Everyone faces trials in life but learning to trust God through trials offers hope in the face of any trial. Trusting God Through Trials is hard to do.
I have had a bad week. Nothing seemed to go right. The therapy for my hip is not producing the results as fast as I would like. My message for Sunday just didn’t seem to get across. So many absent from church because of summer vacations, I feel defeated. I might as well quit while I am ahead.
Sometimes life brings trials – trials that cause us to give up hope; feelings of defeat, where you are tempted to give up and quit while you are ahead. These are the times when you have to learn to trust God in the midst of your trial.
Our God is A God of Justice – He Hears And Answers Prayers
In Luke chapter 18 Jesus tells a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Luke 18:2-8 – “He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.
And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
the woman in this parable sought justice. She was going through a time of trial. Something happened to her and she had no one who would stand up for her, no one to help her see justice done. Instead of giving up in despair or wallowing in pity she sets her mind on finding a solution. She decides to seek justice for herself.
In today’s world that wouldn’t be too much of a problem for a woman. But in that world, then, woman were considered second class citizens. Men ruled the day and unless a woman had a man to speak up for her she was left out in the cold.
This woman sought justice and she did not give up! When we face trials our first thoughts are of despair. We think “why try there is no way to beat the system and life is just too tuff”.
God Hears Our Prayers Of Faith
What strikes me here is that the woman in this parable had to believe that the judge would hear her case and see that justice is done. She had to have faith that the judge would do right by her even though he was not the most honest judge.
The judge couldn’t care less about the woman and cared little of God. Yet it was her faith and persistence that won the day. The woman wore the judge out with her requests until he finally gave in and did what she asked.
How Strong Is Your Faith
Going through trials is a test of our faith. Will you come out at the end of the trial with more faith or will the trial defeat you? I always admire the faith of the disciples as I read through the New Testament. Their faith was strong and it got results. They prayed over the sick and people were healed instantly. There are even instances where the disciples raised people from the dead. And they went out and shared the gospel boldly.
But the disciples were not always great examples of faith. If you read in the gospels, there were many times when their faith was lacking. In Matthew 17:14-20 Jesus had to step in where the disciples failed. He admonished them for their lack of faith, “You faithless and corrupt people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me” (Matthew 17:17). When they asked why they couldn’t heal the boy in question Jesus said “you don’t have enough faith”. Thank God that they grew in their faith.
Growing In Faith
I know trials are hard but it is what you do with your trial that determines whether you will grow in faith or lose faith and give up. Our challenges in life can either defeat us OR we can learn to face our challenges with faith.
According to the online dictionary faith is the “complete trust or confidence in someone or something”. We can have faith in our abilities, or faith in someone else; that is good, but the faith that we need in the midst of trials is faith in the God who can. According to Hebrews 11:1, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” When we have faith in God we know that his promises are real.
We may not see what we hope for, but there is evidence that whatever is unseen is real. Matthew Henry in his Concise Bible Commentary wrote this abut the faith we seek, “It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ.”
Yes you can grow in faith, it happens as you learn to seek God and trust him in your trials. Romans 10:17 – “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”
The more we immerse ourselves in the word of God, the more we will grow in faith. “We must learn about His love, His justice, His mercy, and His plan”.
The more we act on our faith in obeying the Word of God as we understand it, the more our faith grows. James 2:14 – “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?” Our faith calls us to act. Our faith in God grows as we choose to act on our understanding of Gods’ Word; choosing to do right instead of doing wrong, those are the good works that the Apostle James is writing about. Our actions portray our faith.
Conclusion
Trusting God through trials is hard. When you are going through trials seek out God in prayer. Persist, keep asking in faith believing that in due time God will answer your prayer.
We are not promised a life that is easy. We are not promised that everything will go our way. But we are promised that God will be with us. Use your faith. Whatever faith you have cry out to God and seek his help. And, if you have too little faith ask God to help you grow in faith. He has never failed me yet.
I hope that you have found help for the trials and would love to hear back from you. Just leave me a comment or question on this page and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
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Blessings
Raymond – Author, Walkinghope.com
