Rom 4:20-22
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

How many of us stagger at the thought of God keeping his promise in our situation? Feelings of hopelessness cause us to doubt. “He can do it for others, but I don’t believe He can do it for me. ” Or maybe we don’t believe He is willing to do it, which is even worse in my opinion. That means we believe He is good to others, but not to me.

Are we FULLY persuaded that He is good and able to keep His promises? I think when we partially believe, Satan has a field day with us. We have to go whole hog in our belief in God, because you can’t mix fear and faith. Fear infects and degrades faith, so we can really only be in fear or faith.

The problem is that we don’t realize that we are moving into fear or doubt. They just seem like”thoughts” to us. However, our thoughts are expressions of our faith or fear, and we need to pay closer attention to where our thoughts wander.

It is imperative to believe Him – imperative for our righteousness in God’s eyes. We must have faith to please God, and sometimes we have to struggle and fight to cling to the measure of faith God has given us. The destroyer of our souls is fighting just as hard to destroy our faith – we must always remember that.

Gen 15:6
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Heb 10:23-25
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews tells us that we need to hold fast to the profession of our faith without wavering. I am the first one to admit how hard that is. Notice that holding fast insinuates something trying to tear us away as we cling to our faith.

However, also note the following verses that explain how to hold fast: we we need to be around other people who will provoke and challenge us to believe Him. We need to push out of our isolationism and assemble together with others who will encourage us in our faith.

So make a concerted effort to pay attention to your thought life and ask yourself if you are FULLY persuaded that God is good, even in your case, and WILL do as He has promised in His Word. FIGHT for your faith – don’t think you can lay there passively and retain it. It can be wrenched away from you if you isolate yourself and dabble with fearful thoughts (the dreaded “what ifs” for example). This site and our Facebook group are a great way to join with others and be encouraged.

Penny Haynes
http://ChristianWomenWithDepression.com