It is very easy to fall into the pattern of just plain old thinking that “my faith is only in Christ,” and I’m sure that if you’ve been down that road you can probably understand how it would become that way.
You’ve lived your life in Christ for a long time, perhaps even since you were born, and you’ve always been open and honest and have had a strong sense of faith in Him. But as time wears on, God may seem less like a reliable partner in our lives, and He starts to take a back seat or sometimes actually take a back seat from us in everything that we do.
This is where restoring faith in Christ becomes necessary. When we don’t have any faith, and we begin to act like insincere people, we start to lose our sense of self-worth and identity. We begin to get depressed, anxious, worried, and many times even angry. We get sick and tired of life, and we start to drift away from everything that we once believed in and trusted was true.
So it’s not really that difficult to begin the process of restoring faith in Christ, is it? I remember when I was a teenager – about fourteen or fifteen years old, my junior year – I had this experience that changed my whole life. I’ll never forget what it was. Head on over to this link to find celebrate recovery groups near me and you today.
I was sitting in the classroom talking to a teacher when I suddenly felt this sinking feeling that everything I held dear was beginning to crumble. I began to cry, and the tears just wouldn’t stop coming, so I leaned over to a friend to help me stop. My friend laughed at me, but I continued to cry until I felt tears again flowing from my eyes.
That was the day I decided to make a complete 180 on my way to understanding God. I began reading more and reading some more. I read books from both Catholic and Protestant faiths, non-religious books. I also began attending church services again, both regular and irregular.
I began to realize how much that my life had meaning and value, and how much I loved Him, more than ever before! I didn’t know what was happening to me, and when I looked back I was surprised. I had completely forgotten why I was doing all of this.
I just realized that I loved Him and that He was still the Lord, the Only Begotten Son of God. I was searching for more faith, more time, more space, more understanding. I wanted to give Him all of my time, all of my space, all of His understanding so that He could be my Constant Face throughout my entire life.
When I began doing this, the Lord gave me the most beautiful piece of advice that I can share with you today. It was an aphorism that had been given by our great spiritual father, Elder Sophronius.
He said that if we are willing to put aside time for the beloved family, those who are dear to us, in order to be present with those who are less fortunate, we will find more time to devote to the Lord. We have to remember that we were mortal before the Lord became incarnate.
We lived a part of our lives on the earth, and know that life is finished, it’s time to move on and enjoy the rest of it. If we are to move forward, we need to be reminded sometimes that we have committed past mistakes, financial obligations, and other obligations that are keeping us from serving the Lord in his ways.
Sometimes, we might need to look inward and ask ourselves, “What am I doing wrong?” If we don’t find any answers to these questions, we might need to re-evaluate where we are with the Lord. He might be looking down on us and saying, “You don’t have what it takes.”
Once we start working on having faith again, we’ll realize that we no longer need to fear that another attack will break us. We might not need to worry about death. The Lord knows all of our needs and wants for us, even though
He may be moving us away from them for a time. We just need to remember where we’re at, and what’s next. Sometimes, just knowing is enough to get us to the other side.