Despite our best efforts, there comes a time in the life of every believer when we will need to hit the reset button on our faith. It does not matter how long you have been walking with the Lord because tests of life happen to all of us. John 16:33 (NIV) says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Trouble is not always the terrible, hard stuff life can throw at us. It is also the regular responsibility of showing up day after day, doing the work we have been called to do in the spaces we occupy. Throughout this process, the wear and tear of life can begin to pull on our faith. When we come to a point where we realize our faith needs a reset, it is not something we should be embarrassed about or feel shame over. God does not look at us as if we failed in our faith, nor does he condemn us because we may need to realign ourselves spiritually. The troubles of life will require all of us to keep hitting reset on our faith for as long as we live.
Along our Christian journey, we will experience being in a spiritual rut, hitting a faith wall, or even feeling like we are in a pit. God allows us to go through many different seasons because all are necessary to our spiritual growth and development. And yes, “troubles” in our life will try our faith. James 1:2-4 (NLT) tells us, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
You may be wondering if you need a reset on your faith in your current life season. I want to offer you five signs that indicate it is time to answer “yes” to taking some faith actions and hit the reset button on your faith.
1. You are tired all of the time.
If you are at a point where you constantly feel tired no matter what you do to try and make yourself not feel this way, you probably need to hit reset on your faith. Perpetually being tired indicates that not only has your body grown weary, but so has your soul. Resetting your faith in this way is not limited to physical rest but also includes soul rest. It is not God’s design that we live our lives depleted and still running on empty. If you have experienced burnout over a prolonged period, then this is your invitation to hit the reset button now.
2. You are too busy to spend time with God.
Who is not busy? Everyone, on some level, has a busy lifestyle. What is more important than being busy, however, is being fruitful. Godly fruitfulness causes us to bear favorable evidence of our productivity. As Christians, we want to be sure we are producing the right fruit.
We can expect our faith to suffer if we have invested our time pursuing people, places, and things in our garden of life but not made time to be with God. If we are too busy to spend time with God consistently, then we are just way too busy!
There was a time in my life when I finally realized I was too frequently saying these words: “I don’t have time…” This epiphany caused me to make some significant lifestyle modifications. I started to clarify good things vs. God things in how I committed myself and expended my time. This was a major game-changer for me. I began to see how some of the activities I had given my time to were not very fruitful, nor were they beneficial to my faith. Now, my first non-negotiable is spending time with God every day. It is my lifeline in order to do everything else and live the fruitful life He desires for me.
3. You are consistently pessimistic.
If you notice yourself turning into Negative Nancy, it may be time for you to reach for the button and hit reset on your faith. When our first reaction is to have a pessimistic outlook about everything, we should stop and question why we are responding in this manner. Faith causes believers to be hopeful because Jesus is our hope.
We look to see the good in others. Faith prompts us to think and speak positively based upon the word of God deeply rooted in our hearts. It is hard to live by faith if we allow pessimism to invade our souls. If our natural bent has evolved into complaining and negativity, let’s pray and ask God to help us be renewed in our faith so that we can share His perspective through the lens of grace.
4. You have lost your passion for serving others.
Our faith in God should compel us to share it with other people in some way. No, not everyone will stand in a pulpit and preach a sermon. But when you have encountered God’s love that comes through salvation in Jesus, you cannot help but want to express your faith actively. We know that our works do not save us but reflect evidence that we are saved. Our faith in God moves us to serve others.
So may I ask, how are you serving? Where are you sharing your faith? What work has God called you to do in service for the Body of Christ? We must all discern our times and seasons for how we serve. It is with wisdom we engage in the acts of helping others. Nevertheless, we should all be serving people in some capacity because this is an expression of our faith.
If we have isolated ourselves or become complacent being absorbed in our own world, then it is time to hit reset on our faith. Our faith is not just for us to keep to ourselves but also to be given away to others as we encourage their faith. We were designed for community and to engage with others as we live out our faith.
5. If you have forgotten God’s faithfulness.
Especially over the past two years, it has become fairly easy to focus on everything around us that is wrong, all of the things that have not gone right. We do not have to look far to question the condition of humanity or question God’s sovereignty at work in all that appears to be unrighteous, chaotic, and depraved.
Although we effortlessly identify present confusion in our world, we must likewise not forget what history has taught us to be true. If we pause for a moment, we will also recall God is always faithful. There has never been a time throughout history or our lives when God has not been faithful. When we feel like God is far from us or that we are far from God, it produces doubts in our faith. We question God’s plans for us. We may even feel abandoned or rejected because of the troubles of life staring us in the face. Yet, in the midst of it all, God remains faithful.
If you have forgotten God’s faithfulness in this season of your life, I want to encourage you to do a quick “roll call” of all the times and ways He has proven to be personally faithful to you. Hit the reset! Don’t allow anything to steal your focus or affection from God. He deserves our trust. He deserves our faith. God promises always to be faithful to us because we are His beloved.
As you hit your own faith reset button today, remember what David shares with us about being delivered out of pits from Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV): “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”
Ask God to deliver you out of any pit that is trying to hold your faith hostage. He is your Faithful Father, and He will do it simply because you ask. There is no trouble in this life bigger than His ability to see you in it, through it, out of it, and over it. He will rescue you and give you what you need in order to reset your faith.
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Patrice Burrell Grant is called to lead others to the grace of God, rooted in the truth of scripture. Championing women to live authentically and pursue God passionately, she aspires to live a lifestyle anchored in spiritual disciplines while cheering on other women to do the same. As a Bible teacher, she exhorts women to remember their true identity is defined in Christ, not culture. After earning her Master of Divinity degree, Patrice authored her first book, Warrior Slay, a devotional book on the power of worship and prayer. She has also written Living My Best Life, a Bible study for single women. Her latest work, Be Still My Soul, is all about cultivating the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude in prayer through the practice of daily prayer journaling. Patrice is the founder of L.A.C.E. Legacy, a ministry established to incite the faith of Christian women who live out their legacy of faith as Ladies Anchored in Christian Excellence (L.A.C.E.), loving the legacy of faith they live. You can connect with Patrice on her blog, Warrior Woman Blog; on social media in her Facebook community, Warrior Women; @patriceburrellministries on Facebook; @patriceburrellgrant on Instagram; and @lacelegacy on her YouTube Channel, L.A.C.E. Legacy with Patrice.