First Aid for Your Faith
Crisis. It comes out of no where. Sometimes it’s been compounding to a breaking point. Other times it bursts on the scene like an invader. We all understand crisis.
What if we accepted that as part of the journey?
What if we packed our first-aid kit for our faith as diligently as we pack one for our body?
What would such a kit include?
What if you could prepare for a crisis of faith?
Faith-Aid
I felt unusually distant from God as my season of crisis lingered. The friendship I once enjoyed with Jesus turned dry and strained. Although my physical health was in great danger, my spiritual health needed immediate attention. I needed First-Aid for my traumatized faith…I needed “Faith-Aid.”
How’s your faith doing in your season of suffering? Were you prepared for the numbing silence of this wilderness? Have you begun to question all your experiences and beliefs up to this moment? Were they all emotionally driven? Did I believe a fantasy? Did I do something wrong?
Can you prepare for a crisis of faith?
Yes! You can build your supply of faith-building practices and supports to have on hand for life’s injuries.
Jesus promised we would endure trouble in this world. Why do we forget this?
I will not give an exhaustive list. I prefer to nudge you with a few examples and get you thinking for yourself. Grab your journal and take inventory of your faith:
- How have you responded to crisis in the past?
- What helped you keep your faith?
- What challenged you to grow?
- What resources can you reach for more quickly next time?
My Favorite Faith-Aid: SOLITUDE
This has become one of my instinctive go-to’s. While I have learned it is not a comfortable or safe place for those wrestling through suicidal thoughts, solitude is still necessary. It’s the easiest way I connect with God in raw, passionate honesty.
Jesus has met me here so often. He’s banished shame from this space. I know when I’m wounded I can “go to the Rock that is higher than I.”
I’ll share much more on solitude in another post. For now, ask yourself:
- Do I feel safe enough to be alone with God when I’m struggling?
- Who can I ask to help me get there?
- Lord, how are you drawing me closer to yourself?
Your Faith-Aid Kit
In preparation for difficult seasons, make the decision how you will respond. Commit to caring for your faith in the same way you would for your body. If you do, you will more than survive this season. You will transform!
What will provide your Truth?
Scriptures? Podcasts? Songs?
What will provide your comfort?
Nature? Music? Study? Exercise? Travel?
What will stop further loss?
Worship? Accountability? Gratitude?
Where does the potential for ‘infection’ lie?
Bitterness? Envy? Self Pity? Anger?
Stubbornness? Pride?
Who will be a stability and safety to you?
Pastor? Family? Friend? Counselor?
What will healing look like?
The absence of suffering?
The freedom from hopelessness?
A sense of meaning?
Items for Your Faith-Aid Kit
1. Scripture
“Let the Word do its work.”
– Pastor Nick Pacholski
We KNOW scripture is a rock-solid source of life when we’re hurting. Yet we discount it’s impact when life gets really tough. What verses bring back your grit? Which ones frustrate you when they seem to fail? Write them down. Commit them to memory. Ask God to broaden your understanding of why they were written and why they gripped you.
When comfort comes…save them for round 2.
2. Connection
How do you find it easiest to connect with God? Through music? Nature? Studying the Bible or church history? Through service to others or working with your hands?
The beauty of our faith is we all experience nearness to God uniquely as part of who we are to our core. He meets each of us in personal ways, because He’s after relationship.
We need ALL the disciplines to mature. Don’t misunderstand me. But when crisis begins, lean in to your easiest ways to connect with God. Run to Him in whatever place He meets you most often. He will lead you from there.
3. Gratitude
I haven’t said anything profound. You’ve heard all this before. Yet how quickly we all forget the POWER of these responses. To prepare for seasons of pain, begin your list of thanksgiving now. Write in your journal or type notes in your device…Thank God for everything!
When sorrow or worry arise, go to your list of all God has done and give Him praise. Build your faith as you testify to yourself of the goodness of your God.
Prepare to choose this NOW. You are never powerless to give God thanks.