But the problem with most of us Christians is that we go through experiences in life that tend to destroy our faith in God and in His Word. We pray for our plans to materialize only for them to fail. We go through harrowing experiences that make us doubt whether we are worshipping a living God. We hear in the media of good people dying in accidents. We see friends who have little faith in God succeed in their endeavours while we are stagnating in our careers. Such kind of experiences and observations diminish our faith in God.
Personally, I know how it feels to believe so deeply in God only for my faith in Him to be shattered by the challenges of everyday living. Early in the year 2008 for instance, I used to pray regularly that I get accepted at four top American colleges where I had applied for admission. I remember one night that time believing so deeply that God would answer my prayers as I gazed on a beautiful starry sky; I reasoned that the same God who made the stars and set them in place would also see me through to America for my undergraduate studies.
But come March and April 2008, I was crestfallen to receive rejection letters from all the four top American colleges. That April afternoon when I learnt I had been rejected by the college whose letter I read last, I felt like sleeping with a woman to relieve the depression that was welling up inside me.
Over the years since then, I have had recurring experiences of feeling so close to God at times and so abandoned by Him at other times. Truly, we are living in a fallen world with challenges that tend to puncture our faith in God. And we, as Christians, have a responsibility to nurture and grow our faith in God during our sojourn in this fallen world that is the Earth. The following are some of the ways I thought on how we can grow our faith in God:
- Reading the Bible regularly: As I have said, the Bible is full of wonderful promises. It's also full of enlightening words of wisdom. I suggest that you get into the habit of reading it regularly and highlight or underline the verses that speak to you. Commit some of the verses to memory and whisper them in your mind when confronted with situations in which they are relevant.
- Reflecting on God's faithfulness in the past: I don't know about you but for me, God has come through for me on numerous occasions in the past. He helped me get admitted at the prestigious Starehe Boys' Centre in 2002. And He kept me from sleeping with a woman that time in 2008 I have told you I got rejected by four top American colleges.. Thinking about all those divine interventions helps strengthen my faith in God.
- Meditating on nature and its wonders: I have come to believe that nature is a living proof that God exists. The blue oceans, the vast heavens, the ordered course of day and night, and the beauty in the changing seasons - surely, aren't these the works of an intelligent being? For me, that intelligent being is God, the Mighty One.
- Listening to hymns: There are many inspirational hymns covering such topics as gratitude, comfort in times of difficulty and the joys of trusting in God. I encourage you to listen to them and memorize the lyrics of the ones that touch you so that you can sing them when showering or commuting to work. They will help grow your faith.
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story on growing our faith in God, you might also enjoy another one I wrote sone time back on "Proof That God Exists". Just click on that link in blue to dive straight into the story.
