LITTLE FAITH

 There is hope! A real faith is never lost, it simply becomes “little”.  In real life, every time we face unfortunate events such as setbacks, illnesses, loss and misfortune, we can sub come to doubting and thinking that God has forsaken us and we no longer feel His presence as we once did. It is then that we sink into negative thinking that leads us away from the truth we once knew and begin to lose faith in God. You see our enemy is watching us like a mad animal waiting for the right opportunity to bite. He is relentless in his coming after us to break us down so that we are no longer harvesting the power that is given to us by our Heavenly Father to battle him in our thoughts and actions.

When we first come to know the Lord, we quickly find that He is forever the embodiment of grace, blessings, compassion, and mercy. And because of this, after we receive Him as Lord and Savior, we expend ourselves with great enthusiasm, and are willing to follow Him the rest of our lives with no thought of temptation, trials or  future disciplines that he may bring. Then, there comes a day when God seems to turn His face away from us and baptizes us in discipline, frustrations, diseases, loss and trials. At such time, if we are not properly grounded and clothed with the right armament, our faith in Him can suddenly turn cold, and we become full of misunderstandings feeling betrayed and harbor blame towards Him. When this happens we become weak in faith to the point of being unable to get ourselves back on the spiritual track that we jumped off of ourselves. The process is so subtle, progressing in such small increments, that we can fail to recognize that there is even a problem and before we know it, our lives are reflecting the words in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"  One day all is well and the next we are searching for answers as to why we feel the way we do.

Job, the Bible’s role model for enduring life’s hardship’s, did not only display his trials and struggles. Before his loss, Job recalled many times when God showered him with favor and blessings. But then, out of nowhere, came life’s trials, hard and quick. His beloved children were killed, he was robbed of his livestock, and all his possessions were lost, and to add to his agony, his body became covered with boils and his wife’s lack of faith encouraged him to renounce God, die and end his misery. She thought that he shouldn’t suffer misfortune and asked him to abandon God altogether. Even his friends said that he most likely had offended God and by doing so, brought on his own calamity and was therefore abandoned. Yet deep in his heart, Job did not think like that, nor did he blame God; rather, he said this very rational thing: “shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” Job 2:10. Job knew, that no matter whether he was given blessings or misfortune, it was all God’s design and arrangement and he should unconditionally accept it. Which we know, that is what he did. Sweet friend you are accepted in the beloved not because of what you can do for God but simply by what God has done for you.

As children of God, we are entitled to victory through our faith in Him, not of ourselves but through Christ alone, God gives us the power to change every situation that doesn’t align with His holy will for us. Join me next week as I share with you how to gain back the ground that you may feel that you’ve lost.

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren