Unbelief is not Irreversible
Because of life events, painful circumstances, shame or guilt, things done to us or things we have done or haven’t done, we as a branch, united to the vine or olive tree, may begin to wither and dry up as we succumb to unbelief and unbelief sets in our soul and our hearts. We become more and more unable to drink from our source of life. We are in danger of becoming, as Jesus described “cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned” (John 15:6). Such is the serious, severe effect, consequence, and fruit of unbelief. Unbelief like an unseen pest eating up the branch from the inside, destroying, blocking, and preventing the absorption of the nutrient sap from the vine or oil from the olive tree. An interesting fact about the destructive little bark beetle is that it looks for the drought stressed trees to enter into that are not strong enough to overcome the invasion. When unbelief begins to replace our abiding trust, our souls become like a drought stressed tree, weakened and unable to drink in the life-giving sap we so desperately need. If we continue in unbelief, our life becomes like a withered branch that is broken off like dead wood with no hope, only an expectation of being cast into the fire and burned.
There is GOOD NEWS, however! Though it seems impossible, this condition is not irreversible, as Paul describes in Romans 11:23, speaking of the Jews who had been broken off branches from the olive tree “And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.”
The question then becomes how does one discontinue in unbelief? How does one recover from the hardness of, and dullness of, heart created through unbelief? The damaging, destructive, painful results of unbelief that leads to being withered and dried up, and in danger of being burned in the fire? Know this first and foremost; you are not alone or left to yourself to restore your faith. God does not desire that any man should perish, be destroyed, and burned in eternal fire. How did we begin our life of faith to start with? “By grace are ye saved through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8). It may seem like an oxymoron… but one small and humble step toward God begins the restoration of faith and trust. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8) In time, we will begin to see that the one small, humble step toward God was really the love of God knocking on the door of our hearts… drawing us to draw near to Him. He is able to graft us into the vine again. His love and mercy are greater and deeper that the lowest pit of unbelief. He is the restorer of faith.
