Misplaced Faith
DIY or Let Him Handle it
One of the most wonderful blessings of being a follower of Christ is the internal peace it brings. Even in the crazy state of things today, when I am quiet, when I spend time with Him, I can achieve peace.
New believers, or even those who have believed for years, may experience confusion when overwhelmed with the noise of life. I want to share with you how the Lord helps me when I find myself in this position.
How do I know when I am struggling with misplaced faith? Honestly, sometimes it sneaks up on me. As I write, Ukraine is on fire, figuratively and literally. My household is experiencing higher than normal bills, part utilities, part fuel costs, and part medical co-pays and deductibles. This physical world stress creates a perfect environment for me to lose focus.
I tend to find myself short of temper with those around me. I yell at the dog, or sigh loudly when I find something I requested fixed still broken. I wake up in the night, sleeping erratically, then struggle to focus through the day. I also experience increased headaches, aside from those associated with my seasonal allergies. More often than not, the symptoms interfere with my personal time with the Lord.
To combat the stress induced short temper I may increase my exercise. That takes additional time from my day, leaving even less time to manage everything I could not manage already. I might add an over-the-counter sleeping pill, or perhaps herbal tea near bedtime. Acetaminophen will handle the headache through the day.
In doing these things I am believing or placing my faith in that they will help me fix my problems. I look at my shoes and think, “I need to exercise. A good long walk will make things better.” Or, I may grab the medicine bottle and similarly thing, “This will fix it.”
What has happened is I have let the troubles of the world come between me and the Lord. He is the one I need to give my troubles to. He is the Great Physician. He created the universe. He can handle it.
What I should remember is I need to spend time with the Lord. I think I need to take a walk. Then, have an open, and frank conversation with Him. I can tell Him what is troubling me, and I can give it all to Him to handle. I can calm myself and listen to what He tells me to do.
I do not believe it is intentional that the believer cuts short the time with Him. We skip a little time here, a little more there, and soon we realize we have not spent time with Him in days or weeks. During this time, we are putting our faith in things that are not the Lord. We are looking to the exercise, or the tea, or the medication to fix things. We try to fix things ourselves.
That is not what He wants us to do. He wants us to come to Him. We are to request His help, and then LET him help us. A lot of times we ask for His help then we try to do it ourselves anyway. We have to let it go. We have to let Him handle it for us. It will be better that way, actually.
Wanting to do it ourselves is placing our faith in human activity. Giving our troubles to Him is placing our faith in Him.
