Thursday, August 21, 2014

The Frustrations of Being A Christian


Sometimes it can be extremely discouraging to be a Christian.

Yeah, I know that Jesus promises us a more abundant life and all (John 10:10), but some days it's just plain hard.

Here you are, full of doubts, worries, feeling drained, you haven't felt close to God lately, you feel so overwhelmed and then you look around at the Christians around you. They seem to all have their lives together. It seems like their faith is ALWAYS on ten, they make huge sacrifices to spend time with God, they read regularly and pray any chance they get, they are walking in His will and doing what He has called them to do, they are always so eager to go to church, and you find them quoting Bible verses and talking about how good God is all the time.

From looking at their life compared to your own, it seems like you're not doing a very good job at "being a Christian". As a matter of fact, it seems like every attempt you make at being a "good Christian" fails.

You try to read the Bible, but it's just like you're reading words that don't really make sense to you. You try to pray, but you feel so distant from God that you begin to wonder if it's really worth it. You lift your hands in worship, but you still don't feel anything. Or maybe you don't lift your hands because you don't feel anything and you think it's pointless to even pretend.

If you feel anything that I listed above, I can guarantee that you are not alone. Often times, we have this picture perfect image of what a Christian is "supposed" to be, and then we compare that image to the people around us and to ourselves. We end up looking down on ourselves because we see all of our downfalls and mess-ups and we clearly don't fit that image, but then we look at the small piece of the lifestyles that other Christians make available to us, and we assume that they fit this picture perfect image, simply because it's all that they allow us to see. We don't see the days they grow weary because they are finding it hard to trust God, the nights they fall asleep without spending time with Him, the many moments they spend questioning God in their thoughts. We don't see any of that. We only see what they put on the table and make available for us to see, and that's never the whole story. We don't see what goes on behind the scenes. We don't see what goes on in their personal walks with God except for what they choose to show us.

Someone somewhere has felt the exact same way at some point in their walk that you are feeling now. Probably more people than you know, but you don't know that because they don't make it known to the public. What you see in the pulpit, in the choir, at the front of the Sunday School classroom, on social media, etc is NEVER the full story.

Every Christian is fighting some sort of battle. It may not be the same battle that you are facing, but both God and Satan are fighting over our lives. We are constantly being pulled in two different directions, and it's not always easy going in the direction that leads to God. 

It's not easy, but we were never promised an easy life. An abundant life doesn't mean it will be easy. A peaceful life doesn't mean you won't still have battles to face. Jesus even said it Himself, "In me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). He clearly says that this life is not easy and you will have trouble. There will be days when you don't know if you can keep going because of everything that you're dealing with. But Jesus doesn't stop there. In that same verse He continues. He says, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." He doesn't just tell us that we're going to have trouble, and then leave it at that. He gives us a solution to the problem. He tells us to take heart. Other translations say: take courage, be of good cheer, be courageous, cheer up, have confidence.

Don't let the lives of other Christians discourage you. Don't let their seemingly perfect lives make you feel like you're not doing it right. Don't look at other people and let the picture of their lives determine what your relationship with God should look like. Don't seek to be like another person more than you are seeking to be like Christ.

Don't think something is wrong with you if you are struggling. You are not the only Christian out there struggling with your faith. You are not the only Christian being tempted to give in and just say "forget it" to all that God has promised you because you can't see how it will happen based on everything that is going on all around you.

Don't listen to yourself or to the enemy telling you the lies that you're the only person dealing with these things, or that you aren't good enough so you shouldn't even try, or that you aren't doing enough so you should stop trying altogether.

I can promise you that you're not the only person who has felt like that. I know I have felt all of those things, and sometimes I still do. But guess what? I don't let those feelings stop me. I keep going. I keep fighting the good fight of faith. I keep pursuing God because even if it didn't seem like it is working, it is.


And the same thing goes for you now. If you are tired of trying to pursue God because you don't feel anything, or you can't tell if He's really there or not, or if He's listening, or if He even cares; I can guarantee you that He does.

Jesus already knew that this life would bring us disappointment, frustration, worries, etc. He doesn't ever say "Now that you are following me, your life will be perfect and everything will be easy and you will always be happy and never have to face any hardships." If somebody told you that being a Christian was like that, then that person must not be a Christian because they're wrong.

God knows we will have worries, which is why He tells us not to worry and to just hand it over to Him (Psalms 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6-7). Jesus knew that following Him would be wearisome and burdening, which is why He offered to give us rest when we come to Him (Matthew 11:28-30). God knows this life isn't a piece of cake, and again Jesus makes that clear to us in John 16:33.

Don't let the frustrations you experience in your walk with Christ hinder you from continuing to walk with Him.

Often times it won't be easy. That's not what we signed up for! It's not easy, but it will be worth it.

So for now, don't give up, keep pushing, keep pursuing & seeking Christ, and keep on keeping on.

Look at these examples, and follow suit:
"I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." -Philippians 3:14

"For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." -Hebrews 10:36



God bless! ♡
-Elisha :)