FAITH IN THE DARKEST HOUR

 

Many are experiencing trials in this hour and a shaking of their faith. The devil knows his time is short and he "prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)

Recently I was heartbroken over the death of my friend’s mom who has 10 children. I believed God was going to heal her but instead the Lord took her home to be with Him. It’s not the first time I had such great faith for healing, travailing in prayer for her healing that did not come. I had so many questions of God and the devil taking advantage of my emotional state, sewed thoughts of doubt in my mind that tested my faith.

Recently I was listening to a sermon on YouTube by Pastor David Wilkerson titled, “I Am Persuaded.” He was one of the mostly godly ministers of our time in my opinion, a humble man of God who came to New York City to minister to some teenagers who had committed a terrible crime. God ended up using him to minister to dangerous gang members and the leader of the gang, Nicky Cruz, ended up giving his life to Christ. What a ripple effect that created, bringing about the book “Cross and the Switchblade” and later a movie. Then the ministry “Teen Challenge” was birthed from helping those with drug and alcohol addictions. Yet, as great of a ministry that Wilkerson had and more likely because of his powerful ministry, he was under great trials and testing in his life. His wife suffered terribly with cancer. He said, “the devil asks, “Is this the love of God? Is this how He treats His children?” (Link to message)

We have all been through times when the devil comes in like a flood and things go from bad to worse often when we are at a weak and vulnerable place. He does psychological warfare on us – beating us down with doubt and unanswered questions and then our own emotions begin to bubble up around us so that we feel we are drowning under a sea of misery causing self-pity.

I walk my dog a lot in a park with a creek and as I was walking along it, the thought occurred to me that even when the creek is mostly covered by ice and snow, I still see sections of it flowing and know that it also flows underneath all the ice and snow. It’s really quite beautiful! That’s the way it is with the believers in Christ even when the enemy is oppressing us and we are going through trials and suffering, the living water of Christ flows through us and just as spring eventually comes and melts the snow and ice, so too we will get through a season of suffering. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. In the greatest darkness of our lives, Jesus is with us carrying us to the end. That is what faith is really about. The dictionary defines faith as a “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.”

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 11 that faith is the grounds of things which are hoped for, and the evidence of things which are not seen. The Greek word for faith, pístis means “persuasion.”  The Apostle Paul tells young Timothy in his letter, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He (God) is able to keep that what I have committed (his message of the Gospel and his very life) until the Day.’ Surely Paul was persuaded, convinced, had great faith that God was at work in his life because he was willing to be persecuted and imprisoned and go through all kinds of hardships for the sake of Christ. In fact, this letter to Timothy was written while he was in jail in Rome awaiting his death yet ready to die for what he believed.

Hebrews 11 gives us examples of people who had faith in God beginning with Abraham. God called him to leave his home and go to a strange land where he wouldn’t know anyone. Later God tested him and told him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Did that make sense? God had promised Abraham a son even in his and Sara’s old age and then tells him to sacrifice him. Psalm 11:5 says, “God tests the righteous” and Hebrews 11:17 tells us that God was testing Abraham and he passed the test with flying colors! He put God first, above his love for his son. In Genesis 15:6 it says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That is referred to several times in the NT (Romans 4, Galatians 3:6, James 2:23)

Moses by faith, chose to suffer with his people rather than enjoy the pleasures of Egypt. By faith he left Egypt behind and led the Hebrew nation to the Promised Land although they never made it being tested in the wilderness for 40 years. Apparently, God knew they weren’t ready to go there in what should have been an 11 day journey! Even though they saw amazing miracles, their hearts were not committed to God and they hadn’t rid themselves of the pleasures of Egypt. All they did was complain and as soon as Moses disappeared for awhile on Mt Sinai they started worshipping a golden calf! Sometimes God has to put us allow us to go through trials to discipline us which Paul talks about in the next chapter of Hebrews 12.

Scriptures talk about being refined through trials

Deuteronomy 8:2; Psalm 66:10; Isaiah 48:10; Jeremiah 20:12; Zechariah 13:9; James 1:3

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance that the Lord is working even when you can’t see that He’s working. (Reminds me of the song “Way Maker”). Faith in God helps us know that no matter what the situation in our lives or someone else’s, that the Lord hears our prayers and will work all things out for His glory and purpose through us (Romans 8:28). God does not sleep or slumber. He is actively pursuing His creation and using His people for His kingdom purposes. It doesn’t matter what we see in the natural realm either. It can seem absolutely a hopeless situation.

Remember Joseph? He was his father’s favorite son and he was obedient which caused him to be despised by his brothers who plotted to kill him. Yet, God intervened and instead he was sold into slavery. He gained favor with the Egyptian slave owner, Potiphar, who put him in charge of his household. He was a diligent and responsible young man and avoided the advances of Potiphar’s wife who wanted to seduce him. Yet, even though he did all the right things and fled temptation, he ended up in prison falsely accused of rape! God allowed for all of this to happen to Joseph for a reason but Joseph couldn’t understand his hardship. If anyone felt unjustly treated, it would be Joseph, not knowing how many years he would stay in prison. Finally, the day would come when a man who had been with Joseph in prison and Joseph had interpreted his dream was released from prison and went back to work for Pharaoh. When Pharaoh had a dream he couldn’t understand and asked for an interpreter, the man made good reference of Joseph to him.  God brought about the right circumstance and wisdom for Joseph to interpret Pharaoh’s dream thereby opening the door to be in a powerful position in the Egyptian kingdom in order to deliver them from famine and starvation. Joseph had no idea why his life was going from bad to worse yet he never lost his faith in God! We have the advantage of knowing how the story unfolds and what the ending will be whereas when we are in the middle of our own storms and things don’t make sense, we cannot see what the outcome will be. That is when we have to trust God the most, being patient and having confidence that He will work all things out for His glory and purpose in our life.

In the midst of many hardships, Joseph continued to have faith in God even when he was betrayed and abandoned by his brothers, wrongly accused by his master’s wife, and was sitting in prison for a couple of years. That’s what faith is, believing God and His word for you in the darkest times of your life. It’s easy to have faith when things are going well in your life, isn’t it?

What about Job? We know from the beginning of the Book why he was going through terrible suffering. Scripture says he was being tested even though he was righteous and had been obedient to God. It was Satan who initiated the trials in the beginning (turn to Job 1)

Sometimes our trials are not about our testing but because we have been disobedient. In  Hebrews 12 we read that God disciplines those He loves as a father disciplines his child. Remember Jonah? Why did he go through the ordeal of being swallowed by a whale? God called him to go to Nineveh to preach in that wicked and violent city but he refused to go because He didn’t believe those people deserved mercy. When he got on the boat to go his own way, a terrible storm came upon them and the boat was going to be shipwrecked. Jonah realized God allowed the storm because he was disobeying Him. However, God gave him a way out of his trouble through the big fish who swallowed him and three days later, spit him out.

We must also remember that God will not allow us to go through trials that are too much for us to handle. He gives us a way or a means to escape or overcome them. 1 Cor 10:13 ~ “No temptation has seized you, except what is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but will also provide with the temptation the escape, to be able to endure it.”

Finally, we have a heavenly hope as it says in Hebrews 11:13-16. This is not our home. We are citizens of heaven. Even when those who had faith in God never saw the promises fulfilled in their lifetime, they pressed on in faith to take hold of the prize that awaited them.

Many of God’s people were tortured, chained and imprisoned, slain with the sword, sawn in two, wandered about destitute, afflicted, tormented, in despair. We have had it so good here in this country and do not know what persecution is. Yet, at least 1/3 of this world is under persecution for their faith in Christ.

I believe time is shorter than we know and that’s why God’s people have been attacked so much by the enemy. We must run the race set out for us with perseverance and though we stumble, we get up and keep going. We must continue in absolute confidence in God and His word.

We will be tempted to throw in the towel during suffering and given over to doubt. Job’s wife told him to curse God and die when he was sin the midst of the hardship. God calls us to persevere in these last days. Our trials have become more intense these days because the enemy knows his time is short and he wants to strip God’s people of their joy and peace and if possible, their very faith in God. Jude 1:20 says, “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” These trials and tests however will yield in us great fruit if we not only persevere through them, but offer the sacrifice of praise to the Lord through it. James 1:2-3 says, “…the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” So stand firm sisters in Christ! Let God have His way in you and stand firm in your faith even in your darkest hour.