Tag Archives: trials

Can Faith and Doubt Coexist?

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Whether Faith and Doubt are in mortal combat depends on what definitions of both words we have in mind. Faith, according to M-W.com, means:

1
a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyaltyb (1) : fidelity to one’s promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2
a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religionb (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust
3
: something that is believed especially with strong conviction;especially: a system of religious beliefs <the Protestantfaith>
Doubt, according to m-w.com, means:
a : uncertainty of belief or opinion that often interferes with decision-makingb : a deliberate suspension of judgment
2
: a state of affairs giving rise to uncertainty, hesitation, or suspense <the outcome is still in doubt>
3
a : a lack of confidence : distrust <has doubts about his abilities>b : an inclination not to believe or accept <a claim met with doubt>

Certainly, we can find ourselves uncertain of what opinion or belief is right, but refuse to allow it to interfere with our decision-making and loyally remain faithful to God’s word.  This is a “test and see that the Lord is good” mode of  taking a gamble or going out on a limb in a hope that maybe God will deliver and nothing to be ashamed of if one is young in the faith. Tentative baby steps would be inappropriate for the mature, but through the process of taking them, we learn by experience that God is indeed good.

For some, taking God at his word may indeed require they make a “deliberate suspension of judgment” on any points where they’d reach a different conclusion than God did if they leaned on their own understanding.  Really, though, this is doubting in ourselves  in the process of choosing to trust God. It is highly countercultural, but hardly contradicts the idea that doubt is poisonous to sprinkle the poison on our own flesh/sin nature.

Naturally, it is logically impossible to have a strong conviction about a belief we are uncertain of. So in that regards, it would be an oxymoron to doubt the truth of our firm convictions. We can have an “unshakable” faith on some things, and doubts about other things, but we can’t be both quavering and standing firm on the same belief at the same time.

To move on to the next definition of doubt, however, we definitely can be in a “state of affairs” that is suspenseful or otherwise has an uncertain outcome and have any definition of  faith. In fact, it is in such circumstances that we most need to have faith and that our loyalty to and trust in God is most tested.

One can lack confidence in God or distrust him, but choose to still remain loyal and faithful to him anyway. This is bruised and battered, struggling faith is a spiritual wound as real as, and quite similar to, having a broken bone.  Unless the break heals properly, depending on the severity of the spiritual wound and where it is, the patient will either die or remain crippled in their faith, that is they will be spiritually unable to move and grow properly in the area of impact.

Those who do make a full recovery, however, bear testimony that their faith is not only fully restored, their trust and loyalty to the shepherd is much stronger than it was before. Good shepherds have been known to break a leg bone of a sheep prone to wander, to teach it to stay close. God likewise has a tendency to try our faith by putting us into circumstances that he well knows will inflict (or reveal) doubts and make it as painful to walk in faith as it is to walk on a broken leg. We may call this “failing a test.” God sees it more like a toxin being used as a prescription medicine.  He well knew what side effects we’d experience when he gave it and decided the spiritual benefits made it worth putting us through the suffering.  He promised he won’t ever give us a stronger dosage of this painful, potentially deadly treatment than we can bear, but that itself can of course be difficult to keep believing in our darkest hours.

An inclination to not believe or accept God is the doubt that is the sworn enemy of , or at least contradictory to, every definition of faith. If you have this kind of doubt on a grand scale, you are not even a Christian and you probably well know it. If you have a habitual, unrepentant sin in your life, that also by nature rooted in not believing or accepting God’s word. Most of us are works in progress here, though, as God is in the process of transforming us from cancerous, dead, defeated “sinners”  into healthy, living, victorious “saints.”

This is a good spot to note that a proposed alternate supreme opponent of faith, fear, is simply an emotional response preparing you to either avoid or defend yourself against an anticipated real or imagined future danger and can also be triggered by awareness of a danger already present.  This god-given emergency response system can be helpful if wisely utilized and if it isn’t a “false alarm.” However, the relevant point is that being afraid of something God’s word told us we don’t need to be afraid of does require doubt of the previously mentioned “enemy of faith” variety.

The dictionary definitions of faith that God most values, and desires to grown in us, is complete trust in him and a firm belief in his word even when it cannot be independently verified, and a firm belief that he will keep his promises in Heaven, if not this life, without any guarantee he will come through for us at all beyond the subjective experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

God is notorious for using our struggles with doubt themselves to produce this kind of faith, but but we cannot have the final product while we’re still in the fires of these tests of our faith. We may fancy we have only passed the test when we maintain faith through difficult circumstances where we can’t scientifically know the outcome. Rest assured, my limping sibling, the Good Shepherd knew when he cracked his staff across your leg bone that the bone would break.  You may be flailing and limping, but you haven’t failed. The fiery pain shooting through your broken faith may feel like you’re in a furnace, but so long as you don’t give up and choose to forsake God, you will come through it with an even stronger, more loyal faith as he teaches you through this to stay close to, depend upon on, and more  fully trust in God.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, God's Character, God's promises, Sin and Holiness, Suffering

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“Suffering, a Privilege?” Or: “It’s War!”

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Phil 1:29-30)

The Apostle Paul tells the Philippians here that grace has not given them the privilege of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to experience pain, punishment, and distress–for his sake. The privilege is to be engaged in the cosmic war, doing our divinely assigned part to advance the gospel. The more suffering we endure in our calling, as a direct result of obeying clear  instructions from the Lord, the greater of a position in the war effort we have.

Now, the riveter building warplanes has as vital a role as the soldier on the front lines, and the riveter may suffer sore muscles for his or her task to stop the forces of evil, but the soldier on the front lines has the greater glory for he (or she nowadays) bears the greatest risk.  The higher the price we pay in a godly war effort, in theory, the greater the glory.

Christianity today has become wishy-washy in some circles, all about the promises of comfort and peace and joy and forgiveness, prosperity and healing. Turning the other cheek, agreeing quickly with your adversary, avoiding conflict and being a peace-maker who is slow to judgment and quick to listen and respectful and loving to all.

That’s taking a cookie cutter to the Bible.  Our war is not against flesh and blood, but we are in a war, brothers and sisters.

Now, we should follow the rules of engagement, and the human lives around us are the territories being fought over, not the enemy, and we must stay alert. To the enemy, we are either combatants to neutralize or eliminate from the arena of war, or we are ourselves territory to seek to retake and oppress.

In this world, no suffering means we’ve either been neutralized by the enemy via deception like the cookie cutter approach to scripture, we’ve been taken captive by the enemy to do his will and haven’t manifested the bitter fruits of oppression yet,  or we’ve been given leave between battles so we can refresh and refill in preparation for a battle as great as the amount of rest we’ve been given.

Suffering means we are either hot or cold, actively doing what the Lord has called us to and facing the opposition, or a POW taken captive. It is vital we discern the source of our present suffering or its absence.

Lord, give me wisdom to discern the season I am in and ears that hear your call. Grant me a courageous heart willing to fight the good fight according to your principles, when and where you call me. Grant me eyes that see clearly who our enemy is and that perceive as you do the lives around me that are being fought over, used against what you have sent me to do, and who are fighting beside me or in other arenas of the cosmic war. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Dreams and Spiritual Warfare, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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Rejoice in the Lord Without Pretense

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Habakkuk 3:17-18

We discussed these verses previously in light of verse 18. This is a picture of total disaster in an agrarian society, no security and no livelihood, but it is also a picture of barrenness.  His stores are empty, he has a great lack. This is a cause of great suffering, yet he will rejoice.

Let us not miss the will rejoice and that he does not deny the suffering and the barrenness. He does not smile and pretend his storehouses are full and praise God for what he does not have. He does not feel guilty and sub par as a person or in his faith for what is barren in his life. He does put on a show, faking like everything is fine.

Before Habakkuk rejoices, he declares honestly before God (and men, since we’re reading this) what his true state of affairs is. His stores are empty because his people appear to be under attack by their enemies and also suffered severe natural disasters.  In verse sixteen, Habakkuk says:

16 I hear, and my body trembles;  my lips quiver at the sound;
rottenness enters into my bones;   my legs tremble beneath me.
Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble  to come upon people who invade us.

In context, what he is hearing is the report of the current events that have led to his great losses. This rejoicing in the lord that Habakkuk does is not a Pollyanna joy or a delusional/deceitful joy thanking God for the harvest that didn’t happen. It doesn’t deny the reality of the present sorrow. No, first he acknowledges the losses and suffering and emptiness of the present. He feels honestly, fears honestly, trembles honestly, even questions God honestly (if you read the whole book.)

Through this process, he finds the faith to trust in God to save him and draw near to God and take joy in the close fellowship with the God who is with us even in the darkest hour.

Lord, forgive me if I have drawn near to you to praise you with my lips, while denying the true sorrow in my heart. I pray that I would worship you in truth, being honest before you. Help me not to present a false image, praising God before men when my heart is breaking out of false guilt and needless shame.  Teach me to rejoice in you honestly, drawing near to you from the heart, even though my limbs or heart might be trembling in fear or great sorrow. Should I stumble into temptation in this area, prick my heart and grant me the courage to be honest before you and men about my feelings rather than merely going through the motions of what I think a good Christian in my shoes should say/do.

My Commentary on Today’s Verse of the Day

Posted in Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, Lament, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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Finding Grace in the Midst of Judgment

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Andrea Graham| 2 Comments

23 He wiped out every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, from mankind to livestock, to creatures that crawl, to the birds of the sky, and they were wiped off the earth. Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

Today’s Passage: Genesis 7

The flood was the worst catastrophe and the worst judgment ever seen upon the Earth. It came in a time when the bible tells us the thoughts of all men’s hearts were evil continually and violence filled the whole Earth. The flood brought massive destruction that could have wiped out all life on this planet, but even in this moment of divine wrath, God’s grace and mercy shine through, as does his heart to teach and instruct us. Eight imperfect, flawed people who loved him and trusted him obeyed a command to prepare for the disaster and build an ark, and they carried out the designs of grace that God had placed in Noah’s heart, and he sealed them up safely and preserved them from the penalty that came upon the rest of the world.

The bible tells us Noah was a righteous man, but we know he and his wife and children were only clothed by faith in Christ’s righteousness. Why? All of us imperfect, sin-prone people on this earth are descended from Noah. By faith, he was saved, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, not by his work of building the ark, but the faith that led him to work out what God gave freely. So when the destructive rains come and the flood waters are rising in your life, remember God has already called you by grace and completed a secure ark of protection in the Cross.  It could not have been a pleasure cruise to be on a boat at drift on raging flood waters, with pairs of every wild animal and seven pairs of every kosher creature destined for the dinner table. Noah’s family still suffered hardship and loss, but God brought them through it safely and he will see us through this present troubled times as well.

Lord, we thank you for your grace and mercy even in times of judgment and in times where we suffer due to the sins of others. Grant us the ears to hear your instructions and the faith to carry them out. Enable us to trust in your wisdom and that even when you allow pain and destruction in our lives, you intend to bring good through this somehow.  Increase our faith and trust also, so we will be comfortable also being honest with you about how we feel on the journey. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, Grace, Prayer and Devotions, Sin and Holiness, Suffering

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Longing for your Heavenly Home or Fearing its Loss?

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

This is my favorite verse to turn to in times of trial and distress of any sort. Here the Lord reassures us that though he has returned to the Father and we cannot see him face to face and feel his physical touch of comfort, he is preparing a place for us, his bride, to dwell in, and he will return again and receive us as his own forever. No matter how hard and dark and cold and lonely the night is here on Earth, in Heaven, we have a warm place called home and we can always call home and talk to our Father and our Brother and be loved and welcomed and encouraged and strengthened and made whole where it matters most.

Older translations of this text render “rooms” as “mansions” while we can dispute which is more accurate and which is more desirable, the epistles suggest God is preparing not merely a literal dwelling place for us in Heaven, but a brand new body as well. God’s standards are strict, and we cannot hope to obtain to them on our own, but he is making preparations to transfer us from our old broken bodies of sin (spiritual corruption) and physical corruption to pure, spotless, incorruptible bodies, to transform us from sinners into saints.

Let us not lose heart then as we battle against sin within ourselves and to resist the external pressures of the corrupt world around us. No matter how many times we stumble and fall, so long as we continue to choose Jesus and trust him as both our Savior and our Lord, we stand secure, because He will never change His unfailing love for us. He will never abandon us nor forsake us, nor will he ask from us more than we are capable of or more than he is willing to equip us to do.

So many of us when our hearts are troubled turn to our friends and family. Some of us are fortunate enough to have strong loved ones who are full to overflowing and have plenty to give us and meet our needs. Others among us are surrounded by friends and family as every bit as troubled as we are and often are also running on empty. For those in this situation, leaning upon one another spreads the pain around like a game of hot potato being played with toxic waste.

Christ urges us this day to stop a cycle that tends to compound and multiply our troubles and bring our broken hearts to Him. The Lord is the ultimate source of the spiritual and emotional fuel we require to live and thrive, and He is the only true source of healing, and only He can take the toxic waste, nail it to His cross, and truly remove it from us and those around us once and for all.

Lord, open our eyes. Draw our attention to the times when our hearts are troubled. When we are tempted to unload the toxic waste building up in our fallen hearts on our loved ones, remind us to stop and pray and surrender it to you instead. Show us also when our loved ones are seeking from us what comes from you and handing to us burdens that only you can carry. Give us the strength to refuse to participate in what amounts to idolatry and the courage to gently, respectfully, and lovingly, yet firmly point them to you and offer to pray with them instead. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

 

Posted in Bible and Theology, Fear and Anxiety, God's love, Prayer and Devotions, Suffering

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God Promised the Rain, If We Pray–Humbly.

Posted on September 20, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God,for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.” (Joel 2:23)

This comes at a time when God’s people are being oppressed by enemies from the literal North and have been, not coincidentally, far from God and have turned from his ways to practice what the surrounding unbelieving culture does. God calls for his people to return to him with all their hearts, to call everyone together, and pray for God to spare them from the oppressor threatening to destroy them as a people.

It is in prophetic response to the expected obedience to this word that he tells us ahead of the time the answer to the prayer we’ve been commanded to pray: he will drive out the oppressor, restore their fruitfulness and feed them until they are satisfied of their hunger–and bring the rains in season. It appears in Israel there are two rainy seasons during which crops can be grown. Rain is water, and water is life, especially in the dessert. It means the crops can grow and that means food on the table and that means your family won’t starve.

God we know cares about our spiritual growth and the state of our souls. We can trust he means to deliver us from the power of the spiritual oppressor and make his people spiritually fruitful and and maturing in him. But at the time this was written, his people needed literal deliverance and literal rain–and he gave them.

Let’s not kid ourselves–God didn’t promise us a billion dollars in the bank, a swimming pool in the yard, and a red mustang convertible in the drive. Actually, he promised us it’d be hard and sometimes even painful in this life. But he will meet our physical needs and give us our literal daily bread as well as feeding our souls daily of his life-giving spirit.

This was, however, a conditional promise, dependent on us turning from the ways of the culture around us, follow God with our whole hearts, and humbly ask Daddy for his help, not obnoxiously demand and claim our “due inheritance.”

Posted in God's promises, Prayer and Devotions

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The Promise of the Cross: No Pain, No Gain

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Andrea Graham| Comments Off

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

If God is for us, who can be against us? Will he who gave us his own son to save us not provide everything we need?

These are great promises, but we must stop and consider the flip side. He who did not spare his own son the cross won’t spare us from all the trial, tribulation, pain and sorrow of this life, either. But none of these things can destroy our eternal soul and separate us from him. If we take up our cross and follow him, we will also be raised victorious with him, and receive an inheritance from our adoptive Father in Christ’s kingdom.

That is, if we don’t grow weary and quit and give up. Whatever we do, we must not stop, we must not give up the fight. Keep on pursing the heart of the God who has already caught us–meaning to reflect the image of his son within our hearts. Let us take courage. No matter what happens in this life, we are his. Let us become more like him each day, through every battle, through every sorrow. Let’s pick ourselves up when we stumble and fall and get going again.

Lord, strengthen us in our hearts today. Give us courage and boldness, let us not be afraid or ashamed. I pray we would trust you, even in hard times, even when our bodies, minds, or hearts and spirits ache. Grant us faith that knows you will be there for us and give us a lasting name and inheritance in your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Posted in Bible and Theology, Faith, God's love, God's promises, Prayer and Devotions

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