I have found that the entire topic of walking the talk, or living our faith, or retaining our Christian belief to be one of the least understood areas in the classes I have taught. Why should this be?
In part, a lack of discipleship programs in the Church to solidly ground new believers in their faith. Yet, even the grounded will falter when faced with sufficient opposition often due to not keeping everything in perspective. As humans, perspective is often lost when we do not have fellowship, study and prayer all active in our lives…
So, from the book of Acts, a few tips on weathering through the storms of life:
1. For every opposition or situation ask, “Where have I seen this before?” (Acts 27:9-10)
Often we have read in our Bible of a similar situation; know of it occurring in someone else’s life or even in our own! When walking in faith, it is extremely important to have a grasp on history and other’s failures – or you get to learn from making the same mistakes!
2. The path of least resistance is seldom the way forward! (Acts 27:13)
Nor is it usually the godly path either! And having taken the easy way out, you will probably be faced time and again with the same situation until you finally learn to take the hard path through life. You know, the one requiring faith and not your pragmatic brain being used to find solutions!
3. Every problem has a life expectancy. (Acts 27:42-44)
We might think the end of the world is upon us, but in reality we rarely face a situation which is actually going to end the world, much less our own! We must develop an eternal view of situations – before – we react!
4. Never doubt in the dark of night, what you have seen in the light. (Acts 27:23)
When times are easy it is easy to have faith and not take notice of the daily miracles which surround us. When the storm clouds in our lives gather though, it starts to get a little harder to remember whom to trust in! Keeping a spiritual journal – of both the good and bad in your life, as well as how things finally worked out, is a great way to remind yourself and others that God is still active!
5. The most spiritual response is often the most intensely practical. (Acts 27:33-37 & 28:3)
We rarely can see the “over all” picture and so when we do walk by faith and wait upon God for how to deal with a situation, we are often surprised that the course taken is rarely one we would have chosen – much less have foreseen the effect of having taken. Yeah, sounds cryptic but as an example, think of where you could have lashed out in anger at someone, but did not. That failure to respond as the world expects may very well be the opening of a door to witness to that person. It might take years before you hear back in this manner, but I have been stunned at how often it has happened in my life!
6. Do not assume you are out of God’s will. (Acts28:3-6)
Just because things are going “wrong” in your life, you or others will jump on the “gosh, you are a sinner bandwagon!”. Yes, God could be correcting you, but I generally always know when He is doing that – because I know my heart way to well. However, God can just as easily be leading to a new path to follow, a ministry waiting on the other side! If you have been faithful, financial ruin does not mean the lesson is for you, it may well be intended for someone you know whom is supposed to step up and help you. Just because you fall gravely ill does not mean God is threatening you with death, you may need to learn about suffering in order to witness to those that do. Etc. God’s ways are not our’s, thankfully!
7. Do not miss God’s will on the way to doing God’s will! (Acts 28:7-10)
So often I have seen Christian programs simply die in the execution because we get in the way! We impart our bureaucracy and politics, likes and dislikes, play favorites, listen to those whom the world finds successful, rather than God – and the ministry flounders and fails. Everyone scratches their head and walks away, clueless as usual. If God has lead you to do something, do it. Do not wait, do not ask your friends what they think, just do it! Of course I am assuming we are talking about a Godly ministry and not something in violation of Scripture! If you are a married and feel that God is calling you to the mission field and your spouse disagrees – guess what you were actually not called be! (A very common situation, hint, hint!)
Yeah, there is no rocket science here. There is a question of character though. You need to develop within yourself the character of a Christian which can stand in faith and upon God’s Word. No one can do this for you, there are no pills, nor are there any books you should read (other than the Bible!). It is a question of your commitment to your Creator. Often as not, that commitment is not there because no one ever suggested that something other than singing songs, listening to a 20 minute sermon once a week and living your life is anything other than the Christian ideal.
Observing, learning, remembering, standing firm in your faith and prayer – without them you will be just another casualty of the next storm… And the point of your existence as a Christian is to bring glory to God – through all of the storms in our lives.
