Why is faith so hard?

 I wrote this some years back, not sure about the date. Hope you enjoy it.

I asked the Lord a question this morning; "Why is it so hard to have faith? Perhaps being born to a different family in say, South America, Columbia, Africa...there it may be different. Evil is obvious there, maintaining faith, even in the face of evil has to be easier." The answer was enlightening and astounding to me.

"My Child, sometimes it's hard to see the most magnificent forest when all around you are gnarled and knotted trees. The same is true in each of the countries that you mentioned; when that One tree is spotted, the One that stands out from all the rest, the One whose smell is pleasant to the nose, the One who is pleasing to the sight, then the ugliness of the trees that surround you are suddenly obvious and the yearning to be close to the One tree is overwhelming. In America, the One tree is difficult to find because Satan has put artificial trees everywhere. They may be beautiful, and perhaps deceiving in that in feeling it one would be able to experience physically the beauty, but to the touch it is unpleasant. It may be pleasing to the nose, but once closer, the stench is nauseating, perhaps pleasing to the eyes, but upon closer inspection, the sight is appalling. It may be compelling and you are drawn to it, but once you are closer to it you find that it is nothing but a tallow tree...wild, untamed and nothing more than an over-grown weed with bark, invading even the most beautiful of landscapes."

All around us here in America, we have tallow trees. Most of us do not know what they look like, and we allow them to grow, eventually deceiving us into the belief that this is a wonderful tree, when truly it is a weed, choking the True Life out of each and every one of us. That mustard seed that has grown into the magnificent tree down the street, we look at and and say, "they're just trying to show off the fact that their tree is bigger than ours." Such is faith in America.

Why is it so hard to have faith? Because we have been desensitized to what is wrong. Our entertainment has gone from (just recently in the last two to three hundred years) families gathering every evening to share their day, reading together, singing together, worshipping God together...indeed, we have gone from the innocence of that to the debauchery of everyone going their own ways and doing their own things. Television has replaced the parent in almost every household. Every child is told that they can do anything and no one can hold them back, and while this may be a good thing, it is not always monitored, nurtured, and sometimes goes completely awry. We see sitcoms that glorify disrespect for authority, taunt sexuality at every turn, portray homosexuality as normal, and dishonesty as not a big deal. What difference does it make if it's a little white lie? Our movies are a fest of gore, foul language, the occult and violence. Our movie stars are a mish-mash of the human psyche gone wrong. Sports stars who instead of having respect for their bodies and souls are powering up with the latest steroid or enjoying the company of women or men who are not their spouses, and blaming it on the money they receive. Our  music has gone from pleasant to Satanic, glorifying our many conquests, whether they are drugs, alcohol or the latest sexual catch. It glorifies Satan, the earth or other beings, even glorifying the human race as supreme instead of the Father of All Things, who rightly deserves our praise. Our government officials have tales of their own, each more disturbing than the next. The list goes on and on.

Why is it so hard to have faith? Look around you. The world is your candy bowl, reach in and take what you want. Don't like the way this preacher expounds on pornography and how horribly wrong it is? Go someplace else. Another preacher is saying that homosexuality is an abomination to the Lord? Go someplace where there is a blind eye to such things. Don't feel like you're being fed enough or the preacher gives out too much "hell fire and brimstone?" Go someplace where the preacher is compromised enough not to want to step on toes. You have that option. You also do not have the faith that you seek. Your desire is inward, not God-ward. What pleases you is not necessarily what pleases God, and it doesn't seem to bother you. You have been compromised. You have been duped by the master deceiver. He has blinded you from the One that will lead you out of a forest that is nothing but ugliness and death. He deceives you into believing this is all there is and it is beautiful and true. In the meantime, the One waits for you to seek Him out and to run to Him, acknowledging Him as the One who is True, the One who is Faithful and Pure. The One who is the Only Way to God. That One is Jesus the Christ. The One who bore all the weight of sin on His sinless shoulders. The One who took the beating that you deserved. The One who died so that you wouldn't have to. The One who took the keys of Hell from the one who stole them in the first place. The One who now sits at the right Hand of God, waiting for the day when He will come and gather those who are His and bring them Home. He is the Tree of Life, and through Him you will live eternally; the other is death, torment and torture. Deceiving so that you would not be able to see what awaits you at the end of his road, deceiving so that you would not turn from selfishness and pride to instead a life of selflessness and humility.

Why is it so hard to have faith? Look inward, my Friend. Do you love yourself more than others? Do you turn a blind eye to the perversities of this world and indeed sometimes engage in the same? Do you try to outdo what someone else had done because of pride?

Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord, Savior and Master? Faith, my Friend is there, and all we need is faith as small as a mustard seed. Faith grows each and every day, with each step, with each deed our works water that seed and it grows bigger and stronger each day. Fellowshipping with true believers strengthens that growth, getting into the manual that is God's Word tells us how to cultivate and nurture our faith so that is grows straight and strong and true. Worshipping the God of All Creation instead of the creation itself is the nourishment our faith needs. To do anything else is to stunt the growth or to destroy faith altogether.