GETTING UNSTUCK IN MY FAITH

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV.

It is not uncommon that at some point in our lives, we have all been stuck - whether in our job, relationship or even our faith. But to make a change, some things have to be adjusted in our attitude or modus operandi. Albert Einstein defines insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

God has a plan for our lives to prosper us, but the question is, are we willing to engage in His will? If your answer is 'yes', then let us look at how we can get unstuck in our faith.

1) Change our focus

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past..." If we are to move on to new things in Christ, we must learn that:

a) We cannot depend upon past victories to sustain us.

Past victories are deceptive hindrances to current and future opportunities. Sometimes we have to let go of the past to gain the future. The Apostle Paul makes a similar statement in Philippians 3:13 NIV - "Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead..." God wants to do a new thing and set us free from that which has us bound. He wants us unstuck.

The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, live it.

b) We cannot allow our past failures to control us.

"I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career ... I've lost almost 300 games." "Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed." "I've failed over and over and over again in my life ... and that is why I succeed." Those words were spoken by Michael Jordan, who, by most standards, is the greatest basketball player who ever played the game!

Too many of us dwell on our past failures and become paralysed. When we do this, we miss the opportunities that God puts in front of us because we are afraid to fail. God is saying turn from your failures to me. "I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more." Isaiah 43:25 NIV

2) Concentrate your focus on God's plans

"I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." These words tell us that if we trust God, He can and will guide us through the trials that we have to go through.

It's not easy, but when we trust Him, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all." Psalm 34:19 NKJV. He wants to open a new path for us so that we can overcome the rebellion and apathy that often leads us away from His presence. "... But the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:13-14 KJV.

So, in order to become unstuck by discovering what God wants for us:

a) We must first see ourselves as God sees us.

"Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now He has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation." Colossians 1:21-22 NIV

b) You must see your possibilities as God sees them.

God is able to transform the desert areas of your life into fields of blessing and abundance. God can take a dried-up useless life and transform it into a life of purpose and grace - it takes time, it takes commitment, but God can do it.

3) Commit yourself

to God's plan

God has already set into motion a new direction and a new purpose for your life. Will you follow Him? This leads us to our working definition of unstuck. Unstuck is "simply moving forward in my life because I'm willing to give God complete control".

God has a plan for all our lives. He wants to give us hope in hopeless times and chart the course for us based on His promises, but we have to sign on to His plan. That is faith, committing ourselves to the leadership of God.