When Our Faith Wavers

Written by Stacy Wiebe

“James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”
(James 1:1-8).

Our faith is the heart of our Christian life. By faith, we are saved, receive forgiveness for our sins, enjoy a personal relationship with God and have the assurance of our salvation. By faith, we experience the peace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through faith, our prayers are answered. Yet our lives and especially our prayers tend to be characterized by doubts and wavering faith.

Our faith wavers when:

1. We apply human thinking to our circumstances. Sometimes God is going to require us to do something with which human reasoning disagrees. (Isaiah 55:9)

2. We allow our feelings to overcome our faith. It could be a sense of unworthiness or inadequacy that trips us up. Fear of criticism or failure might cause us to doubt we can do what He asks.

3. We fail to see God at work in our circumstances. Doubts creep in when we have asked Him to take action but nothing appears to be happening.

4. We have guilt over sin, past or present. We cannot operate with strong faith when we are under conviction of sin or dwelling on guilt over past wrongdoing.

5. We listen to the Enemy’s lies. Satan is the Father of lies, whose objective is to have us reject God’s truth and believe his deception instead.

Faith is defined as “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1 NIV). What is the condition of your faith? Do the words “sure” and “certain” describe you?

About the Author
This article was written by Charles Stanley. You can read more about this author by clicking this link:
http://www.talk.thelife.com/charles-stanley/

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