Faith and Holding on to it by a Thread

"NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, AND THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN.  HEBREWS 11:1"

Some days my posts will be light and full of humor and then there will be days like today.  A weighty matter is on my mind.  It is pressing on my heart.  Bad things happen to good people all the time.  Our loved ones get sick and die.  Marriages fall apart even when one of the spouses fight to keep it together.  Young people lose their lives unexpectedly.  Precious, innocent children are abused or go hungry.  The list could go on forever.  We live in a fallen, sin filled world.   

But imagine with me for a moment, that a man is standing beside his wife, the mother of his three beautiful children, and watches as cancer ravages her body.  The sight is truly heart wrenching.  What if the story is intensified a little!  A man (whom you believe to be A Man of God) told her after her initial diagnosis that the Lord said He was going to heal her before the end of the week.  Well, that was 8 months ago and she is not healed.  The doctor says she doesn't have much time left.  This man feels defeated and his faith in God is shattered.  Why didn't God heal her?  Why did that man of God say she would be healed?  

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO HIM?  

What about the young boy in a wheelchair who has asked to be on every prayer list.  He gets prayed for at every prayer meeting.  He believes that he will be healed.  He has faith that most adults never know in their lifetime.  Then, exactly what he has been waiting for happens.  A man tells him that God is going to heal him.   He is going to get up out of that wheelchair and walk before the end of the week.  It has been 2 weeks and he is not healed.  He feels defeated and he is hanging on to his faith by a thread.  Why can't God just let him walk like the other kids?

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO HIM? 

What about that woman who has been married for 10 years to the best husband in the world.  She desperately longs to give him the greatest gift any woman could give to her husband, a child.  Every Sunday she sits in church hearing babies cry as their mother takes them out to nurse.  Her arms are aching to hold her own sweet baby.  Then it happens!  A woman tells her that God has given her a word that is just for her......God is going to give her baby before the end of the year.  Oh the joy that floods her soul!  Fast forward 5 years to the same woman, still without a baby, trying to fight bitterness and jealousy.  She is struggling to hold on to her faith.  Did she do something that changed God's mind?

WHAT DO YOU SAY TO HER?   

One of my readers, presented me with a similar scenario yesterday when I asked for questions that I might write about today.  I was really hoping for something easy to start with like, "Why do you home school?" or "What's the best marriage advice you ever received?"  But this was it.  What would you say to someone who is holding on to faith by a thread because someone told them God would do something that He did not do?  I have really thought about this and prayed fervently for wisdom, but I am no theologian or scholar.  I don't have a degree in Biblical counseling.  All I have is my Bible and my limited comprehension of a God who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  So please, read on at your own discretion.  

There is one common factor in all of these scenarios, a PERSON told them God would do something.  As in a human being, that sins, who sees through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12).  Humans, even the most spiritual, can be led by self because they are made up of flesh.  IF GOD HAS A DIRECT WORD FOR YOU, HE WILL TELL YOU!  (Note: There are times when someone may speak a word to you that will confirm what the Holy Spirit has already shown you, or that may yet come to pass.  Be warned though, adding the words "God says" to something you tell another believer is a very weighty matter, and hearing the words "God says" does not always mean it is truly his word.)  His Word is full of promises for you.  He longs to tell them to you everyday.  When your faith is shifted because of a man's words rather than God's Word, you are headed for heart ache.

If I could look into the face of a precious brother or sister in Christ who has found themselves in this place, I would say Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.(Heb.13:8)  He is the Lord and doesn't change.  (Mal.3:6a)  God is not a man that he should lie.  (Num.23:19)  IT WAS NOT GOD WHO LIED!  GOD DOES NOT CHANGE HIS MIND!  The same mighty Savior who sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins, endured our shame, died, rose again, and sent us The Comforter will never leave us or forsake us. (Heb.13:5)  He has not left you in your grief.  He has not left you in your sickness.  He has not left you in your bareness.  A man's word may have failed you but Jehovah God's promises never fail! 

There is an epic battle waging for your heart.  You see, my friend, if people see your joy in the midst of your trial, they will want what you have.  They will want to meet this Jesus who gives peace, comfort, and strength.  Satan knows this and he will do whatever he can to keep you from being a walking, talking, testimony of God's goodness in a world of tribulation.  If he can plant seeds of doubt, he will.  If he can plant seeds of bitterness, he will.  If he can make you believe the lie that God must surely not be good because he has allowed you to go through this, he has won.

The only way to combat the lies of the enemy is with the Sword of the Spirit.  God's Word is what will get you through.  His promises provide strength and security no ones counseling ever could.
You might be holding on to your faith in God by a thread, but You are engraved on the palms of His hands.  (Is.49:16)  His grace is sufficient for you. (2 Cor.12:9)  God has plans of hope and a future JUST FOR YOU! (Jer.29:11)  Before you were even formed in the womb, HE KNEW YOU! (Jer.1:5)

Something I have taught my children is that we were made for one reason: to bring God Glory.(Is.43:6-7)  He chooses how we will best bring him glory.  Every believer will have tribulation. (Jn.16:33)  Can we praise Him in the storm?   I heard it said one time that God allows things to happen the way they do because that is how he will receive the most glory.  We can't always see it, but then again, we aren't on a throne in heaven looking down at the big picture.

I am not always as good with words as I am with music so I will leave you with this song.  Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer.  My prayer for us today is at the end of our heart's testing with His likeness let us wake!