The Resting Faith: Get in the Word

 “There are three kinds of faith in Christ:

1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming.

2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat.

3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in).” 

If you recall, during this series of posts we’re exploring how we can come to a resting faith in God. In the last post we talked about the quote from D.L. Moody and how oftentimes the first step to being in a resting faith is simply asking God for stronger faith.

This week, I want to visit yet another very simple step to being in a resting faith:

Spending time in the Word of God!

"So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

Romans 10:17

Faith comes from hearing the word of God! What better way to get the Word of God than simply spending time in the Word? Sure, we learn about God when we go to church, but what are you going to do the rest of the week? Really, stop and think about it. What kind of relationship would you have with your best friend if you only thought about them, spent time with them, or talked with them for an hour and a half, one day a week?! 

I can tell you with certainty that in times when I’ve really been struggling with my faith, I have found that I really need to re-evaluate my time spent in God’s Word. Oftentimes I find that I’m lacking in this area. 

God’s Word holds wisdom, healing, strength, and love. It’s the story of how we relate to Him and what He has done for us.

Take just a second and think of the person you’re closest to... someone you love, respect, care for, and enjoy spending time with. How did that relationship develop? I’m confident in saying that the relationship you have was NOT instantaneous. Such a deep, personal, loving relationship takes time to cultivate, refine, and build. No doubt you had to spend time with that person, maybe even hundreds or thousands of hours. Yet now, your heart is built up by them, you trust them, you lean on them, and you genuinely care for them.

The same is true in our relationship with God!

The strength, encouragement, and love you will find by spending time in the Word will build over time. The more time you spend with God, the more you benefit from it. Ultimately, the greatest side effect to spending time in the Word is a strengthened faith. We simply need to spend time in the Word, absorbing what God has for us, and that time spent will help put us into a state of resting faith!

So you may be sitting there, saying

If I can offer one piece of advice, it would be, "Don’t go at this alone!" Ask a brother or sister in Christ to help you. I’ll admit, for years there were entire segments of scripture that I would avoid reading, simply because I didn’t understand it and thought it was for those “smarter” people who had theology degrees and all that stuff. But I’ll tell you, God has given us the ability to read and understand His Word. Sometimes we just need a little help with understanding the context and verbiage held within the pages. That’s where your brothers and sisters in Christ can help. 

We live in an age when we have so much information at our fingertips. I can’t imagine what Spurgeon or Matthew Henry would do if they had access to the level of information that we do. Grab that friend who you know walks closely with the Lord, and ask them to help you out. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll grow even closer to resting safely in the boat!

God bless! See you next time!     

The Resting Faith: Just Ask

“There are three kinds of faith in Christ:

1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming.

2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat.

3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in).”

Dwight L. Moody

I recently came across this quote from Dwight L. Moody, an evangelist from the 1800’s. If you don’t know much about him, Moody was a humble, devoted, and strong man of faith. At the time, he was simply living out his faith and spreading the Word of God in any way he could. Yet as we look back, we can easily say that he was one of the forefathers of the modern day evangelical movement. His service changed the trajectory of the church around the globe!

When I read the words of Moody, I realize that I don’t often take inventory of my own faith. After all, I spend so much time running, doing, getting, winning, losing, finding, preparing...and all the other “...ings”, that I hardly ever sit down in silence and reflect on my own heart. I honestly just rely on my faith being there, regardless of its condition. I suppose you could say I assume that my faith somehow always falls into the “Resting Faith” category. However, if I’m honest, the truth hits me directly in the heart that so very often I’m in the “Struggling Faith" or Clinging Faith” categories. 

I don’t want to have a struggling faith or a clinging faith (I mean, really, who wants that!?). It’s during those times when my faith is weak, that I feel furthest from God. Rather than feeling like I’m wrapped in His arms, I feel like I can barely touch His fingertips. The truth of the matter is that in those times God hasn’t moved, rather, I’ve slipped away. It’s not God who is weak, it’s my faith that is weak. 

So the question is, “How do I get to a resting faith in God? How do I get to a point where I am safely within the boat?” as Moody would say. Well, during my next three posts, I want to take a look at three ways we can grow in our faith. I hope to give you practical steps to follow that will help you grow in your faith and get yourself back into the boat! For today, let’s take a look at the first way to be strengthened in our faith.

Ask for it

Ok, let’s be real. How often have you found yourself realizing, halfway through a trial (or all the way through the trial for that matter), that you have not taken the time to pray. Yeah, I’m there too. Unfortunately, when we’re struggling with our faith, prayer is often missing in our lives. So if you find yourself out of the boat, struggling to get back in, spend some time in prayer. God wants us to be firm in our faith, so if you need strengthening simply ASK!

1 John 5:14-15 says...

^"14Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. ¹⁵And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

This isn't our free pass to get whatever we want from God, rather it is a path to align ourselves with God's will. God desires for us to look to Him and rely on our faith in Him to carry us through. Now get ready, because when we ask for strengthening of faith, God often provides it in ways we least expect. For me, it's not like I have a cosmic power up (like Mario devouring a flashing star), rather this strengthening comes in the form of words spoken through a dear friend, my wife, or even my kids.

I said we would have practical steps right? Well, here it is!

The Challenge!

For the next seven days, when you wake up, ask God for strengthened faith. I'm not talking about a murmur, "Yeah, uh, God give me more faith." I'm talking about a heart felt plea to the Lord! Ask Him to grow you and strengthen your faith in Him. Ask Him to show you what it means to have a resting faith, where you're firmly planted in the boat, reaching out to help others. If you do this, every day, your heart will grow and your faith will too.  

God Bless! See you next time!