How committed are you to the Lord? What would it take to cause your thoughts and heart to be enticed away from following Him? I'm always shocked and saddened when I hear the name of someone who has turned their back on the Lord, especially when it's a friend who had portrayed a strong commitment and love for Him. By all outward appearances they had been deeply devoted to Christ. They led Bible studies. They held prominent roles in their local church fellowship. They continually brought the Lord into their conversations. They shared God stories of His goodness. They went on mission trips, prayed, gave of their time, finances and resources to further God's Kingdom. Suddenly they appear to do a complete 180 turnaround and they no longer want anything to do with worship or the Word. They don't just lose enthusiasm and become complacent; they begin condemning the truths they once held so dear. What happens? How can they go from abiding in Him to abandoning their faith?
In Deuteronomy 13, God warns the Israelites through Moses not to be led astray from following the Lord. Like the false prophets who pretended to have divine inspiration, there are a number of different ways that can call our "prone to wander hearts" to stray. It really doesn't have to take much. The combination of exact time, emotions, silence, withdrawal, adversity and doubt can create the perfect storm in our thoughts and heart, convincing us to seek other solutions. Our standard of truth shifts to self. Once that happens, we become cynics of true Christianity and we deaden our own conscious from hearing and receiving truth.
Some call this "deconstructing". This is a word that many use now to speak of re-examining and re-thinking faith that can lead to rejecting the beliefs previously held so dear. It's a hard word to accurately define as it carries different concepts in different contexts. Deconstruction may bring someone to the point of no longer identifying as a believer, resulting in a "deconversion", or it may not. This is not just experiencing doubt or wresting to understand theology. By an honest, earnest seeker, both of those can result in a stronger more robust faith. A complete deconstruction is not just a "dark night of the soul". It's deeper. It's dangerous. It's allowing questions to so profoundly confuse that it brings a former, professing, evangelical Christian to a place of denying Christ, as their faith is critically dismantled.
What would it take to lead you away from God? Don't be too quick to think it couldn't happen. I'm sure the friends whose names come to my mind didn't intentionally just wake up one day and decide to renounce their faith. Little by little compromises were made and absolutes became suggestions. Instead of taking their inquiries, uncertainties and despondency to the Lord, they gave room for the enemy to use worldly influences to speak louder than His Word.
Dear friend, don't listen to the call of the world. As Moses writes, fear God alone. Truly love Him with all your heart and soul. Serve Him only. Obey His commands. Listen to His voice. Cling to Him. These are ongoing actions that will protect you as you pursue the Lord with all your might. It's an arrogant assumption to presume you can make it on your own. Purge your life from anything that rises as a "personal prophet" enticing you away from intimacy with the Father and say with the hymn writer, "Though none go with me, still I will follow."
*If you are currently in a season of struggle, I suggest reading "Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction" by Dr. Lina Abujamra; Moody Publishers; Copyright 2021
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