It is one of those rare times that I had fallen so ill. While I lie there sneezing and coughing, with the whole body aching, I prayed to the Lord for healing. With each difficult cough, the faith of a divine healing becomes thinner. With that comes a wavering of faith and a little impatience with the Lord. Then the struggle within that says, ‘Keep the faith’. Somewhere in there a voice keeps saying that He is the Lord and He decides on what is to happen, not me. This struggle went on within throughout, with depressive mood swings between. Then with one very deliberate effort I decided to just trust the Lord and let Him be Lord. No, I was not instantly healed but peace came into my inner being.

It is so often for us to want to get out of whatever difficult situations immediately. In most cases we “demand” that the Lord should act instantly. Often it is not so. Our faith wavers and we fight on, thankful for faithful brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ standing with us to keep us strong. We look to the Scriptures for all kinds of comfort, the book of Job in particular. The reality is that we do not want to be Job. We want to be Jabez – a life without pain. There are times we think that we did so much for God and we do not deserve the pain that we are suffering now. We may feel that we might as well give up. All these feelings are real and we must not deny their existence or to brush it aside as faithlessness.

In the years of plenty, it is time for us to learn and hone our trust in God. It is easier in those times. It demands sacrifice, no doubt, but it is less painful. During such times we must learn the Scriptures well, so that we do not crash when hardship comes. After the years of plenty come the lean years and with adequate preparation we can weather through the famine without shipwrecking our faith.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

 

God bless!