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Transcript:
Hello, welcome to Walking in Step with God. I am Steve McDonald. Today we explore the topic “Build Resilience Through Faith” as the next installment in our series “Find Your Way to Faith”. This series examines life’s journey and how faith can transform our quality of life.
In today’s message, I want to discuss how we can build the strength to face the inevitable storms of life. Let’s explore how faith can be the foundation of building a resilience to the challenges and setbacks we will all face as we navigate the world.
None of us is immune to challenges in life. Whether you are new to the idea of faith or have been walking with God for decades, there will be times we face unexpected situations and circumstances that will bring frustration, sadness, disappointment, and even fear into our hearts.
The good news is God is always with us, even when the people we have trusted have abandoned us. God is faithful, even when the people in our lives have let us down. As we walk with God, we find peace, patience, and strength during times that would overwhelm a person without faith. Having this strength and resilience takes active participation on our part to keep God close to us. It requires changes in our lifestyle and changes in our attitudes.
Today, let’s explore the tools and practices that will keep God close – allowing His presence to take an active part in our day-to-day lives. Let’s discuss ways to build strength and resilience through our faith.
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Welcome back. Let’s continue in our discussion of ways to build resilience through our faith.
Stay in Prayer
The first, and I believe the most important tool in our walk of faith is prayer. If we are to be strong for life’s inevitable challenges, we must have a fundamental understanding of the power of prayer.
Let me ask you something. What would you say is necessary for any relationship to flourish and thrive? Is it reasonable to say that communication is key? Think of family, friends, and even professional relationships in your life. There can be no relationship if there is no communication.
Let’s look at this from another angle. Say you told someone in your life that you would be there for them whenever they need and you truly, sincerely, meant it. You set the expectation that anytime they need to talk or ever need a helping hand, they can reach out to you. Now, how would you describe the nature of your relationship with this person if they never reached out to you. They never called. They never wrote. They never took the time to communicate with you. Instead they struggled through challenges and felt alone. If they just reached out to you and let you know they are in need, you would be there, right?
This example is similar to many in their relationship with God. They have been told God can be a guide in their life, but they do not communicate with God. Unlike the example I just gave a moment ago, God is always aware of you and everything that is happening in your life. He can and will intervene as He sees fit, but to truly benefit from all that a life of faith has to offer, we must communicate with God. We must pray. God is big on relationships. If you ignore God, you will not have the same relationship with God as one who actively communicates with Him. God loves everyone unconditionally – but the relationship will be strongest with those who make it a priority to be in relationship with Him.
When we pray, we can share our concerns, our fears, and our challenges. We can ask Him for guidance as we face complex and convoluted circumstances. We can ask God to prepare us for a challenging road ahead, revealing things to us that we lack the ability to learn on our own. We can even thank Him for things we are grateful for. We can praise Him for His mercy, love, and grace.
When we pray, we are playing an active role in maintaining a relationship with the One who created us. At this stage in my life, I pray in the morning, evening and many points throughout the day, because I have learned of the power of prayer and playing an active role in staying connected with God.
Build Community
The next item I would like to discuss for building resilience in faith is community. A faith community provides a support system of like-minded individuals who believe in God. Let’s examine how community can be a powerful force in building resilience for life’s challenges.
First, your active participation in a faith community means that you can be someone to help others in that community. You can pray with others, fellowship with others, and pray -for- others. You can offer assistance to individuals in your community that you know are in need of support. By helping others, you are helping them to build resilience in their faith.
Second, being a part of a faith community means that you can rely upon others in your community to provide support to you when you need it. Others in your community can pray with you, fellowship with you, and pray for you. Support can include counsel or even emotional support.
Participating in a faith community enables you to either aid others in fostering resilience through a shared faith or receive support for strengthening your own resilience. In both scenarios, expect divine assistance—God will use either you or someone within your community to be the source of guidance, counsel, or emotional support.
Are you part of a faith community? You may be able to find this community in your place of worship or in an online community. You may even find community in your circle of friends that share in your faith. In any community, ask God to show you how to be of assistance to others in need.
Depend on God
The last item I would like to discuss today to help you build resilience through your faith is depending on God. What do I mean by depending on God? Let’s break it down.
First, trust God with every aspect of your life. Understanding that God knows you infinitely more than you know yourself. Yes, we are taught from an early age that no one is looking out for us except us, but that is not true. God is looking out for us. In fact, God has a perfected plan already in place for us that utilizes the gifts He has planted within us. The sooner we can find that plan, the sooner we can live a life that truly allows us to shine in the way God intended.
Second, expect God to show you the way. I cannot stress this enough. Depending on God will require you to -decide- to trust in something you cannot see or hear or touch. It will require you to seek out the way in which God’s presence is made known in our hearts and in our spirit. When we understand this, we can understand the way in which God will reveal His responses to our prayers to lead and guide us. Depending on God to show us the way does not mean we remain still and wait for a signal from God to say ‘go left’ or ‘go right’, it means we -walk forward- and -expect- Him to guide our movement, be it to move left, right, forward, back, or even to remain still and do nothing at all. It means that we show Him that we are trusting Him and relying upon Him to provide guidance in addition to our judgement – to know which way to go. It is in these moments that we can truly see God’s influence. God will help us to notice things -as we walk- to be guided to His plans.
Lastly, we can depend on God by surrendering to His will. This means surrendering the challenging circumstances in our lives that feel out of our hands and even those that we have direct control of the outcomes. Keeping in mind the last two points, this does not mean staying idle, it means doing our best to work with our circumstances -and- asking God to intervene in such a way that we are guided to outcomes that are aligned to His will. God’s will is perfect. Often it may not be the exact same thing as our will, but this is our opportunity to yield to God, knowing that His will is the most important.
God provides us with the strength and fortitude to face life’s challenges, knowing we have everything we need in Him.
Wrap Up
In today’s message we discussed ways to build resilience through our faith. We discussed the importance of prayer. Any strong relationship relies upon prayer and our relationship with God is no different. God is always aware of us, but His presence in our lives is truly revealed when we actively pursue a relationship with Him. Prayer is a fundamental practice in the life of someone who walks with God. Praying to God throughout the day keeps God close to our hearts and minds and allows us to walk hand in hand with Him.
We explored the idea of cultivating a community of faith. A faith community of like-minded believers can create a support system for each other, offering counsel, guidance and emotional support through prayer and fellowship. God may use you to provide support to someone in your community or He may lead someone in your community to provide support to you. Either way, a community of faith creates the environment for building resilience and strength through support of one another in fellowship.
Lastly, we examined the importance of depending on God. Depending on God means being able to walk forward in faith, -expecting- God’s intervention and guidance to move left or right or remain still. Remaining still without God’s guidance may feel more comfortable, but we must learn to actively seek God in every area of our lives. This does not mean that we do not make our own decisions, it means we make our decisions in partnership with God day by day, moment by moment. When we truly surrender our lives to God, we will find ourselves living a life that is aligned with His perfect will and plans for us.
These are the tools that we can utilize to truly build strength and resilience to weather the challenges and storms that all of us will face in life. We are never alone when we place our trust in God. Let your faith be the cornerstone for your strength and the foundation for your life.
Are you interested in discovering more about the guidance offered in this message? Learn more in the companion article Going Deeper with the Word: Build Resilience Through Faith
