Hi Aunt
I'm writing to seek people's opinions on the following matter. I'm slowly losing my faith in God, I feel like he isn't for me. Does anyone else feel that way? Because I'm looking at how other people call upon him and he just answers, he listens to their prayers. Yet we pray but see no results. No matter how much we pray. Some people don't even pray yet they get everything they wish for and are successful. If he loves us all why don't we get the same treatment from him? If he has all the might and power then why do we still get attacked by witches even though we always pray that he protects us? If he is always with us how do witches get access to us who believe and pray? What's the use of fully trusting in him if he won't protect me? At this point I don't even think I should continue praying, maybe I'm just not the chosen one. Maybe I'm not one of the ones he loves. Or maybe I just don't get how God's things work. At this point don't know hey. What do y'all think?
So, that is our soul. How would you respond if this letter was written to you? How would you counsel this individual? To do that, you first have to get to the bottom of the problem. What really is the issue? And I am sure that there are thousands more people in our society who may be going through such a crisis in their faith. Bear in mind that it’s not our duty to judge anyone’s situation because we don’t really know the full context of their life, however, from their own words we can come to an understanding of why they found themselves in such a situation, and hopefully take lessons for our own Christian walk. This is what I can observe…
A wrong idea of who God is – Throughout my Christian life, I have always stressed this important point: we need to teach people the right knowledge about God. Because most people have never met the Biblical God, instead, they have been taught another “God” who is sort of a servant, whose job is to give us money and to do everything we want while requiring nothing from us. That kind of a god is an idol. Such is the case with our friend above. Who says he/she is losing faith because the God they have known is not doing what they think He must do? A biblical God, however, is holy, righteous and sovereign. His primal goal for your life is not worldly success, but salvation. When an individual builds their faith on false knowledge about God, any supposed “Christian life” is nothing but sinking sand.
A lack of repentance – The second problem I see here is that there was never any true salvation here to begin with. It might have been a false convert. That also is a product of today’s ministers whose Gospel presentations are devoid of any mention of sin and more about coming to Jesus to get blessings from Him. For this reason, many souls come to Jesus to experiment if these blessings are there – lacking repentance. And we all know that repentance is the foundation of any lasting spiritual life.
A Comparison with other people – Since this individual came to God with the appeal of worldly goods, it’s no coincidence that their “Christianity” was all about comparing his/her own life with those who seem to have been “blessed” by God. Such a soul cannot have peace and contentment but will always look over their shoulder at the latest worldly trend. Such a person can barely be grateful for what the Lord has done for them on the cross, but will always feel like like the good Lord is not doing enough. Such an individual would hardly appreciate the fact that God does not deal with all of us the same in this life, hence we ought to be content with that grace that has been bestowed upon each of us.
Prayer and witches – Notice that our subject here also claims that prayer does not work because “witches still attack us”. I wonder where they saw those witches. Regardless, these kinds of things are a product of the African Church. Which has relegated the Gospel to the background while focusing on hunting witches and chasing demons. It’s these people who have completely changed the meaning of prayer from a humble request to a declaring and binding demons by name. Is this how our Bible teaches us about prayer? Can we use witches to measure God’s goodness in our lives?
Conclusion. These are my honest opinions about the sad story of our friend. I also admire their honest admission. However, I must end with this statement: It matters what you are taught in the name of religion. Because wrong theology is extremely harmful to your soul. Especially this evangelism by blessing movement that is responsible for the destruction of many souls in this African land. To all of us ministers, pastors and the like, I appeal: Let’s take our ministries seriously; and strive to give our people the truth of this Gospel message, that prepares them for life beyond the grave. It does little good for us to claim to be messengers from on high, while we are busy proclaiming a worldly message to the innocent. Finally, if by any chance you happen to relate with the individual above; also losing faith because you didn’t get the promised “success”. I must also advise you that His desire is that you may be saved, regardless of whether your bank account is fat or not – and that salvation is when you repent and become a new creature. Once that truly happens you will change your mind and no longer put your hope on this world, but on eternity itself. Therefore, “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” (2 Cor 13:5).
Sinothi Ncube
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