Irritated Faith

What’s the best way to tell if your faith is real? The apostle Peter, who was an expert in this area, says that the best way to tell if your faith is authentic is when it encounters hardship. “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire test gold…so when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (1 Peter 1:7 NLT)

If your faith has not been tested, you may have faith, but rest assured it will be little and likely will remain that way as long as it goes on without trials. Faith never prospers until situations come up against it. The storms of life are good trainers to condition and strengthen your faith. Jesus reminded the disciples of their undersized faith when they woke Him up from sleeping during a terrible thunderstorm at sea (Mat. 8:26). Christ then demonstrated how potent faith can be by rebuking the winds and the sea and all became calm. When the winds of trouble rush in and begin to howl against your life your faith is being tested. When the waters of fear begin to rise and attempt to rock your world tossing you away from what you hold dear it is at this point you can make headway in your faith. No prized pearl is ever produced without some irritating sand and no faith is as precious as that which triumphs in adversity. Irritated faith brings experience that can take into your future helping you to finish faithful.

You can never know the strength of God if you have not been through the flood-waters. It is in those moments you realize He is the One supporting you. Your faith increases in strength, assurance, and  intensity the more it is exercised through difficulty. Because of the trials that you’ve come through your faith becomes priceless.
 
If you are just starting out in your faith journey don’t be discouraged if you haven’t had stormy experiences yet, you will encounter enough of them along your path without having to go look for them. Rest assured they will come in due season. So in the meantime, begin thanking God for the grace you are walking in and praise Him for the blessings of clam seas for soon enough your faith will move mountains and overcome impossibilities in His name.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 80-20 Rule

In 1906, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto created a mathematical formula to describe the unequal distribution of wealth in his country, observing that twenty percent of the people owned eighty percent of the wealth. The Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, states that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.   Although this rule was first applied in Italy when Pareto was looking at the dispersal of wealth, it has since become a rule of thumb for many businesses.   It has been said that 20% of your workforce does 80% of the work, or 80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients.   I think this law comes into play in our lives as well.   Life is 20% what happens to you and 80% what you make of it. There are tons of stories about people who come out of difficult situations — gang life, in and out of jail, drug addiction, broken families, abuse – yet still seem to rise to the top.   And of course, there are many stories of those who have been given...
Read more

Control Yourself

When it comes to our life, we have nothing to say about our birth and little say about our death, but in between these two events most of the decisions are ours to be made. Are you letting life and circumstances control you, or are you controlling your own life and destiny with God’s help. Don't let life pass you by when you have the God-given ability to make things happen. I've heard it said: You can't control the length of your life, but you can control its use. You can't control your facial appearance, but you can control its expression. You can't control the weather, but you can control the moral atmosphere that surrounds you. You can't control the distance of your head above the ground, but you can control the height of the contents in your head. You can't control the other fellow's annoying faults, but you can see to it that you do not develop similar faults. Why worry about things you cannot cont...
Read more

Bounce Back

As a 7th grader in junior high school, I was devastated when I was cut from the starting 8th grade football team and sent to the second team.   I felt disappointed, embarrassed and dejected.   Latter that week, I spoke with my grandfather who passed on these words of wisdom, “It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce back that matters.”   I took those words to heart. The Bible says in Proverbs 25:11, “Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket.” I valued his wise words and committed to doing my best for this second string team, instead of pouting and complaining over my sense of failure. I committed to working hard, giving my all to bounce back. It served me well as I entered high school and played on two state championship teams. I learned that day that what happens to me in life doesn’t count as much as how I react to those things.   I had a choice the day I was cut from the team—I could wallow in misery and quit the team, or I ...
Read more