Don’t settle for less!

In this regular feature from a member of the Salvation Army’s International Children and Youth Advisory Group, Paula shares her thoughts on complacency and what it means if we let our faith lapse. Instead, she urges us not to let our broken faith become normality but to live our spiritual lives to the full.

A few years ago, my desk broke. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was where I studied, used my computer and spent a large part of my day. For a long time, I couldn’t repair it or afford a new one. Eventually, I got used to it being unstable and worn out. It seemed like a problem without a solution.

Many young people become accustomed to living with unhealed wounds, unhealthy habits, hidden sin or spiritual distance from God. At first, they recognize that something isn’t right. But as time passes, what once caused concern begins to feel normal.

One day I decided to do something about it. Using a few reinforced vegetable crates, some pieces of wood I had at home, and a little creativity, I built a new desk. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked. What had seemed impossible to fix for years suddenly had a solution once I stopped accepting the problem and started looking for an alternative.

The quiet drift

We sometimes get used to living with things that are broken. A door that doesn’t close properly, a leaking tap, or an appliance that no longer works as it should can slowly become part of everyday life. At first, they bother us. Over time, we stop noticing them and simply learn to live with them.

The same thing can happen in our relationship with God.

Many young people become accustomed to living with unhealed wounds, unhealthy habits, hidden sin or spiritual distance from God. At first, they recognise that something isn’t right. But as time passes, what once caused concern begins to feel normal.

A life fully alive in God

Yet God never intended for us to settle for a diminished spiritual life. Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). He did not come so that we would merely survive spiritually. He came so that we could experience the fullness of life found in him.

Sometimes we settle for less. We stop praying as consistently as we once did. We neglect God’s Word. We allow resentment, disappointment, sadness or indifference to take root in our hearts. Little by little, we become comfortable with a faith that lacks the passion and closeness we once had. 

Something similar happened to the church in Ephesus. God acknowledged many of the good things they were doing, but God also told them, ‘You have forsaken the love you had at first’ (Revelation 2:4). They continued their work, yet they had drifted away from the passion and intimacy they once enjoyed with God.

The good news is that God does not simply point out what is broken. He offers restoration. Psalm 147:3 says, ‘He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.’  

Don’t settle for less. Don’t settle for a fading faith, a distant relationship with him or wounds that he is ready to heal. What feels permanent today may be the very place where God begins a work of renewal tomorrow.

Not beyond grace

Perhaps there are areas of your life today that seem impossible to repair. Maybe you are carrying disappointment, struggling with a personal battle or dealing with a broken relationship. Perhaps you have started to believe that things will never change.

But God specialises in restoring what might seem to be beyond repair. Just as my desk found new life when I decided to look for a solution, God can do something new in us when we allow him to work in us and in our circumstances. God can restore our faith, renew our strength and bring purpose back to the places that feel worn out or broken.

Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves:

• What have I accepted as normal that God wants to transform?
• What situations have I learned to live with when God longs to bring restoration or something new?

Don’t settle for less. Don’t settle for a fading faith, a distant relationship with God or wounds that the Spirit of God is ready to heal. What feels permanent today may be the very place where God begins a work of renewal tomorrow.

God did not create you to live among ruins but calls you to experience his grace, his restoration and the abundant life that only faith in Jesus can give. What you have grown used to is not always what God created you for.