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!