THE ROADBLOCK

By Zach Vertz

At the age of 17 I got connected with Verve and I recommitted my life to Christ. At this time in my life I was so hungry to grow in my faith. I was a young believer so I thought that simply going to church was the way you grow in faith. So I went to Verve on Wednesday nights as well as Sunday morning services. I was soaking up everything I heard and I was seeing the fruits of it in my day-to-day life. However, gradually I felt like my faith began to descend. I was puzzled because I still was going to church two times a week and learning but I noticed I was plateauing and then one day I hit a roadblock in my faith. I was perplexed because I wasn’t feeling God like I once was. I felt separated from Him. However, I continued to go to church determined to continue to grow. The next Wednesday, Hadley “coincidently” preached a sermon over the importance of following Christ not only at church but also outside of the church. He spoke about how vital it was to be in communion with the Lord each day and that we should be filling our minds with things that push us closer to Christ like listening to worship music or a podcast throughout the day, evangelizing and being in fellowship with Christian brothers and sisters, but most of all how important it was that I made time each and everyday to get alone with God and read His Word. I realized that night that following Christ was so much more than going to church but that it was a lifestyle to be lived outside the walls of church. I realized that night that my faith had been descending because those things weren’t continuously happening in my life on a day-to-day basis. That night I made a commitment to live for Christ not only in church but also outside the church. I began to listen to sermons by guys like Judah Smith and John Piper. I began to speak with God throughout the day, whether that was walking the halls of my high school or driving to and from school. I also deleted all the old secular music off my phone and filled it with Christian music by bands like Hillsong and Bethel and guys like Lecrae, Chris Tomlin and Andy Mineo. I completely immersed myself with God and I realized that passion for God came back even stronger than when I first committed my life to Christ.

Psalm 1:1-3

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

This passage indicates to us how important it is to have a quiet time with the Lord each and everyday. If you want to be a Christ follower who is bearing fruit and making an impact for Christ it begins in your personal time with him. I challenge you to commit a few minutes everyday to spending time with the Lord getting to know him and throughout the rest of the day, read books, listen to podcasts and/or sermon jams on YouTube or even just listen to worship music. Indulge yourself in Christian things and I guarantee you that your faith will be soaring with Christ in no time!