Struggling
With Faith
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about the things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
Faith is what the Bible speaks of as the foundation of
a believer. In fact in Hebrews 11:6 it
says that, “It is impossible to please God without faith.” Then the rest of the chapter gives us examples
from the Old Testament of those great people of old from Adam’s son, Abel, all
the way to Moses. They had unbelievable
faith even though they did not see the fruit in their lifetime.
We see their great faith because we know the end of
their stories, but there were times that they struggled with faith. I would say that most Christians struggle
with their faith at times. I would like
to share a true story with you about faith and let you come to your own
conclusion.
I was a young mother and my first daughter as a baby
had come through polio, meningitis and pneumonia. At the time she was 8 years old and was left
with severe curvature of her spine. My
neighbor was a devout Catholic and I was a Presbyterian, but we believed that
God still healed people. We decided to
pray together and believe God would heal my daughter.
That night when I put her to bed, I laid hands on her
and prayed for a miracle. I hardly slept
that night waiting for morning to come.
I ran to her room and pulled back her covers, but her spine was still
curved. I quietly left her room and sat
down at my kitchen table weeping for a long time. I was so sure she was going to be healed, but
it didn’t happen. Little did I know at
that time what God had in store for her future.
After years of spinal fusions and therapy, among other
problems, her spine was never healed, yet God has led her on mission trips
around the world. She has ministered to
thousands of people of all nationalities and countless people came to know the
Lord because of her testimony. She is
still leading people to the Lord through singing, Bible studies and
teaching. The doctors in her early years
never thought she would live very long or be able to do much of anything, but
she is a walking miracle and unstoppable in her faith.
There is so much more to her story (which was published
in Guideposts magazine), but getting back to “Faith”. The morning that she wasn’t healed and I sat
at my table crying, I was angry at God and wouldn’t believe in miracles ever
again. I didn’t go to church for many
years, although I sent my children to Sunday School. I did what many people do when they start
blaming God for something that didn’t turn out the way they think it should; my
faith dropped to nonexistence.
God was still with me and led me in a journey where my
faith took root and grew again because I asked Jesus into my heart and I’ve
never looked back. My four children are
grown now and along the way I prayed for them every day and had faith to
believe they would come to asking Jesus into their heart. Now, they are all born again, filled with the
Holy Spirit and serving the Lord. Praise
God for His faithfulness!
My faith continues to grow, although I haven’t moved
any mountains yet. When I am weak, God
is strong. In recent years God has given
me faith to overcome cancer, a broken shoulder and serious back surgery with
fusions. I used to carry my eight-year old daughter around because I had a
strong back. Now my back is weak and my
legs aren’t strong, but I know God is with me.
I have faith in what He tells me from the Bible, “For I know the plans I have for
you,” says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you
a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT)
If you have faith enough to know that there is a God,
if you believe that God had a Son, Jesus, then you have faith. Jesus said, “He would never leave us or
forsake us.” Believe it! In Ephesians 2:8 (KJV), the Bible explains
how we get ‘faith’. “For by grace you are saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” The Lord covers even the details of having
faith.
Here is the clincher; God gives
you faith and faith grows by using it.
Your answer doesn’t always come by tomorrow or the next day; it may take
years and it may not even be answered in your lifetime.
By faith, Abraham believed what God told him thousands
of years ago; He told him about the Promised Land and today we see the fruit of
it in the nation of Israel. The Jewish
people have always struggled, but Israel is God’s Promised Land and it remains
today. Have faith in what God has
promised and it will come true.
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