Seasons of Unbelief

It’s not easy to admit that one goes through periods of unbelief, especially if one is a Christian!

Unbelief. The absence of faith.

I have had my fair share of struggles with unbelief. There have been times when the last thing I want to think about is faith in God. There have been other times when I have been so disappointed by God that I have handed His ‘faith’ back to Him and walked off. I have also been in situations of great peer pressure where the last thing one wants to admit is that they believe in God.

So yes, I admit it. I have been through periods of unbelief.

Let me share some of the thoughts that resulted from these seasons of unbelief.

I put faith in everything else except God

We have all done this – have faith in ourselves, our jobs, our money, our assets, our families, our friends and everything else we have – but not in God. I guess it’s because we feel like since we have it all, we are able to handle the world without God’s help.

We all forget one thing at this point, though. We were created by God. He knows us better than we know ourselves. Also, the world in which He puts us is part of His purposeful and intentional creation. Nothing He does is random. The situations in which we find ourselves in that would therefore make us consider turning away from Him are actually for our good.

I love solutions, especially quick ones. Whenever I am faced with a challenge, I like to find the solution almost immediately. When schools closed and we had to learn how to teach online, I did my best to figure out the platforms and how to use them for teaching as quickly as possible. As the start date for lessons approached, I became more and more frustrated as I was yet to master the platforms. I asked around and got information, yes, but ended up more confused than ever. In my quest to make everything work, I had forgotten God.

Finally, just when I was about to throw in the towel, I remembered that I had not prayed about all this. Aaaarrgh! How I could be so faithless and untrusting! I turned back to the Lord, sought His help, and the rest is history! If only I had asked for His help in the beginning – I would have spared myself several sleepless nights!

Struggling to sort something out urgently? Something giving you sleepless nights? Have you exhausted every contact in your phone book asking for solutions? Time to move to a place of trusting in the Lord completely. Make Him your first stop whenever you are in trouble.

I let the noise of the world take over

Have you noticed how noisy the world has become of late? Everyone has an opinion on everything! It’s worse if you are an individual of faith – everyone tells you that actions come before seeking God’s will, especially if the solution to your problem is obvious.

Today I was having a chat with a young lady who is concerned that all the voices around her are pushing her towards marriage, yet she is not ready to settle down. I completely understood where she was coming from. The noise of the world can be deafening, to the point where you are forced to give in just so those voices can keep quiet! Note that the world is unforgiving, and will gladly give you advice when you don’t need or want it. Advice is not bad; giving in to bad advice that is not of faith is where the problem lies.

I almost gave in to bad advice once, and almost lost my faith as a result. I had a job at a place where the religion practised was different from the one I subscribed to, and I was the only one on my ‘side’ of the fence. When there were religious functions, therefore, I would be excluded from the preparations, etc., and as a result, I began to feel left out! Now we all know that feeling left out for a 20-something-year-old is a big deal, right? So I started to make some compromises. I would ask to play an instrument during the ceremonies. That wasn’t so bad, because I was not singing, right? Soon I was attending the weekly religious meetings. At the same time, something was happening in my church that was quite stressful, and I had nobody to talk to about it. My colleagues were only too happy to welcome me to their meetings, and I started to feel like I belonged. The voices of the world had taken over.

Thank God the story did not end there. The Lord mercifully woke me up from my slumber and opened my eyes to what was happening in my life. I realized that the noise of the world had covered up the still small voice of the Lord in my spirit, making me believe that I didn’t need to trust Him to sort out the church issue because I could find solace elsewhere.

What are the voices of the world telling you? Are you listening to them, or the Lord? Are these voices causing you to stop trusting in the Lord, planting unbelief in your heart? If you feel like you have drifted, run back to God. He will welcome you back with open arms.

I stopped reading the Bible

And before you give me that look, let me clarify. Yes, I stopped reading the Bible at some point because I felt like it was not working for me. I would read promises that seemed like they were written for someone else. I treated the Bible like a textbook that provided definitions and solutions, and when I didn’t find what I was looking for, I ditched it.

One of the greatest triggers of unbelief is ignorance, i.e. not knowing who you believe in, why you believe in that person, and who that person truly is. The only way to beat this ignorance is by reading God’s word.

Imagine how it would be if we put our faith in the sun. We could say that we believe in it because it gives light that illumines the entire earth. But can we say who the sun really is? No – because the sun is an inanimate object, a creation of God. Can we build a relationship with the sun? No, we can’t.

A great way of building your faith in God through His word is by studying His promises. These promises are what many people hold on to during hard times because the words of these promises come alive in our hearts and connect us to God. Let me list a few below.

Hebrews 13:5b “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (ESV)

 

Psalm 84:11 “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (ESV)

 

Psalm 37:5 “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” (ESV)

Back to our three questions. Who do you believe in – God? Why do you believe in Him? Because He is a faithful and trustworthy God. Who is God? The creator of the world, my redeemer, my strength, my savior, etc.

The answers to these questions can only be found in the Bible. As you study the Bible and get to know it better, therefore, you will grow in the knowledge of God and you will understand His ways a little better than when you do not read His word at all. Lastly, as you read each word in the Bible, unbelief will have no place in your heart. In with the Word, out with unbelief. The two cannot co-exist.

Being in a state of unbelief is a horrible place because God is not there. God will never force His way into our hearts. If there is something else settled in there, He will wait patiently on the outside until we hit rock bottom and let Him in.

Do you feel like you are in a state of unbelief? Make a conscious decision to put your faith in God. Ignore what the world is saying. Open your Bible and read His promises, starting with the ones that you have heard over and over. Start to trust Him again. He loves you and will be only too happy to help you rebuild your faith in Him.

Take it from me – unbelief is no joke. Avoid it at all costs.