Struggling with faith has been around as long as faith has. The
ability to place our hearts and trust in something and someone
bigger than ourselves is hard and very much a supernatural
act. It’s more than just believing in something; it’s putting your
whole identity as a person into the reality that your belief is
real. It takes a lot of strength, courage, and concentration to
live a life of faith. That is why when our world gets rocked, it’s
easy for our faith to slip. That isn’t saying that our faith wasn’t
real, but that we don’t have the capacity to maintain the effort
it requires to live in it. Our circumstances can often leave us
feeling like our doubt and pain can be more real than our God
or faith.
That is where we find Matt Murdock as season 3 begins. After
the cataclysmic events of “Defenders,” Matt is left alone,
beaten, broken, and stripped of his abilities. He saved the
world, sacrificed himself, and is seemingly punished for his
efforts. We see him bitter and angry and ready to cast his faith
far from himself.
“Matt: I’d say we finally know where we stand with each
other. The book of Job. The story of God’s perfect
servant Job. He prayed every day at dawn. With his
knees on the ground, his face in the dirt. Slaughtered ten
goats, one for each of his children. Burned them at the
alter in God’s honor. Of all of God’s soldiers, Job, he was
the most loyal. God murdered all ten of his children in
cold blood. Scorched every inch of job’s land. Lashed at
his body till his skin was covered bloody in welts. God
rained...misery on the life of His most perfect servant,
and still... Job would not curse Him. You see, that was
me sister. I suffered willingly. I gave my sweat and blood
and skin without complaint. Because I too believed I was
God’s soldier. Well, not anymore. I am what I do in the
dark now. I bleed only for myself.
Sister Maggie: You might hate God right now, but the
feeling is not mutual.
Matt: No, I don’t hate Him. I’ve just seen His true face, is
all.”
When our world brings painful circumstances and situations,
it’s hard to see anything beyond the pain and anguish in front
of us. Our faith can be the casualty of our circumstance if we
aren’t willing to fight for it. Sometimes it’s that you no longer
believe God to be there, and sometimes it’s that you still
believe He is there and you just don’t care anymore.
Let me encourage you that doubting your faith is normal. John
the Baptist, the dude who literally had known Jesus his entire
earthly life and had baptized Jesus and heard the audible voice
of God call Him His son still doubted.
“When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds
of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you
the one who is to come, or should we expect someone
else?”- Matthew 11:2-3.
A prison sentence was enough to make the man who knew
Jesus best question his faith. Jesus didn’t condemn John for
doubting, He instead sent word back to John to encourage him
and strengthen his faith.
Beyond just losing faith, sometimes we are angry at God and
life. Jesus wasn’t surprised by this and He warned us in
Matthew 24:12, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the
love of most will grow cold.” Having faith in the face of a harsh
life is hard. I get Matt Murdock being bitter. He had an entire
skyscraper dropped on him while trying to save the world. The
woman he loved was gone, and now so are his superpowers. I
understand being salty, but please understand, your faith and
your relationship with God are worth fighting for.
“Blake Tower: I know you know the difference between
a good fight, and a losing battle.
Foggy: I know that sometimes they’re the same thing,
and you don’t know which battle you’re fighting until
you’re fighting it.”
If you are struggling with your faith, keep fighting. It’s not
really your own faith till you have fought for it.
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so
now, not only as in my presence but much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling,” - Philippians 2:12.
So beyond pulling my own Sister Maggie act and asking you
not to give up, I want to give you three practical steps for
when you are struggling, frustrated, and bitter.
#1: Listen
One of the reasons we doubt and become imbittered is
because we can’t hear God, or at least not the way we would
like to. The times we feel alone and entitled to an answer can
feel like we are being met with silence.
“Father Lantom: God gave us free will, Matthew. Adam
and Eve were not puppets, and neither are we. We
make our own choices. That’s one reason we pray, for
help making good ones. You should try it sometime.
Matthew: I do pray. I pray all the time. I’ve been praying
for years. God doesn’t talk to me.
Father Lantom: So that’s what this is about? You feel
God is...neglecting you? Matthew, the burning bush
business doesn’t happen very often, even in the Bible.
He’s usually more subtle than that. You want to hear
God, Matthew, you have to listen more carefully.
Because He speaks in whispers.“
Lack of hearing does not mean the voice isn’t there. We need
to learn to listen God’s way if we want to actually hear Him.
Listening in any other way than how He shows us is like calling
a random number and being upset when Ben Affleck doesn’t
answer the phone. Learning to listen is crucial. As Father
Lantom mentioned, God speaks in whispers.
“The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in
the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass
by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains
apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the
Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an
earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not
in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” - 1
Kings 19:11-12.
Paul goes on to tell the Roman church that it is when your
mind is renewed that you will be able to understand what God
is communicating.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you
will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his
good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:2.
One thing I’ve learned as of late is that when you can’t hear
yourself, put yourself in a place with those who can. That will
help you be in the loop. Spend time with people who are
spending time with God. Ask them to communicate how God is
moving and speaking in their lives. Ask them to share with you
how God has moved in the past in their lives, even ask them to
tell you how they see God moving in your life. Sometimes like
Matt after the collapse, our circumstances have left us unable
to hear clearly. We can benefit from people who love us
enough to help us hear when we can’t.
#2: Love
It’s so easy to get bound up in the hassling elements of faith.
Responsibilities, ways we serve, people disagreeing, conflict
with other believers, other believers letting you down, unmet
expectations and so much more can hurt our spirit. I’ve been in
professional ministry for going on twenty years, and believe
me, I know that people and practices can make faith seem like
a grueling chore, but we always have an anchor.
What often draws most of us to God is love and the idea that
we are loved. A God who created the whole universe loves us.
Jesus would love us enough to die for us to be with Him. He
would love us enough to listen to us, guide us, comfort us, and
provide for us. Now, we can see the manifestation of that love
in people around us. To think that love would permeate our
lives so fully that people would be able to noticeably see a
difference in us is beyond me. When we are doubting most
everything and angry with what’s left, love is still there like it
always was.
Sister Maggie: If there’s anything that can redeem a lost
soul, love would have to top that list.
Matt: Oh, come on. Even a monster like Fisk?
Sister Maggie: You’re talking to a nun, kiddo. Love and
redemption are pretty much our sales pitch.
Love is our greatest comfort, greatest commandment, greatest
encouragement, and greatest hope. When you can’t find faith
in anything else, find faith that God loves you, and that doesn’t
change.
“We love because he first loved us.” - 1 John 4:19.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8.
Paul tells the Colossian church that love is the spiritual duct
tape of our relationships with God and man.
“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds
them all together in perfect unity.” - Colossians 3:14.
When your heart and faith are falling apart, let love bind it
together.
#3: Perspective
When you find yourself struggling with faith, frustrated with
God, or just plain lost in your own circumstances, step back
and let yourself see that you don’t see the whole picture. You
are only seeing a partial portion of your story, and often your
story isn’t predictable. In the first episode of season 3, Matt
goes on a tirade comparing himself to Job and how he won’t
be God’s punching bag like Job was. He was done with God’s
game, and that God just destroyed Job and left him behind. I’m
sure being the dutiful student of the Word Matt was, he knew
better than to think that was the end of the story. If he knew
the beginning of the story so well that he could throw it in his
mom’s face, he should have kept telling it. From Matt’s
perspective of Job’s story, it was very bleak, but look at how
Job’s story actually ends:
“The LORD blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than
the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six
thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a
thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and
three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah,
the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.
Nowhere in all the land were there found women as
beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted
them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this,
Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children
and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job
died, an old man and full of years.” - Job 42:12-17.
Job’s life as we see in the beginning of his story was indeed
horrific. His pain was real. His loss was real. His trauma was
real, but so was his faith. During the period of his pain, much
like Matt, it was hard to see any reality where life would be
anything more than the pain and horror he was currently
enduring. However, his life became better than it ever was. He
had more riches, more family, and lived for 140 years beyond
his suffering. Please understand that I’m not saying a happy
ending negates your struggle, but as bad as things are, your
story isn’t over yet.
As Matt came to his senses and saw the plan and purpose of
his life unfold, he cited a story told to him;
Matt: See, I was pretty angry at God and bitter towards
His world. How could a loving God blind me? Why?
Anyway...he told me; God’s plan is like a beautiful
tapestry. And the tragedy of being human is that we
only get to see it from the back. With all the ragged
threads and muddy colors. We only get a hint of the true
beauty that would be revealed if we could see the whole
patter on the other side as God does.
When we realize we have a limited view of our situation, we
can be a little more at peace at the moment of conflict. Just
like Matt’s life started out in shambles at the beginning of
season 3, it ended in a better place than it had been in a long
time.
...Well until they got canceled by Netflix, but you get the point.
Struggling with faith and frustration is normal. Learn to listen.
Embrace the love. Keep your perspective. It’s worth fighting
for.
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