Don’t Give Up On Faith
Life is full of undulation, a series of peaks and troughs. When life is going good and there are not any problems, it’s a peak. When life is not going as good and a lot of bad seems to be happening, it’s a trough. During those peaks and troughs, most people tend to also have the same sort of ups and downs with their faith. Life is going good, so your faith is as it always is, but when life is going bad, you lose your faith. This practice, hasn’t worked out for me, personally, and I can imagine that it doesn’t work out for a lot of other people as well. What I have learned in life, is to never give up on your faith in God. God is always there for you, and never leaves you. So having that constant trust and belief in Him gives you someone that you can always turn to, it just takes a quick prayer. What I have for anyone out there who just isn’t sure what to think about their faith is some of my own stories to show you that having faith in God can leave a positive aspect on life.
Now first off, it isn’t always easy to have strong faith in God. I’ll be honest, I did not always have a good strong faith in God. Since I was in second grade, I have struggled with being overweight and have had a long road of trying to lose it. I have seen at least ten different doctors and have been scanned with ultra-sounds, cat scans, and x-ray machines at least eight times. Not to mention, I have been poked with needles way more times than I can even count. As I continued to go through my weight journey, my faith dwindled, then I got a blood clot in my right lung. I gave up on my faith right then. I had decided that God hated me because he was letting all this bad stuff happen to me, but then my mom told me something that got me thinking. My mom told me to think back on the day I found out I had a blood clot. I thought about it, and realized that I should be dead. On the day I went to the hospital, I had a snow day, my mom and siblings were home, I didn’t have practice for the eighth grade play, and the doctor called for me to go in right as I was about to go sledding. If none of that would have happened that day, I would be laying in a casket underneath a tombstone instead of writing this essay. That was when I realized God loved me, and that He never left me, I was the one who left Him. So, the lesson here, God loves you and is right there with you through each and every trial, He never leaves your side. It may seem like it at times, but during those times is when you have to look to God the most and grow from the experience. Don’t be like me and wait till you’re practically on your death bed, figure it out sooner, or it may be too late. Faith in this story, is knowing that God loves you and never leaves you.
Now, once I had this knowledge, my faith still wasn’t exactly all that great. I was still just your average Christian who went to church, youth group, and a Christian school. I still didn’t have a real solid grasp on what it meant to have a strong faith in Jesus. It wasn’t until I took a trip to Nassau, Bahamas, with my youth group to do work at the All Saints Camp. This was a mission trip we went on through Next Step Ministries and we did work on building cabins and repaving a concrete walkway for the residents of the camp. The residents of the All Saints Camp are those who have HIV/AIDS or are affected by it in some sort of way. On this trip, it was the residents of the camp who taught me what true faith was. Actually, it was one resident in particular, Miss Moxy.
Miss Moxy is in her mid forties to early fifties, extremely thin and sickly looking, paralyzed from the waste down, confined her to her bed, and has AIDS. She lives in a tiny, rundown, filthy, urine-smelling cabin with no contact from her family. Miss Moxy was brought to the camp by her sister when she was in the accident that disabled her. It is also when she was found to have AIDS. Basically, her family abandoned her there. Miss Moxy lives alone in the most awful conditions, but yet, every time I walked into her cabin, she would have a huge smile on her face and have her arms up in the air, praising God. She was also very faithful about reading her Bible and her daily devotional each and every day. Whenever I talked to Miss Moxy about her faith, she would just start thinking about all that she is blessed with and everything she is happy about. Then she would point to the sign just above her doorway that read, “Be Thankful Every Day.” Miss Moxy also told me that she trusts that God will provide for her and make each day a new and wonderful one. That is when it hit me, faith is being thankful for the good and trusting God when things go bad. Faith isn’t just for the good or just for the bad, it’s both. Now, when I think of defining faith, I say that faith is Miss Moxy. It’s just being grateful for the good things and for the blessings, and praising God in them; and also trusting that God will help you through the hard times and in supplying you with the things you need. This shows the importance in sticking through your faith, because it helps you through the hard times and also allows you to rejoice in the good.
Now, sticking with your faith isn’t always an easy thing, it can be very hard as well. There are many times in life when I am sure you will want to slip away from having that faith, but that is why you have some of those significant people in your life to help you out. Those people could be a best friend, a family member, pastor, youth leader, or even a teacher. Just someone you love and trust, and can count on to help you through when it gets hard. Those people are there to remind you that God is always there and to just pray over it. They are there to comfort you and just keep you motivated. Also, they are people that you should be able to vent to about anything that is going on. Without the significant people in my life, there would be many times that I would have given up and just have decided to say “screw it” with my faith. Those people can also help to broaden your faith even more and think way outside of the box. They can also help you discover what your faith really means to you and help you to keep it strong.
To top this all off, the Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, “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.” This verse shows that God has big plans for you, and that you have to trust him in everything you do, and in every path he leads you down. You also have to trust him in the hard times and always look to him to help you through it, for he has plans for you. Mark 12:30 says to “Trust the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” also proving to trust in God and don’t give up on your faith in him. My stories, are just some small stories that have lead to a much stronger faith in God, and it helps me keep a more positive outlook on life. I honestly believe that I feel happier because of my faith in God and because I trust him. It may not end up being the same way for everyone, but having a faith in God, can do amazing things, just look what I have already gone through and experienced. I have done things I never thought I would have done, such as that mission trip and I have also done Kids Hope and gotten involved in a youth film ministry making movies for others to see. God has done wonderful things for me and continues to do so. I still have my struggles, those never go away, but I know I can work through them with God on my side. A closing verse for you to ponder on is in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This verse to me, says that Jesus died for me and lives in me, so now I live by him and by faith in him in return. It may say something different for you, but just ponder on it. I hope that through this, you gain a lesson on faith, and you don’t give up on it. God is always with you and loves you; keep that faith.
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