Four Steps to Help Restore Your Faith

This past weekend, Stephen Meharg (CCV Pastor) kicked off a new sermon series, Unwrapped.

He used this C.S. Lewis quote, “But go to Him when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence.”

Ouch, right? It’s definitely not the most encouraging quote and apparently, Lewis wrote this right after the death of his wife. You can imagine the pain he was in. But more so, I actually understood what Lewis was saying. Don’t get me wrong, God is definitely so good and so loving, but there have been seasons where I’ve knocked and knocked and knocked...and nothing. Or seasons where really bad things seemed to keep happening over and over again to me or those around me and I found myself asking God, “when will this get better or end? Or why are You letting this happen?”

Praise God, I’m at a place in my life where even through these rough seasons, my habit is to hold onto my faith even when it hurts like heck. It might come after a little tantrum or a major cry sesh (haha) but for the most part, I don’t stop knocking and I trust that God’s timing is best for when a way is made.

Working at a church, I meet so many hurting folks who are struggling with their faith. Their valleys just too deep and the ocean too wide that they don’t know how to find their way back to Jesus’s peace. Is this you?

If so, here are four steps Stephen gave us to help restore our faith, and they stem from the passage below:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

1. Remember
Remind yourself of the valleys He’s brought you through before. Think of all God has done to reveal Himself. Don’t let doubt or problems blind you from the facts.

2. Remove
Sin can become habit forming, separate you further from God, and cost you much...get rid of it! Confess your sins and accept His grace.

3. Run
Stop trying to do it your way. Jesus already has a path laid out for you. He has amazing plans for your life and wants to see you flourish. Run the race that’s set before you!

4. Refocus
Make Jesus the center of your world. In your daily life, put the work in to get closer to Him. “The more you know him, the more you will see his handiwork in your life and the lives of others.” - Stephen Meharg

I pray that whatever dark place you are in or how empty your faith is, you would find your way back to Jesus. He’s there, Friend.