I don't know if this happens to you but it seems to happen to me, a lot. You think you've got life pretty much all figured out as you mature in age, then something else happens and you realize that you don't. Back to square one! I have been a Christian for many years now. Twenty four to be exact since I gave my heart fully to the Lord and was baptized. I had made a very public proclamation of my faith that day in front of family and friends and the church congregation. I was born again, behold all thing become new, all old things have passed away. That was a milestone day for me and set me on a journey these past two plus decades that have been full of adventure; four moves, four homes, five children, three jobs and countless moments of joy and unfortunately tremendous heartache and sadness. It's called quite simply, life. But something changed that day of hope when I had acknowledged my faith publicly. I had entered into the most rewarding and perplexing relationship with a man called Jesus. Never boring, always challenging, sometimes frustrating but always, and I mean always blessed. Yes, blessed, meaning even though I didn't think it at the time. His answers or silence maybe weren't what I had prayed for or even desired, never the less, if my faith was absolutely childlike, in trust and obedience, He would see me through the trial. His end would always justify the means and I would come away with another blessing that would allow me to place another step forward on His solid foundation for my life. That is of course until that old schoolyard bully came along and took my lunch money again. You know him well! Oh, he goes by many names. Pride, arrogance, conceit, doubt, self empowerment, envy just to name a few. I lump it all into one word faithlessness. You can call it human nature, sin nature or whatever nature you want. The results are the same. Our lack of accepting and applying the real tangible faith that is so generously given to us through the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ and His promises cause us to listen to the voice of this world, Satan, the father of lies.
Fully capable of disrupting the course of our ship, upending the most noble of plans and spoiling the fruit of the spirit, he works tirelessly. He is vehemently opposed to your faith. His one sole mission is to cast dispersions and doubt and break the bonds of reconciliation to our precious Lord and become slaves to our fallen attributes. He seeks and destroys all with extreme prejudice. The bible says he is like a wolf that lurks about ready to pounce and tear apart we the precious sheep of Christ. The results are often devastating and tragic. The Word of God is full of knowledge, wisdom, hope and permanent sustainable victory! Jesus is Lord and Savior, the Word is our blueprint and the Holy Spirit is our Helper. Triple protection with divine substance that is real. I notice when I have fallen in life, it is because of my conscious choosing to not trust Him who loves me more than any other. It is in those circumstances, I often find carnal destruction but more devastating than that shame and spiritual poverty. More importantly, not once in my selfish quest to abandon Him was my situation resolved for blessing. Not once! All situations will resolve themselves but not all will be blessed. That is the difference between exercising your faith and not. When I walk with my precious Lord, my peace is saturating to my soul. I find blessing in my circumstances and the lessons learned become opportunities to encourage and help others. I no longer stand defeated! We will all have trials in our lives and we will have to choose the faith we will use to endure through them. You can choose our leaky, unsteady, shortsighted and unreliable human nature or tap into the well of living water and never thirst. In Him and Him alone is victory and strength. I urge you to take stock of your journey and see where you have gotten to on your own. But I caution you, the veneer of temporal victory will mask the infestation that has eaten away at your soul, much like termites. The damage is usually never seen until you look inside and then it is too late. So choose wisely, seek His truth, accept His salvation and watch the victories build you up and carry you home!
Matthew 17:20
And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
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