Shift Your PerspectiveMostra

Have you ever had a situation where you really wanted to be faithful and trust God completely, but you struggled? Maybe fear or a lack of confidence got in your way? I want to tell you about a time when I let my doubt cause me to fail, but the Lord showed me how I was still a winner. I was fairly new in my faith when my dad was diagnosed with cancer. I had been reading about healing in the Bible and believed my dad was going to survive, so I was completely shocked when just three months later he passed away. It was an incredibly difficult time as I was struggling to understand why he wasn't healed. I could not comprehend why God allowed certain things to happen. My confusion led to unbelief. I still believed God could save, I just didn't believe He could heal. I was even more upset because I assumed God was disappointed in me, angry with my thoughts, offended because I was not being faithful, and this caused even more emotional turmoil. I felt like the man in Mark 9 who said, "I believe, but help my unbelief." I didn't know how to overcome these feelings, but I figured the answer had to be found in Scripture; there had to be someone in the Bible who could show me how to get through this. If you have read the Bible or heard of Abraham, you probably know he was called the Father of Faith. I decided I could try to model my life after him. I needed to figure out what he did that was so great. I started with his most famous story, which is truly amazing. It is about a time when he completely trusted the Lord to the point he was willing to sacrifice his only son. I encourage you to read it. Unfortunately, as I read about his incredible faith, it made me feel worse. There was no way I could be that trusting! Thankfully I continued to read and what I discovered not only surprised me but gave me hope! Abraham failed. Honestly, he failed a lot. The Lord came to him and gave him a promise, but nine times God had to come back and remind him of his promise. This was because Abraham repeatedly let fear and his own way of coming up with a solution get in the way. Is it wrong to admit that it made me feel better to know I was not the only one who doubted the Lord? I was thankful for Abraham, but at the same time began wondering how he could be called the Father of Faith if he continued to fail over and over. It seemed like there was only one time he got it right. I contemplated this until the Lord led me to read Isaiah 43, which says God remembers our sins no more. God chose not to remember the times Abraham failed. For those of us alive today, it is even better because when you accept Jesus Christ and He lives inside of you, the Lord sees Jesus when he looks at you. He sees someone who is faithful, holy, and righteous, even when we fail. We have the blood of Jesus covering our sins. Can you imagine that even when you fail the Lord sees you as faithful... I'd call that being a WINNER! Have you been failing? Have you faltered in your faith? Have you allowed unbelief to creep in? Have you tried to figure out situations your own way instead of waiting on the Lord? Are you thinking about just giving up? I'm going to challenge you to get up and try again! Try to be faithful in the next situation, try to trust God, get to know Him so you understand His expectations, and just keep going. It took Abraham nine times before he got it right. Like the great Vince Lombardi once said, "It's not whether you fall down, it's whether you get back up." Now go let your light shine!