4 Perks of Having Faith in God
If you’re a hard worker like me, you enjoy getting things done. Being unproductive brings you stress, and things—and people—never move as fast as you’d like. It’s wonderful to be able to be productive, but there is a cost to being addicted to achieving. It is exhausting trying to do everything by yourself.
I learned I had a choice: I could continue my stress-filled ways of relating to obstacles, or I could put my faith in God.
I will admit that this was a tough choice for me at first. I knew I needed to have faith in God but every time I tried to rest in Him, I found myself getting frustrated that things—and yes, people—weren’t moving fast enough. Then I’d take the reins right back and resume trying to muscle my way through life.
Having faith in God wasn’t actually my problem. I always knew that we serve a mighty big God. The problem was that I felt responsible for more than my share of the workload. This attitude was taking its toll on me in a big way. My health declined, my relationships suffered and I was not happy.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. Neither could my body: I was diagnosed with stage-four adrenal fatigue (there is no stage five). I was forced to lean on God to get things done more than I ever had in the past.
It was THE most uncomfortable thing I had ever done, but when I did four things happened.
These four things made me look at faith in God in a whole new light, and realize that faith in Him comes with perks!
- Perk #1: More peace. In this world there are troubles and trials all around us and they can push you into fear if you’re not on guard. But when you put your faith in God, the God who said “I will do exceedingly, abundantly, above what you could ask, hope or think,” (Eph 3:20) the God who said “I can take vengeance better than you ever could,” (Deut 32:35) then a sense of peace comes over you quieting all those fears. Are the fears still there? Yes, however, you can move forward in spite of them because of the great love that our Heavenly Father has for you. If you are anxious or afraid, it may be time to put your faith in God. He will not let you down.
- Perk #2: More confidence. When you begin to stop relying solely on your own abilities, it can be scary at first. But much like swinging from a trapeze, you have to let go of one in order to grab the next. When you let go of your own abilities and take the faith off of yourself, you need to be prepared to grab onto His strength. John 15:5 says, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” So you see, in our own strength, we are worthless but when we grab hold of Him and stay attached to His vine, we too become unstoppable.
- Perk #3: More strength. In our society strength is a strength and weakness is frowned upon. So we go about our lives wearing masks of strength. You may feel you have to hide your weaknesses in this world, but in the kingdom of God you can allow yourself to be weak because it is in that very weakness that He steps in with His divine strength (2 Cor 2:10). That is why Paul was able to say, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Paul was no weakling. He was bold and strong but he knew from where his strength came.
- Perk #4: Answered prayers. “And whatever things you ask in prayer, really believing, you will receive” (Matthew 21:22). Our God responds to faith (Hebrews 11:6). Without it, it is impossible to please God. One of the greatest perks of having faith in God is knowing that whatever you are in need of, whatever it is that you want (as long as it lines up with Him) than you can confidently (there’s that confidence again) expect Him to hear you and answer!
Having faith in God is easier than you think. It doesn’t take a massive effort. In fact He’s only looking for faith the size of a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20). What it does take is you letting go of all of your strenuous efforts to try to move mountains on your own. Believe that God can do what He says He can and will do, and you too can enjoy all of the perks of having faith in God.
