How To Shipwreck Your Faith

I wonder if some people's concept of God and of faith must, according to them, include no challenges, no trials, no difficulties, and no uncertainties. This concept is false and causes a multitude to shipwreck their faith. Within a few weeks to a few months or years after a crisis, that shipwrecked faith may be very well disguised as a new pursuit in life, a new friend or relationship, or even an amalgamation of seemingly similar, yet truthfully very contrasting faiths. Those who cope with crises in this manner do not find Christ lacking, rather it is their box in which they are unable to make Him fit that is the problem. In other words, they do not reject Christ; it is their concept that is inadequate to meet their needs. They have failed to truly understand Him and only know Him from a far.

However, the Apostle Paul clearly states that God is close to each one of us (Acts 17:27-28) and, as Steve McVey writes, "The deep, settled conviction that God is Love changes everything. It fits our pain in this natural world into the greater context of the supernatural, eternal world. As we see our problems in that context, we find an internal peace in the midst of external turmoil. Always filter the external through the eternal before allowing it to become internal. [We have] an anchor in the storms of life that supports us by providing a deep sense of peace that everything will be okay—even when we don't know how and when everything we feel suggests just the opposite. Until you irrevocably embrace the unequivocal and unchanging love of God, you will find yourself voting on His love every time your circumstances change for the worse."