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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion

faltering faith please help
I was introduced to Christianity at the age of 12. I was confirmed in the Methodist church at 16 I quit attending Church at 18 but I continued praying and living my life with strong love faith in God. I started listening to DAB on and off about 3 years ago. I want to strengthen my relationship with god and I felt learning more is a great way to do it. I have heard about 1/2 of the bible and I have to say it is tearing at my faith. It seems so inconsistent to me. Take the story where the ark of the covenant falls while it is being carried on the wrong thing…. a man that tries to keep it from hitting the ground dies because he doesn’t let it fall. What about the profit that was supposed to take a different path and not eat in town…. he took another path but an old profit lied to him and told him God said to eat The first profit died for trusting a liar. Then you look at David, The one God loved. He committed adultery and had a man murdered. Yes his women were taken and he was humiliated but his life wasn’t taken from him. What happened to an eye for an eye. It seems inconsistent. I am just really confused and I hate that I doubt my faith. I did this to get closer and due to this lack of comprehension I feel further away. That’s the last thing I wanted.
Monilv 01/04/2012 07:30

Replies: (page   1   2   3)
Ray 01/04/2012 09:30
Monilv,

Don't be troubled. The fact that you are asking questions is very good. Very good! Many people don't go that far. They give away their hearts to the doubt and darkness. But all the answers don't come easy. The book is an amazing, living document, but it doesn't come cheap. It is very costly. In some ways it is similar to any good relationship you have. You don't really know everything in that person, but you invest because of something in the heart and you live out the story of your lives together and learn more and more in time.

The "inconsistent" appearance one might be tempted to see a reflection a nefarious God who does not have our good in mind. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The knowledge of the holy just isn't given away. It costs and it takes time. Funny, the classic alter call says that forgiveness is free, Jesus payed the price for our sin, and it is true. But the flip side is the life you enter there cost everything, walking with God, asks you to go deeper and deeper into the heart of God that is boundless. There are answers to your questions here. Ask Him to love you more and to tell you the answers that you need today. Give Him time and listen for what He says with a "still, quiet voice."

Oh, btw, you are not alone. We all have questions. It isn't necessarily the answers that are of value, the ends. It is each step you take and each response you make to what you find that brings the life into the relationship and helps you grow in strength and power, which is what He is after.

Also, know you have an enemy. Your enemy wants you to give up. John 10:10. When you see darkness and doubt, it isn't coming from Jesus. Take a step of faith and ask God to help on one specific issue.

Above all, have fun with Him, find joy and go after it with all your heart. He wants you to do that so that He can use you for His grander purposes. The things that are blocking your joy, they probably aren't from your best friend either.

I'll be in prayer for Monilv and everyone here.
Lanny Carlson 01/04/2012 17:25
Monilv,

Thank you for your honesty regarding your struggles.

Personally, if I took everything in the Bible literally
or accepted the portrait of God we sometimes see in the Old Testament especially,
my faith would be tried as well.
Though others will disagree,
and you are free to find your own way,
I see the Bible not only as a book about God
but about humanity's effort to understand God and to share their understanding.
But that undestanding is growing and evolving,
finding its ultimate expression, for Christians at least, in Jesus Christ.
And much of what we see in the God of the Old Testament isn't compatible
with the God we see in Jesus Christ, who came to correct and enlarge
our view of the Divine.
Much of what we see in the Old Testament, in the examples you cite for example,
may help us to see how seriously the Scriptures take the holiness of God,
but may at the same time be the products of humanity's imperfect understanding of God, and may ascribe to God things that may not in fact be directly attributable to God at all.

That may be even more confusing,and if it isn't helpful,you are free to ignore it.
But as a Christian, I have to measure everything against the standard of Jesus.
We believe that the Divine doesn't change, and if there is something in the OT
which is at odds with what we see in Jesus, Jesus needs to be the lens through which we filter what we see in the Old Testament, sometimes over riding the earlier understanding of God the Old Testament presents.

In any case, don't be afraid of doubt.
The only people who never doubt are the people who never think,
who have never honestly face the hard questions.
Doubt CAN be a stumbling block,
but it can also represent growing pains in a growing faith commitment.
God bless you on your journey.
Calico 01/04/2012 17:54
Hi Monilv,

It's so good to have you come and ask your questions, and be willing to explore more of the way your faith is being built.

If I may say the following, Monilv: to Lanny; you've spoken such a truth; it's so wonderful to read it this way! I was going to write almost the exact same sort of post! You've beaten me to it! :-)

I also want to point to something Ray said: that "(in) the 'inconsistent' appearance, one might be tempted to see a reflection a nefarious God who does not have our good in mind."

Monliv, both Lanny and Ray seem to have posited that perhaps there's a larger thing to see past what seem to be inconsistent. Whatcha think....? Is it POSSIBLE that your current view of who God is might not yet be as complete as would best benefit you? Is it possible that there's a greater context, one that DOESN'T have inconsistencies?

I hope to encourage you to stay here on your thread and share more, and ask more. And I am sorry that I don't have the moments today to respond further, but there IS a more detailed answer to what you're asking ("Take the story where the ark of the covenant falls while it is being carried on the wrong thing…. a man that tries to keep it from hitting the ground dies because he doesn’t let it fall."). For now, let me agree with Lanny, that "Much of what we see in the Old Testament, in the examples you cite for example, may help us to see how seriously the Scriptures take the holiness of God, but may at the same time be the products of humanity's imperfect understanding of God, and may ascribe to God things that may not in fact be directly attributable to God at all."

This can turn out to be a good thread! :-)

Praying with you, Monilv; hoping you stay engaged here!

Tom
Coopertage 01/04/2012 20:49
I am so glad that I found this particular thread with the questions being asked.I am not a new Christian, but have started the DAB about a month or so ago. Hearing the readings from the OT and Revelations and accepting them as truth is just so hard to swallow some days. It's just so hard to understand/comprehend for my human brain!!
I was interested in finding out what others do when they felt their faith falters a bit? Do you delve more into the Word? Pray more? Seek counsel? etc...?
And one place I falter, God forgive me, is when I hear or read a comment from an "unbeliever" against faith that seems like a valid point, I just crumble sometimes! I feel horrible when that happens! I know the whole point is FAITH, but I'm a "see to believe" kinda girl. Does that make sense to anyone?
On the other hand, I have had some experiences in my life that are solid "God Winks" or moments when He just blesses me beyond belief. How do I hang on to that?
Wow, I sound really confused...maybe I am, 'cause things are getting stirred up in my heart.
Well, thanks for "listening" and I appreciate any advice/prayer/help.
Blessings,
Robin
Ray 01/05/2012 05:40
Hi, Robin,

You wrote, "I was interested in finding out what others do when they felt their faith falters a bit?" I don't the answer for you. The living God is so creative and wonderful, He just moves in all sorts of ways. I love the expression of this from Bell,
"I’m fascinated when Jesus is talking about how he’s water. It’s hard to build a systematic theology around water—unless, of course, you’re thirsty. Then you know exactly what the water is." This type of need and fulfillment goes on and on in uncountable ways and your life has a different expression of it.

Today's post from Eldredge is timely:

When the young prophet Samuel heard the voice of God calling to him in the night, he had the counsel from his priestly mentor, Eli, to tell him how to respond. Even so, it took them three times to realize it was God calling. Rather than ignoring the voice, or rebuking it, Samuel finally listened.

In our modern, pragmatic world we often have no such mentor, so we do not understand it is God speaking to us in our heart. Having so long been out of touch with our deepest longing, we fail to recognize the voice and the One who is calling to us through it. Frustrated by our heart's continuing sabotage of a dutiful Christian life, some of us silence the voice by locking our heart away in the attic, feeding it only the bread and water of duty and obligation until it is almost dead, the voice now small and weak. But sometimes in the night, when our defenses are down, we still hear it call to us, oh so faintly-a distant whisper. Come morning, the new day's activities scream for our attention, the sound of the cry is gone, and we congratulate ourselves on finally overcoming the flesh. - The Sacred

I guess my point is I feel like part of our struggle is just to not deny our need of water (or whatever) and be quiet enough to listen. Isn't it interesting how the world does everything it can to prevent this from happening these days?

Come here, Lord.
Ray 01/05/2012 05:48
editor, "I don't the answer for you." is "I don't have the answer for you."

"The Sacred" is:
http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Romance-Drawing-Closer-Heart/dp/0785273425/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325763919&sr=1-1
Marcie in MO 01/10/2012 20:37
I am reading a free ebook I got from somewhere or another called " The Holiness of God." As I was reading chapter 6, I remembered this post of yours and thought this book may be of some help to you in your search. It is by R.C. Sproul. It has given me much to ponder and I would recommend it to all, but especially anyone troubled by God's actions in the Old Testament.

Grace and peace,
Marcie
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