Job
23:10 He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as
gold.
Faith
grows during storms. These are just four little words, but what significance
they have to someone who has endured life-threatening storms!
Faith is that God-given ability that, when
exercised, brings the unseen into plain view. It deals with the supernatural
and makes impossible things possible. And yes, it grows during storms- that is, it grows through disturbance in
the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by conflicts between the physical
elements, and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with
supernatural, hostile elements. And it is this atmosphere of conflict that
faith finds its most fertile soil and grows most rapidly to maturity.
The strongest trees are found not in the
thick shelter of the forest but out in the open, where winds from every
direction bear down upon them. The fierce winds bend and twist them until they
become giant in stature. There are the trees that toolmakers seek for handles
for their tools, because of the wood’s great strength.
It is the same in the spiritual world.
Remember, when you see a person of great spiritual stature, the road must
travel to walk with him is not one where the sun always shines and wildflowers
always bloom. Instead, the way is a steep, rocky, and narrow path, where the
winds of hell will try to knock you off your feet, and where sharp rocks will cut
you, prickly thorns will scratch your face, and
poisonous snakes will slither and hiss all around you.
The path of faith is one of sorrow and joy,
suffering and healing comfort, tears and smiles, trials and victories,
conflicts and triumphs, and also hardships, dangers, beatings, persecutions,
misunderstandings, trouble, and distress. Yet “in all these things we are more
than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
Yes, “in all these” – even during storms, when the
winds are the most intense – “we are more than conquerors.” You may be tempted
to run from the ordeal of a fierce storm of testing but head straight for it!
God is there to meet you in the centre of each trial. And He will whisper to
you His secrets, which will bring you out with a radiant face and such an
invincible faith that all the demons of hell will never be able to shake
it. F. A. Kilbourne
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