considered a blessing from God. The shower was given, the nursery prepared in soft, baby-like colors; family and friends alike were rejoicing with them.
The woman never had an ultra sound or anything else that would indicate a gender or a problem with the child in her womb. And the pregnancy had gone unbelievably well for the new, expectant mother.
But when the baby arrived, although arriving in a world of love from the mother, it was found to have one extra chromosome and diagnosed as having Down's Syndrome.
The couple had prayed for the child before it was even conceived; yet, they couldn't understand why they didn't have a child like all the other children in the hospital ward.
As time went forward, the child had other medical issues and the mother, who was now stressed and worried, spent herself into bankruptcy.
The relationship with her husband also went into default; he left several months into the new family he had fathered. Maybe it was jealousy over the amount of time with the child she spent, maybe it was feeling he had failed, maybe it was anger at God - but it didn't matter, he left never to return.
And while all of this was happening, the woman grew disillusioned with her faith until she gave it up completely.
Simply put, she just couldn't believe that a loving God would 'bless' her in such a way.

And what about the man who struggled with depression for most of his adult life while listening to sermons about 'living triumphantly?'
He was embarrassed to even admit he was depressed.
Admittedly, he had a fantastic job, a great family and conceded that he had no reason to be depressed. Still, daily he struggled to get out of bed and then it was only to struggle with suicidal tendencies.
He prayed and prayed and tried to 'confess' his reality - but he still had those tendencies anyway; soon, he felt God wasn't answering and later he felt there was no God at all.

These type of struggles seem to make the proclamations of many evangelical churches silly. 
The root of each of these situations we face in life where we feel despair is - 'IS GOD TRUSTWORTHY?'

Often, we hear evangelicals preach a sermon or repeat lines that basically tell us that God wants us to be healthy, happy and prosperous. Anything less than this ideal is because you lack faith; therefore, whatever is wrong in your life must be your fault.
On the other extreme is trying to rationalize praying and thanking God for the safe arrival, ministry and return of missionaries to Iraq, while other missionaries were caught, tortured and beheaded and we can only pray for their families.
If God is to be glorified for one, why is He not blamed for the other?

If all Christians are to be healthy, happy and prosperous, what does that say for the solid, elderly woman who has served the Lord her entire life - but is now suffering because cancer has riddled her body and placed her in constant pain?
Is our lack of faith the cause of the world's multiplying tombstones?

I think not.

You see, what we believe really, really matters.
God does sometimes act in puzzling ways and sometimes, He doesn't act at all.

Here on Earth, we expect God to act and move and do what we have seen and read Him do. When He doesn't move or act the way we think He should, we are sharply disappointed and begin to lose faith, one grain of sand at a time.
At times, we even feel betrayed; and betrayal in our emotional state is as bad as murder in the physical realm.

So, what are we to do about this?
Well, it begins with thinking rightly, because what we believe really matters to our life.

You see, what we revere the most about God is what we will value about God- it is also what we will become; that's what it means to be a 'follower.'
No civilization in the history of the world has ever risen above their image and thought of God, not in morality, or ethics or spirituality. 
No faith has ever been greater than their idea of God.
For the Christian, if you serve the Lord, God Almighty, then there can be no greater thought than your thought of God.
So, the real question is - Right now, what do you believe about God?

One of the problems we have today in the Church is the fact that so many have a very low idea of God. 
There is no one culprit, although some blame contemporary Christian music; others blame the loose morals of the publicly exposed evangelists; still others blame corrupt religious denominations that function like political machines.
This cannot be because each of these is a 'thing;' 
Christianity involves people with a personal relationship with the Lord. The blame on music, immoral preachers or immoral/unethical/doctrinally unsound churches is misplaced because the greatest blame lies with those who have let degeneracy continue.
None are guilty in and of themselves but rather, all Christians hold the blame for this low view of God because we have gained outwardly while watching ourselves deteriorate inwardly and spiritually. 
As a result, over time, we have sacrificed the holy for a 'common' approach to God.

It is important to think of God how He really is - not how we want Him to be. 
If you will study the history of the church, you will find that if God's people believe rightly, many of our temporal problems are solved.
These problems are also solved when the one, main problem is solved - the eternal problem that each person has with their soul.

In the Bible, whether it is speaking of Israel or a pagan nation, the degrading passionate acts and fleshly desires of worship began first with idolatry. 
And idolatry is a substitute for the real God.
When people believed perverted notions of God, it soon rotted the religion in which it appeared. 

The first step down is the surrender of a high view of God.
The next step is surrendering God altogether.

What are we to do about it? 
How can we preserve our faith and not go by the wayside or despair and disappointment?

First - we must never give up a high view of God; He is the Lord, God Almighty. We should never bend this view, and when others disagree with us, we can defend our belief but always in love.

Secondly - You must make the decision not to give up on God.
I know emotional challenges, depression, despair and loss are just as painful as physical ailments. I know because I have experienced them. It is hard to persevere.
But don't give up.

I have heard of people giving up and abandoning the faith because they could see what happened to Job in his book and their life didn't have a happy ending to it at all. So, they walked away from God.

If nobody has ever said this, let me be the first - it doesn't always work out that way. The truth is that some of the most precious saints I have ever known have endured some of the most difficult trials in their life and some of them without relief.
And sadly, I can't explain this and I don't know why this is; but I do know that God has used their faithfulness to bless others. Maybe that was the purpose; maybe it is something I cannot yet see.

Either way, don't give up on God.

Finally - Remember who He is and who you are.
He is the Lord, God Almighty; you are His. Nothing will ever change that fact if you are a Christian.

When I was dying of cancer, my faith did not waver; it actually grew stronger.
I did not know why I had the disease, but I had it anyway. 
Though I did not like the prospect, I accepted early on that I was probably going to die; but I was going to die rightly. I held to the truth that there were only two escapes; one was death and the other was a miraculous healing.
I was healed.

Yet, if it had went the other direction and I had died, I was OK with it because I knew who God is and who I am. 
If I had died, the worst thing that could have happened to me was heaven; my main concern and prayers were for my family, but I digress.

The point is that regardless of how thing are working out in the present, God is still on His throne and if you are a Christian you are still His child. 
And friend, there is a lot of comfort in that relationship.

In closing, I want to stress the importance of a right view of God; a holy view; a high view. 
A view that He is the Lord, God Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth.
It is to Him, that I preach each week and witness of daily.
It is Him who is to have No Rivals in our lives and No refusal in our hearts.

And it is to Him that I speak of when I testify and ask you -
Until next time, win one for the good guys.