How Deep Is Your Faith?
But blessed is the one who trusts in
the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the
water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never
fails to bear fruit. – Jeremiah 17:7-8
For every nonbeliever who gets cancer, God allows a
believer to get cancer too so that the world can see the difference. I read
that recently and it really made me pause and think for a moment. Does our
faith truly make us different or does calamity sink us in its stormy seas?
There’s one thing certain about this life: There are
peaks and valleys, good times and bad. That’s the ebb and flow of it. We aren’t
created to live always on the mountain top. Indeed, it is in the valley where
we learn the most about God and about ourselves.
A dear friend is battling cancer right now. She’s
completed chemo and surgery and has just started radiation. She did everything
right. She always got checkups when she was supposed to. She was vigilant.
Cancer didn’t care.
Her faith is strong, probably stronger now than ever
before. She’s been a believer for longer than she can remember. But she’d lost
that fire inside. Do you know what I mean? She wasn’t hungry anymore for God’s
word. It was just too easy to sleep late, to fill her moments with life and
laughter. Until one day it all came crashing down in a diagnosis no one was
expecting.
God holds us up in times like that. He’s the first One
we cry out to when we realize the storm could be the end. And He’s always
there. He never has something better to do, never leaves us to face the crisis
alone, never demands that we right our lives before He’ll help us. There’s a
lesson there for all of us.
This sweet woman has mostly been a pillar of strength.
In those moments when life has seemed so fragile and the fight so long, God has
sent friends to strengthen her for the journey. Fear is a horrendous companion.
Scars remind us of the battle that has changed us forever. The pain seems never-ending.
His love remains.
God never said we wouldn’t have trials. In fact, Jesus
told us to expect them. So why are we so surprised when the storm hits?
I have reached the age when Bible verse memorization is
labored and hard. Yet, I know it is necessary. Because when the pain threatens
to overwhelm a shattered heart, it’s the words of God that sooth. The time to
grow our roots, to water our souls with prayer and study, is while we are on
the mountain top. It’s when our souls are flourishing and our days are filled
with light that our roots grow deep into the soil.
Darkness has a way of coming when we least expect it.
It’s imperative to have deep roots before it hits. How we weather the season of
dismay is directly tied to how we have prepared for the storm. Don’t wait until
the storm hits to plant roots deep enough to stand firm.
