Do you ever feel a bit burned out in your faith?

Do you ever feel a bit burned out in your faith? Like you’re trying to read the Bible, but you feel disconnected from God? Or maybe you’ve been waiting so long for an answer to prayer, you’re starting to wonder if the whole faith thing is real?

A few years ago, after going through an extremely painful church break up, I deconstructed a bit. I felt so cynical about church and faith and to be honest, sometimes even about God.

If you know my story you know that I ended up writing a book about my experience called Fractured Faith. Honestly? It’s a miracle that today I not only have faith but love the Lord more deeply than I ever did. While I believe the reason for that is the grace of God, I also attribute my faith to the habit of meeting with God daily even when I didn’t feel like He was even there.

I wrote a devotional during that season of my life that is hands down my favorite thing I’ve ever written – or at least the most helpful for me personally. As we try to raise the necessary funds for our global work in Lebanon, we’re offering a digital copy of this resource as a thank you gift when you make a donation to our campaign.

I’ve always liked killing two birds with one stone. So… you get stronger, and you help us spread hope all in one fell scoop. What could be better? If you’re not sure about it, check out a sample entry from the 45-day devotional.

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Excerpt from Week 1

Introduction: Where is God in my pain?

While we can’t always explain the reason for it, most of us understand that suffering is an inevitable part of humanity. What most of us find challenging is reconciling the goodness of God in our suffering. Why does God allow us to suffer so much? Where is God in our pain? Yet in my experience as an ER physician, it is those who are hurting the most who become the most open to healing. Pain makes us receptive to grace. Pain readies us to receive what we do not have on our own. Pain positions us for deeper dependence. Pain, as awful as it is, gets our attention.

It is difficult work to reconcile God’s goodness with our pain. It’s easier to blame Him for our pain. It’s easier to stay mad in our pain. But we have a Savior who sympathizes with us in our pain. We have a Savior who suffered the deepest of all pain in order to give us what we need the most in our pain. Because of the cross on which He was crucified, Jesus can not only speak into our pain, but also provides the grace and help we need when we need it the most.

This week as we meditate on God’s goodness in our pain, let’s make it our focus to fix our eyes on the cross where Jesus himself once asked “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Day 1: Still Reeling

Silence and stillness before God (2 minutes)

Read:

Mark 5:35-41

³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Reflect:

The disciples were reeling. After an exhausting day of serving the crowd, they were hoping for an easy cruise along the Galilee towards their next destination. Instead, they found themselves facing a storm they thought might kill them. Imagine their shock when they looked over and saw Jesus, their leader, snuggled up in the helm of the boat, sleeping. Imagine their frustration, their hurt, their disappointment as they asked: “Don’t you care about us Lord? Don’t you love us enough to help us?”

Who of us hasn’t asked the same questions when reeling in our own storms? The one we thought we could rely on doesn’t seem to care enough about us to wake up long enough to help us. Yet nothing is further from the truth. It took one word from Jesus to set all things right again. It took one word from Jesus for His disciples to gain perspective again. His words unveiled the truth about our hearts: “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” The truth is that we are afraid, and we don’t always have quite enough faith. When we find ourselves still reeling, it’s because we’ve never really grasped or truly believed who Jesus truly is. The moment the eyes of the disciples were opened, a different kind of fear took a hold of them – the kind of fear known as awe. In that moment of awareness, they recognized that God was in their midst.

Is your life filled with awe at who God is, or are you still reeling with the weight of your pain?

Respond:

In what area in your life do you feel as if God does not care about your pain? 

Rest:

Lord, help me to rest in the knowledge that you are with me in the middle of the storm I’m facing. There is no pain in my life that you aren’t aware of. There are no details in my life that are a surprise to you. It’s only when I forget how faithful you are that I find myself still reeling. And it’s only when I remember that you’re the God who speaks peace into the storm that I find my rest.

Conclude with silence (2 minutes)

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If you enjoyed this devotion, you can download the 45-day Fractured Faith devotional by donating $15 or more to support our Summer Fundraising Campaign for Lebanon!

We aim to raise $50,000 by August 31 to enable us to launch a Women's Health Awareness Program, a vocational training for refugee women, as well as ensure we can continue to provide essential medications, education, and discipleship to those who desperately need it.

$11,061 raised of goal $50,000! Make a donation now and get the Fractured Faith devotional as a thank you gift!

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