Getting back to the basics of our faith

I don't know about you, but I feel more and more every day that the world feels so uncertain, and there's a lot of potential for fear to take over and dominate my thoughts if I allow it to. I have to constantly remind myself that no matter what I think or feel on any given day, God is in control and will see justice served in the end. As crazy as the world seems today, it has actually been worse before. Since the beginning of time, we have been locked in a cycle of going from living in closeness with the Lord, followed by running full speed away from him.

So how are we to find the peace that the Bible tells us to have while living in a world full of chaos, violence, and uncertainty? I can tell you that it's actually very simple. It's all about getting back to the basics. The basic principles of faith are generally the very first things we stop doing when we get lazy and comfortable in our lives. In my own journey, I have found three key things that help to keep me grounded to the goodness of God, and to maintain absolute trust in him no matter what is going on around me. I believe those things are: prayer, maintaining regular study of his word, and being in regular community with other believers.

As human beings, we will never have the timeless overview of the world and history that God has. As a result, we don't see the big picture and how even though he doesn't cause these things, he can use evil, pain, and suffering to draw us back to him. We are the ones who constantly walk away from him and wonder why we don't feel his presence. By staying in his word regularly we can see the pattern since the beginning of time of God reaching out to save and restore humanity out of his absolute love for us. Although we may not understand why when we're in the middle of the story, what we can be absolutely sure of is that our trust in him is well placed. We know how the story ends. And we can know of his absolute goodness. When we pray, we invite him into our hearts and we can ask him to help our belief and trust, even when it wavers. By being in community with other believers, we put ourselves in a position of being able to hear other people's stories and how God has intervened in their lives as well, and to be encouraged by it.

The enemy is real and he wants nothing more than to isolate every one of us and to keep us from doing these basic things that keep us connected to God. Don't neglect the foundational things of faith, they may be simple, but they are absolutely essential. If you have fallen out of habit with any one of these, I would encourage you to start today to make new habits, and daily routines that get you connected to God. He will not bulldoze his way into our lives, He needs to be invited in.