When Your Life has Flatlined

by Alexandra Copeland

The term ‘flatline’ is commonly used in the medical field. It’s when a person’s heart shows no sign of electrical activity, and they are close to death or already dead. In the general sense, this term is used to define the failure to increase. It’s the quality of remaining static, without movement, action, or change. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to surmise that this isn’t a quality that any of us should desire to describe our own existences. Believers should have a glorious verve that wreaks of optimism and joy; if for no other reason, we should be this way to demonstrate our gratitude for what Heavenly Father has done for us through Jesus Christ. We should be joyous and excited about life because Jesus Christ is our heartbeat. He pumps us with new life through the electrical current of his love.

One of the reasons the lives of believers flatline is because they don't activate the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. When it comes to our prayer requests before Heavenly Father, people will often think that the reason those prayers don’t manifest is because they didn’t have any faith. Romans 12:3 tells us that God has dealt every person a measure of faith. We all have it, so the question isn’t one about not having faith, but one of whether we are activated in the faith we have.

Dormant faith
Faith can remain dormant in us an entire lifetime, and this happens to many believers. It’s there, but often we don’t seek the Lord to manifest outwardly what lies within. We don’t believe in the life that our Lord and Savior desires to give us, but cling to the life we’ve always had; one where miracles, mighty works, and wonders have no place. Our eyes never widen to behold the person that was birthed when the Lord first saved our souls. Instead, many of us have sought to revive things that died long ago; the toxic relationships, worldly ambitions, and negative habit patterns.

As believers we serve the Lord’s purpose, not our own. We should pray as David did in Psalm 119:154 and ask Heavenly Father to quicken us according to His Word. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes where the Word of God is heard and believed. Faith respects and produces results where the authority of Jesus Christ is stood upon. There must be a burning desire in our hearts to know the Lord’s purpose and to go after it with the fullness of our being. When there is, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be activated in the most amazing ways!

Mountain vs molehill faith
Many believers have left the faith because of disappointment. If the truth is told, in some instances they expected this Christian walk to be much easier than it has turned out to be. They didn’t expect for the enemy to throw so many darts. They became offended by satan’s attacks and turned their eyes from our Master Jesus. But Jesus never turned his eyes away from those offended ones. He gives us an open invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 to come to him with our heavy burdens, and he will give us rest. He tells us to take his yoke and learn about him. This is where many have gone astray. They have taken the yoke he offers but refused to learn to use it.

The disappointed person starts right out attempting to move a mountain when he or she hasn’t learned to even kick a pebble down the road. This is why we must place our lives in the hands of our powerful and precious Lord and allow him to teach us. We must glean the confidence from tackling the molehills first and be steadfast in doing this. We mustn’t let disappointment get the better of us but do as Psalm 27:14(NKJV) instructs, “Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!”

There is an order and progression that comes with this spiritual walk in Christ, and it is never a stagnant or static thing if our heart is to please God. It is important for us to know there is a danger to flatline in life, and to feel as though nothing will go our way. Four walls can appear to be ever enclosing, shrinking our joy and fulfillment down to nothing, but this isn’t the life God desires us to have. He gave His only begotten Son for our sins. Jesus Christ left the throne to come to earth so that we might have a more than abundant life, and if we will trust the Lord with all our hearts, He will teach us to live with his energy, vitality, and love. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.