What To Do When You Fail In Faith

Posted on August 19, 2007

 

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Genesis 12:5-13:4

ONE GREAT TRUTH: Every believer chooses whether to walk by faith or by site. When we’ve chosen to forsake the faith, God calls us to return to worship once again!

In this message, and in the next, we’re going to begin with a principle that is sometimes disputed among Christian leaders. It is the idea set forth by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament that there are essentially three kinds of people in the world…

• Non-believers who are unsaved.
• Believers who are spiritual, in tune with God, and distinct from the world.
• Believers who are carnal and tend to live like the world around them.

Abraham, in this chapter, is a picture of a spiritual saint who slipped into a rut and began to live like a carnal Christian for a short time. He made some compromises, but was able to recover and experience revival. You may be wondering if its possible to recover from past compromises of your faith. Well, you can, but you must understand the nature of compromise and the possibility of revival.

FIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPROMISE

The sooner we spot potential compromises in our lives, the sooner we can reverse course and get back into the center of God’s will.

1.         Compromise begins when we think in the flesh. (v. 10)

2.         Compromise involves thinking more of ourselves than others. (vs. 12-13)

3.         Compromise brings unexpected problems into our lives. (v. 15)

4.         Compromise usually offers a short-term payoff. (v. 16)

5.         Compromise always carries consequences, for ourselves and others.

·         For Sarai, she had the terrible stress of wondering what would befall her.

·         For Pharaoh, his people suffered plagues from God’s hand.

·         For Abram, he lost his testimony and dealt with complications from everything he took back from Egypt.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’VE COMPROMISED

Return to your Bethel! That is, get back to the place of worship and prayer. Return to the center of God’s will, even if that means giving up what was gained in Egypt.

Abraham and Lot were very different. As we’ll see in the next message, Lot’s life was characterized by living in the flesh, by sight-walking. Abram, on the other hand, lived by faith but had a momentary failure. I don’t know which one characterizes you, but you can become a person of integrity and character by coming to an altar and committing your life to God’s hands.