An interesting question from our global online tribe came in over the Memorial Day weekend:
“Mark: My faith is strong one day and then weak for many days after that. It’s more weak than strong. Why is that?”
That comment reveals a torturous challenge and shines a bright light on this reality: Many Christians around the world are living with FAITH INTERMITTENCE where God’s light seems to flicker and fade.
Think of it as a “Faltering Faith” that comes when we take our eyes off God and rely on our own “power.” On this painful road there are days of majestic light with faith brimming over the edge that are bookended by days of oppressive darkness and choking doubt.
The unfortunate truth is that many believers around the world have more days of darkness than light. On this road of FAITH INTERMITTENCE, the enemy is invited to jump into the darkness party. He quickly obliges and then bombards our ears with lies about how inadequate we are…which is only true WITHOUT God.
Peering into the world through that lens of darkness can serve up another lie that says other Christians have “frolicking faith” that constantly bears spiritual fruit and blesses them beyond comprehension WITHOUT experiencing life’s challenges. Not true.
AVOIDING FAITH INTERMITTENCE
Here’s the very important question all of this prompts:
How do we avoid having intermittent faith that causes us to miss experiencing God’s joy, telling others about Jesus, and fulfilling our life’s purpose on this side of the Heavenly divide?
The antidote to FAITH INTERMITTENCE is to remember the many positive days where God has shown his faithfulness to us in the past and then focus on the character of Christ which manifests as: 1) His Greatness; and 2) His Grace.
“There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might.” Jeremiah 10:6
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
We need to DITCH our preoccupation with SELF and instead fix our gaze on God during the dark side of our struggle with FAITH INTERMITTENCE. WHY? Because trying to judge our spiritual fruit through the dishonest and introspective lens of self will ALWAYS take us to a place of swallowing darkness.
PURSUE HOLINESS
God builds our strength to fight off FAITH INTERMITTENCE when we pursue holiness. Meditating on God’s grace will infuse our soul with confidence that God WILL grab our hand and soothe our pain.
“Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13
