Tag: Jesus Christ

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Having Faith When the Situation Seems Hopeless

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 HCSB

How do you have faith when everything that you know comes crashing down? Have you ever felt hopeless?

I remember when I got sick in college. I had prayed that I did not have Lupus, repeatedly. In my mind, I was devastated because there was nothing the doctors could give me those two weeks I waited to find out, because they did not know what was going on. I was asking why me, why am I still alive, why am I suffering? I had lost hope, or rather I had lost faith. I had lost belief and trust in God because I could not understand what was going on at the time. I was thinking about myself, thinking about why did that thing had happened to me. But I remained prayerful, because it was the only thing I knew that would produce a result.

Of course all along I was praying, so I never lost sight of what I knew–which was that God had to heal me. Even though I was still in a vulnerable place, my faith was my reality and I knew that God’s word was truth. So sometime after I being released, I talked to one of my mentors. I told her that God was going to heal me and she said that God doesn’t heal everybody. I realized I could not receive her words because it went against the truth that God had revealed to me in my heart and in His word. I held on to that belief and rested in the fact that I could not accept things went against what I knew…and I can say that from 2003 to 2006 my lupus serologies were negative; it was positive once while I was hospitalized in February of 2006, and it has never been positive since.

I thought about these things today as I left the courthouse. I saw several men and a few women that have fallen into a state of hopelessness, or truthfully speaking, disbelief. They do not believe in anything and accept life as they see it as reality and their lives and choices manifest the evidence of it. And I asked God, how can we faith in a place like this? How can you have faith when the system (well, the legal system here in New Orleans, that is, and I’m sure several other places, but metaphorically speaking) is orchestrated for your failure?

I realized this as I got some news that would have depressed most people…but because I know that God has control of everything, I am faithful that it will work out and truthfully not concerned. We maintain faith in desolate places by remembering the truth of God’s word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17. It is the promises of God, and the things He has already done for us and for others that should serve as the foundation for our faith. I digress and I realize that most of you may not be like me; there are things that I know as truth and fact–The Word–and for those things there is nothing that can come against it. Being raised in the church and as the granddaughter of a preacher, one thing I was raised to know, was that the Word of God was, is and will always be fact. So despite doubting because I had momentarily accepted what I saw as reality, I was reminded of the scripture above that has come to be one of my favorites. Knowing or believing in a thing makes it a fact for us. When we condition our minds to acknowledge the Word of God as fact, all else fades away. It is at that point that your faith becomes your reality and the things you are believing God for are merely waiting in the queue, so to speak, to manifest. It is in having that Word database that you are able to encourage yourself and others when life may be saying otherwise.

So the key to having faith even when the world seems to be crashing around you, when everything you have known is no more, is in trusting what you know–trusting and relying on the promises of God. Even when your mind says no, you have to make the decision to keep trusting in God’s word. Trust in what He has done for you. Trust in what He has done time and time again and bear down in your faith and know that your breakthrough awaits. You must know that this situation and all others in your life will ultimately work out for your good, because like the Word, it is written.

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. Psalm 34:19 KJV2000
Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. Psalm 71:20 NIV

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Take A Back Seat

Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5 NASB

There is a song called "Background" by Lecrae, and the chorus says "Won’t you take the Lead, lead, lead…and I can play the background, the background and you can take the leeeeeeaaaaad (lol)." In talking with my friend last night, I realized the importance of losing control to God by remembering how I felt when it happened to me.

I did not realize how much I had felt the need to be in control of my life until I lost it. I mean virtually everything I had planned happened for me with no struggle: I graduated high school with no problems, got into every school I applied to, and even had school paid for. I was able to attend an out-of-state college in Atlanta which is where I said I wanted to be and live for school. I had a boyfriend and great friends, so my life was peachy. I had never been sick majorly, only colds and allergies that I can think of, and of course the measles and chicken pox. But there was really no opposition whatsoever. Then almost seemingly the world as I knew it came crashing down around me junior year when I was diagnosed with kidney disease. Everything that I knew had changed and that control I had unknowingly cherished was snatched from my grasp. I hated that God had even kept me alive because I did not understand why I had to suffer. I see now that it has only been growth and a maturing of my faith that has revealed the necessity of those things in my life as well as praying for God to lead me and show me how to manifest the life He wants for me.

At this point in my life, I know and take comfort more each day in God’s leading me. A scripture I meditate on pretty regularly now is Psalm 32:8, which says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." (NASB) I actually like the AKJV better because it says "I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go: I will guide you with my eye." God promises to lead and guide us on the best pathway for our lives and that He will guide us with His eye. I take that to mean that God will give us several things: a divine vision of the path we are to follow, ‘insider’ tips and information on how to succeed revealed by His Spirit, and basically an answer key to pass any trial and test that comes.

However if you are like I was, hard-headed and determined to live life your way, I am sure this seems unfathomable and totally foreign to you. How can a God you cannot see lead you? If you are honest, you’ve felt this way before too. I questioned everything and fought to get my way, which resulted in some of the worst times in my life…all because I wanted to do what I thought was best for me.

I have since surrendered to God and I pray daily that He leads me and shows me the way. Life isn’t easy, but God and His provision of the above–a vision for me to follow, tips (words to my heart and mind from the Holy Spirit, prophetic guidance from godly counsel, and the Spoken Word), and the answer key (the Bible), I have done a whole lot better than I did in the past. We have to learn to release the reins and get in the back of the buggy. We have to move to the back of the train and let God be the conductor. We have to allow God to drive the bus because He alone knows the way. We cannot believe that we alone have it all together and that God has no place or purpose in our lives. It was not until I finally exhaled to let go that my life truly began to take shape and take off. Get in the back seat and ride. Let God take the lead and show you what you need!

Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. Psalm 143:10 NASB