‘God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of sentimental enjoyment of His blessings. Faith by its very nature must be tried, and the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character has to be cleared in our own minds. Faith in the Bible is faith in God against everything that contradicts Him – I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do. ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him’ – this is the most sublime utterance of faith in the whole of the Bible.”
(Excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest-Oswald Chambers Scripture Reference Matthew 17:20)
In life there are highs and lows that are completely unavoidable. Whether you’re the richest, most influential person in the world, or the poorest of the poor. The smartest person in the room, or the least educated in your community. Peaks and valleys will always be the guiding trajectory in our lives. Even if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and have acknowledged our own sin, depravity and desperate need of Him, life isn’t guaranteed to get better as a result. Eternity certainly promises to be better, but not necessarily life on earth. Wouldn’t that be a much better sell when we evangelize to unbelievers? “Come to Jesus, you’ll be rich!” “Give Jesus a chance, you won’t have any problems ever again!” “I’m offering you Jesus, a ‘get out of trouble free card’!” But we do a huge disservice to people when we don’t tell them what faith really is. I read the excerpt above and made the conclusion that I couldn’t have said it better myself! Especially the part about what faith in God really is. That it’s not just for enjoyment of His blessings, but for the “Yet will I trust Him” kind of seasons we will inevitably go through.
It’s easy to love God when everything is going right, we all know that. But remaining true to God no matter what He does or doesn’t do, is a struggle for a lot of people. It’s hard to get excited about the thought that He has the power “slay” us through punishment or even take our life, but still having to trust Him. However, instead of embracing a sense of hopeless, we should see that as an opportunity for sovereign hopefulness. What I mean by that is whether things are going better than they ever have before, or if you can’t see your way out, real faith in God says, “I trust you no matter what.” He’s so good, and He’s so God, that we let Him have His way regardless. He’s so omniscient, He’s so powerful, that we let go and allow Him to show us His plan. It sounds very romantic right? But super difficult in application. The best thing for us to do is to quiet ourselves in His presence, stop telling Him what He needs to do for us and allow our hearts to be ministered to with what He is to us. Let us change our prayers from “Give me this, help me with that, change this” to “Yet will I trust you.” It’s only then that the testing of our faith can allow God the opportunity to reveal Himself to us, which is far better than anything we could ever think to ask for anyway.
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