Everyone who has begun to travel down the road of faith knows that there can be obstacles along the way. Some spiritual obstacles cannot be avoided, but they can be overcome in the same way that an athlete learns to leap over the hurdles set up on a running track.
This article looks at five of the most common obstacles that block the development of our faith. These obstacles are common to the human condition, and we see them even in the lives of Christ’s own disciples. Jesus warned against each of them – usually in context of the expression “You of little faith” – and the more fully aware we are of these obstacles, the better we can be prepared to overcome them.
IGNORANCE – A LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
The apostle Paul tells us that one of the ways we grow in faith is by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17; Galatians 3:2, 5), and unless we come to know God’s will – through His word – we will never have the underlying understanding that enables true faith. We see this fact, for example, when the disciples of Jesus became confused because they did not understand something he said. Jesus’ admonition to them points out the connection between a lack of understanding and a subsequent lack of faith: “Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, ‘You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves…? Do you still not understand?’” (Matthew:16:6-8).
In the same way that the disciples became confused in this instance and began to rely on their own limited understanding without input from their teacher, unless we gain knowledge of God’s word we cannot develop our faith. In this sense, “faith grows as it is fed” and only as we persist in study of the word of God can we avoid our own misunderstandings and develop deeper faith.
UNBELIEF – A LACK OF BELIEF AND TRUST
It may seem strange to say that a lack of belief can hinder faith, but the Bible shows that we must begin to trust and believe, and then God adds to our faith. God may indeed begin the process in our minds (Hebrews 12:2), but our choice to believe is also involved in the process. We see this in the story of the man who asked Jesus to heal his possessed son. When Jesus said “… ‘Everything is possible for one who believes,’ immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’” –whereupon Jesus healed the boy (Mark 9:23-25).
We also see the principle in action when another man approached Jesus and asked him to heal his son, because the disciples had been unable to heal him. Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse generation…Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus then healed the child and when the disciples asked him privately why they had been unsuccessful, he replied, “Because you have so little faith …”(Matthew 17:14-21). Here, Jesus stressed that even a small amount of faith could have accomplished a great deal, and in saying “You unbelieving…generation…,” he showed that the disciples were not applying even that small initial amount of belief.
This problem is more often found at the beginning of our journey of faith, but it can persist if we do not prove our own beliefs to our own satisfaction. Each of us needs to be sure we lay a firm foundation of what we believe so that we can begin to grow in the full faith that God gives.
DOUBT – A LACK OF CERTAINTY
Doubt is different from disbelief. We may believe that God is and that He can perform something, but we are not sure if He will do it for us. We see the classic symptoms of doubt – wavering between belief and unbelief – in the story of Peter’s attempt to walk on the water with Christ (Matthew 14:25-31). Although he started out well, Peter soon began to doubt: “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:30-31).
The apostle James uses a specific example (praying for wisdom) to show that wavering doubt can remain a major hurdle to faith if it is not addressed: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God … But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:5-8). Being “unstable” means unable to stand – as Peter was on the waves.
Overcoming this doubt or “double-mindedness” involves constantly being aware of God’s working in our lives so that we see the ongoing evidence that He is, indeed, working with us personally.
FEAR AND ANXIETY – A LACK OF CONFIDENCE
The New Testament story of how the disciples found themselves, with a sleeping Jesus, in a boat in the middle of a great storm is instructive. When the disciples woke Jesus and pleaded that he save them, he answered: “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” before calming the sea (Matthew 8:23-26). The connection between fear and a lack of faith is clear. The same is true of anxiety which is just a non-specific fear of overall conditions which may manifest itself in general “worry” rather than focused fear of anything particular. But anxiety can be just as destructive to faith as fear. It was in this regard that Jesus said God would take care of our needs, and cautioned us:
“… do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear… saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’” (Matthew 6:25-33).
Here, Christ gives the answer to the obstacles of fear and anxiety: it is to the degree that we concentrate on God’s will – His “kingdom and righteousness” – that we learn to trust Him not only to provide for our basic physical needs, but also to help us in other areas.
DISTANCE – A LACK OF CLOSENESS
A final stumbling block to faith that we must be aware of is simply that of distance. The further we drift from God at any point in time, the less faith we will have. This point also applies to the story we saw above of how the disciples lacked understanding. When Jesus said, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves…? Do you still not understand?’” (Matthew 16: 8), his words reflected not only the disciples’ lack of understanding, but also the fact that they tried to reason the matter out among themselves instead of going to him for the answer. Rather than keeping close to him, they reasoned at a distance, and Jesus’ words underscore the truth that “distance destroys faith.” We see this in Paul’s writing also (1 Thessalonians 3:10). The Thessalonians had already heard the gospel message, but Paul knew that his distance from them kept these believers from growing in certain areas of faith as they needed to do.
If we stay close to God and to the sources of guidance He makes available to us, our faith will not suffer from the negative effects of distance.
OVERCOMING THE OBSTACLES
The fact that all these obstacles can hinder the development of our faith need not be a negative message, however. For every obstacle there is a clear way to overcome it – to make us stronger (James 1:3). If we return to our analogy of an athlete jumping hurdles on the track, if we train well we can clear the hurdles set before us and still complete the race.
We are strengthened to overcome all of the obstacles to faith by means of believing prayer; we can ask that our faith be made stronger just as the father of the sick child did in Mark 9:23-25. There are also other things – physical things – that we can do to help ourselves. Lack of knowledge can be overcome by continued regular study; lack of belief and trust can often be combated by proving each area of our faith to ourselves; doubt can be displaced by becoming more aware of what God is doing in our own lives; fear and anxiety can be suppressed by concentrating more on God’s will in all things; and distance can, of course, be overcome by drawing closer to the One who is the founder and perfecter of our faith. By means of prayer and giving God opportunities to answer that prayer, every obstacle to faith can be overcome. If we can learn to see each hurdle not as a roadblock, but as an incentive to spiritual growth – as a hurdle to be trained for and successfully jumped in our journey along the Way – we can overcome the obstacles to faith.
SOURCE: http://www.livingwithfaith.org/obstacles-to-faith.htmlhttp://www.livingwithfaith.org/obstacles-to-faith.html