Someone recently wrote me and told me they were struggling with some things in their life and consequently were struggling spiritually. The person will remain anonymous, but I wanted to share my response, with a few details made more generic. If you are struggling spiritually, here is some good basic advice to get you in the right direction.
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Dear Anonymous,
I am really sorry that you are having a tough time right now. I don’t have any dramatic words of wisdom, but I would encourage you to do a few of these small things. You probably know all of them already, but here’s a reminder to get you going. Remember… a few small steps in the right direction can have big results.
1) Don’t isolate. The worst thing you can do when struggling is to be a loner. I strongly encourage you to reach out to the other people in the [men’s and women’s] group and ask for prayer and come to the meetings. Men’s and women’s groups at church are a great way to not only learn the Bible, but also get to know other people. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people who have been in difficult situations and were really encouraged when they shared their struggles with the other people in the group. Sometimes getting out of isolation can have dramatic effects on your spiritual walk.
2) Get to church. Again, the worst thing you can do for your faith is to stop attending church. You never know when God will use a particular service, message, or song to really challenge/encourage you. Some weeks may be duds, but other weeks may be exactly what you need. Church should not be the only place you go for spiritual nourishment and direction, but you will benefit spiritually if you make it a regular part of your life.
3) Get in Scripture. If you don’t feel like reading the Bible or praying right now, then do it anyways. “Fake it till you make it.” This is not ideal, but it is even worse to just throw aside the Bible and not read it. Get into it. Psalms would be great right now. Instead of praying your own words, pray the words of David as he is struggling. Just like church attendance, you never know when something in Scripture will pierce through a hardened heart and make a big impact in your life. But that won’t happen if you don’t get in it.
4) Don’t give up. You will feel like giving up. You will feel like coasting. You will feel like not pressing into God. But if you do that, you limit your opportunities for growth and improvement. Be realistic. Recognize that things stink right now. Tell God. But don’t give up on him. All throughout Scripture, we see people suffering. For some reason, God allows it. But on the other side, months or years later, you will be able to look back and say, “I grew from that” and “God was with me the whole time.” But that will be hard to do if you call it quits. Don’t give up.
Praying for you!
Kyle