Unchallenged Faith Remains Unchanged.
This was the main point I took away from my Bible Study this afternoon. We are currently doing the Beth Moore study Believing God. The point of the study is that we believe in God, but we don't really believe Him. We've done two of the video lessons and week of regular lessons. And, to be honest, I already feel myself changing. I feel like I'm very vulnerable this week, and now that I think about it, I think this study is part of the reason why. There are so many verses swimming through my head right now and she is just passionate about her God and her love for Him. I want to live my life with that kind of passion, but it is sometimes soo hard to do. How does she do it everyday?....anyway...back to my first thought....

Part of me has always thought that if my faith were strong enough, if I was strong enough, then I would be fine. My faith would grow without me having to walk through the fire. I would be content with my faith and my God. And, sure enough all of that has happened. I have been "fine." I have avoided the fire by avoiding some of the things I thought were pitfalls. I was content with where I was and thought I knew a lot about God. Then, with one statement, I realized just how flawed that thinking and that logic really is...sure, my faith has been "safe" but has it been authentic? I don't think it has. And the reality of that makes my heart break and my every fiber cry out to God. If bending and breaking and shaking my faith is what it takes to make it grow, I'm willing....I'm not ready, but I'm willing. I need to be around people that don't believe the same thing I believe, who have different standards and opinions...I want those people to help me grow.

The other side of the 'faith growing' coin is this: I have been very blessed in my life. I have a great family-a wonderful mother, an amazing step-father, a great younger brother-, I have a good, stable job where I can do things I care about and make what I feel like is a difference for the community and for the Kingdom, I have great friends and a beautiful, amazing, and absolutely breathtaking boyfriend. I do not take these blessings for granted at all. I know just how rare and special it is to be truly blessed in life. For these things and a million more, I am forever grateful. They have all helped grow and strengthen my faith. When challenges and frustrations have arose, these blessings have been the glue to hold my meager faith-heart together. Funny, now that I think about it, maybe the truer statement is this...

Unchallenged and "blind" faith remains unchanged.

If you are blind to the blessings and refuse the challenges, you can never grow. Your faith will be stale and you will be lukewarm...