Faith When You’re Upside Down: Getting out of the funk!

What do you think of when you hear the word faith? Is it merely a descriptive word you use or one you use to convey sincerity to a statement, “I have faith in you, you can do it!” Or is it a verb? A verb is something that you do, an action. Faith is most definitely a verb. It is something that you do every day without even thinking about it. When you sit down at your kitchen table in the morning, you are exhibiting faith in action. You believe before you even sit down that the chair will hold you and not crumble underneath you. When you are at an amusement park and you hop aboard the sky glider. You are putting faith in all of the people that maintain and run that ride that when you sit down in the seat dangling by a cable, it will guide you safely to the other side. We put faith in other drivers that they will obey the traffic laws. We put so much faith in people and things every minute of our lives. Why do we have such a hard time putting our faith in God? We have faith in humans whom we have never met and are imperfect, but we don’t have faith in our God who is perfect. We can’t say it’s because we don’t see God. We don’t see half of the people we put our faith into, yet we do. Is it because they too are imperfect like us? Is it easier to relate to or believe in? The fact is, we need to put our faith in other people. However, they can let us down. God on the other hand will not let us down. We may not always get what we want when we want it, but He will never let us fall. With God, there is no issue of integrity. He is perfect and we can always trust in Him. By putting our faith in Him, we eliminate the fear of the unknown. He already knows the outcome.  If we trust Him, then we know that He will use that to make good.

Have you seen Stranger Things? It is one of my favorite T.V. shows. In the show they have an alternate dimension called the Upside Down. In the Upside Down, everything looks exactly the same as it does in the other realm, but instead it is black and white and cold. When the people are in the Upside Down, they can communicate with the outside world, but they can’t get out. They are stuck in the same house, but in a cold, darker version of it. There is one little girl that has special powers, and she can go in and out of the Upside Down. She is the only one that can bring people out of this realm and back into their real life of living color. Depression for me is the upside down. When you are depressed it is like the world is going on around you, but you can’t break out and join in. You are stuck in this dark, black and white version of your life while everyone else is living in vivid color. You can see them going on laughing and smiling, but you are in another dimension. You want to cross over to join them, but something is holding you back. There is no way to break through the force field to rejoin humanity. It is like living in a shell of yourself. This is where faith and the love of Jesus come in. When you have the hope of joy in your life it allows the Lord to come into your heart and head and break through. He will bring the color back into your life. Now, I realize that it isn’t just that simple. A lot goes into getting you out of the funk. You may need to seek counseling or possibly the help of medication. There is no shame in this at all. I wish the stigma on this would be lifted so that everyone that needs help can get it without feeling as if there is something wrong with them. The Lord has made you perfect in His Image. Therefore, He does know the struggle you are feeling. He knows the realness and intense emotions that are going through your head. If you take it to Him honestly and openly, things can change for you. Don’t be afraid to be real with God. Tell Him what you are feeling, what you are thinking. You don’t have to be formal when crying out to your Father for help. You just have to come to Him. Come as you are, come as yourself, raw and humble. Then take that faith and put it into action. Believe that things will change for you and that you are worth something, because you ARE. He will pull you out of that scary, unfamiliar place and put you squarely back where you belong.

So, we are made in God’s image right? We have to remember that when we are feeling the feels. God has many emotions: anger, jealousy, happy, agitated, love etc. Therefore, He knows exactly what and how we are feeling. There is no one better to turn to in times of trial. The one that made you has felt that way before too. He feels it about us every day. He does understand whether you want to believe it or not. That would be faith my friend.