Faith is difficult, wouldn’t you agree? Many of us struggle with faith because of the elements that are hidden from us. We also have to deal with things that are in direct opposition to our faith. We have to work through our own doubt and sin but we also have an enemy and a world that bombards our sometimes shaky attempts. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” This is a faith that I want to have and strive for, but how do I stay consistent?
Our world today has so many troubles that are concerning to many of us. If we could change our default response from worry to prayer we would all be much better off. We have brothers and sisters in other countries that have real physical threats every day and this helps keep our daily worries in perspective. Our faith should be real enough to rest on the answer we receive during prayer. Many times though, we pray and then dump copious amounts of worry into our thought life. This is like adding the wrong amounts of an ingredient to a recipe and the results are a ruined batch.
We shouldn’t be surprised by the evil of man. We see war, suffering, and evil all throughout history. Personally, I find it interesting to see how others before us viewed their troubled times. In the 1600s, Father Joseph de Beaufort talked about Brother Lawrence's view on his world. He said, “Brother Lawrence wasn’t surprised by the amount of sin in the world. Rather, he wondered why there wasn’t more, considering the extremes to which the enemy is capable.”
We need to remember to lean on the truth of scripture and there are two passages in particular that I find encouraging: 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 and Psalm 37:1-6. In 2 Corinthians, Paul reminds us that we have the power of God on our side with weapons that He provides. He says,
“[3] For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. [4] For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
And in Psalms, we find that we can rest in the truth that God and our relationship with Him are eternal and the evil of this world is temporary.
[1] Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! [2] For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. [3] Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. [4] Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. [5] Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. [6] He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:1-6
Though the turmoil in the world might tempt us to doubt, we must rest assured that we can be bold in the strength of the Lord and know that the Holy Spirit will remind us of the truth. Worry may be our default response, but the Lord will give us supernatural faith.