Faith

   Hebrews 11 talks about faith, and how many of the people in the Bible exhibited faith. Faith doesn’t mean that we believe and everything is perfectly fine. Faith means that, no matter what we go through, we know that God has us, and that He will work it out for our good, and His glory. I had someone tell me that God doesn’t want me to be sick, and I needed to pray more, and have more faith, and God would heal me. Well this is wrong in so many ways. This is prosperity gospel, and it is WRONG. The Bible doesn’t promise us an easy, trial free life. In fact, the Bible tells us that “in this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). It goes on to say that we should “take heart, I have overcome the world.” This means that we will have storms and trials in our life, but we can have faith that God will be there for us and take care of us. As for the statement that God doesn’t want me to be sick, well God can, and will, use anything and everything to get my attention, to teach me what I need to know, and to make me more like Him. 

   Something that my pastor said awhile back really caught my attention. It is something that I remind myself of often when I’m struggling with the storms in my life. He said that, for the born again Christian, this world is the only Hell that we will ever know. The storms and trials, that I go through in this life, is the worst that it is ever going to get for me. One day I will be in Heaven with my Heavenly Father, and things will be perfect for all eternity. This statement also is a little sad off for me, because the opposite is true for the unbeliever. For those who are not saved, this world is the only Heaven they will ever know. This makes me pray even harder for my friends, and family to be saved. I may not see it, but I can know that God wants all people to be saved. That doesn’t mean that all people will come to Him, but it does mean that He wants all people to come to Him. So, I can have faith that God will give those people I love, every opportunity to come to Him. 

   Faith is hard to have at times, I definitely know that. We have to stay in God’s Word, and stay in communication(prayer) with Him, and He will increase our faith. Another way that God increases our faith is by the storms and trials that we go through. He shows us that He is there for us. There is always something good in everything. All you have to do is ask God to show you that good, and He will. Take a look back through your life, you can see all the times that God has been there. He has helped you, and guided you through each and every trial and storm. Ask God to show you all the times that He has been there for you. Just ask God to open your eyes, and prepared to be awed.