Stale Air : Stale Faith

  Recently I went from working full-time to prn at the nursing home.  With the school year approaching I needed to be home to get our young one on and off the bus.  Since the school year started I have spent several days at the school; helping the teacher and Title I teachers.  I never noticed before, while I was working full time, but a few days ago, when I got home, I noticed that the air in the house felt stale.

  My boyfriend and I got home from a practice for our child and when we walked into the house I noticed it again.  I said,"I'm going to open the windows.  Can you leave the door open."
  He asked,"Why?"
  I replied,"Because the air is stale."
  He asked,"What?"
  I said,"The air is stale.  Can't you smell it?  Its stale, as in not fresh.  Or stagnate.  So I want the windows open to circulate the air and get some fresh air in here."  He just shook his head at me but we had the windows open and fresh air circulating through out the house.

  While opening the windows to get the air flowing, it made me think of my faith.  So many times I have noticed that I get a little less excited during a service or a daily reading.  I have noticed that my daily readings turn into every other day, or weekly and sometimes I can not remember when I read last.  It made me think about the times that it felt as if my faith had gone stagnant.
  I believe that many of us experience the feeling of something being off.  Some people refer to it as being in a funk, or a mood.  And it was not until recently that it all made sense as to what that feeling really is.  Its the lack of energy, or movement, of excitement.  Its faith gone stale.

  So how do we deal with stagnant or stale faith?  What do we do to fix it, to get it flowing again?  To get pumped up and excited to open our bible?  Better yet, how do we go about making sure we do not let our faith go stale again?

  Like many people I set out to make sure I read my bible and go to church.  I try to be a good christian and do the right thing.  What happens, more often than I care, is my focus gets weak.  We must remain focused.  But not on our daily rituals or what we 'have' to do to be good Christians.  However we have to say focused on God.  What he is telling us and showing us everyday.
  I have noticed that when my faith gets stale it has more to do with what other people are inserting into my faith, or rather, what I am allowing them to.  When God calls me to do things my first tough, for some reason I do not know, is to share what God wants me to do.  And that is where it begins.  The Advice.
  Advice and direction are very important when walking the christian walk, however, we must remember to always follow God.  We are to do as He wants us to do.  No matter how honest the advice, or how generous and protective a fellow Christan is trying to be in helping to guide you on your walk, you must always remember what God wants and do it.

  You see, God wants us to do what he tells us, but if we are always taking the advice of others, over what he is telling us to do, than we really are depending on people, rather than God, who we are actively seeking out to guide us.  As people we can not see what we do not understand.  And what God wants us to do we can not understand until we get to the other end.  Even though it makes sense to us as people, we tend to forget to look at it from a spiritual view.  And our advice goes out as human advice not spiritually building advice.  Most of the time we can not tell the difference between the two.
  Another thing to remember is that, as the one receiving the advice, to make sure, no matter ho logical the advice is, we remember what God wants us to do.  If God wants to go on a mission, but your fellow Christians feel your are to young a christian and now is not the best time to do it, mole it over with God.  After all He will not guide you some where that he will not get you through, no matter how new a christian you are.

  ~1Chronicles 10:14~He did not seek guidance from the Lord.  Therefore the Lord put him to death an turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

  ~Isaiah 58:11~And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy our desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a water garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

  ~John 16:13~When the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare you the things that are to come.


  My Heavenly Father, It is my prayer that as we walk this new life, being dead to our fleshly lives, that we remain focused on you, that we heed the advice of our brothers and sisters in Christ only if it lines up with where You are guiding us to be.  Please reach deep down in all of us and guide us in such a way that there is no denying it from any on looker, that each person whom comes into our lives knows that You are guiding us and we are folowing You.
                                   In Your Sons precious name I pray.
                                                                     Amen