". . . The Testing of Your Faith..."

How do we respond when our faith is tested?  Do we withdraw from God's presence?  Do we fail to fellowship with Him?  Disregard the opportunity to commune with Him and allow Him to enjoy being with us?  Have we forgotten our first love?  Remember what it was like when you were "in love", the joy and exhilaration of just being together?  Regardless of what was going on in your world, you just wanted to be together as much as possible.  Just to hear His voice, to hear His heartbeat...to share a hug....to meet eye to eye... the energy just from the contact....

If we can remember what it is like to be in-love in a natural relationship, we can get a better picture of what God wants to share with us.. in good times and in bad times he desires just to be with us... amazing isn't it?  Amazing that the God who created the heavens and earth by His Spoken Word wants to hang out with us!!!  Why do we withdraw when things are not going our way?  When answers do not come as quickly as we would like.  When we cannot See Him Moving we begin to doubt and enter into disbelief and even perhaps mistrust.  I believe it is the disbelief and mistrust that Satan uses to create a wedge in our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Gracious Lord Jesus. 

It's easy to trust God when things are going well.  It's easy to communicate with Him when things are going our way.  As a believer my faith has been tested over and over again.  Each time, I have to start all over and stand on Gods word and believe what He says about my situation..  It's much like an athlete in training, you have to keep working out each day to get stronger and stronger.  To build endurance you have to continue to push beyond your comfort zone, having our faith tested over and over is much like that.  Our past victories do give us some confidence, not in ourselves, but in God's track record and based upon His track record we can expect the same faithfulness in the current situation. 
James 1:2 says, " My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, (3) because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, (4) and let endurance have it's full effect, so that you may be mature and complete lacking nothing." 

We can see from this passage that God is not just testing us to be harsh, because he is calloused, indifferent to our trials, but He has a goal in mind, to produce stronger character in us for His Glory.  As we continue in our trials whatever kind it may be, sickness, trying to lose weight and can't seem to get it off, marriage issues, challenges in child rearing, financial distresses, loss of a loved one, waiting on a mate, whatever your trial may be..., we need to face them with joy and thanksgiving (emphasis mine) and continue on to  grow in endurance.  What may be a trial for you may not be a trial for me, we need to have and express compassion and encouragement for our brothers and sisters as they face their own Goliaths.  We also need to encourage one another to draw closer to God and spend more time in His presence when we face trials, for truly this is where our joy and strength will come from.

Personally, I have been tested since 2004 with a very challenging trial of changing careers and finding an opportunity that is stable and will offer opportunities to grow and develop new skills and also that will pay well enough to support my family. I have been working in commercial leasing for the last four years and it has been like a river that has completely dried up, but how many of you know that God will send rivers in your wilderness! (Isaiah)  God has truly been  faithful and provided for this single mom with four daughters!!! Our faith as a family has been tested over and over to trust God for provisions and He has never let us down.   I can testify today that I have not had a good paying full-time job since June 2004 and  God has blessed my household, all three of my oldest daughters have been blessed with a college education which I could not possibly afford.  Jesus has been our Jehovah Jireh, he has blessed their diligence, in working hard in school to be able to obtain scholarships and grants.  He has been not only our constant healer in keeping our family healthy, He has been our assurance when we had no medical insurance.... Praise His Name there have been no major illnesses in our family...we try to live a balanced lifestyle, eat right, exercise, get enough sleep, but we fall short...it is His grace that sustains us...

I just wanted to share with you all that I am not just talking a bunch of fluff stuff, I have been tested over and over again and continue to have my faith tested.  With each test, I ask God to continue to purge me of anything that is not like him, to continue the purification process so that one day there will be nothing left of me and all of Him.    There have been times when I could not thank God for my tests, but today, I can look back and see how God has made me a stronger person through it all...

I think it was Andre Crouch who wrote, "Through It All... I have learned to trust in Jesus, I have learned to trust in God... Through It All I have learned to depend upon His Word..."

I just want to encourage someone today that may be going through a fiery trial, a very difficult time where God just doesn't seem to be listening, or even present....Stand on His Word, Speak His Word into your situation... when you can't say what God says just keep quiet...rest in His Presence and His Strength will See You Through.. 

Psalm 23  "The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. (2)HE makes me to lie down (in His Presence) in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters. (3) he restores my soul.  He leads me in right paths for His names sake. (4).....Yeah though I walk THROUGH THE VALLEY of THE SHADOW of DEATH  I WILL FEAR NO EVIL...."(5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows (with joy, peace)..(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long." (New Revised Standard Version)

When your faith is tested, let's run to Him!!