Hard Faith

 

 

 

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31

 

“No one ever told me being a Christian would be so hard.”

This was the statement of a young man who is in the midst of a serious trial in his life.  He is fighting bitterness, anger, resentment, and the need to forgive, He is finding it difficult to face himself and God, as he knows he is not responding well from a biblical viewpoint.

He is discouraged that he cannot “get over it.” We are encouraged that he wants to do it “right” (biblically speaking).

There is no shortage of available books and articles for the Christian on suffering of all kinds. It is a topic often addressed from the pulpit. We can easily find counsel about it because everyone experiences trials in this life. We all know that “For those who love God all things together for the good, for those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Until we are the one in the trial, we have no idea how hard it is. Obeying God’s commands when life is rolling along easily is one thing. Obeying His commands not to grow a root of bitterness, and to put away anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from our lips (Colossians 3) when something worthy of righteous anger happens, is hard.

There are many things that provide kindling for righteous anger. Evil done to a child (think abuse or abortion), or a nation doing evil to its own people (like South Africa taking the land of white farmers because they are white). Murder, adultery, theft of property. God has Laws against these things and it is right to be angered when His laws are ignored, mocked, or defiantly disobeyed.

However, even righteous anger does not justify sin. The expression of his anger is what has this young man in such a battle with his own will. Someone deserves to be punished for what happened in his family. He wants to mete it out but knows that it is the work of the Lord.

Trusting God to feed, clothe,  and  provide for us in general is relatively easy in our nation. We live in abundance. Trusting Him to mete out justice, and vengeance when it is needed, takes a deeper level of faith and a greater degree of trust in His Word.

As these trials come we may not see God’s purposes. As we go through the aftermath of them, the pain can be so great that we question if He has a purpose. Only a strong faith will keep us on a path of blessing for obedience to God’s Word.

Building faith requires time in the study of His Word and time with His people, hearing His word taught. If we walk away from Him, the trust decreases and our ability to persevere in trials is more difficult.

God may use trials to increase our faith but they are much easier to face – and we will all face them – when we have been building our faith. When our faith is strong, Christianity is not as hard.

Lord, increase our faith!