What I Learned When My Faith Felt Like a Chore

The journey of faith is much like any physical journey. There are highs and lows, unexpected turns and events, and every range of emotion. As we spend our lives following the Lord, we may experience seasons that feel empty and repetitive. We may wonder where the joy has gone while we monotonously go through the motions of a life of faith.

When these moments occur, we must not lose heart. We must remember that God is the producer of fruit and not ourselves. We must continue faithfully, no matter how dull the days, knowing that the outcome of this up-and-down journey will lead to ultimate joy and blessing. Even when faith feels like work, it can be deeply meaningful.

Staying Faithful

I remember a year of deep struggle in my relationship with the Lord. My fifth child had recently been born, and we were a year into looking for a new home, and I was struggling with anxiety and fear. The days felt dark and dull. I went to church, participated in women’s groups and studies, read my Bible, taught the children scripture, and sang hymns with friends, yet I felt nothing. What was the point of it all? It didn’t feel real! Was it a wasted year? What I learned after surviving that year was that continuing to act on habit had a significant impact on preserving my faith in a season that felt spiritually empty. Without those continued habits, I would have been even further behind in my walk at the end of the year. Much like a seed that waits all winter under the earth, God was working in me, on me, and for me so that later I could bloom.

God mustn’t require an exciting Bible Study group, a daily epiphany from reading His word, a mountaintop camp experience, or spontaneous worship sessions. What He does require is faithfulness. In reading the famous “Hall of Faith” passage in Hebrews 11, we find that the “heroes of the faith” mentioned were credited as faithful for doing very ordinary things. Building an ark day after day for over a hundred years. Giving a routine offering according to specific rules. Traveling, giving a blessing, having children, giving burial instructions, acting as a judge, and other fairly normal life activities. These were the examples of the faithful followers of God in the past.

It is easy to be faithful when life feels good, when the Bible seems rich, and when our connection to the Lord feels joyful and easy. Yet the Bible speaks of perseverance, and our true faithfulness is exhibited when we continue in our same habits and patterns of seeking after the Lord despite hardship, emotional emptiness and the feeling of distance between ourselves and God. In these times, we are trusting God to carry the load of our relationship and to work in us even when we can’t see or feel His presence.

We must remember that, “… He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” (Philippians 1:6). God doesn’t need our spiritual fervor to grow us. He wants our faithfulness, and He will put a spiritual fervor in us.

Obedience

Another lesson I learned during my days of going through the motions as a follower of the Lord was that obedience matters. Many of us probably remember telling our parents that we didn’t “feel like” cleaning our rooms. Maybe we heard a response similar to this: “I don’t care if you feel like it, I want you to do it.” Our feelings should never dictate our obedience. God’s commands should direct our behavior. This simplified my season of spiritual drought. I didn’t need to wonder too much about what I should do based on my ever-changing emotions. Instead, I could simply do what I knew was required. I didn’t have to think or overanalyze. It was a blessing to obey simply.

Psalm 128:1 tells us, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him,” as do many other scriptures. Obedience to us feels mundane, but to the Lord, it is love. Therefore, what we may see as meaningless actions are actually acts of love to our God.

Maturity

Those seasons of repetitive simplicity in my faith have led me to grow leaps and bounds in later years. Reflecting on those times has taught me much more than continual ease and joy in my walk could have. I have seen that those seasons are not to be discounted. I have been reminded that God is the one who works in me, not my own strength. Those lessons are invaluable and teach me that the moments that felt empty were full of potential growth that would be realized one day in God’s good timing.

God has promised to sanctify us. He has promised to redeem all things. Therefore, spiritual maturity can come from simple repetitive actions of faith done in obedience again and again.

James 1:4 tells us to, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” The fact that we are told to persevere reminds us that some seasons may be difficult to endure. However, the finished result will be maturity. God will complete you through each moment of your journey.

God’s Presence

Though I have not always felt God’s presence, I know He has always been there. The Bible tells us that God is omnipresent. The Bible tells us God is the Word; therefore, when we read the Word, He is there. God tells us that when we pray, we are speaking to God. God tells us that worship pleases the Lord. All the forms of a faith-filled life may seem routine or even bland, but they all invoke the presence of the one and only Holy God, and that is anything but bland.

In our highly desensitized world, where we need fast and flashy, we must pause to find the beauty and magic in the mundane. We need to remember how to be awed by the simple things.

I wonder if the Israelites ever became accustomed to seeing the pillar of cloud lead them by day and the pillar of fire by night. Did its continual presence desensitize them? Did following these supernatural phenomena become routine? We can act that way ourselves, not realizing the power and beauty of the simple fact that we can approach the throne of grace at any moment. Maybe the repetition of daily prayer is miraculous, not mundane. Maybe the fact that we possess God’s inspired word to read again and again is a gift, not a burden. Let’s reframe our view of what is truly spiritual and enjoy the presence of God in all that He has given us. When we do this, even washing a dish can be worship.

Consistency is key as we work day after day to maintain a faith-filled life. We cannot simply measure our growth by our emotions, but by the continual working of the Lord’s grace in our lives. We must hold fast to His promise of sanctification and joy. Much like a marathon runner who simply keeps going, mile after monotonous mile, we, too, must continue, knowing that a finish line and a celebration are waiting for us. We must believe God’s promises even when the tangible evidence around us seems to scream that our faith is failing. Let scripture and truth be louder.