Being Wholeheartedly Faithful in the Midst of Change

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of change, both in my own life and in the world. It can often be hard to cope with change and it is particularly difficult to not lose hope and stay faithful.

I must admit that I’ve not been the most faithful. I have made excuses not to open my bible or talk to God. I’ve had some of the best highs and some of the worst lows. I’ve done things I’m not proud of and if I could take some of them back I would. However, facing the consequences of my actions is not easy yet it’s exactly what I need.

I’ve faced my share of embarrassment but these consequences, the conviction I’ve been hit with were exactly what I needed to set me straight. As a result, I’m closer to God than I have been for a while and I am so thankful for His mercy because after what I’ve done I was ashamed, I was ready to face the fires of hell before showing my face to Him, I was embarrassed by my stupidity because I really should know better and actually I do know better. I just gave in to the temptations and was left with overwhelming shame and guilt.

Temporary pleasure particularly of the sinful variety is extremely underwhelming and just not worth it.

I’ve been procrastinating on this post for a while now, I didn’t feel I was the right person to be writing a post about being faithful in the midst of change because I wasn’t. So I kept putting it off and yet this feeling persisted and one night I was lying in bed and this thought came to me – you may not be perfect, you made the wrong choices but because of those you now know how to make the right ones. So here I am writing this post praying that God will be with me in every word and hoping my bad choices can help you make the right ones.

So how can you be wholeheartedly faithful in the midst of change?

In times of change, the chaos, and our unsteady emotions can often distract us or cloud our judgement. In times like these the path to being wholeheartedly faithful lies in two things: simplicity and truth.

Thanks to the bible we can know the truth (or at least we are better able to discern it). And it is this truth that leads us to simplicity for God’s Word teaches us the righteous way of living.

So what does the bible say about simplicity and truth? How will it help us be faithful in the midst of change?

“Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6

Let’s start with truth. We know that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God and within its pages, we can find the truth. Jesus also states that he is the truth which means we can follow his example. Jesus was fully God but also fully man and experienced all the struggles that we do which is a comfort but also inspiration.

“Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.“
John 8:32

The words of Jesus in John 8:32 start us on the right path. Belief is not enough even demons believe in Jesus, but this verse tells us we must live and breathe the Word. Devote ourselves to studying it, to memorising it and applying it to our lives. Spending time in the Word should be a priority because it is through the Word that we survive.

You may be wondering how spending time reading your bible will help you survive. Not only does God teach us and convict us within its pages but we find comfort, reassurance, and advice. Life itself is contained in these pages. There are stories that you will find yourself in and you will read of people as flawed as you who had great faith and faced many challenging times.

Reading the bible is said to have great benefits for your mental health with depression, anxiety and stress all reducing. But most importantly it is how we deepen our relationship with our Father and grow our faith.

“Distractions must be conquered or they will conquer us. So let us cultivate simplicity; let us walk in the Spirit.” ~ A.W Tozer

Simplicity is something we all need more of in our lives, we have a bad habit of making things more difficult than they need to be especially when it comes to faith. We think we need to do all the things like go to church, be part of every event that comes along, say yes to everything and do all the stereotypical Christian things. All of these things are good, of course they are but in doing them all the heart of our worship is lost and we become burned out trying to be what we think we should be.

God takes us as we are, He knows everything, He knows how busy our lives are and how often we lie to ourselves with good intentions. This is why sometimes we need to take a step back and stick to the basics and this is especially important in changing times.

God reminds us in Luke 16 that it’s important to be faithful with a little because if we can’t be faithful with less then we don’t have a good foundation to build on.

“Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.”
Luke 16:10

So what does the bible say about simplicity?

Well, when it comes to the anti-materialism kind of simplicity it has a few verses but that’s not the type we need right now. So I dug a little deeper…

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9

We often overcomplicate repentance and stay stuck in the shame of sin after asking God to be merciful and forgive us. It’s much simpler than we make it out to be when we ask God to forgive us and cleanse us of our sin and we mean it intending to turn from it God does it and from that moment it’s as if it never happened in God’s eyes. Yet we sit in shame when we don’t need to. It is hard to let go of the shame but with practice, we will be able to walk it off after that prayer with hope alive in our hearts that we won’t fall into that sin again.

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7

Simplicity can also mean letting go of things that you no longer need, and letting go of control. Often in times of change, we struggle to let go because we want at least one thing to stay the same but we forget God is our only constant. We need to learn to fully surrender and stay present not worrying for the future or holding on to the past. If letting go of material things is what we need to do to let go then that’s what we must do. It can be surprising what kind of things hold us back.

“Be still and know that I am with you.”
Psalm 46:10

I think it’s important to get back to basics with our faith. Yes, it’s important that we go to church and have fellowship with others but it’s just as important to have alone time with God just like Jesus did and it’s often neglected or interrupted. We need to learn how to be still and sit in God’s presence undisturbed whether we just sit in silence or read the Word.

The second part of Psalm 46:10 is equally important – know that I am with you. How often do we forget that God is with us in every moment? I think we’d do a lot of things differently if we remembered that. Regardless, it’s a great comfort to know that we are not alone. Knowing He is there with us leading us through the storms of life and protecting us from things we don’t see is reassuring.

So how can we be faithful in the midst of change?

“There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1

We can be faithful because God is all-powerful and is in control. We can trust in Him to lead us where we need to be and to lead us through change safely. Everything is temporary including our lives on this earth so we can find comfort in knowing it won’t stay this way forever and if it’s not good yet then God isn’t done working.

“Seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.”
Luke 12:31

We can be faithful because God will always provide what we need, it just may not be what we think we need. But we do need to seek Him and ask for Him to provide we can’t always expect Him to provide everything without asking, we need to put in a little effort too.

If we weren’t sure before I think we are now that just because things change doesn’t mean everything changes. God is our constant and always with us, because of this, we can live with hope. But we need to prioritise time with Him before anything else, it is the only way to keep our faith growing and firm within the chaos of change.

It is important to remember the words of Proverbs 3:5.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.”
Proverbs 3:5

In changing times our emotions run wild but we cannot rely on our feelings to dictate our actions. Our feelings are deceitful and often lead us into sin. But when we put our trust in God to lead we come through safely even if we aren’t unscathed. Instead of putting our feelings before our faith, we need to put our faith before our feelings, and facts before our faith, living in delusion is no way to live even if it is a nice thought sometimes.

“The Lord is near all who call out to him, all who call out to him with integrity.”
Psalm 145:18

Never forget in the struggles you face that God is always near and is just waiting for you to come to Him asking for help. If there is only one thing you take away from this post it’s this – no matter how much things change, no matter how hard things get, all of it is temporary so next time you’re walking through the fire just remember that this too shall pass. Find comfort in that knowledge and the arms of God.

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction; be persistent in prayer.”
Romans 12:12