How to Keep The Faith When You Are Shaken

I am writing this from an airplane and for those who know me they know that I am terrified of flying. I actually used to enjoy flying, but something happened a couple years back and I experienced a panic attack on a plane as soon as we pulled out from the gate. The pilot had to pull the plane back into the gate to drop me off because I knew the flight couldn’t depart with me on it.

Flights are still hard for me. But God is such a redemptive God, because back in the fall when I flew He used a flight to change my life and ask me to take a huge leap of faith.  I will always be in awe that this happened on a plane. I was heading to Louisville, KY for work and I was reading a book about being brave and wanted sometime to reflect on the words I had read, that seemed to be written directly for me.

As I looked out the window, and I remember thinking how much I could see up there, and reflecting on how much more God could see. I felt Him whisper to me If you knew what I was doing, you would step out in faith. This came after months of my passions clashing with my reality. And that weekend I did a lot of praying and decided to take the leap of faith and begin to transition out of my job to pursue the passions God placed in my heart years ago that had just gotten stronger.

I was certain of that decision, I was confident in the One who led me to do this, but I can say that there were times that my faith was completely shaken, or barely there at all.

She was certain, but that doesn't mean she wasn't shaken. Click To Tweet

Have you ever read a portion of scripture and just not believed it for yourself? That happened to me around Christmas time. I was reading Matthew 17:20, and usually it encourages me, but I didn’t believe it… at least not for myself at that point. “The faith that is small as a mustard seed could move mountains.” Well that was nice, but I didn’t see any mountains being moved. It had been a tough week, and guilt had set in and I was on my face in tears more than I would like to admit.

He is God

I had a lot of questions, one being who was going to transition into my job as I was transitioning out. And the more time when on, honestly it was like the questions kept growing. But something happened that changed my perspective. Eight words actually…

Be still and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10

Let me let you in on a little secret about that verse, because it is not as simple as resting, reading scripture, and praying. (p.s. I love this secret!) If you look into the translation behind the scripture it would read better as let it drop, become weak, let go and know in the most intimate and deepest way that He is God.

I don’t need to know the answers in order to know that He is faithful. I just need to know that He is God.

So today, I am coming home from a work trip where I was training the person that is transitioning into my job as I am transitioning out. It was hard to keep the tears from streaming down my face sometimes as I have watched God take care of so many of my worries from the past month or so, including Him hand picking the sweet young woman who I spent the week with who is stepping into my role. It was so easy to see that I really had nothing to worry about because He was and still is in the finest of details. I still do not have all the answers, yet I know that He is God, and that is enough.

5 Steps To Take When Your Faith Begins To Falter

So what else has helped me to keep the faith in uncertain times? And how can you help others keep the faith when it seems like their mountains aren’t being moved?

Paul gives us the glimpse of the answer in his first letter to the Thessalonians (Chapter 3). He is telling the church that he is praying to see them again so he can help fill the gaps in their faith. That got me thinking about what helps fill the gaps in our faith when we are struggling to believe that His word is true, and that He is faithful. I reflected on five things that I believe help when us and our loved ones who are struggling to believe.

1.) Receive and give encouragement to others.

2.) Be quick to pray when your loved ones are struggling with their faith.

3.) Give love, and receive love from others. Right after Paul writes that he desires to fill their gaps in faith, he prays that the Lord would make their love for each other and all people overflow.

4.) Keep moving forward, because His word says that blessed are those who believe even when they can not see.

5.) And lastly, trust.

I think the last one could be the hardest. But a few weeks ago a friend was praying over me and she said that she saw train tracks. As we know there are gaps between the wooden panels on the tracks. And as she prayed she said that in-between the panels was the word trust. Trust fills the gaps in our faith.

What Helps You Keep The Faith?

Beautiful one, I would love to hear what has helped you get through times when your faith was shaken, and how you have encouraged others when their faith was weak.

5 Steps To Take When Your Faith Begins To Falter Click To Tweet