Scripture: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. “ I Peter 1:7
I watch the news frequently, admittedly, probably more than I should. Rather than play music while I sit at the computer and sign up for various temp agencies and posting my resume on one website or another, I listen to the news. I fully blame my mother.
As unemployment rises, I hear statistics on how stressed out, bitter, angry and agitated the unemployed are. How many of those individuals polled, I wonder, consider themselves Christian? Not that I want to come off as judgmental. Nor do I think that as Christians, we should be joyous and happy and never feel any negative emotions. It is human, natural and expected to feel anything but elated when bad things happen.
But in life, we practice various disaster drills, depending on where we live. We have fire, earthquake, hurricane and tornado drills. Everyone practices drills in order to prepare for when the real thing happens. I believe this is a part of what faith is. We have faith in God to answer our prayer lists, our wish lists, to get us to our destinations safely, and we ask Him to bless the food we eat.
But when it comes to crunch time, and a crisis happens, does our faith strengthen – or weaken? Our faith should be a constant “practice drill” for God to come through for the big things in our lives, because all along, we should have been relying on Him for all the small things. Our faith is often tested through such “fire drills”. When I lose my truck keys and I am already 15 minutes late, when I get a prayer request for a friend of a friend’s troubled teen, when a friend asks for prayer for an audition to go well, I pray, and I pray for these “ little”, non-crisis events constantly. When a real crisis hits – I’m ready with a prayer and the belief that God is going to come through in His own special way in His own timing. My little prayers are, in essence, “practice drills” for the major things in life that come at me.
It is through such trials that we learn about ourselves, and the mettle of our faith. James 1:3-4 states, “..because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Our faith is constantly being challenged as Christians. And just like working out with weights on a daily basis, hopefully these trials strengthen us as believers.
After moving through all the emotions of shock, despair, disappointment, anxiety, anger or whatever we feel at first, the idea is fall back on our faith, keeping in mind Who is REALLY in control. It is the hardest thing to do in our Christian walk. But absolutely necessary.
God provides, and we mustn’t lose sight of that. Luke 12:6-7 says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” What an awesome promise. God knows the number of hairs on our head, and cares more for each of us than any of us will ever know!!!
Rest in his strong, capable arms. He will carry you through your every trial and tribulation. Hang onto him, and however bleak your world seems, keep hanging on, because He will see you through.
Prayer: Lord, help us to rely more in you. Strengthen our faith. Help us each to surrender more and more to you each day, becoming a bigger reflection of Who You are. Amen
Prayer request: Pray for those who are in need of having their faith strengthened and the need to feel His presence in a big way.
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