Faith without Deeds
I want to share on a more personal note today what I do when I feel frustrated or feel like I’m getting “stuck” in my journey with God. I think for a lot of us in the Body of Christ it’s been a very frustrating season where we feel like God isn’t doing anything or working on our behalf. I want to share something that really helps me and has helped me in my relationship with God through the years and I think it will help you too.
I think sometimes there can be a feeling that we’re in a season where nothing is happening and we feel like we are just wandering aimlessly. We feel the tension because we have a sense of where we want to be but don’t know how to get there. We might feel like we are waiting on God to do something for us, or have some sort of expectation we are looking for God to fulfill in our experience in order for us to move forward in our spiritual walk.
I’ve particularly found myself in this place recently, so of course, I start praying because I just feel so stuck and what I hear from God is the words of Jesus: “Lo, I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). I think this is a beautiful reminder that God is with me in the mundane and the monotonous, but also that I am not alone in my frustration.
The spiritual journey is a journey of movement into the heart of God. Christ is always drawing us higher and higher into the atmosphere of heaven. This is the reality- we are being conformed into the image of God from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). All things work for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
So what’s the key to feeling unstuck in our journey with God. How do we escape apathy, depression, and hopelessness? The problem is on our end God has already given us the solution. We have everything we need (Ephesians 1:3). We are not victims.
On this problem, I was recently reminded of this passage from James:
“In the same way, faith by itself, if not accompanied by action is dead…was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did…as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:17, 21-22, 26 (NIV)
And suddenly it becomes so clear that we feel stuck because we haven’t acted on what God has already asked us to do. This message of instruction from God may have come days, weeks, months, or years ago. We feel dead because God is still waiting for us to take that step and DO what He has already asked us to do. This is why we are bored, depressed, and hopeless. We might be waiting for God to do something for us when God is actually looking to do something through us.
It could be something specific, or something more general. The fact is we need to actually make the effort to do what God has already spoken to us. “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age,” says Christ. God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
If you’re feeling stuck, quiet yourself with God and ask if there is something that He has already asked you to do. Ask Him to show you specifically what step to take, and He will be faithful to show you. If what you hear scares you or intimidates you, that is a great sign that that is the next step. Then, your faith will become alive again and made complete through the power of action.
