abiding faith in God—a life of passion-
ate conviction—is a privilege reserved
for someone else.
It’s for the spiritually elite.
It’s for the pastor.
It’s for the ones who grew up in
church.
It’s for those who haven’t made a
wreck of their lives.
It’s for the ones who have never
struggled through addiction or seen
the darker side of life.
To be honest, as discouraging as
it is, we kind of like believing that a
deep, abiding, life-altering faith is for
the spiritually elite—because if that’s
true, we’re absolved of our responsibil-
ity to pursue anything bigger than our
present little lives.
Our discouragement in not being
as far along as we think we ought to
be leads us to throw our hands in the
air and “plead inadequacy.” We ac-
cept the disappointing reality that our
lives and our faith will never look like
theirs. If you live in that pattern long
enough, it’s easy to finally convince
yourself that your temptations, strug-
gles, sins, hang-ups, and habits are just
the way things are—that nothing will
ever change.
Sure, you still believe in Jesus, but
you haven’t experienced the power
you need to move beyond the de-
structive patterns that seem to have
a hold on you. Eventually, you begin
to tell yourself, “I can’t do anything
about it.” And if you say that long
enough, all those dangerous, life-suck-
ing patterns become normal.
When we’re confronted with the
truth about the habits in our lives that
aren’t leading us to satisfaction and
fulfillment, in our frustration we learn to
say, “Yeah, I know, but . . .”
We buy into the myth that the cur-
rent condition of our lives is just the
way it is—continuing to believe in
Jesus but feeling frustrated with how
things have turned out. It’s sad how
common this situation is.
That’s Just the Way It Is
If your discouragement doesn’t
come from everything you’re not do-
ing, then perhaps it stems from frustra-
tion over everything you are doing.
Tell me if this pattern sounds familiar:
You say something, do something,
or think something that you know isn’t
God’s best for you.
You feel a certain level of convic-
tion about it.
You go to God to confess, repent,
and renew your resolve.
And then you find yourself doing it
all over again the next day—or the
next hour.
You try. You fail.
Try again. Fail again.
Repeat. What’s Next?
When we’re confronted with the
disappointment that comes from
bowing out, being beaten down, or
growing bored with our faith, we’re
faced with a pressing question: What
will we do next? Will we put the life
that Jesus offers us up on a shelf, for-
ever haunted by the thought of what
might have been? Or is it possible to
experience here and now the rich
and satisfying life he promised?
Can we just acknowledge that we
go through seasons when we’re dis-
appointed and disillusioned about the
life of faith? And can we put a stake
in the ground declaring that we will
not let that stop us from experiencing
and becoming all that God desires for
52 Solutions