I understand…it’s tough to boldly move forward in faith when our circumstances are closing in on us from challenges with family, relationships, finances, habits, physical pain, or emotional trauma. (That’s the short list!)
BUT IT’S A CHOICE…OUR FAITH IS EITHER A WHISPER OR A SHOUT.
Moving from a whisper to a shout starts with flooding our soul with optimism about the full range of potential God puts in front of us.
When we feel God stir us to shout our faith, we should never allow the natural tendency to whisper kill the opportunity. If you are taking a fast-paced drive on the German autobahn when the traffic is heavy but moving quickly, and you see an opening amid all the other speeding cars, you better put the pedal to the metal and commit.
You Better Shout.
That’s why I ask God to give me the courage to live out my Christian faith in a shout. To help me fight off the easier route to whisper it through escaping or seeking comfort through worldly pleasures. To identify who needs to hear my faith SHOUT.
“For this reason, I have great boldness in Christ to command you to do what is right.” Philemon 1:8
The human default is to WHISPER our faith, but we must remember that Jesus did not die on the cross to have us hiding out in a cocoon because we got the short end of some stick we think is important…or someone we love hurts us…or our bank account is riddled with disease.
SO WHY DON’T WE SHOUT?
Whispering does not mean we have a weakened faith. The only thing that undermines our faith is not believing God’s promises and moving toward them in trust and surrender. If God knows everything, why would we want to keep our doubts out of our daily conversation with him?
Overcoming the insurmountable and its fear co-conspirator so we can shout our faith does not come from positive thinking and forcing the doubt out of our mind’s cinema. Overcoming the fear that causes us to whisper through the seemingly insurmountable challenges of life comes from trusting Christ and his countless promises of protection.
Shouting is not an episodic, occasional thing and it is certainly not automatic. We need to constantly and unceasingly pray for the strength to SHOUT.
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12
