Holding Your Head Up in Church When You Feel Like You Are Not Being Fed

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Spiritually speaking, being fed means you are hearing and receiving the Word of God. Without the Word there is no spiritual growth.  There is no Jesus.  We go to church to hear the Word being preached through the person that God has called to convey His message to us.  In our path of spiritual growth, it is important that we not only read the word but that we also hear it.   That we receive it.  Luke 11:28 “But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”   When people say they are not being fed what they really mean is they are refusing to eat what is being offered to them.  They may be only wanting to hear the things that feel good.  But, just like in the natural, eating only the sweet stuff will make us sick.   In order to keep ourselves from getting sick, we need to eat well balanced meals.  Eating the vegetables, the meat, and the bread.   Spiritually this means hearing the Word that makes you grow and stretches you.  And yes, sometimes it’s hard to hear.  We don’t want to hear that something about us isn’t right with God.   This isn’t to say that the feel good, encouraging Word is bad.   It is definitely not!  God loves us and wants us to have a “well balanced” meal! 

God wants us to have a well balanced meal

Saying you are not being fed is just an excuse.  It’s just something to say when you already have one foot out of the door and don’t really have a legitimate reason to leave.    The fact is you stopped listening.   You stopped listening because you have your own agenda.   Maybe you were hurt or offended.  Instead of dealing with it, you’ve stopped up your ears and can’t hear what is being said.    I know these words are harsh, but people listen.  Were you at one time being fed spiritually in your church?   Well what changed? 

Before you leave your church with this being your “reason” please stop and look at yourself.    Are you going to church with the anticipation to receive from the Lord?  Are you praying? Are you reading the word?  Each one of us must encourage our self in the Lord.  1 Samuel 30:6 tells us that David encouraged himself in the Lord.  If David needed to, then so do we.  And if he can do it, we can too!  Ultimately, we decide if we are going to walk with the Lord.  We get to decide to read our bibles, to pray, go to church, and serve in ministry.  It doesn’t matter if we have been offended.  It doesn’t matter if we have been corrected.  It’s up to us to get over it and move forward with the Lord.  The danger is if we wallow in our hurt and anger, we risk eventually turning from God.   However, if we can get past the struggle we mature and strengthen in our walk with the Lord.

Daily I must pray that I have ears to hear and eyes to see to receive God’s word.  I can’t let the devil cheat me out of hearing from God through the orator.  I can’t let him use my emotions to blind me and deafen me.  I have to guard myself from the devil leading me out of church and down the wrong road.   Why would I allow the devil to stunt my spiritual growth in this way?  To cross my arms and tighten my lips.  To get so caught up in my own emotions that I can’t hear anything that God is saying.   To make me think I can’t be fed here.   When I was a little girl, I refused to eat green vegetables.   I would cry and gag when I was being forced to eat them.   God doesn’t force feed any of us.   It is up to each of us to take in what is being served.   To take what will help us grow and leave the rest.   You are being fed.   Work out the struggles.   Deal with the offenses and hurts that would cause this attitude to well up in you.  Don’t miss out on God because of a bad attitude.   

To read the next in the series go here