Silas
Beloved of All
Your honesty in sharing where you are is heard, and I want to respond with care and truth.
What you describe shows a common misunderstanding of what faith in Jesus Christ actually is. Faith is not a technique to make life go smoothly or to make bills easier to pay. Scripture describes faith as the inner confidence in what God has promised and the evidence in the heart of realities we cannot yet see. It looks beyond what is visible right now to what God has said is true.
Because of that, the test of faith is never whether circumstances immediately improve. The Bible points to men and women who trusted God deeply and yet did not receive everything promised in their lifetime. Some were honored, some suffered greatly, some even died still trusting, not having seen the full fulfillment. Their faith was not false because they suffered, and faith is not proven true because things are going well for a time. Financial relief for a season does not prove that God is not real, just as financial hardship does not prove that He is not good.
It is also important to understand that we are made right with God only by trusting Jesus Christ, not by our own efforts. We cannot earn His favor by attending gatherings or by reading the Bible as if those actions purchase blessing. Those things matter because they feed faith, but they do not create righteousness. God counts a person righteous when that person puts genuine trust in Jesus who died for sins and rose again. That trust is a gift to receive, not a wage to earn.
At the same time, a genuine trust will change a life. To say I believe and then live as if Jesus is not Lord raises the question of whether the belief is living at all. Faith that is real will show itself in obedience and a changed direction, not because works save us, but because they demonstrate that the faith is alive. Saying we have faith without any evidence of it in how we live is not the faith that saves. Works do not produce faith, faith produces works.
Unbelief often grows when we look at ourselves and our circumstances to decide what is true. Faith grows when we look at God and His character and promises. When we measure God only by whether He gives us what we want when we want it, we will be disappointed. When we look to Him as He reveals Himself in Scripture, we learn that His greatest promise is not temporary ease but forgiveness, new life through the Holy Spirit received by faith, and eternal life.
The fact that you can pay your bills right now is a good thing in itself, but it does not answer the deeper need every person has before God. Good circumstances today do not remove the need for mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation with Him, and they do not make the message of the cross untrue.
God has not turned away from you. He still invites you to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If you are willing, turn back to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and ask Him to give you a living faith in His Son. He receives all who come to Him through Jesus in simple trust. I am praying that you will reconsider, open the Bible again with an honest heart, and hear what God has said about His Son, and that you will find that His grace is still offered to you today.
What you describe shows a common misunderstanding of what faith in Jesus Christ actually is. Faith is not a technique to make life go smoothly or to make bills easier to pay. Scripture describes faith as the inner confidence in what God has promised and the evidence in the heart of realities we cannot yet see. It looks beyond what is visible right now to what God has said is true.
Because of that, the test of faith is never whether circumstances immediately improve. The Bible points to men and women who trusted God deeply and yet did not receive everything promised in their lifetime. Some were honored, some suffered greatly, some even died still trusting, not having seen the full fulfillment. Their faith was not false because they suffered, and faith is not proven true because things are going well for a time. Financial relief for a season does not prove that God is not real, just as financial hardship does not prove that He is not good.
It is also important to understand that we are made right with God only by trusting Jesus Christ, not by our own efforts. We cannot earn His favor by attending gatherings or by reading the Bible as if those actions purchase blessing. Those things matter because they feed faith, but they do not create righteousness. God counts a person righteous when that person puts genuine trust in Jesus who died for sins and rose again. That trust is a gift to receive, not a wage to earn.
At the same time, a genuine trust will change a life. To say I believe and then live as if Jesus is not Lord raises the question of whether the belief is living at all. Faith that is real will show itself in obedience and a changed direction, not because works save us, but because they demonstrate that the faith is alive. Saying we have faith without any evidence of it in how we live is not the faith that saves. Works do not produce faith, faith produces works.
Unbelief often grows when we look at ourselves and our circumstances to decide what is true. Faith grows when we look at God and His character and promises. When we measure God only by whether He gives us what we want when we want it, we will be disappointed. When we look to Him as He reveals Himself in Scripture, we learn that His greatest promise is not temporary ease but forgiveness, new life through the Holy Spirit received by faith, and eternal life.
The fact that you can pay your bills right now is a good thing in itself, but it does not answer the deeper need every person has before God. Good circumstances today do not remove the need for mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation with Him, and they do not make the message of the cross untrue.
God has not turned away from you. He still invites you to trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. If you are willing, turn back to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and ask Him to give you a living faith in His Son. He receives all who come to Him through Jesus in simple trust. I am praying that you will reconsider, open the Bible again with an honest heart, and hear what God has said about His Son, and that you will find that His grace is still offered to you today.
