no unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. [romans 4:20-21]
“grew strong in faith.” oh, how we need this. for some time, I’ve been seeking for my faith to grow. I’ve been studying the word of God, seeking knowledge and learning biblical character stories, and asking God for a greater faith. in my head i know that God will fulfill his promises. but my heart struggles with unbelief.
it struggles to prevent me from trying to do things myself. It struggles to raise my hands in worship sometimes. it wrestles with his goodness when experiencing pain and hardship. it struggles when seeing others in pain. all this has shown me how little my faith can be.
this weekend i was reminded of multiple times in my life when faith grew. those times had no less struggle or hardship; most of them even had immense pain and grief. i long for the day that we are united with the father in heaven where there is no more pain and we live in glory! but here on earth there are struggles.
faith in God isn’t predicated on circumstances. faith can grow during joyous times, but ask yourself how has your faith grown in your life during hardships? those moments when you fully trusted God. those moments where you didn’t understand, were angry or sad and just sought Jesus.
this passage says Abraham “grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God.” the moments i can recall where my trust in Jesus grew was when i not only trusted him, but gave thanks and glory to him at the same time. A stronger faith has come from knowing, trusting and showing that he is good. being fully convinced. not wavering in unbelief.
so today, no matter where you are; joyous, sad, grieving, or thankful; i encourage you to sit with the Lord in silence. list out the times in your life when your faith grew. i find it helpful to physically write them down. write down the times of hardship or joy, the preceding unbelief, what God changed in your heart (if you can name it), and then give thanks. remembering his faithfulness is an amazing tool when you are in the middle of hardship. so sit with the Lord and ask to be fully convinced.
~ joe lorsung