Has anyone ever expressed to you that some recent tragedy or heartbreak has them teetering on the brink of losing their faith? Have you wrestled with this issue before or… are you wrestling with it right now?
While it might seem as if suffering some singular sucker-punching event is to blame, that isn’t the most likely cause of our faith struggles.
The child of God is faced with daily choices that will impact how his relationship with Jesus plays out. Jesus laid out for us a simple rule of thumb – a gracious promise, really – to guide and keep us in a vibrant, life-long relationship with him. He said:
Remain in me, and I will remain in you” (John 15:4 NIV).
Notice there is no threat or coercion in Jesus’ words. They sound, in fact, like more of an invitation. So how will a believer RSVP to Jesus’ invitation/promise? He can see Jesus’ promise fulfilled as he remains in him through a steady diet of devotion, study, and worship, which allow the Bible to sustain and strengthen faith; or, he can see the negative corollary to Jesus’ promise fulfilled as he drifts away from him through a steady desertion of devotion, study, and worship, without which the Bible cannot sustain and strengthen faith. Either way, Jesus is keeping his promise. The child of God determines in what way by his use – or neglect – of God’s Word.
Gradually, what may have at one time been a strong and healthy relationship with the Savior Jesus erodes into a distant memory, or digresses into a relationship like a social media friendship, which can deceive us into thinking we have a real relationship simply because we’ve scrolled past occasional updates in our newsfeed, but have not actually engaged or interacted with a person for years.
But it doesn’t seem that way in our mind. What it seems like is this: when tragedy strikes, then all of a sudden the blame is placed squarely on God’s shoulders. In the midst of pain and heartbreak, among the swirling questions of “How could God let this happen?”, the conclusion is drawn: “This singular event has caused or is causing me to lose my faith in God.”
Only that’s not very likely true. Truthfully, faith in God has been dwindling for some time, because his Word has been far away, and so then has he. While it might feel like this singular event is the cause of resentment driving a person to slam the door in God’s face and be done with him, the reality is that the person has probably just been slowly shutting the door on his face for a long time already.
When awareness of this hits a person, something profound happens. It’s called guilt. And there are really two ways to respond to that feeling of guilt. One, which Satan loves, is to pretend the guilt can be washed off our hands by simply washing ourselves clean from God. “Be done with him and the guilt goes away and you’ll feel much better.” This response is the real tragedy.
The other, God-desired response, is to run back into the loving arms of the Father, in true prodigal son-like fashion, and weep tears of joy as he welcomes you back. Mark this: he will always welcome you back. Always. Since all sin – even our relationship ruining neglect – has been paid for in full through Jesus, the Father’s arms are always open and waiting.
Dear friend, no singular event, no matter how tragic or terrible, causes us to lose our faith in God. Don’t allow faith to weaken to the point of believing such a lie. Yet, no matter how weak it may be, faith can always be reforged in the Father’s arms. It’s not too late to run back to him. It never is, even – especially! – in the face of tragedy.
