I’ve got a confession to make! I have two sides to my “Christian Life”. There’s the one side that just completed a 40-day juice fast strictly out of obedience to God’s call to start writing a book about my cancer/coma journey that he miraculously healed me from just three years ago. Then there’s this other side that is filled with fear, self-doubt and insecurities that “tries” really hard to continue to walk in faith but eventually gets so worn out from trying that I end up living a mediocre so called Christian life. I fall into complacency and do the same old song and dance day after day. I wake up and half-heartedly have my quiet time and continue throughout the day to live the “Christian Life”, but really I just would rather lie down, hide my head and forget all the things God has called me to be.
In Pastor Steven Furtick’s new book Greater, he talks about the confessions of his shadow side and what to do when condemnation sets in. I have to be honest here, it was quit refreshing to read how Pastor Steven deals with the same negative voices that I do. It gave me a glimpse of hope and encouragement once again to know that I’m really not a phony Christian after all.
On day 40 of my fast, God revealed why he had called me to such a lengthy fast. In my journal God spoke to me by saying this, “The fast was never about the length of time but about the amount of trust you have in me.” Pastor Steven says in his book “God doesn’t do greater things exclusively through great people. He does them through anyone who is willing to trust Him in greater ways.”
Now I know that when I start going down that road of a mediocre life, it is time to evaluate my trust in God. As a Christian Life Coach, the best way for me to evaluate is to ask myself some questions. For example, how has God proved himself to me in the past? Or when has God ever left me to fend for myself? When I challenge myself with these types of questions, its like scales are removed from eyes and I am able to really trust God again with 100% of my life. I would like to encourage you today to ask yourself some tuff questions and see how God reveals himself to you!
Honored to serve as a Women’s Christian Life Coach at www.lindakuhar.com
Great post! It is amazing how even when we see or experience miracles, we still doubt God’s power in our life. I know I struggle with it all the time.
Linda – Thank you for sharing your fears and insecurities with us. As a Christian Life Coach, many would think you have it all figured out. Just as you and others would think that a Pastor (Pastor Furtick) has it all figured out. However, it is just the opposite. God takes us where we are and if we let him, if we trust him with unwavering faith, moves us to where He needs us. We don’t need to know why or when or how, we just need to go when he says so. I will keep you in my prayers my friend.
-Erin Cuomo, OBS Group Leader
Great post Linda. Thank you for being so real and honest. Wow! A forty day fast! That is impressive. I know God will honor your obedience in that. I pray I would be able to do that if God asked me to.
Sweet Linda. Thank you so much for sharing how important “trust” is important in making a decision. No matter how daunting the task or decision, we have to cling to our faith in God and His purpose for our lives in spite of the conflicting emotions we will feel during the process. Of course, there are many events in our lives which transcend our decision making faculties and it is during those moments that we truly learn about that word-“trust.” The illness. The tragic loss. The abuse. The disappointment. It takes a period of reflection to often see that God’s hand-or, most often, His cradling arms-were available in that situation. When I was weakest, evidence of God’s presence was often at its strongest.
Thank you for challenging us to us to set up our own Ebenezers as it were-a stone of remembrance and thanksgiving so that we can personally say “Thus far has the Lord helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). For, it is those moments that build faith. Thanking God that we can bring our “trust” issues to Him both in the valley of decision and the peak of promise. So excited to see how God continues to work in your life and use your story to help others. Blessings!
This was great. Thanks for sharing.