Does suffering cause you to turn away from the Lord or draw nearer? Of course we always hope and even say it would be the latter, but if we take an honest look at our response to hardship we will see the true state of our hearts. Too often as we spend our days serving the Lord, when struggles come, we question why He isn’t blessing us the way we think He should. If this is our attitude, is it really God we’re serving? When our focus is on ourselves and what we have done rather than on God and what He has done, our worship is not of Him, but of us.
When our focus is on ourselves and what we have done rather than on God and what He has done, our worship is not of Him, but of us.
The things you say about God when life isn’t going the way you would choose are a big indicator of the genuineness of your faith. When we have a rightly-oriented view of the Lord, we will recognize even in the very depths of suffering that He is sovereign over all things. When we have a right and true understanding of who God is, we will in turn come to a right understanding of who we are in relation to Him. Life is about God and His purposes, not us and ours. When we submit to this truth it frees us to believe that He really is good and kind as He sovereignly works all things for the glorious purposes of His kingdom, regardless of what we ourselves are able to see from our tiny place in the universe.
We can and should still wrestle through our questions and hurts, but we must do so in faith. As the psalmists who asked the hard questions of God and ended with, “I trust You,” so must we come in humble honesty before the Lord with our struggles, questions, doubts, and wounds, trusting that He Himself is that answer to all of it. The Lord knows your frame; He remembers that you are but dust, and He is compassionate as a Father to His children (see Ps. 103:13-14). He sees and knows the weakness and yet the reality of your faith.
Our faithlessness doesn’t affect God’s faithfulness; He remains faithful because it’s His nature (see Rom. 3:3; 2 Tim. 2:13). He doesn’t need your faith, but He does delight in it. He rejoices to see genuine faith, even if only the size of a mustard seed, whereas without faith it is impossible to please Him (see Heb. 11:6).
He sees and knows the weakness and yet the reality of your faith.
We must allow those things that bring up questions and doubts to strengthen our faith rather than destroy it. For as Abraham did not weaken in faith when he saw the impossibility of the Lord’s promise to him, so must we grow strong in our faith as we practice giving glory to God, fully convinced that He will do what He says (see Rom. 4:19-22). When it all goes dark and we can’t see the way ahead, we must remember Who it is we serve and hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, because our God is faithful (see Heb. 10:23).
Rather than collapse in despair, we must faithfully endure, clinging to the truth as we press on, so that when we have finished the race we may receive the reward of our faith (see Heb. 10:36). For,
“‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
(Hebrews 10:37-39, ESV)
Don’t retreat in the struggle, for He is coming, friend. The Lord sees your small faith, He delights in it, and He will make it strong as you hold fast to His faithfulness.