There are times when our faith falters. There are moments and sometimes even seasons when we walk not by faith but by sight. Throughout the pages of the Bible we find great heroes of the faith who stumbled (David, Peter, Paul, Abraham, etc). The Bible faithfully records their stumbling steps so that we might avoid the same mistakes.

In the beginning verses of Genesis 12, we find Abram taking an amazing step of faith with his wife, Sarah, and others from his family. Yet in Genesis 12:9ff, we find Abram stumbling in his faith. He begins to trust his intuition rather than trusting in the One who had called him. We do the same thing don’t we? There are times when we start out strong and walking by faith end up walking by sight and we stumble.

Recently I shared a message about this very thing. (Listen here)

If you are a follower of Christ, the question is not “if” our faith will falter. The real question is “when” will our faith falter. We can learn much from Abram’s journey of recovery in Genesis 12:1-4. Here are a few steps to take when our faith falters.

• REPENT of the sin that caused you to stumble (Acts 3:19-20). Repentance is agreeing with God about how we are living our life rebelling against His authority. It is simply coming to that place where we say, “God, I am sorry! I know my life is not honoring You.”
• REMOVE ourselves from the stumbling environment. The Bible says Abram went up from Egypt (Genesis 13:1). The great news is that we do not have to stay down when we stumble. Removing ourselves is not isolating ourselves in a commune. The Biblical idea of separation is that of insulation not isolation. That we would insulate ourselves from the influence of Satan’s lies. God Himself through His indwelling Spirit provides exactly what we need in this regard.
• RETURN to the place you left where there was intimate fellowship with Lord. Abram returns to Bethel (Genesis 13:3-4) to the place where he had lived and worshipped for a season.
• RENEW vow to the Lord. Abram goes back to the place where he left Lord and on the altar he renews his vow to follow God’s leading in His life. For followers of Christ, we simply go back to the Cross of Christ to renew our vow to the Lord.

Are you faltering in your faith? God is not finished with you!

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)