A Little Schizophrenic?
Do you ever feel a bit schizophrenic in your faith? One minute strong and confident, sure of God’s care and provision; and the next feeling useless and wondering why God has abandoned you?
The great prophet Isaiah, a pillar of the faith of Israel, wrote (speaking collectively of the whole nation of Israel) “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity.” (Isaiah 49:4a) Know the feeling?
Two verses later, Isaiah affirms as the words of God, “It is too light a thing that you [Israel] should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6). (Click here for the full passage.)
How do we learn to live more in that place of confidence and less in the place of doubt? Practice!
As a baby you became a confident, strong walker by walking. You become a great soccer player by actually playing soccer. Yes, good coaching helps, but coaching means nothing if you’re not actually our there playing. You become a great writer by actually writing. A parent by parenting. A mechanic by fixing things. And so on.
We become confident in our faith not by just trying to tell ourselves that we are, by hearing sermons or taking classes, but by actually acting on our faith.
What is God calling you to act on? I suspect you already know. And if you’re not sure, pray and God will show you. That’s the only road to becoming more and more the confident Isaiah!
This column appeared in the January 15, 2023 edition of St. John’s eNews. Click here for the complete issue.
If you are reading this at a different time, you may click here for the current eNews.
