Have you ever gone through a rough time?
And that time translates to days, weeks, months, years...
Have you ever found yourself crying out to God begging and pleading and asking "why me?"
"Why am I suffering?'" "I'm a good person!' "I don't understand, why me?"
My faith has been floundering since I got into college. For two years my faith in God has come and gone in waves like the tide, constantly pulling and pushing. It was hard for me to understand why God kept putting me in these trials and tribulations. And when I didn't understand or I didn't like what God was throwing at me, I would shut down. I would tell God "I'm the Captain now" (That was a Captain Phillip joke and probably not right for the moment.)
This is where we go wrong. This is where I went wrong. This is where you will go wrong.
You cannot tell God to back off and then later come back and accuse him of abandonment.
It took me a while to realize this (aka I just realized this yesterday). I had basically told God that I can handle my own life and then would come back when things were bad. This lead me to believe it was God's fault when things went wrong, therefore leading to my faith growing less and less until it was almost nonexistent. You cannot do this!!!
If you are reading this please realize that God has a plan for you.
We all go through rough times. God can use these rough times to strengthen you, to reel you back in from this life that you are attempting to direct by yourself. It can suck. No one enjoys going through rough times. But rough times end. Things get better. You soon will realize that God has your back. God has had a plan for you since before you were born! He's knows wassup, and that's wassup!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)
How does this help me now? How does this help my faith?
Your faith should not equate to the wellness of God's plan. Your faith should not wavier because life isn't going the way you planned. This is the moment to take a step back, to take a deep breath, to come to peace and truly understand that God has a plan for you. This is the moment to put all of your trust in God. It can be scary, but once you do put your faith in God, a weight is lifted off of your shoulders. Now you can be on auto-pilot. Now you can take all the energy you were putting into guiding your own life, into living your life for God. This is the time where you will grow closer to God, this is the time you will realize that your faith is stronger than ever.
There is a song called "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller.
"While I'm waiting, I will serve you. While I'm waiting, I will worship. While I'm waiting I will not faint, I'll be running the race, even while I wait."
If you have a chance to listen to this song, do it. This song speaks directly to having faith while waiting on God's plan. This song never fails to make me emotional and really just hits me right in the feels.
If you take anything away from this, I hope you take away this: God loves you. God knows what he has planned for you. Listen to him, talk to him, he is always there. God will never abandon you. It may take you a while to realize and accept these things but when you do, you can escape the crashing waves and climb onto the lifeboat.
