We are always tempted with fatalism. When we say, “Well, I have always been impatient; I guess I have to live with it,” we are being fatalistic. When we say, “That man never had a loving mother or father, you shouldn’t be surprised that he ended up in prison,” we speak as fatalists. When we say, “She was terribly abused as a child; how do you ever expect her to have a healthy relationship with a man,” we allow fatalism to overshadow us…Fatalism is the attitude that that makes us live as passive victims of exterior circumstances beyond our control. The opposite of fatalism is faith. Faith is the deep trust that God’s love is stronger than all the anonymous powers of the world and can transform victims of darkness into servants of light” (Henri Nouwen, Here and Now, p.79).

I have known many fatalistic Christians in my life. I’m sure I have been one myself once or twice.  Fatalistic Christians face disappointment with the spirit of Eeyore. Remember the sad, depressed donkey from Winnie the Pooh who was always hopeless, disappointed, and “unexpectant” about life. Many Christians are that way.  “Well…I guess God doesn’t answer my prayers. I must be one of those God has chosen to be alone and to suffer through life.  Nothing seems to work out for me even though I try so hard.  I keep trying but I think it’s useless. I’m not sure Christianity works for me…”

Spiritual fatalism faces life with a belief that whatever my circumstances are it must be God’s will so I must learn to accept it and suffer through because there is really nothing I can do about it.  Spiritual fatalists expect disappointment and defeat.  They pray very little but if they do they don’t ask for much beyond the ordinary because they really don’t believe that God operates much outside the ordinary.  They view people who believe in the power of the Spirit and the miraculous move of God as people who seek the easy way out.  They toss them into a big pile with prosperity gospel proponents and view themselves as the true believers who endure the hand that has been dealt them with faith and perseverance.

No doubt there are times when every believer must endure and when hardship and heartaches come his way.  We all face that.  Out response is the difference.  I have come to believe that the fatalist takes the easy way our rather than the one who pushes back against the hardships of life.  The first believes that God sends all the pain and disappointment their way to make them better people. The second group believes that Satan sends pain and disappointment and that   many of the cruelties of life are not God’s will so we join him in pushing back.

Fatalists have few questions about life or faith.  They almost take the Zen Buddhist approach to life: “Why ask why?”  They rarely take personal responsibility for their situation because “there is nothing they can really do about it.”  It’s kind of a gambler’s theology which states, “Sometimes the Holy Spirit deals you in, sometimes he deals you out and you just play the cards he gives you.”

Faith does not role over but wrestles. Faith believes that we can push back the darkness with prayer and authority. Faith believes that God is partnering with us to overcome insurmountable odds. Faith believes that we are more than conquerors rather than victims of God’s will and random circumstances.

I have also discovered that faith causes us to not only wrestle with the devil but sometimes with God as well.   When I have believed God for healing or other things I must struggle to understand why one was healed and another wasn’t; why I was given one spiritual gift but not the other that I have hungered for and pursued;  why the marriage I prayed for did not survive even though I prayed with faith; and why the child died when I fully believe it was not God’s will.  And in the midst of that wrestling I am still compelled by faith to keep praying and expecting God to answer my prayers in powerful ways. That is not the easy way.

Faith does not require certainty in outcomes but only certainty in the goodness of God. But because of our faith in his goodness we ask for miracles when others concede.  We see things as attacks of the enemy to be resisted rather than the irresistible will of God.  It takes more energy to pray all night believing that your prayers make a powerful difference than just to shrug off the injustices of this world as something out of your control.  God is looking for people with faith not fatalism.  Where are you standing on the struggles in your life today?  The enemy wants to persuade us all that life is beyond our control but God tells us that all things are possible through Christ and then calls us to put on the armor of God and ready ourselves for battle because by faith the battle is already won.  Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power it says.  In Christ, you can change lives, nations, and history…so know who you are; know who He is; live by faith not by fatalism and be blessed.