Pastor's Corner-Regaining Your Faith

By Paul Hathcoat

As the days come and go, and I reflect on the state of our world and how to live within it, I often wonder how people’s faith lives are faring. In fact, in just the last several weeks, I have had six people in my congregation ask to meet with me to discuss their failing faith. There was no central theme among all of them, but, for each person I met with, I could tell that they were genuinely reaching out for help to regain their faith. I had some insights and ideas for them, and I have some for all of you out there as well. Let’s look at some impactful verses from scripture and talk about how to use them for strength and faith, from a pastor’s perspective.

Faith is a choice; it is not just a feeling. That is very good news to us all because there are certainly days when we aren’t feeling it. God, though, is always feeling it. He is consistently and steadily being faithful to us and to His word. We can rely on that.

2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for HE cannot deny who He is.”

How can we increase our faith when we aren’t feeling it — we can draw nearer to the Lord who remains faithful.

Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may last through the night, but JOY comes with the morning.” If everything seems to be falling apart for you, God is with you. He does not abandon us, and He does not make us endure alone. God is with you; our morning is coming!

Hebrews 11:1 “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”

If you cannot see a way out of the darkness that you are in, faith must take over. When your own sight fails, God and His words can lead you to the light.

1 Corinthians 16:13 “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.”

Sometimes the best thing to do is just stay right where you are at and stiffen up. Bare the weight of your struggle, and feel the pressure fully against you. Only then can we know how our faith can help usher us through the burden.

Luke 8:25 “Where is your faith?” Jesus asked the disciples. The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man? Even the wind and waves obey Him!”

Struggling to believe Jesus is who some say He is? The disciples struggled with the same thing. They were there to see His actual miracles and still had faith issues.

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we live by believing and not by seeing.”

Do you believe in the wind? It can’t always be seen, and we don’t know where it comes from. But we do see how it affects everything around it. God can be found in the same way. We do not have to see to believe that He is there with us.

Romans 3:3 “True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful?”

No, God will not be unfaithful. It would go against His nature, and He never changes. He is who He says He is, and He is faithful.

Perhaps you have read through all these verses and still find your faith is weak. Perhaps you have felt alone of overwhelmed for so long that faith seems unimportant or not helpful. Good news again. We can’t run away from God’s faithfulness to us. He remains constantly pursuing us and consistently offering us respite.

Our moments may steal from our reserves, and our days may plunder our resolve, but our faith can be the great equalizer that allows us to stand firm and survive another day in this life that can be so hard. I pray that each of you regain what faith may have been lost. If you are strong today, thank the Lord, because tomorrow He will show back up again. Blessings to all of you once again!