A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post titled “Finding Faith: 5 Steps To Trust God’s Plan.” In that blog post, I went over 5 steps to trust God’s plan, which are lovely steps. But, perhaps you are questioning if God is even worth trusting, and you want to hear someone else’s story of faith because no one else’s testimony looks like yours. Maybe you are a person who has felt rejected by the church or even other Christians. (I am so sorry if that has happened to you!) You may be dipping your toes into your relationship with Jesus. If this is you, I will discuss my personal faith story and the 3 tips to have faith in God that I used to grow my faith. I’m hoping my sharing these tips they will help you grow your faith in God as well.
My Faith In God Short Story
The compliment I get the most from people once they know I’m a Christian and they get to know me is my strong faith in God. In fact, I was picked to be a godmother because of my strong faith. I do have strong faith, but that hasn’t always been the case, and here is my personal faith in God’s story to help you.
Growing up, I suffered physical and emotional abuse. I was in and out of foster care and struggled with what I like to call “mother wounds’ because of my biological mother’s addiction, which resulted in her death.
In my mind, when she died, she abandoned me all over again and still didn’t pick me. It really did and still does hurt my heart sometimes to see mothers with their daughters. It’s a wound that I know will finally be healed in heaven.
I always thought Reba McEntire and the lady from Touched By An Angel would have been great moms for me as a kid if I had a chance to pick a mom. As a kid, being hurt by my biological parents to me felt like the ultimate rejection. So, if my own biological parents rejected me, why wouldn’t Jesus too? I’m going to explain a little later why God doesn’t reject his children that have faith in him.
Since my childhood was traumatic, the system continued to fail me and my siblings while we were young. I used to say, “How can I trust the system, as it hasn’t given me much to trust.” But, now I say, “The system hasn’t given me much to trust (the system is man), but Jesus has.”
How To Find Your Faith In God Again
While in college, I experienced my brother being shot in combat and some other trauma. Back then, I felt I knew Jesus because I lived with a pastor and his wife during a stint in foster care, so I thought I knew all there was to know about the man upstairs. Since I wasn’t handling either situation well about my brother and the trauma I experienced, I figured I would “try Jesus” and “try church.” It couldn’t hurt, right?
When I started to attend church again in college, my faith didn’t just ignite right away; it was a process.
So, here are my tips on how to find your faith in God again.
Tip 1: Start Trusting God With The Small Things
I started trusting God with the little things. I gave him a little to see if he was trustworthy. Now, looking back, that sounds a little crazy, but considering my upbringing and my history of trauma, I’m not surprised.
For example, I would get the classes I needed in college to graduate. (Who else remembers the classes opening up and scrambling to get into your classes! So stressful!!!)
I started to pray that I would have enough money for my bills and get to work safely. In college, I was a CNA, and if you know anything about healthcare, you still have to go to work in a blizzard.
Those small moments when I started to trust, God slowly started growing my faith in him.
Once I started to see God protecting me, even in the small areas, it really did help with the significant areas of life.
So, to grow your faith, start trusting God in the small areas.
The Bible says to have faith the size of a mustard seed.
Important Note: Many feel hurt by God because maybe their past is similar to mine, but I do not feel that way. If you feel that way, those are your feelings and I want to honor them. In no way am I taking away from your feelings by sharing my personal faith in God’s story. I know the scripture talks about Jesus giving people the choice of free will. Because people have that choice, people have the option to hurt people or not. If anything, I believe it grieves God’s heart to know that people have hurt his children.
Since I started to trust God and see him be faithful, I began to seek him more, meaning in my devotionals, journaling, and life, which brings me to tip 2.
Tip 2: Start Seeking God
As I mentioned above, I started to seek God more because he had shown me he had been faithful and didn’t reject me.
I started to read books about Jesus, and I was determined to seek him with everything.
I also started to read about God’s character in the Bible and his works. You know what really discusses this in the Bible is the book of John. Great book by the way!
Jesus hung out with people society had forgotten about, like me, or that’s how I felt growing up. I felt like Jesus wouldn’t have rejected me like my earthly parents did.
This leads me to tip 3.
Tip 3: Read About Women In The Bible
This may sound odd. I always had this idea that I didn’t quite fit in. I didn’t belong at the table with the college graduates, but I didn’t feel like I fit in with my family of origin. (Minus my siblings!)
So, I found people like me through God’s word.
For example, Mary Magdalene. My girl Mary had 7 demons cast out of her by Jesus. I’m not saying Jesus has cast out 7 demons in me, but the world rejected her, but Jesus didn’t. He healed her, and then my girl followed him.
Talk about solid faith!!! She leaves what she knows and follows the guy who heals her, loves her, and sees her! (My little social work heart can’t take it!)
Then we have Ruth! Good old Ruth! Ruth’s husband keels over and dies, and her mother-in-law pleads with her to go back to her homeland as Ruth and her mother-in-law are in a different country. Ruth takes a one-way ticket to her mother-in-law’s land with her. The girl loved her mother-in-law. In fact, Ruth said, where you go, I’ll go, and your God is my God! I mean, the girl didn’t even know Jesus.
Fun fact: Did you know that Jesus is not mentioned in Ruth at all? Check it out if you don’t believe me!
Conclusion About Faith In God
Each person’s faith in God short story is different, but that’s what makes it a great story. They are all unique and individual. I hope my sharing my faith in God story and tips helped you see that God hasn’t rejected you and loves you. He isn’t like your earthly parents (if you had ones similar to mine) and he wants the best for you! He wants your faith in him to grow.
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Blessings,
Ashley Marie
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