This post has been adapted from the chapter, “Lie #7: God Can Set Others Free from Pornography Addiction, but Not Me,” in my new book, 10 Lies Men Believe about Porn. This post is part 4 in an 8-week series on life-changing faith. If you would like to begin at part 1, you can do that here.

When you are burnt out and exhausted, there is nothing that feels better than rest. It’s the only thing that can recharge you. Jesus understood this deep desire for rest within us, which is why He frequently combined His offer of life with the promise of rest:

Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Jesus clearly promised rest for all who follow Him, so why are so many of us burning out? Why are we exhausting ourselves trying to live moral lives but still going nowhere?

To answer that question, let’s take a look at Hebrews 4:1–2:

God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God (Hebrews 4:1–2).

The writer of Hebrews makes it clear that God’s offer of rest is still good. The reason some who were professing faith in Christ hadn’t experienced it was because they didn’t actually trust what Jesus had done for them. They said they had faith in Him, but their actions proved otherwise. They weren’t experiencing rest because they wouldn’t stop working to earn their salvation.

A few verses later, we see how fully believing in Jesus really does lead to rest:

All who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world (Hebrews 4:10).

In order to experience God’s rest, you must trust Jesus when He says there is no work left to do in regard to your salvation. You must believe that it really is finished. Hang up your hat, sit down with Jesus, and rest in the fact that He has already completed the work for you.

To further clarify this, let’s look at a few behaviors that may expose a belief that there is still work left for us to do:

• Do you keep asking for forgiveness every time you sin? Could that be a sign that you don’t believe Jesus when He says all your sins were forgiven at the time of His death? If you don’t believe your sins are already forgiven, you will keep trying to earn more forgiveness.

• Are you going to confession to seek restoration from a priest? What does that say about your trust that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man, or your ability to have access to the throne of God? If you don’t believe you can speak directly with Jesus, you will seek out religious rituals in order to feel spiritual.

• Do you keep making promises to God to become a better person? Is that a sign that you don’t really believe you have been transformed into a new creation? If you don’t believe you are already a new creation, you will keep trying to change yourself.

All of these actions expose a belief that Jesus needs your help to save you. There is still work to be done. But no matter how hard you try to contribute, these things will never work. And as long as you keep chasing after them, you will never be able to rest.

The only thing that will provide rest is to trust that every word Jesus said was true—even for you. Trust that your salvation is secure and rest in the fact that the work is done.

Only we who believe can enter his rest (Hebrews 4:3).

Continue to Part 5: If Jesus Promises Me Peace, Why is My Life so Hard?

This post has been adapted from the chapter, “Lie #7: God Can Set Others Free from Pornography Addiction, but Not Me,” in my new book, 10 Lies Men Believe about Porn. This post is part 3 in an 8-week series on life-changing faith. If you would like to begin at part 1, you can do that here.

When God calls you to do something that requires tremendous trust—to “take a leap of faith” as we sometimes say—He isn’t doing it to test your ability to generate faith. He is doing it to offer you an opportunity to receive more faith. The more you trust Him, the more He allows your faith to grow.

This makes sense when you think about it. God has perfect knowledge, power over everything, and wants only what is best for you—so you can be confident He will never let you down or lose control of any situation. He will never fail you or leave you hanging. Every time you trust Him, He will come through for you. It may not be in the way you were expecting or hoping for, but it will always be for your best. When you experience His trustworthiness in your life over and over, it becomes easier to trust Him when He calls you to exercise faith in the future—not because of your ability to trust, but because of His unblemished track record.

But if you don’t trust God’s unconditional love for you, you will never be confident that He really is acting in your best interest. You will always be questioning His trustworthiness based on whether you feel you have been good enough to earn it or not. You will weigh everything He calls you to do on an imaginary continuum: Is God calling me to do this to better me, or to punish me? You will only trust Him to the degree that you understand how much He loves you, which is why having a proper understanding of His grace is key for life-changing faith to even be a possibility.

You can be certain, however, that God does love you—no matter how messed up you may feel—and everything He calls you to do is for your benefit. The more you trust in this truth, the more your faith will grow. Eventually, you will come to realize that you really can trust everything Jesus promises to be true—even for you—no matter how illogical or unbelievable it may seem. The blessings of the faith you read about in the Bible will become increasingly real to you, not because you have suddenly earned them or deserve them more, but because you are finally trusting them to be true.

Over the next four weeks, we will look at a few of these blessings and see how trusting Jesus determines whether we experience them in our lives or not.

Continue to Part 4: If Jesus Promises Me Rest, Why am I so Burnt Out?

This post has been adapted from the chapter, “Lie #7: God Can Set Others Free from Pornography Addiction, but Not Me,” in my new book, 10 Lies Men Believe about Porn. This is part 2 in an 8-week series on life-changing faith. If you would like to begin at part 1, you can do that here.

We often think the key to following Jesus is simply to believe in Him. But if belief were all that mattered, even the demons would be saved. The demons may believe in God, but they don’t trust Him. They don’t have faith—an absolute trust that everything the Word of God says is true.

A well-known story tells of a tightrope walker entertaining a crowd at Niagara Falls. At first, he simply walked across a cable strung above the waterfall, but as the crowd grew, he continued to up the stakes. He did a lap while juggling and another lap blindfolded. He even rode a bike across the line. The crowd watched in amazement, wondering what he would attempt next.

As he returned back to the side of the river where many had gathered to watch, he got off his bike and pulled out a wheelbarrow. He then turned to address the crowd.

“Do you believe I can walk across this tightrope without falling?”

“Yes!” roared the crowd.

“Do you believe I can walk across this tightrope while pushing this wheelbarrow?”

“We do!” they yelled.

“Do you believe I can walk across this tightrope while pushing this wheelbarrow with someone riding in it?”

The crowd went nuts. They couldn’t wait to see this trick.

“Then who would like to volunteer to be my rider?”

Silence.

Every person in the crowd may have believed he could do it, but no one was willing to trust him by getting into the wheelbarrow. So in reality, even though they said they believed he could do it, their lack of trust proved they didn’t.

This distinction is important to understand: What you say you believe is not necessarily what you do believe. Even what you think you believe may not be what you truly believe. What you do and what you trust are what exposes your true beliefs. In this way, faith is belief that is backed by trust and therefore results in action.

Everybody has faith in something. For many, it’s faith in their own wisdom or abilities. For others, it’s faith in a religion or in rituals. But if your true faith isn’t in Jesus, it will never result in a changed life. That’s because faith is only as strong as its object, and the only “object” that has the power to change you is Jesus.

•••

We see this misplaced faith in the Pharisees all throughout the Gospels. These men trusted in their knowledge of the Scriptures and their ability to follow the Law to give them life. They studied the Scriptures diligently, but when they met Jesus, they refused to take the next step by putting their faith in Him:

You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want (John 5:39–40 MSG)

These men believed the Scriptures, but when Jesus asked them to trust in Him to find the life they were looking for, they chose not to get in the wheelbarrow.

Just like these Pharisees, if you believe in Jesus but don’t trust Him enough to do what He’s asking you to do, you will keep looking for other things to make you feel like you are actually following Him. But you will miss out on the blessings of knowing Christ. Not because His blessings are not true, but because you are looking for ways to receive them without actually trusting Him.

Many people interpret this lack of blessing
as a sign that Jesus isn’t working for them.
In reality, it’s a sign that they aren’t trusting
in Him—they are still trusting in themselves.

Please don’t interpret this as a call to buck up and try harder. You may be thinking, I just need to work up some more faith! I need to follow God’s rules better! These may sound like the righteous things to do, but by doing them you would be putting your faith back on yourself and your own ability to please God. None of us will ever be able to generate more faith on our own, though, because faith is a gift that God gives to you.

So if you feel the need for more faith, don’t try to muster it up on your own. Pray like the man who approached Jesus, asking Him to free his son from demonic oppression:

“I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24).

Continue to Part 3: Why Isn’t God Coming Through for Me?