“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths“(Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV).
It’s easy to allow life’s busyness to distract us from maintaining our relationship with God. Life can be difficult and stressful, and I know many of us have work, school, and various obligations that demand our attention. But we can become stagnant when these things get in the way of being consistent in our faith.
When the demands of life get in the way of our spiritual life, I’ve found that it’s a slow creep and if one is not attentive, it can begin to affect one’s ability to live the life God intended for us.
Suddenly, instead of being governed by love and joy, negative emotions like fear, worry, anxiety, and frustration become more commonplace. The things of God may begin to feel more like a chore rather than something to desire or look forward to. God may even start to feel far away. When we live our lives this way, it’s difficult to allow God to take full lead in our lives, and we begin to rely on ourselves more and more, consciously or unconsciously.
As Christians, God is the source of our strength. We cannot rely on our power or strength to sustain ourselves in the way God can. The great news is that we don’t have to.
“My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26 NKJV).
This takes full surrender of our issues in life and also of our will, which can be difficult to do amid the chaos life brings. However, our relationship with God requires partnership with Him, wherein we willfully allow God to lead us, no matter how busy or distracting life may get.
One essential thing I have learned from personal experience is that this does not just happen passively, but requires consistent and intentional communion with God. Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart, not some, not half, but all of it. We are called to acknowledge God in all of our ways.
When there is stagnation and passivity in our practice of faith, e.g., personal time with God in prayer, Bible reading, and church communion with fellow believers, how can we expect God to work with us and through us? How can we expect to live life in the fullness of God’s joy and peace?
If you have been noticing that your life has not been reflecting the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), or if you feel God is far away, and your faith has become stagnant, I encourage you to take a step back and evaluate how you’re spending time with God. Remember that a relationship takes two; God is always here for us with open arms, it is up to us to actively seek Him with commitment, intention, and effort, and accept the partnership He so desires to have with us. Feeling like you’re in a rut can be hard and very frustrating, I know, but if you’re in this place, keep pushing and intentionally pursuing God.
“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him” (Lamentations 3:25 NKJV).
