Hebrews 11:1 – Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of the things we do not see.
I come from a large family, there are six of us kids. All born within seven years and eleven days of each other. I remember asking my mom one day if they did that on purpose. If they actually wanted six children. And if so, if they actually wanted all six of us at the same time. I don’t remember her response, I wish I did. But I do remember walking away from the conversation feeling very content and very secure in my place within the family. At a time when I wondered if I was an accident my mom gave me the confidence to know that not only was I not an accident, I was deeply wanted.
Sometimes I try to imagine how it must have been for my parents, my dad didn’t make much money, he was a pastor, and ministry is not a lucrative business. They had six kids, all in elementary school at the same time, all teenagers at the same time, all growing faster than the laundry could get done. I know we had financial hardships, I know we had situations where mom and dad had no choice but to have faith that God was at work, and that He was leading them step by step through the trials and difficulties that were thrown one after the other at them. They didn’t bring us into the struggles but even as a young child there were times I knew they were there.
Trials, pain, suffering, difficult circumstances, hard decisions, financial ruin, and heartache are all part of life. Things happen that are beyond our control and beyond our understanding, things that make us want to look up and say…
”Why God? What is this going to help?”
This is where faith and trust come in. Throughout my childhood I watched my parents step out in faith, make decisions solely on the faith and trust that God would see them through and that He would provide a way. Faith is built on trust, when we don’t understand what is happening, when the heartache is so deep that we can barely breath, when the circumstances just don’t make sense God wants us to trust Him.
Not a trust to eliminate the struggle, or to change the circumstances, but to allow Him to fill us with His presence and power. To allow Him to give us the strength we need to get through the struggle. Crisis and hardship always reveals the strength of our faith. It is easy to say we trust God when the waters are calm and the sky is blue, but when the storms are blowing – that is when the depth of faith is truly revealed. “Faith is a deliberate choice to believe God and walk through our fear, knowing we can trust Him every step of the way.”
I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20