When Your Faith Feels Small

By: Lauren Thomas 

Happy Good Friday! The Christian life is based on the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. One of these we celebrate on Good Friday. The other we celebrate on Easter Sunday. But we sometimes ignore the day in between: Holy Saturday.

This is a day for those whose faith feels small. 

Can you imagine what the disciples felt between crucifixion and resurrection? They didn’t understand that “Sunday was coming,” that resurrection was imminent. Instead, they were afraid, grieving, disappointed, disillusioned, confused, doubting. Jesus was gone. This didn’t match their expectations. They didn’t have a way to make sense of their experience. 

 

Holy Saturday is for you, for me, for all who find themselves between the beauty of the inauguration of the Kingdom and the final consummation of it. It’s a waiting place, a between place. It’s where we experience grief at the loss of a loved one. It’s where we face the pain of disease and diagnosis. It’s where we feel disappointed, disillusioned, and confused. It’s where relationships shift and rupture and we long for repair. 

 

These are times when our faith can feel small. 

 

If you find yourself living in Holy Saturday, and your faith feels small, I want to remind you of Mark 9:14-26. A man approached Jesus, beseeching him to heal his son. His son’s situation was dire, and the man had already faced the disappointment of the disciples’ inability to do anything for him. The man cried in Jesus’ face, “But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22B ESV).

 

23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:23-24 ESV

 

Jesus did heal the boy.

 

Your doubt, my doubt, doesn’t diminish the power of God. God would have still raised Jesus even if no one on Earth had yet believed that He would. But when our faith feels small, we can pray like this man prayed: “I believe; help my unbelief.” We can offer up our minuscule mustard seed of faith (Matthew 17:19-20) and ask that Jesus multiply it.

 

Charity Gayle wrote a song called “Seed of Faith.” This song helped sustain my faith during a Holy Saturday in my life.

 

And You say

"Fear not, because I am the Lord, your God

And trust that I'm working all things out

So, in the field of doubt plant a seed of faith

And I'll send the rain”

 

No matter the doubt you face in your own Holy Saturday, no matter how small your faith is, plant that seed, offer that prayer – “I believe; help my unbelief” – and expect God to send the rain. Easter Sunday will come. 

 

Reflection:

Have you ever found yourself in a “Holy Saturday”? A time when your faith felt small?

How did the Lord bring you through it? If you are currently in a “Holy Saturday” season, read the passage above from Mark and pray this man’s prayer. 

Names of God Series: The Gift of the Comforter

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Kateryna Hliznitsova

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

~John 14:15-17

In our series on the names of God, we come now to a name Jesus ascribed to the Holy Spirit - Comforter, or Helper, as it's translated in this passage. This name points to God the Holy Spirit as being the One Who brings peace, the God Who comforts and strengthens His people.

I don't know about you, but this passage and this name of God specifically has become one of the most precious and meaningful ones to me in recent years. 

In the past 5 years alone my family and I have been through many a wearying life circumstance - we've been through my husband's 7 month long deployment, years of health issues post Covid, years of secondary infertility, financial difficulties at one time or another, and more. And yet I can honestly say, through all of it, that the Holy Spirit has undoubtedly been my Comforter. He has touched my heart so gently and so tenderly countless times through all of life's ups and downs throughout these challenging seasons.

Not only that, but I can also honestly say with my whole heart that I am now deeply thankful for the many ups and downs of the past few years because of how much closer they brought me to the Lord, how much deeper they made my faith, and how much more precious the Lord's presence has become in my life as a result. 

I pray the same will be able to be said by you, as well, as the Comforter comes to tenderly minister to you in all of your life seasons.

Reflection Questions:

1) What stands out to you about this name of God?

2) In what life circumstance right now can you be comforted by the Spirit of God?

3) How can you comfort someone else with this truth today?

Hang on to His Word

 By: Joanne Viola

As we enter these last few days before Easter, we need to slow down, quiet ourselves and push aside the outside voices to see what God has for us in this moment.

Jesus had entered Jerusalem. The people had lined the streets and “praised God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen” (Luke 19:37, NASB). They shouted their praises.

We are told Jesus could be found teaching daily in the temple. Try as they may, the chief priests and scribes could not quite find anything by which they could destroy Him.

But there was one thing, one small detail which Luke shares that irritated the priests and scribes:

”And He was teaching daily in the temple; 
but the chief priests and the scribes and the leading men 
among the people were trying to destroy Him, 
and they could not find anything that they might do, 
for all the people were hanging on to every word He said.” 
(Luke 19:47-48, NASB)

No matter which Bible version I looked at, they all said the same thing – the people hung on to every word Jesus spoke.

They were listening intently. It implies a level of admiration and respect, knowing what is being spoken is truth and much needed.

Moses, in calling the people to a wholehearted commitment to God said:

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!“ 
(Deuteronomy 6:4, NASB)

To listen to His Word without putting it into effect in our lives, is not to listen at all. Listening incorporates obedience.

Moses continued:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart 
and with all your soul and with all your might.” 
(verse 5, NASB)

Love will take all of our being. It will be no easy task, as some days will require more effort and expression of praise than other days. But God wants every part of us to love Him.

And Moses goes on:

“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” 
(verse 6, NASB)

Moses was instructing the people to give wholehearted commitment to the commands of God.

These words are so important Jesus repeated them and they have been recorded for us in three of the Gospels. God is quite serious in requiring us to listen to Him, to obey Him, to love Him, and to commit our lives to Him.

One God.
Who has one purpose – salvation,
May we be like the people that day and hang on His every word.

 

Reflection: 
What do you need to do to carve out time with God? How do you silence yourself to read and listen for God?

 

 

Photo by Anastasiya Badun on Unsplash

 

Disillusionment Is Not Bad

By: Lauren Thomas 

Disillusionment. It’s the experience of disappointment when someone [or something] turns out to be different from what you thought. This happens in our relationships, in our work, and even in our faith. 

 

Did you catch that? Even in our faith. Yes, from time to time, we can feel disillusioned in our faith. 

 

I want to unpack two parts of that statement.

But first, what is disillusionment and what it is not. Disillusionment is NOT a sign to throw in the towel. It’s not a sign you had it wrong or made a mistake in choosing that thing or relationship. Disillusionment IS an invitation to move into a deeper, more meaningful, and more aligned relationship, where you see the other person for who they are. 

 

1). “…from time to time.” Disillusionment isn’t a one-time experience, especially in long term relationships, like marriage, family, and in our faith. Disillusionment can be cyclical, because relationships are alive and dynamic, ever-shifting, always changing.  

 

2). “…in our faith.” Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). But we don’t always see him clearly. Sometimes that’s from lack of Bible knowledge. Sometimes that’s because he’s been misrepresented to us. Sometimes that’s because we’ve made an idol of who/what we want God to be, versus who He really is. Or maybe in all of the above, we could replace the word “God” for “faith journey.” We can become disillusioned with what it means to be a Christian, what it means to go through hard things with God, what it means to live for God in a world that is full of pain. 

 

We can experience disillusionment in our relationship with God not because he has let us down, but because of ourselves. He is constant, but we change. In fact, one facet of disillusionment is that it is often brought on by change or by significant events. 

 

I want to encourage you. If you are experiencing disillusionment in your faith, or with the Lord, this is his invitation to you to know Him better, to go deeper with Him, to see Him more clearly. Disillusionment is not bad. It’s an opportunity for more of Him.

 

28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Matthew 11:28-30

 

Reflection:

Can you think of a time you felt disillusioned with a relationship? What did you feel? What did you do? 

Have you experienced disillusionment in your faith or with the Lord? What did you feel? What did you do? 

If you had read this blog post before experiencing disillusionment, what might have been different for you?

Promise Keeper

By: Jenifer Metzger

If you are following along with the Woman to Woman one year Bible plan, this week we have been in Joshua. We followed along as Moses was at the end of his life and passed the baton of leadership to Joshua and watched as Joshua led the Israelites in a seven day march around the walls of Jericho. Now the people were in the land God had promised to them.

So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had

sworn to give their ancestors, and they took

possession of it and settled there. The Lord

gave them rest on every side according to

all He had sworn to their ancestors. None

of their enemies were able to stand against

them, for the Lord handed over all their

enemies to them. None of the good promises

the Lord had made to the house of Israel

failed. Everything was fulfilled.

Joshua 21:43-45 CSB

God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham in Genesis 12 when He said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” Many years later when it was time to take over the land, the Israelites had to go through some hardships -and some miracles- to get there. But fast forward to Joshua and we see they finally made it.

God is a promise keeper. He made a covenant, a promise, and He kept His word. It didn't happen in Abraham's timing. It didn't happen on Moses' timeline. But it did happen.

We see many examples throughout Scripture of God keeping His promise. He promised Abraham and Sarah a son; promised kept. He promised to rescue the Israelites from Egypt; promise kept. He promised to never destroy the entire earth by flood again; promise kept. He promised a Savior; promised kept. And that is just a couple.

What has God promised you that you are waiting on fulfillment of? Maybe that He will never leave you {Hebrews 13:5}. He hasn't. If you feel distant from Him, turn around. He is right there waiting with open arms. Maybe that He will supply all your needs {Philippians 4:19}. He does. Now our wants are a little different. But He promises to supply our needs according to His riches in glory. Maybe you are waiting for that prodigal to come home {Proverbs 22:6}. Keep the faith, never stop praying, live by example. It will come to pass.

When we are waiting on the promises of God, we need to think back to all He has done so far. All He has kept us from, all He has brought us out of. Recently a gentleman at our church said we have "spiritual amnesia," we tend to forget all God has done for us. When we are waiting on the promises of God to come to pass, we need to go back and remember what He has already done. We need to remember His faithfulness to know that we can continue to trust Him.

We can trust the word and promises of God because time and time again He has proven Himself faithful. His promises are always fulfilled because He is a promise keeper.

Discussion:
1. Pause and think of something you have faced in the past and how God worked in that situation. It's important to do this regularly, to think on what God has done.
2. What situation are you facing right now where you are waiting on the promise of God to be fulfilled? Does thinking to His past fulfillments help grow your faith?